Living Skillfully:

January 22, 2002

Living Skillfully: If you know it, play in

the lila. Inside abide alone and yet play in

the lila outside. Manifestation is a

play, Never forget the "I" is the transient

actor, Who's friends are body-mind-elements. Identify

as That, keep aware, and play the game in

lila as you wish, but do not leave the Source.

Papji (HWL Poonja) attained mahasamdhi

January 23, 2002

>>Identify as That, keep aware, and play

the game in lila as you wish, but do not leave the

Source..>> I love the words of Papaji/Poonjaji, and others

from Ramana Maharshi's lineage. I want to get

your perspective on a question about practice that I

am often asked. It is about this "game" or lila of

life, that we HAVE to "play" because of our

incarnation. Who sets the rules of the game? Who enforces

it? What happens when people break those rules? How

does one deal with that? To make the question

more concrete, let me take an extreme example (though

very real) to illustrate the question .. the recent

terrorist activities that has the world in a stage of war

and terror. Did Osama bin Laden and his chelas break

those "rules" of lila? Ultimately, every event is part

of the larger story that is unfolding everyday, the

writer of it being the Ultimate Source according to the

laws that govern nature. Each event is part of the

cause and effect cycle in which we HAVE to participate,

whether we care to or not. But according to the rules in

lilaland, some rules were broken and he is being asked to

pay a price. So, which rules apply? Lilaland

or the Universe, where all is maya? If it is the

former then a war and what is happening can be

justified. If not, then does one say, "well, it is only maya

and let's look and conduct the healing within"? And

let the actor in the form of Osama bin laden continue

his activities everywhere? After all it IS maya and

he is playing as per his wish! There are milder

forms of this situation everyday in everyones'

lives. Should we, as individual "(body/mind/elements)" -

"transient actors in this lila", be held responsibile for

our actions to the other such actors? Are we

responsible for what we say, who we support, who we

encourage, who we "play" with? While I have a

certain viewpoint on this, I am curious to learn from

others to be able to expand my own understanding.

Baba ! Would you share your perspective with us.

Thank you _/\_ tat twam asi Uma

January 23, 2002

>>Identify as That, keep aware, and play

the game in lila as you wish, but do not leave the

Source..>> I love the words of Papaji/Poonjaji, and others

from Ramana Maharshi's lineage. I want to get

your perspective on a question about practice that I

am often asked. It is about this "game" or lila of

life, that we HAVE to "play" because of our

incarnation. I have none Who sets the rules of the game?

Who is playing the game? Who enforces

it? There is no other to enforce anything What

happens when people break those rules? Who do

they think they are determines what

happens. How does one deal with that? It just

happens. To make the question more concrete, let me take an

extreme example (though very real) to illustrate the

question .. the recent terrorist activities that has the

world in a stage of war and terror. Did Osama bin Laden

and his chelas break those "rules" of lila?

If they saw these acts as being preformed by God

then they are beyond any fault. If they see themselves

as the doers of their actions they are lost in a

hell of their own making. Ultimately, every

event is part of the larger story that is unfolding

everyday, the writer of it being the Ultimate Source

according to the laws that govern nature. Each event is

part of the cause and effect cycle in which we HAVE to

participate, whether we care to or not. But according to the

rules in lilaland, some rules were broken and he is

being asked to pay a price. So, which rules

apply? There are no rules – nothing ever happened

Lilaland or the Universe, where all is maya? Maya

is but a mere ripple in consciousness – If Maya is

anything at all – it is Mother. If it is the

former then a war and what is happening can be

justified. If not, then does one say, "well, it is only maya

and let's look and conduct the healing within"?

To the person that thinks themselves to be a human –

it is calamity beyond understanding – To the being

who knows themselves to be the Self – it matters very

little. And let the actor in the form of Osama bin laden

continue his activities everywhere? After all it IS maya

and he is playing as per his wish! There are milder

forms of this situation everyday in everyones'

lives. Yes Should we, as individual "(body/mind/elements)" -

"transient actors in this lila", be held responsibile for

our actions to the other such actors? If you

truly see yourself as the actor – others will see you

suffer – you will appear to suffer – but you will be

amused. Are we responsible for what we say, who we support,

who we encourage, who we "play" with? I

depends on you attitude ! While I have a certain

viewpoint on this, I am curious to learn from others to be

able to expand my own understanding. Baba !

Would you share your perspective with us. I

have none. What was written here was not my action nor

of my volition. Thank you _/\_ tat

twam asi Uma Om Shanti Shanti

Shanti Love baba

January 24, 2002

Should we, as individual "(body/mind/elements)" -

"transient actors in this lila", be held responsibile for

our actions to the other such actors? Are we

responsible for what we say, who we support, who we

encourage, who we "play" with? Question: If God is

all why does the individual suffer for his actions?

