78. Living intensely

If you really want to experience life, if you really want to know the ultimate mystery of Existence, if you want to dive into the ocean of bliss, then the way into it is intensity. Be intense in whatever you do. Let you dissolve in it. Do not be partial. Be integrated in yourself.

If you dance, dance so totally that you become the dance. There will be no dancer remaining then, only the dance remains. If you paint, paint so intensely that the painter disappears in the painting and see how that piece of art becomes so exquisite. When the ego dissolves, the false sense of identity disappears and you can see the flow of the intelligent and total energy of Existence through you.

There is a beautiful story on Bodhidharma* , the enlightened master who took Zen Buddhism to China, Japan and other parts of Asia.

It is said that Bodhidharma sat for nine years facing the wall of his cave. He just sat silently, not doing anything for nine years. His legs withered away as there was no movement at all.*

He would not accept any disciple unless he showed a burning intensity. After nine years his first disciple, Hui Kujo, came. It is said that he cut off his hand and offered it to Bodhidharma, saying, 'Master, please accept this. If you don't look at me now, I will cut off my head as well.'

Bodhidharma turned to face the disciple. He said, 'The man has come to who I can deliver my message.'

At once see the Divine

Kabir* says beautifully, 'If thou art a true seeker, thou shall at once see Me.'

How can you identify whether you are a true seeker? If the fire is there, if the intensity is there, if the urgency is there, and if the quest is there, then you are a seeker.

As Kabir* says, what is important is the genuine desire. What matters is the intensity, passion, sincerity and integrated seeking. If you have this, you will 'see' the Divine surely.

If you are not able to, be very clear, your intensity is not yet complete. You are calling Him halfheartedly.

Intensity to seek god

Many of us claim, 'I have been praying so intensely. What is the way to see god?' Just look closely at yourself. Is god your very first priority? For most of us, more often than not, god is somewhere down in the list. Actually, you feel, 'If I have good food to eat, if I have a house to live in, after I provide for my family, and if there is time, I will add god to the list of what I seek.' God is the last in the big list of desires. Of course, the list never ends.

Bodhidharma - A disciple of Buddha and mainly responsible for spreading Buddhism as Zen Buddhism. Kabir - Mystic devotional poet of India.

It is a vicious circle. God can never make it to the top of the list because your desires are endless. You do some action to fulfill a desire. The seeds of many further actions are sown in that action because you are not total in that action. Then, god gets pushed further down the list.

Intensity decides age

A small story:

Once somebody asked a master, 'How old are you?' He replied, 'Three hundred years'. The man could not believe it. He said in surprise, 'What! You hardly look sixty.'

The master replied, 'Physically, by the calendar time, I am indeed sixty. But when it comes to living, I have lived life at least five times more intensely than the average person.'

What matters is not the quantity of life, but the quality, the intensity of living.

Intensity prepares you for the ultimate

Initiation

The Upanishads, the ancient vedic texts by the sages and mystics that happened as revelations, say that for the person who is initiated, the whole world is heaven. Understand the word 'initiation'. It does not mean doing some ceremony or ritual.

Initiation means that 'click' happening in you. When a master expresses the truth, if the click, the realization, happens in you and if you suddenly feel, 'O god! What he says is right. I was always thinking exactly this. He put it in the right way,' that is what initiation is. If you feel whatever I am speaking is what you always thought about but I am verbalizing it and properly putting it in words, the initiation has happened.

Please understand, only after all the preparation is done and only when you are in the state of high intensity, the truth uttered by the master just clicks.

When the master says there is no need for any seeking any more and just liberate yourself right now, you will be able to do so only if you have done enough of seeking and created the intensity. That is the paradox!

The technique is to get the right attitude of intensity. Actually, if you have high intense energy, you will automatically have the right listening. You will be just waiting to catch one glimpse. You will be just waiting to listen. You will be just waiting to imbibe.

That is why masters speak again and again and again for years over years. I started speaking only a few years ago. Buddha spoke for over forty years. But the message was the same. His first sermon and the last sermon are almost the same.

You may then think why thousands of disciples sat everyday and heard the same sermon again and again. Because the click happens only when you are in intense energy. Only with intensity it clicks. You just catch the flame and the awakening happens.