Coping with Prahlaya

 Coping with Prahlaya 

 

We are living through the most turbulent period of human civilisation. We have passed the peak of our civilisation which was reached during the 1960s. There was a fork on the road then.  One side leading towards peace, self realisation of the American hippie generation which was deeply influenced by the spiritually deep 12,000 year old Bharatiya Sanatan Dharma civilisation and Buddhism which was also born in Bharat 2,500 years ago and by western intellectuals who realised that we cannot have forever growth on a finite planet. The other road of the western capitalistic system based upon endless innovation, fossil fuel use, mindless consumerism, colonisation of poor countries, waging endless wars due to deep state and the military industrial complex. 

 

Of course deep state made sure humanity took the the more profitable road where the capitalists and privileged controlled the world and appropriated most of wealth, exploiting the natural resources, keeping 70% of humanity impoverished. Mankind prayed to the gods like money and technology driven monsters based upon fossil fuels like cars, planes, air conditioning, consumerism, space flights.

 

Since the 60s, CO2 emissions have rise from 317 ppm in 1960 to 418 now. Along with this methane, nitrous oxide the other two green house gases have also risen steeply.  CO2 emissions have risen from 9.4 GTs in 1960 to 36.4 GTs in 2021… a four fold rise. Temperature rise numbers are not so reliable, since differing timelines are used as baselines. Many claim we are below 1.5C rise based on forever shifting baselines. 

 

In view of the above, climate change has morphed into climate collapse over the past 5-10 years. Just to name a few major climate and other tipping points: melting Arctic, Greenland, Antarctica, Himalayas, alps, meandering and almost stationary jet streams, heat waves, drought, storms, flooding, pollution, drying up of major rivers, food shortages, plastics, and so on.

 

Now it’s quite evident that our civilisation cannot last beyond another 10 to 15 years at most based upon the accelerating collapse of climate, economies and societies. Most likely scenario 2026-30. Recently the UN Secretary General António Guterres told world leaders at the opening of the Cop27 UN climate summit inEgypt: “We are in the fight of our lives and we are losing … And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.” Several climate scientists lead by Guy McPherson have predicted that our civilisation will collapse by 2030. 

There is an urgent need for adopting coping mechanisms and techniques which will help humans face the imminent quasi extinction predicament. Some of  the techniques for coping with our end of times have been provided below. 

1.     Introspection: who am I? Know oneself. We need to analyse ourselves in order to realise our true nature. Most of us are living as a part of families, groups of people, cities, etc. We are totally immersed in the identities we have created for our selves, born into. This identity is essentially our ego. We link our identities to our role within the family, position at our work places, status in society, income, wealth both financial and physical like property, cars, etc, clothes, travel, and so on and on. There is an urgent need to extricate our inner selves from the trappings of the elaborate identity we have immersed ourselves in. One way is to start writing a journal on the journey towards realising our true nature. Through a process of iteration we need to delve deeper into ourselves successively peeling off layers of conditioning / mind / ego / personas… till we reach the final truth that in the ultimate analysis we are nothing. That nothingness is part of the overall consciousness which we are all a part of. Here I would like to provide a link to a YouTube by Swami Sarvapriyananda who is one the leading authorities on Advaitha Vedanta. Advaitha Vedanta is like Zen Buddhism where one can gain instant self realisation if one is able grasp the non duality aspect of existence where we all are part of cosmic consciousness always. We only need to understand it. It’s always there for us. Link for Swami Sarvapriyananda on The Ultimate Truth part 2 from the The Mandukya Upanishad  https://youtu.be/zurODIIocXY. 

 

2.     Minimalism / Renunciation: we need to reduce our wants, needs, belongings, possessions, wealth, properties, gadgets, other luxuries and so on. One a day to day basis if we can live with the most basic essentials like minimum clothing, furniture, living space, personal items, etc. in a way this is also linked to the way most indigenous people live with very low carbon footprint. This helps us in the self realisation process of knowing who we are. 

 

When we become strong spiritually, we can start giving up our wealth, money in the banks, etc keeping just enough for say a maximum of 10 years. Keep money for basic medication. Prepare Living Wills stating that under no circumstances we should be hospitalised. Certainly a big NO for ICUs and ventilators. Nothing hard and fast about this. This is for those feel self realised and would not like to prolong this life which just step towards cosmic consciousness. 

