New ideas enter the West: Love and Oneness

[Guest guest]

Dear Holy Family,

 

History is certainly a history of ideas-handles on reality, and how we

apply them.

 

The Protestant Reformation of the 16th C. suddenly put the

responsibility for relating to the Divine upon the individual devotee.

Prior to that, the priest was the intercessor. Now the devotee was face

to face with God, as it were, and the issue of loving God and how to

love God was his. In addition, the scriptures were translated into the

common languages and one discovered that Christ said that what one does

to even the least of these, ie, others, one does to Me. So the problem

of serving and relating to man with love became a focus as well. Things

went on like this for quite a while.

 

At the beginning of the 20th C. the idea of the oneness of all existence

entered the thought currents of the western world. The

Transcendentalists were there, of course, but even movements like Mary

Baker Eddie's Christian Science drew from Indian monism; the first

editions of her Book openly quoted the Bhagavad Gita. And for a few

years, Swami Vivekananda was immensely popular and every newspaper

carried reports of his teachings on Vedantic oneness. Thus people knew

the idea-even if they disagreed with it.

 

Another period of absorption, shorter this time, and in the 60's the two

ideas of universal love and the oneness of all existence merged and

created the popular revolution which we all know so well. During which

nearly every kind of experiment and every kind of combination using

these two ideas was made. And that has continued, though less

flamboyantly, to the present.

 

During the ferment following the 60's, Swami Satyananda had gone to

India and was there for some years. When he returned he was not empty

handed, he came bearing gifts to the West. One of them is, of course,

Shree Maa. But another very important gift is the twin ideals of Respect

and Efficiency.

 

I confess that when I have thought about these two teachings, I have

sometimes thought, "Sure, they're important--but not earthshaking like

Love and Oneness for instance". But is that true? The ideal of

universal love and the oneness of everything are abstract ideals which

can be applied correctly or incorrectly. The Efficiency and Respect

which the Swami elaborates on at every opportunity are the necessary

tools with which to apply them correctly, so as not to come to grief.

 

As an example of wrong application, it was popular in the 60's to deny

duality by asserting that All is Good. This opened everyone up to the

posibility of the unrestricted inflowing of evil. How? Because good and

evil are a duality of polar opposites. True Oneness exists, but far

above the dualities. By denying the existence of evil in a sort of

shortcut to oneness, one blinds oneself to evil thus permitting it free

reign. It also dims one's discriminative faculty, one's buddhi. It is

the faculty of buddhi which clearly discerns good and evil, truth and

untruth, and all their fine tunings, thus leading one, by degrees, to

Supreme Truth or Buddhahood.

 

Swamiji's class last night was incredibly inspiring. Kumari has been

telling me that the spiritual Presence, the bhava, manages somehow to

find its way even through the internet systems, and I have to admit that

its true.

 

Last night he told a story which illustrates the need to properly

discriminate when applying the very power truths which the Guru gives

the disciple: A disciple was told by his teacher that all is One, all is

God. On his way home the disciple, pondering this truth, heard the

shouts of a mahut up ahead warning everyone that his elephant was out of

control and to run to save themselves. The disciple reasoned that the

elephant is also God and so decided to stand right where he was. As a

result the charging elephant grabbed him with its trunk and tossed him,

broken up but alive, into a tree.

 

When others including the guru came to help him they asked, "Why did you

not run like all the others?"

The disciple answered that he had reasoned that all was God, including

the elephant, so why should he run? But the Guru answered, "Yes, I

said that all is God, but so was the mahut who was warning you to save

yourself. Why did you not heed the Mahut-God?"

 

This one story illustrates the two teachings the Swami is continually

elaborating: efficiency-the proper application of the truths we have

been taught. And respect, including respect for the dangerous elephant,

for the consequences of unintentionally misapplying the powerful Truths.

 

So many of the idealistic young people of the 60's did not know how to

efficiently and respectfully apply the principles they had learned-and

they came to grief. Walk down Telegraph Ave in Berkeley even now to see

what I mean. A great need is there.

 

The Swami also referred, very impressively, to true Oneness. He spoke of

an experience of his own in samadhi in which he saw countless devotees

surrounding a Great Soul, Mahapurush, in worship and adulation. And he

was the Great Soul; and he was the countless devotees.

 

So on this holyday of Thanksgiving, I feel profound gratitude to the

great Swami, the Wiseman from the East bearing gifts. And for the Pearl

of Great Price, the the Swami's greatest Treasure-beyond all value-the

Divine Mother Herself, Sree Maa.

 

Respectfully,

 

Tanmaya

[Guest guest]

So do I, so do I.

 

Jai Swamiji!

