Click here to go to the next issue
Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nondual Highlights each day
#2017 -
from Alpha World
"Ever notice how it's a penny for your
thoughts, yet you put in your two-cents? Someone is making a
penny on the deal."
--Steven Wright
"Logic! Good gracious! What rubbish!
How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?"
--E.M. Forster
"How can they expect a harvest of
thought who have not had the seed time of character."
--Henry David Thoreau
"It is sometimes important for science
to know how to forget the things she is surest of."
--Jean Rostand
"Oh how fine it is to know a thing or
two!"
--Molière
"Read, read, read. Read everything -
trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like
a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master.
Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find
out. If it's not, throw it out the window."
--William Faulkner
"If one has to jump a stream and knows
how wide it is, he will not jump. If he does not know how wide it
is, he will jump, and six times out of ten times he will
make it."
--Persian Proverb
from the I Am list:
Existence Forty
Verse 27
translated with short clarificatory notes
"... Like (the) capital ---
(first-)adjoining, 'this-(body-am)
1 -I(-sense)-not-arising' existing-state (is the),
'We as That'
existing-state.
2 '(This body am-)I(-sense)-springing that-place'
not-seeking --
(This body am-)I-(sense)-not-arising
3 self-loss adjoining is who, the he ? Not-adjoining
(the self-loss
selfless state),
Self-That-Is
4 Self-State-In abiding is who, the he ? "
utter...
Sri Bhagawan's Existence Forty Verse 27 translated
Short explanatory notes thereupon:
Capital is the first thing that adjoins a business.
Likewise, 'This body am I sense' or the ego, first adjoins
us, when we wake
up.
Prior to waking up, we existed without this ego arising.
And, that is the State in which we exist as That Supreme
Self.
We have to seek that place wherefrom this ego springs up.
Without seeking that ego-Source, we cannot adjoin the state
of egoless
ego-loss.
Without adjoining That egoless state,
we cannot abide in the State of the Self,
in which the Self is That Supreme Being.
Yours in Sri Bhagawan
Ra Kumar Sankar
Translation of
Existence Forty
Verse 28
Happy New Year to all
"... --- first
1 -arising ego rising-abode(,) in-water
2 (the-)fell thing-to-see desiring ---
drowning-like(,)
3 (the-)merging-intellect -with(,) speech
-breath hidden
-holding(,) inwards
4 -sinking(,) perceive must(,) know (thus)."
Aum Namo Bhagavathe Sri Ramanaya
Ra Kumar Sankar
Tsunami Disaster - A Spiritual
Perspective
by Rajesh Anand
http://www.patnadaily.com/readerswrite/2004/rajesh_anand8.html
The disaster that has hit our planet
recently is undoubtedly a real jolt to our sensibilities. Many of
us are not witness to calamities of such gigantic proportion in
our lifetime and quite naturally we are all very much affected by
the news.
Every life that has been lost is precious
and when the toll is 80,000 and more (nobody has yet talked about
the land animals which would have also perished), the extent of
grief and misery that has resulted is indeed indescribable to say
the least.
However, such experiences help us to realize
the limitations of the man before the nature. We may brag and
boast about our scientific discoveries and inventions but the
fact remains, our strength is infinitesimally small compared to
the energy level in the vast domain of the universe and the
nature in which we live.
Such acts of the nature on which we have
precious little control should definitely humble us and make us
surrender to the Omnipotent God. In Bhagwad Gita, the Lord says
Sarva-Dharman Parityajya Mam Ekam Saranam Vraja Aham Tvam
SarvaPapebhyah Moksayisyami Ma Sucah. (Resigning all your duties
to Me, the all-powerful and all-supporting Lord, take refuge in
Me alone, I shall absolve you of all sins, worry not). Every
religion, to the best of my knowledge speaks of the act of
respecting and surrendering to God or to the Laws of Nature in
case we are not reconciled to the concept of God.
Look at the size of the universe. I
understand that the sun alone is so huge that it can accommodate
about 130 millions of earths and yet there are 10^32 (10 followed
by 32 zeros) celestial objects like sun in the universe known to
the astronomers till date. Light travels 186,000 miles in a
second and yet they say there are stars situated so far away that
its light is yet to reach the earth. Isn't that most fascinating?
