Man and recluse

[Guest guest]

Dear all,<br><br>My friend Anu sent me the

following message. Hope you will also have a food for

thought.<br><br>Awaiting your comments,<br><br>Quote:<br><br>Well i have

some food for thought!!! for you<br>"Man has a

tendency to own things. When he owns<br>something small,

his mind stays small, his life gets<br>stifled and

his whole consciousness is immersed in his<br>house,

car, spouse,children etc.,A recluse leaves

his<br>house and goes far away.there also he starts

owning<br>his ansana, rosary, books, concepts and his

knowledge.<br>The owning has simply shifted from objects and

people<br>to ideas and practices. But a wise one who knows

that<br>he owns the sun, the moon, the stars, the air, all

of<br>space and the Divine in its entirety.When you

own<br>something big then your consciousness also expands,<br>and

when you own something small then all the

small<br>negative emotions start coming up like anger,

greedetc.,<br>When you own something magnanimous your

consciousness<br>also becomes magnanimous........"<br>Give me your

comennts on this what you feel aboutthese words which are

put!!<br><br>Unquote:<br><br>Sreehari, Namaskaram!<br><br>Devan

[Guest guest]

Dear Devan,<br><br>My response to the words of

advice are that I can't take them and I disagree with

them. When people's sense of self expands it just gives

them a bigger field within which to exercise their

false ego. Note that the Vedic scriptures give plenty

of examples of those with 'expanded sense of self'

causing much harm. We don't see that they necessarily

became more magnanimous. Examples such as Indra - the

king of heaven, Hiranyakashipu - the powerful demon

who everyone in the universe was afraid of (except of

course his own son) and many others are there for us to

learn from. On the other hand, the scriptures are

filled with examples of those who became selfless and

became great by their connection with the Absolute

controller of everything. <br><br>The only thing that we

really posess is our own heart and our free will. When

we give that freely to our Lord and creator and

agree to live a life of divine slavery then we become

great by our association with the only one who owns

everything and everyone. It is Krsna/God who is great and

owner of everything.<br><br>These are just my immediate

thoughts and reactions to the post.<br><br>Your

servant,<br>Audarya lila dasa

[Guest guest]

>>When people's sense of self expands it

just gives them a bigger field within which to

exercise their false ego>><br><br>Referring back to

my posts of 1526-27 I would like to add that perhaps

this occurs when the expanding self (i) isn't ready to

merge with the Self (I). Even in modern times David

Kuresh (sp?) of Wacko, TX fame, used the Vedantic slogan

"I Am That I Am" to pursue his claim to

infamy!<br><br>The path of Bhakti, surrendering one's will to

"God's" will, is the tool to bring forth, awaken true

humility from sadhaks, a sense of "i am nothing", because

self knowledge and realization of the "I" can only

flow into a space that is willing and open to receive.

Like an empty cup is ready to be filled.

<br><br>>>>>>When you own something big then your consciousness

also expands, and when you own something small then

all the small negative emotions start coming up like

anger, greedetc.,<br>When you own something magnanimous

your consciousness also becomes

magnanimous........">>>><br><br>I agree with this statement too,

provided this

ownership is not of the ego, but of the presence of the

greater, the divinity within. Experiencing bliss at the

highest levels momentarily is not enough, stabilizing

oneself in that space needs to be the goal. Otherwise,

even that experience can become a tool for brandishing

one ego. <br><br>At the same time, based on the

principles of energy, if we align ourselves with those of

higher consciouness, our own consciouness is raised.

That is why satsangh, righteous action, seva etc. are

important tools. One baby step at a time, as we repeat

momentary experiences we can hope to get stabilized in that

state permanently.<br><br>Even then, ego may trip us.

How proud I can be of the great seva I perform or how

wonderfully I praise the lord, or how many beautiful shlokas

I can recite! Ego is here to trip us every step of

the way and needs to be our slave, not our master.

That journey is our sadhna. <br><br>some more thoughts

...<br><br>_/\_ Tat Twam Asi<br><br>Uma

[Guest guest]

well devan, read message sent by ur friend Anu

re. man and recluse.a great thought i found out in it

and a new way of looking at the things and

life...thanks. But one thing that i feel so strange is that we

often feel that we must have an enlarged view regarding

life and should clutter neither our lives nor our

homes...but don't u feel that such feelings occur when we are

depressed or feeling low..are lonely...are struggling...v

all want to be happy and feel earthly things and

relatonships bind us ...but the moment we are happier

again...all such thghts simply slip away in the oblivion only

to surface again when things are again bad/ moreover

if we expand our horizon and try not to collect

things....life cannot be lived on an average level like all

others around us are living..then we look like odd

persons and our kids and relatives feel v are not doing

our duties like is expected from us....<br> but i do

feel it is great if at spiritual level we break

ourselves free from everyone and everything........<br> but

so many times v feel like loving and being

loved......how to experience all these nice feelings without

attachments......r these experiences less heavenly?<br> monika

[Guest guest]

Hi Monica!!<br><br>Iam Anu, Dev,s friend!! Well i

read your reply and felt very true!! <br><br>These

were the words of Sri Sri Ravishankar Ji of The Art of

living, <br><br>What i understand of these words is that

or what he is trying to say is that, a person has to

grow to beyond all this, that is when you attain

mokasha!!<br><br>Cheers Monica!! Anu