Kannadasan – A Realized Master (Part 7)

We had ended the last episode with the question whether ‘whatever we think’ will happen. Henry Ford of yesteryears made this famous statement: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” He was only pointing out to the self-fulfilling prophecy that whatever a human thinks inside his head, comes out as reality in the outer world.

In his book, “Discovering the Power of Self-Hypnosis: The Simple, Natural Mind-Body approach to Change and Healing”, Stanley Fisher brings out the fact that the self-talk we engage in our wakeful time (the endless chatter in our heads) is nothing but self-hyping, i.e., programming ourselves through our desires, fantasies and hopes and making many of them come up as a reality in the ‘outside world’. The sum and substance of this book is this: We human beings have a built-in system of automated behaviors. And the good news is we have the control to change our wiring. After all we are the Masters of our Destiny! Nikola Tesla takes it to the next level: “You attract what you are. Not what you want.’

But Indian Spirituality deals with human thought and its fruition differently: You may think and act as per your will and wish, but don't attach yourself to the results; they may or may not come as you desire. Bhagavat Gita tells, "Do what you have to, but in the meanwhile, accept what is". Now let's see what Kannadasan says in the following song in the film “Nenjil Orr Aalayam”:

“If everything we wished for came true, there would be no need for the Divine.”

(“Ninaippathellam Nadandhuvittaal Deivam Edhumillai”) 

The poet points to the Supreme Power beyond the human thought. It is here that the Western science comes face to face with the Eastern wisdom-The Uncertainty Principle, so called Maya of the Universe. In his book “A Short History of Nearly Everything: A Journey Through Space and Time” author Bill Bryson says, "it is an immutable property of the universe. What this means in practice is that you can never predict where an electron will be at any given moment. You can only list its probability of being there. An electron doesn't exist until it is observed. Or, put slightly differently, until it is observed an electron must be regarded as being 'at once everywhere and nowhere'. 

On the much-famous Schrodinger's Cat experiment, "Stephen Hawking has observed with a touch of understandable excitement, that one cannot 'predict future events exactly if we cannot even measure the present state of the universe precisely!' 

In another song,”Ponaal Pohattum Poda” (Film: Paalum Pazhamum), Kannadasan says it in other words (“Namakkum Meley Oruvanada, Avan Naalum Therindha Thalaivanadaa, Dhinam Naadahamaadum Kalaignadaa”):

“There is One above us—

A Leader who knows all things,

An artist who enacts a drama every day.”

 

What would happen if everything a person wished for came true? Besides, the limited human mind in a ‘smaller context’ may many times produce destructive outcomes. In another song (Film: “Thai Sollai Thattadhey”), he teases the man like this(“Poyum Poyum Manidhanukindha Bhuthhiyaik Koduthaane”):

 

“Of all things, God bestowed this kind of intellect upon man—truly, He gave him this intellect!

Yet, man mixed lies, deceit, and theft into it, and ruined the earth—man ruined the earth!” 

Let us delve further into the song from the film 'Nenjil Oor Aalayam':

 

“If we dwelt only on the past, we would find no peace.

A story that has ended does not continue in God’s ledger,

Yet a story that has continued finds no closure in the realm of man” 

The poet goes on to point to the endless loop of human thinking by stating that there is closure of accounts upstairs whereas the drama continues endlessly in the human mind. If we continue to ruminate our past (“I did this, He should not have said this, Why ONLY bad things happen to me” kind of ‘his’story), it will be an endless chain of thoughts out of which mental peace can never result. 

“The heart is a gateway with a thousand entrances,

Where a thousand thoughts are born;

Some may arrive, and some may linger—

Their coming and going often go unnoticed.

If but one thought resides there, there is no sorrow;

But if one displaces another, peace is lost forever.” 

Kaviyarasar laughs at the ‘thousand-holed-mind’ in another song also (Film: “Dharmam Thalaikaakum” Song: “Orunvan Manadu Onbadhadaa”): 

“A person's mind holds nine facets, yet eighty lie hidden within;

He who sees only the outward form is but a man,

But he who perceives the inner soul is the Divine.” 

