Guest guest Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Hari OM! Article by Swami Akshara. Dear Ones, The greatest thinkers we have seen for many centuries together like Rene Descartes, Immanuel kant, Sean Paul Sartre, Jaimini, Aryabhata, Patanjali, Lao Tsu are not exactly thinkers but contemplators. Because the thinking always is based on emotions and also thinking leads to more emotions.Disciple : Are emotions wrong ? To be emotional is not OK ? Master : Neither right nor wrong but certainly when underthe spell of emotions you can lose balance. You are boundto get hurt by this world too often ! Disciple : If everyone is unemotional thenthis world can appear cruel? Master : To be unemotional is to be cold blooded,it is to be mindless ! But to be contemplative isto be non-emotional. Disciple : What is the difference here? Master : A family man can be emotional, an autocratcan be unemotional, the contemplator is non-emotional.To be non-emotional means, the person has risen abovethe emotions. The unemotional person has gone againstemotions and not above. Disciple : I got it. The contemplator contains emotions,but is not contained by the emotions. Am I right ? Master : Absolutely ! Sometimes you sparkle with such incredible wisdom !To be non-emotional is a sign of sustaining the emotions but never influenced by them. The non-emotional contemplator always understands the emotions of the other people but need not emote himself. But indeed, the contemplator can appear to be heartless and indifferent because he does not display emotions.Disciple : Contemplating can be compared to philosophizing ? Master : Need not be. But philosophers are contemplators too ! Disciple : How are they different from spiritual seekers? Master : The philosopher tries to understand life andthe spiritual seeker tries to understand the source ofthe same life. A philospher almost made it but just missed it. Disciple : Kindly give me some examples ? Master : Here we go ! Lets consider a situation, a thinker,a budding philosopher and a contemplator, all step out their homesand soon they realize that they had forgotten their cellular phones. Disciple : Do they live together ? Master : Ideally not. It would be quite a thing to keep them under the same roof. Now let ussee how they respond to this situation.Thinker - Curses himself for not bringing the phone. Thinks his wife is utterly useless. Wonders if he should go back and pick up the phone again.Budding Philosopher - Wonders how this world has changed in this modern age. Life seem to be impossible to this world without the phone in the hand and keeps observing the people shouting into the phones as they cross the road.The contemplator(seeker) - Realizes how much he has come to depend on this device. He wants to go ahead and see how it is going to be without the phone in the hand.Disciple : But let me ask you if thecontemplator is compromising ? Master : He may miss a few calls and perhaps evenlost a business worth a million dollar. Disciple : Ooh ! Is that OK ? Master : Yes ! because end of that day,he would have found something far moreprecious than those million dollars. Disciple : And whats that ? Master : That he is not bound by theplastic device, but a free man ! Disciple : Does it mean he will never use the cell phone again? Master : Not that way, but with or without phone he is the same ! Disciple : Its very clear to me now ! Master : Yes, its just the beginning !The thinker is caught in web of his own thinking and considers the situation as a problem and tries to find a solution. He may appear more practical but the fact remains that he is still bound by something he was born without. The budding philosopher is not so much bound and directs his attention at the world and is simply pondering how life has dramatically changed. But the spiritual seeker directs his attention to himself, tries to understand how much he is vulnerable or how much he is free in a situation like that. The thinker may find a solution, the philosopher may become wise, the contemplator or the seeker of the Truth may find his freedom. The thinker looks below(on the earth), the philosopher looks above(at the world), the seeker looks within(at his own Self) .Observe the continuous changes taking place around you. Instead of trying to adapt to the changes, pause for a few moments and try to find out is there anything unchanging amidst all these changes.You may come back to the non contemplative mode soon and get entangled with the ways of the world but never mind, you can always get in to the contemplative mode again. Nothing to lose and nothing to gain. That should be the attitude when you contemplate. With Love & OM! Krishna Prasad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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