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Knock, Knock, Who's There?

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by satchitananda, Feb 7, 2014.

  1. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi navs, so nice to see you here. You izzz right. That is what duality is all about isn't it? That's why darkness can be appreciated only in the presence of light, heat in the presence of cold and so on. So too our happy, peaceful moments can be only appreciated when we have our restless, irritable moments too - and of course, our minds can feel young only when our body tells us what it feels to be like otherwise! LOL.
     
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  2. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Satchi,

    Who is younger between the two of us? We both always existed before and we will continue to exist forever. If we are the spark of the divine Universal Absolute, we are imperishable and our origin is the same. Our coming into existence can never be dated. If we consider ourselves as Body, Mind and Intellect ("BMI"), we have a choice to hang around with younger BMIs or older BMIs. If we are the soul, we are all as old as the Creator.

    If you feel the same throughout your life irrespective of deterioration of transient shirt your are wearing, perhaps, you have trained your mind to be energetic and feel the source round the clock. Let us not get bogged down by the deterioration of the shirt as the source always grace us with new shirt every time we need one. Every time when we inhale, we are saying "So" and when we exhale, we are saying "Ham". When we put them together, it means "Soham" in Sanskrit ("I am He"). It is a constant reminder of our "Self".

    Some of us join the super highway of immortal energy very quickly if we learn to remove the huddles or barriers to entry into that super highway. Our longing to be part of the source never stops and that is the reason why every being seeks happiness, as the source is the only Absolute Bliss. Most of us feel connected to our source sometime but it happens like a blink of an eye. It can happen when we connect with the nature and it can happen when we have uncontrolled feeling of happiness. Our objective is to enhance that period of realization of the Truth and reduce the period of illusion we live in.

    When we are drowning in the ocean, we seek to take a breath. Similarly, when we are drowning in the ocean of Samsara, we seek to obtain the Truth. The cloud can cover the light for sometime but not always.

    When Adi Sankara reached the peak of teaching Advaita, he got a little proud of his accomplishments. Lord Shiva came in the form of a person who cremates bodies in the crematorium. When Adi Sankara asked him to move away, the Lord Shiva asked him, "Do you want to move by body or soul?" Adi Sankara immediately cremated his ego and fell at the feet of Lord Shiva. His mission was over and time arrived for his merger with the Universal Absolute.

    When I learn to feel the same way whether I am overwhelmed with thoughts of this kind or I suffer delving in my BMI, I will begin to feel better.

    Viswa
     
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  3. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Viswamitra,

    So good to see you. Have been waiting for you reply. Really enjoyed reading your explanation.

    As of now, the "soul" as against the BMI is knowledge for me. Again the fact that "liberation" has nothing to do with death of the body or with the birth thereof, but has more to do with realization makes me curious : Are those moments when I can't imagine/understand/visualize that I was not there before or that I will not be there at some point in time or when I just feel happy and contented for no particular reason at all fleeting moments associated with some kind of soul realization? Is that what it feels like to "realize" or "be liberated" from the illusions we live with? Would like to hear your thoughts on that.

    Extremely sorry Viswamitra if I am asking very stupid questions of no relevance. But as I said, curiosity is really killing me (just figuratively of course - I know I am immortal. :-D)
     
  4. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Satchi,

    I can't say I have understood the difference between "Liberation" and "Realization". There is no question that can be considered stupid and of no relevance in seeking knowledge. If I apply that principle, Every time I make an inquiry to seek knowledge, I become humbled as my number of questions increase as opposed to answers I seek to find.

    I find answers some times from the teachings of Adi Sankara, Paramacharya, Ramana Maharishi, Shiridi Baba, Sathya Sai Baba, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Swami Rama, J.Krishnamurti, Swamy Parthasarathy, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Rick Warren, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer and many others. It is difficult to mention all the names here. But I always felt that all those teachings are again limited by my ability to understand their teachings.

    With my limited knowledge, I have interpreted the difference between "Liberation" and "Realization" as follows:

    1) Liberation is an effort to eliminate all our desires, attachments and bad qualities, to control our mind and senses, to subordinate our BMI to the illuminated constant integrated awareness. In simple terms making an effort to move from BMI (illusory consciousness) to (Truth) Real Consciousness. Your ID Satchitananda means Being, Awareness and Bliss. In another parlance, through Gnana Yoga or Bhakthi Yoga or Karma Yoga or Raja Yoga or combination of some or all of them, we can make our mind achieve equanimity (i.e. remain neutral during pleasure and pain). During this process, we become aware that we are a divine being having human experience and our mind will delve in Satwa. During this phase, we will recognize what is real and unreal. To do this, we have to improve our concentration and learn to contemplate to saturate our single thought to find the Truth. We will also achieve thoughtlessness at our will. A human being can still have the body and mind but at this stage is no longer dependent on this world and becomes independent. Majority of this effort is accomplished through human effort with some grace of the Universal Absolute. At this stage, if BMI dies, the soul will come back again to this world to pursue from where it left. Even though, the rebirth will be in a family to pursue the mission, still the soul will have no control over its birth.

    2) Realization in my humble opinion is becoming an instrument in the hands of the Universal Absolute and lead a meditative state of living through Gnana Yoga or Bhakthi Yoga or Karma Yoga or Raja Yoga or combination of some or all of these Yogas. This stage is called Turya stage where we lose our BMI consciousness and permanently remain in Real Consciousness round the clock. BMI becomes completely subordinated to the Divine Consciousness. At this stage we conquer the five elements, time and space. This is a Blissful state or 1 Zillion times the happiness we achieve in our normal day to day life. At this stage, the soul also conquers the cycle of birth and death and doesn't have to come back again. Even when that soul comes back to play a role in the world, it would be to help the Universal Absolute to establish Sanatana Dharma and will be conscious of the status as a realized Soul. That soul will be graced to be born in the family of its will to help the mission of the Universal Absolute. I feel to achieve this stage of realization, we need a lot of grace of the Universal Absolute apart from effort.

    In my opinion, what you are experiencing is an intermittent aspiration to achieve liberation and you may want to prolong this period of sanity as much as possible. That is why learned people always say liberation is conquering the mind and senses, achieve equanimity and make the soul function at its Will.

    Again, my thoughts are limited to my understanding so far. I welcome other opinions and suggestions from other learned people in this elite forum. I will be benefited if others could share their thoughts. Please forgive me, if any of my statements are too confusing. It is lack of my ability to express my thoughts.

    Viswa
     
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  5. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Viswamitra,

    Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation. I have to admit it though, that I will really need to reflect considerably on all that you have said before I understand it fully. Shall get back with more questions at that point of time.
     
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  6. Balajee

    Balajee IL Hall of Fame

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    Satchi we never fully burn the bridges with our past even as the bridges with the future more often than remain wrapped in a mist but yes, immortality is always a frightening prospect. I don't know how all the fairy tales end with "lving happily ever after". If one is truly immortal one will be bored for eternity. Life is worth iliviuvng because we are mortals.
     
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