1) Integrity: One of the greatest pitfalls of humanity is the over grown mind, which is a fragmentary instrument. How that which is fragmentary, can ever lead you to integrity? As long as one lives as a slave of this fragmentary thought-memory-mind, the quality called integrity is never available. Integrity is the qualitative outcome of the integral being. The integration happens only if the fragmentation is no more. This is possible only when this mind, which is the bundle of thoughts, emotions, memory & fears, is transcended. As the spontaneous outcome of this integrated wholeness, quality called integrity arises. A real spiritually evolved human is the one who is firmly rooted in this kind of integrity, which is very rare.

2) Awareness: Most of the time when we talk about awareness, it is always about something. e.g. social awareness, computer awareness and so on. But what about the awareness of awareness itself? For that one has to become aware of one's body as a first step. If you do so, you will become aware of your gestures, movements and so on. If you go little deeper in silence, by observing your breath, you will able to listen to your heartbeats. If you carry it further, in the second step you can watch your thoughts in an aloof manner as an observer. If it becomes even subtler, the third step is to see the deep-rooted feelings & subtlest emotions. Now if you remain vigilant of all these three steps simultaneously, for longer duration and wait without expectations, the fourth state of becoming aware of awareness happens on its own accord. This is the quality called," awareness of the awakened one", we are talking about. A real spiritual person carries this relaxed multi-dimensional awareness all the time. The quality which is timeless in itself. It's eternal.

3) Non-attachment: Our attachment to our Body, Thoughts, emotions and ideas is so much that it is very difficult to understand the meaning of "Non-attachment" from the view point of the awakened one. A spiritual master is fully aware of his body, thoughts, emotions & ideas but is simply unattached to it, like the lotus in the pond is very much in the mud but it still remains untouched by all that is around it! A Buddha also has his body-mind and he has to take care of it. But it is only functional. He is not the part of the power game of the mind. He is simply a dropout!

4) Silence: We are conditioned by our educational system to understand the word silence as the absence of speech. Or at the most we understand it as the silence of the dead man. But real silence is totally different phenomena! It is not just the absence of speech and the chattering mind but it's vibrant and has the quality of dynamicity or effervescence. It's alive and throbbing, which can be felt by the sensitive ones who go near the awakened one. By being in the energy field of the awakened one, it's possible to experience this silence. It is like, if you go near the flower, you get the fragrance! The fragrance belongs to flower, the silence belongs to Buddha. You may get the glimpse of it but ultimately everyone has to work for it on one's own! The borrowed silence doesn't last long! To be awakened to this effervescent silence is the birth right of everyone and it is not the monopoly of the few selected ones.

5) Love: This is another word, which is most misused and misunderstood. Our love for car or a pet dog or a relative is just the attachment, which is the part of our social conditioning. "Making love" means sex! It's simply physical! Few talk of love in the platonic sense, but that too is the glorification of the non-physical aspect of it. The real love is overflowing joy of the ego-less being! As long as the fictitious identification with body/mind is there, the love exists not. If you ask sun about darkness, it knows nothing about it, so also this purest quality called love can never co-exist with ego. Eradication of the subtlest ego is the primary requirement to understand and experience love. A real spiritual master is a one who is absolutely egoless. Love oozes out of such a person like water flows out of a fountain! It is unconditional and it is available to all.

6) Compassion: Passion is the quality of body-mind, compassion is the quality of mind-less-ness. A passionate person is full of desires and hence gripped by the unawareness. A compassionate Buddha is rooted into the desirelessness and the awareness. Passion is the fever of the body-mind, while compassion is the purest form of love plus meditation. Compassion is neither the duty nor the psychological love. It's neither sympathy nor empathy. Compassion is the quality that comes from beyond the thought-mind! A real compassionate spiritual master is a one who gives without giving. It's a kind of unconditional sharing! A saint, a criminal and a prostitute, all are equal when it comes to the sharing of such a master!

