Body to Buddhahood: How to move on the path to our Inner Being?

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There are three layers to our being: Doing, Thinking, and Feeling. The first layer of our being is doing. We do things through our hands and legs. We do things through our body. This is the doing aspect of our being. Doing is physical. This is the physical layer of our being. This is the outermost layer. This is our Physical Quotient. The second layer is thinking. This is the mental layer of our being. This is our intellectual layer. This is the mind of the being. This is the layer below the physical layer. This determines our Intellectual Quotient. The feeling is the third layer. It is our emotional layer. This is the heart of the being. This layer is below the intellectual layer. And this determines our Emotional Quotient. Just think of three concurrent circles with one common center. The top circle is our Physical Quotient. The second circle is our Intellectual Quotient. The third circle is our Emotional Quotient. The center is our soul. This is our Spiritual Quotient.

The doing aspect is nothing but the manifestation of our thoughts and emotions. We think we are doing things. And some where deep down that doing is the manifestation of our thoughts and emotions. The thoughts can either be negative or positive. The emotions also can be either positive or negative. Each layer has its own cause and effect phenomenon. The effect has its roots in the cause. Sometimes we may get angry and get agitated, and this may result in abusing or hitting somebody as a consequence.

The hurt to somebody by either verbally abusing or physically hitting is the effect of the cause of the negative thoughts and negative emotions. In the ancient scriptures, more particularly in the mythology, the thoughts and emotions are represented by snakes or waves of the ocean as metaphors. The thoughts are like the floating waves in the ocean. The emotions are serpentine like the snakes. They are always moving. The very word ‘emotions’ is nothing but something that is moving and changing. The word mood-swings has also been derived from this root word called the emotion. We have also seen the agitated state of the ocean and also the silent state of the ocean. Since the thoughts and emotions are changing and moving, the transformation of these thoughts and emotions is possible. The whole process of transformation of these thoughts and emotions from negative to positive and then to neutral is a part of the process of Meditation or Dhyana. This is a part of our spiritual journey. The silent state simply means that now we are in full command and control of both the positive and the negative states. Now both the states are at our command and control. In this state we can have a top view of the whole situation. And we can strike a balanced view of the whole situation. In this sate we can have a total control of our whole being.


Let us take the example of a tight rope walker. The whole process of the balancing act of the tight rope walker is a great learning experience. There is a big learning curve in this. Initially he tries and falls. He again tries and falls. This goes on and on until he achieves a balancing state. He learns this art by and by. And ultimately he becomes a master of his own art. And to achieve this balancing act on the rope he takes the help of a pole. This pole helps him in creating a balance. When he leans towards the left he moves the pole towards the right, and when he leans towards the right he moves the pole towards the left. This third thing and an external thing helps him achieve the balance. This pole acts like a meditation. There are these three positions in the whole process - the left, the right, and the middle. The process of mindfulness or meditation or dhyana strikes a balance.

Let us take the example of a car. The car has three gears. The gear is actually one but has three states. The forward gear, the backward gear, and the neutral gear. Both the forward and the backward gears have their route through the common center called the neutral. In the beginning when the car was invented there was only a forward gear and there was no backward gear because the neutral was not yet discovered. The then drivers of the car had to take a round about journey because there was no backward gear. The neutral or the silent state of the mind is not to be taken in that ordinary and negative sense. It is a more stronger and stable state. All these three states of the gear have their own importance and utility. A better driver of the car is one who has mastered the use and application of all these three states. The whole process of learning and observing acts like meditation or dhyana. And this eventually results into the mastery of the art of driving.

Let us take a third example of an atomic structure. Look at the whole atomic structure. There are electrons, protons, and neutrons in the atom. The electrons are negatively charged particles and are in the outermost orbit of the atom. This actually is the periphery of the atom. The protons and neutrons are in the nucleus. They are at the very center of the atom. The protons are positively charged particles. And the neutrons are no-charge or neutrally charged particles. They are in the very core of the atom. The protons are more powerful than the electrons. And the neutrons are even more powerful than the electrons and the protons. And as we move towards the center the power increases. The power is less at the periphery of the atom and the power is more at the center of the atom.

Similar is the situation of our being. As we move towards the center of our being the power increases. The Spiritual Quotient is more powerful than the Physical Quotient, the Intellectual Quotient, and the Emotional Quotient. At the very center of our being is our Soul. The soul is our spiritual center. This is our Spiritual Quotient. This is the power center of our being. This center of our being is an infinite reservoir of spiritual energy. As we move on this spiritual path, slowly and slowly, by and by, we will attain to this state of infinite spiritual energy. And here in this state we come to know that the whole being is directed and controlled by our soul. One day this state becomes our existential realization. It becomes our living experience. And this state is called ‘Sthithaprajna’ or equanimity as per the Upanishads. And this is the state of our true being. This is called the body-being. This is the way of moving from the body to the being. This is where Buddha said that our body is a door to our Buddhahood. This state determines our Spiritual Quotient. And all this is possible through right thinking, right feeling, and right doing. There are these three forces that churn our being - Tamas, Rajas, and Satva. The force of Tamas takes us into the past of regression. The force of Rajas takes us into the future of progression. And the force of Satva brings us a kind of dynamic equilibrium or a balance or an equanimity. Mathematically, 


Spiritual Quotient (SQ) = Intellectual Quotient (IQ) + Emotional Quotient (EQ).

This is where Vedas say, “Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavathi”. That is, you become what you think. This is exactly where Buddha says, “As we think, so we become”.


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