Street Talk: Kailasa Ishaya

HK Magazine: What, exactly, is enlightenment?
Kailasa Ishaya: Enlightenment is about learning about your true self so that you can achieve a constant state of happiness, peace and fulfillment. To do that, we need to expand our consciousness.

HK: How can one expand consciousness?
KI: To unlearn the beliefs already set in your mind and gain insights about yourself. All of us have formed different beliefs from our experiences. For example, the way your parents treat you affects your perception of whether you are loveable or not. We adopt lots of beliefs, and some conflict with others. Some experiences tell us that we are a capable person, while others tell us exactly the opposite. It is simply impossible to sort through all those thoughts in order to be enlightened - it is too complicated, and there are simply too many. That’s where meditation, ascension or other practices come into play.

HK: How do these exercises work?
KI: During such practices, you just watch these thoughts going through your mind instead of analyzing them. Eventually, the thoughts or beliefs will go away and they can no longer control you. So unlike many forms of psychotherapy, where the patient’s beliefs are intensely analyzed, we take the easier way - we observe them, then let go of them.

HK: Do people retrieve repressed memories during meditation? Is it harmful if they do?
KI: Sometimes the process can be very uncomfortable....Being honest with yourself is never an easy thing, but if you are constantly in denial or repressing your thoughts, you are being controlled by something you do not know about - which makes it altogether more dangerous. Sometimes the images that arise are not real past experiences - that is just the way thoughts express themselves. Once these thoughts and the energy they carry are released, you feel much healthier.

HK: Do people remember past lives?
KI: I believe in past lives and I have heard stories about these retrieved memories, but I don’t think the past life is important unless it is creating problems in your present life. If these memories were meant to be important, most people would not have forgotten them in the first place, right? If it is something that is meant to be known, you will know. Life can be a lot simpler when you don’t try to figure it all out. Don’t bother to analyze everything.

HK: What are the most toxic beliefs people have?
KI: In this society, we somehow endorse suffering. We share stories about the suffering of others. Old people talk about who’s sick and who’s dying; young people talk about who has been fired. We share bad news about things that are not working. Have you ever heard people saying, “Hey, that’s great! So-and-so is doing so well!” People would only get jealous. People assume that life should be hard. We also somehow link suffering to achievement, thinking that achievement must entail a lot of pain. The term “workaholic” becomes flattery, but it refers to when you have overworked your body - which is a form of suffering, in the hope of achieving something. Well, it is true that success requires a lot of effort, but it is not necessarily about pain or suffering.