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If It Could Happen To Buddha, Why Not You: Understanding the Ancient Secrets of Self Awareness
The Buddha never claimed to be anything other than an ordinary human being; he attributed his spiritual search and self-realisation to human effort, understanding and intelligence. But how many of us really take time out to reflect on our potential to usher fundamental changes in our lives and then more importantly, do something about it? This profoundly written book, interspersed with quotes from various masters like Osho, reminds us that the seed of consciousness is already sown-it is our responsibility to make ourselves fertile with practises like meditation to let our true being sprout. The path to follow is of awareness, discovery and transformation. Appa deepo bhava-we are all born with the possibility of becoming a light unto ourselves.
136 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2010
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September 14, 2023
this is the first time i'm doing an analytical reading of a book—i gave up halfway. probably because i don't think it's worth it to spend so much time on this book, when you can understand what it's trying to say anyway.
basically it's a practical book about what pollutes our minds, how we can transform our inner worlds and be in touch with our consciousness—achieve enlightenment. it's neatly arranged into sections illustrating the main problems, the components of achieving enlightenment and the practical steps.
first part: the main point is that the world is in disorder because of polluted minds. what we need is a transformation of consciousness (the author's words, which implies consciousness can be changed. look out for this one in the future chapters as it changes). the goal, basically, is enlightenment. the second chapter illustrates four steps to healing the self and "reaching the other"—which implies the "self" is broken and we don't know what "the other" is (and it was never mentioned again anywhere in the book). the third chapter says that we are trapped in our ego in three ways: (1) being the center, (2) thinking that our belief is the best, (3) being possessed by possessions—which all stemmed from childhood, like all things. it wasn't clear why the ego is even a bad thing in the first place but we're going to assume it is. so the way to shed off of our ego is to let go: (1) letting go of objects, (2) letting go of people, (3) letting go of oneself. in context of the whole book, i believe this counts as preparation for enlightenment—to remove obstacles towards that path—but that's just my assumption, it was never explicitly mentioned. chapter four says that discontent comes from desire, and so we turn to organized religion (mainly due to fear and greed). in contrast to religion, spirituality is more concerned with "being" (we don't know what being is, and we'll never know). now the author describes new goals: how to "be" despite desires, to be religious (as a part of "becoming". is this the same as being? we don't know). but anyways, we are possessed by possessions (because of desires) so we can't be free (from ego, probably). happiness depends on changing things, so that's the wrong kind of happiness, they say. a new goal emerges: joy. now we have 7 goals (bear with me): transformation of consciousness, heal the self, reach the other, how to be despite desires, to be religious, and to have "joy." the chapter then jumps into another aspect of these goals which is consciousness: something that can be disturbed, especially if the mind is turned on. how they are connected isn't yet clear in this chapter. THEN a new goal comes up: paradigm shift—to change the unchangeable (?) and to do this, we need meditation (first appearance of the solution). meditation is becoming conscious of the unconscious, re-arranging the mind, providing awareness of how to be and not to be—all in one. this closes the first part of the book.
the second part of the book is the components of achieving enlightenment. chapter 5 shows that there is a 3-fold recognition in the transformation of the inner world: (1) recognition of "i am the problem", (2) recognition of the reality of life, (3) recognition of "i am consciousness". this time we kinda have a clearer picture of the distinction between body, mind and consciousness. body is visible and tangible, while consciousness exists only as energy—mind sits in between those. and so, enlightenment is when the mind is steady and silent. chapter 6 mentions something about yoga being a technique in the process of self-transformation—to calm the ripples of the mind—whatever, i don't care. the "dis-identified" is something behind everything in the inner world that just witnesses and is aware without judgment—they say that is pure consciousness (is it you?). chapter 7 is all about love. it manifests in 4 levels: body, mind, soul, and consciousness. at the level of the body, the energy is sexual: desire, longing, and attachment exists. at the level of mind, the energy is attachment to the individual: desire, longing, and attachment are still present. at the level of soul, the energy is warmth and affection: there is deep affection and longing to connect with the Divine. then there's love at the level of consciousness, love at its fullest potential—body and mind, desire and longing are all irrelevant—it is a state of consciousness relating to all. there are things that prevent love to manifest, such as the ego, fear, and craving. anyways, apart from love, prayer was mentioned here. it is the intrinsic need to align with the Divine and become one with the whole. it's not something you do, but what you become. is it the same as being/becoming/enlightenment/consciousness? we never know. chapter 8 talks about awareness and how there are 6 steps to climbing the ladder of awareness. (1) awareness of desire: desires are psychological desires that can't be satisfied—it's not the same as need. needs are natural desires and are essential, they can be satisfied. (2) awareness of anger: we are angry because of ego because the ego is bound to be wounded, it is fragile and sensitive. (3) awareness of greed: greed is wanting more. desire creates greed. (4) awareness of attachment: "attachment is the root cause of all misery" they say. how is it different from desire, you ask? well, according to my brain, desire is wanting things, attachment is clinging to things—so checkmate, buddhism teachings. (5) awareness of power—the ego mind: the mind is ambitious, it wants power... for some reason. (6) awareness of jealousy: at this point, vasant joshi kinda just spewing out more pointers to add to the list just so he can say more. anyways, jealousy comes from competition, which comes from greed, which comes from desire (obviously). it is because the ego is insecure. ALL OF THIS happens because we are unaware. unaware of what? the power within!!!! chapter 9 introduces it to us by mentioning zen: pure awareness. basically life can be summed up in a neat diagram of four circles (look i can't draw the diagram on a book review so please just imagine it): the largest circle is the circle of action: the outer world of acitivity. inside that circle is the circle of thoughts. inside that circle is the circle of feelings. then the inside inside is the center: THAT's consciousness, THAT's us—see, we can come around and go back home to the main point after all. chapter 11 and 12 have nothing important to say.
