The Light of the Enlightened – Bhagavad gita verses 2.67-2.72

Discussion in 'Chitvish on Hindu Culture & Vedanta' started by Chitvish, Jun 26, 2008.

  1. sudhavnarasimhan

    sudhavnarasimhan Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Chithra,

    Another interesting post! Finally its all in the Mind! Mind gets carried away by the senses .....so control on our mind is necessary! so Mind needs to be channelized so that senses lose their grip on the mind.....well sounds very true , but tough to follow isn't it!
    Liked the verses on Light and how it is seen by an Ignorant and an Enlightened Man!
    Also the way the ocean accepts the stream but is unaffected, so a wise man stays and enjoys peace ....these are profound words....have to really mull over this and take them in!
    And your concluding paragraph says it all....

    "This verse, in its sum total, advises that all our suffering in the world is caused by our own egocentric misconception and consequent arrogance, characterised by our ever increasing desires. "

    Just perfect! But how to be without our Ego and Arrogance!bonkthat's going to be the Work , i mean our Duty in following this way of KARMA YOGA! Wow , good post.....Bow



     
  2. sudhavnarasimhan

    sudhavnarasimhan Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Cheeniya,
    Lovely start.....the comparison of the physical Light and Spiritual light SAYS IT ALL!
    the example of the photographer and lighting....and "Tamasso ma....."- This is just perfect.....

    “Jyothi” is the term applied only to the spiritual light. “Tamasa” is not the physical darkness but refers to the darkness of the light as perceived by the senses.
    Reduce the intensity of our senses and increase the intensity in our search for Divine light, is good way! Wow, this conclusion is also lovely....." people who have experienced the Divine Light smile at our ignorance of perceiving the darkness or the ‘Maya’ of temporal light as the real and go after it with all our physical senses. "
    Your clear examples and relating to other concepts make these posts more comprehensive and complete. I am happy that you are adding your valuable inputs with Chithra and motivating all of us!Bow
     
  3. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Sudha,
    Let me elaborate on
    Liked the verses on Light and how it is seen by an Ignorant and an Enlightened Man!
    The faculty of seeing varies with beings. Man can see well in daylight - owls and tigers cannot. Their day is our night and vice versa.Day and night as physical facts are one thing and as of practical value, quite different, for different beings.
    Men are also not wakeful to the same thing.A thief is well posted with pariculars in his field, while the rest are all hidden in darkness to him.
    The learned see well into the literary world, unmindful of everything else.
    This is just to say that the same world opens up different vistas to different people in accordance with their dispostions.
    We are fascinated by sense-bound things and are immersed in them. The same is different in the eyes of a jnani. His intuition, his perceptions are all filled with Divinity. Whatever is, he sees as Brahman.
    Sri Ramakrishna says
    For a jnani, the son is perceived as Krishna.Father and mother undergo metamorphosis as the Divinity. The wife is nomore his mate; he sees the Cosmic Mother in her. Recognising God in all, adoration to Him takes place through the weorshipful service of all.

    Now that we have learnt that vasana-exhaustion helps us get rid of ego and egocentric desires, in karma yoga, we will learn the secret psychological method of eliminating vasanas, which cause our downfall!
    Love,
    Chithra.




     
  4. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Malathi,
    Thanks for your nice words.
    God willing, "our team" plans to continue this mission of sharing our thoughts on the Gita.
    Love,
    Chithra.



     
  5. sudhavnarasimhan

    sudhavnarasimhan Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Chithra,
    More thoughts after reading your reply to me.....
    I understand that we start perceiving things differently according to our dispositions or even as we try to go a little deeper in our spiritual quest. This i have been experiencing for long now. As a dancer and a student of psychology and having been interested in spirituality from my teenage days, i did look at things and world differently and did my actions accordingly. But people never understood and it was difficult to stick to my way of life. In fact till now i can see people can't and don't believe that i am the way i portray! It irks me sometimes that here i am trying to let go of my Sense attachments and Ego and people around me don't let me BE! That is another fight between the mind and sense organs and the EGO! The only way i see then is to stay away from such crowds and people and tehn of course i am termed as Arrogant , egoistic etc etc.....and here i am trying to stay away so that i dont become SO! ha ha ....really funny or should i say "no way out" situation.:hide:

