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This blog appeared in my LinkedIn feed. Mr. Tamhankar lets us in on one important element in decreasing our suffering. Thank you Mr. Tamhankar.
Living in Suchness
Published on August 29, 2017 on Linked In by Addittya Tamhankar
You cannot reject death. When death arrives - there is no option but to 'accept'.
No credit card, no paycheck, no accumulated wealth and no contacts or 'connections' are going to be of any help - when the 'time of death' comes, you are left with no option but to accept! This is the nature of things, suchness, 'Tathata'!
Once a disciple asked the Buddha "What should one do with death? Should he accept it?"
Buddha said "Death is! One who has born would have to die someday."
You cannot skip death, similarly, you also cannot skip the painful 'events' of your life. Fortunate or unfortunate - there is no option but to accept the events of your life in totality. Tathata! That is how deep the concept of "Tathata" (Suchness) is.
Life becomes a problem, a misery when you become too much attached to every event of your life - so much so that it is just impossible for you to 'accept' anything that goes against your expectations, against your wishes, or against your interests. Then there is an intense fight within - the mind is not willing to accept and you are angry because life is not willing to listen to what you want. But in reality, it is not life that is frustrating you, but it is you who is not listening to life. And the more you live in nonacceptance, the more you are going to experience miseries in your life.
When your mind is not willing to accept - your energy is divided. Half the energy is moving towards rejection, rebellion, resentment and half the energy is moving towards acceptance. This fight goes on and the more it would continue, the more it would make you feel miserable.
The only way out is to 'Accept' in totality (Tathata).
Life is a 'Gift', let it flow....the more you try to interfere - the more you would attract unending miseries in your life. And then out of ignorance - you will label it as 'fate'!
"There is so much grace in acceptance. Its not an easy concept, but if you embrace it, you'll find more peace than you ever imagined." - Loretta LaRoche
Tathata is even deeper than the English word 'acceptance’; it is 'tathata' - total acceptance! It is believing and acknowledging that 'such are the things' and living in Suchness!
Tathata is the very central concept of Mahayana Buddhism. The whole Buddhist meditation consists of living in this single word - "Tathata", living with this word so deeply that the word disappears and you become the suchness (Tathata).
Living in 'Suchness' (Tathata) can uplift your life to higher dimensions, it can eradicate the miseries of your life that you had created by not accepting what has happened or happening with you in totality. When you are living with total acceptance - no event, no person, and no situations are going to distract or disturb your integrity, your 'peace of mind'. The spiritually evolved Yogi is never disturbed or distracted by any events - he simply 'accepts in totality' (Suchness-Tathata) all that life has to offer - with a sense of gratitude. There is never the slightest instance of resentment or grievance. Everything is accepted in totality!
"A man becomes a Buddha the moment he accepts all that life brings with gratitude." - Rajneesh
That is what living life in Suchness ("Tathata") is. Tathata means saying 'yes' so totally that within your being there is no division. You become one in your 'yes'. You say 'yes' so totally that there exists no 'rejection' inside you, no denial. And this is so beautiful, so magical and so insightful - that it can work wonders if you truly understand what "Tathata" is. Tathata is beyond 'Acceptance' - because the concept of 'Suchness' (Tathata) simply has no provision of providing you with two options - with two possibilities (Acceptance or Rejection), it is simply realizing and acknowledging that - the only way is - the way it is!
Tathata, or total acceptance, is not a majority decision. It is not parliamentary, it is total.
You have fallen sick - the moment you feel within - that is the only way it is, immediately the body starts healing. There is no question of 'trying to accept' - there is no question of putting any efforts - but just acknowledging that 'such are the things' (Tathata)!
You have lost your job , there is no question of 'trying to accept' - but simply accepting that 'such are the things' - Tathata !
Immediately your energy is then focused on searching for a new job rather than resenting and dividing your energy between resentment and acceptance.
Something is wrong in your body, just acknowledge - that is is how it is - and then there is no conflict of accepting or rejecting - the energy is not divided - and so it starts working in 'totality' - helping the body to heal. Once you accept, then there is no rift, no division of energies - the energy has become one - within. Then there is so much of energy - that it becomes a healing force.
