From Conscious Immortality

[Guest guest]

om namo bhagavate sri ramanaya

Dear Harsha,

Aristotle's teleological argument comes to mind. e.g. "God and nature do nothing in vain."

Aristotle believed that a form, with the exception of the Prime Mover, or God,

had no separate existence, but rather was immanent in matter. Thus, in the

Aristotelian system, form and matter together constitute concrete individual

realities; the Platonic system holds that a concrete reality partakes of a form

(the ideal) but does not embody it. Aristotle believed that form caused matter

to move and defined motion as the process by which the potentiality of matter

(the thing itself) became the actuality of form (motion itself). He held that

the Prime Mover alone was pure form and as the ³unmoved mover² and final cause

was the goal of all motion. (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.  2001.)

Aristotle concluded that God was the Unmoved Mover.

Kind Regards,

Miles

Thanks Alan. That is the essence of the beauty of the teaching. What will the

Self meditate on? It is Always Self-Abiding.

That is why the ancients called it ³One without a second.²

I am reminded of a story. Has anyone heard it? Aristotle said that God is

Perfect. Therefore whatever God thinks about or focuses on must be Perfect as

well. Certainly the Perfect One will not focus on imperfection. But since

there is only One Perfection and That is God, it follows that God¹s essential

nature must be Self-Abiding or God-Abiding. So God is constantly and

continuously only meditating on God, there being nothing else.

 

I heard that when I was in college and it seemed to me very Advaitic. Is it a

true story about Aristotle. Perhaps Greg Goode would know.

 

Will pass it on to HS and Advatin.

 

Love to all,

Harsha

 

Alan Jacobs [alanadamsjacobs (AT) (DOT) co.uk]

Thursday, December 09, 2004 12:35 AM

ramana maharshi

Cc: atma vichara

[RamanaMaharshi] From Conscious Immortality

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Practice of Meditation

Q: Is there a time of day which is better for meditation?

M: Yes, meditation in the early morning upon arising is the best time

because the mind is then free of thoughts, cares and worries.

But all these rules regarding hours of meditation etc, are only for

beginners. There will come a time when you will say, ³I have given up

meditation,² because then you will have realized that the idea implies

duality: the person who meditates, and the object of meditation; you will

perceive the standpoint of the true Self which does not need to meditate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>From the book, ³Conscious Immortality² by Paul Brunton and Munagala

Venkataramiah, published by Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai

 

 

Post message: RamanaMaharshi

Subscribe: RamanaMaharshi-

Un: RamanaMaharshi

List owner: RamanaMaharshi-owner

Shortcut URL to this page:

http://www./community/RamanaMaharshi

Sponsor

 

RamanaMaharshi/

 

RamanaMaharshi

<RamanaMaharshi?subject=Un> Your

use of is subject to the Terms of Service

<> .

--

"ekam sat vipraa bahudhaa vadanti

That which exists is One; sages call it by various names."

[Guest guest]

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> The Practice of Meditation (Cont'd)

>

> Q: It is said that the yogi should sit on a deerskin, as this prevents the

> loss of magnetism during meditation.

>

> M: It is not necessary. The earth will not rob you of the effects of your

> meditation because you do not happen to use a deerskin.

>

> Q: How can we overcome discomforts of the body, such as mosquito bites,

> when sitting for meditation?

>

> M: You wish to gain concentration? Then never mind what happens to the

> body. Maintain the same train of thought and effort, and the bodily

> discomfort will pass away. Do not think of the discomfort but keep the

> mind firm on your meditation. If you are not strong enough to endure the

> mosquitoes, how can you hope to gain realization? It is like waiting for

> the waves of the ocean to subside before you enter to bathe! Be strong and

> keep up constant effort.

>