    In fact this is why Gita is getting interesting for me....i am really trying and watching from outside myself , how i am reacting or should have raected to people and situations! Oops am i making sense or ?Witsend
    in fact
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2008
  6. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Sudha,
    I continue.....
    Today I was at the "receiving end" of a hurtful sermon from a friend, for no fault of mine!
    I realised that if I am a student of Gita, I must be able to accept it as happily as I accept so much of love & affection in IL.
    She was just getting rid of the dirt in her mind, directing it to me.But unless I receive it voluntarily, how can it enter my system & why should it bother me? If I feel bad or sorry, then somewhere I must be thinking to myself that I deserve them, for some fault of mine.
    I have been taught in my energy classes that at such times, you put yourself in an imaginary triangle. The hurtful expressions (rather explosions!) cannot penetrate the triangle & enter you, but will bounce back to the sender. Not that I want it to happen to her.
    My teacher also says, that we must place at the feet of the Lord, all the hurt, guilt etc we feel and, it is His Grace that will make us feel bright because we do not have them in our mind anymore.
    I can go on & on, Sudha; but I do not want to!
    Thanks for your patient reading.
    Love,
    Chithra.
     
  7. aishu22

    aishu22 Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Chithra,
    Ohh... i too got some brickbats from one of my colleague yesterday for a casual statement that i made. I tried most to keep that incident without affecting me, but it was quite disturbing.:-( .But today morning i re read all the gita verses and told myself, let him pour whatever filth he has and i remain like ocean. I hardly thought about that guy today except for writing my experience here.

    Thanks for making my mind firm and tied. It’s much needed to me without R around.
     
  8. Sriniketan

    Sriniketan IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Mrs.Chith,
    Read through all the fbs and your quotations of Sri Ramakrishna is very very simple and understandable...
    Self-control = mind control.
    Comparison of ocean and ship to my is very very apt. One shows the firmness and achalam state of the mind and the other shows the wavering ming..
    Only through learning more and more we can atleast ry to put into practice as you had said..
    How the same thing is perceived by the ignorant and the enlightened is interesting.
    When 'I and Me' goes away from our thoughts, I am sure the mind becomes firm admist all the sensory attractions..

    Cheeniya Sir,
    Your eg. of the photographer and the light settings seems very understandable.
    The light perceived by the senses is nothing but Maya--the illusion...how true...
    For those who had experienced the Real Light, to them our light seems nothing...

    sriniketan
     
  9. Chitvish

    Chitvish Moderator IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Bhargavi,
    The only difference between a wise person and others is that the wise person is free from binding, pressurising desires and not driven by them. For him both enjoyership and doership are negated though seemingly they may be there.He does not have ahankara or the "I" notion.There is no ego, no doer, there is only aham ( The mahavakhyam is - Aham Brahmasmi).
    Love,
    Chithra.




     
  10. corallux

    corallux Bronze IL'ite

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    My dear Gita Gurus (Chithraji & Cheeniyaji),

    The light of the Enlightened is an apt title. To tell you the truth, I could not grasp it's meaning until my attention was drawn to Chithraji's second reply to Sudhaji.

    I realised, that the person being described "Being at sea" fitted me to the T. Here I was sitting moping around because of something & who loss was it? Mine! Of course.

    I was missing out on all the fun happenings & the lively discussions on various fora.

    Regarding Chithraji's description of how energy in youth not channelised properly results in disastrous results, it is not surprising that even the prayer to Lord Shiva for his forgiveness has a verse that says, " In my youth, I lusted after sensory pleasures & forgot you. I even forgot to put the religious markings and observe the duties expected of me. Please forgive me oh Lord!"

    We have examples of Sri Adi Sankaracharyaji who took Sanyas at a tender age & revived Hinduism. We also have examples of youth taking to drugs, alcohol due to lack of proper goal in their life.

    Your description of using blinkers is correct. Religion gives us blinkers in the form of various vrats etc to divert our senses to attaining the supreme. But those blinkers are now commercialised. Where these Vrats emphasised charity, purity of thought & action, it has become a show...

    Cheeniyaji, your example of a photographer sums up the lesson of life. "People come into our life for a reason," said Sai. The bad ones ones come to test our control over the senses. The good come in to encourage us to climb higher on the path of Spirituality.

    You my dear Gurus have come into my life to help me & other members on IL advance spiritually.

    Regards,

    Corallux
     

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