Please note that I have extensively revised the posting formerly entitled 'enquiry for the grandparents' and now 'a meditation upon 'I'. This is in appreciation of the fact that not everyone may be able to recognise the feeling-sense of 'I' straight away or relate to the experience of 'I amness' or embodied beingness. Any feedback or questions are welcome.
Also a slight revision to 'three verses on enquiry' and 'down the road a bit' for those interested
In the posting of March 9th entitled 'so what is this enlightenment thing anyway?' I speculated that 'Enlightenment' may be the merging of individual consciousness with some kind of Cosmic or Universal Consciousness. There may be a stage like that but I would now say (IMHO) that the initial thing is the individual Realisation of, and establishment in, Pure Transcendental Consciousness, which is simply the Pure Awareness at our core and the origin of the feeling-sense of 'I am'. This is usually termed Self-Realisataion, which may be the basis for some ongoing evolution towards Universality, but in itself seems straight forward enough.
In some schools of thought it is considered that both individual consciousness and Universal Consciousness (which is considered to manifest, maintain and dissolve Creation) both have their source in Pure Transcendental Consciousness and that 'Full Enlightenment' encompasses the totality of all of those aspects. Other schools of thought have more of a Personal God centered outlook and others deny that there is anything other than Self-Realisation. But all could agree that all of the rubbish we have accumulated obscures our true nature and that somehow this situation needs to be dealt to. At any rate until, and if, we experience these things for ourselves then they remain as theories.
Furthermore, in the posting on the same day entitled 'on not breaking on through to the other side' I speculated than by remaining with a quiet mind in the simple awareness of 'I-amness' then everything else would take care of itself. There may be some truth to this but I will also add that Ramana Maharishi cautions against becoming absorbed and plateauing in pleasant states. They are a good sign of progress but one should keep up the enquiry and transcend even these until one finally reaches to Pure Transcendental Consciousness beyond even the sense of individual 'I am'.
You brought it all home.
ReplyDeleteI heard an interesting thing from a Here Krishna bhakta on the street one day (though he wasn't a part of ISKON). He said the goal of the Gyani is Brahman, for a Yogi it is Paramatman and for a Bhakta it is Bhagavan. His guru said that of the three, Bhagavan is slightly better. :-)
ReplyDeleteIMHO self-inquiry is not for beginners because it is too steep and subtle a path. Learning to relax, sit still, concentrate and get familiar with the monkey mind is an easier task to start with. So things like japa, asana, kirtan, dowsing, and other such things that start with the bodily activity are more accessible and productive to the novice.
And they often need a carrot too (like relaxation, better sleep, better sex, more money, better health) because they can't see how an abstract concept like pure consciousness is going to help them in their daily life.
It seems that most people already have a very clear idea about they need to be happy; mainly to with some aspect of sex, power and money. And they look to meditation to help them get there. I'm told that advertising meditation as a path to happiness does not get the same response as negative advertising for solving a problem like sickness, stress, etc.
you mean people respond more favourably to the carrot than the stick?! :) obviously Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was onto it with his marketing of TM. if he had somehow got some sex angle in there it could have been perfect!
ReplyDeleteabout going for Brahman, Bhagavan or Paramatman; I won't be happy till I got the full set!
not sure how the reference to dowsing ties in?
Yes, MMY was very slick with his marketing. And I can understand why he did it like that - but he was also deceitful along the way.
ReplyDeleteAre you familiar with dowsing? If done correctly then it can really change a person and put them on a spiritual path - I've seen this happen.
you mean like David Hawkins Kinesiology type of thing?
ReplyDelete