Man, in fact, has no clue about his origin through the mundane
knowledge. We know our father and grandfather, some of us may be
lucky enough to have seen our great grandfather but most of us do
not know who our great great grandfather was and to think that
there may have been countless such great great great grandfathers
for each one of us to whom we owe our origin is simply
mind-boggling. No scientist has ever been able to fully unravel
the mystery but the Scriptures and the Vedas do explain
everything. We witness countless mysterious activities in the
nature all the time about which we have very little knowledge yet
we often tend to think of ourselves above all the laws of nature
and commit acts which are against. Have you ever paused to think
that no two human faces are the same, no two human voices are the
same and even the fingerprint of every human being is different?
I am told that every individual also has a unique odour which the
dogs can recognize. Such is the mystery of the nature that we can
only marvel at the multitude of the animals, plants, fruits,
fishes and the multi-coloured butterflies but will not be able to
explain with our scientific knowledge as how has all these have
been created. Scriptures, though, answer all our questions with
profound clarity.
The recent natural disaster called Tsunami
is one such example which appears to mock at our skyscrapers,
flyovers, 7-star resorts, advancement in IT and communication.
Whether we like it or not, we are compelled to admit our
helplessness in the face of such natural phenomena. When we read
about thousands and thousands of Tsunami victims who are still
missing and unaccountable, we have to accept that technology
alone is not the answer to all our problems. Technology must stay
and advancement must continue but we definitely need to turn our
efforts in the right direction. The direction in which the
advancement is not against the laws of nature, the advancement
which does not damage the earth, the advancement in which every
living entity is respected for its existence given to it by the
Power that created it. All that is achieved in our act of
surrender and acceptance of our faith in the Almighty Who alone
knows the complete past, the present and the future in the way
Krishna explains to Arjuna in the Bhagwad Gita "Veda Aham
Samatitani Vartmanani Charjuna Bhavisyani Cha Bhutani Mam Tu Veda
Na Kaschan" (O Arjuna, as the Lord said, I know everything
that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the
present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all
living entities; but Me no one knows).
There are three kinds of sorrow that afflict
us. Shastras call them Adhidaivic, Adhibhautik and Adhyatmik.
Adhyatmik sorrows are those that are self-inflicted by us.
Something like someone makes an insulting remark against us. Now
we could either ignore the insult or choose to wallow in
self-pity or anger. We could either get over and tolerate the
insult or seek to avenge. It is entirely possible to overcome the
Adhyatmik sorrows since we alone are the cause of the feelings
that we generate. Adhibhautik sorrows are the ones caused by the
other living entities. For example, a mosquito bites into our
body. The last set of sorrow is inflicted to us by the nature and
we have precious little control over them. We can only pray for
wisdom and hope to avoid doing sinful activities and be inspired
to do the righteous deeds. That is through our acts, we have to
respect the dharma and the nature which will then protect us.
Dharmo Rakshati Rakishtah (Dharma protects those who protect it)!
There has never been a time when our planet has not had to suffer
natural calamities. It has happened and thus it is logical to
think that it will continue to happen. The only reference in
history where we read about a society which had little or no
sorrow was Ram Rajya. Daihik Daivik Bhautik Tapa Ram Rajya Kahahu
Nahin Vyapa. That is all three types of sorrow were missing
during Lord Rama's kingdom.
Secondly, we also must take note of the fact
that silent calamities are happening in the world on a daily
basis. For example, millions are dying of AIDS every year in
Africa alone. A million lives were lost in Iran-Iraq war and if
we count the hundreds of thousands who died in the civil wars,
riots in the last few decades, the Tsunami statistics appears
quite small. It appears that it is the nature of the tragedy that
is - the timing, the geographical spread and the visibility of
the catastrophe that really makes us sit up, take notice and
think beyond our day-to-day existence. Otherwise isn't there
tragedy galore every day? We just have to visit a hospital to see
the sufferings. It is happening all the time.
In some of the PD articles, there are some
comments about the sadhus, religious leaders and spiritual
seekers. While it is true that in the world of today, many
religious leaders have contributed to the decline in our faith
for the holy institutions but in my opinion it is not fair to
denigrate all religious and spiritual institutions because of the
wrong-doings by some. From personal experience I know that there
are many spiritual institutions which are doing great work for
the humanity and are preaching invaluable precepts to the people.
Also there is a tendency to mock at the charities given to the
spiritual bodies since such charities according to the critics do
not directly benefit the poor and the needy.
