The above three numbers represent a composition. For every 100 people on this earth, they can be distributed into 3 groups of 80, 16 and 04. What is this distribution about?

80

80 out of 100 people are fully involved in the humdrum and daily mundane life. They thrive in it and enjoy it totally. They accept life as it is with all it’s duality – the good with the bad, ups with the downs, happiness with unhappiness. They do not want it any other way. For them, life starts with birth and ends with death. And they do not have any curiosity to know anything beyond life.

16

16 out of 100 people have got tired of the mundaneness of life. They instinctively know that there is something more to life but do not know what. So they start to look around, trying out different things while being rooted in their mundaneness.

04

04 out of 100 people have crossed through what the above 96 (80 + 16) people are doing. They have discovered that there is more to life than what is evident. And most of them, make their journey of self-discovery their main life purpose and build their daily life around it.

All three categories are important. The world has it’s own order. Do not disturb it. Figure out which category you fit in – 80, 16 or 04 – then live you life accordingly.

Why is this important? Every individual being has their own life purpose to fulfill. Do not interrupt it.

Meditation is for everyone.

If you are in the 80 category, meditation will help you live your daily life in a more beautiful manner.
If you are in the 16 category, meditation will help you start your journey of self discovery while enjoying all the worldly pleasures.
If you are in the 04 category, meditation will help you live in this world on your own terms while you traverse this world.

Figure out where you are in the above. The journey of life is amplified when you incorporate meditation.

Bodh simply means “awareness,” “knowledge” or “understanding.”

There are two specific kinds of Bodh

Svayam + bodh → awareness of the self
Shatru + bodh → awareness of the adversary

Svayambodh gives you identity and purpose (your centre).
Shatrubodh gives you clarity about threats and boundaries (your surroundings).

Without self-awareness, you react from confusion; without worldly-awareness, you become open to manipulation.

There is a story from the Shanti Parv of the Mahabharata.

Deep in a great forest stood an enormous banyan tree. Its branches spread wide like a roof and its roots twisted deep into the earth. Many creatures lived there – birds, snakes, owls and small animals.

In a small hole near the tree’s roots lived a mouse named Palita. He was clever and cautious, always watching for danger. High up on one of the branches lived a cat named Lomasa. Lomasa was strong and swift and like all cats, he saw mice as food.

Every day, Palita kept a careful distance from Lomasa. He knew that if he came too close, the cat would pounce. And Lomasa, though he often watched the mouse, could never catch him because Palita was quick and alert.

One morning, trouble came to the forest. A hunter arrived with nets and traps. He climbed the banyan tree and spread a net among the branches. Sadly, Lomasa stepped into it and was caught. The more he struggled, the tighter the net became. He was trapped, helpless and frightened.

At the same time, Palita’s other enemies appeared. A hungry mongoose slithered near the roots and a sharp-eyed owl circled above. Both were looking for a meal – and Palita was the perfect target.

Palita peeked out of his hole and saw the scene: the cat tangled in the net, the mongoose creeping closer and the owl waiting in the sky. He thought quickly.

“The cat cannot hurt me while he is trapped,” Palita said to himself. “But if he dies or is carried away, I will lose my only chance of survival. The mongoose and the owl will have me for dinner.”

So Palita made a bold decision. He scurried up to the trapped cat and spoke.

“Lomasa,” he said, “we have always been enemies. But today, we share the same danger. If you promise not to harm me, I will gnaw through the net and set you free. And once you are free, you must protect me from the mongoose and the owl.”

Lomasa, desperate and trembling, agreed at once. “Yes, Palita! I swear I will not hurt you. Free me and I will guard you with my life.”

Without wasting time, Palita began to chew the thick ropes of the net. His small teeth worked tirelessly until, strand by strand, the net gave way. Finally, with a last bite, the net fell apart and Lomasa was free.

