Meditation - the enlightenment

 Today, I was just sitting in my room and on casual meditation. And, instantaneously one thing crossed in my mind.

Suddenly, I thought I have got one of the answer I was looking since many years. The question is what exactly is enlightenment.

Disclaimer: Before I further proceed to this topic I want to clarify that I am neither a spiritual guru or monk nor I am a man who practice advance level of meditation. I am a normal person who has some curiosity & try to find the answer in my own ways. I can be absolutely wrong in this. Here, I am just sharing my experience and not intend to claim anything (right or wrong) regarding any religion. I just want to evolve as a person with experience & gaining knowledge.

When we talk about enlightenment, Bhagwan Buddha is the one who first comes in my mind. So, the thing enlightenment was the thing which always fascinated me.      

So, what was that instantaneous thought that has suddenly served my answer. Here we go.

First of all many people may get confused with the word meditation itself. In the most simplest of the word meditation means to sit quiet with eyes closed and detaching yourself with out world and just observe the random thoughts coming in the mind. So, this the most simple explanation of meditation, which anyone can explain you who practice some kind of meditation. Even, the high level meditation practitioner should agree with my definition of meditation in simple way.

Now, we understand the basic meaning of meditation. What happened today which was so special. The thing I have realized today is when we sit for meditation. suddenly all the thoughts start running in the mind. And since we are completely detached from the outer world. and our mind is calm our mind (or more precisely may be sub-conscious mind) start analyzing those thoughts. I would also like to call those thoughts Residual Thoughts. Though in most cases in can residual but other cases in can be non-residual too. 

Now, residual thoughts are those thoughts of which we have already found the answer but its residue is still there in our sub-conscious mind, just like computer has some kind of residual code left in the computer like cache. So, residual thought can be related to our day to day activity, from very positive to very negative thoughts, but the only criteria is we have already found the answer in the real world. Non- residual thought is the one whose question we are still seeking, just like a window or program still running in the computer.   

So, when we are meditating all those thoughts comes in our mind. Now lets assume we have only residual thoughts. Again its very easy to clean. Its just like a computer, you will come to know if any residual code ( or program) is not getting deleted from your mind during meditation that means the main program window is still on. So, lets not make this thing more complex, because I am here to talk more about enlightenment than overall meditation.  

So, lets assume we have only residual thoughts, so when we start meditating what will happen is all those residual thoughts start popping up in our mind. And suddenly by default our mind start deleting it. Its may be like we are deleting cache from recycle bin. So for the moment our mind gets devoid of thoughts, no emotions, a memory card without any data.

So what is the outcome? Our mind gets reset for the moment. Feels more energetic, less cluttered, can better feel the moment, since there is no short memory to rely on, can take the decision better, non- biased way. This is the reason why in today's world many doctors recommend for meditation.

Now, lets come back to our topic of enlightenment. For me in very very simple word as I have understood today, enlightenment is mind without thoughts (worldly thoughts), when there is no outside thoughts we realize true self. Which of course doesn't happen with computer, hence a normal computers doesn't get enlighten. However in this AI era who knows if & if computers get enlighten, we all can guess that will be the start of destruction of human race.

Again back to topic. So technically in very very simple terms enlightenment is nothing but a state of mind ( or sub conscious mind) absolutely void of any any kind of thoughts, and to return in its purest form. When this happen mind start focusing on itself, that is my guess. 

So, now another assumption to understand the topic. When a person get success in devoid his mind momentarily during 10 minutes of meditation. I can call that the person is enlightened for the moment, though for a true moment. Though many many high personality may not agree with me on this term. But here my intention is to make the topic make as simple as possible to make a normal people understand.

Now comes the part which may get clash with some people beliefs, but as said earlier my intention is to define anything, my aim is just to understand the thing simple way. 

So, as if a person able to delete (Ok. when I say delete it means in human terms to bring the residual thoughts to its logical conclusion so that it will never ever again pop in our sub conscious mind) the data of this life, than that person will become a person of high knowledge in our society. (I guess people may understand by what I mean & thing is that this is possible in any religion, faith or belief.)

