isha upanishad commentary

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by handy guy

a partial quote/definition regarding "Maya" from the lexicon of "Dancing with Siva":

"...In Sankara's Vedantic interpretation, maya is taken as pure illusion or unreality. In Saivism it is one of the three bonds (pasa) that limit the soul and thereby facilitate its evolution. For Saivites and most other non-dualists, it is understood not as illusion but as relative reality, in contrast to the unchanging Absolute Reality. In the Saiva Siddhanta system there are three main divisions of maya, the pure, the pure-impure and the impure realms. Pure or suddha maya consists of the first five tattvas - Siva tattva, Sakti tattva, Sadasiva tattva, Isvara tattva and Suddhavidya tattva. The pure-impure realm consists of the next seven tattvas. The impure realm consists of the maya tattva and all of its evolutes..."

Btw. I don't follow with Sankara's interpretation.

Namaste.

That is very interesting and I did not know much of that...so now I am much the wiser. Thank you.

Also, in Saivism, Maya is synonymous with Shakti...with Prakriti or Shiva's manifested energies and is only an "illusion" if people are stuck in the concept of that being ALL there is to existence and believing that everybody perceives things in the same way...and that the 4D world/universe is not self-created and the "soul" (if there is one) perishes along with the body.

There is a better term: Mithya or Mithyavta which is also a comparative term...so compared to Brahman/The Ultimate Reality, the world is an illusion (Maya)...but if the comparison is not made, the world is just as 'real' to the next person who has not attained Brahma-Jnana/Vidya.

This is the way I learned it and understood it to be...and again, thank you for teaching me something new. I really like it when somebody does that, because it doesn't happen very often.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[handy guy]

You are welcome Shivani Devi,

...the connection and transformation between Absolute and relative reality is a mystery that may not be talked about in scripture very much or conceptualized very much, or I'm missing it although there is Silence and Om. Anyway I've wondered about that but will not try to force anything along such lines.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by handy guy

why make projections about the motives of others that you can never be sure about, just as you more or less say about others making projections about your motives which they can never be sure about?

I am just going to revisit this one..

It is called "Introverted Narcissism" and upon researching the topic, I find that I am unfortunately affected by this personality trait.

So, I am going to read "The Untethered Soul" by Michael A Singer.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[handy guy]

ok, I'd tend to suggest that anything the shrinks may say be taken with major grains of salt. For instance most have been dangerously pushing pills for decades that in many documented cases have caused incredible damage to some people!

Along that line are revealing books by Peter Breggin Md. who has been a shrink for 40+ years.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by handy guy

ok, I'd tend to suggest that anything the shrinks may say be taken with major grains of salt. For instance they have pushing pills for decades that in many documented cases have caused incredible damage to some people!

Along that line are books by Peter Breggin Md. and shrink for 40 years.

Well, according to the Meyers Briggs Personality Test, I am an INTJ...all those are just labels anyway, but no matter what any shrink says, I KNOW that I am painfully introverted. I KNOW I don't have the skills that it takes to communicate with another human being on an emotional level and I am very insecure about that. I KNOW I see myself as 'different' from other people and I have a 'learning disability' when it comes to non-separation at the physical level, but I am okay with the "we are all God, but nobody acts like it" thing and yeah, I can't relate to another soul unless they are a Hindu scholar or Shiva devotee...which is also pretty pathetic, I know...but INTJs just don't do "small talk" and unless we're discussing the Absolute nature of Consciousness, everything ELSE is just "small talk" for me...I need to learn and to understand what 'being human' means and for my whole life, I just couldn't.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[ajay00]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Well, according to the Meyers Briggs Personality Test, I am an INTJ...all those are just labels anyway, but no matter what any shrink says, I KNOW that I am painfully introverted. I KNOW I don't have the skills that it takes to communicate with another human being on an emotional level and I am very insecure about that. I KNOW I see myself as 'different' from other people and I have a 'learning disability' when it comes to non-separation at the physical level, but I am okay with the "we are all God, but nobody acts like it" thing and yeah, I can't relate to another soul unless they are a Hindu scholar or Shiva devotee...which is also pretty pathetic, I know...but INTJs just don't do "small talk" and unless we're discussing the Absolute nature of Consciousness, everything ELSE is just "small talk" for me...I need to learn and to understand what 'being human' means and for my whole life, I just couldn't.

Aum Namah Shivaya

Shivani, I have actually come across a large number of spiritually developed people in forums who are autistic or suffering from other disabilities, even before I met you.

