The Deeper Wound

[Guest guest]

Tonyji wrote> > If the war happens it is karmic, only the Goddess with Grace

can change

her own dream. The Gita's war is about internal battles to realisation.

Most westerners don't see that. I'm afraid the amount of awareness

needed to fully understand Vedanta takes a lot of time, study, reading and

> > absorption plus Grace.

>

Shivaram wrote: Grace - the only word that lights a spark of hope. Grace

alone moves

> freely when there is no way or reason to still the restlessness and

torment of the mind. Thank you for setting it before us.

 

and earlier this:

 

"My mind is rambling; and O Keshava, I behold evil omens."

>

> It is very hard to seek Advaitic understanding while much of the time one

> is feeling heart-broken about the prospect of war equally as much as one

is

> worried over the dire consequences of inaction. It is difficult or

> impossible for me to meditate these days although I know the only solution

> lies in the spiritual. Thus it is that I am deeply conflicted over the

> dreadful situation and I would be surprised if the rest of our members did

> not share something of the same feeling.

 

 

I am hoping that what I write will resonate sufficiently with the spirit of

Advaita to be acceptable to the moderators. Permit me to suggest, Tonyji,

that if the war happens, it is no one's fault but our own if we fail to act.

This is not a war of the Goddess. It is the Goddess who asks us to correct

ourselves. Poison Sky.

 

As Shivaram says, we should be worried about the dire consequences of

inaction. :

 

As I seek to understand so that I can address these obstacles to my message

of Ahimsa, I find myself at a loss to understand the apathy. Every moment

of my day, I strive to allow my actions to be guided by none other than

God. Know that as a Hindu awakened to serve, I am asked to speak out

against war and to promote Ahimsa, non violence. I am asked to do this and

I will not turn my back on God.

 

While I have couched some of my posts in political language, I did not know

who else to

address my antiwar sentiments than to the President of my country, who is

intent on going to war. If we consider that right action is part of the

goal of One who purports to

seek Moksha or whatever you want to call it, then I say inaction by way of

failure to speak and act

against violence, which violates Ahimsa, throws us far away from the

alleged destination we supposedly seek. Inaction in the face of evil is

wrong action. It is the first and Sri Ramana Marharshi is known to have

said, the most important yama.

 

I always go to the voice inside which tells me what to do. I am guided

and will continue to be guided, since that Voice speaks to me in a language

I can understand. To ignore the plight of others while we selfishly pursue

our own alleged Awareness under the guise that we must first achieve self

realization before we can truly love others, is Selfish.

 

Just as we practice seeking God through prayer, reading of the scriptures,

meditation and/or chanting, so too, must we practice right action, by

engaging in right action, even if it crosses into the politcal arena.

To wait for self Realization before we reach out to others, will surely

result in the destruction of this world around us, God's Garden. God has

come to us asking that we correct ourselves on a global basis.

The choice of whether to listen is ours.

 

....May my actions be right

May my only reward

Be Complete Surrender

Unto You...

 

OM Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih.

 

EternaLove,

 

Joyce

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

This article on The Deeper Wound by Deepak Chopra throws more light

on the topic: Webster Address: http://www.crescentlife.com/heal%

20the%20world/deeper_wound.htm

 

My objective for posting this topic was just to focus on how to cope

up with 'occurrence of unthinkable events or circumstances.' I am

not a fan of Deepak Chopra and he is certainly a 'new age Guru' and

the author of 'neovedantic books' with attractive covers and illusive

promises! As several others rightly pointed out that he serves a

certain section of humanity who gets certain benefits along at

progressively higher costs. This is neo-spiritualism with a new

twist. In spite of several other criticisms, Deepak Chopra (and also

Mahesh Yogi and a bunch of new age gurus) did inspire westerners

(those who were never exposed to the Eastern Ideas) by answering to

their question using a communication media familiar to them.

 

Traditional gurus were truly dedicated to the disciples without

looking for rewards. They showed keen interest in the spiritual

progress of the disciples and showered true love and compassion. They

expressed truthfully their limitations and avoided making false

promises. They searched for answers inside and directed their

disciples to do the same. They used silence as a powerful media to

communicate with their disciples. They focused their teachings on

transcendental peace and happiness instead of transitory peace and

happiness! They were more than happy to receive "gurudakshnas" with

no monetary consequences!

 

New age gurus are highly specialized and provided solutions for

cataloged list of problems. They are well organized and propagated a

compiled list of `truths' through mass media for publicity and

recognition. It is almost impossible to compile all facts about them

because they have many names, many forms, and more in numbers! They

too are concerned about `ignorance' but they are not aware of their

own limitations!

 

The key focus of Shankara's advaita philosophy is on `human

ignorance.' The focus of our discussion should be on the famous

advaita statement, "The you in me, see the I in you." If everyone

truly understands this statement, there will be `universal

compassion, free of ignorance' and the question of `terrorism or war'

can never arise. Our problem is that we haven't spiritually matured

and reached that plateau of universal love. At the same time we do

need to recognize that `transitory events of terror and war' do

happen and it may or may not be prevented but their effects may be

minimized. All that we need is His Grace! It always come without us

asking, but doing our prayers, we can atleast restore some transitory

peace!

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

With respect, Dear Friends, please allow me to offer a slightly

different perspective.First of all, I would like to restate some

lines I find very interesting from the synopsis posted in message#

15907.

>In the opening section

>"In the Face of Tragedy," he defines suffering as

>the pain that threatens to make life meaningless.

 

We may recall the example of the Indian emperor 'Parikshit', who had

to realize one day suddenly that he only had one week left to live.

His suffering started and he very qucikly progressed from a suddenly

befallen meaninglessness, as if dropped from a cliff, into one of

finding the 'Truth'.

The fact that he went around and around in search of one who can

tell him the Truth is 'details', which we are not interested at this

time.

 

Deepak Chopra states,

>Healing yourself comes in two stages—first releasing the energy of

>suffering, then replacing it with the soul's energy. It is a gentle

>and fragile path, very much like holding on to a thread as it leads

>you from step to step.

 

The very fact that the energy of suffering has to be first released

is something which a sufferer will not have a clue while (s)he

chooses to suffer for eternity. Gently giving the clue itself is a

part of the solution.

 

He states further,

>If you take the time to listen to the voice of silence, you will be

>astonished at the power you have at your command, however long that

>power has been overlooked.

>"We can become living memorials to tragedy by restoring the power

>of life," writes Deepak Chopra.

>"You are that life, you are that power.

>Let us see if we can find the spark that will make the spiritual

>flame spring up."

 

One's spiritual framework is predominantly influenced either by

Logic or by compassion. I find an influence of 'compassion' as per

the synopsis. In the current age of Kali-yuga, it seems 'compassion'

is in greater need than 'logic'. This is evident if we take a random

sample of a few people from any part of the world and ask them what

do they want. Most people would probably say, 'compassion'.

This is the reason for his success.

 

In my humble opinion.

 

With Love,

Raghava