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From Pure Joy Springs All Creation;
By Joy It Is Sustained, Towards Joy It Proceeds And To Joy It Returns. - Tantra Shastras
Knowing Is Not Enough;
We Must Apply. Being Willing Is Not Enough; We Must Do. - Leonardo Da Vinci
I see myself as an unschooled self-realized person,
without any formal path, practice, or teacher. My birth
name is Susmita Barua. You may just call me Mita (which means 'friend' or "shore"). I was born in Jalpaiguri, south of Darjeeling and raised in the early 1960's and 1970's in a suburb of Calcutta, India in a very tiny minority immigrant community of Bengali Buddhists. These Buddhists somehow survived in the coastal Chittagong area of Bangladesh, as Buddhism declined, decayed and eclipsed in mainland India (see Barua Buddhists). My mother Manjushree gave me the nickname 'Muni' (meaning sage), which is a rather awkward name for a female child.
Only my mother and eldest brother (who named me 'Susmita') called me by that name. My father often affectionately addressed
me as 'Ma' (meaning mother, a common tradition in Bengal). I am the third child in our family in between two older brothers
and my sister.
I still have the somewhat jolting memory of
my earliest dream of waking up on this plane, like falling through a spiral. This and other early dreams
made me feel that this world is a continuation of the dream world. Even as a little child I used to wonder about being
a lone Buddhist among all my my friends who were not! When I was about seven years old, I had a vivid luminous
dream where I was peeping from inside the earth (agartha) and witnessing celestial Buddha in a standing position giving his first sermon to his five disciples under a tree. All of them had glowing light bodies and robes of white light surrounded by
golden halo! This luminous dream made me feel very safe and blessed.
I also recall often falling asleep silently
chanting the three refuge vows and the Buddhist blessing, "May all beings be happy! My father was an active Board and Life Member of Bengal Buddhist Association and despite his failing health did his best to peserve the legacy (of many pioneering Buddhism revival work in modern Bengal
and India) of my great grandfather Bhikkhu Chandrajyoti, better known as Karmayogi Kripasaran Mahathero (1865-1926). From very early on I have always been
an observer of life and I noticed the many inequalities in terms of gender, age, caste, religion, wealth, social
status, skin color and such - that existed in Indian society and still does in various degrees in all cultures around the
world. Two of the most awe inspiring childhood memories I recall now were hearing the sound of Ocean from a distance and encountering
the vastness of it for the first time; and getting a very thick "children's Book of Knowledge" as a gift from my uncle. Like
most children I asked many "why" questions, most of them stayed with me till now. My early fascination with fables, jataka
stories and fairy tales gave way to mysteries and adventures when I got exposed to some foreign classics in the middle school
library. I remember shedding lot of tears while reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin", David Copperfield, Lincoln's biography and such... wondering how one human being could be so cruel to another? One
basic question for me was, "how do human children born with basic goodness and sanity grow up to be in this sorry situation?" I still have fond memories of childhood visit with Dipama and Dipa and my father's great love and concern for their well-being.
Success is not a place at
which one arrives, but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey. - Alex Noble
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Professionally I was trained as a geographer, social scientist, research
analyst, regional and urban planner. As I came to know more about world history, geography, cultures, economic and political
systems, the nature of my questions changed. I found that many things we study in sciences and arts do not ask the basic question
'Why'? Why do we have so many wonders unexplained in our pre-recorded history? How come we humans create systems (our own
creation) that we do not understand? Why communism with its great ideals of equality for all fails miserably? Why capitalism
with its ideals of free speech and free market is also failing in closing inequalities in access and income? Why India, a
great nation with its highest spiritual insights and wisdom could not translate it in the everyday living of average Indians?
Everyday, for seven years during my hour
long bus commute to my college, I passed through the indescribable poverty, and daily indignities of human living in the squalid
slums of Calcutta! I wondered, may be the wealthy nations like the U.S must be following some right principle! Yet I was aware
of the disillusionment of wealth from the hippies I saw during my many visits to Bodh-Gaya. I wanted to come in the States to see and experience things
for myself.
So I came to University of Arizona, Tucson, as a graduate student in 1985 and got married the
same year. First year was rough because it was the first time in my life that I moved so far away from my family home and
friends! I had to deal with the stresses of living all alone, new marriage, in-laws, new school, new society and
new desert land. I was somewhat forced to go within because I was losing my emotional balance at times. For the first time
it seemed that I was catapulted from a state of grace to a state of great inner turmoil, the kind previously unknown to me!
