Guest guest Posted September 13, 2004 Report Share Posted September 13, 2004 Chitta ! Welcome back! I, for one, missed your 'soulful' posts. I thought you went into 'samadhi' after the Silence week!! Lol!! smiles!!! - Wow! boy! can you write or what? ( But for one that has no Self-Knowledge, practice is inevitable because one is helplessly driven to practice whether one wants to practice or not. Most of us are ceaselessly practicing already - the practice of acquiring wealth and property, the practice of securing position and fame, the practice of securing people's affection, and sometimes the practice of subtle self-deception. We are prisoners of our own practices.) YES! You said it? Our 'practices' instead of resulting in 'freedom' and deliverance is leading us towards 'bondage' and 'enslavement'! thus, we see sadhaks making claims my 'practice' is the superior one and a flawless one!!! As long as 'ego' is intact, it is still 'practice' only not REALIZATION!!!Abhyasa becomes Atma-jnana only when 'ahamkara' is surrendered ! You state ( The practice of Advaita-Vedanta is not the stoppage of action, but is its sublimation into Pure Light. .... ) and Grace .... How easily we forget "Grace" - is Knowledge possible without Grace ? and you state again, (Grace is not something that is given because it is always flowing. It is the receiving of Grace that is in our hands. To make ourselves fit to receive Grace is the practice of Advaita Vedanta.) WE call this being an 'adhikari' - fit to receive Grace !!! Gitacharya bhagwan shri krishna describes these qualities of Divine Nature AS 'DAIVI SAMPATH' in chapter 16, verse 1 ... sri-bhagavan uvaca abhayam sattva-samsuddhir jnana-yoga-vyavasthitih danam damas ca yajnas ca svadhyayas tapa arjavam ahimsa satyam akrodhas tyagah shantir apaisunam daya bhutesv aloluptvam Mardavam hrir acapalam tejah ksama dhrtih shaucam adroho nati-manita bhavanti sampadam daivim abhijatasya bharata The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Fearlessness; purification of one's existence; cultivation of spiritual knowledge; charity; self- control; performance of sacrifice; study of the Vedas; austerity; simplicity; nonviolence; truthfulness; freedom from anger; renunciation; tranquillity; aversion to faultfinding; compassion for all living entities; freedom from covetousness; gentleness; modesty; steady determination; vigor; forgiveness; fortitude; cleanliness; and freedom from envy and from the passion for honor—these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature. (BHAGWAT GITA AS IT IS -Srila Prabhupada) A Tall order, is it not ? Purification comes before realization! First, atma-shuddhi and then atma jnana! Chitta states (DOING NOTHING CANNOT BE DONE. ) i will add one more ... which is harder still ! Be 'Nothing' when you enter the Kingdom of GOD ! it is said when King Solomon entered the temple, he took off his Gold crown. A rumi poem celebrates this sentiment of total surrender or 'sharanagati' Similary, we hindus always tie a 'straw' around our finger while doing 'rituals' - there is a great symbolic meaning to this ... one should be humbler than a 'Straw' while taking God's and Guru's name! Chitta observes ... (In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells us to act without seeking the fruits of our actions. we must see Sri Krishna's words here in the overall context of the Bhagavad Gita. For it is also said in the Gita in respect of action that it is better to perform actions as per one's own dharma, howsoever poorly they may be done, than to perform well the actions of another's dharma.) YES! swa-dharma! and this is what our Bhoodan leader Vinoba bhave emphasized to practice 'swa-dharma' but vinobha Bhave went one step further and said " Karma, vikarma and akarma, together complete the sadhana, the path. Karma is gross. In all our actions performed as svadharma, there should be the accompanying action of the mind. The action performed for educating the mind is vikarma, which is special karma or subtle karma. Karma and vikarma are both necessary, and as we go on practicing both, we lay the foundation of akarma. " Thank you chitta-ji ! between you, nair-ji and vk-ji, i got wonderful responses to my question on that Gita verse i posted sometime ago! now, i am waiting for sada-ji to come back from Japan to enlighten us some more ! Love reconizing love Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 13, 2004 Report Share Posted September 13, 2004 Dear AdiMa, Thank you for your delightful post! advaitin, "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16> wrote: > Chitta states: (DOING NOTHING CANNOT BE DONE. ) > > i will add one more ... which is harder still! > > Be 'Nothing' when you enter the Kingdom of GOD ! AdiMa, you have touched upon a profound Advaitic 'practice'! We want to be 'something' all the time, yet the moment we are 'nothing', we are Brahman that is everything! The Dark Night of the soul is the night when she leaves everything she possessed and proceeds for her great journey with no other lamp or mark than the one burning in her heart. (Adapted from St.John's 'Dark Night'). Love, Chittaranjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 13, 2004 Report Share Posted September 13, 2004 Thank you, Chitta! Chitta writes... ( The Dark Night of the soul is the night when she leaves everything she possessed and proceeds for her great journey with no other lamp or mark than the one burning in her heart. ) Yes! *BURNING* - that is what our beloved sufi poet Rumi talks about in attaining mystical union of the individual soul with the super- soul! "How much (more) of these phrases and conceptions and metaphors? I want burning, burning: become friendly with that burning! Light up a fire of love in thy soul, burn thought and expression entirely (away)! O Moses, they that know the conventions re of one sort, they whose souls and spirits burn are of another sort. To lovers there is a burning (which consumes them) at every moment: tax and tithe are not (imposed) on a ruined village." Rumi love and regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 14, 2004 Report Share Posted September 14, 2004 Namaste, ......you wrote: "Be 'Nothing' when you enter the Kingdom of GOD !" yes...to practice....is to become "Nothing"...but Brahman once we left "home"....it's about finding the way back... for some people who developped a great ego mind ....the way is maybe little longer so wish you to loose everything with love Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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