part 3 is the practice (the practical step offered to us). basically before meditation, we have to remove the obstacles to self-transformation, how to do that? well, through meditation, of course, because it is both the means and the end. meditation is the answer to everything basically. but, there's a thing called "catharsis" which is an essential part of meditation. it is the allowing of your insanity to come out and get wild, as we observe what happens inside. if you ask me, i'm not gonna try that anytime soon. i want to hold onto my ego a little longer, please. but anyways, the basic principle of meditation is how to be conscious of the unconscious. how to tap into the witness, the seer, the observer, the "you" inside of all that body and mind—the "buddha."
in other words, after all the lousy talk about enlightenment, bringing it back home, meditation IS the being, the becoming, the enlightenment, the transformation, the calming of the mind, the consciousness, the prayer, the state of religiousness, the buddha, joy, the healed self, nirvana. it is not a goal, it is simply a way of existing, at its most basic form. see, i wrapped it up good for you, vasant joshi. i understand that it is entirely subjective, as stated in the preface, and that the purpose of this book is not to "teach" or "convince", it is merely the author's spiritual path and what has helped him/her. so, glad we got that out of the way, this book is an opinion. something that the author experienced and now he's sharing to the world. we just have to take it with a grain of salt, albeit with a little bit of criticism. now how has this book concern me or affect me? i believe there's something we can take out of eastern views regarding consciousness and desire/attachment being the root of all misery—there IS something there. at times, they make fair points, and in practice, it can actually calm you down and feel like you're connected to the divine. spirituality is a personal thing, individual-centric. i guess if there's something worthwhile i got from this book is that i came to a realization once i finished it: i am already at the state of consciousness. i don't have to reach nirvana, i am ALREADY living it. as long as i stay aware, without judgment or prejudice, that is meditation in itself—no complicated techniques, or catharsis bringing out the insanity bullcrap—just live it, be in the moment, that's all that matters.
basically it's a practical book about what pollutes our minds, how we can transform our inner worlds and be in touch with our consciousness—achieve enlightenment. it's neatly arranged into sections illustrating the main problems, the components of achieving enlightenment and the practical steps.
first part: the main point is that the world is in disorder because of polluted minds. what we need is a transformation of consciousness (the author's words, which implies consciousness can be changed. look out for this one in the future chapters as it changes). the goal, basically, is enlightenment. the second chapter illustrates four steps to healing the self and "reaching the other"—which implies the "self" is broken and we don't know what "the other" is (and it was never mentioned again anywhere in the book). the third chapter says that we are trapped in our ego in three ways: (1) being the center, (2) thinking that our belief is the best, (3) being possessed by possessions—which all stemmed from childhood, like all things. it wasn't clear why the ego is even a bad thing in the first place but we're going to assume it is. so the way to shed off of our ego is to let go: (1) letting go of objects, (2) letting go of people, (3) letting go of oneself. in context of the whole book, i believe this counts as preparation for enlightenment—to remove obstacles towards that path—but that's just my assumption, it was never explicitly mentioned. chapter four says that discontent comes from desire, and so we turn to organized religion (mainly due to fear and greed). in contrast to religion, spirituality is more concerned with "being" (we don't know what being is, and we'll never know). now the author describes new goals: how to "be" despite desires, to be religious (as a part of "becoming". is this the same as being? we don't know). but anyways, we are possessed by possessions (because of desires) so we can't be free (from ego, probably). happiness depends on changing things, so that's the wrong kind of happiness, they say. a new goal emerges: joy. now we have 7 goals (bear with me): transformation of consciousness, heal the self, reach the other, how to be despite desires, to be religious, and to have "joy." the chapter then jumps into another aspect of these goals which is consciousness: something that can be disturbed, especially if the mind is turned on. how they are connected isn't yet clear in this chapter. THEN a new goal comes up: paradigm shift—to change the unchangeable (?) and to do this, we need meditation (first appearance of the solution). meditation is becoming conscious of the unconscious, re-arranging the mind, providing awareness of how to be and not to be—all in one. this closes the first part of the book.
