WHY do HINDUS NOT LOVE THEIR WORK

OPVerma, I should add, no offence intended and I wish you nothing but the best. Thanks for your contributions to the book world,

Jl

[ajay00]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Yes, I know I am arrogant, overbearing, not humble....

In my interactions with you, I have not had such an impression of you.

I think you are pretty levelheaded and have matured at an incredible pace with constant writing and contemplation. I found some of your writings on Advaita intellectually incisive and breathtaking. This is because I have seen even golden oldies in India having a very poor understanding of Advaita and worse, preaching their delusions to gullible people and their stooges who lap it up.

I was wondering how you managed to understand Advaita correctly, when poor Honza is beating his head on the walls still, not being able to understand or comprehend Advaita and creating endless threads on the subject.

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

I freely admit it, but unlike most Leos with a number 1 life-path number, I have learned that whatever I say NEEDS to be beyond reproach and beyond question, so that I don't come out of the argument looking like a total idiot for my obvious lack OF knowledge...which is something the OP has yet to master...he better get a wiggle-on.

That is a wise approach and this could be the reason why you are putting quality posts these days.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by ajay00

In my interactions with you, I have not had such an impression of you.

I think you are pretty levelheaded and have matured at an incredible pace with constant writing and contemplation. I found some of your writings on Advaita intellectually incisive and breathtaking. This is because I have seen even golden oldies in India having a very poor understanding of Advaita and worse, preaching their delusions to gullible people and their stooges who lap it up.

I was wondering how you managed to understand Advaita correctly, when poor Honza is beating his head on the walls still, not being able to understand or comprehend Advaita and creating endless threads on the subject.



That is a wise approach and this could be the reason why you are putting quality posts these days.

Namaste.

Thank you so kindly for the heartfelt expression of gratitude and I extend mutual courtesy.

My initiation into Advaita Vedanta was threefold... firstly was my lapping up of the works of Swami Krishnananda Saraswati of the Divine Life Society during my late teens and early twenties.

Swami Krishnananda was very philosophical in his translations of the Hindu Texts...even the Bhagavad Gita got the Non Dual treatment:

http://www.dlshq.org/saints/krishnananda.htm

The second influence was when I studied for my yoga teacher training and researched Patanjali... although concepts like Ishwara Pranidhana (surrender to God) seems to be Dualistic in nature, the essence of the Yoga Sutras when taken as a whole teaching, is also Non Dual, but comprising of Dualistic elements, as does the whole of the Sāṃkhya philosophy.

With Honza, the conundrum occurs as a result of only seeing Non Duality from a perspective within Duality itself...which is also a stumbling block for many on the path of Bhakti Yoga...viz a viz "If I AM that, then what have I been loving/worshiping all these years if NOT myself and what is the whole point and purpose of that?" I was stuck there for a time myself until I realized that separation could still exist within unification as a perceptual difference of indifference...I believe they call it Achintya Bedhabheda Tattva...until I totally lose this ego (and find myself in Nirvikalpa Samadhi), it is my Higher Self/Higher Ego or even this Heart who is worshiping something other than what I AM...because that is also what EVERYTHING is!

We have had our differences of opinion in the past...some people have the ability to worship an "abstract concept" of what one considers to be analogous to a "God" like the Jyotir Lingam or a point of light...some people are good at creative visualization that way...others (like me) are not...a beam of light isn't enough to hold my attention span for any more than a few seconds...a celestial BEING on the other hand, different story...although I am fully aware that whatever the concept our limited mind can conceive God to be, He/She/It is in no way limited to or by that one concept..be it a Lingam or a meditating, Divine, Aadi Yogi.

What I call as "Shiva", you call as "Shankara" which I call as "Mahadeva" and we have had discussions over the nomenclature of the Divine, but it is always how the Divine appears to each of us as individuals...until we are not "individuals" anymore...many claim to be in a Non Dual state, but still act as if they are in Duality...their philosophy and the way they express it in lived reality and in actuality clearly belies an obvious conflict of interests going on.

Thirdly, I have studied all of the works of Adi Shankaracharya..and I am familiar with 12 of the Upanishads as well as the Vedas...well, mostly the Rig Veda, but Nirvana (Atma) Shatakam wasn't meant to be understood as Shankara saying "I AM Shiva", but in the "Second person" who is the "First Person" AS Shiva saying "I AM Shiva" and this is where Honza is confused...by the way, the greatest Vedantin of all, was also the greatest Bhakta of all...yes, Duality can be reconciled within Non Duality, but that pretty much occurs only AFTER the fact...once Brahman has been realized and all that.

I have also received a lot of inspiration from Kashmir Shaivism, Abhinavagupta, The Tantraloka, the Trika School...the Spanda Karikas, Swami Lakshmanjoo...and indeed, of the whole Tantrik tradition itself from Agama Hindu Dharma of Bali Indonesia to the Buddhist Bon tradition of Tibet with the Chola and Majapahit Empires thrown in for good measure.

So, I have lived a very colourful life and had many experiences in Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Fiji and other places...I have taken part in many rituals and sacred rites of passage.

This is where my experiential knowledge and wisdom comes from...and over many lifetimes, not just this one...but I could still do with a dose of humility.

Aum Namah Shivaya

You are one of the True Shining Lights here, Diane, and a boon to so many of us here.

Your presence and Light is a gift,

Namaste dearest One

Jl

Originally Posted by ajay00

and worse, preaching their delusions to gullible people and their stooges who lap it up.

This is how I feel on the Buddhism forum

Originally Posted by ajay00

I was wondering how you managed to understand Advaita correctly, when poor Honza is beating his head on the walls still, not being able to understand or comprehend Advaita and creating endless threads on the subject.

My impression of Honza is he is caught up in duality, like so many of us, but also fear. He feels safer with a belief in God (as an object) and challenges the other context that makes him feel uncomfortable. To my way of seeing, this is borne of fear.

Also as Shivani Devi might be indicating, only Truth borne of genuine insight and practice leads to the resolution and genuine acceptance, understanding and insight of duality as non-duality, non-duality in duality.

Buddhism’s Heart Sutra speaks of this, in so many words.

Originally Posted by ajay00

That is a wise approach and this could be the reason why you are putting quality posts these days.

As long as I remember knowing Shivani Devi, she is a Light, and is unattached to any identity of her own. She’s also extremely intelligent, bright, and warm, gentle and wise, in my opinion.

Jl