charcoals and gunpowder

[Guest guest]

namaste.

 

This arises out of the recent discussions between

shri Madathil Nair and shri Atagrasin. Are there

really charcoals and gunpowder in the mumukshu-s?

This classification appeared earlier in our List

discussions and also in some writings.

 

shravaNa, manana, nidhidhyAsana are the essential

steps for a sAdhaka. In various writings, and in the

discussions on our List (present and earlier ones),

sAdhakA-s who need just shravaNa are classified as

the gunpowder type. SAdhakA-s who need shravaNa, manana,

nidhidhyAsana are classified as the (wet) charcoal type.

 

But are there these classifications? Let me suggest an

alternate model.

 

Every mumukshu has to go through shravaNa, manana, nidhi-

dhyAsana, without exception. Every sAdhaka is at his/her

own level of understanding on the spiritual 'journey'.

What we are seeing is an instantaneous time snapshot of

this spiritual 'journey', with different people at different

stages of that journey. To classify the sAdhakA-s as charcoal

and gunpowder assumes that everyone is at the same stage of

the journey as a function of time. But, that need not be so.

The model that I suggested takes all the jIvA-s to be the

same, except they are all at different stages of that

spiritual 'journey'.

 

Siilarly, it is often said that there are the three mArgA-s,

karma, bhakti and jnAna which the sAdhaka can choose as per

his/her inclination. That again, in my view, is not so.

Every sAdhaka has to go through these stages at some stage

in his/her spiritual journey. Depending on the stage, that

particular path appeals to the sAdhaka.

 

Further, as shri Sunderrajan-ji points out, the claim that

one is a gunpowder type is itself a detriment to the goal,

and puts one a few rungs behind.

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

--