Guest guest Posted November 13, 2009 Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 I just got a book called Tattwa Shuddhi by Swami Satyasangananda. My first impulse was to open it at random. Here's where I landed: Intellect, An Obstacle in Sadhana It has been stated time and again in all the textbooks on tantra and yoga that an aspirant should try to eliminate all intellectual barriers in respect to his spiritual sadhana. As long as you approach your sadhana through an intellectual process of logic and reasoning, your experiences will remain static. The level of mind that you are trying to reach is beyond the entanglements of intellectual bantering. Questions such as, " Why am I doing this sadhana? " " What do these visions mean? " " Am I making any progress? " " Where are all these experiences coming from? " " Where will all this lead me? " are bound to arise in every person. However, these and other intellectual acrobatics have to be avoided. Use your intellect for your worldly day to day life by all means because it is necessary and serves a purpose. However, in sadhana, this same faculty becomes a hindrance and is an obstacle. That is why Sri Aurobindo has said, " Intellect was the helper, intellect is the barrier; transcend intellect. " This should be the motto of all sadhakas. Intellect is all right up to a point; it is through discrimination of your intellect that you began the practices of yoga. However, in order to go higher you will now have to step over it. This may not be possible all the time, but should be maintained at all cost during the period of intensive sadhana. Faith, love, and devotion are the mediums through which the higher experiences begin to manifest, because these qualities absorb and nullify the cold and calculating reasoning of the intellect. Therefore, let us approach this sadhana, not through the itellect but through the transforming emotions of bhakti. In the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, Devi says that jnana and bhakti are the two pathways that lead to her. Try not to hinder your progress through by the process of analysis. Drop these tendencies, which exist in every ordinary person, and try to enter the realm of pure experience by elevating the awareness beyond the barriers of intellect through bhakti or devotion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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