You have lost someone very dear to you, the moment you 'accept' that is the the only way it is - all your resentment, depression, nonacceptance starts evaporating - then you are one with the existence, then you have truly accepted, then peace comes to you - and with peace comes the willingness to 'move on' with your life!
The key solution is living in suchness - Tathata!
Tathata is something so wonderful that it can take you beyond the realms of acceptance! Uplifting you to the higher altitudes of life.
Human life is short, active years of human life are even shorter. So there is no point in spending your energy by indulging in 'revengeful' activities. Only ignorant fools do that.
"Revenge is sweet, sweeter than life itself - so thinks the fools"
Fools takes the knife and stab people in the back. The wise takes the knife, cut the cord, and set themselves free from the fools. Fools live their whole life in nonacceptance - and so they continue to plot and indulge in resentment, revengeful activities - so much so that even when they are dying - there is no satisfaction - the mind is filled with so much of negativity, that there is no consciousness - so how could they ever live a happy life? That is not possible. Life lived in ignorance ends with total dissatisfaction - there is no peace, neither when the body was alive and nor when the body is dead. The consequences of living in ignorance is terrible and beyond human imagination.
The only way out - is to Let GO. And you would be able to Let GO - only when you are living in Suchness - in total acceptance, Tathata!
Letting Go has nothing to do with "quitting". It is simply Letting Go of things that are toxic to your progression.
Like all other living beings, human life also comes with an 'expiry date'. And the 'expiry date' is not known - it can 'expire' anytime. No one can and no one would ever dare to estimate the longevity of human life with precise accuracy. You just never know!
One day, Buddha asked his disciples, "How long is a human life?"
Not a single disciple was able to answer correctly. Then the Buddha said, " Life is but a breath."
Life is an eternal journey of moments. You live in moment. You remember and treasure the moments of your life - and not the days! You may forgot the days, but you would never forgot the moments of life.
Life is made of moments
Every moment is different from the last. You have to simply observe and accept the moment of your life as a 'witness'.
"Watch, witness. Your body is not you; your mind is not you. You are just a pure witness." - Osho
Living in Suchness - 'Tathata' is possible only when you simply become a 'witness' to what is happening in your life.
"Life is constantly changing. Only one thing is unchanging and that is your witnessing. Witnessing is beyond all polarities. It is the transcendental element in existence." - Osho
How to live in total acceptance? The answer is in meditation. Meditation is to bring you closer to the 'existence' - the 'reality' - the more closer you get to it - the more you start living in total acceptance - believing and realizing that 'Such are the things' and then eventually, slowly you start learning to live in Suchness - Tathata!
"Forgot the dancer, the center of the Ego; become the dance. That is the meditation." - Osho
Meditation is to go beyond the 'boundaries of mind' - it is to break the 'prison of mind' - to drop the mind . It is only when you drop the mind that you can reach the 'heart'! And it is only in your heart that you can experience the blissful divine existence of God! The heart is God's temple.
Open your heart and invite God into every circumstance because when God enters the scene, miracles happen.
When you are no more trapped in the prison of 'mind' - you become a Yogi. That is the beauty of Yoga. It may take multiple cycles of birth and rebirth until you finally reach to the stage of a Yogi - and it is only when you become a Yogi - you come to a non-dreaming mind.
"Yoga is a method to come to a non-dreaming mind." - Osho
The key to living in suchness - in total acceptance is in the beauty of Yoga. Unless you accept yourself in totality - you cannot live in suchness (Tathata). It has to begin from YOU.
"The moment you accept yourself, you become beautiful." - Osho
Self-acceptance is the foundation to living your life in total acceptance - Tathata! Then life is no more the same, everything is the same but you are not the same - then nothing is rejected or regretted, nothing is condemned or judged - then you become a 'witness' to all that is happening in your life. Just the way you would sit on the seashores - 'observing' the sea of your life, its waves, the high and low tides - then you are not a part of that 'sea' (life) - you are simply an observer, a witness to what has happened, is happening and will happen! How beautiful is this, - this is the secret to the blissful existence of saints, yogis and seers! That they all live in suchness - Tathata!
One who lives in the state of 'Tathata' (suchness) is called "Tathagata".
