Wisdom Quotes from Vashista's Yoga as told to Ram

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 150:

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

Life itself taught that the eternal cannot be found in the ephemeral. Hence I then turned inward, ensuring by resolve that the path of truth be mirrored moment to moment in thought, word and deed.


Likewise Bhakti ~ we merge our heart in the heart of the deity

Same to service ~ we say we are but a conduit for God to work through in this density, thus surrendering doership.

You wisely saw that "the eternal cannot be found in the ephemeral" and hence you "then turned inward". The Tibetan Yogi Milarepa often spoke about that same approach ... turning away from the ephemeral and "then turned inward". That's an excellent point.

As mentioned in a previous post, Bhakti can lead to the silence as one surrenders to one's chosen deity and LISTENS. That approach is still in duality though.

As for service, one can lose one's self in service to others.

Those are all good points. Our understandings are very similar.

I was "fortunate" to have had a near death experience (NDE) in which I had a vision of a being of light and the incomparable experience of that proverbial "peace that surpasseth all understanding". Also, I could see my body "below" and a vast panorama which led me to conclude (eventually ... definitely not immediately) that there was a vantage point from which one could see that everything is connected.

I remember explicitly the descent back into the body ... the thoughts, the emotions as my mother was crying over my dead body, and then the consciousness entering the body itself (symptom-free and alert, I might add). That is what drew me to meditation which focused first on the body, then on feelings/emotions, then on thought and then beyond thought. I "KNEW" that was the way back to that peace that surpasseth all understanding which I had experienced directly during the NDE. With the guidance of extraordinary guides along the way, it pointed me away from the ephemeral (as in your case) and turned me inward (as in your case).

As the expression goes in the Vedanta Society, "One Truth ... many paths".

[Still_Waters]

Vashista's Yoga (Page 216):

"My teachings are not meant for those, O Rama, whose intelligence has been silenced by a firm faith in the reality of this illusory world and the consequent striving for the pleasures of this world. What foolish man will endeavor to show a colorful forest to one who who refuses to see?"

NOTE 1: The Indian sage, Nisargadatta Maharaj, wisely noted that "enlightened beings are generally very quiet" for this reason and that "there are numerous primary teachers to teach the alphabet" (usually for a price ). My teacher would share "little by little" as the practitioner progressed more and more through PRACTICE.

NOTE 2: This thread has actually been quite reinforcing and positive for me personally. Nonetheless, I sense that it has now served its purpose and will end soon.