A letter

[egodust]

Jayanarayanan wrote:
> I received this letter from a Vedic scholar, who is very knowledgeable
> in advaitic philosophy.
>

It seems that many good points are found herein.  Especially the allusion
to the Buddha, who's teaching is--as far as I can tell--essentially not
different from advaita (notwithstanding the emphasis on the ideal
community of the sangha as well as certain dogmatic precepts [which
have little to do with the real thrust of what he was philosophically
conveying).

>
> My contention is that, even before discussing whether God is VishhNu, Shiva or
> KR^ishhNa, let us try to become GOOD men first. We have absolutely no right to
> discuss a thing which we know nothing about except from books...It is
> like standing at the bottom of a hill and discussing what is there
> at the peak. It is just futile to waste our time in discussion. Let us try to
> go up the hill, overcome obstacles, reach the top and find out for ourselves
> what there is. The path leading to the top is dharma.
>
> [...]
>
> There cannot be and there is no greater philosopher and thinker
> than Shankara. But to understand his philosophy - I think I am incorect there-
> to experience his philosophy (there is actually very little to understand)
> requires a lot of mental preparation and a man who has attained all the
> good qualities mentioned above is the only one who is really eligible to
> experience his philosophy. Wherein do you find such people today? All our
> knowledge is theory and brahmaGYAna is pure experience. One has to practise in
> order to experience that ananda. When one talks only from books, one makes all
> sorts of allegations and misinterpretations. The differences among all the
> systems of philosophy is only in the nature of mokshha or the ultimate
> reality. We are all far far away from it. I for one feel that we are not even
> eligible to talk about it. Let us practise sAmAnya dharmAH (the qualities
> mentioned) first and then sit in judgement whether brahma is one or one and a
> half or two...nobody in his right sense puts down Shankara without
> experiencing what he has said.
>

Bhagavan Sri RM makes many statements that can pull the world out from
under us, if we daringly allow them sink into our mind.  One such
statement makes reference to the popular notion that cittasuddha (satvic
mind) [as a result of the practice of samanya dharma] is an indispensible
prerequisite to moksha, refuting it utterly(!):

Major Chadwick, in A SADHU'S REMINISCENCES OF RM (p52), was talking about
World War 2 and how Bhagavan was following the course of events.."Of course
He was quite unmoved by the war and its course.  Probably He saw it as just
another turn of the wheel of karma.  He is reported to have remarked once:
'Who knows but that Hitler is a jnani, a divine instrument.' He was certainly
a man of fate.  To deny his acts as evil is wrong. [however] For a jnani
there is no good and evil.  There is only action--spontaneous activity or
the actionless-activity of the Tao.  This has no karma binding effects."

This is further clarified and substantiated if we refer back to p24:
Chadwick, evidently reporting what Bhagavan had earlier related to him:
"People judge the deeds of others as good or bad, but it is the doing itself
that matters and not the complexion of the deed.  The whole secret lies in
whether we are attached to our actions or not.  A person who spends his time
in good deeds can be much more attached to them than the so-called bad man
to his.

"Good and bad are found eventually to be only relative terms. Self enquiry
is found to be no more than the discarding of vasanas. So long as one single
vasana remains, so long must we remain unrealized."

*****

Moreover, I would say that the very programming of the idea that one must
achieve *perfect* cittasuddha before one can hope to attain moksha is quite
debilitating...and just the opposite from what really happens(!): Just like
when the fan is switched off, the blade continues to spin from [PRIOR]
momentum, so do thoughts, words and actions [being energized by prarabdha
karma] continue to occur after moksha.  It must be considered that *thought
itself* is tamorajasic; not to mention words and actions.  Technically,
chittasuddha is only permanently achieved at videhamukthi; to convince
ourselves that it is a vital prerequisite to jivanmukthi is a grave mistake.
As Bhagavan always says: "The greatest of all obstacles to freedom is the
belief that we're in bondage."

namaste.