"Tathagata" is one who comes and goes without judging, without discriminating, without criticizing, without rebelling, but lives his or her life in total acceptance. In the buddhist sutras (sermons), "Tathagata" is the title that the Buddha himself uses when speaking of himself or of the Buddhas in general.
The reason we are not able to accept all that happened or is happening with our life is because we are too attached. Attachment leads to selfishness. You tend to 'cling' to everything that you come across! The more you have the tendency to cling - the more you are going to feel the pain within. Clinging to things makes you more and more selfish And selfishness leads to miseries. Miseries make you suffer.
"The root of suffering is 'Attachment' " - Buddha
It is myth that you can love only when you are attached to someone. Such a love is possessiveness and not love.
True love happens when you are detached! Unconditional love is possible only when you are detached. Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Rama, and many such masters offered so much of love, indefinite love and yet they always remained detached - just like the lotus flower, it may have its roots in the water - but it always is above the water - detached from the water, and yet in the water - how deep is this and how beautiful is this, such a love - love that wells up from detachment is not possessive, not jealous, not selfish - it is pure selfless love - it is totally unconditional!
Love is not 'if' or 'because'. Love is 'Anyway', and 'Even though' and 'In-spite of'. True love is always unconditional!
That is how deeply the divine masters love every human being - they never judge, they simply love! When you love, you simply love! Such a love wells up through detachment.
Detachment is not that you should own nothing. But that nothing should own you.
And it is only through detachment that you can be a 'witness' - because it is only when you become a witness that you can live in total acceptance - suchness, tathata.
When you stay positive, and live your life in total acceptance, you realize that in life -God doesn't give you 'People' you want. Instead God gives you 'People' you need - to teach you, to hurt you, to love you and make you exactly the way God wants you to be - "The Best"!
Just one step towards 'total acceptance' and life starts changing, then everything around you is the same - but you are not the same, then there is a song to it, a poem, a painting and life is never the same again! That is the beauty of living in suchness (tathata)!
Let life flow - don't interfere. The secret to experiencing happiness in your life is living in suchness, tathata - total acceptance!
Once you've mastered the art of accepting things for what they are, life gets easier.
Accept, forgive and love unconditionally - that is the surest way to be happy!
Living in Suchness
Published on August 29, 2017 on Linked In by Addittya Tamhankar
You cannot reject death. When death arrives - there is no option but to 'accept'.
No credit card, no paycheck, no accumulated wealth and no contacts or 'connections' are going to be of any help - when the 'time of death' comes, you are left with no option but to accept! This is the nature of things, suchness, 'Tathata'!
Once a disciple asked the Buddha "What should one do with death? Should he accept it?"
Buddha said "Death is! One who has born would have to die someday."
You cannot skip death, similarly, you also cannot skip the painful 'events' of your life. Fortunate or unfortunate - there is no option but to accept the events of your life in totality. Tathata! That is how deep the concept of "Tathata" (Suchness) is.
Life becomes a problem, a misery when you become too much attached to every event of your life - so much so that it is just impossible for you to 'accept' anything that goes against your expectations, against your wishes, or against your interests. Then there is an intense fight within - the mind is not willing to accept and you are angry because life is not willing to listen to what you want. But in reality, it is not life that is frustrating you, but it is you who is not listening to life. And the more you live in nonacceptance, the more you are going to experience miseries in your life.
When your mind is not willing to accept - your energy is divided. Half the energy is moving towards rejection, rebellion, resentment and half the energy is moving towards acceptance. This fight goes on and the more it would continue, the more it would make you feel miserable.
The only way out is to 'Accept' in totality (Tathata).
Life is a 'Gift', let it flow....the more you try to interfere - the more you would attract unending miseries in your life. And then out of ignorance - you will label it as 'fate'!
"There is so much grace in acceptance. Its not an easy concept, but if you embrace it, you'll find more peace than you ever imagined." - Loretta LaRoche
Tathata is even deeper than the English word 'acceptance’; it is 'tathata' - total acceptance! It is believing and acknowledging that 'such are the things' and living in Suchness!
Tathata is the very central concept of Mahayana Buddhism. The whole Buddhist meditation consists of living in this single word - "Tathata", living with this word so deeply that the word disappears and you become the suchness (Tathata).
