Vedanta the onion way

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brahmin79

 

As the boundaries of the intellect keep expanding, new questions keep

cropping up. All these questions seek to elicit the principle behind

the objects around us. Every object evokes many questions in us. From

where did this come? What is its basis? What is the basis of that

basis? The questions never end. The end eludes us however deep we

venture. Thus, as an individual grows in his intellectual stature,

the uncertainty growing out of unanswered questions grow too, like

the lengthening shadows.

 

As the intellect expands further, man's inquiry about the objects

surrounding him stops. Now he starts inquiring about himself. Then,

questions like who is 'I'? From where did 'I' come? start pestering

him. Naturally, he will want to find out the mother root of the

entity called 'I'. For his effort to yield the fruit, he must first

figure out what 'I' stands for.

 

Man, who initially thinks that 'I' stands for the physical body will

soon realise his folly and assumes that it is the mind which is the

real 'I'. In due course of time, he will realise that Prana is the

true 'I'. After some time, he forges ahead in his understanding and

decides that even Ahankara (ego) is not the real 'I'. Thus, the

original question remains unanswered. In fact, if what

constitutes 'I' is known, the knowledge about its source will also be

known. It is because of the erroneous assumption that 'I' stands for

entities such as the body, the mind or the intellect or Ahankara that

the search for its true meaning continues.

 

Take an onion. Start peeling off its layers. In the beginning, the

layers come off easily. As you progress, it becomes increasingly

difficult to peel. Do not lose heart. Continue. What do you see in

the end? Nothing. All the layers have come from nothing! Ahankara

(ego), Prana (vital force), Manas (mind), body etc., are in fact

layers around you. When you peel them off one by one, you can realise

that principle which is devoid of name and form. Thus, all that you

have to do to realise the true nature of 'I' is to simply peel off

the layers. Observe this Sookti -

 

Anaama roopam yad vastu - pratyagaatmeti keertitam Tadaavritam kosha

bhedaih - palaandu dala sannibhaih "That which is called as the

Pratyagatma ('I'), which is devoid of name and form is covered by

different sheaths just as an onion is made of different layers."

Remember the philosophy of onion whenever you see one!

Extracted from the Web

 

 

adi_shakthi16

 

thanks pradeep! the sufis also use 'onions', chick peas' etc in their

parables to illustrate important truths! here is an onion 'story' i

enjoy !

 

Once upon a time there was a town composed of two parallel streets. A

Dervish passed through one street into the other, and as he reached

the second one, the people there noticed that his eyes were streaming

with tears. "Someone has died in the other street!" one cried, and

soon all the children in the neighborhood had taken up the cry.

 

What had really happened was that the dervish had been peeling onions.

 

Within a short space of time the cry had reached the first street;

and the adults of both streets were so distressed and fearful (for

each community was related to the other) that they dared not make

complete inquiries as to the cause of the furor.

 

A wise man tried to reason with the people of both streets, asking

why they did not question each other. Too confused to know what they

meant, some said: "For all we know there is a deadly plague in the

other street."

 

This rumor, too, spread like wildfire, until each street's populace

thought that the other was doomed.

 

When some measure of order was restored, it was only enough for the

two communities to decide to emigrate to save themselves. Thus it was

that, from different sides of the town, both streets entirely

evacuated their people.

 

Now, centuries later, the town is still deserted; and not so far

away are two villages. Each village has its own tradition of how it

began as a settlement from a doomed town, through a fortunate flight,

in remote times, from a nameless evil.

 

****In their psychological teaching, Sufis claim that ordinary

transmission of knowledge is subject to so much deformation through

editing and false memory that it cannot be taken as a substitute for

direct perception of fact.****

 

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from a web source

 

this was posted by our beloved kathy_namaste sometime ago in 'sadhnn'

club which i had archived as i liked it very much!!!

 

thanks kathy for this wonderful story!!!!

 

Sufis... images of whirling dervishs... desert sands... the Sufis

have a saying, that we are each as an onion... with dry, flaky

covering, underneath that, layer upon layer of self, underneath that,

we are the center.

 

it is said that each soul sheds it's outer and inner layers, one by

one, until the pure center is reached... there are predictable stages

for each soul, as layer after layer is shed... and we each go through

them, in our own way, in our own time, with our own words...

all seeking the center. what difference does it make, what i name

each layer i shed? what difference does it make, what i name the

center? the layers will be shed, no matter the name, the center will

be reached, no matter the name...

 

can we not honor our different names, our different methods of

peeling? and honor our Oneness... onions all?

 

in the end, there is only love

 

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there is only 'oneness' or 'onioness' as somebody jokingly said!!!!!