Profiling the Unthinkable : Critical analysis of perceived Enlightened Individuals

Man, above all, seeks the highest attainable liberation.

My student life was mostly spent in rote learning concepts just prior to exams. I was interested with mathematical & logical riddles. In my 10th grade I was cocksure that I would score completely in my math paper. But while attempting to solve the most difficult problem set section, their solution did not light up in my head. The realization hit me hard that I had solved difficult problems in school whose solutions were already provided to me. But when it came to dissect new complex problems I was left handicapped.

I had made-up my mind of pursuing programming studies. Deja Vu. Program logic and algorithms were provided in college but the raw intellect to formulate your own code escaped my capability. It dawned on me that it was interesting to get fascinated by a clean working code but how does the original coder sums up the genius to see things from start to end ? Since I couldn’t find an answer to my pending question the only way to pass graduation was to rely on my rote memory.

Fed up of repetitive donkey work, I was frustrated beyond tolerance and couldn’t gather the focus of memorizing gibberish codes. Questions like ‘What’s the point of all this’, ‘What am I doing with my life’, ’I can’t go on like this’ wouldn’t escape my mind. And out of nowhere a clear voice spoke in my head “write this down…music’s the wine that sweeps my mind, for there is no solace that frees my binds”. I wrote my first poem. The failure in the following exam didn’t affect me at all. I was left with an incomparable joy of perhaps finding my own voice. I took the rest of my exams lightly without worrying much about the results. Somehow I got through.

Quite later the most satisfying answer to my pending question I found through Dr. Kapil Gupta’s writings :

“Ultimate intelligence is not that which you consciously create. It is that which you wholeheartedly tap into. It is only the man who is willing to let go of his idea of being intelligent that becomes privy to nature’s greatest secrets. And this, my friend, is nature’s cruel and genius design.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oLMRPFueEE

My dad kept a collection of books he found interesting during his travels which only looked good on the shelf to me. A friend in school infused the habit of reading by sharing his ‘Goosebumps’ collection. Gradually my focus shifted to dad’s collection of science journals, autobiographies, Nostradamus, astrology, Dianetics, philosophy, novels. Although I didn’t agree with some of the theories, ideas which made an impact remained in my memory. I cultivated the patience to complete a book even when I had conflicting principles to what the writer shared.

Osho’s manuscripts left quite an impact. I immersed in his discourses book after book. His insights were so relieving yet my hunger did not quench. I wished to know the Guru in person but the absence of his actual presence left me disheartened.

A wish to know such extraordinary individuals lit up in my mind. Fortunately, I think I have found a rare few. You could obviously look up their info and content so here’s my very brief perception about them.

Currently medically alive :

1. Sadhguru

Clarity of thought is what makes individuals we perceive as ‘Enlightened’ stand out. His clear short discourses, wit and simplicity is quite magnetic.

2. Dr. Kapil Gupta MD

He engages in personal counselling to serious professionals but his writings are enough to calm your mind if read carefully & with acceptance.

3. B. K. Shivani

A teacher at the Brahma Kumaris Foundation; her calm demeanour, directness and flow of thoughts when answering any question is very peaceful to follow.

4. Eckhart Tolle

His confession of reaching consistent blissful state that enligtenment offers post contemplation of life’s dark questions syncs with stories of folks like Ramana Maharshi. ‘Power of Now’ was a very insightful reading.

Deceased Ones :

1. Osho

Osho wished to form communes where people would forget petty differences among themselves and enjoy life with complete innocence. Even though the intent was benign, too much trust on someone who cannot fathom such magnificence maybe led to his downfall. Inbred fear which clouds people’s mind make individuals prey on attaching selfish gains to noble causes initiated by anyone with integrity. A vision becomes a business model. Perhaps the curse of Geniuses is to die misunderstood.

2. Swami Vivekanand

My father told me a very interesting story of Vivekanand which I couldn’t find on the internet. The monk challenged scientists that death is an illusion by going into a state of meditation. On reading his pulse through then available scientific apparatus he was declared dead by the doctors. But he opened his eyes and proved the limitations of scientific knowledge.