 

Even in marriages we can if both spouses are like minded, reduce sex to a minimum treating it as physical release like defecation, urination. Then we will have reached a fully realised stage spiritually. If we have obsession with sex and pleasure, we can never sever our bondage with our temporal bodies made of flesh, bones and blood which decompose hours after death. 

 

 

 

3.     Detachment: reducing attachments like hobbies, relationships, family, money, house, etc. Not easy. Maybe only possible if one is older so there are no family responsibilities. Even while within a family we need to do our duties without getting deeply involved. Best when one can live in an ashram or a secluded retreat. I would highly recommend at this stage of our collapsing civilisation if one can convince the full family, then the family can move to a retreat kind of life. Again not easy because we are bound by a society to keep earning money to buy all the thing we need. Here again by reducing needs we can reduce our dependence upon money and the rest of the tentacles of capitalism.

 

Again here there is the important point what do we tell our children and grandchildren about our bleak future. How can we communicate the numbing truth to them. One of best options now is tell them truth in as simple terms and take them  out of schools. Because our times in the future will be so different that the education being given to them will not help then in surviving in a harsh world with uncertain electricity, food shortages, money rendered useless, migrating away from cities to smaller places where food availability may be better and living cheaper and safer. Cities likely to become violent places, wars, riots, etc. Children have to get used to much rougher ways of living with smaller houses, less toys, luxuries, and having to help parents at their work. 

 

4.     Deurbanisation: leave cities and live in smaller places preferably in villages, close to nature. Linked again to above two points. 

 

5.     Deenergisation: reduce need for electricity, fossil fuels. Try to give up / minimise all electric gadgets, consumer durables, air conditioning, hot and cold water, cars, trains, planes. Travel as much as one can walk or cycle. Again not easy for most families deeply embedded in the clutches of  capitalistic system. But again if we practice points 2,3,4 we can substantially reduce energy consumption. This is not being done to reduce carbon emissions because it’s too late in the day for that. Primarily this will help in quietening our minds and living ascetically which are major factors in accepting our imminent fate. 

 

6.     Meditation: this is an ultimate tool to help reach self realisation and cosmic consciousness by achieving thoughtlessness and living only in the moment. Some simple techniques are:

 

a)     Contemplating deeply on a candle flame, a dot. With patience try to quieten the mind and reduce thoughts which are forever darting in and out. After some time one can shut the eyes and focus only on the flame / dot in the mind. 

b)    Lie down supine and shut the eyes. Contemplate on your entire body slowly from toes upwards .. knees ..waist .. till top of head. Then slowly go beyond the head upwards..higher till you can observe your supine body..then go higher till you go beyond the ceiling… beyond the structure you are living in (be it a single level house, or even a multi storied) .. go higher till you can observe your house / building from above..higher more houses …higher over the city / village …go higher till you can see the earth … go higher and deeper into space ..contemplate being out there in space without any bounds …the sheer infiniteness … nothingness… This needs to be practised over days till you can achieve thoughtlessness. 

c)     Sit down cross legged or on a chair with eyes shut. Focus on your breath. Breath in counting slowly upto 4.. hold breath count upto 4…breath out count upto 6 .. hold count upto 2..cycle continues … please keep observing the breath as it goes in ..out … after a while this will help achieve thoughtlessness with practice. 

d)     Do a course of Sudarshan Kriya of Art of Living if possible or follow a guided YouTube video at https://youtu.be/0tX0M6EveGY.

e)    Corpse (maranasati) meditation is Buddhist form of self realisation. One can start meditating on one’s own body as if it’s dead. Alternatively meditate on a corpse if possible. There are monks who even meditate on actual dead people’s corpse. In Bharat some sects of sadhus do meditation at burning ghats where Hindus cremate their dead. This is an extremely effective path for conquering death during life. The Naga Sadhus in Bharat wear no clothes and smear themselves with ash from the cremated dead. 

f)      Mindfulness is another path to self realisation by focusing on the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch) vividly so that one fully lives in the present moment with no past or future thoughts. Observing the five senses with eyes shut and mind still is another form of being in the moment. Become very sensitised to how the senses are responding to external stimuli like noise, breeze, heat, etc. Get totally immersed in then experience of the senses and the mind switches of from everything else. 

g)     Another interesting exercise is to write an obituary of oneself. This exercise make us do an audit of our lives so far which others will read to know about us. This also makes us see our weaknesses objectively apart from looking at our selves in a disembodied way, as if we watching ourselves from outside. Helps us in understanding who we have been, and whether we are fit for giving up our egos which is necessary for spiritual growth to finally help meet our end without sadness. 

