Guest guest Posted March 17, 2000 Report Share Posted March 17, 2000 jody wrote: > What is our identity? Brahman. Why does it appear to > get caught up in the mind? Maya. What allows realization > to take place? Brahman Absolute recognizing Itself as Atman > in the context of an individual life, with a functioning mind > present as the recording device. > > --jody. > Thanks Jody. Let me add the following. One analogy that has been made to help understanding is this. Consider the Sun to be the Self and the Moon to be the Mind. The Moon reflects the borrowed light of the Self only. So that which shines through the Mind, and in which the Mind exists, is only the Self. When the Sun (Self) Shines, the Moon (Mind) need not be absent. If one looks for the Moon on a bright day, one can still make out a faint image. However, at that point, the Moon light is not necessary to See. There are many commentaries on the "relationship" of the Self/No Self and the Mind in different spiritual traditions reflecting different experiences, stages of understanding, and each amenable to a reasonable interpretation. Therefore, we need not hold on to any perspective rigidly but allow the natural intuition to assert itself. Atman It Self is Brahman, say the Advaitic Sages. Why then the difficulty of accepting this? All of the spiritual practices are meant to loosen the "Knot of the Heart" so that the various modes of identifications lose their grip and Self is spontaneously Realized. I will pass this on to Advaitin and if others wish to make a comment. Love Harsha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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