What do SYs know about Self-realization?
From: "jagbir singh"
Date: Sat May 6, 2006 11:24 am
Subject: What do SYs know about Self-realization?
"The word shrine in the text also means a holy place (thirta.) The
allusion is to the pilgrimage of pious devotees to a holy place.
There are certain disadvantages associated with holy places. As they
may be situated at a great distance, pilgrimage may entail physical
labour and suffering. The merit of a pilgrimage may be slight
because of the inauspiciousness of the time. The comfort of the
pilgrims may be disturbed by the weather. Robbers, thieves, or
unscrupulous priests often give them trouble. Further, the merit
accruing from a pilgrimage is not everlasting. But the worshipper in
the sacred shrine of Atman is free from all these disadvantages and
obstacles. Communion with Atman bestows upon the soul Immortality
and Eternal Bliss.
The Mahabharatai describes Atman as the real sacred river, bathing
in which the soul becomes free of impurities:
"The river of Atman is filled with the water of self-control; truth
is its current, righteous conduct its banks, and compassion its
waves. O son of Pandu, bathe in its sacred water; ordinary water
does not purify the inmost soul."
By worshipping a holy man who worships in the sacred shrine of
Atman, the seeker obtains the result of pilgrimage:
"A visit to holy men bestows merit, because they may be regarded as
moving holy places. The Lord, dwelling in their hearts, renders holy
the place where they live."
"A river filled with sacred water is no doubt sacred; an image of
stone or clay is no doubt a deity. After worshipping them a long
time, the aspirant becomes pure. But by a mere visit to a holy man
one attains purity."
Communion with Brahman is the most efficacious form of worship:
"By virtue of even a moment's serenity, attained through knowledge
of the identity of Atman and Brahman, the seeker attains the merit
that one may obtain by bathing in the waters of all the holy rivers,
by giving away the entire world in an act of charity, by performing
a thousand sacrifices, by worshipping the three hundred and thirty
millions of gods, and by rescuing, through after-death rites, one's
ancestors from the suffering of the nether world."
"By the very birth of a man whose mind is absorbed in the Supreme
Brahman — the immeasurable Ocean of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss
Absolute — his family becomes sinless, his mother blessed, and the
earth sacred." "
Swami Nikhilananda, Self-Knowledge
(Swami Nikhilananda, Self-Knowledge [Atmabodha], 1989, p. 171-72.)
--- In adishakti_sahaja_yoga@yahoogroups.com, "jagbir singh"
Dear All,
SYs keep talking about Self-realization as if they are experts.
After spending years in the collective i realized the poverty of
Sahaja Yoga Self-realization. Even today i am still conditioned by
my days in SY collectives though i have come a long way. But somehow
i still unconsciously remember/retain the residue of the shallow
knowledge of Self-realization that most decades-old SYs regard
as 'sacred', a collective mindset that is incurably permanent since
few have had the opportunity to escape the self-deception of
ignorance. Thus i regard myself fortunate in that sense.
The other day i had a deep introspection that kept me awake through
the night into dawn. For hours i did not sleep as i entered deeper
within myself and tried to identify/confirm/reinforce that the
Shakti within me is indeed the essence of Aham Brahmasi (i am
Her/Brahman). i felt that i was drifting further towards the Other
Shore, away from the shallow bank that many SYs are rejoicing.
i have been doing such introspection quite regularly now (but that
one just mentioned was on a really deep level). Thus it is necessary
to live daily in two modes, the external mode to deal with humanity
and the internal mode that is the true sanctuary and solace.
This fleeting experience of Aham Brahmasi can neither be shared nor
explained, only experienced in solitary silence.
However, i am compelled to give others a bearing of my position lest
i drift too far alone. i hope SYs will learn much from the little
they have had in knowledge so far. i sincerely desire they break
free from the conditionings of their collective and dip their toes
into the Ocean of Consciousness. That will give me much joy as i
know others will benefit from realizing and identifying themselves
with the Shakti within, a subject that is not in the official manual.
