A ping and a response....

September 1, 2007

The ping over Chat...from Bharathi Ma:just wanted to ask you why should one wait for all the sanskaras...karmas or whatever to get over to go to God..why not now this moment????? if earthly life is an illusion..then even all the so called karmas or the brith-death cycle is an illusion..why should we wait even one second to go back to God??? --------------Dear Bharathi Ma, Sorry could not respond back to your ping. Was away from my desk. Life is both an illusion and a reality. It is diabolical, it is paradoxical. God works in contradictions because He is supra-logical. If we boil it down to logicality then, we can argue that --Life is an illusion, Karmas are an illusion and thus the wait to merge back is an illusion too and thus why not this instant itself? Why not get an instant moksha. Wish it were true... Well, it is and it is not. Life is an illusion, there is no doubt about it. Even Shankara says so.This is the Advaitic essence which he preached. Then why did he do austerities? Even austerities are a maya, an illusion.Why did he set up 4 mutts? That too is an illusion. Why the Sharada, Shringeri,Jyotir and Govardhan Maths? They too are an illusion just a subtle extension of His inherent spiritual-ego! The Advaitic doctrine of Shankara propagated the view that bodies are manifold, and in these separate bodies the one Divine is present. With regard to Advaita, however, it is possible only to experience it as a "Bhava" (a conscious feeling), and not apply it as "Kriya Advaita", to carry on ones activities in daily life. There is the Divine in a tiger, in a snake and in a human being. You can recognise this as a concept, but on that account, you cannot go and embrace a tiger. The tiger must be treated as a tiger and a snake must be treated as a snake. The human being must be given the status that is appropriate to the human. You must have the faith that the same Divine dwells in all beings. This is indicated by the presence of three Divine characteristics in all beings. Asthi, Bhathi, Priyam (Existence, recognizability and utility). This is also expressed in other terms as: "Sat-chit-Ananda" (Being Awareness Bliss). "Sat"refer to that which is unchanging. This is a Divine attribute. "Chit" refers to total Awareness to know the complete nature of anything. When "Sat" and "Chit" are together, there is Ananda (Bliss). This Bliss is unchanging. It is described as Brahmanandam (Supreme Bliss). It is like mixing sugar with water, resulting in a syrup. Shankara says the world is maya, a mirage, it is difficult for us to understand. Because we know only this world, we don't have any comparison. This is the only reality we know. What are these people talking about -- this is maya, illusion? This is the only reality. Unless you come to know the really real, their words cannot be understood, their words remain theoretical. They look like hypotheses. Maybe this man is propounding a philosophy -- 'The world is unreal'. Berkeley(The Immaterialist)When Berkley in the West said that the world is unreal, he was walking with one of his friends, a very logical man; the friend was almost a skeptic. He took a stone from the road and hit Berkley's feet hard. Berkley screamed, blood rushed out, and the skeptic said, 'Now, the world is unreal? You say the world is unreal? -- then why did you scream? This stone is unreal? -- then why did you scream? Then why are you holding your leg and why are you showing so much pain and anguish on your face. Stop this? It is all unreal. Now this type of man cannot understand what Shankara means when he says the world is a mirage. He does not mean that you can pass through the wall. He is not saying this -- that you can eat stones and it will make no difference whether you eat bread or stones. He is not saying that. He is saying that there is a reality. Once you come to know it, this so-called reality simply pales out, simply becomes unreal. With a higher reality in vision the comparison arises, not otherwise. So the paradoxial way is to work through the reality to realize the unreal nature of this reality and this involves kriya yoga(not the kind SRF teaches!). Working through first the Maya to realize the real natur eof the illusion is also another path but a tougher path nevertheless and involves charya yoga. So what do we do now?---Fold your hands in Namaskara Mudra and then pray to Divine Mother like a childI know not the depths of this Mayavic oceanHey Bhagavathy! My Rajamma! Keep me in this unison!Samharakaraki! you decimate my inner apprehensionsAnd make me not unfold my path in pretensions.Hey! The Beloved of Kameshwara! Keep me in thy lapAnd protect me from any intellectual mishap!Om Shakambary! Om Jaya Jhrumbini! Om Sarvamangala!Pahimaam, Pahimaam!Shreeram Balijepalli