Guest guest Posted March 18, 1999 Report Share Posted March 18, 1999 Many spiritual paths involve transformation of the personality. The assumption is that there must be a change in conditioning in order to move ahead. Therefore bad habits should be discarded and good ones cultivated. Certainly we should not discourage people from improving themselves. The Jnana disposition, however, once gained, fundamentally undermines this view by piercing the veil of delusion that there is something to be gained by transforming the personality, which is not already present. Here the intensity of awareness shines naturally. Truly, how can one discard that which does not belong to It? And how can one discard that which One Is? Once the Heart of Attention has fundamentally shifted to Itself, that Itself is the fuel of the effortless effort which eventually burns up leaving nothing behind. When the Ground of Being absorbs all attention and all effort, what is there to discard and how and by whom? Still, I am not opposed to discarding various types of conditioning at all. If you are for it, I am for it. /.cgi/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 18, 1999 Report Share Posted March 18, 1999 At 09:21 AM 3/18/99 -0500, you wrote: >"Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar)" <hluthar > >Many spiritual paths involve transformation of the personality. The >assumption is that there must be a change in conditioning in order to move >ahead. Therefore bad habits should be discarded and good ones cultivated. >Certainly we should not discourage people from improving themselves. The >Jnana disposition, however, once gained, fundamentally undermines this view >by piercing the veil of delusion that there is something to be gained by >transforming the personality, which is not already present. Here the >intensity of awareness shines naturally. Although jnana yoga (what is "the jnana disposition?") does undermine this assumption that it is necessary to discard bad habits and cultivate good ones (or in fact to "do" ANYTHING but discern Truth from falsehood), it does not undermine the assumption that it is HELPFUL to drop bad habits, etc., or that such bad habits will drop of THEMSELVES when renunciation of the unreal takes place. Let me quote a few passages from Sri Shankara, a famous jnani. These are all from Viveka-Chudamani (Crest-Jewel Of Discrimination): "Right action helps to purify the heart..." "He who tries to find the Atman by feeding the cravings of the body, is trying to cross a river by grasping a crocodile, mistaking it for a log." "Tamas has these further characteristics: ...laziness, dullness... A man who is under their influence cannot understand anything. He lives like a somnambulist, or an unconscious log of wood." "A man must faithfully and devotedly fulfill the duties of life as the scriptures prescribe. This purifies his heart. A man whose heart is pure realizes the supreme Atman." "That terrible tiger called an impure mind prowls in the forest of the sense-objects. The wise man who seeks liberation must not go there." "The sweet fragrance of the Atman is overpowered by innumerable cravings for the things of the senses. These cravings can be destroyed by devotion to the Atman; and then the light of the Atman becomes revealed." "The wise man has not the least concern with getting and spending. Therefore strive to destroy this illusion, through constant and single-minded devotion to Brahman." "The more a man satisfies his cravings in the objective world, the more his cravings will increase. But if he controls them and ceases to gratify them, the seeds of craving will be destroyed. Therefore, let him gain self-control." >Truly, how can one discard that which does not belong to It? And how can one >discard that which One Is? Once the Heart of Attention has fundamentally >shifted to Itself, that Itself is the fuel of the effortless effort which >eventually burns up leaving nothing behind. When the Ground of Being absorbs >all attention and all effort, what is there to discard and how and by whom? >Still, I am not opposed to discarding various types of conditioning at all. >If you are for it, I am for it. Who is "you?" Everyone differs in their viewpoints. Those who follow Shankara's directives to the letter (very few in this day and age, I would assume) will discard EVERYTHING, including the objective universe, in pursuit of nirvikalpa samadhi, and will dwell upon none but Brahman "24/7." Certainly I do not make the claim of living up to this myself, and I cannot speak for anyone but myself. "Let there be no negligence in your devotion to Brahman. Negligence in the practice of recollection is death--this has been declared by the seer, Sanatkumar, Brahma's son." "If the mind turns aside from Brahman, its ideal, and becomes ever so slightly caught in the sensuality of objects, it will continue to go downward, through negligence in recollection, like a ball dropped upon a flight of stairs." "Through negligence in recollection, a man is distracted from awareness of his divine nature. He who is thus distracted falls--and the fallen always come to ruin. It is very hard for them to rise again." Certainly these are difficult passages to live up to without tremendous devotion to Brahman and a tremendous spirit of renunciation. But perhaps you can see that "all conditioning" will drop off of itself, if such perfect recollection is practiced (although a person would almost have to live in a cave to live up to the perfect recollection mentioned in the above passages!). Tim ----- The CORE of Reality awaits you at: http://www.eskimo.com/~fewtch/ND/index.html - Poetry, Writings, Live Chat on spiritual topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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