NAMASMARAN

SKEPTICISM
CYNICISM
AND

SARCASM
DR.
SHRINIWAS
KASHALIKAR
There are broadly four stages of our development; which takes
us to perfection, self realization, objective existence, eternal
truth, sacchidananda, ishwar, paramatma or parmaeshwar.

Traditionally these stages are identified as baddha, mumukshu,

sadhak and Siddha.

Baddha means completely oblivious to one’s true self and totally

lost in one’s subjective or petty self. One can say, totally
individualistic.

Mumukshu means one who gets ambiguous but haunting “wake

up” calls promptings from the core of his or her heart. The
restlessness begins. The search of the “self” though, without
direction or clarity begins. There doubts, distractions,
disturbances and frantic activity like that of a person who just
begun to learn swimming.

Sadhak stage begins when the mumukshu gets the guidance and
direction for the search. The efforts get rectified and refined. The
pace, the swiftness and the momentum increase. The progress
however is full of subtle, conflicting, confusing, harrowing,
dreadful spells of ordeals in physical, instinctual, emotional and
intellectual realms of an individual. These are often destabilizing,
uprooting and violent in nature. These are essentially the ordeals
which destroy all kind of subjective frameworks of an individual
and bring him closer to objective state of existence.
Siddha is a stage; marked by the final and extremely subtle
processes of dissolution of subjective or individual self into
cosmic self. The struggles in this stage are often beyond the
comprehension through language of digits and letters. These
stages are beyond the comprehension of our all stages of
individual consciousness. These stages are also beyond three
dimensions.

When we are in the first 3 stages of development we are tender

and delicate within. We are amenable, accessible, vulnerable and
susceptible to damaging and harmful influences and inflictions
coming from within us; and from the people trapped in various
phases of the stage of baddha. Baddhas manifest in many ways.
But; possibly the most dangerous manifestations are the
powerful inflictions such as the skepticism, cynicism and
sarcasm. These manifestations of the baddha individuals are
stupefying, disorienting, distracting, distorting, dragging and
devastating in nature. The baddha individuals knowingly or
unknowingly manifest these and energize, expedite, facilitate the
process of dementia, amnesia i.e. loss of memory of our self or
soul consciousness; and suck us in the hell of VINASHA! The
meaning of VINASHA i.e. ghastly total destruction; according to
Geeta, Dnyaneshvari and Dasbodh; and in my experience also; is
obliviousness or forgetfulness of God i.e. our true self.

Hence it is said; “To prevent VINASHA; avoid the company of

those, who forget, deny or denounce God i.e. self and/or malign
their motherland, guru, mother and father! Such avoidance
whether physical, mental or intellectual; is possible; through the
unshakable steadfastness and persistence in the practice of
NAMASMARAN. Is it not possible to avoid VINASHA in some
other simpler ways and through some short cuts? In my
experience; NO! It is not possible in any other way!”