Guest guest Posted January 18, 1999 Report Share Posted January 18, 1999 I am going to take the liberty to post the following. It is based on my experience and points to the role of memory, perception, and interpretation in obscuring the Self-Recognition of Pure Awareness of Being. No Sanskrit terms are used. Comments are welcome. "Ultimately the mystery of existence is tied to the mystery of perception. What is it that we are truly able to perceive without interpretation? Whatever must be given interpretation is necessarily going to be distorted. And yet there are moments in life which require no interpretation until they are remembered. When two lovers meet there comes a moment of being without interpretation. It may be in a simple embrace or after the consummation. When a child is held by his mother, a similar moment arises for the child. Such moments point to or indicate the possibility which is always alive in us. Self-Realization is simply that. It is infinity caught in the moment and the moment expanded to infinity. Whether one is sipping tea, playing chess, in meditation, with friends, family, etc., that moment is always there. It is just You. So ultimately the mystery of existence is tied to the mystery of perception. What is it that we are truly able to perceive without interpretation? Whatever must be given interpretation is necessarily going to be distorted. What is it that requires no interpretation?" Harsha ------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 20, 1999 Report Share Posted January 20, 1999 On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar) wrote: > "Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar)" <hluthar > > I am going to take the liberty to post the following. It is based on my > experience and points to the role of memory, perception, and interpretation > in obscuring the Self-Recognition of Pure Awareness of Being. No Sanskrit > terms are used. Comments are welcome. > > "Ultimately the mystery of existence is tied to the mystery of perception. > What is it that we are truly able to perceive without interpretation? > Whatever must be given interpretation is necessarily going to be distorted. > And yet there are moments in life which require no interpretation until they > are remembered. When two lovers meet there comes a moment of being without > interpretation. It may be in a simple embrace or after the consummation. > When a child is held by his mother, a similar moment arises for the child. > Such moments point to or indicate the possibility which is always alive in > us. Self-Realization is simply that. It is infinity caught in the moment and > the moment expanded to infinity. Whether one is sipping tea, playing chess, > in meditation, with friends, family, etc., that moment is always there. It > is just You. So ultimately the mystery of existence is tied to the mystery > of perception. What is it that we are truly able to perceive without > interpretation? Whatever must be given interpretation is necessarily going > to be distorted. What is it that requires no interpretation?" > > Harsha > ------ > Namaste. I welcome Shri Harsha, Jay Lakhani and other new members on to the List. As Shri Ram Chandran said, a brief introduction would be most useful. I would like to put in some comments on the above with the understanding that all of us are seeking SELF-knowledge and these discussions are part of the route that has been laid for us. The way we acquire knowledge is by perception and by inference. What that knowledge is, need to be interpreted by the intellect. Perception is by the five sense organs. To gain knowledge, perception alone is not sufficient. What the sense organs cannot perceive, that has to be inferred. The knowledge gained by perception and by inference is submitted to the buddhi (intellect) for interpretation and discrimination. If the buddhi is disciplined and is seeking knowledge of the SELF, it would filter all the knowledge gained and retain or favour only the ones that leads to knowledge of the SELF. This interpretation by the intellect and discrimination are a must, as I see it. Yes, the interpretation can be distorted; but that is viveka. Interpretation is important and it is upto the intellect to arrive at the proper interpretation of the data collected by the senses. As we progress, we realize that what we perceive from the outside is all an illusion. There is something much more important, which leads to the knowledge of the REAL, i.e. the inward looking. The chariot analogy of the Katha upanishhad may be relevant here. In this analogy (also appears in bhagavad-gita), horses are the sense organs, the reins are the mind, the charioteer is the intellect (buddhi), the body is the chariot, and the master of the chariot is the soul - jeevAtma. If the mind (the reins) and the sense organs (the horses) are not controlled by the intellect (the charioteer), the journey will not be pleasant, and the sense organs can run here and there without direction and the jeevAtma's journey would not lead to the desired destination. Only if the mind and the sense organs are under control of the disciplined intellect, the "journey" can be smooth. This is the journey of the soul through various lives leading to moksha. I strongly recommend Swami Ranganathananda's "Message of the upanishads" Katha upanishad portion in this context. Regards Gummuluru Murthy ------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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