 

 

7.     Food: in order to help strengthen the mind which helps us reach self realisation which is the best path to cope with Prahlaya we need reduce our obsession with rich and tasty food, drinks, etc which are basically tamasic in nature. Tamasic food is basically gross food which appeals to our taste buds on our tongues. Examples of these food are meats, spicy food, tasty food, alcohol, aerated cold drinks, etc. Basically tamasik food dulls our minds. Sattvic light food is good both for body and mind.. vegetarian food. Attaching a good article on the three basic types of food: Sattvic , tamasic and rajasic from the Art of Living https://www.artofliving.org/in-en/culture/navratri/three-types-food. Transitioning to vegetarianism is the best for higher spirituality. 

 

Many Sadhus and Yogis consume ganja, bhang since they live in a supra realised state where nothing really matters. In view of the imminent collapse, I personally feel that if cannabis helps someone achieve inner peace and strength to face the numbing reality of imminent end of times, then it should be taken. 

 

 

8.     Praying: many find solace in praying accordingly to the practices of their religions. Praying is a calming activity so long we don’t pray for obtaining some particular positive outcome which we want desperately like money, saving someone very ill, etc. The later purpose of praying is personal to those who find it helpful for their sanity. My idea of praying is deep contemplation on any God  concept found in various religions is a form of meditation, which helps the majority of people because that is the easiest way to reach God. Higher forms of meditation may not be understood by most since it requires a degree of spiritual evolution which not easily understood by most. Chanting, singing prayers, bhajans, etc together in groups is very therapeutic be it in places of worship, other places or at homes. 

 

 

9.     Traveling: stop traveling unless it’s absolutely essential like health or meeting old / dying relatives, near ones. Tourism is sign of self gratification by always wanting to see new places, get new experiences. The immature mind is always craving to travel and enjoy new places. Even the act of going somewhere by plane, train or ships becomes part of pleasure. The more we hanker for transitory pleasures, the greater difficulty we will face when we have to leave our temporal bodies. In fact untrammelled pleasure seeking and hedonistic lifestyles exemplified by traveling, yearning to stay in 5-star hotels etc have resulted in greater carbon emissions which has pushed to humanity to its current predicament. 

 

 

10.  Social service: providing help to those who need it by way of charity, physically helping the sick, incapacitated, poor, teaching those who cannot afford education, and so on. Doing for others is most uplifting for one’s personal and spiritual development. This also helps us in becoming less self centred and selfish, leading to seeing the ultimate truth in others and in the act of selfless service. 

 

 

11.  Entertainment: our civilisation is becoming shallow, vacuous and dumb with our obsession with entertainment round the clock which has been enabled by electricity, internet, IT, multiple devices, malls, restaurants, games, sports, Hollywood, TV, geometrical increase in channels, YouTube, and list goes on. Even infants by the age of two months are attracted towards mobiles. Our minds are totally controlled by multi channels media. TV with thousands of streaming channels has become a baleful influence in our houses. Our addiction to mobiles is reaching insane levels. We need to reduce the number of apps on our phones and tablets. 

 

A time will when electricity and internet will collapse. This will leave all of us devastated, as much as by climate collapse. With time limited we need to deaddict ourselves by reducing time spent on digital space. We have become zombies of modern digital age. Spending more time on yoga and meditation will be much more fulfilling when we can realise the peace by withdrawing from these sensual pleasures which act like dopamine. 

 

YouTube is probably the best with hundreds of channels which help us cope with our predicament. Will post some channels / links useful for coping separately on the Prahlaya page later for those you maybe interested. 

 

Calming music is also very useful in these times. YouTube has several channels of soothing sattvic music which be in the background. Need to reduce and stop listening tamasic loud rock and metal type of music just agitates our jangled nerves more. 

