Was Buddha an atheist?

 

A pure atheist is impossible to find. An atheist is one who believes only in the concrete and tangible, but life is not all concrete and tangible, nor is this universe. 

Whether it is business, science or art, all involve a certain amount of guesswork, assumptions, imagination and intuition. All of them have some aspects that are abstract in nature and are not tangible. The moment an atheist accepts, even remotely, something that is unexplainable, he ceases to be an atheist. 

An intelligent person cannot rule out all the mysteries in life and the universe, and hence cannot honestly be an atheist. So-called atheists are perhaps only denouncing certain concepts of God. 

Was Buddha an atheist? No, in one sense, because he professed emptiness, which is very hard for an atheist to accept, and yes in another sense because he did not profess concepts of God. An atheist believes only what he can see, but Buddha said all that you see is not real. If only all present-day atheists could be Buddhas!

Understanding an atheist - II

 

An atheist does not believe in either values or in the abstract. When an atheist comes to the guru, what happens? He starts experiencing his own form and discovers that he is indeed formless, hollow and empty, and this abstract non-form becomes more and more concrete. 

A guru makes the abstract more real, and what you thought was solid appears more unreal. Sensitivity and subtlety dawn. Perception of love – not as an emotion, but as the substratum of existence – becomes evident. The formless spirit shines through every form in creation and the mystery of life deepens, shattering atheism. Then the journey begins; it is a journey with four stages. 

The first stage is saarupya – to see the formless in the form – seeing God in all forms. Often, one feels more comfortable seeing God as formless rather than having a form, because with a form, one feels a distance, a duality, a fear of rejection and other limitations. Other than in deep sleep or in samadhi, all of our interactions in life are with a form. If you do not see God as having a form, then the waking part of life remains devoid of the Divine. 

All those who accept God to be formless use symbols and perhaps love the symbols more than God Himself. If God comes to a Christian and tells him to leave the cross, or if God tells a Muslim to drop the crescent, he may not do it. Initially, loving the formless is possible only through forms. 

The second stage is saamipya – closeness – feeling absolutely close to the form you have chosen and reaching out to the formless. This leads to a sense of intimacy with all of creation. In this stage, one overcomes the fear of rejection and other fears, but this stage remains bound by time and space. 

The third stage is saanidhya – feeling the presence of the Divine by which you transcend the limitations of time and space. 

The final stage is saayujya – when you are firmly entrenched in the Divine. It is then you realize you are one with the Divine. There is a total merging with the Beloved and all duality disappears. This is that and that is this. 

A believer also goes through these four stages.

Understanding an atheist - I

 

It is difficult to see God as formless and it is difficult to see God as having a form. The formless is so abstract and God in a form appears to be too limited so some people prefer to be atheists. Atheism is not a reality; it is just a matter of convenience. 

When you have a spirit of inquiry or when you search for truth, atheism falls apart. With a spirit of inquiry, you cannot deny something that you cannot disprove. An atheist denies God without first disproving God’s existence. In order to disprove God, you must have enormous knowledge and when you have enormous knowledge, you cannot disprove it. 

To say that something does not exist, you must know about the whole universe. So you can never be one hundred percent atheistic. An atheist is only a believer who is sleeping. For a person to say, “I don’t believe in anything,” means he must believe in himself. So he believes in a self that he does not even know. 

An atheist can never be sincere because sincerity needs depth and an atheist refuses to go to his depth. The deeper he goes, he finds a void, a field of all possibilities, and he has to accept that there are many secrets he does not know. He would then need to acknowledge his ignorance – which he refuses to do – because the moment he is sincere, he seriously starts doubting his atheism. 

A doubt-free atheist is nearly impossible. An atheist can never be sincere and doubt-free. When an atheist realizes his ignorance, what does he do? Where does he go? Does he go to a guru? What does a guru do to him?

The most beautiful place in the universe

 

There is a place you can come where everything is beautiful. 

Tourists go from place to place looking for beauty, and they try to take away the beauty. They only get tired and tanned. Yet the most beautiful spot anywhere is right here! When you come here, you find that wherever you are, everything is so beautiful. 

Where is this place? Do not look here and there. Where do you go? Within you. When you come here, then any place is beautiful. Then wherever you go, you add beauty. 

If you are unhappy, sweet things are nauseating, music is disturbing, and even the moon is irritating. When you are calm and centered, clouds are magical, rain is liquid sunshine, and even noise is musical.