Why are human relationships so difficult? What is the goal in any relationship? What is it we do not understand
about us?
As a child I used to look at the night sky
especially at the Big Dipper question mark for a long time! First time I learned of gravity
and planetary motion, I got quite fascinated with the thought that somehow we are not falling off the planet! It surprised
me that the grown-ups are not the least bit excited about that! I wondered what is holding all things in the space/void together?
For some reason, I always wanted to know and understand things from Universal perspective (not just human perspective) which
bridges the physical and non-physical. This led me to a grand voyage of exploration in this lifetime! I was always curious
about the unseen and unknown than the known. My spiritual path was one of self-inquiry, inner reflection and deep contemplation
and answers came from many sources including my own remembering or inner knowing, deep introspection and intuition. I followed a secular kind of Buddha Dharma without attachment to any beliefs, including the belief in any teacher or practice. Life itself is 'the guru'.
I had some basic understanding and exposure to Theravada, Five Precepts, pali chants, life of Buddha, and meditation. Being a heart or citta centered person I felt things deeply almost unbearably at times. Alone in a foreign land with no one to turn to I had
to rely on my basic intelligence, wisdom and discriminating awareness to guide me.
"Having realized and comprehended all by myself, who shall I call
my teacher?" - Buddha
At some point, "What
happens is that either physically or psychologically, the guru becomes distant and you are forced to work things out for yourself.
Then you begin to relate with your life situation as guru. Everything that comes up in your life is part of the guru. The
guru is everywhere. At that point the inner guru begins to wake up." - Chogyam Trungpa, The Collected Works, Vol III p528
"Joyous is the appearence
of the Buddhas. Joyous is the instruction in the true teaching (dharma). Joyous is the gathering of the Sangha. Joyous is
the austerity of those who have gathered." - Dhamma-Pada (14.16)
"Those who, either now or after I am dead, shall be lamps unto themselves,
relying upon themselves only and not relying upon any external help, but holding fast to the truth as their lamp, and seeking
their salvation in the truth alone, and shall not look for assistance to any one besides themselves, it is they,
Ananda, among my bhikkhus, who shall reach the very topmost height! But they must be anxious to learn."
- Buddha's farewell message
to Ananda
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Affiliations:
Advisory Director,
Foundation for Women's Education in Rural world, An Educational Non-profit Oraganization (see reference)
President Of Treenaneel, A cultural non-profit
organization and Chair of seminar and movie committee for Bangamela 2006
Friend of Phoenix Institute, Lexington Shambhala, Buddhist Peace fellowship, Friends of the Art Schools, Friends of the Library, Bluegrass Hospice, Sustainable Communities Network, Lexington Friendship International, CitizensCreate, peace2day, wikipedia, Sourcewatch, Wanttoknow, P2P Foundation, Zaadz, Noetic shift, icommons, unMoney Convergence
Member in many
online Proactive Social Change and Creative Solution/Idea Forums (some quoted in guestbook and Explore)
Resume
Allow love instead of fear to guide your choices in every moment. Let go and allow
love to flow through life's difficulties. To be or not to be? That is the choice between denial and
despair.
Weave Your World with Web of LOVE ImagiaUniverse
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We moved to Kentucky with my husband's job and our newborn child. When my daughter turned almost
two,I took a full-time job with the city as socio-economic planner. This job matched closely with my skills, but I felt limited.
I had to quit the job for my own peace and sanity. After a year I took another job with the city, but here too I found myself
very restricted amid very unmotivated (yet decent) people. My only safe heaven was the downtown Library, where I spent many
lunch hours looking out the large windows, watching the workers in their best work suits pass by and wondering, why most
of them look so glum and despirited?
My job experience made me ask many things! Should we live for life's sake or
for a living? What sort of society we have created that requires us to sacrifice our lives to make a living, when the pursuit
of life ( = liberty and happiness) is our basic goal? Why making a living and its methods (including education and jobs)are
so disconnected from life? Why freedom by itself (political and economic) does not promote happiness? What kind of freedom
should we seek that promotes happiness? What is real freedom? What is real happiness? What is Real? What should I do with
my life? I got very quickly disillusioned with conventional social life. I went deep into my 'dukkha', its origin, its
cessation and found a way for its cessation following my own instincts and staying close to my wholesome state and natural
awareness.