 

Watching good films of great directors like Ingmar Bergman of Sweden, and others is indeed to cathartic experience. A list of great international directors can be put up. Movie with cleansing powers which will help our self realisation efforts. 

 

 

12.  Prepping: this part has been left out for the present. The are several of them on YouTube in the west. If felt we jointly prepare one. 

 

 

13.  Euthanasia: with collapse barreling towards us we need to perhaps think of peaceful ways to exit along with the acceptance of the action. Most countries euthanasia is not legal except very few like Switzerland, Netherland. However the Peaceful Pill handbook contains several options. Most of them are clinical. However there are a few ancient practices which seem to be less violent. Vanaprastha is an age old way of ending life after one reaches 60 when one has completed all family duties. The old in Bharat used to walk away into the forests. There gradually food intake used to be reduced which used to weaken the body, and in few days eventually without food and water people used reach their last breath. But these people as per the ancient Vedic principles had already reached a stage where they had lost interest in living and attachment and love for their temporal bodies. This is the most necessary condition for facing death. Once we lose interest in living we should gradually stop all medication, then stop eating food and finally stop drinking water. If we are in the right spiritual framework we can  joyously depart from our temporal bodies and become part of the cosmic consciousness. 

 

There are few indigenous methods of ending life. Samadhi is an ancient practice in Bharat when Sadhus and enlightened people used to reach a stage of intense meditation and concentration. This stage was an union with the universal consciousness which lead to death of the temporal body. Many Sadhus also get buried alive to achieve Samadhi. Some Sadhus also reach Samadhi state while alive, then they continue living. Maybe a Samadhi master can with the help of hypnosis, etc help reasonably realised people achieve Samadhi and Moksha. 

 

The Japanese Samurai warriors had an honourable way of ending life through Harakiri, also known as Seppuku. This requires great courage and deep belief in ancient Buddhism/ Shintoism. But the process is very violent and bloody. 

 

An important exercise connected to this is to do simulations of our last moments in life. What should we do. What should we be thinking of. The state of our mind at the end is important in some faiths which will determines our post death situation. The best way to die is peacefully accepting the departure with bliss, which is any day better than dying in a disturbed state of mind with negative feelings about death and wanting to cringe on to life, irrespective of what happens to our spirit post death which differs from religion to religion. According to Sanatan Dharma thinking of only 🕉 is good for the spirit. It can be released and become part of the cosmic consciousness which it was also part of life while living maybe with or without realising having  it. 

 

There is an urgent need to set up End of Life euthanasia centres everywhere probably by 2024. Mankind will realise the necessity of such centres where humans can exit peacefully with dignity. Details of these EoL centres have outlined elsewhere. I will try to put a link or append to this document later. 

 

 

 

14.  Being in touch:  between like minded people as the situation deteriorates in very important. Otherwise facing the collapse alone with families will be traumatic without having like minded people to talk with or be in touch with. We can set of a hierarchy of communication system, so that group can be in touch and share notes. First level of communication breakdown could be that of Facebook or suspended from FB. In either case we can decide upon the next social media to be in touch in like telegraph. The are others like WhatsApp, messenger, mastodon, blogspot, Google groups Mobile numbers can be exchanged as that could be last communication system running. If mutually felt we can set up a small working of 3/4/members to take this forward if there is a need for it. If felt by some we set up a regular zoom or meetings  something to meet and discuss our problems and being in touch as collapse intensifies as long internet is there.

 

 I will nevertheless going ahead with the Prahlaya and Coping with Prahlaya as a movement since it’s going to be the need of the hour. If required I can run it maybe on my blog at https://newgrammaroflife.blogspot.com/. I have already been permanently banned by Twitter. Hence my anxiety about Facebook and Prahlaya. What will be will be. I most will grateful if some of you like minded members would like join me on this final end of times odyssey. 

 

 

 

15.  Conclusion: an earnest attempt has been made to prepare a ver.1 of Coping with Prahlaya. Not sure if this what you were expecting. Tried my best based upon my experience, perceptions, my earlier writings, my spiritual background and so on. Would love you all to point out the shortfalls, lack of clarity, mistakes, etc. Equally also would very much love to get your suggestions for improvements, additions, changes, deletion, etc. My objective at this stage is to publish a small handbook on Coping for Prahlaya or Collapse for all like minded people. 

 

 

 

 

  

 

.