Becoming a Christian and its replies

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Dear Rick,

 

I liked your response to your friend very much. It was thoughtful and

Premarupa summed it up very nicely too. Fundamentalism in ANY religion does

retard the journey of the individual soul toward Cosmic Consciousness.

 

I am not so sure about the anger question. I would think sustained anger

does retard progress, in the same way any self-centred emotion or attachment

does. It is easy to get angry -- at least for this writer. While I agree it

is important to be honest about naming the emotion that is welling up in one;

isn't the ideal goal to simply "observe" the emotion come and go in oneself

without participating in it?

 

"I am the pure and selfless strength of the strong:

I am desire too, desire that does not transgress Dharma.

 

They are all mine, the states of sattva, and rajas, and tamas;

I am not in them; they are in me." [Na thwaham theshu, tey mayi]

 

--Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 7.

(please correct this if necessary as it is from memory!)

 

I have loved this ever since I heard Chinmayananda explain it many years ago.

He was known for his quick temper, so he probably knew of where he spoke! I

remember he said (this is paraphrased since it was many years ago) that the

mind is like a monkey, ready to jump up and act out at any emotion. He said,

just as the waves are in the ocean, but the ocean cannot be said to be

contained in the waves; and just as the depths of the ocean are calm below

the rise and fall of the tossing waves, so also we must realise that our

Atman is in deep silence below the waves of our emotions and day to day

attachments. Therefore, the thing to do when one encounters anger is to

recognize it, but not participate in it. In other words, though anger is in

Me; I am not angry (the I here stands for the Self/Atman). The detached soul

becomes merely the observer, even of his own body, mind, emotions and

attachments. What a goal! No wonder nothing can move a Mahatma that is

Realized.

 

Thank you for reminding me of this verse and lesson. Why can I NEVER

remember it when I am losing my temper??!! Any ideas for controlling the

mind/tongue will be greatly appreciated, even if it is just "bite your lip

till it bleeds"!!

 

On the subject of religious conversion/coercion, I understand that

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa tried Hindu, Christian and Muslim paths, and found

(empirically) that they all led to the same place. I don't think any path is

better than the other; it is the purity of heart with which they are followed

that matters.

 

Thank you for making me think...

Om Namah Shivayai,

Usha