Body & Soul.

[Guest guest]

Dear Siddharth,

 

You and Mahesh are essentially the same. Your future successor, in case you do not obtain liberation in this life, will also be you. "You" are the thread that runs through all your incarnations both past and present. You are the sutratman. The fire spark that is essentially the fire but yet distinct from it.

 

Your present decision that the world is full of suffering and that you need to be delivered from it, is not due to your efforts and experiences alone. Mahesh too had a part in it and also the others before him.

 

You are the sum total of all the samskaras of all your previous lives and also of the current life. This creates a veil around the atman and prevents it from shining through. The atman does not mind really, as it is always the witness. But you can sense that veil. You can also sense the effulgent, ever happy, blissful atman. Hence the dissatisfaction at not being able to reach that blissful state because of the veil.

 

You are the ego which thinks you are separate from the soul and tries to seek solace in a separate identity. This ego may be benevolent or malevolent depending on your actions.

 

Your perplexity is right according to the Buddhist philosophy. The Buddhists believe in reincarnation but do not believe in the soul. This may seem like a paradox. But let us consider an example;

 

There is a merry go round. People climb on to the boxes and again get down after the ride is over. Then again other persons climb on. The boxes however remain the same and continue to rotate. The Buddhists believe that they only have one life. The next life is taken over by another soul. This does not make them careless. Their compassion makes them even more vigilant because they understand that what they do will reverbrate on another person who occupies the body-mind concept set rolling into another life.

 

Your conception about individual liberation and mass liberation was discussed by me in a recent post. It is upto you. You may decide to be liberated or you may so prepare yourself that you may continue to take birth till all are liberated. This was Swamiji's attitude.

 

What type of liberation you want is also in your hand. If you do not want to merge into the infinite and lose your identity, so be it. Imagine your liberation to be in the nature of association with Thakur and not merge into him. Thakur will be too glad to grant your wish.

 

Jairam, about Swamiji trying for a Vivekananda Loka, hehehe, I would not put it beyond him. He would feel suffocated in Ramakrishna Loka, having to put up with the idiosyncracies of the crazy old man. So best of luck to all those who wish to settle for Vivekananda Loka. At least the people of Ramakrishna Loka can pay occasional visits there to while away their time. Like staying at Joyrambati and making an occasional trip to Kamarpukur. Hehehe.

 

Regarding "servant leadership", yes this is currently being discussed in management circles also. Only who wishes to serve can be a high quality manager. This is separate from the adage, "A good follower becomes a good leader". Because this adds the concept of service, of being useful to others and not working for ones selfish ends alone.

 

Loving Regards,

Jagannath.

 

 

 

Mail - You care about security. So do we.