Are not the actions for which the individual is made

to suffer prompted by him? Maharshi: He who

thinks he is the doer is also the

sufferer. Questioner: But the actions are prompted by God and the

individual is only his tool. Maharshi: This logic is

applied only when one suffers, but not when one rejoices.

If the conviction prevails always, there will be no

suffering either. As long as the sense of

doership is there, we are indeed responsible for our

actions, for what we say, who we support etc. If we

totally surrender to the Lord, and do NOT have the sense

of doership, then we do not become responsible for

our actions. The sufferings and the joys are for the

doer alone, and in the case of the surrendered souls,

the enjoyer or the sufferer is God. Hari Aum

!!!

January 25, 2002

I continue to pose these questions in the spirit

of my quest for putting theory into practice.

>>>>And let the actor in the form of Osama bin laden

continue his activities everywhere? After all it IS maya

and he is playing as per his wish! There are milder

forms of this situation everyday in everyones'

lives.>>> >>>>Yes>> To baba, svcs who

have been participating in this

interesting dialogue and those who follow the advaita path

self realization - If you were suddenly given the

authority to respond to the terrorists activities in the

countries sufferinig from it, what would you do? Would you

take any actions? If its all Maya, then no action is

obviously needed since the world is only a reflection of

ourself. However in karmasthan (land of Karma) do

manifested forms need to protect basic rights of each other

through law and order? Do murderers, rapists, swindlers

cheats need to be punished for their actions and held

responsible? Or does one pass over the disasters of our world,

Enron, earthquakes, volcanoes, terrorism, because that

too ultimately is maya? Our bodies are only

maya, does one need to address the needs of the body

like food, shelter, etc? >>Baba ! Would

you share your perspective with us. I have

none. What was written here was not my action nor of my

volition.>>> While there is ultimate truth in this statement, if

everyone said and did what they felt like and said the

same thing, wouldn't there be chaos? The Bin laden

energies of the world, in all its intensities, can then

claim it is not their action and simply "pass the buck"

onto "God". Without holding people responsible for

their actions, how would you sugggest one can achieve

stability in the world? Thank you for your

patience.. _/\_ Tat twam asi Uma

January 25, 2002

I continue to pose these questions in the spirit

of my quest for putting theory into practice.

>>>>And let the actor in the form of Osama bin laden

continue his activities everywhere? After all it IS maya

and he is playing as per his wish! There are milder

forms of this situation everyday in everyones'

lives.>>> >>>>Yes>> YES To baba, svcs

who have been

participating in this interesting dialogue and those who follow

the advaita path self realization - If you were

suddenly given the authority to respond to the terrorists

activities in the countries sufferinig from it, what would

you do? I have no idea Would you

take any actions? I have no idea If its

all Maya, then no action is obviously needed since

the world is only a reflection of ourself. However in

karmasthan (land of Karma) do manifested forms need to

protect basic rights of each other through law and order?

What happens happens Do murderers, rapists,

swindlers cheats need to be punished for their actions and

held responsible? Who is the murdered –

Who is murdered? Who is the rapist – who is

raped? Who is the swindler – who is swindled? Who is the

cheated – who is cheated? Who is to punish – who is to

be punished? Or does one pass over the

disasters of our world, Enron, earthquakes, volcanoes,

terrorism, because that too ultimately is maya? What

happens happens, whether one thinks themselves the doer

or not. Our bodies are only maya,

Yes does one need to address the needs of the body like

food, shelter, etc? It will be as it will

be >>Baba ! Would you share your perspective with us.

I have none. What was written here was not my

action nor of my volition.>>> I have no

perspective – that implies another which there is

not. While there is ultimate truth in this statement,

The Truth can not be spoken written or

photograhed if everyone said and did what they felt like and

said the same thing, wouldn't there be chaos?

Maya – Choas - interchangeable The Bin laden

energies of the world, in all its intensities, can then

claim it is not their action and simply "pass the buck"

onto "God". So be it Without holding

people responsible for their actions, Who are

these people that are to be held

responsible? how would you sugggest one can achieve stability in

the world? Are you the doer? Thank you

for your patience.. You are a good soul God

Bless You _/\_ Tat twam asi Uma

Love baba

January 25, 2002

In this world, everyhting exists in pairs : Joy

and sorrow, pleasure and pain, light and darkness,

evil and holiness. Where there is light, there

has to be darkness. for eg. When the sun shines, and

when there are actors, there has to be shadows. The

length of the shadows may vary, but there has to be a

shadow. Similarly, everything occurs in pairs. If

there is an actor who is evil, then there must also be

another actor to counteract this evil. Evil cannot exist

alone. Nor can the concept of Maya be partially applied

to the evil doer alone. If the evil doer is maya, so

too is the actor who counterstrikes it. If

one is given the authority to respond to evil, then

one must do what is necessary to annihilate it , to

balance the harmony of the Earth. Just like how in the

Mahabharatha the kauravas were annihilated by the Pandavas

with the help of Krishna. As said in the

Bhagavad Gita, Krishna will incarnate age after age, to

reinstall Dharma whenever it is weak. When kids

play PC games or consoles, the world they see is

virtual. Even though its a virtual world, every actor must

stick to his rules. If the rules are broken then it

ceases to be a game. There r bad guys, and also good

guys who annihilate the bad guys. The bad guys cannot

be left behind saying it's just a virtual world.