Living in 'Suchness' (Tathata) can uplift your life to higher dimensions, it can eradicate the miseries of your life that you had created by not accepting what has happened or happening with you in totality. When you are living with total acceptance - no event, no person, and no situations are going to distract or disturb your integrity, your 'peace of mind'. The spiritually evolved Yogi is never disturbed or distracted by any events - he simply 'accepts in totality' (Suchness-Tathata) all that life has to offer - with a sense of gratitude. There is never the slightest instance of resentment or grievance. Everything is accepted in totality!
"A man becomes a Buddha the moment he accepts all that life brings with gratitude." - Rajneesh
That is what living life in Suchness ("Tathata") is. Tathata means saying 'yes' so totally that within your being there is no division. You become one in your 'yes'. You say 'yes' so totally that there exists no 'rejection' inside you, no denial. And this is so beautiful, so magical and so insightful - that it can work wonders if you truly understand what "Tathata" is. Tathata is beyond 'Acceptance' - because the concept of 'Suchness' (Tathata) simply has no provision of providing you with two options - with two possibilities (Acceptance or Rejection), it is simply realizing and acknowledging that - the only way is - the way it is!
Tathata, or total acceptance, is not a majority decision. It is not parliamentary, it is total.
You have fallen sick - the moment you feel within - that is the only way it is, immediately the body starts healing. There is no question of 'trying to accept' - there is no question of putting any efforts - but just acknowledging that 'such are the things' (Tathata)!
You have lost your job , there is no question of 'trying to accept' - but simply accepting that 'such are the things' - Tathata !
Immediately your energy is then focused on searching for a new job rather than resenting and dividing your energy between resentment and acceptance.
Something is wrong in your body, just acknowledge - that is is how it is - and then there is no conflict of accepting or rejecting - the energy is not divided - and so it starts working in 'totality' - helping the body to heal. Once you accept, then there is no rift, no division of energies - the energy has become one - within. Then there is so much of energy - that it becomes a healing force.
You have lost someone very dear to you, the moment you 'accept' that is the the only way it is - all your resentment, depression, nonacceptance starts evaporating - then you are one with the existence, then you have truly accepted, then peace comes to you - and with peace comes the willingness to 'move on' with your life!
The key solution is living in suchness - Tathata!
Tathata is something so wonderful that it can take you beyond the realms of acceptance! Uplifting you to the higher altitudes of life.
Human life is short, active years of human life are even shorter. So there is no point in spending your energy by indulging in 'revengeful' activities. Only ignorant fools do that.
"Revenge is sweet, sweeter than life itself - so thinks the fools"
Fools takes the knife and stab people in the back. The wise takes the knife, cut the cord, and set themselves free from the fools. Fools live their whole life in nonacceptance - and so they continue to plot and indulge in resentment, revengeful activities - so much so that even when they are dying - there is no satisfaction - the mind is filled with so much of negativity, that there is no consciousness - so how could they ever live a happy life? That is not possible. Life lived in ignorance ends with total dissatisfaction - there is no peace, neither when the body was alive and nor when the body is dead. The consequences of living in ignorance is terrible and beyond human imagination.
The only way out - is to Let GO. And you would be able to Let GO - only when you are living in Suchness - in total acceptance, Tathata!
Letting Go has nothing to do with "quitting". It is simply Letting Go of things that are toxic to your progression.
Like all other living beings, human life also comes with an 'expiry date'. And the 'expiry date' is not known - it can 'expire' anytime. No one can and no one would ever dare to estimate the longevity of human life with precise accuracy. You just never know!
One day, Buddha asked his disciples, "How long is a human life?"
Not a single disciple was able to answer correctly. Then the Buddha said, " Life is but a breath."
Life is an eternal journey of moments. You live in moment. You remember and treasure the moments of your life - and not the days! You may forgot the days, but you would never forgot the moments of life.
Life is made of moments
Every moment is different from the last. You have to simply observe and accept the moment of your life as a 'witness'.
"Watch, witness. Your body is not you; your mind is not you. You are just a pure witness." - Osho
Living in Suchness - 'Tathata' is possible only when you simply become a 'witness' to what is happening in your life.
