a journey back home - a preview

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A

Journey Back Home



AJourney Back

Home

Rabjot Singh Isher



Notion Press

5 Muthu Kalathy Street, Triplicane,

Chennai - 600 005

First Published by Notion Press 2013

Copyright © Rabjot Singh Isher 2013

All Right Reserved.

ISBN: 978-93-83416-41-7

This book has been published in good faith that the work of

the author is original. All efforts have been taken to make the

material error-free. However, the author and the publisher

disclaim the responsibility.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any man-

ner whatsoever without written permission from the author,

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical

articles and reviews.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The driving force behind the inspiration for writing thisbook is the exemplary life lived by the great masters. Theirlove, affection, and guidance reverberate throughout

eternity, and their valuable insights available with us inunadulterated form are the most precious asset that wecan boast of.

Constant guidance and support from friends helpedme tremendously in the task of compilation of this bookand made it look easy and enjoyable.

Ameek Singh, you acted as the ears whenever I had

the urge to speak to someone regarding this book. Youpatiently listened to every single word I uttered andsuggested improvements in your own way.

Deepali Agarwal, your mere presence around seemsto bring a comforting effect. You read the manuscript anumber of times and came up with ideas of improvement. You did value addition in every possible way.



Blind following is no spirituality, find your own way,

experience your own truth



Contents

Introduction xi

Prologue xv

Curtain Raiser 1 The Past 5

The First Meeting 9

Relevance in My Life 13

Insights at A Historical Place 24

Stop Forcing and Start Accepting 41Unadulterated Knowledge or Gyan 66

Lesson of Love and Affection 84

Importance of Efforts 104

Pain and Suffering Showed the Way 109

Seeker’s Society 119Destiny and Attitude 129

Random Discussions 137

The Responsibility 149

The Light’s Gone From Our Life 164

You Shall Always Be There 166 The Present 169

Epilogue 172

Glossary 174

References 176

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INTRODUCTION

How strange is the lot of us mortals. Each of us is here fora brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he

sometimes thinks he senses it

– Albert Einstein

Since time Immemorial, as soon as humans were blessed with an intellect to think, Imagine and explore beyondthe obvious, they went on the greatest quest ever – ThePurpose of Life.

Once we are able to address this greatest concern

of humanity with our own personal experience, thenon the way many other issues or queries shall also besubsequently addressed.

People have often found different ways to addressthis very same quest. If we find someone in the annals ofhistory trying to find it out by scientific means than we

also do find someone else who would have tried to findit by spiritual means. Many such individuals existed atsome point of time who kept the hope alive to come up with answers.

People who claimed to find the answers by differentmeans shared it with others and inspired them too totravel the same path. But soon the real path was shrouded

by corrupt and false practices to satisfy the needs ofthose who had nothing to do with spirituality. The blindfollowing has often resulted in chaos in the lives offollowers, resulting in frustration and dissatisfaction.

It perfectly suits to our logic to understand this veryfact that just mere earning of money, eating good qualityfood or having a great sex life is not the only purpose of



xii Introduction

life, though these things may provide us certain amount

of satisfaction and happiness. These things are not thepurpose of life simply because their coming and goingcauses us pain and suffering and further results in changesin our behaviour and attitude.

The seers, scientists, psychologists, and philosophersall have come to this very conclusion that there is aspecific and ultimate purpose to our life and attainment

of which shall always keep us in a state of permanenthappiness, irrespective of the outer environment.

Pioneering Psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s work onhimself and his patients convinced him that life has aspiritual purpose beyond material goals for he stronglybelieved that this journey of transformation, which hecalled individuation, is at the heart of all religions. Itis a journey to meet the self and at the same time toexperience the divine. He further says,

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence isto kindle a light in the darkness of mere being

Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the greatestphilosophers of twentieth century, several times

contemplated becoming a monk and remained connectedto religion throughout his life. He wrote at the end of hisfirst major work,

There are, indeed, things that cannot be put into words. Theymake themselves manifest. They are what is mystical

Viktor Frankl, the Austrian neurologist andpsychiatrist as well as a holocaust survivor, underwent

extreme torture and suffering in the concentration campsduring Second World War, and that suffering gave him thefirst-hand understanding of the real purpose of life froma spiritual perspective, and he thus gave a fundamentalconcept called supra meaning or transcendence, whichis the ultimate purpose of any man. Frankl’s primary



