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Adi & Praja 023

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Adi and Praja

Chapter 6

Issue 23: How to use a mind

 They remain animals for now, until they have learned everything an animal-heart can learn.

(23)

(How to use a mind?)

(3) How to teach them to use their mind in the proper way?

Now to solve the first two problems had been relatively easy compared to the third problem. The rest of much of his life Adi would have to spend solving the third problem: How to teach each of the creatures how to use his or her mind in the proper way? And how to protect them if they were not using it in the proper way. Or what to do when something went wrong? Every creature, once it has a mind, becomes cocksure. That is because it can think now for itself and has to learn to use its mind and has to learn to choose. Even though your own mind can make mistakes. Without a mind you can just do what others say that you should do. This can be very dangerous. Only your own mind can make decisions for you yourself. But you can always listen to good advice, and if, after you have thought about it yourself, you think that the advice is really good, you can follow it. Of course you must first know whether you can fully trust the person who gives you advice. Most parents are such trustworthy persons, and most teachers at school also, at least those who teach young children. Teachers to high school children and at colleges and universities can not always be trusted because they sometimes talk about things about which they themselves do not know everything. Or about things they think they know everything about, but really don’t. Such teachers, even though they think they are doing good, are shrinking the minds of their pupils in stead of helping it to develop. To prevent that, you should learn to think for yourself and wherever you can, use your own mind in stead of the mind of somebody else. You can also read and study many books and webpages, but always remember that all these books and pages have been written by people who know things only partly and sometimes even entirely in a wrong way. So always take care with what you learn from books. But, being aware of that, it is very useful as a basis for training your mind to learn everything in a book or what a teacher says, whether you believe it or not (at least to get marks for your examination). But never accept anything about real life for yourself as for granted and forever; accept things only when they are really in agreement with your sound mind and feel right in your heart. This is what Buddha said – and he was a wise and responsible man. Even when you have accepted something by sound reasoning and when you feel that ‘it rings true’ in your heart, never forget that you are a developing being with an evolving mind – and that later you may see that despite your honesty you were wrong, or only partly right. Never accept anything blindly for true, but take it serious when it feels good.

But these things were no worry for Adi and his pupils. Adi was absolutely reliable and goodhearted and honest. It was his very nature, and nothing else was possible for him. His wisdom was really great, and far above the mental speculations of scientists and philosophers. His pupils, who could rise themselves above learned and fixed ideas and transcend the speculative, theorizing mind, could recognize the truth of things directly and therefore were beyond doubt. Adi would teach people in groups, or alone to individuals, and he could see exactly what was going on in each pupil’s mind and heart, because these were connected with his own. Therefore Adi usually does not write books, though occasionally has asks someone to write books for him. He does that in times when human minds have become so confused that their memories become bad and they can not remember what has been told to them. Then spoken teachings get lost as soon as they are heard. So such people can look in a book or on a website to find what has been said, and help themselves to get rid of some of their confusion. Even then, many get more confused by reading a book. Especially when they do not fully use their own mind at the same time. In our days people’s memories have become so lazy and so feeble that for everything we do we need a book or a computer to remind us each time what we have forgotten.

A&P 23 Ganesha ans Vyasa

The Sage Vyasa and his Scribe Ganesha

Only a few books in the world come directly or at least partly from Adi’s mind, and they can be found in almost cultures all over the world, east and west, north and south, and they are known as “genuine spiritual books.” In other cultures there are stories which nobody cared to write down, because parents always told them to their children and good teachers could explain them to good pupils. These were often “genuine spiritual stories,” also called myths. The rest of all books and messages on internet are written by people’s minds, and deal with practical things of life: cook books, law books, science books, technical books, computer books and funny or sad or bad stories. They help you to live a life as many people think is a good life, but they do not immediately help you to answer the Great Question for which you were born so many times. Many of such books, much internet information, television programs and movies actually keep you stupid instead of helping you to become wise. That is why so many people, around us are so stupid despite their high age and learning. They wouldn’t have had to. Next time better I hope. Children of the present generation know better I think, at least some of them. And when they get children, these children will also know better, at least some of them. That is exactly how Adi teaches us to think: use your own mind in the best possible way and don’t waste your time with nonsense. (Nonsense means all things of which you can think about with your mind that make no sense; even the question  whether something makes sense or no sense you can only answer by your own mind, and the answer is different for everyone who puts that question.)

Everyone who has a mind can use it for good things and bad things – and that was exactly the problem Adi was facing. He knew that his Big Question, which is the same as the heart of every small question, could only be solved when all beings would ask that question for themselves, and wonder where they originally come from, and what was the purpose of their life. We, the writer of this book and you, know that already. We come from the Heart and Body of Adi – in fact our heart and our body are part of Adi. Also we know what is the purpose of our life: to become great thinkers with a very clear mind, so that we can answer every question as good as possible. And the Great Purpose of our life – which may last millions or billions or years to reach, even though we die thousands or more times and are born just as many times in new bodies. – is to know the Heart of our heart, which is the same as Adi’s heart. Even when you and I would say: “I don’t want that,” you and I will change our opinion after some time. Because to find our own heart and the Heart of all hearts on and in this world is the most lovely and happy feeling in the universe, and it is the source of all smaller happinesses. Happiness is the signpost to what you really want, even if you think that you don’t want it. In fact there is only one way in the universe to become really unhappy (at least for now or for a long time) – and that is to deny that you have a heart and that all hearts together are Adi’s heart – The Heart of hearts. All suffering in the universe comes from that only. From thinking that you can do things for your own pleasure alone, without paying attention to your heart and other hearts and the Heart of hearts. If you have nothing but pleasure in your life you are denying your heart and will never become happy. Of course we can have pleasure also, but not always, that is impossible. That is because pleasure lasts only for a while, maybe ten minutes, or a few seconds, or a few months, or years, but never forever. Whereas happiness lasts for ever. If we deny our heart and the Heart of hearts (= that of Adi) we become gloomy or aggressive or angry or greedy and we can never become really intelligent, because all our intelligence and love come from the Heart of our own heart. If we don’t believe this, we feel lonely and sad for ages, until we discover for ourselves and change our mind accordingly, and at least try to believe it. However, because your mind is free you don’t have to believe me. But because ultimately I have the same Heart as you have, one day we will agree and also see our mistakes, and I think than we will know for sure what is right and what not. And then we naturally become friends. We both will know of our self and of each other what we did wrong (that means, that which caused suffering) and what was right from the beginning. I think sooner or later everyone will believe it first, and then know it for sure because the heart of what I think and write down is true. There is nothing in the universe other than what is true.

Rodin Thinker

Rodin: Thinker

(24)

(Passion )

Now Adi looked at the creatures of whom he had decided to wake up a mind. As soon as they would have a mind they would start using it.

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