Similarly, though everything is maya, one must follow the

rules and stick to Dharma. As long as the sense

of doership is there, Justice and righteousness must

be followed. If the sense of doership is not there,

then the question doesn't arise :-). Hari Aum

!!!

January 26, 2002

I'm reading a book by Lama Yeshe that they sent

totally free including paying postage. Right now they

offer seven such books with two more to come, all about

Tibetan Buddhism. Order them online and receive them

about two weeks later from www.lamayeshe.com They are

well worth reading. Someone asks Yeshe about killing

and self defense. Is it ok to kill in self defense?

Yeshe answers NO. But what if they will kill you? He

says find a way to take them out without killing them.

But what if they still will kill you. He says, then

better that I should die than take on the karma of

killing.

January 26, 2002

Moreover, look at Gandhi's example. Sit ins, non

violent expressions of solidarity and distaste for a

governmental machine. They changed a whole nation ruled over

by a government long used to exploitation and use of

the iron fist. Gandhi essentially changed how we

perceived the world. He was the human love bomb. Drop him

on your troublem territory. Bush started out about

terrorists named Bin. Then Taliban who supported him. Then

killed innocent people by dozens. Then didn't even get

Bin or finish Taliban but spread them to four winds.

Killed innocents. Oil lurks in background and coverups.

Where is the right? He is an example of maya and

uncontrolled senses and desire. This is what our country is

politically, the mind and senses out of control. Because the

one in power has no mind. In fact we all have no mind

or maya if we would just open our eyes andrealize

that what we see are not the realitites but just our

projections. Just like Bin was projected onto the Taliban and

they were projected onto Agfghanistan. None of these

people are who they seem. There's no evidence

Afghanistan or Taliban have anything to do with 911. In fact

the Saudis are behind the whole thing just like

shipping arms to Palestine. Killing innocent people in the

poorest most ignorant country on Earth was merely the

barbaric act of a mad president with little control over

his maya. And he has the rest of the country

believeing it. His aproval rate is at an all time historic

%80 approval rate. He is showing us who are trying to

awake from maya that most people want to go ever deeper

and faster to sleep in maya. We are nearing a place

where maya will be making a worldwide last stand.

Living skillfully can be seen to mean nonviolence -

ahimsa. We should all cut through the bullshit and

understanding that killing is the #1 sin in any religion

especially Judiasm, Jain, and Buddhist. Killing is what

everyone preached about ever. Do Not Kill. Now Ever.

What's difficult to understand? Maya makes it seem like

killing is the solution. Kill maya.

January 27, 2002

Blessed Self, evil djinia I like the last

part of your second post: "Do Not Kill. Not Ever.

What's difficult to understand? Maya makes it seem like

killing is the solution. Kill maya." Refusing to

see Maya as real and refusing to act on images of

Maya is excellent advice. Your description of

Lama Yeshe's approach to non-killing is more

problematic. Yeshe is quoted as saying, "better that I should

die than take on the karma of killing. " To avoid

killing only to avoid karma is not a good enough reason.

If the motive for any action, whether it is not

killing or whether giving alms to the poor, is that there

will be benefit for the doer, then that is a selfish

action and will result in karma for the person who

performs the action. In addition, someone like

Yeshe who has a role of teacher will now have

additional karmic consequences because of the additional

harm he has caused through misinforming his students

and causing them to incur more karma for themselves

while following his mistaken advice about

motivation. Non-killing could be practiced because one intellectually

knows that it is a part of the process of seeing past

Maya. Deeper understanding and eventually

Self-Realization will follow as the aspirant distances

himself/herself from the urges of the ego and the emotions.

Non-killing could be practiced because the person is one with

Brahman, understands the Lila and knows the futility of

thinking that death is an actuality or a solution.

Non-killing could be practiced because the aspirant chooses

to emphasize the divine core of existence that

permeates the 'transgressor' or 'advisary' as well as

himself/herself rather than choosing to emphasize the differences

of perception of the Absolute between

himself/herself and the 'transgressor' or 'adversary'. Om

Tat Sat omprem

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