But remember, if a preacher (a sadhu or a
priest or a mullah) on the strength of the holy institution has
imparted the right knowledge to a seeker, the benefit to the
society is no less. It is in a way a greater service since the
recipient of the knowledge has been put on the righteous path for
ever. He becomes a net giver for his whole life. Mr. Rajesh
Chaubey writes that he has not witnessed any mullah or priest or
sadhu in the forefront of the humanitarian activities in the
current Tsunami aftermath but is it not possible that the people
who are on the forefront did pick up the inspiration only through
these mullahs, sadhus and priests.
ashoka: He wishes to enjoy HIMSELF
bindu: Enjoy is the wrong word Ashoka as
to enjoy implies need ... The Lord needs nothing.
ashoka: He does not.
bindu: He exists AS love his enjoyment
IS LOVE; His consciousness is Love, His very being is Love. Thus
he says only his devotees .... only his bhaktas will attain him,
he also says that to his bhaktis will accrue all yogas
~ ~ ~
Bindu in dialogue
tatasthaa: Who is the realised one? Can
another person understand the realised one? How can one who is
not realised... could understand the one who is realised? What
are the differences? How would he behave?
bindu: ah! No one can understand him, they
can only have faith in god
1. who is the realised one? He is
unknowable..... unspeakable, he knows himself. He has become
himself.
ashoka: as without realization no one know
who is the true one
bindu: Yes, but wait..
2. can another person understand the
realised one?
ashoka: No, only by certain signs.
bindu: No, however a person can have faith
in god.... it is not possible to determine if a person is
realised by logic or by any comparative. Why? Because when we go
to a realized persons presence, we disappear..... we forget who
we are does not see us, our ego gets dissolved in him
tatasthaa: hmm
bindu: Yet when we leave him we will say ..
.gee there is something different about that person... but i
cannot tell what it is.
ashoka: Bindu there are signs
bindu: Those will be applicable ashoka only
in the context of a realized one who is not an Avadhuta an
Avadhuta may be one moment mad, another he may be god. At another
time he may be a child, another the guru, you will never know him
ashoka: exactly, but still there is this
pull, this flute that pulls us to him,
tatasthaa: When u are fitatasthaaed
explaining ji please.. let us know how is love and realisation
linkeda
bindu: Yes, tatasthaa "how are love and
realisation linked?" Love and consciousness are the same
thing; As i have said earlier, to the degree that you love god,
so will be your awareness, so love is the catalyst of realization
tatasthaa: oh
ashoka: even that belongs to HIM, so who can
love?
bindu: Yes, the Bhakti will merge into
parabhakti and become one with love; then he will know he himself
is the lord himself; he who is not a bhakti will not merge with
the lord.
tatasthaa: In order to love lord.. do we
need to separate our selves?
bindu: No, we should know that the love in
us is his consciousness.
tatasthaa: Once we feel one with lord.. how
does this love takes place?
bindu: listen carefully.
LOVE is the mirror of consciousness itself;
love is that which lights up the knowledge "that i am
conscious without the existence of the cosmos" ... (in fact
it is the transcendental lord himself).
However When we humans think of love we tend
to think of loving something, but if we love love itself, we will
soon recognize that the lord seeks himself (Radhe\Love) as the
love in us.... so when we deliberately love Radhe Maa as Love.
tatasthaa: But ji.. Krishna says in chapter
18 verse 40 in Gita:
"There is no being, either on earth or among the celestial
controllers in heaven, who can remain free from these three modes
of Material Nature." (18.40)"
bindu: That is right, In the realization,
the realized one realizes he is not that man sitting there, since
it it the self who realizes himself as the self, it is not the
yogi who realizes himself at all
Loving love, There is a gradual snowballing
effect of awareness\light, as the love compounds as we love it.
One might think one is being a doer by
loving, but the only valid thing the Will can do that is not
egotistical is to love LOVE (to Love Radhe).
We misuse the Will by not loving
deliberately, we are self-willed and egotistical if we do not
love. To love deliberately is to be compassionate. You see love
is the only thing that exists that is its own reflection, this is
why it compounds as we love love.
