Guest guest Posted April 17, 2002 Report Share Posted April 17, 2002 OM Adi Shakthi And another great post from you as well. "the enlightened ego is the ego that recognizes that the 'atman' that resides in me is the same 'atman' that resides in the 'homeless' and the 'poorest of the poor' - but, we need to make sure while practicing karma yoga . that our acts of philantrophy or charity are not 'ego-enhancing' but are driven by a spirit of nishkama karma- 'truly' spiritual- all fruits of action dedicated to god. there is absolutely no self-interest involved- like that of acquiring name fame or coveting a nobel prize!" Absolutely correct. No one could have expressed this idea better. And we do not have to go into the various merits of the four yogas, of vedanta and tantra, or of Swami Sivananda and Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Vishnu-devananda made an interesting observation about the different spiritual paths. I paraphrase: Each path wants to annihilate ego in order to experience God or Cosmic Consciousness directly. (i) The Bhakti sheds ego through self-surrender and experiences God as Love. (ii) The Jnana Yogi eradicates ego through self denial and self abnegation and experiences God as Truth. (iii) The Karma Yogi eradicates egoism through selfless service and experiences God as Goodness. (iv) The Raja Yogi eradicates egoism by stilling the mind and experiences God as Unity (i.e. Simultaneous Knowledge where everything is "now" and everything is "here" plus Simultaneous Power where to will is bring everything into existence) Paths are many, truth is One. Tat Twam Asi Omprem , "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16> wrote: > shriman ompremji, > > once again a great 'post' punctuated with appropriate quotastions > from swami sivananda... > > with shri ramakrishna and swami sivananda gracing this forum and with > the divine mother being in total charge , how can there be > any 'darkness' - all veils drop at the first sight of 'illumination' > > You have made some valuable suggestions specially with reference to > practicing meditation as a spiritual practice and mantra japa etc... > > but one phrase that caught my immediate attention is... > > ". But our eyes are limited. They have a very narrow threshold." > > Exactky!!! > > WE can see 'GOD/ESS' with reyes closed (meditation) and we can also > see 'god/ess' with eyes open. > > the first one is the path of yogis or knowledge. ( jnana) > > the second one is the path of intimate experience (anubhooti or > bhakti path) > > the first without the second is "un exciting' - a little dull and > boring... > > the second without the first is futile - leading nowhere! > > So in order to strike a balance, we need to combine the mysticism of > YOGA with the path of Humanistic approach of bhakti and karma yoga. > > The enlightened ego is not the ego that sits in one corner doing > meditation 24 hours a day -the enlightened ego is the ego that > recognizes that the 'atman' that resides in me is the same 'atman' > that resides in the 'homeless' and the 'poorest of the poor' - but, > we need to make sure while practicing karma yoga . that our acts of > philantrophy or charity are not 'ego-enhancing' but are driven by a > spirit of nishkama karma- 'truly' spiritual- all friuits of action > dedicated to god. there is absolutely no self-interest involved- like > that of acquiring name fame or coveting a nobel prize! > > OMPREMJI, YOU MENTION ANOTHER INTERESTING POINT- going beyond names > and forms... A FAVORITE EXPRESSION OF MINE AS WELL. > > here , we need to make a distinction between Apara-Bhakti and Para- > Bhakti. > > Apara-Bhakti is for beginners in bhakti marga. the bhakta decorates > an image (ishtafevata) with flowers and garlands, rings the bell, > offers Naivedya (food-offerings), wave lights; he observes rituals > and ceremonies. The Bhakta here regards the Lord as a Supreme Person, > who is immanent in that image and who can be propitiated through that > form only. > > such a bhakta has only one name and one form in his/her heart... 'my > kali, my krishna, my rama, my jesus, my allah ..... " He only > worships the deity in one form and in one name and abhors all other > formss and names... while there is something to be said in favotr of > this in the beginning stages of bhakti - but for bhakti to fully > blossom into brahma-jnana - it has to move beyond the stage of apara > bhakti... > > the devotee needs to graduate to the stage of Para-Bhakti, the > highest form of Bhakti. He sees the god in every atom of creation and > feels the power of god's manifestation in all all of god's > creation... in the smile of a homeless, in the face of a terrorist, > in the dancing daffodils and in the blue rain-cloud... a man of > expanded consciousness - not a man of tunnel vision. this is the > stage of para bhakti or a jnani- such was the state of shri ramana, > shri ramakrishna and sswami sivananda. "vasudevam sarvam > iti.vasudaiva kutubakam:": - krishna is everywhere! the whole > world is my family... there are no distinctions of caste, creed, > racial differences!!! > > but how to cultivate this state of para bhakti? > > step by step- first sow the seeds of love in your spiritual garden > and nurture this sapling with love and devotion until it blossoms > into a tree of jnana- a kalpavriksha! > > so from 'idol' worship we proceed to 'cosmic' vision all step by > step!!! > > ABHYASA- PRACTICE, PRACTICE! > > OMPREMJI, I REALLY LOVED THE WAY YOU EXPANDED ON THE 'MAYA' > CONCEPT ... > > here i quote from our beloved shri ramakrishna.. > > "It is the unwavering conviction of the jnani that Brahman alone is > real and the world illusory. All these names and forms are illusory, > like a dream. What Brahman is cannot be described. One cannot even > say that Brahman is a Person. This is the opinion of the jnanis, the > followers of Vedanta philosophy. > > But the bhaktas accept all the sates of consciousness. They take the > waking state to be real also. They don't think the world to be > illusory, like a dream. They say that the universe is a manifestation > of God's power and glory. God has created all these -- sky, stars, > moon, sun, mountains, ocean, men, animals. They constitute His > golory. He is within us, in our hearts. Again, He is outside. The > most advanced devotees say that He Himself has become all this -- the > twenty-four cosmic principles, the universe, and all living beings. > The devotee of God wants to eat the sugar, and not to become the > sugar. ". > > "The yogi seeks to realize the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. His > ideal is the union of the embodied soul and the Supreme Soul. He > withdraws his mind from sense-objects and tried to concentrate on the > Paramatman... > > But the Reality is one and the same; the difference is only in name. > He who is Brahman is verily Atman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He > is Brahman to the followers of the path of knowledge, Paramatman to > the yogis, and the Bhagavan to the lovers of God. " > > > om sat-chit-ananda rupinyaii namaha, says our lalita sahasaranama! > > with attributes our divine mother becomes sat-chit-ananda ruppini! > > without attributes She is brahman- sat-chit-ananda!!! > > love and regards!!! > > jai gurudeva! > > jai durge!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.