What do SYs know about Self-realization?

April 20, 2006

Dear All,

SYs keep talking about Self-realization as if they are experts.

After spending years in the collective i realized the poverty of

Sahaja Yoga Self-realization. Even today i am still conditioned by

my days in SY collectives though i have come a long way. But somehow

i still unconsciously remember/retain the residue of the shallow

knowledge of Self-realization that most decades-old SYs regard

as 'sacred', a collective mindset that is incurably permanent since

few have had the opportunity to escape the self-deception of

ignorance. hus i regard myself fortunate in that sense.

The other day i had a deep introspection that kept me awake through

the night into dawn. For hours i did not sleep as i entered deeper

within myself and tried to identify/confirm/reinforce that the

Shakti within me is indeed the essence of Aham Brahmasi (i am

Her/Brahman). i felt that i was drifting further towards the Other

Shore, away from the shallow bank that many SYs are rejoicing.

i have been doing such introspection quite regularly now (but that

one just mentioned was on a really deep level). Thus it is necessary

to live daily in two modes, the external mode to deal with humanity

and the internal mode that is the true sanctuary and solace.

This fleeting experience of Aham Brahmasi can neither be shared nor

explained, only experienced in solitary silence.

However, i am compelled to give others a bearing of my position lest

i drift too far alone. i hope SYs will learn much from the little

they have had in knowledge so far. i sincerely desire they break

free from the conditionings of their collective and dip their toes

into the Ocean of Consciousness. That will give me much joy as i

know others will benefit from realizing and identifying themselves

with the Shakti within, a subject that is not in the official manual.

So to prove my point i am quoting those who know much more about

Self-realization than the majority of SYs. i never heard SYs writing

about such facts despite years in collectives. i know they equate

knowledge of the subtle system as the sign of a self-realized soul.

i am saying such a belief/conditioning is the source of ignorance

and shallowness in our collectives. It is indeed sad to see so many

SYs rejoicing on the banks, oblivious to the Ocean of Aham Brahmasi.

jagbir

Is Enlightenment Personal?

The Self as Satyam-Shivam-Sundram (Truth, Consciousness, Beauty)

The spiritual path is difficult from one perspective because the

Self, the ultimate Reality that we are, is not clear to us as

individuals. Some people say that Enlightenment is not personal.

That is just a fashion statement. Enlightenment is as personal as it

gets. The Self is both personal and impersonal. It is personal

because it is you. How can it be any more personal? It is impersonal

because its existence (your ultimate nature) is not dependent on

time and space bound relationships.

As a mind/body, we are subject to the whims of nature and

circumstances (karma). This clouds our understanding. So the teacher

or a friend whom we trust is needed to tell us that our nature is

not that of the body. Suffering is natural to the body because it is

subject to physical forces. When the sages use the word body, they

include the mind. The mental body is also a body but more subtle,

made up of more subtle matter, but still matter.

So the Body is one thing and the Atman is another.

Bhagavan Krishna, in fact, points this out to Arjuna in the Hindu

scripture, The Bhagavad-Gita.

The Atma is neither born nor does it die at any time, nor having

been it will cease to exist again. It is unborn, eternal, permanent,

and primeval. The Atma is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.

(2.20)

Just as a person puts on new garments after discarding the old ones,

similarly Atma acquires new bodies after casting away the old

bodies. (2.22)

Weapons do not cut this Atma, fire does not burn it, water does not

make it wet, and the wind does not make it dry. (2.23).

If we understand this dualism, we will not have to understand

nondualism. Nondualism is not an understanding but our essential

nature. The nature of Atman is nondual because Atman is Being-

Awareness resting in its own nature. We cannot conclude this

logically but only by Being That. That Knowing transcends logic.

If you know the Self, what does it mean? You cannot know the Self as

an object. You are the Self. Therefore, it is always the Self

knowing It Self. The mind cannot fully grasp this unless it has

become transparent and fully saturated in the Self, where it knows

that it is only the Self knowing itself through it. Patanjali says

the same thing about the nature of the Self. Ultimately, the Seer

rests in his own nature. That is the highest Samadhi. Self is

Samadhi. Self is Nirvikalpa, beyond imagination and thought. Self is

Sahaj or natural and always visible to itself as pure being despite

imagination and thought.

In Hinduism, the Reality is often referred to as Satyam-Shivam-

Sundram. Truth-Consciousness-Beauty. That which is of the nature of

the ultimate truth, pure consciousness, and the essence of beauty is

the Self. One's own Self. It is of such overwhelming beauty because

the devotee who worships the God or the Self with all love and might

and with desperation suddenly realizes that the devotee and God are

in essence identical. The seeker had been looking for something that

constituted the core of his/her very own Being. Imagine the shock!

