[Advaita-l] family love

[Shyam]

PranAms.
I would like to add a small note here.
 
There is no question that any love felt for ones children is not for their sake but for ones own sake - even a parents love is not strictly selfless in that sense - as the Br. Up famously declares - na vaare putraanaam kaamaaya putraah priya bhavanti atmanastu kamaaya putraah priyaa bhavanti It is not for the sake of the sons my dear that the sons are loved but for ones own sake that they are loved.....
 
The goal for a seeker is always to get rid of the notional dehatmabuddhi - any attachment one feels towards any relation, however exalted - is only a sign that our dehatmabuddhi is extremely strong....after all any relation of mother/father/etc is only in relation to the sthoola shareera - our grosses manifestation - no mother ever gives birth to the sukshma shareera...like two logs of wood in a river meeting only to be swept away in diferent directions after a brief journey all our relations are ephemereal - let us not allow ourselves to be diverted by their concern.
 
We always need to make the subtle but important distinction between love and attachment. Love for anyone - mother father children spouse etc can very much be there   - for love is freedom - an outpouring of fulfilment in itself, an expression of the boundless fullness which is our own intrinsic nature. I daresay we do not know what this love is!
 
But attachment - ah we know very well - it is what we confuse for love- and attachment is bondage. Our desire to hold on, wedded to relationships we hold dear, believing them to be, or wishing them to be permanent - unable to bear even the thought that their impermanence is a certainty. 
 
Dwelling on the fact that each one of our relationships is timebound and will end in time - whether in a matter of days or weeks or years - will help us not only maintain a sense of perspective that allows to focus on the task of hand which is to transcend this prapanca of form/function/result but also in a transactional realm may help us better appreciate the limited time that we have these individuals in our lives as a blessing of Ishwara.
 
If attachment we must have, let that be to our Divine Mother, let us ever recognize that alone as our One true relationship, let us never cease to intensely long for communion with Her. 

Humble pranams
Hari OM
Shri Gurubhyoh namah
Shyam
--- On Mon, 3/30/09, Sunil Bhattacharjya <sunil_bhattacharjya at yahoo.com> wrote:


From: Sunil Bhattacharjya <sunil_bhattacharjya at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] family love
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Date: Monday, March 30, 2009, 3:58 PM


Dear Vaidehiji,

"Samyak jnana" was used only to mean "proper understnding of the concept". I think a detailed thesis on the word "Samyak" is not necessary.

Secondly "see through Maya" was used to mean to know what is Maya and that is possible only when one develops the Sattva guna.

In the maze of arguments and quotations one should not mess the concept.  One who has understood the concept of Maya properly is a Brahmajnani and he will not need to read the scriptures even.

Regards,

Sunil K. Bhattacharjya

--- On Mon, 3/30/09, vaidehi chaitanya <vaidehi.chaitanya at gmail.com> wrote:

From: vaidehi chaitanya <vaidehi.chaitanya at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] family love
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Date: Monday, March 30, 2009, 12:19 PM

hari om sunil bhattacharyaji

a small clarification here i wish to give. there is nothing called
samyak knowledge of maya. in fact maya is avidya (see yogavasista
original). there is no samyak knowledge of avidya for it means self
contradiction.

In yogavasista, sri vashihsta says to rama in utpatti prakarana
chapter, sloka 1.20

avidyA samsrutrbanDo mAyA mOhO mahattamaH
kalpitaaniiti naamaani yasyaaH sakalavedibhiH.

of which (of the world which is illusory in nature) several names have
been coined by the learned: avidya (ignorance), samsruti
(transmigration), bandhaH (bondage), mAyAillusion), mohaH (delusion),
mahat (great), tamaH (darkness).

creation is maya. there is nothing to see through maya. Infact, to
stop seeing maya is advaita.

may be it is necessary to stop here for intellectual discussions
should necessarilyaim at  stop the ripples of thoughts arising.

thanking you

vaidehi













On 3/30/09, Sunil Bhattacharjya <sunil_bhattacharjya at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I think Jaldharji and Vaidehiji are talking about the same thing. Yes,
> mother's selfless love for the child is the first step towards Advaita. One
> learns the first step of selfless love from that. When all other creations
> are treated like-wise, ie. like one's very own, then it becomes universal
> love. At that stage one gets rid of the the separateness or otherness and
> becomes Samadarshana and can see through Maya, ie. realise that there are no
> real  differences between the various creations. As long as this samyak
> knowledge of Maya is not achieved what persists is Avidya and there is
> Vasana.
>
> Sunil K. Bhattacharjya
>
> --- On Sun, 3/29/09, vaidehi chaitanya <vaidehi.chaitanya at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: vaidehi chaitanya <vaidehi.chaitanya at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] family love
> To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta"
> <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> Date: Sunday, March 29, 2009, 8:35 AM
>
> hari om
>
> it is in the way we look at things. love and affection for parents,
> siblings and even spouse - is it or is it not vasana or maya. Infact,
> call by any name - vasana or maya  they both mean the same. mandukya
> upanishad calls it spandana (vibration). the bhavana behind is what
> makes a difference to the affection or love you show to others. remove
> the otherness from the love or affection, it is pure, self existent
> and self effulgent. this is the effort we the seekers should attempt
> in our every day transcational world.
>
> vaidehi chaitnaya
>
>
> On 3/29/09, Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com> wrote:
>> [was: (no subject)]
>>
>> On Fri, 20 Mar 2009, vijaya1.kambhampati at tiscali.co.uk wrote:
>>
>>> Could you please tell me whether the affection we feel for our mother
>>> father friends siblings and others is only maya and a creation of our
>>> vasanas or whether it has a reality that transcends maya. Do we ever
>>> meet these individuals again after death and become one with them.
>>>
>>
>> If we desire it than yes.  But like all desires it is a fetter that binds
>> us to samsara and must be transcended for mukti.  The way to do it is not
>> necessarily to stop loving but to extend the love so that all living
>> things are thought of as ones family.
>>
>> If you think about it isn't a mothers' selfless love our first
>> introduction to advaita bhava?
>>
>> --
>> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
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