Bhava Bhakti Utelle Uti, Ahhh Bole, Bole : )

[Guest guest]

>> I joined the list just this week; but it became immediately

apparent that there exists here a mood of contention... There are

several 'stages' of Realization. Nirvikalpa Samadhi, means "ultimate

spiritual attainment"...This form of Realization brings in a level of

"non-

experience". Meaning, it can only be experienced in the aftermath as

it is a permanent change in PERCEPTION. Or, an INTUITIVE FAMILARITY

with That which surpasses understanding. <<

Dear yogini ~ hello and welcome. I have been absent from the group

while taking a trip this summer and came back to find diatribes being

lobbed like missles...to and fro. For awhile I started deleting the

digests because, even though I didn't want to be party to the lobbing

in any way (even by reading), I didn't have the heart to remove myself

from the list. I wish it were as simple as what you describe, but I

believe some is due to the flexing of cognitive muscle and

intellectialization. Then there is more flexing over the flexing.

Yesterday, I read the four most recent digests and realized that

Harsha, as moderator, had taken some action to remedy this, and now

the missles were being lobbed at him. I wracked my brain for some way

to convey my feelings of sadness to the group, and I very much wanted

to say thank you to Harsha because I came to the group for satsangha

and this lobbing of missles did not feel like satsangha to me. (For

anyone to then say the lobbing of missles is precisely satsangha to

me is obfuscating, but I did read some comments that were the

equivalent of this.) And, I am sorry to say, I did not myself want to

become a target for any missles. Everyday life provides sufficient for

my growth, and in satsangha I look for support, encouragement,

personal experiences, etc. Okay, so that being said, I really

connected with your comment about Nirvikalpa Samadhi. I really

appreciate that you contributed something that was concrete, and also

it was especially powerful to me because, just last night I was

reading in a most wonderful book about this very topic. I never knew

there were different types or levels of Samadhi, and in this book,

none were belittled or put down as not being the highest or best.

They were simply explained in a very clear way. Since I am very aware

that Advaitism like other branches of the spiritual tree of Mother

India is firmly rooted within its own cultural/spiritual context, I

am also eager to learn as much as I can. Rather than seeing this as a

burden or obstacle (to realization), I see it as a joy, a seva, a

dharma, a sadhana. I have been blessed in my life to have spiritual

experiences that are beyond description. These have led me to seek

more and to seek to find a way to always be in that state. Even

though it is beyond description, and I am sure that my experiences

are only little mini versions of what is possible, when I am no

longer there, the words that come to me to describe it (which I do in

poetry and song) are usually about Joy, Love, Wholeness, Connection...

and they come as close as I can. This same book talks about the life

of Ramakrishna, who was considered a great jnana yogi. Yet, many

observed, according to the author, Ramakrishna's constant devotion

and praise to the Divine Mother. Was this not also bhakti asks the

author. I suspect that, in the course of this book, he is making

clear that these disctinctions that become the subject of contention

are all part of the same bhava, attitude, experience, path, seeking.

shanti and Thanks again ~ Linda