Book yourself on a trip to this most beautiful place in the universe. Then you will find that every day is a vacation and a celebration.

Finding real beauty

 

When your mind is not complaining and is responsible, courageous, confident and hollow and empty, you are inexplicably beautiful. A person who cannot correct or act on a complaint has no right to complain. And a person who can correct or act on a complaint, will never complain. 

Complaining is a sign of weakness. Complaining is the nature of utter ignorance where one does not know the Self. Complaints take away the beauty that is inborn in you, and the effects show up more clearly for those on this path. 

The worldly mind is a complaining mind; the divine mind is a dancing mind. Just complaining without looking for a solution is a sign of irresponsibility. And when solutions do not work, finding alternative solutions is a sign of courage. 

For external beauty, you put on things; for real beauty, you have to drop all those things. For external beauty you have to have make up; for real beauty you only have to realize that you are made up.

Restlessness and its remedies

 

There are five types of restlessness. The first type of restlessness is caused by a particular place. When you move away from that place – the street or the house – you immediately feel better. Chanting, singing, laughing and children playing can change this atmospheric restlessness. If you chant and sing, the vibration in the place changes. 

The second type of restlessness is in the body. Eating the wrong food, eating vata-aggravating food, eating at odd times, not exercising and overworking can all cause physical restlessness. The remedy for this is exercise, moderation in work habits and going on a vegetable or juice diet for one or two days. 

The third type of restlessness is mental restlessness. It is caused by ambition, strong thoughts, likes or dislikes. Only knowledge can cure this restlessness – seeing life from a broader perspective, having knowledge of the Self and awareness of the impermanence of everything around you. If you achieve everything, so what? After your achievement, you will die. Knowledge of your death and life, confidence in the Self and confidence in the Divine all calm down mental restlessness. 

The fourth type is emotional restlessness. Any amount of knowledge cannot help here – only Kriya helps. With Kriya, all emotional restlessness vanishes. The presence of your guru, a wise person, or a saint will also help to calm your emotional restlessness. 

The final type of restlessness is rare. It is the restlessness of the soul. When everything feels empty and meaningless, know you are very fortunate. That longing is the restlessness of the soul. Do not try to get rid of it – embrace it, welcome it. People do all sorts of things to get rid of it. They change places, jobs, or partners, they do this, they do that. It seems to help for some time, but it does not last. 

Only this restlessness of the soul can bring authentic prayer in you. It brings perfection, siddhis and miracles in life. It is so precious to get that innermost longing for the Divine. Satsang and the presence of an enlightened one soothe the restlessness of the soul.

Understanding "samadhi"

 

Deep rest is bliss, and bliss is the understanding that only God exists. Knowing that only God exists is the deepest rest possible. 

This conviction or experience that “only God exists” is samadhi. Samadhi is the mother of all talents, strengths and virtues. Samadhi is needed even for the most materialistic person because a materialistic person seeks to gain strength and virtues. To be in samadhi, you do not need any effort or talents, strengths or virtues. 

Withdrawing from all types of physical and mental activity is rest. That is built into our system as sleep, and sleep is the best friend of activity. 

Samadhi is conscious rest. Samadhi is the best friend of life. To be alive in your full potential, samadhi is indispensable. Restlessness obstructs samadhi.

Moving beyond the wrapping paper to the present

All sensory pleasures in the world are like wrapping paper; the true bliss is the present inside. 

Divine love is the present, yet we are holding onto the paper believing we have already enjoyed the gift. It is like putting a chocolate inside your mouth with the paper still on. A little chocolate may seep into your mouth, but the wrapper causes discomfort. 

Unwrap the present. The whole world is there for you to enjoy. The wise know how to enjoy the gift inside, while the ignorant get stuck with the paper.

Believing in time

 

An ignorant person either disbelieves or believes what an individual says, but the wise one does neither. His faith rests on kaal, or time. 

When the time is good, a foe will behave like a friend. When the time is not good, even a friend will behave like a foe. 

An ignorant person disbelieves in both time and the Divine beyond time, while the wise one believes in Mahakaal – the Grand Time, or Shiva. 

In the world and in time there is always room for improvement. You can improve your time and your nature. Only Being is perfect all the time. Take refuge in Being and become immutable. Know that I am immutable.