the second part of the book is the components of achieving enlightenment. chapter 5 shows that there is a 3-fold recognition in the transformation of the inner world: (1) recognition of "i am the problem", (2) recognition of the reality of life, (3) recognition of "i am consciousness". this time we kinda have a clearer picture of the distinction between body, mind and consciousness. body is visible and tangible, while consciousness exists only as energy—mind sits in between those. and so, enlightenment is when the mind is steady and silent. chapter 6 mentions something about yoga being a technique in the process of self-transformation—to calm the ripples of the mind—whatever, i don't care. the "dis-identified" is something behind everything in the inner world that just witnesses and is aware without judgment—they say that is pure consciousness (is it you?). chapter 7 is all about love. it manifests in 4 levels: body, mind, soul, and consciousness. at the level of the body, the energy is sexual: desire, longing, and attachment exists. at the level of mind, the energy is attachment to the individual: desire, longing, and attachment are still present. at the level of soul, the energy is warmth and affection: there is deep affection and longing to connect with the Divine. then there's love at the level of consciousness, love at its fullest potential—body and mind, desire and longing are all irrelevant—it is a state of consciousness relating to all. there are things that prevent love to manifest, such as the ego, fear, and craving. anyways, apart from love, prayer was mentioned here. it is the intrinsic need to align with the Divine and become one with the whole. it's not something you do, but what you become. is it the same as being/becoming/enlightenment/consciousness? we never know. chapter 8 talks about awareness and how there are 6 steps to climbing the ladder of awareness. (1) awareness of desire: desires are psychological desires that can't be satisfied—it's not the same as need. needs are natural desires and are essential, they can be satisfied. (2) awareness of anger: we are angry because of ego because the ego is bound to be wounded, it is fragile and sensitive. (3) awareness of greed: greed is wanting more. desire creates greed. (4) awareness of attachment: "attachment is the root cause of all misery" they say. how is it different from desire, you ask? well, according to my brain, desire is wanting things, attachment is clinging to things—so checkmate, buddhism teachings. (5) awareness of power—the ego mind: the mind is ambitious, it wants power... for some reason. (6) awareness of jealousy: at this point, vasant joshi kinda just spewing out more pointers to add to the list just so he can say more. anyways, jealousy comes from competition, which comes from greed, which comes from desire (obviously). it is because the ego is insecure. ALL OF THIS happens because we are unaware. unaware of what? the power within!!!! chapter 9 introduces it to us by mentioning zen: pure awareness. basically life can be summed up in a neat diagram of four circles (look i can't draw the diagram on a book review so please just imagine it): the largest circle is the circle of action: the outer world of acitivity. inside that circle is the circle of thoughts. inside that circle is the circle of feelings. then the inside inside is the center: THAT's consciousness, THAT's us—see, we can come around and go back home to the main point after all. chapter 11 and 12 have nothing important to say.
part 3 is the practice (the practical step offered to us). basically before meditation, we have to remove the obstacles to self-transformation, how to do that? well, through meditation, of course, because it is both the means and the end. meditation is the answer to everything basically. but, there's a thing called "catharsis" which is an essential part of meditation. it is the allowing of your insanity to come out and get wild, as we observe what happens inside. if you ask me, i'm not gonna try that anytime soon. i want to hold onto my ego a little longer, please. but anyways, the basic principle of meditation is how to be conscious of the unconscious. how to tap into the witness, the seer, the observer, the "you" inside of all that body and mind—the "buddha."
in other words, after all the lousy talk about enlightenment, bringing it back home, meditation IS the being, the becoming, the enlightenment, the transformation, the calming of the mind, the consciousness, the prayer, the state of religiousness, the buddha, joy, the healed self, nirvana. it is not a goal, it is simply a way of existing, at its most basic form. see, i wrapped it up good for you, vasant joshi. i understand that it is entirely subjective, as stated in the preface, and that the purpose of this book is not to "teach" or "convince", it is merely the author's spiritual path and what has helped him/her. so, glad we got that out of the way, this book is an opinion. something that the author experienced and now he's sharing to the world. we just have to take it with a grain of salt, albeit with a little bit of criticism. now how has this book concern me or affect me? i believe there's something we can take out of eastern views regarding consciousness and desire/attachment being the root of all misery—there IS something there. at times, they make fair points, and in practice, it can actually calm you down and feel like you're connected to the divine. spirituality is a personal thing, individual-centric. i guess if there's something worthwhile i got from this book is that i came to a realization once i finished it: i am already at the state of consciousness. i don't have to reach nirvana, i am ALREADY living it. as long as i stay aware, without judgment or prejudice, that is meditation in itself—no complicated techniques, or catharsis bringing out the insanity bullcrap—just live it, be in the moment, that's all that matters.
January 22, 2013
"If It Could Happen to Buddha, Why Not You?" is masterful writing. Author Vasant Joshi (Swami Satya Vedant), Osho's biographer, has a unique gift for pulling his readers into the NOW moment with such lucidity and practicality!
January 24, 2013
Simplicity, elegance, and piercing truth, the signature of author Vasant Joshi, PhD.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews