Originally Posted by
devotee
Namaste Renuka,
That is where I and you differ. See, everyone is not having as good understanding of vyAvhArika Satya and ParaArthika Satya as you have.
Dear Sir,I would not say I have a good understanding but I make a lot of effort to go beyond what lies in front of my eyes and try to think what lies ahead..that has been my thinking since a child.
When I was a child and if it was a cold day and my mum gave me a blanket sometimes I would refuse it and suffer the cold and she would ask me why I was doing this. I used to tell her that some child in some corner of the world would be shivering in the cold so let me at least feel and share that childs feeling too.
I would always want to test myself and to know how it feels when others suffer.So since I was always having an experimenting mindset I started to view things very differently and that is why I found the concept of an Impersonal Reality the easiest for me to follow because with that one focuses on the Self and not desires.
Lord Buddha's teachings appealed to me the most because it seemed very direct to the point where its all about upliftment of Self and trying to eradicate sorrow and suffering by ceiling on desires.
There is prescribed path for those who have attained the Reality but it is there for those who are not there still.
Agreed..but unless we try how would we know if we are ready or not for a higher understanding?
We should not underestimate ourselves..there is no harm trying and then falling back..get up and try again.
In any sincere endeavor God guides us through various forms.
We have to keep an open eye around to learn things.
Many a times we hear that not everyone is ready for a deeper understanding..but why not let anyone try to learn?
A ladder becomes useless when you reach the top of roof but until that it has its value.
Agreed...but at times when a person is ready to climb but others tell him you are not ready and pull of the ladder while he is trying to climb.
Why not try to climb?
Understanding anything needs effort..one gains knowledge of any kind with 1/4 input from teacher/guru..1/4 input from fellow students..1/4 effort from self effort and 1/4 in the course of time.
Without effort to know more one can not gain anything for a deer does not enter a mouth of a sleeping lion.
It is not that I believe in Seven life-relationship between husband and wife. And be sure, I have read almost the whole of VedAnta well enough to understand how from one life to another the relationship may change and that nothing is permanent.
Dear Sir..I also have read almost every book possible about Vedanta but I still I would not want to say that I might be right in my opinions..that is why I leave the option for others to differ with me.
Still, I would not dissuade those who believe in it unless it starts harming them.
I believe that we can actually never preach to anyone..everyone has to learn himself finally.There is no short cut..one has to learn or unlearn by trial and error.
I will tell you how such theories help :
a) You have to make this relationship strong by using artificial means because it is not biologically decided.
This I totally beg to differ because one should never think blood is thicker than water.
When someone is not related to me I dont see him or her as different from my own self or own relatives because that would only show that we have bodily attachment to some and see others as different.
There have been times in my life where I had even supported a person who is not related to me in anyway because I felt that person was right and my family member was wrong much to the displeasure of my family members!
I dont feel one needs extra effort to make non blood relations work out if we have love in our hearts for everyone and do our duties right.
When we love everyone the same and not hate anyone that is the best effort we are already doing.I know its not easy to handle everyone the same but when faced with a challenging person in life who can make me get angry I try to tell myself that to see beyond that behavior and try to see God in that person and tell myself "Ok here you have God giving you a hard time in the form of Mr X"..the next moment we can note our temper goes down.
So you see one can condition the mind to try to have equal vision..its all training the mind..not forced upon but training with effort.
It is like instilling the feeling of nationhood in the hearts of people in a newly created Nation. What do they do ? They have National Anthem, National Festivals, National Flag, National Sports Festivals, Emblems, National Bird, National Animal, National Sports Team etc. First you create them from nowhere and then starts using them by an agreement/law ... slowly, these symbols become identified with one-nationality. Similarly, we use symbols for better relationship.
b) Sisters in India tie RakshA-bandhan on the hands of their brother's wrists. It is just a thread but it strengthens bonding of love between sister and brother. What is this ? Just a symbol working for a good relationship.
Here we dont have this custom but still I love my brothers even if they stop loving me.
Do you think everyone is readying oneself for becoming free from the bondage in this world ?
Such people who are interested in this stuff are not even 1 % of the total population. Their goals are different.
Not everyone has the same interests...there have different goals thats all.One has the right to choose his own lifestyle..no one is right or wrong in their choice.
Exactly ! If you have problems in differentiating between VyAvaharikA satya and Parmarthika Satya, this confusion would arise. ... and let's never assume that everyone is at such a state where people have no confusion.
Agreed..but that doesnt mean some facts need to be hidden from everyone and we assume that no one is ready.
Hiding facts is a great disservice..let everyone know other options too and let them choose what is conducive for their own understanding and not anyone else deciding for them who is LKG or who is Phd.
There was one Bengali Sadhu in Kolkata and he was interested in Advaita but was not capable of understanding its finer points well. He, once, in front of all his relatives and friends stood on a Shivalinga which was worhsipped by them saying this, "I am Shiva. This is Shiva. So, what difference it makes if I step on this Shivalinga ?" At the highest level, there is nothing wrong. But how did it act on the common people who were present there and who were badly hurt by this unnecessary/uncalled for show of one's VedAntic Knowledge ?
If he did that to show off than he is wrong but if his intentions were to teach then he is not wrong.
Moreover, when the Reality really dawns upon oneself, the questions that you have raised would never arise. There is no You, I, act of marriage etc. ... everything is just the Self. So, such questions won't arise.
For each question there is an answer..Reality does not dawn upon one's self overnight...it starts with Ko'ham and to reach the answer of So'ham there are still many grades.
Even for a Knower of Brahman there are 4 gradations according to the teachings of Ramana Maharishi...word of Ramana Maharishi:
The fourth stage is the final one of liberation. Even there some
distinction is made according to the degree, as
(1) the knower of the Brahman (Brahmavid)
(2) Brahmavid-vara
(3) Brahmavid-varya
(4) Brahmavid-varishta
But all of them are in fact liberated even while alive."
Analysis of Quantum Theory among students of History would really put them in great discomfort. What I want to say is that we should not assume that everyone is spiritually at the same stage and therefore, we must be careful in advocating same theory to everyone.
Agreed but at the same time there is no harm letting others know the various options and those who are interested may apply to know more.We cant take it for granted that others always do not know or might not want to know.
OM
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