Introduction xiii

aspiration was to create a therapy that takes into account

both physiological and spiritual perspective.Famed fighter and actor Bruce Lee, considered

by his peers to be the greatest fighter of the twentiethcentury, was a man deeply engrossed in spirituality andreligion. Greatly influenced by the teachings of Buddha,Confucius, Lao Tzu, and other great thinkers, he designedhis unique style of martial arts ‘Jeet Kune Do’ on the basis

of those teachings. He felt that,To become different from what we are, we must have some

awareness of what we areEinstein could be called a spiritual scientist for he

tried to understand nature by science and claimed,

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of

nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something incomprehensible,untouchable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we cancomprehend is my religion

Where an Einstein could only venerate and acceptthe existence of something subtle, there lived some otherpeople as well whom we affectionately called masters,

who experienced the impalpable, which lead them to thesecrets to everlasting joy.

The very purpose of any religious system is bestillustrated by the opening question of the MundakaUpanishad, wherein a student asks a sage,

“What is that by knowing which everything is known?” The lives of all the great masters were spent in

answering it and then living the truth that they found. The message of the masters unfolded before me by

a very special person whose details I am going to share with you in the next pages of this book.



Prologue

I am Angad and this is my story. I was born to a richfamily in Delhi in 1978. My father was Hindu and mother was Sikh, and so in a way I had slight understanding of

both the religions and would often go to visit a templeor a gurudwara (religious place for Sikhs) occasionally incompany of my parents.

During my teenage years, I followed the same patternsof life as most of us do and had experienced love, sex,pain and pleasure, and hatred and anger. Initially the bestdefinition of love came to me when I fell for my future

girlfriend, but later I understood the real importance ofunconditional love and affection for all.

Failed relation somehow made me bitter towardsother girls and I could see them for only one use. Another setback for me was the loss of my parents inan accident that left me shattered. As a result of boththese incidents, I went on a spree of sex and booze toseek instant satisfaction and caused further damage andembarrassment to myself.

My enquiring mind tried to find peace in religionand spirituality initially, but the failure to do so increaseddoubts in my mind, which ultimately lead me to questionthe many wrong beliefs prevalent in the modern religious

systems, and in the process of doing so I made someenemies as well.

Arrival of a girl in my life was a remarkable turningpoint. The valuable insights that she shared with meblessed me with an understanding that peace is in givingup and not in seeking more; peace is in acceptance andnot in forcing things, peace is in looking inside and not



xvi Prologue

in seeking out, peace is in loving and not in hating others.

I would never forget her. A deep conviction that shepossessed could come only from personal experience. Notonly to some extent was she responsible for getting mea suitable life partner but she also inculcated in me thehabit of taking up responsibility and facing challengesand thus gave me a brighter future.

The insights allowed me to understand the

limitedness of intellect to grasp the reality of subtle andthus could appreciate the failure of science to reveal thetruths. I understood that it is our inability to exploreourselves and find our true self that keeps us in delusion. We seek out when we have to seek within, and thus I amreminded of very fine words of a great master,

Explore and listen to your heart and you shall never be in anytrouble again for all the answers lie in your heart I understood that we wrongly use spirituality to

blindly seek power, prestige, recognition, respect, andmoney and even to avoid our own pain and troubles. Wemisuse the very teachings, practices, and all the spiritualthings we do and falsely think that we are creating a

deeper intimacy with the ultimate truth. Our spiritualpractices, paraphernalia, and concepts are merely there tosupport ego rather than seeking truth.

I understood the importance of being a seeker andnot a blind follower and that is why we humans areblessed with an intellect, to choose the right path to self-awareness and not the wrong path of self-delusion.

All the doubts have been removed, and my firmconviction now lies in the fact that this life we are blessed with is merely nothing but just a time period provided tous to make A Journey Back Home, a home where themind is one and undisturbed by the outer surroundings,forever lying in purity and bliss.



Prologue xvii

I cultivated a habit of writing a diary at a pretty

young age and so perhaps the last twenty years have beenrecorded in my diary. It includes some random details orout-of-the-blue thoughts, but perhaps I would be sharingonly those things that changed my perception towardseverything in life and allowed me to take a journey toexplore myself.