So to prove my point i am quoting those who know much more about
Self-realization than the majority of SYs. i never heard SYs writing
about such facts despite years in collectives. i know they equate
knowledge of the subtle system as the sign of a self-realized soul.
i am saying such a belief/conditioning is the source of ignorance
and shallowness in our collectives. It is indeed sad to see so many
SYs rejoicing on the banks, oblivious to the Ocean of Aham Brahmasi.
jagbir
Is Enlightenment Personal?
The Self as Satyam-Shivam-Sundram (Truth, Consciousness, Beauty)
The spiritual path is difficult from one perspective because the
Self, the ultimate Reality that we are, is not clear to us as
individuals. Some people say that Enlightenment is not personal.
That is just a fashion statement. Enlightenment is as personal as it
gets. The Self is both personal and impersonal. It is personal
because it is you. How can it be any more personal? It is impersonal
because its existence (your ultimate nature) is not dependent on
time and space bound relationships.
As a mind/body, we are subject to the whims of nature and
circumstances (karma). This clouds our understanding. So the teacher
or a friend whom we trust is needed to tell us that our nature is
not that of the body. Suffering is natural to the body because it is
subject to physical forces. When the sages use the word body, they
include the mind. The mental body is also a body but more subtle,
made up of more subtle matter, but still matter.
So the Body is one thing and the Atman is another.
Bhagavan Krishna, in fact, points this out to Arjuna in the Hindu
scripture, The Bhagavad-Gita.
The Atma is neither born nor does it die at any time, nor having
been it will cease to exist again. It is unborn, eternal, permanent,
and primeval. The Atma is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.
(2.20)
Just as a person puts on new garments after discarding the old ones,
similarly Atma acquires new bodies after casting away the old
bodies. (2.22)
Weapons do not cut this Atma, fire does not burn it, water does not
make it wet, and the wind does not make it dry. (2.23).
If we understand this dualism, we will not have to understand
nondualism. Nondualism is not an understanding but our essential
nature. The nature of Atman is nondual because Atman is Being-
Awareness resting in its own nature. We cannot conclude this
logically but only by Being That. That Knowing transcends logic.
If you know the Self, what does it mean? You cannot know the Self as
an object. You are the Self. Therefore, it is always the Self
knowing It Self. The mind cannot fully grasp this unless it has
become transparent and fully saturated in the Self, where it knows
that it is only the Self knowing itself through it. Patanjali says
the same thing about the nature of the Self. Ultimately, the Seer
rests in his own nature. That is the highest Samadhi. Self is
Samadhi. Self is Nirvikalpa, beyond imagination and thought. Self is
Sahaj or natural and always visible to itself as pure being despite
imagination and thought.
In Hinduism, the Reality is often referred to as Satyam-Shivam-
Sundram. Truth-Consciousness-Beauty. That which is of the nature of
the ultimate truth, pure consciousness, and the essence of beauty is
the Self. One's own Self. It is of such overwhelming beauty because
the devotee who worships the God or the Self with all love and might
and with desperation suddenly realizes that the devotee and God are
in essence identical. The seeker had been looking for something that
constituted the core of his/her very own Being. Imagine the shock!
First the shock, and then the smile. Of course, how could it be
anything else? The Lord always sits in our Heart as our own Heart.
This Realization is one of supreme beauty. The one that you had been
longing for has been here all along as your own Self. Self is empty
of all concepts. Its nature is that of completion that is devoid of
all longing. Its nature is that of utter fullness that has nowhere
to flow out to, being One without a second. The ancients called it
Sat-Chit-Ananda. It has no basis for comparison and no reference
point. We can say that it is the essence of beauty and bliss.
Love to all
Harsha
http://harshasatsangh.net/blog/index.html
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www.adi-shakti.org/ — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/ — Divine Feminine (Christianity)
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www.tao-mother.org/ — Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/ — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/ — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)