Dennis/Harsha/Greg

August 8, 2000

Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar) wrote:

> [...] Devotional practices are not

> inconsistent with Jnana. How could they be?

> The great Sages have also been great devotees.

absolutely! such an important point!

> Both Sri Shankra's works and life and Sri Ramana's life

> reflect that and their devotional hymns to the Goddess and Arunachala

> respectively are well known. If I recall, under the gaze of the Sage of

> Arunachala, once Ganpati Muni composed a 1000 songs on Uma within a few

> hours.

umasahasram was considered the muni's magnum opus.

it was 1000 verses written actually in 20 days in

the presence of sri bhagavan steeped in samadhi.

the composition and meter are of such magnitude

as to be the product of [what i believe] is a siddhi

possessed by ganapati, especially inspired in the

presence of his guru and giving praise to uma for

bestowing him with the grace of her son ramana

[as dakshinamurthi/arunachala siva].

as some may know, it was also sri ganapati who

gave the name ramana maharishi to the then

locally identified 'brahmanaswami' whose family

name was venkataraman iyer.

see p 123 BHAGAVAN AND NAYANA (1st edition c1983)

yes, if one finds oneself confused by modern teachers,

then i would suggest approaching the pure teachings of

sri ramana with an open mind and heart...as there are

really no equals. *of course this is my opinion.*

mahapremtvamasi!

August 9, 2000

----Original Message-----

Greg Goode [goode]

Wednesday, August 09, 2000 12:31 PM

advaitin ; advaitin

Dennis/Harsha/OOoops, forgot to finish

Indeed, many people find direct Path kinds of teachings too dry and

intellectual. I know several people who decided again to take up mantras,

devotional practices, and other approaches because for them, some element

seemed missing in the direct path teachings.

Love,

--Greg

Thank you for sharing Greg-Ji. As usual, you offer profound insights and go

to the heart of the matter. Let me offer a quick follow up on your last

paragraph as it appears to suggest a subtle hierarchy (which is probably

unintended) between Devotion and Jnana. Devotional practices are not

inconsistent with Jnana. How could they be? The great Sages have also been

great devotees. Both Sri Shankra's works and life and Sri Ramana's life

reflect that and their devotional hymns to the Goddess and Arunachala

respectively are well known. If I recall, under the gaze of the Sage of

Arunachala, once Ganpati Muni composed a 1000 songs on Uma within a few

hours.

Love to all

Harsha

August 9, 2000

Hi Harsha-ji,

This is correct, Harsha-ji, no hierarchy intended! No inconsistency at

all! In fact, devotion and jnana are like two blades of a pair of

scissors, which, working together, snip samsara at its root.

I'm glad you brought this up - some people (even non-dualism teachers) do

draw a rigid distinction between these approaches, this kind of distinction

can get "in the air." It can be a sticky point, because some of these

teachers say that no other methods are necessary, in fact that they say

they are harmful. In fact, in their zeal for the intellectual jnana

teachings and their own views, these teachers unthinkingly recommend the

satsang-attendees to give up all other practices. They say that other

practices strengthen the notion of a separate doer and ego. Some of these

teachers do, however, accept devotion when directed towards themselves... :-)

Love,

--Greg

At 02:21 PM 8/9/00 -0400, Harsha (Dr. Harsh K. Luthar) wrote:

>>>>