Guru Vachaka Kovai - The Delusion of Arguments

[Guest guest]

Guru Vachaka Kovai

(The Garland of the Guru’s Sayings)

by Muruganar

 

The Delusion of Arguments

 

 

 

522

Only the ignorant who do not know even a little about the nature of their own [the ego’s] rising and setting will engage themselves in a heated war of words: "Fate is more powerful than free-will [the effort of the mind]";"“No, free-will is more powerful than fate"; "Fate is superior to free-will"; "No, free-will is superior to fate".

 

 

523

Instead of enquiring and knowing through practical experience the truly existing Thing, and thereby attaining the clear state of

supreme Silence, some jump up with egoism, having fanaticism for a particular religion and hatred towards other religions, and

make vain and noisy arguments and criticisms.

 

 

524

 

The very nature of argument is to veil the truth. Since it is nothing but an art of illusion and imagination, it will delude and confuse the mind. Therefore, no one who has fallen into the dark hole of arguments will see the Sunlight, Self-knowledge.

 

 

525

 

Words [and thoughts] do not reveal Self. On the contrary, they veil it completely. Therefore, be alert in controlling both speech and thought so that Self, which is hidden by them, will shine of Its own accord.

 

Sri Muruganar: ‘We’, Self, alone are real. Even thoughts [mind] and speech, which is only a gross form of thoughts, are alien to us and therefore unreal. So, the practice of Self-attention, which will subside thoughts and speech, is the worthy undertaking.

 

526

 

Do not lend your intellect [buddhi] as a slave to the gymnastics of eloquence [in the form of speech and poetry] and to the jugglery of arguments. Know the truth, Self, by turning the pure sattvic mind within and thereby destroying the illusion of otherness.

 

http://www.davidgodman.org/rteach/gvk_intro.shtml