Angad,March, 2013, New Delhi



CURTAIN RAISER

There is a charm about the forbidden that makes itunspeakably desirable

– Mark Twain

(17 August 2003, Sunday)

I would take a long sleep normally but today I was wokenup by Vivek quite early by 7 am along with a girl in mybed at Vivek’s residence.

I shouted at her, “Riddhi, please wake up and get outof the house immediately before the society people wakeup and see you with me.” I shall catch up with you in theevening at pub.”

Rubbing her eyes, she replied, “You idiot, what have you done to me last night? I still have headache. You just want to sleep with girls and nothing else. You must learnsome manners and some politeness too. I don’t want to

see your face again.”She collected her belongings and left the house.

“Angad, you shall get me screwed someday. You takeunnecessary advantage of my friendship all the time,”said Vivek.

“Do not worry, nothing will happen to you for youhave been such a good friend to me,” I replied with a

corrupt smile.I enjoy my life to the fullest, and finding girls for

pleasure in disc, pubs and nightclubs had been a commonpractice for me. Last night, my hard work finally boresome fruit. Riddhi is a very nice girl and nice in a sensethat perhaps she is the first girl who took so much



2 A Journey Back Home

time to get convinced in getting laid with me. She is a

family friend of Vivek (my best friend) and I have beentrying for her since last six months through Vivek andsometimes through direct interaction, but she seemeddisinterested in any kind of relationship for she wanted toconcentrate on other things in life she said. But somehowI convinced her to meet me. I met her a couple of timesearlier at some other locations before I made Vivek invite

her to one of my favourite hunting grounds (a disc) lastnight with Swati (Vivek’s girlfriend). As usual my flirtingstarted –

“Hi There, how are you? You look beautiful,” I saidto her.

“I am good. You tell me how things are at your end?”she asked back.

“How can things be at my end? All my efforts havefailed to make you realize that how much I like you andseek your company,” I said.

“I have been thinking about you lately. You havetried a lot for me Angad and I really appreciate that andperhaps in view of the same I think maybe we could give

it a chance,” she said with a smile.“And by the way you don’t look bad either,” she said.

We occupied two seats in a corner and started tointeract. She wanted to know me as a person and so askedme plenty of questions, but I was interested only in onething it seems. The disc was very crowded and I triedto take advantage of it. In between our conversation, I

would try to hold her hand, play with her hair and wouldcomment on her beauty all the time. She was finding itall very uncomfortable and was expressing her uneasinessby keeping my hands away from her. I felt that time wasripe now for my next step.

“Let me get you a drink. What would you like tohave dear?” I asked her.



Rabjot Singh Isher 3

“Get me orange juice only,” she replied.

I stood up went to a bartender, someone whom I knewfor quite some time now and who was a partner in crime with me on many occasions. I just made an eye contact with him and he understood what he was supposed to do.He opened his drawer, took out two small pills, mixedthem in orange juice, and then brought before us twoglasses, one with whiskey and other with orange juice.

We both took our respective glasses and I waitedfor another ten minutes to see the effect. I was happy tosee that she was in the process of gradually losing all herinhibitions. She was feeling little dizzy and was fallingall over me. I was just delighted that my hands now gotthe freedom that they so desperately wanted. I exploredthe breadth and width of her anatomy though she stillfelt uncomfortable by my touch for some time and wasresisting it slightly. I was forcing myself upon her.

But as soon as the pills further affected her system,she started feeling cozy and the resistance was all gone.Vivek saw this all and requested not to indulge in any wrongdoing with Riddhi, for she is a family friend. But I

did not listen to him and was busy in my own planning. Iknew that Vivek’s parents were out of city for a couple ofdays and so perhaps his house could be put to better use.

I took the keys of the house from Vivek and broughtRiddhi with me to his house. I must say that handlinga girl in a semiconscious state is a tough task for youare never sure which side is she moving. Right or left,

both were the same for her. With much effort and hard work, I was finally able to bring her to a room in Vivek’shouse and threw her on the bed. I felt elated for she waslike a trophy for me for which I had laboured for last sixmonths and the rest as they say is history.

Riddhi did not contact me after that incident fornext one month, as she was very angry and disturbed



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