I renounced all worldly aspirations and embarked on an inner journey to discover my true
nature and nature of Reality with the intention to benefit all beings and serve the world's deepest needs. This is the
only way I could restore my inner peace, sanity and joy. There is an inner voice that I always had, sometimes
distant, sometimes very near and clear that actually guided me though this inner process of progressive meditative absorption
in the unbounded realms of formless, through a spontaneous practice of brahmaviharas.
Renounce all worldly goals and you shall reach the highest goal."- Milarepa
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| The dynasty of female Pharaohs (powerful masters) existed before the recorded history. - Ramtha |
I realize now that the desire
to be free, free from all tyrannies of inequality and binding social customs, traditions, and beliefs is a basic human desire.
Yet this universal desire has not been enough to set man free! Why? What supports or resists the manifestation of desire?
What is my true need? What is my true and essential nature? What happens to life after
Nirvana? Do we really create our reality? How far individuation goes?
I sensed it
is not necessarily the poor and the repressed who often live in quiet misery! I went deep within myself and turned the spotlight inward to myself. I contemplated continuously in order to connect with my
authentic "self", my own needs, my true nature and to my great surprise I began to understand the world I live in a clear manner! It also rekindled
my lost passion for universal knowledge, wisdom and truth. My inner transformation was quite rapid and always guided
by self-inquiry and a process of stripping down my usual social psychological self. An indescribable luminous
self-awakening experience (Dharmakaya) accompanied by illumination, a quickened euphoric out-of-body ejection of
primary essence (a wispy force), self projection of my illumined image in my bedroom oval mirror, feeling of unearthly ecstasy,
unimaginable freedom, bursting of all bubbles (akin to opening of a bottle of champagne) and a deep presence profoundly
and permanently shifted my perception of the world and the people forever! The very ground was pulled away beneath my feet,
as if whole reality turned upside down! I was not only out of body, I was completely blown out of my mind in a state of naked
and empty awareness (Dharmakaya). All dualities and mental conflicts ceased into profound silence, sublime awe and simple
yet supra-awakefulness! My ecstatic contact with the Infinite was spontaneous, immediate and unmediated. Yet it
did come after walking a self-guided path of deep inquiry and contemplation that unfolded spontaneously in
the form of noble 8 fold path. I wanted the delusion to end, before I can serve the world or truely surrender
my life to my calling.
Looking back now, this singlur
experience, inexpressible and beyond words answered all my questions in a multidimensional way! This experience was followed by other extraordinary experiences in next few years, including strange physical sensations,
ailments, lucid dreams, simultaneous life review, and the most unusual experience of being pulled by an incredibly powerful
vortex of electrical field (3 days after the awakening)! I felt every atom and cell of my body vibrating at such a high frequency
that I would be blown off the planet. It took quite a bit of willful strength to pull myself out of it, as I felt I am
needed here. Following my own intuion, inspiration and synchronicities over the years landed me now to a spiritually engaged path.
Now looking back to my earliest childhood
question "does the world has to be this way (more hellish than heaven)?", I can truely say, "No, not any more!" Things are
thawing and shapeshifting behind the scene in all areas, and our human consciousness is now steadily waking up from a long
period of hibernation! A great urge to connect with the world and a planetary vision that arose some years after my awakening led me to create this site. My time, attention, intention and energy have
been directed towards realization of that vision. I had no reference point, context or label for the bodhi experience at the time, just a burning desire to be free and realize the ultimate Truth (Reality). Only now, after
more than a decade, I feel the time has come for me to openly share the experience with those who are open
and devoted in their spiritual path and ready to be a refuge and light unto themselves .
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My passion to know myself and the world I live in led me
to a path of self exploration in many directions to a journey to wholeness. After finishing two consecutive Masters' program,
I did not go for any higher studies as I instinctively felt, it will restrict myself (my quest) into a narrow field. Now I
intend to publish a book of life that addresses eternal human questions from both the perspective of the individual and the
planet as a whole. I was inspired to write my book and create this web page following my inner questions and intuitions. I
am Mita and I thank You for stopping by.
Success
"To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent
people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
- Bessie stanley
Transformation Coach
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