We are all well aware of the restless, wandering mind—but what is the solution? The poet answers this in the two verses above: if one focuses the mind and directs it towards God, it comes under control; if, however, it is squandered on external matters, it remains like a vessel full of holes. He also offers a remedy for the bewilderment of the human mind:

 

Where life begins, or where and how it ends—

No one knows the path or the nature of the journey.

The paths keep shifting, and the journey eventually concludes;

Once the nature of this change is understood, the confusion clears.” 

Master Mooji & Nisarga Dutta also give the same solution: “Discard the changing/ transient ones and focus ONLY on the unchanging one thing, the ‘I Am’ feeling of your presence to attain realization.” Nisarga Datta Maharaj handholds us to check “whether we had ANY personal experience of having been born. (Your parents told you that you are born; it is an input from external source).  No. Do you think you will ever ‘experience’ death. Not at all. There is NO birth and No death. Then why worry over the changing mind and its tantrums.” I recall a funny saying on this. The classic, humorous quote attributed to the filmmaker, writer, and comedian Woody Allen is: "I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.” When the "I" (the ego) is absent, isn't it akin to death? That is precisely why the local sage Pattinathar sang, "Wander like the dead." 

"Even when the body and soul perish,

Do not earn the name 'sinner' on this earth;

O foolish heart, crave not for worldly grandeur or attachments—

Simply wander like the dead." 

To suit modern times, instead of saying "we need neither worldly grandeur or attachments (vithaaramum kadambum)" we could say "neither we need a showcase nor a dining table," or "we need neither a TV nor a dressing table." 

To lift us from this somber mood, kavi gnani he points out the ailment afflicting humanity in the song “Annan Ennada… Thambi Ennada…” (Film: Pazhani): 

“What does it matter who is the elder brother or the younger?

In this hurried world,

What is the point of harboring desires

When one has no money?” 

“All the sorrows of the human race

Are ailments born of the mind.” 

Contemporary gurus like Jaggi Vasudeo & Eckhart Tolle also underscore the fact that “the unobserved mind is the misery manufacturing machine. Physical disease is real and body deals with it easily, but mental disease is man created”. Pain is real; suffering is optional-self-created!

More particularly, Eckhart says in his book, “The Power of Now”, “Your mind is an instrument, a tool. It is there to be used for a specific task and when the task is completed, you lay it down. As it is, I would say about 80 to 90 percent of most people's thinking is not only repetitive and useless but because of dysfunctional and negative nature, much of it is also harmful. Observe your mind and you will find this to be true. It causes a serious leakage of vital energy.” 

Come to think of our ‘autopilot mind’ which keeps ‘hijacking us’ almost all of the waking hours. Can we stop the mind altogether? But for planning and other productive purposes, we need to think. We can’t do without it. “Is mind a curse? Or is it a blessing? Is a knife good or bad? It is neither. In the hands of a murderer, it serves to take a life out while handled by doctor to save one by precision operation. A cook uses it to cut vegetables and make a healthy meal.”

So, in this so-called ‘good’ or ‘bad’ judgement, it is in the way a mind tool is used that its benefit or dysfunction can be decided. But the moot question the spiritual masters raise is, “are we using the thinking tool or it is using us most of the time?” Eckhart continues in his book, “The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.  To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly. you usually don't use it at all. It uses you.  This is the disease.  You believe that you are your mind.  This is the delusion. The instrument has taken you over.”

When we consciously use it, the mind acts like the genie from Aladdin’s magic lamp, manifesting whatever we desire. Conversely, for much of the day—whether we are awake or in the 'dream factory' during sleep—the mind hijacks us; it runs on autopilot and pulls our strings, making us dance to its tune.

Kannadasan mocks this state of affairs in the next song. Did the question arise in your mind as to which song it might be? To quote the lyricist himself: "Who knows what tomorrow brings? Walk the path, and the drama of life unfolds!" (“Naalai varuvathu yaarukku theriyum…Nadanthu paarthaal naatakam puriyum!” from the song "Palinginaal Oru Maaligai..." in the movie *Vallavan Oruvan*). We shall explore this in the next episode.

-J Jeyes (www.jeyes.in)