tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post530947419275692104..comments2023-09-09T02:41:47.167-07:00Comments on Beyond Advaita: Desire for LiberationRamesam Vemurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13670447320400400816noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-60822485086727992662012-12-13T09:37:07.742-08:002012-12-13T09:37:07.742-08:00Reply Contd from the previous Comment:
“3. If eve...Reply Contd from the previous Comment:<br /><br />“3. If everything (ie. joy, pain, compassion, cruelty, climate change etc) is Brahman, then what is is already perfect. Does that mean that we should just let things be and not try to interfere with anything?”<br /><br />You are right. All is Brahman. The entire universe is One and is perfect as it is. There are no parts in the universe and it is indivisible. It is the mind which cannot absorb the ‘whole’ at once in one go. Hence it divides the universe into smaller parts to grasp them. It gives distinct names defined by specific shapes to these parts within the overall Oneness.<br /><br />The mind then begins to qualify the imagined parts as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ from its own perspective of what is useful or a threat to its own survival.<br /><br />But let me also add that on a full understanding of Oneness (Non-duality), you will automatically do things in a naturally ‘moralistic’ way. When there is no ‘other’ and all is ‘Yourself’ alone, who or what will harm and who what other is there to be harmed?<br /><br />This has also an implication on Free Will and choice. Choice is there only as long as you think that you are a separate person. When all there is only One, there is nothing ‘else’ to choose from nor there is a chooser.Ramesam Vemurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670447320400400816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-42508931092089825652012-12-13T09:36:00.788-08:002012-12-13T09:36:00.788-08:00Beautiful questions, all three of them. They go to...Beautiful questions, all three of them. They go to the heart of Advaita teaching. <br /> <br />Each of them, perhaps, deserves a Blog post for an answer. The "Comment" format here is not that suitable to respond fully. Hence I shall reply here briefly. I will be happy to answer any further questions, if more explanation is necessary, (if you prefer even by e-mail).<br />(The "comment" section does not allow more than a fixed number of words. So my reply is divided into two parts).<br /><br />"1. If we are one consciousness, why is it that this consciousness of a body-mind cannot perceive the perceptions (sensations, feelings and thoughts) of other body-minds?"<br /><br />Each body and mind is an "object." Object means that which is perceived by Consciousness. So mind is no different from, say, a chair or any other object in your room. Can the 'chair' perceive another chair or object? No. An object cannot perceive another object. Mind is also perceived by "Me" in as much as “I” perceive a chair. This "Me" is One in all. One mind, like the chair, cannot perceive another mind.<br /><br />For a simile: Imagine yourself standing at the center in a tall Watch-Tower with windows in all the four directions. When you look through different windows, you witness different sceneries. Each window provides its own unique one view. One window cannot show you what the other window sees. Similarly, each body-mind is a window. Consciousness is "You" standing commonly at the center.<br /><br />You can say that it is not that there are seven billion people looking at one world. It is One Consciousness looking at seven billion worlds. Each individual ‘person’ lives in his/her bubble universe. Like each separate person having his own dreamworld.<br /><br />"2. For an unrealized person like myself, how do I start making changes and living my life in accordance with the TRUTH ie. that there is no individual self but only one consciousness? (vis-a-vis the typical life of chasing after career, money, relationships) And is there value in dong that considering that I have not yet "experienced" the TRUTH."<br /><br />Actually it is a fallacy to think that an individual separate 'me' lives in the body. It is "Life" itself living through all body-minds. So the thing to be done is to surrender this separate sense of 'ego' as an ‘offering’ to the One Consciousness. In simple terms it translates to giving up claims of 'ownerhsip' of possessions and 'doership' for actions.<br /><br />It does not mean you stop acting. It does also not mean you become a doormat either. You will let things happen as they come by without likes or dislikes, without acceptance or rejection, without a desire for one or the other. So you will allow the body-mind whatever they have to do as per the situation unconcerned and unaffected. The body and mind have their own intelligence to protect themselves.<br /><br />You see you do not do anything for digesting the food you eat or your heart to beat or for the earth to rotate. They just happen without your effort. Thus all living can be ‘effortless.’ [A useful acid test in critical circumstances can be to examine whether the action / decision is coming from ‘ego’ to aggrandize itself or that is the way things are going to anyway happen.]<br /><br />Regarding the second part of this question, “You” do not have to do specially ‘experience’ Truth. “You” yourself are already the Truth. You (the individual who thinks that I am a separate person) can NEVER experience Truth. It will be like the moth trying to reach the flame. The ‘ego’ just dies.Ramesam Vemurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670447320400400816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211673002367960332.post-19502312361407794032012-12-13T04:06:05.068-08:002012-12-13T04:06:05.068-08:00First and foremost, thank you so much for this blo...First and foremost, thank you so much for this blog. It has been most helpful. There is a simple clarity in your writings and explanations that I appreciate tremendously.<br /><br />I have a few questions which I hope you could kindly help clarify:<br /><br />1. If we are one consciousness, why is it that this consciousness of a body-mind cannot perceive the perceptions (sensations, feelings and thoughts) of other body-minds?<br /><br />2. For an unrealized person like myself, how do I start making changes and living my life in accordance with the TRUTH ie. that there is no individual self but only one consciousness? (vis-a-vis the typical life of chasing after career, money, relationships) And is there value in dong that considering that I have not yet "experienced" the TRUTH.<br /><br />3. If everything (ie. joy, pain, compassion, cruelty, climate change etc) is Brahman, then what is is already perfect. Does that mean that we should just let things be and not try to interfere with anything?<br /><br />Thank you.AngieCnoreply@blogger.com