The cat stretched his limbs, relieved and grateful. At once, the mongoose and the owl, seeing the cat loose, slipped away into the forest. Palita was safe – for the moment.

Lomasa looked down at the little mouse with admiration. “Palita,” he said warmly, “you have saved my life. You are no longer my enemy but my friend. Stay close to me. We shall live together in peace.”

But Palita shook his head wisely. He kept a safe distance and replied, “Lomasa, we joined hands because we faced the same danger. That danger is now gone. You are a cat and I am a mouse. Our natures have not changed. I cannot trust you fully nor can I become your close friend.”

Lomasa was surprised. “But I promised! I am grateful to you. Why can’t we be friends?”

Palita answered calmly, “Gratitude is noble but nature is stronger. A wise mouse never forgets what a cat truly is. We helped each other in a time of need and that is enough. Now, I must return to my hole and you to your branch.”

And so, the cat and the mouse parted. They had saved each other’s lives but they did not pretend to be something they were not.

Palita had both his bodhs – Svayambodh as well as Shatrubodh – well developed. That’s why he thrived. Most humans don’t even know what is bodh, let alone develop it. Developing your bodh is extremely important, it helps you live your life well.

How does one develop bodh or awareness?

Meditation is the best way to develop bodh or awareness. As you meditate, your awareness – internal and external – increases. This leads you to start living your life on your own terms. A point comes where you see the difference for yourself. Before you were like a piece of driftwood in the sea, going wherever the waves took you. Now you are like a bird in the sky, flying wherever you want, using the natural currents in the air.

Start your meditation journey today.

विद्या ददाति विनयं विनयाद् याति पात्रताम् ।
पात्रत्वाद् धनमाप्नोति धनाद् धर्मं ततः सुखम् ॥

Vidyā dadāti vinayaṃ, vinayād yāti pātratām;
pātratvād dhanam āpnoti, dhanād dharmaṃ tataḥ sukham.

“Knowledge gives humility; from humility comes worthiness; from worthiness comes prosperity; from prosperity comes righteousness and happiness.”

Hitopadesha V 6

There was a great scholar who was renowned for his learning. He had studied the Vedas, grammar, philosophy, logic, poetry and many other branches of knowledge. He could quote scriptures from memory and speak brilliantly about the deepest questions of life.

One day, the scholar needed to cross a wide river. He climbed into a small boat. The boatman began rowing. As they moved toward the other shore, the scholar looked at the boatman and asked: “Do you know philosophy?”

The boatman smiled. “No, sir. I am an uneducated man. I know only how to row this boat.”

The scholar shook his head sadly. “Then you have wasted half your life.”

A little later, the scholar asked: “Have you studied literature ?”

“No, sir.”

“Logic?”

“No, sir.”

“Mathematics?”

“No.”

The scholar sighed. “What a pity! You have spent your whole life rowing a boat and have learned none of these important subjects.”

The boatman remained silent and continued rowing.

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered. The wind became fierce. The calm river turned into churning waves and the little boat began rocking violently.

The boatman looked at the scholar. “Sir, do you know how to swim?”

The scholar’s face went pale. “No.”

The boatman replied: “Then, sir, your entire life is wasted – not merely a part of it.”

The boat was filling with water. The scholar’s vast knowledge of grammar, philosophy, logic and literature could not help him now. The boat capsized and the scholar drowned in the river.

This story teaches us two lessons.

First – being only scholarly is of not much use in this world and being proud of your so called academic achievements is even worse.

Second – the world requires all types of people. The boatman is as important as the scholar in the scheme of life. Hence it is said not to interfere in the natural order of life but to accept and adapt to life.

As the verse above says – knowledge is that which teaches or instills humility in us. This humility makes one worthy which in turn leads to prosperity, that further leads to Dharma (righteousness) and Sukham (happiness).

