Examining the Ultimate Question
What prerequisite is there for our dissolution into the light, bliss and love
of Brahman consciousness either temporarily in samadhi or at death?
In all the non dual traditions that consider enlightenment or the realization of moksha, bodhi, nirvana or gnosis- the supreme state of our living consciousness, the single most perplexing issue is what are the prerequisites for its attainment. The question is addressed under the broad concept of morality which can be subdivided under those aspects that are perennial such as thou shalt not kill (unless justified) and those that pertain to ritual, worship and karma prescribed by an infinite variety of proprietary doctrines. The entire spectrum of morality seems obsessively concerned with sexual conduct and I have already opinioned that all the prohibition against carnal recreational sex is simply an invention of religious sophistry connected to the imperative to establish social/cultural restraints.
There is still an even more fundamental question and that is whether at death all humans experience moksha regardless of the entire moral quality of their lives? If the answer is YES! it is the most disturbing fact about reality that far exceeds anything we may ever discover relating to cosmology, particle physics, bioevolution or even the relationship of spirit, consciousness and matter. It so threatens to unravel the moral fabric of society that all the institutions of mankind hold an imperative to continue to conspire against accepting what may be the truth about the ultimate unknowable- Why?.
To what extent can my experience be taken as evidence to support an affirmative answer? Even if it were granted that my Nirvikalpa Samadhi was authentic it would only confirm that all the prescriptions about sexual conduct, instituting brahmacharya and proprietary ritual and bhakti are at least not necessary and at worst are pure hokum. However, since you can't prove a negative- my evidence still fails to show that there are not some degrees of moral transgression that might bar our transformation from death to bliss- something in the order of the mortal sins of Catholicism.
So far the only purely rational perspective on this question comes from post-modern atheistic notions regarding non-dual realization as defined by the term cosmic consciousness. Here the question of prerequisite is essentially moot for those already convinced that reality not only has no divinity but has no cause, so for them there is no tangible philosophical or psychological dilemma.
For those who embrace the notion of a perfect transcendent Godhead (Brahman) into which our consciousness dissolves to light, bliss and love- the possibility that there is absolutely no qualification undermines the foundation of our social order and leaves the individual in a moral quandary. This explains why every human society has expressed the moral imperative by instigating laws of conduct. It also suggests why atheistic secular progressive humanism is threatening to send American and other Western societies down the slippery slope of "anything goes" into a moral abyss of sex, violence and environmental collapse- (not that communist or theocratic societies offer better models to which we should aspire.)
I have proposed elsewhere that the supreme samadhi is not something that is earned through worship or dedicated practice of any of the jnana or hatha, bhakti, raja, dhyana or karma yogas but is a gift that is randomly/spontaneously bestowed without qualification. There may be conscious conditions that are conducive for inviting transcendent grace such as attaining a state of absolute desirelessness as might occur after experiencing an ecstatic orgasm, an epiphany induced from a mundane experience of reveling in a sunset or times when meditation raises consciousness to similar states of rapture. Similar effects may manifest under the influence of entheogens but become entangled with varying degrees of psychic disorientation which may deform the pure experience by grace.
On some Aberrant Insight by the late U. G. Krishnamurti that holds truths alluded
to in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad some two and a half millennia ago.
Update 01-03-10: I have just discovered extraordinary synchronicity in my Nirvikalpa Samadhi to a body of metaphors describing events and cosmic geography in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (ca. 500 b.c.) It presents a scenario where the great sage Bhujyu is in conversation with another sage, Yajnavlkya that began with Bhujyu recounting an anecdote in which the daughter of an acquaintance became possessed by a spirit whereby she began to speak in a tongue unknown to her but known by the sage that told the secrets of the cosmic geography and events that a soul encounters on its journey to Isvara. The question of Bhujyu which follows gives to Yajnavlkya the occasion to show that his knowledge is equivalent to that of a clairvoyant person. He answers the question viz. whither may have the Pariksitas (a forgotten royal family with traditions now viewed as transgressive and repugnant) go after death, with the assertion that they (in spite of their outrageous crimes) must have gone thither where the performers of those who performed the Asvamedha Horse Sacrifice go.
