Summary of Kavach Discussion so far ... 3

[Guest guest]

Srini asked:

 

Question 3: In verse 3, " second is the Goddess of Sacred Study and

third is the Goddess of the delight of Practice " . The seeker is

inspired and meets the Guru. S/he receives the knowledge. But

invariably the knowledge is not practiced. What prevents knowledge

from being practiced?

 

1. I think our thoughts prevent the knowledge from being practiced.

The bathe of Chandi is inside of us, the ego have a many generals.

 

2. Fear, laziness, doubt and weak will can prevent the practice of

knowledge.

 

3. Lack of faith in the Guru.

 

4. The tendency to expect obvious results and fast. So if after a

while, when the excitement of doing something new has worn off, we

still seem to be the same old so and so, or even worse (which often

happens), disappointment and discouragement creep in.

 

5. We imagine that we are the ones doing the work. And then we get

tired and feel it is an extra burden to us, and we already have to do

this and that and the other thing. And we forget that Mother does

everything.

 

6. The whole army of the forces of division, who make us think that

there are much better ways of spending an afternoon etc. We get bored,

and start to look elsewhere.

 

7. We feel that a lot of the path is uphill, in the snow, barefoot,

etc and it's work!!! No way! too hard!!

 

8. Laziness, lack of motivation and worldly attractions.

 

9. It's a question of karma. The Yoga Sutras mentions more than once

that an aspirant's karmas can block their ability to achieve various

levels of purity or attainment.

 

10. Karma. We must be very pure to practice the teachings of the Guru.

If we don't have very pure karma, then we begin a process of purifying

our karma after the initial inspiration. This could take years or even

a lifetime. The trick is not to forget the teaching and inspiration

during the process. Therefore we keep doing sadhana and keep remembering.

 

11. There are uncountable things (asuras) which keep us from

practicing. They all have one thing in common; they are part of the

armies of thoughts that Maa is soon to rid us of.

 

12. Individul shortcoming of sishya prevents him from practising the

knowledge.

 

13. How would you practice knowledge? You either recognize your

nature, or you miss it. The teacher conveys methods, habits and

energies. These are like seeds that we must tend against the weeds of

our negative habitual tendencies. These seeds will flower into

knowledge over time. I would say that perhaps one is looking in too

short a time frame. So in a round about way, I am saying that in fact

what is transmitted *always* gets practiced.

 

Question 4:

 

Srini asked:

 

In the Viniyoga, " that which bind the the Gods of all the directions "

is defined as the principle underlying the Kavach. What is it that

binds the Gods?

 

1. Gathering energy together, instead of allowing it to disperse (our

concentration)

 

2. Faith in the power of mantra

 

3. Pure devotion

 

4. Supreme consciousness

 

5. Shakti or supreme power that pervades all,

 

6. The recognition of sacred outlook (by calling to mind the presence

of the directional deities), the fact that they are a part of us and

we are a part of them.

 

Love, Srini