There is also an esoteric meaning to the above story

The boat → life
The river → the world / saṃsāra
The scholar → intellectual knowledge
The boatman → practical wisdom
Swimming → awareness or the ability to actually navigate life’s difficulties

You have this body and life to help you cross the Samsara. Awareness is what will help you not only live a fulfilling life but will also help you cross the Samsara.

Awareness – embrace it.

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.”

René Daumal, Le Mont Analogue

A concise statement. Once you are aware of and know the beyond state, you have to come down to the earthly state and live your life.

Many people ask, why do Gurus and other enlightened people stay on in this world, if they know what is beyond?

The answer is simple. The human body yet exists. And you have to take care of it. You are now aware that the body is not yours but that awareness is what makes you take care of it. It was the body that helped you go beyond, as such it is now your responsibility to take care of it, as long as that particular human body exists on this earth.

Thus the Guru becomes a bridge between the Divine world and the Earthly world. And that is important as well. The connection is maintained.

Man is primarily in an animalistic state. Transcending this state is what leads to a civilisation on earth. Civilisation is what breeds culture, prosperity, pleasure etc. Civilisation is a conscious man made entity. And it is in civilisation, that man shapes the earthly world in the order of the Divine.

All the majestic temples and other super structures that we find on earth, they all were created by a civilisation that had highly achieved human beings.

The ebb and flow of civilisations is a natural phenomenon. Nothing is permanent on this Earth. Our human life is also limited to a few decades. Hence it is all the more important that every individual being makes the effort to know and understand themselves and their journey on Earth.

What is important, is for the individual to take advantage of civilisation to move into the higher state or to experience the higher state. When the individual experiences the higher state, automatically their life on Earth starts conducting itself in a manner of the Divine world. This is what is known as the memory or experience of the higher state.

Remember this human body is a blessing from the Divine to know about and to attain the Divine. Use it wisely.

I read this somewhere

Too freaked for celibacy
Too passionate for casual
Too self aware to settle
But miserable enough to yearn for love

The above lines sum up the confusion of the person beautifully.

Love – a word that drives a person to do things they would otherwise not do. But have you thought about it – what is love actually?

Ask anyone to define what love is – and the answers will be varied – from the fuzzy feeling you have for one person to the silliness that you do without any rational explanation. And it is precisely this ambiguity that is used by commercial establishments to push their products and services.

In the above lines, the person is openly yearning for sex but cannot say it openly. They do not have a partner who matches them sexually or fulfills them sexually and are looking for one. But if they say that openly, then society will look down on them or castigate them, so they use the word Love!

So deep is this hold of society, that even in today’s modern world one has to be careful and say they are looking for love.

Love, in other words, is the emotion that is society approved for two people to indulge in intimacy or sexual activity.

This brings us to the question – is it sex or is it love that is the primary factor?

In normal life, when two people get together, it is generally due to a past life connection or what is known as Runanubandh. The Runanubandhs that you have to fulfill in this life, lead you to the person who will help you fulfill these, just as you help them fulfill theirs. So it’s neither love nor sex but your past life connection that is the reason for attraction. Most people, in every life, fulfill some Runanubandh and create new ones.

Tantra takes a different approach. It recognises that Runanubandh is what gets two people together but then it uses the very same energy to help the two individuals to transcend their physical limitations and experience the beyond. This is what makes Tantra both sacred and scary.

Sacred as it helps the individual to experience the Divine.
Scary as someone who is not ready for it, will not want it and will be afraid of it.

Tantra says that the individuals blossom when the beings match.

What does this mean?

In simple terms, it means that when the sexual energy between the two people is matching or in synchronisation, the sexual energy gets amplified multiple times. This energy amplification feeds into the individuals, enhancing their senses as well as opening up some of their energy channels. It’s not the sexual act per se but the individual energies that synchronise and resonate as one.

So what needs to be done. If you are happy in your current situation, that’s good. Be there. If you want to experience something of the beyond then Tantra will help you experience a lot more.

The choice is yours to make.