A theory and my own conclusion, I developed from such contacts is that autism may help people to develop themselves spiritually better than the average person due to their natural introvertness. (Cultivation of introvertness is actually a stage in yoga,linked with Pratyahara, which many extrovertic people find difficulty with.)

It is similar to a blind person developing her other senses to compensate for her blindness, and at the same time living life independently. I admire such people a lot, and often handicapped people has been sources of inspiration to me.

Perhaps you may have even accepted this condition in soul mission, as many say over here, before incarnating on earth, to ensure faster spiritual development, as our planet is in a critical stage of its evolution where the material development is lopsidedly superior to the spiritual/cultural development.

Exactly 12:00. Hmmm

Happy New Year, btw.

[handy guy]

Hello Shivani,
A lot of what I could say could sound like a lecture...I will comment that "small talk" can be used with or in moments of small kindness, and it is the small moments of kindness, given and received, that can add up and change our whole day for the better! For how the day goes (and our lives) can "turn on a dime" as the saying goes...We have all been visitors to or known moments of kindness yet those can slip away, imagine how it would be if we switched things around and we lived in that kindness instead of just being visitors to it. The sacred Shakti flows moment to moment with that kindness for all beings, she is just out of reach as she touches us for she would not be bound...

[Shivani Devi]

Namaste.

Kind thanks to both of you...I needed to hear that right now because I have just endured a horrendous last few days, including my attendance at a New Year's Eve function that I was totally miserable at and wished I never went to, so I prayed in earnest to Lord Shiva to remove all my "karmic/dharmic duties" to my family due to their Tamasic nature, which I cannot handle...I mean the whole shindig was all about who is suing who and for how much, whilst pork, beef and cheap beer was flowing like Niagara Falls.. culminating in loud fireworks which terrified me.

I just wanted "out" without having to lie or make up any excuses.

On the way home, I got pulled over by the police doing random alcohol checks..and as I don't drink, I was okay...but I forgot to wear my driving spectacles (as indicated on my licence) and that carries the SAME penalty as mid range drink driving...loss of license for 12 months and a $900 fine.

I was SO pi$$ed at Shiva...had I decided not to GO to the stupid party I didn't want to attend anyway, that would have never happened, so I felt like I was being punished TWICE for associating with the "lower tattwic energies".

All day I was depressed, angry, hostile and stewing over this apparent injustice... until Shiva spoke:

"Well, I WAS going to blow out your tyre, ram your car into a telegraph pole and snap your neck just to prove a point, but I had a change of heart".

THIS is the God I know and love.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[handy guy]

hmm, is there a "ground hog day" type movie element also going on there?

[ajay00]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Namaste.

Kind thanks to both of you...I needed to hear that right now because I have just endured a horrendous last few days, including my attendance at a New Year's Eve function that I was totally miserable at and wished I never went to, so I prayed in earnest to Lord Shiva to remove all my "karmic/dharmic duties" to my family due to their Tamasic nature, which I cannot handle...I mean the whole shindig was all about who is suing who and for how much, whilst pork, beef and cheap beer was flowing like Niagara Falls.. culminating in loud fireworks which terrified me.

I just wanted "out" without having to lie or make up any excuses.

On the way home, I got pulled over by the police doing random alcohol checks..and as I don't drink, I was okay...but I forgot to wear my driving spectacles (as indicated on my licence) and that carries the SAME penalty as mid range drink driving...loss of license for 12 months and a $900 fine.

I was SO pi$$ed at Shiva...had I decided not to GO to the stupid party I didn't want to attend anyway, that would have never happened, so I felt like I was being punished TWICE for associating with the "lower tattwic energies".

All day I was depressed, angry, hostile and stewing over this apparent injustice... until Shiva spoke:

"Well, I WAS going to blow out your tyre, ram your car into a telegraph pole and snap your neck just to prove a point, but I had a change of heart".

THIS is the God I know and love.

Aum Namah Shivaya

I am glad that you are fostering a positive mental attitude.

Baba Hari Dass stated that the ego makes you look at the negative while the Self or Awareness makes you look at the positives.

Hence cultivating a positive attitude will get you closer to the higher Self while negativity will only bring forth the lower self.

I get invited to some parties as well which I dislike for all the mundane stuff and trivia. If I cannot avoid it, I just try to make the most out of it, and enjoy a lot of fruit juice and salad. On certain occasions I have made some good friends with similar spiritual, artistic or other interests.