To Dharmavidya on different kinds of minds

[Guest guest]

Dharmavidya wrote:

You are absolutely right - Swamiji's translation surely does

makesense, even to me:)But you know - I am such a doubting Thomas and

I always want thingsclearly explained to the letter - that's how my

mind works. And I amafraid it won't quit functioning like that. Why

should it?... And that might be the reason that mantras just don't

work for me,surely not the way you described in your other post to

me. I hope though they work on a more subtle level. I think I have

toleave it to God what he/she wants to do with me.

Dear Dharmavidya ~ I think you are correct about describing how your

mind works; I think each of us have minds that work differently, and

that is all part of who we really are and how we uniquely come to

understand God/dess and our mutual relationship. You want things

spelled out. I am happy with metaphor and innuendo (though I also

like to have things spelled out and one reason why I like Swamiji so

much). Some people are blessed with faith, and they are happy to

simply believe. As many and as uniquely as every person is, that is

how many different ways the mind works and how we uniquely come to

understand whatever it is we are trying to understand.

 

Right now I am taking an online music course. For the time being, I've

been working with the two free lessons to see how I feel about it.

With something like this, I like it spelled out, outlined, bulleted

and with headings and subheadings. LOL Last night I became very

frustrated with the lesson I was working on, which was understanding

two song forms, AAA and AABA. Even listening to the sample songs did

not help. I could not for the life of me figure out whether the

letters applied to the structure within a verse or whether it applied

to the structure of the song as a whole, with each letter being

assigned to a separate verse.

I read the lesson twice. I listened to the song samples twice. I still

didn't get it, and I was getting really frustrated because I felt if

this is a course, and one that I am considering paying for, they

should make the essence of the lesson clearer However, being

self-reliant, I googled song forms and found an excerpt from

"Songwriting for Dummies," which, in two sentences made it crystal

clear. Aha! I got it!

 

But that is sort of what I mean about how different means for

different minds. And I do think that mantras, and bhajans, and

chanting the 108 names of Durga, and doing puja all help on subtle

levels. We might not "get it" right away. We might not "get it" for

what seems like a long time. Some will give up and go away and find

another path, and that is wonderful because there are many paths that

lead to the same Goal. Some might not get it for a long time, but

continue to persevere ... and then one day, when they least expect

it, the "Aha" appears crystal clear, and they never look at things

the same way again.

 

Blessings ~ Linda