[bees]

Originally Posted by Jyotir

Hi kingfisher,

Since all is God, even 'personal effort' as normally seen through ego, is ultimately God acting in and through the individual instrument, and God ultimately is that instrument as well.

As an intellectual conceptualization, this construct is helpful in establishing a direction or ideal for practice, but it is still very different than the direct experience of it.

In the beginning stages of seeking, e.g., a conscious and deliberate spiritual aspiration, when ego is still a substantial presence, a dominant force - there is the unavoidable perception (and necessity) of self-effort, as well as the need for more structured doctrines and methods which are commensurate with that 'objective' perception as an aid to nascent discipline.

Of course, there will be different permutations of this in form, as different traditions have varied premises to begin with, i.e., Buddhism has no 'God', etc., but the basic principle is the same because ultimately, even though there are different paths - they are all based in, are, and lead to One Reality, which allows for those different expressions of that One Self 'divine'.

It's only in the advanced stages where a greatly diminished ego is displaced by the more direct recognition, acknowledgment, and surrender to that Grace, where that so-called 'personal effort' is experienced as one and the same with that grace - all of it as: God the sole doer. The aspirant may even experience themselves as God extending that Grace to the instrument, and alternately as the instrument of reception.

The caveat is that unless and until full and permanent realization is achieved, regression is possible; that although ego may be greatly diminished within a progressive spiritual practice, if a constant vigilance and examination is not maintained, the wrong attitude my re-assert, i.e., pride, jealousy, impurity, etc. - and that ego-force may re-constitute and regenerate itself back into a relatively larger focal and operative presence within the being.


~ J

What does an aspirant do then, and wasn't everything almost like a waste? It's painful to know that gap too.

Great post btw.

Great inquiry, kingfisher, thanks/welcome