Chris

 

 

, "ty_maa" <dsjames wrote:

>

>

> Dear Holy Family,

>

> History is certainly a history of ideas-handles on reality, and how we

> apply them.

>

> The Protestant Reformation of the 16th C. suddenly put the

> responsibility for relating to the Divine upon the individual devotee.

> Prior to that, the priest was the intercessor. Now the devotee was face

> to face with God, as it were, and the issue of loving God and how to

> love God was his. In addition, the scriptures were translated into the

> common languages and one discovered that Christ said that what one does

> to even the least of these, ie, others, one does to Me. So the problem

> of serving and relating to man with love became a focus as well. Things

> went on like this for quite a while.

>

> At the beginning of the 20th C. the idea of the oneness of all existence

> entered the thought currents of the western world. The

> Transcendentalists were there, of course, but even movements like Mary

> Baker Eddie's Christian Science drew from Indian monism; the first

> editions of her Book openly quoted the Bhagavad Gita. And for a few

> years, Swami Vivekananda was immensely popular and every newspaper

> carried reports of his teachings on Vedantic oneness. Thus people knew

> the idea-even if they disagreed with it.

>

> Another period of absorption, shorter this time, and in the 60's the two

> ideas of universal love and the oneness of all existence merged and

> created the popular revolution which we all know so well. During which

> nearly every kind of experiment and every kind of combination using

> these two ideas was made. And that has continued, though less

> flamboyantly, to the present.

>

> During the ferment following the 60's, Swami Satyananda had gone to

> India and was there for some years. When he returned he was not empty

> handed, he came bearing gifts to the West. One of them is, of course,

> Shree Maa. But another very important gift is the twin ideals of Respect

> and Efficiency.

>

> I confess that when I have thought about these two teachings, I have

> sometimes thought, "Sure, they're important--but not earthshaking like

> Love and Oneness for instance". But is that true? The ideal of

> universal love and the oneness of everything are abstract ideals which

> can be applied correctly or incorrectly. The Efficiency and Respect

> which the Swami elaborates on at every opportunity are the necessary

> tools with which to apply them correctly, so as not to come to grief.

>

> As an example of wrong application, it was popular in the 60's to deny

> duality by asserting that All is Good. This opened everyone up to the

> posibility of the unrestricted inflowing of evil. How? Because good and

> evil are a duality of polar opposites. True Oneness exists, but far

> above the dualities. By denying the existence of evil in a sort of

> shortcut to oneness, one blinds oneself to evil thus permitting it free

> reign. It also dims one's discriminative faculty, one's buddhi. It is

> the faculty of buddhi which clearly discerns good and evil, truth and

> untruth, and all their fine tunings, thus leading one, by degrees, to

> Supreme Truth or Buddhahood.

>

> Swamiji's class last night was incredibly inspiring. Kumari has been

> telling me that the spiritual Presence, the bhava, manages somehow to

> find its way even through the internet systems, and I have to admit that

> its true.

>

> Last night he told a story which illustrates the need to properly

> discriminate when applying the very power truths which the Guru gives

> the disciple: A disciple was told by his teacher that all is One, all is

> God. On his way home the disciple, pondering this truth, heard the

> shouts of a mahut up ahead warning everyone that his elephant was out of

> control and to run to save themselves. The disciple reasoned that the

> elephant is also God and so decided to stand right where he was. As a

> result the charging elephant grabbed him with its trunk and tossed him,

> broken up but alive, into a tree.

>

> When others including the guru came to help him they asked, "Why did you

> not run like all the others?"

> The disciple answered that he had reasoned that all was God, including

> the elephant, so why should he run? But the Guru answered, "Yes, I

> said that all is God, but so was the mahut who was warning you to save

> yourself. Why did you not heed the Mahut-God?"

>

> This one story illustrates the two teachings the Swami is continually

> elaborating: efficiency-the proper application of the truths we have

> been taught. And respect, including respect for the dangerous elephant,

> for the consequences of unintentionally misapplying the powerful Truths.

>

> So many of the idealistic young people of the 60's did not know how to

> efficiently and respectfully apply the principles they had learned-and

> they came to grief. Walk down Telegraph Ave in Berkeley even now to see

> what I mean. A great need is there.

>

> The Swami also referred, very impressively, to true Oneness. He spoke of

> an experience of his own in samadhi in which he saw countless devotees

> surrounding a Great Soul, Mahapurush, in worship and adulation. And he

> was the Great Soul; and he was the countless devotees.

>

> So on this holyday of Thanksgiving, I feel profound gratitude to the

> great Swami, the Wiseman from the East bearing gifts. And for the Pearl

> of Great Price, the the Swami's greatest Treasure-beyond all value-the

> Divine Mother Herself, Sree Maa.

>

> Respectfully,

>

> Tanmaya

>