Who is our enemy?

November 7, 2003

<<<Tatwamasi

Please don't mind my language and let me find answers here. Will

you please write on Who is our Enemy " >>>

Gita says, "Lust, Anger, and Greed are the three gateways to hell". Therefore

these our worst enemies, in fact they are the manifestation of attachment to our

desires. Hence we may say that 'attachment to desire' is our enemy no. 1.

Hari Om

radhakutir

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November 7, 2003

Thank you so much Radha Kutir !

We learn so much from your erudite posts. Yes. lust, greed, anger,

coveteousness , ignornce, arrogance, egotism. attachments,hatred ,

jealoust, etc are our biggest enemies and they are not "external"

enemies . These are internal enemies that lie within ourselves. I

hope Sardarji reads with your posts with understanding and

comprehends their real meaning.

You have said exactly what i wanted to convey . Raktabija ( in the

form of seeds of desire ) and mahisasur ( in the form of our stubborn

ego) are our greatest enemies.

Being spiritual is very different from religious.

Tatwamasi appears to be more spiritual than many people i have come

across. She has a borader vision and she is more accepting of all

beliefs be it sufism, buddhism or hinduism or sikhism and offers

genuine encouragement to membbers to express their divergent views.

Atleast, this is what i gather from her knowledgeble posts. But then

again, this is my personal opinion - no offence meant to other

members.

as far sardarji, i feel (i may be wrong just as he is wrong about so

many things and issues) he seems to be more "opionated" and set in

his views. To me , SARDARJI IS MORE "RELIGIOUS" THAN "spiritual."

religious people have specific set of beliefs based on their onw

religion (in his case sikhism) and are rarely ready to accept views

from other religion if they happen to be different from their own.

Spiritual persons on the other hand are more open-minded and base

their philosophy on their own experiences in the path of spirituality

while taking guidance from all sources.

So, religious people tend to focus their beliefs on guidance from

only their specific scriptures and believe only in one method of

worship as prescribed in their scriptures. whereas spiritual people

are ready to adapt and practice whatever nourishes their souls.

AS rumi says " there are hundred ways to kneel and touch the ground."

So religious people will always swear by their scripture - for

example Gita saya or guru granth saheb says but a spiritual person

will say this is what i feel based on my own personal experience.

Thus, a spiritual person may or may not be religious ....

"Spirituality, whether it is something gained through life

experience, revelation (religious or otherwise) or self-discovery.

It involves insight and a sense of connection within the self,

others, nature, the universe or a higher power. Spirituality can be

expressed through religion; spirituality can be a part of religion.

"Religion, in the most basic sense, is an organized set of beliefs

and a way of understanding the world and yourself as part of the

world.

Religion defines (some more strictly than others) how a person's

beliefs are expressed and often acts as a guide in terms of how a

person expresses his or her spirituality. It provides guidance,

perspective, community and support for the individual in his or her

solitary practice."

A person can be spiritual and religious, just spiritual, just

religious or neither.

i WISH SARDARJI A VERY HAPPY GURU NANAK ANNIVERSARY and i hope he

will come back spiritually energized after all the "shabad" kirtan

and "simran" . Srdarji, be sure to bring some "langar" for all of

us . May be eating the "langar" ( prasad) may lift u my confusion as

well as Yours!!!! Smiles !!!!!

Namashkar!

ps to all muslim members here ! wish you all a haapy "ramadhan". the

holy month .

November 9, 2003

Shri Radhakutir jee,

thanks for replying. I agree that attachment to desire is our

enemy.

That way desire to any attachment is our enemy. What about

attachment to desire of getting Moksha ?

And who is our best friend ? And who should be our advisor ? How

do we know the desire arising in us is a desire of our Ego or desire

of the God working through us ?

Sat sri akaal

November 12, 2003

Sardar Ajit Singh ji,

Sat Sri Akaal (Satyam Sivam Sundram),

>>>That way desire to any attachment is our enemy. What about

attachment to desire of getting Moksha ?<<<

Your questions are very pertinent. Desire for Moksha is not really a desire in

the normal sense of the word. It is one of the essential qualifications of a

sincere seeker to make progress on the spiritual path. Vedanta enumerates four

such qualifications viz.

1. Viveka (Discrimination)

2. Vairagya (Dispassion)

3. Shatka Sampatti (six fold qualifications - Sama, Dama etc.)

4. Mumukshutvam (Desire for Moksha)

The intense yearning for liberation is Mumukshutvam. It is compared to the

desire, for jumping into a pool of water, of a man whose matted hair has caught

fire.

Why do we desire any way? Because we always feel incomplete and lacking and try

to makeup for this sense of incompleteness by gathering things and beings around

us but alas the sense of completeness or happiness deludes us like a mirage.

Example, I want a cup of tea, when I get it I feel happy, but when I have

finished my tea, there shall be a desire for something else. It is an unending

process.

Desire for Moksha is not a desire for an external object, It is the longing of

the soul to unite with it's source i.e. one's own essential nature by removing

ignorance and other conditionings and impediments that separate the soul from

the Self. The source of our suffering in life is the bondage or limitations and

hence the desire to cure the cause. In fact knowingly or un-knowingly every one

is desiring for Moksha or happiness only but most of us are looking for it in

the things and beings of the world, which may be able to give momentary

happiness but not a permanent one. With the desire for Moksha, the disease of

desiring ends once for all and there is nothing further to desire. If I am aware

of an illness that I am suffering from, naturally there is a desire to remove

that suffering, similarly when I become aware of the limitations imposed upon

me, I want to get rid of them because freedom is my essential nature. The

discovery of the limitations we live in, is the birth place of desire for

liberation.The main purpose of desire is either to obtain happiness or to remove

unhappiness in life and the desire for Moksha fulfills both purposes at once.

>>>And who is our best friend ? And who should be our advisor ? How do we know

the desire arising in us is a desire of our Ego or desire

of the God working through us ?<<<

God or Self is our best friend, He never deserts us birth after birth, whereas

all relativity ends with death. God is the best adviser but we need to surrender

totally and absolutely. "Sarvadharmaan parityajya Mam Ekam Sharanam Vraj, Aham

Twa Sarvapapebheyo Mokshishiami Ma Shuchah" (Gita 18.66) "Resigning all your

duties to Me, the all-powerful and supporting Lord, take refuge in Me alone, I

shall absolve you of all sins, worry not." Once we surrender, the Lord will

arrange for us whatever is needed, including the Guru, for us to move God-wards.

All desires are egoistic only excepting the desire for God Realization.

Hari Om

radhakutir