Some people what does Buddha and a skull have in common. Why would I paint them together? The truth is that they are interdependent.
Let me explain.
Buddha is not a first name. It's not linked to one particular person, although historically speaking it is so, since we attribute it the figure of Siddhartha Gautama who walked this Earth some 25 centuries ago. In reality Buddha means "The Enlightened One", basically describing someone who has transcended the wheel of sanskara, the vicious circle of continuous seeding of new karma and thus guarantee of reincarnation (which is totally immoral by the way, it is just subject to un-changing universal laws).
So how does one go about getting enlightened? Ha, that's a pretty funny thing to write about, coming from an un-enlightened person. But the vedas and all ancient wisdom are pretty clear on this subject: we are trapped in the illusion of our minds (maya) and in order to overcome it we have to overcome all fears that spring from the illusion of separation from our source, our creator. In reality, there is only one life force which we are part of, so any separation is indeed but an illusion of mind. The problem with us humans is that when we incarnate inside a body which is mortal, all our memories of our true origin are wiped out and we get imprinted by sacred wound, which is not a curse, but blessing in disguise. Our fear of death is at the core of all our fears, and it has a precious lesson to teach us. Every single one of our fears is a derivative, a different shade of grey, of that one primary fear of end of existence, of annihilation.
Just imagine how you life would change if you realized, not on mind level but with your whole being, as a vivid cellular memory, that you are immortal and one with the life-force that created you (AKA God) thus nothing can really go wrong. I don't think that many people can grasp the immensity of this statement. You life would change instantly and the ripple of such realization in one single person would leave an imprint in whole cosmos. That is why people like Buddha made such a huge impact by "just becoming enlightened". They did not have to defeat armies or conquer new continents. All they conquered is their own mind.
First and foremost, you'd immediately stop chasing all that you chase which is based on the survival instinct (yes my friends, MONEY is a PRIME example of it) and you would start to serve everyone around you without distinction. Service would suddenly be the most joyous thing to do. You would not be able to harm in any conceivable way any other living being because you would see the same life in them as you have within, and harming anything would be harming yourself. Last but not least: you'd have a severe fit of laughter. You'd laugh until your sides would ache and your chest would burn. Because for the first time of your life you'd understand the Divine Joke and the absolute foolishness of your up-to-now life.
How do I know? Because I had this experience. Twice. Unfortunately it did not stay with me for long, although it did change me profoundly. Nothing in this material world can ever bring anything even close to the joy of that experience. Not by a yard stick. Not by million yard sticks. All our pleasures, our addictions and pain killing patterns is just our attempt to remember that what we forgot at the time of our birth, but deep inside we still remember. That we are divine, immortal and infinite.
So what up with the skull? Well that's obvious isn't it? It's only by facing and walking though our fear of death that we cam make the the final leap. The final leap which burns the bridge and propels you to the life beyond death (but before the physical death of your body), into the TRUTH.
I sit in that place often. And anyone who has been in that spot will agree with me that it is no easy leap.
I hope many of your will take that leap before you will be forced to leap (at the time of your death), so that you can live your life in true freedom, and spending your life freeing other human beings from the wheel of suffering, just as Gautama Siddhartha did.
Much Love to all of you,
Blessings for all your support,
Jan
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