Parabhakti consists in this Loving love
herself as Radhe Ma, the Will in us is of course Siva
tatasthaa: Yes ji, but when it comes to
realization.. can we realise the love fully? as Krishna states
There is no being existing, either here or among the demigods in
the higher planetary systems, which is freed from the three modes
of material nature.
bindu: What you must realize devi is that
the realized one has realized he does not exist hence he is free
from those modes. However his body may be subject to them, but he
is not his body he understands his body came as mere clothing on
the concept of i-ness. Having given up i-ness, his body is an
empty shell he no longer dwells in it.
Nor does he dwell as the three modes
themselves, he knows they too are clothing on the concept of
i-ness, hiding non-existence within.
Hence Sri Dattatreya says in his wonderful
Avadhuta Gita:
Chapter Four, Verses two and three...
2. The absolute is not liberated from
bondage and obstruction.
The Absolute is not purified, cleansed and
released.
The Absolute is not liberated by union or
separation.
I am indeed the free One, like the sky.
3. I have developed no false notion
that all this reality come into existence
or that all this unreality comes into
existence.
I am free from disease - my form has been
extinguished.
So the connection between realization and
love is the Will to LOVE, this is true.
tatasthaa: but when it come to realization..
can we realise the love fully?
ashoka: Ichha Shakti Kriya Shakti Gnana
Shakti is Uma Shakti of Shiva
bindu: the very thought that "WE"
might be able to realize that love is preposterous ... as it is
his not ours...... but remember the Will is Siva.... so then to
deliberately Will to Love Love.. WILL take us to realization,
this is Parabhakti.
Yes Ashoka has it but note also:
Chapter Four, Verse One of Avadhuta Gita...
1. There is neither invitation nor casting off;
How can there be flowers, leaves,
meditations and recitation of sacred texts,
and how can there be worship of Siva -
which is identity in non-difference?
This means that to worship the Icchaa Sakti or any Sakti is to
worship identity in non-difference.
This is why i say:
Who has Karma ? No-one it is his....
Who has Kriya? No-one it is his....
Who has jnana No-one it is his....
Thus since the realized one knows he does
not exist he has no karma, he is free. This is realization. Since
there is but one self how can i have any karma? Either it is his
or it does not exist, either way it is not mine.
tatasthaa: ji.. you are saying Will is lord
Siva.. Love is Radha ma.. so do u need will power to love? I
thought love is love.. it comes automatically. I didn't know..
that we need Will to love..
bindu: Will IS Siva, So the only correct use
of WILL is to love Radhe, or love Love. Then it is not the ego
doing this but Siva.
tatasthaa: What is will? tell me about will.
What is the correct use of will?
bindu: If we talk about WILL existing as a
latent or potential power in the Absolute ... we can see that
Will is the omnipotent power of Lord Siva; we can say that Will
is the omnipotent power of lord Siva. But Siva without his Sakti
is powerless. The Will is his Sakti. It is his existence itself.
Will is pure Sakti..... Sakti that has not
yet moved or been employed; so it cannot be seen or known. It can
only be recognized in itself by the Lord in Himself. Yet there
exists a very deep secret about how the lord acts to create
it consists in the fact that He does not act at all.
The sheer power of His Will held in
check.... causes the Manifestation of the Sakti, which vibrates
as the primordial unstruck Pranavam; then the moola-maya appear
"AS" that manifestation of His potency (AS A RESULT OF
HIS NOT MOVING HIS WILL) this potency is the potential-to-be
which appears as the diversity known as His Own Consciousness (we
call it TIME). It is Maya, Samsara, knowledge and ignorance. Then
there comes the whole of the Cosmic display.
But to return to the WILL in Himself; Lord
Siva Shines forth as all the Cosmos simply by existing, never by
actually acting. Think of it like the power in a massive
hydro-electric dam - pent up but unreleased, this is due to his
tapas generated by remaining still in Himself.
The Yogi taps this by developing Bhakti to
such a degree that he always keeps his inner mind focused in the
Will of Lord Siva.
So as you can see this is a very complex
question, this is the very deepest understanding of the Sakti. to
realize how the lord actually creates the universe simply by the
fact of His existing.
tatasthaa: yes ji, it is quite hard to
understand.
bindu: It is like the magnetism in a magnet
that is not yet placed near steel.
bindu: Now tatasthaa, i recommend that you
read these files in the following order
1. How to Become Nothing
2. How to Become NOT After Having Become
3. I Am Not What YOU Think I Am
They will help immensely with learning how
to remain in the Self; After all, this is what the lord is doing;
so to realize him we must learn it. In fact to come out of it is
to push out the ego - to become - to exist - to be
to arrogate ... i.e to separate from Him; so i recommend
remaining in Him
ashoka: Bindu why then they teach not to ask
for 4 types of Mukti
1. Sayujya - To be like HIM
2. Samipya - To be near HIM
3. Salokya - To be in His Kingdom
4. Sarupya - to have his form
Why do they teach that
bindu: Because who will have them Ashoka?