It is passing strange that the issue takes on two enigmatic aspects of ultimate reality; firstly- where do souls go after death and secondly- do those who have committed egregious crimes share the same fate? Yajnavlkya presents a cosmography and scenario of events orchestrated by spirit guides that deliver the soul to Isvara with no hint that there is any distinction between the fate of the devout or criminals. (The fact that great sages in the Upanishad, U.G. and I, all seem to agree that there is absolutely no moral qualification for the soul's entry into Brahman eternity, it may explain why the concept of karma was instituted in the non dual traditions- even in atheistic Zen Buddhism- to provide some incentive for moral grounding for humanity.
U. G. Krishnamurti (Not to be confused with J. Krishnamurti who had earned status as a revered rishi) was infamously known as the "Anti-Guru" and held pseudo-darshan in India and elsewhere during which he delivered streams of often unintelligible and irrational answers to questions that seekers of enlightenment brought to him. Because he had an extensive education in Vedic traditions, he could mix in his anarchistic and iconoclastic themes that recapitulated critiques against virtually every aspect of dharmic principles claiming that all were exercises in futility.
In a Wikisource article entitled The Mystique of Enlightenment which presents transcripts of a number of interviews, it becomes painfully evident that UG eventually lost his ability to articulate coherent conceptual thought.
UG in a Nutshell: "Put it simply. I can't follow a very complex structure- I have that difficulty, you see. Probably I'm a low-grade moron or something, I don't know- I can't follow conceptual thinking. You can put it in very simple words. What exactly is the question? Because the answer is there; I don't have to give the answer. What I usually do is restructure the question, rephrase it in such a way that the question appears senseless to you."
The Unrational Philosophy of U.G.Krishnamurti biographical perspectives by Dr. T.R. Raghunath, Department of Philosophy, McMaster University - U.G.Krishnamurti is well-known in spiritual circles as an anomalous, enigmatic, and iconoclastic figure. He has been variously and aptly described as the "Un-Guru", as the "Raging Sage", and also as the "Don Rickles of the Guru Set". The man is a walking Rudra who hurls verbal missiles into the very heart of the guarded citadels of human culture.
The Mystique of Enlightenment - Conversations with U.G. Krishnamurti by Rodney Arms, Sunita Pant Bansal - "This book...will give you a taste of the crazy wisdom of U.G. Krishnamurti. But let me forewarn you that once you have inhaled the contents...you will never be able to touch the spiritual poppycosk with a ten-foot barge pole...But let me also assure you that once you let go of this meaningless search for enlightenment which these Gurus promise you, will for the first time begin to taste life."
Richard's Selected Correspondence On Mr. Uppaluri G. Krishnamurti a thread revealing many of UG's concepts from Richard's Actual Freedom website founded on his own Awakening Experience
Eccentric UG An Inquiry Into the Demolition of Spirituality U G Krishnamurti, popularly called and known as UG by his admirers is no more, but in a sense he is "more" now in this world, such is the power and penetration of his words and wits that he has left and impacted on the trackless track of this world. It just catches "fire" and nothing less or more. Even though through rotten traditional lens UG appeared to be a Useless Guy, in a clean lens UG is forever a Unique Guy.
Snap Out of It UG Krishnamurti
youtube video - an early talk by UG which actually offers some coherent philosophical perspectives. See also: Google lists other UG videos.
He did have other moments of lucidity and I did extract a couple of the kind of provocative gems that sustained his reputation as a guru of crazy wisdom.
He suggested that attaining supreme samadhi is acausal and that everyone [sic] before death attains moksha- even [possibly] murderers and rapists. These are conclusions about transcendent dynamics that I've already suggested although both UG and I had uncertainty about whether there is any degree of heinous acts that might disqualify one from Brahmic embrace.
So here I am affording some credibility to the intuitive notions of the largely irrational babblings of an "anti guru" while on the other hand taking to task some of the teachings of a revered rishi like Ramana Maharshi- so am afraid this will do nothing to raise the status of my philosophical musings- but that's the way my [Nirvikalpa Samadhi] cookie crumbles.
For another perspective on the ultimate question consider the case of the
AGNOSTIC, DYSLEXIC, INSOMNIAC? He lay's awake at night, wondering if there really is a Dog.
