This story is reminiscent of the shift from dominant rajas guna where world is seen as an illusion, to dominant sattva guna where world is known as the Divine play, Lila.
D
Explorations of Life and Enlightenment
This story is reminiscent of the shift from dominant rajas guna where world is seen as an illusion, to dominant sattva guna where world is known as the Divine play, Lila.
D
I liked this one in particular as I have an Annapurna Yoga and a connection with her temple in Kashi.
Namaste. Hope you health is fine. I took some years to understand what you have been sharing through your blogs. I feel blessed to have access to you. In one blog you mentioned that Atman and sattva are cumulative. Does it mean that Atman identifies with prakrati and also Realization is an event? kindly respond. I remain your disciple.
Hi Guru
There are some very advanced posts here, designed to support those in that part of the process. They’re not something many would comprehend. Like describing flavours you’ve never tasted. The cosmic body would be a great example.
The development of atman (consciousness/ presence) and sattva (purity/ clarity) in our subtle physiology are cumulative and carry forward into further lifetimes. In other words, spiritual development is cumulative.
This isn’t the same thing as Atman itself. From the perspective of Samkhya, our experience arises from the interplay of Atman (consciousness) and prakriti (nature). This is a dualistic perspective. There is certainly a polarity, a masculine/feminine, Shiva/Shakti play, but more deeply, these are 2 halves of one coin. Source is singular.
Realization, the way I usually use it, is a deep recognition. Self Realization, for example, is a recognition by Self (Atman) of itself. Self in us sees itself and a recognition occurs. We realize we’re not this body-mind or this jiva, we’re Self, Atman. But again, it’s Self itself that realizes this, not the mind or person. Hence the name. We may conceptually recognize this prior, based on experience, but that’s not “it” yet.
You might call this an “Event”. It is singular, although it certainly deepens. Some remember very clearly the circumstances of their shift. One fellow takes flowers to the shop where he woke each year. For others, the recognition is quieter and clarity dawns over time. They have less a sense of “event.”
Neem Karoli Baba always said to feed everyone and serve everyone and that to a hungry person God appears as food…..
Yes, there is the blessing driven by need. And there is the blessing driven by recognition of the Divine. God serves all when we serve God.
In the tradition, the physical body is called the food body, annamaya kosha. Annapurna is literally fullness of food.
Our relationship with food runs deep. Childhood programming, past life traumas, nourishment, feeling right with the world, social connection, service, and more…
Namaste. You write that in Unity consciousness, stillness and movement are equal. I am intrigued by this! How this happens? It is blessing that I have access to you. kindly respond.
Hi Guru
I wouldn’t say “equal” but they’re recognized as one. As in my reply above, like 2 sides of one coin. This isn’t something the mind can grok. We can have an idea of it but that never meets the reality. It has to be recognized directly.
That awake Self within begins to be aware that Self also underlies the world experience, like the screen on which the movie plays. And then it recognizes that Self is the same Self as within. Inner and outer become one continuum. However, Unity stage has sub-stages. The initial recognition is just in consciousness. Through direct experience of life, that recognition moves forward into all the levels of experience, memory, and so forth. As the old texts say, even the farthest reaches of the universe beyond perception. During this process, I used to joke about ‘whats reality today’?
If there is some refined perception going on, it also moves into that. For example, we experience a cat. Initially, we recognize the cat is born of the same Self as ourselves. We are one on the level of Self. But then that moves forward and we recognize the cat as a whole is mySelf. I am That also. And then as we are the same Self, we can experience what it is to be a cat (through the lens of our own awareness), simply by shifting the point we’re experiencing from. There are layers and layers of this sort of thing.
It’s an amazing process of recognition.
Thanks for clarity