Who will be them? Jiva.
ashoka: I understand what u r saying.
bindu: Who will be in his kingdom? Jiva
certainly wont get there
ashoka: I understand that.
bindu: Realization will not happen to jiva,
The Lord REALIZES Himself, we do not.
ashoka: But the play of Golokha, is what
then. Who plays with whom?
bindu: In the story about Lakshmi telling
Vishnu stories which make him dream up the world
ashoka: a devotee, just wishes to serve
eternally, what do u think of that humility and desire?
bindu: Does the lord not serve himself in
the form of the devotee? Does The Lord not desire only Himself?
ashoka: Everything is the Lord, I know all
of that, why then u say, wishing to come out TO BE is ego, whose
Ego?
bindu: we are talking from the point of view
if Siva Maa, not Krishna; but the trouble comes when the jiva
thinks he is the doer, the devotee. or the one performing the
seva, When in fact it is The Lord worshipping Himself in all
cases.
bindu: The Transcendental lord Krishna seeks
Himself so He splits Himself up into many bits ... His
Transcendental Self remains in His abode if you like to say that.
ashoka: yes yes
bindu: Love comes then. This splitting
happens as a result of his sheer existence.... His WILL IS LOVE
itself ... does He not seek His own love? this empowers His
transcendental Will...
Love blasts out of Him as Light then becomes
denser as it manifests more and more as the Cosmos, from the
subtlest to the most gross light\love\consciousness. But He is
the Transcendnetal conscious SELF who is conscious of His OWN
consciousness which exists as the ParamAtma.
There seems to be jiva but jiva is His
reflection in each particle of His OWN being, thus Jiva is not
him but his reflection only... and just as the mirrored image in
your bathroom mirror is not you, nor is the reflection in the
consciousness ort in you him himself,; it is merely his
reflection. This is why we say Neti Neti.. not this nor this..
ashoka: He wishes to enjoy HIMSELF
bindu: Enjoy is the wrong word Ashoka as to
enjoy implies need ... The Lord needs nothing.
ashoka: He does not.
bindu: He exists AS love his enjoyment IS
LOVE; His consciousness is Love, His very being is Love. Thus he
says only his devotees .... only his bhaktas will attain him, he
also says that to his bhaktis will accrue all yogas
ashoka: Rasa Raja, Kanha. wants to be Meera,
wants to be Radha
bindu: He does not want anything Ashoka, HE
"IS " everything! He has no desires. He simply exists
as bliss itself
Ashoka: i know bindu, i just have to
experience it will come with grace and practice; what to do?
bindu: Ashoka, you say dear: "i just have to
experience"
Let go of that I. say to Him in your heart
Oh Lord it is not i who can experience you, it is you yourself
that does this. say Oh Lord this whole world out here is your
Lila and has no self nature as you alone are The Self. Do not
become even an experiencer, neither a thinker, nor knower, nor a
possessor or owner. Do not think that you have anything in the
first place to renounce, as there is no renunciate either, Since
The Lord is all
Om Namah Sivaya
ashoka: Mere Shyaamal Krishna Kanhai
Tu Ye Kaisi Preet Lagaayi
Praano Mein Bansi Bajaai
Saason Mein Chhip Kar Aayi
Naina Ye Dhoonde Hardam
Dil Gaaye Tere Sargam
Man Tarse Roop Anoopam
Aayo Mere Paas Priyatam
Bin Tere Jeevan Soona
Banaao Mujhe Tu Apnaa
Laaj Meri Ye Rakhanaa
Radhe Ko Sanga Laana
Brindavan Banjaye Jeevan
Dikhlaye Tujhe Man Darapan
Karoon Mein Ansoo Ke Arapan
Tere Paaon Mein Atma Samarpan
bindu: i say again: Since there is only Him,
how can i have any karma ... or any vasanas, how can i have any
jnana or Kriya? All is His and His only..... How can i have any
jnana or Kriya? How can i have any Self-nature?