"Life is constantly changing. Only one thing is unchanging and that is your witnessing. Witnessing is beyond all polarities. It is the transcendental element in existence." - Osho
How to live in total acceptance? The answer is in meditation. Meditation is to bring you closer to the 'existence' - the 'reality' - the more closer you get to it - the more you start living in total acceptance - believing and realizing that 'Such are the things' and then eventually, slowly you start learning to live in Suchness - Tathata!
"Forgot the dancer, the center of the Ego; become the dance. That is the meditation." - Osho
Meditation is to go beyond the 'boundaries of mind' - it is to break the 'prison of mind' - to drop the mind . It is only when you drop the mind that you can reach the 'heart'! And it is only in your heart that you can experience the blissful divine existence of God! The heart is God's temple.
Open your heart and invite God into every circumstance because when God enters the scene, miracles happen.
When you are no more trapped in the prison of 'mind' - you become a Yogi. That is the beauty of Yoga. It may take multiple cycles of birth and rebirth until you finally reach to the stage of a Yogi - and it is only when you become a Yogi - you come to a non-dreaming mind.
"Yoga is a method to come to a non-dreaming mind." - Osho
The key to living in suchness - in total acceptance is in the beauty of Yoga. Unless you accept yourself in totality - you cannot live in suchness (Tathata). It has to begin from YOU.
"The moment you accept yourself, you become beautiful." - Osho
Self-acceptance is the foundation to living your life in total acceptance - Tathata! Then life is no more the same, everything is the same but you are not the same - then nothing is rejected or regretted, nothing is condemned or judged - then you become a 'witness' to all that is happening in your life. Just the way you would sit on the seashores - 'observing' the sea of your life, its waves, the high and low tides - then you are not a part of that 'sea' (life) - you are simply an observer, a witness to what has happened, is happening and will happen! How beautiful is this, - this is the secret to the blissful existence of saints, yogis and seers! That they all live in suchness - Tathata!
One who lives in the state of 'Tathata' (suchness) is called "Tathagata".
"Tathagata" is one who comes and goes without judging, without discriminating, without criticizing, without rebelling, but lives his or her life in total acceptance. In the buddhist sutras (sermons), "Tathagata" is the title that the Buddha himself uses when speaking of himself or of the Buddhas in general.
The reason we are not able to accept all that happened or is happening with our life is because we are too attached. Attachment leads to selfishness. You tend to 'cling' to everything that you come across! The more you have the tendency to cling - the more you are going to feel the pain within. Clinging to things makes you more and more selfish And selfishness leads to miseries. Miseries make you suffer.
"The root of suffering is 'Attachment' " - Buddha
It is myth that you can love only when you are attached to someone. Such a love is possessiveness and not love.
True love happens when you are detached! Unconditional love is possible only when you are detached. Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Rama, and many such masters offered so much of love, indefinite love and yet they always remained detached - just like the lotus flower, it may have its roots in the water - but it always is above the water - detached from the water, and yet in the water - how deep is this and how beautiful is this, such a love - love that wells up from detachment is not possessive, not jealous, not selfish - it is pure selfless love - it is totally unconditional!
Love is not 'if' or 'because'. Love is 'Anyway', and 'Even though' and 'In-spite of'. True love is always unconditional!
That is how deeply the divine masters love every human being - they never judge, they simply love! When you love, you simply love! Such a love wells up through detachment.
Detachment is not that you should own nothing. But that nothing should own you.
And it is only through detachment that you can be a 'witness' - because it is only when you become a witness that you can live in total acceptance - suchness, tathata.
When you stay positive, and live your life in total acceptance, you realize that in life -God doesn't give you 'People' you want. Instead God gives you 'People' you need - to teach you, to hurt you, to love you and make you exactly the way God wants you to be - "The Best"!
Just one step towards 'total acceptance' and life starts changing, then everything around you is the same - but you are not the same, then there is a song to it, a poem, a painting and life is never the same again! That is the beauty of living in suchness (tathata)!
Let life flow - don't interfere. The secret to experiencing happiness in your life is living in suchness, tathata - total acceptance!
Once you've mastered the art of accepting things for what they are, life gets easier.
Accept, forgive and love unconditionally - that is the surest way to be happy!
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