First the shock, and then the smile. Of course, how could it be

anything else? The Lord always sits in our Heart as our own Heart.

This Realization is one of supreme beauty. The one that you had been

longing for has been here all along as your own Self. Self is empty

of all concepts. Its nature is that of completion that is devoid of

all longing. Its nature is that of utter fullness that has nowhere

to flow out to, being One without a second. The ancients called it

Sat-Chit-Ananda. It has no basis for comparison and no reference

point. We can say that it is the essence of beauty and bliss.

Love to all

Harsha

http://.net/blog/index.html

April 20, 2006

, " jagbir singh "

<adishakti_org wrote:

>

> The other day i had a deep introspection that kept me awake

> through the night into dawn. For hours i did not sleep as i

> entered deeper within myself and tried to identify/confirm/

> reinforce that the Shakti within me is indeed the essence of Aham

> Brahmasi (i am Her/Brahman). i felt that i was drifting further

> towards the Other Shore, away from the shallow bank that many SYs

> are rejoicing.

>

" If you believe in the Goddess, then know that She is extremely

powerful, She's very intelligent and if She has to protect you

She'll protect you out and out, in such a way that you will not know

how you have been protected.

But this faith has to be developed. Faith has to be developed by

experience also; how you have been protected always, how you have

been helped always, how you came out of so many crises. But despite

that, if you get upset, worried, if some clouds appear in the sky of

your life, then if you get upset, that means you are still weak.

So first thing, if you are really worshipping the Goddess then you

should have no worry at all of any kind and you should have no fear

at all. Go ahead, fearlessly, whatever you are doing, do it

fearlessly.

But at the same time I have to tell you the other side, that one

should not go about like a zombie. It doesn't mean that; saying all

kinds of nonsensical things of the right side. But if you have to do

something, do it with clear cut ideas and also without any fear so

all Her powers will start manifesting within you. "

Shri Bahirmukha-sudurlabha Devi

October 9, 1994

(Bahirmukha-sudurlabha [871st]: Very difficult to be attained by

those with externalised mental activity, i.e. She must be first

sought within.)

May 6, 2006

" The word shrine in the text also means a holy place (thirta.) The

allusion is to the pilgrimage of pious devotees to a holy place.

There are certain disadvantages associated with holy places. As they

may be situated at a great distance, pilgrimage may entail physical

labour and suffering. The merit of a pilgrimage may be slight

because of the inauspiciousness of the time. The comfort of the

pilgrims may be disturbed by the weather. Robbers, thieves, or

unscrupulous priests often give them trouble. Further, the merit

accruing from a pilgrimage is not everlasting. But the worshipper in

the sacred shrine of Atman is free from all these disadvantages and

obstacles. Communion with Atman bestows upon the soul Immortality

and Eternal Bliss.

The Mahabharatai describes Atman as the real sacred river, bathing

in which the soul becomes free of impurities:

" The river of Atman is filled with the water of self-control; truth

is its current, righteous conduct its banks, and compassion its

waves. O son of Pandu, bathe in its sacred water; ordinary water

does not purify the inmost soul. "

By worshipping a holy man who worships in the sacred shrine of

Atman, the seeker obtains the result of pilgrimage:

" A visit to holy men bestows merit, because they may be regarded as

moving holy places. The Lord, dwelling in their hearts, renders holy

the place where they live. "

" A river filled with sacred water is no doubt sacred; an image of

stone or clay is no doubt a deity. After worshipping them a long

time, the aspirant becomes pure. But by a mere visit to a holy man

one attains purity. "

Communion with Brahman is the most efficacious form of worship:

" By virtue of even a moment's serenity, attained through knowledge

of the identity of Atman and Brahman, the seeker attains the merit

that one may obtain by bathing in the waters of all the holy rivers,

by giving away the entire world in an act of charity, by performing

a thousand sacrifices, by worshipping the three hundred and thirty

millions of gods, and by rescuing, through after-death rites, one's

ancestors from the suffering of the nether world. "

" By the very birth of a man whose mind is absorbed in the Supreme

Brahman — the immeasurable Ocean of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss

Absolute — his family becomes sinless, his mother blessed, and the

earth sacred. " "

Swami Nikhilananda, Self-Knowledge

(Swami Nikhilananda, Self-Knowledge [Atmabodha], 1989, p. 171-72.)