7) Innocence: Look into the wondrous eyes of the child whose mind is not yet polluted by parents & society and you will understand the quality called innocence. The awakened one is as innocent as child, but with one difference. A child is unaware of it while an awakened one is absolutely rooted in the awareness. When such a person laughs in his child-like innocence, the entire existence participates in it! The presence of such a person on earth is the blessing unto existence. To reclaim that lost innocence, it is necessary to be born again. With this new spiritual birth, one becomes incorruptible. All that is done by the society is undone in the awareness. To regain this innocence is the real maturity, the ultimate flowering.

8) Courage: One thing that differentiates courageous from cowardice is that a coward goes by his fears while a courageous one puts aside all his fears and is ready to jump into the unknown. When one carries this courage in every situation in life to face the unknown, it ultimately flowers into the fearlessness. The spiritually awakened person is rooted firmly in this fearlessness and hence even death can not touch him. How can the death touch that which is deathless?

9) Friendliness: A real spiritual person does not behave like a Guru to anybody, as he is not on any Gurudom trip! So there is no Guru & there are no disciples. Only friends. Friendship is like relationship. It has it's own limitations like expectations etc. Whereas Friendliness is a quality. It's a state of being. The awakened one carries this feeling of friendliness for everyone and everything around. Friendliness is a quality in which arises the freedom. Freedom is not just opposite of possessive-ness but it is a dimensionally different phenomenon. It simply allows everything to happen around the master with love overflowing.

10) Humor: A real spiritual person is definitely not the one with the most serious looks and a long face. On the contrary, an awakened one has the great sense of humor. At times, even mischievous! Only such a person can laugh at oneself. He laughs at the absurdity of the mind itself! For such a person, life is an everyday picnic! It's a celebration! These are the people who enjoy life because the hindrance to joy from the thought-mind is not there. When the achievement-oriented mind is transcended, the becoming gets transformed into being. A person rooted in his beingness shares it with humor to others around! When the struggle of the thought-mind ends, the humor arises on its own accord!

11) Humility: Learning from nature is one of the best ways to learn. Observe a Mango tree. Its branches move outward & upward, but when it's laden with fruits, the tree bows down in humility. So also the spiritually evolved person becomes humble & simple. An awakened one is not the storehouse of the borrowed informative knowledge but he remains always in the state of not knowing, which is the most humble state of being.

12) Acceptance: In the highest state of choice-less awareness everything is accepted as it is. Likes and dislikes are no hindrance to it as it is beyond both. It's a state of non-judgmental witness. If everything in existence that life offers is accepted as it is, the life becomes a celebration unto itself. Unconditional acceptance of all that is there in the existence is the most virtuous and aesthetic quality of evolved human consciousness.

13) Maturity: A mature person is a one who always lives in the present moment. Present moment is not the same as present. Past, present and future is the continuation of time. To be in the present moment is to be in the eternal nowness. In the depths of silence, if one remains aware and vigilant, the ego disappears. Self-realization is the realization of the self without the ego. When mind is no more, meditation happens. When ego is no more, maturity happens. Maturity is the ultimate flowering of Meditation.

Q: I have been with an International Institute since last ten years, practicing various techniques they teach. It is relaxing, but so far I never experienced any of the quality you had been talking about. Right now it is very disturbing for me to acknowledge this fact. Can you comment on this please…
A: We are not against any technique of meditation but let us be very clear of one thing that technique, at its best, is just like a boat. You can use a boat to cross the river. Once you have crossed the river, its job is over. Be grateful to it and continue the further journey on your own. The trouble arises when you get into the boat and start praising it or glorifying it without using it to cross the river, or you do cross the river & than carry the boat on your head because it helped you to cross the river! This is non-sense! Many of your International Institutes glorify their techniques so much so that many people fall prey to this trap. They get addicted to it and they continue doing the same thing for years together! Then it becomes a rut and it's no more useful. Beware of these techniques and the so-called Spiritual Masters who preach them.

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