Click here to go to the next issue
Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nonduality Highlights each day
How to submit material to the Highlights
#3845 -
The Nonduality
Highlights - http://groups.
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/q_and_a/q_and_a42.htm#q259
Different
approaches and practices
Dennis Waite
responds to questions
Q. I wonder if you are
familiar with subliminal technology (innertalk.com). I ask
because I am a seeker (or in the process of becoming one) and am
using 'subliminal spiritual awareness' CDs. It
has barely audible messages like, for example, 'I am
unconditional love', 'I am Consciousness', 'I am awakened', 'the
kingdom of God is within me', etc., to target the subconscious
mind in order to accept these messages without the conscious mind
censoring them.
I was wondering if it
will hinder my progress spiritually? I find the subliminal CDs my
only hope to help my sisters who have serious OCDs [obsessive
compulsive discorders] and they seem to respond well to them. I
am taking lessons at Chinmaya and I heard that you endorse this
approach.
A. There are no
shortcuts to enlightenment, I am afraid. You have to
follow the due process of mental preparation, karma and/or bhakti
yoga and then the key practices of shravaNa, manana and
nididhyAsana. Subliminal messages, hypnosis, autosuggestion,
etc., may well be very helpful for psychological conditions but
they can never provide Self-knowledge. This requires scriptures
and, ideally a qualified teacher, accompanied by attention,
listening, discrimination, reasoning and so on. And it will take
however long it takes. I don’t suppose recorded messages
will do any harm but they won’t help either – so why
bother? If you are attending Chinmaya regularly, with a good
teacher, you will get there eventually!
Q. Thank you very much
for your answer. Do you suppose that if I study
your books, The Book of One and Back to the Truth: 5000 Years of
Advaita I can get there? I have trouble understanding the Indian
accent and Sanskrit and it took me a very long time to be able to
accept that praying to a statue of Krishna or Ganesha is OK (I
still feel awkward because I used to be a Christian, who was told
that praying to idols is evil and against God).
A. After many years of
reading, discussion and study, my considered view is that
only traditional advaita has the variety of techniques and
teachings available to enable any suitably qualified seeker to
become enlightened. Neo-advaita may ‘tip the balance’
for someone already well versed in the subject. Direct Path may
offer a suitable route for a certain type of mind (very
intellectual!) but again, I feel that adequate preparation is
needed first. Since you are already blessed by having access to a
traditional path, I would really advocate sticking to it and not
looking elsewhere.
A teacher is really
needed – there is no one to ask questions of when you are
reading a book. It would not do any harm to read books which are
in keeping with the traditional approach, whilst still attending
Chinmaya, but there is a danger of encountering
conflicting ideas if you read outside the tradition and
this will only bring about confusion. The second edition of Book
of One is due out in April and this is now entirely in keeping
with traditional teaching (the first edition was not).
Praying to
statues is not an essential part of advaita. But I
wouldn’t get hung up about it. The statue represents an
aspect of the Self (which you are); it is largely a means for
focusing the mind and for taking the ego out of the equation. For
those to whom it appeals, it can be very helpful indeed. But if
it really does not appeal to you, can you not drop this aspect
entirely? If it is bringing about resentment or rebellion in you,
this is obviously the opposite of the desired effect so is not
helpful!
Q. I will definitely
continue Chinmaya, knowing that I am blessed to have it 40
minutes away from my home. I guess it's natural to get hung up
with idols since present-day Christian ideas were instilled in my
mind and it's time to get rid of them to arrive at the ultimate
goal. Lord Krishna said it's easier for one to
reach Him through form and yet it's difficult to go to Him
through the formless.
I was initiated into
kuNDalinI by the Parajonthi Mahan group, which brings up the
energy from the first chakra to the eyebrow chrakra. I tried to
surrender to the Lord but sometimes the pulsation at the eyebrow
starts on its own! I asked two swamis from the Chinmaya Mission:
one said Consciousness should not be limited to that one spot,
while the other said even this kuNDalinI could lead me to
brahman.
I don't know what
to do. I know if I meditate on the ajna chakra, I feel
blissful with a peaceful mind and it sometimes happens on its own
when I am at a swami's talk and concentrating on their
discourses. Of course, if I can observe the kuNDalinI, it can't
be the unmanifest unconditioned brahman since I as brahman cannot
observe my Self as the subject but only as a projected object.
What's your view? The
other reason why I still sometimes do kuNDalinI is it relieves my
asthma and I see radiance and peace (a halo effect).
A. I’m afraid that the
only thing I know about kuNDalinI is that it has nothing to do
with advaita! Enlightenment is about removing the
ignorance in the mind that prevents Self-knowledge. You are
already the Self, which is not other than the non-dual brahman.
You are not the body, nor the mind, nor its habits or
inclinations. You really should not get hung up about those
things. Giving attention to them means that you are not giving
attention to shravaNa, manana or nididhyAsana. Sense control,
mind control, stillness of mind, etc., are all important
practices as preparation.
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/q_and_a/q_and_a42.htm#q259