Words merely are the footprints of the individual. Same is the case with Buddha. People try to find meaning in labels but fail to contemplate the magic within themselves. After all, binding magic with reason is contradictory to the definition of magic itself. It’s like trying to make infinity a subset of something finite. Going through written discourses is trying to understand the apparatus of the magician but the magician you look up to has gone and you are all that is left.

3. Einstein

Perhaps having understood the limitations of science, egos of the so-called educated and the unfathomable depth of imagination the mind possess, his philosophical quotes give a good understanding of the core teachings which resonates with the messages the liberated ones share.

4. Alan Watts

A brilliant individual who studied eastern & western philosophies and bridged the two to help people understand themselves better.

5. Shakespeare

Humans are victims of unending drama. The Bard was a genius to feed it to us. I am not interested in conspiracy theories regarding authenticity or plagiarism of his works. People engaging in this mud-slinging are attached to the ownership of ideas and fail to see the beauty of the messages. Shooting the messenger could be equivalent to a sin. And as Osho beautifully defined, to sin is to miss the mark.

In movies : (Although these characters are the concoction of the writers, yet I feel they struck a chord extraordinaire)

1. Hannibal Lecter (Entry : Silence of the Lambs)

Literally bone-chilling the character is an unparalleled genius when profiling people. His spot on observations and unpredictable nature is what perhaps leaves the viewer disconcerting.

2. Andy Dufresne (The Shawshank Redemption)

The movie is a classic and the character a creation of human endurance. My deduction of what kept him going through all the horrid circumstances was knowing that even though society maybe corrupt and ran by idiots, your complete confidence in your own innocence is your guiding light.

3. Clyde Shelton (Law Abiding Citizen)

“Look, spies are a dime a dozen. I’m a spy. Clyde is a brain. He’s a think tank-type guy.”

This description of the protagonist who transforms into an anti-hero post the injustice he suffers is what ignited minds are. Critical thinking geniuses do not associate themselves with any designation society labels them with but use their knowledge, intellect & wisdom to flow things in balanced circumstances.

4. Keyser Soze (The Usual Suspects)

“The biggest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”.

Liberated individuals are rather detached from their loved ones. They do all they can to support humanity but without any expectations of any imaginable returns. This is a near impossible feat to achieve which quacks label as ‘disassociative disorder’. Doctors may feel and portray the notion that identifying a behaviour with a recorded symptom ends in the identification inquiry of the so-called patient. It’s so deceiving to judge a book by its cover. And to label men as record books is further insult to injury.

The other side of the coin is a rather horrid picture which this character is an example of.

5. Joker (The Dark Knight)

“Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos.”

Actually, if you look up on google, I follow this definition of the word ‘Anarchy’ : ‘absence of government and absolute freedom of the individual, regarded as a political ideal’.

Society usually perceives the saying that two heads are better than one but enlightened individuals may say that too many cooks spoil the broth. The pros and cons of every idea can be debated till the end of time. Ultimately what matters is how clear the path is.

Those who remain confused follow the ones who show them a path. The path could lead to a haven or a cliff. To know yourself better than anyone else is to be liberated.

Stories of Aesop, Buddha, Saints, Birbal, Tenali Raman, Mullah Nasruddin in folklore could be fabrication of human wisdom which are put under these stalwarts for spreading their messages and glory.

Naming a few books which have quite eased my deviant mind.

1. The Rubaiyat Of Omar Khayyam ~ (Translation by Edward FitzGerald)

2. Conversations with God [Book 1 was enough] ~ (Neale Donald Walsch)

3. The Story of Philosophy ~ (Will Durant)

4. Pensees ~ (Blaise Pascal)

5. The Golden Age of Zen ~ (John C. H. Wu)

Spirituality, conscience, consciousness will remain topics of discussion for the seekers. Individuals who i may have missed but perhaps you feel that are worthy of the ‘Enlightened’ title could totally be so. What matters is what you are at peace with. Kindly do not look at me as an authority on enlightenment.

All I can say is that an example from a Zen fable disturbed me to no end. A zen monk after hitting instantaneous enlightenment burnt all his books. At first, i was horrified. Now….

find your own understanding.