Dvaita teacher

In this enlightened civilisation there are some individuals, who have the courage to identify themselves. One of those people gives a test lesson, which I witness with several candidates. It takes place in a gym of a primary school. When we enter the teacher is sitting on the ground on a cushion and he invites us to sit on several cushions. There are also chairs , but nobody uses them. I am happy to say that a brought a recorder, so everything that happens will be recorded precisely.

Teacher: Nice that you had the courage to be here tonight. I shall explain in short what we are going to do tonight. The word dvaita is a Sanskrit word and means two ness.
In short these evenings are for those interested, who want to know themselves what Duka is.
Duka is a Sanskrit word and means suffering. The Buddha has said: "All life is Duka".

Visitor A: Yes, I have heard that before, but I haven't the faintest idea, what is meant by that.

Teacher: That is all clear to me. To understand it, you should first separate yourself from the whole. But it will become clear as we go along. First I shall guide you with a meditation and after that you can ask questions. Let's begin.

Meditation: Close your eyes. Go with you attention to a place behind the eyes and suggest that you are there. Suggest that this is your place. Take calmly your time for it.

Now feel the body from the inside to all sides, but no further than the skin. Suggest that this is your own body. Suggest that this body is all you are. Say to yourself: "I am this body, I am exclusively this body, I only feel this body, I am exclusively this body". Take your time for this, to take this in completely. And go and believe that it is the truth: "I am exclusively this body. This is my body, I am this body". Go and feel completely that this is what you are, this body.....

Teacher: Calmly open your eyes, but keep the feeling with you that you are this body. Did you manage to do it a little?

Visitor B. Well, it wasn't easy for me. I took me a lot of effort to stay in that fixed place behind my eyes. It was very tiresome. And than to repeat all those words, that you only are the body and all that to the limit of the skin, that also took a lot of energy. I suppose that to go this path all the way, you need a lot of energy, don't you?

Teacher: Yes, it is a narrow difficult path, that will take a lot of pain and I must say honest to you, that only a few have the courage and the strength to follow this path until the end.

Visitor A: I couldn't hold my place behind my eyes at all. I constantly popped out and was aware from a different place.

Teacher: Yes, I saw that, you often relaxed and as you do that it will not work. No, it is imperative to stay with the effort to stay in the body, but if you practice regularly and also repeat the words "I am only this body" and believe that this is the truth, than it will become more easy.

Visitor C: But when will duka start, the suffering?

Teacher: Those who are really interested can get an initiation with a mantra. And the moment the mantra begins to have an effect, the suffering will start.

Visitor C: A mantra, what is that?

Teacher: Mantra is a Sanskrit word, and it exists of one or more words, that you repeat inside, with the purpose to create a certain condition as your own.

Visitor C: Do we all get the same mantra and can you give us an example?

Teacher: Everyone gets different mantras, but as you get along well, you can get more initiations. I shall give you an example. Actually the first mantra is: "I am only this body". One of the following mantras, one can get is: "I never do anything right" or "I can't do it" or "I am not good enough". You are supposed to repeat that mantra inside as often as you can, until you completely believe it and with the word "I" you're supposed to realise that you only are this body. It is also very good to anchor the mantra as a feeling in your body. You can do that on every place you want, but easy places are your front head, your heart and your stomach. When you have firmly anchored your mantra into your body, than, after a while the suffering will start a little by itself, because the feeling will harden itself and become painful. After anchoring your mantra you can start saying the mantra out loud. Than you will automatically get confrontations with other people, but start practising first in this group, because its easier when everybody in the group is working with identifications.

Visitor D: I wonder, why should anybody ever want to realise all that?

Teacher: Yes, I don't know. Obviously there are people, who want to experience completely, what suffering is.

Visitor D: How did you manage to advance so far on this path?

Teacher: Yes, I have been very lucky, that my parents have taught me all that since I was born.

Visitor D: What I wonder is, how far one can go on this path?

Teacher: This can go very far. Especially with the mantras for the advanced: "Nobody loves me" and "I can't love anybody". When you have made a limiting mantra your own sphere of reality, you will automatically project that sphere in the world around you, so that you will perceive in the world, that the mantra is the truth, in other words the world around you (around your body) reflects the limiting mantras. If you really think that you are this body and you have acquired all sorts of limiting mantras, you maybe begin to experience a loneliness and maybe you will get afraid to lose your body, that you die. Maybe you get so much afraid of death that you might start imagining that there is a higher power, a God that will take care of you. And if there happens to be someone that ridicules your God, maybe you get so angry that you will fight for your God.

Visitor A: Well, it seems to me a little farfetched, although I must admit that I did not understand every word you said. What was identification again? And dieing, that cannot be, only the form will disappear, will it not? And creating your own God? It seems to me that it will be very difficult to follow this path. To understand suffering you have to do a lot of unnatural things. I don't know if this path is a path for me. By the way, suppose you can get it done all the way, is there a way back?

Teacher: Yes, whether it is a path for you, you can only decide for yourself. It will take a lot of effort to follow this path to suffering. And the way back you ask? For that you have to do nothing. Relax completely and totally and you will be back as emptiness, silence, openness.

Written July 27' 2004

translated February 26' 2005

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