Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
13th July 2017
Special
“Ordinary”
Human minds want, wish and desire the special in everything they look for. The human mind looks for the special house to live in, special food to taste, special drink to drink, special dress to wear, special holiday to have, etc.
Similarly, humans believe that enlightenment is a special experience and hence look for special experience to get enlightenment through the multitude of ways available to be enlightened.
Man or woman is not sure what is special for everyone and it is also impossible to know what is special for everyone. Therefore, only what is preferred, liked or loved is special for that particular individual.
Similarly, the way to get enlightenment, which is preferred, liked or loved by the individual, is special to him or to her and not to everybody.
What man knows and believes is special is special to him. But man is not contented with the special that he believes he has. He is, therefore, constantly in search for the special.
When will man’s need for the special, including the need for the special experience of Enlightment end, is the question that needs to be understood deeply by man or woman.
Firstly, man and woman need to understand that a moment in life happens by itself and neither of them makes the moment. Secondly, the colours in nature happen by themselves and they do not make it happen.
Thirdly, the colours present in daily life are from the colours present in nature. Man needs to understand deeply that, if colours were not present in nature, colours would not be present in their daily lives.
Fourthly, man and woman need to understand deeply that seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touch and having happen in the moment and the moment is not made by them.
Therefore, every man and woman needs to understand deeply that, if the moment in life were not present, they would not be able to see, hear, smell, taste, touch or have.
When this deep understanding of the moment in life happens to a man or to a woman, he or she would understand that the moment in life is special. They would also understand that whatever they see, hear, taste, smell, touch or have is special.
They would also understand that the ordinary is special as well. The understanding that every moment is special is Enlightment. There is no special experience to reach enlightenment.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2017
Editor’s Note:
A well-known athlete, who was competing in front of her home crowd, was reported as saying that the victory she had just achieved there was ‘pretty, pretty special’. And so it was both for her and the crowd. Her performance was remarkable. Not so for the equally well-known athlete, whose performance was marred by injury, in front of his home crowd. In this article Dr Shankar reveals that the moment in life, every moment in life, happens by itself. So too does everything that is contained within the moment happen by itself: it is not made by man or woman, whether in the context of an athletic performance or in the events of daily life. Understanding of this brings contentment; deep understanding is enlightenment.
Julian Capper, UK.
German Translator’s Note:
Only through comparison, man or woman, boy or girl, discerns the special from the ordinary. This is the function of the mind, based on the mind’s capacity to invent an illusory time and space in which differences appear real. Dr. Shankar points out that life is the timeless ‘Now’ and thoughtless ‘Here’, and so the comparison is not an actuality. Hence life is special every moment. What a deep insight! Once understood deeply, admiration and gratitude to life’s moment, every moment, is the natural outcome. Life is very special!
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.