Now lets come to the Bhagwan Buddha. (I request you guys not to take it literally, I have mentioned his name only because he is the person who is most associated with the word enlightenment). So all those great soul who has attain true enlightenment like Bhagwan Buddha might have deleted the memory of all his previous births. And when a person is able to do that what he remains  is with is a true atman which is a part of a Universal God himself. That soul will become a part of the God himself.

I can further write on this topic because this type of thing always fascinates me. But for today I don't want to make the thing more complicated. So I will end the topic here itself. 

   

Magars during Nepal Unification - Before Rana Era

                                       This is one the interesting part I have found in the book named "Thapa politics in Nepal". This book not only helps in getting the glimpse of that era it also helps in status of Magar people in society at that time. 

This particular part in book with Appendix-N, which is in actual a letter written by that times British Residency in Nepal to Governor general of East India Company, while updating the current situation in Nepal.

Few interesting excerpts from the book is as follow:

"But from the 12th century downwards, the tide of Muslims conquest and bigotry continued to sweep multitudes of the Brahmans of the plains from Hindustan into the proximate hills, which now compose the western territories of the kingdom of Nepal. There the Brahmans soon located themselves. They found the natives illiterate , and without faith, but fierce and proud."

Natives is the word we need to give attention here. Khas are also included in it. 

"The offspring of the original Khas females & of Brahmans, with honors and rank of the second order of Hinduism, got the patronymic titles of the first order, and hence the key to the anomalous nomenclature of so many stripes of the military tribes of Nepal is to be sought in the nomenclature of the sacred order"

The above lines and few other lines that is there in book indicates that how Khas & the Brahmans from Gangetic plane blended with each other and help in establishing Khastriya caste in Nepal. In my own opinion this is the reason why in todays time its very difficult to distinguish between Khas & modern Chhetris. However this is again a topic in itself which I will definitely take up in my future blogs.

"The remaining military tribes of the Parbattias are the Magar & Gurung, who now supply the greater number of the soldiers of this state.

From lending themselves less early and heartily to Brahmanical influence than the Khas, they have retained, in vivid freshness, their original languages, physiognomy, and, in a less degree, habits.

The Gurungs are less generally and more recently redeemed from Lamaism and primitive impurity than the Magars.

But though both the Gurungs & Magars still maintain their own vernacular tongues, Tartar faces, and earless manners, yet, what with military service for several generations under the predominant Khas, and what with the commerce of Khas males with their females, they have acquired the Khas language, though, not to the oblivion of their own, and the Khas habits and sentiments, but with the sundry reservations in favour with pristine Liberty. 

As they have, however, with such grace as they could muster, submitted themselves to the ceremonial law of purity and to Brahman supremacy, they have been adopted as Hindus. But partly owing to the licenses above glanced at, and partly by reason of the necessity of distinction of caste to Hinduism, they have been denied the thread, and constituted a doubtful order below it, and yet not Vaishya nor Shudra, but a something superior to both the latter - what I fancy it might puzzle the Shastris to explain on Hindu principles.

The martial classes of Nepal are, then, the Khas, Magar & Gurung, each comprising a very numerous race.

The Khas are rather more devoted to the house of Gorkha, aw well as more liable to Brahmanical prejudice than the Magars or Gurungs; and on both accounts, are perhaps somewhat less desirable as soldiers for our service than the latter tribes.

These highland soldiers (refer to Magar & Gurungs), who dispatched their meal in half an hour, and satisfy the ceremonial law by mere washing their hands and face and taking off their turbans before cooking, laugh at the pharisaical rigour of our Sipahis, who must bathe from head to foot and make puja, ere they begin to dress their dinner, must eat nearly naked in the coldest weather, and cannot be marching trim again in less than three hours.

In war, the former readily carry several days' provisions on their backs: the latter would deem such an act intolerably degrading.

The former see in foreign service nothing but the prospect of glory and spoil: the latter can discover in it nothing but pollution and peril from unclean men and terrible wizzards, goblins, and evil spirits."

Though not directly we can get the status of Magars at that times. It gives at least some of insight into our history. One main thing is era of 18th century was almost as good as era of 10th century in many terms in case of Nepal.