Guest guest Posted April 10, 2002 Report Share Posted April 10, 2002 OM fellow travellers Mahabharata (XII.316.40) "Abandon Dharma and Adharma; abandon truth and falsehood. Having abandoned both truth and falsehood, abandon that (i.e. the principle, the mind) by which you abandon." Raja Yoga Sutras (IV.7) "For a Yogi, Karma is neither white not black; for others, it is three-fold (white, black, grey). Swami Sivananda on his death bed: Remember (God). Forget (the rest). Dharma is usually said to mean `righteousness', `virtue', or `moral order'. But whose moral order? The Al Qaeda fighter believes that killing infidels, especially Jews and Americans, will guarantee him a place in heaven. He is following his dharma. The Zionist believes that Palestine was given to him by God and that the Arab Palestinians should be dispersed (alive or dead) so that Jews can reclaim the land that God gave them. He is following his dharma. The Evangelical Christian believes that Armagedon will not come and signal the return of Christ unless the Jews hold Palestine, so he supports the attacks on Palestinians. He is following his dharma. Hindus burn a Christian missionary and his two sons alive in their car. All were following their dharma. Moslems in Ayodhya kill Hindus for destroying a mosque and for attempting to rebuild a Hindu temple on the site. Hindus in Ayodhya kill Moslems for building the mosque on the birthplace of Rama. All are following their dharma. People spend their lives following some religious/spiritual dharma, some recipe for righteousness, or another. They may not kill anyone, but they spend their days perfoming actions in strict accordance with their idea of how to live the life of a saint. But they pay so much attention to the details that they forget the inner illumination that is the real hallmark of the saint. The true dharma is beyond caste or creed or code. The true dharma is that which takes one not to heaven but beyond heaven to Brahman. The true dharma allows no exception to the idea of ahimsa. The true dharma allows no diminuation of one's divinity caused by following rules and ritual without divine bhava. If that divine bhava is not present, then dharma is not present. People can become so engrossed in the apparent details of their dharma path that they forget that dharma is there is maintain a connection with Brahman, to remove obstacles to the connection, not to create the connection. To follow a dharma path is to stay locked into the phenomenal world unless one is already highly evolved. There is a famous story about Swami Sivananda that illustrates true dharma. One night, Swami Sivananda was leading a satsang in a room full of devotees. One disgruntled person began to attack Swami Sivananda with an axe. Swami Sivananda made no effort to defend himself or to avoid injury. But his disciples, including my Guru, Swami Sivananda, sprang to his defense and wrestled the axe away from the attacker. The disciples would have beaten the attacker senseless, or worse, if Swami Sivananda had not intervened and told them to stop. The police were called and arrested the attacker. Swami Sivananda went to the jail and spoke to the attacker. Swami Sivananda had the attacker released and welcomed him back into the Ashram, fed him and gave him flowers but the attacker wanted to return home so Swami Sivananda gave him money for trainfare and wished him well. Swami Sivanada at the moment of the attack, was absorbed in, identified with, Brahman. He was not identified with his body, or life on earth. His physical body and his life on the earth plane meant nothing to him except as obstacles to Brahman if he should choose to think them important. After the attack, Swami Sivananda was also identified with Brahman and consequently, could understand the attacker's ignorance and confusion about the apparent value of things in the earth plane, and, consequently was able to extend the love and compassion of Brahman toward him. True dharma involves an allegiance not to a moral code (although that is a good place to start) but to Brahman, the ultimate originator of that moral code. OM Namah Sivaya Omprem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2002 Report Share Posted April 11, 2002 namaste dear friends! The Saint is a man who disciplines his ego. The Sage is a man who rids himself of his ego. The Saint retains the illusion of a 'me' and lives inside his mirage. The Sage walks through this mirage and finds that there was no 'me' in reality. (Wei Wu Wei) Brahman, the Absolute, and Unconditioned, is realised in Samadhi alone; and then it is all silence about delusion or non-delusion (or the Jiva or Jagat), knowing or not-knowing. Whatever is, is there. For, verily, the salt doll tells no tale when one with the infinite sea. (Sri Ramakrishna) **love** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2002 Report Share Posted April 11, 2002 Nameste Sphurna Thank you for that beautiful words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2002 Report Share Posted April 11, 2002 OM Adi Shakthi Ouch. I forgot my Guru's name. But thanks for pointing that out for me. You are correct that my Guru is Swami Vishnu-devananda. Swamiji was always so intent during his life to offer credit for all of his actions to Swami Sivananda that it seems I soaked up that attitude. Thanks again. OM Namah Sivaya Omprem , "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16> wrote: > > " True dharma involves an allegiance not to a moral code > (although that is a good place to start) but to Brahman, the > ultimate originator of that moral code. " > > Spoken like a true brahma-jnani? ompremji- hats off to you! queen > sheba bows before king solomon, the wise one! smiles!!! > > gandhiji said... > > "Two basic maxims for nonviolence: 1. Ahimsa is the supreme Law or > Dharma, 2. There is no other Law or Dharma than Truth." > > tthere is only one truth! > > there is no 'sharon' truth! > > no 'yasser arafat' truth! > > no 'al-qaeda' truth! > > no 'bush' truth! > > no 'advani' truth1 > > no ' mussaraf' truth > > and so on.... > > > om tat sat!!!! > > thanks once again for a heart-warming post... > > p.s. btw you mention sivanana as a guru in your post - i guess you > meant swami vishnu devanananda - disciple of swami shivananda- a > freudian slip, may be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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