Guest guest Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Hello Joyce, Thank you for sharing this story in installments. I have enjoyed reading it. Some metaphors get pretty funny over the passage of centuries. I have to confess I will entertain myself all day thinking of whether the fat dead cow can kill a tiger, the lively eye of a dead sheep can see, and if I hold my cat in my hands and ask my parrot to talk, will it talk? Jill On Feb 18, 2005, at 9:38 PM, Lady Joyce wrote: > > > <image.tiff>Jnaneshvar and his father complete their conversation and > his father agrees to return to town... > > Father: Is it possible to conquer the grief-causing sense objects and > to become one with the all-pervading blissful Self by not doing any > other sadhana but merely realizing as the result of jnana vichara that > one is himself Brahman? > > Jnaneswar: If even a live cow cannot kill a tiger, can a dead cow do > so? Similarly, what can the sense objects do to the Self, which is > eternal, free from all defects, which extends everywhere and is of the > nature of bliss? As even a fat cow will be afraid to face a tiger, > sense objects will not dare to come before a jnani, who by steady > jnana has attained perfection. But even if they do, they will be > extinguished, as the cow by the tiger. > > Father: What if the jnani (he who knows), by mixing with ajnanis (the > ignorant) should get entangled in sense objects, yield to disturbances > of the mind and become entirely sorrow stricken, like a chaste woman > becoming unchaste by mixing with prostitutes? > > Jnaneswar: The steadfast chaste woman will maintain her chastity in > spite of the company of any number of prostitutes. The unsteady one > will find occasion for erring even without any evil company. > Similarly, the firm jnani will never lose his perfect realization > though surrounded by any number of ajnanis (erring ones). The unsteady > one will lose his jnana, even when in solitude. > > Father: How can one become a sahaja jnani (one who has spontaneously > realized) if engaged in domestic affairs? > > Jnaneswar: Though the jnani (sage) mixes with ajnanis and acts many > parts with them, he will ever remain the experiencer of the supreme > bliss, just as a brahmin though acting the part of a scavenger on the > stage, and behaving accordingly, ever remains only a brahmin without > becoming a scavenger. > > Father: However firm the jnana or the spiritual insight of a man may > be, unless he contemplates at least for some time every day that he is > Brahman, it is very difficult for him to become a Brahma jnani. > > Jnaneswar: Is it necessary for the brahmin, who is acting the part of > a scavenger, to frequently think that he is a brahmin? Will he become > a scavenger if he does not think so? Are sacred strings necessary to > distinguish one, whom the entire world knows to be a brahmin? After > the annihilation of the ego, “I”, should one still retain the knot of > the ego consciousness and go on meditating “I am Brahman”? As the > world-known brahmin is adored as a brahmin by everybody, even when he > does not wear sacred strings, one who has renounced notions of “I” and > “mine” will always be respected by all and will always be enjoying the > supreme bliss of Self, even if he does not practice any meditation. > > Father: Even if one is equal to Jagadish (the Almighty), if one does > not daily practice the meditation “I am Brahman,” he will undoubtedly > become an ajnani. The ego sense, which identifies one with body, etc., > will never vanish. > > Jnaneswar: If one holds the light in his hands and asks darkness to > remain, will it remain? Similarly, if, after vanquishing the ignorance > that one is the body or its internal organs, after one has attained > the knowledge that one is the Supreme itself, will ajnana remain even > if it is bidden to remain? If one holds the cat in one’s hand and asks > the parrot to talk, will it talk? After realizing that self, Iswara > and the world, etc. are all unreal, will maya come, even if it is > invited? The eunuch will stand ashamed to declare himself a man before > a woman who knows his impotence. Similarly, to one who has recognized > beyond all doubt, in the presence of his Guru, that Brahman alone is > real while maya is unreal, that Brahman is transcendent of all > thoughts while maya consists of desires and aversions, and that one is > Brahman and Brahman is one’s Self, where is the desire or aversion, > bondage or freedom, birth or death, country or forest, charity, > penance, renunciation or family life? Can the power of maya avail even > a bit against one who is in the world, like the eye of a dead sheep > (which seems as if it can see while it does not)? Can it turn him > again into ajnana (error)? Please consider deeply. > > Thereupon Vithoba agreed to leave the forest and return home. > > July/August 2004, Vol. 14 - No. 4 > > http://www.arunachala.org/Publications/NewsLetters/2004/jul_aug.shtml > > > > > /join > > > > > > "Love itself is the actual form of God." > > Sri Ramana > > In "Letters from Sri Ramanasramam" by Suri Nagamma > > > > Links > > • > / > > • > > > • Terms of > Service. > > Attachment: (text/enriched) [not stored] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Hi Jill: I am glad you and others enjoyed this story. I am always enthralled with Jnaneshavar and his story and writings. And yes, the metaphors will get you to thinking, won't they? That is one of the reasons I did it in installments. I got the idea from Viorica. For myself, I do it so I can absorb what it says in parts. Sometimes, when I read these things, they lose me, or I lose them, if I try to take it all in at once. Love, Joyce - Jill Eggers Saturday, February 19, 2005 7:58 AM Re: Jnaneshvar teaches #4 ( last) Hello Joyce, Thank you for sharing this story in installments. I have enjoyed reading it. Some metaphors get pretty funny over the passage of centuries. I have to confess I will entertain myself all day thinking of whether the fat dead cow can kill a tiger, the lively eye of a dead sheep can see, and if I hold my cat in my hands and ask my parrot to talk, will it talk? Jill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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