To Steve on Guru Gita Verse 104

[Guest guest]

Steve wrote:

Guru Gita Verse 104The verse: "One who speaks to the Guru

with egotism, to attain victoryin argument, may become a

Brahmaraaksasah, a demon filled with thepride of learning, in a

forest or a place with no water."What this says to me is this:If we

break away from the heart, and throw in our lot with the mind,we will

come to a very dry place.Jai Maa. Keep feet in the Ganges.How does

this pertain to us. We can argue until the sun goes down. Wecan slay

all opponents. But we do not see, we are backing into acorner, alone,

defended. This is the nature of mind.

Dear Steve ~ the thought of speaking to the Guru with egotism

horrifies me; who would think of it? Yet, of course, in Swamiji's own

life, during his travels in India, he had many priests who argued with

him and tried to debase his nature, until they were won over by

Swamiji's often very brief but exacting responses. The tone of your

post in throwing away the mind bothers me a little bit. Does not

Swami have a magnificent mind and does he not use this to write his

books, to teach, to give advice, etc., all without egotism. Our minds

help us discriminate. And our hearts can sometimes get us into as much

trouble as our minds, at least in my case because my heart gets full

of Self-Deprecation, which leads to depression, and I know this is

ego. Yet my open heart when I chant the Chandi or behold a beautiful

cloud or read about Swamiji is another matter. I am not sure it is

the heart or the mind which are the problem; it is what we do with

them. I have seen people egoistically use their heart (feelings) in

an egoistic manner just as often as I have seen them use their minds

in such a way. I think perhaps the issue is one of balance, not only

between heart and mind, but between heart, mind, body and spirit. I

am the least to speak of these things because I would not be so sick

if all were in balance, but this is what I seek.

 

This brings to mind a personal story when I first attended college. I

had a painting teacher who also taught an art history class I

attended. Because I had seen my father use his brilliant mind cruelly

to debase others and crush their spirits, I had no trust or confidence

in my mind.I disowned it. I remember walking down the hall with this

teacher, and she said something to me. I said, "Oh, I can't think

straigth at all; my mind is a mess." She looked at me very pointedly

and said, "Linda, you have a very good mind." Then later on, she

proceeded to give me tasks helping her out (a kind of guru seva, if

you will) that helped show me I could trust my own mind. This was a

huge turning point in my life. Of course, there is always monkey

mind, wanting this, wanting that ... but I think perhaps there is

also monkey heart and monkey body. My job is to tame the monkey. Jai

Swamiji ~ Linda

[Guest guest]

yes we can't even throw away mind, not really, any more than we can

throw away the world. we cannot do that unless we are firm in some

other place. easier said than done.

 

many people take on the mantle of greatness but then become a burden

to others. everyone gives them special space due to their intellect.

but here we are only being like animals, afraid of another form of

brawn.

 

Shree Maa said something not so long ago. it was related to asking

ourselves, who we are and where we are going. this is the birth of

real intelligence. it is in my mind as important as the Chandi.

 

why am i here?

what am i doing?

what is the meaning of existence?

how can i cooperate with this life i experience here?

who or what is God?

how can i see more directly the Truth, or God?

 

the challenges we have can seem overwhelming, especially when we are

using the telescopic effect of mind. but what happens when we get

inside mind's workings? we become scientists of our own existence,

part of the inner working, less the victim of our own creations.

 

we have this existence, this life. all these concepts and images and

events and persons are swirling. the asan is our opportunity to root

ourselves, to seek out the pivot point of all existence.

 

if God wills our bio-chemicals begin to change as a result of our

higher order of thinking. we have to be very careful in our lab to

throw out the old chemicals, the persistent ones that berate

ourselves, pressure ourselves with worry, and replace them slowly with

an real workable inner vision we can adapt into.

 

, nierika@a... wrote:

>

> Steve wrote:

>

> Guru Gita Verse 104

>

> The verse: "One who speaks to the Guru with egotism, to attain

victory

> in argument, may become a Brahmaraaksasah, a demon filled with the

> pride of learning, in a forest or a place with no water."

>

> What this says to me is this:

>

> If we break away from the heart, and throw in our lot with the

mind,

> we will come to a very dry place.

>

> Jai Maa. Keep feet in the Ganges.

>

> How does this pertain to us. We can argue until the sun goes down.

We

> can slay all opponents. But we do not see, we are backing into a

> corner, alone, defended. This is the nature of mind.

>

>

>

> Dear Steve ~ the thought of speaking to the Guru with egotism

horrifies me;

> who would think of it? Yet, of course, in Swamiji's own life, during

his

> travels in India, he had many priests who argued with him and tried

to debase his

> nature, until they were won over by Swamiji's often very brief but

exacting

> responses. The tone of your post in throwing away the mind bothers

me a little

> bit. Does not Swami have a magnificent mind and does he not use

this to

> write his books, to teach, to give advice, etc., all without

egotism. Our minds

> help us discriminate. And our hearts can sometimes get us into as

much trouble

> as our minds, at least in my case because my heart gets full of

> Self-Deprecation, which leads to depression, and I know this is

ego. Yet my open heart

> when I chant the Chandi or behold a beautiful cloud or read about

Swamiji is

> another matter. I am not sure it is the heart or the mind which are

the

> problem; it is what we do with them. I have seen people

egoistically use their heart

> (feelings) in an egoistic manner just as often as I have seen them

use their

> minds in such a way. I think perhaps the issue is one of balance,

not only

> between heart and mind, but between heart, mind, body and spirit. I

am the

> least to speak of these things because I would not be so sick if

all were in

> balance, but this is what I seek.

>

> This brings to mind a personal story when I first attended college.

I had a

> painting teacher who also taught an art history class I attended.

Because I

> had seen my father use his brilliant mind cruelly to debase others

and crush

> their spirits, I had no trust or confidence in my mind.I disowned

it. I

> remember walking down the hall with this teacher, and she said

something to me. I

> said, "Oh, I can't think straigth at all; my mind is a mess." She

looked at me

> very pointedly and said, "Linda, you have a very good mind." Then

later on,

> she proceeded to give me tasks helping her out (a kind of guru

seva, if you

> will) that helped show me I could trust my own mind. This was a

huge turning

> point in my life. Of course, there is always monkey mind, wanting

this, wanting

> that ... but I think perhaps there is also monkey heart and monkey

body. My

> job is to tame the monkey. Jai Swamiji ~ Linda