Crazy maya!!

Originally Posted by Aditi

JASG I really like your analogy of lucid dreaming. I have never experienced anything like that myself, but it reminded me of Joseph Campbell talking about Schopenhauer's 'On an Apparent Intention in the Fate of the Individual' (which I have not read)
"...Schopenhauer concludes that it is as though our lives were the
features of the one great dream of a single dreamer in which
all the dream characters dream, too; so that everything links to everything
else, moved by the one will to life which is the universal will in nature."

I wonder if this sort of thing is what is being alluded to in the image of Vishnu in yogic sleep on the coils of Shesha, his dreaming infinite worlds.


It is so interesting hearing other people's experiences of this sort of awakening. It seems meditation usually plays a significant role in the process, but there are also those stories of people who have sudden revelations. It's hard to imagine what is going on, in those cases.

Your last sentence reminded me of that Zen story that goes something like...
Two monks come across fish in a pond, and one says to the other, "Look at those fish, having fun in the water."
The other says, "You don't know they're having fun, you are not them."
To which the first replies, "You don't know if I know, you are not me."

I hope you are right about all paths leading to the ultimate reality.

Apparently Schopenhauer was of the opinion The Upanishads are the single greatest repository of knowledge recorded by man. He would read several lines every night before going to sleep.

At various times in his life Sri Ramakrishna exclusively practiced different paths including Islam and Christianity and had mystical experiences according to both doctrines as he also did of Kali. While the experiences might have somewhat differed and according to tradition he was convinced they all touched the same substrata of existence and I have to agree.

The interesting thing about meditation...

My initial practice was Vipassana Calm Abiding (bascally mindfulness of breath sensation). Then I heard Jon Kabat-Zinn refer to resting in awareness where one drops any object of attention and just rests in awareness itself and I added that to my repertoire. As I advanced in that technique I was more often "touching" that silence, resting in awareness, however its significance never dawned on me until I listened to a Sadhguru video where he spoke of opening up a small space between mind and consciousness. That led me to Advaita and Swami Sarvapriyananda's lectures and the floodgates opened.

Advaita posits that ultimately the only thing that erases ignorance is knowledge. Meditation can plow the field, so to speak, preparing it for the planting of the seeds of knowledge. The clarity of mind facilitated by meditation is of enormous benefit to any spiritual path.

[Meerkat]

It's interesting how things develop. I practised satipatthana (mindfulness) for many years in a Buddhist context. I worked mainly with the sense bases (sights sounds, sensations etc), and gradually became aware of a great stillness beneath the movement of mind and senses. I couldn't find an explanation in the Buddhist context so I've been exploring Hinduism for the last couple of years. Advaita looks interesting, though I haven't settled on it yet - still exploring different teachers and methods.
My favourite text is now the Upanishads, particularly the Taittiriya and Mandukya Upanishads.

Originally Posted by Meerkat

It's interesting how things develop. I practised satipatthana (mindfulness) for many years in a Buddhist context. I worked mainly with the sense bases (sights sounds, sensations etc), and gradually became aware of a great stillness beneath the movement of mind and senses. I couldn't find an explanation in the Buddhist context so I've been exploring Hinduism for the last couple of years. Advaita looks interesting, though I haven't settled on it yet - still exploring different teachers and methods.
My favourite text is now the Upanishads, particularly the Taittiriya and Mandukya Upanishads.

Have you heard of Ashtavakra Gita? There's a good translation by Thomas Byrom titled "The Heart of Awareness". Basically it's a repetitive rephrasing of the central theme of the Mandukya Upanishad.

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

At various times in his life Sri Ramakrishna exclusively practiced different paths including Islam and Christianity and had mystical experiences according to both doctrines as he also did of Kali. While the experiences might have somewhat differed and according to tradition he was convinced they all touched the same substrata of existence and I have to agree.

Unpopular opinion: I know his order doesn't see it like this, but I think what Ramakrishna proved was that the Shakta concept of ishta devata can extend beyond Indian religion. When Devi says she is the essence of all divine forms, she doesn't specify the likes of Jesus because he is not part of the Hindu tradition. From my point of view, it seems more like Ramakrishna was able to let go of the form and aspects of Kali and find new ways of connecting to Saguna and Nirguna Brahman.

The part I have an especially hard time with is, he would have had to let go of his understanding of non-dualism in order to practise monotheistic religions in their pure form, and I don't see how he would be able to do that after he had first hand experience of his reality of advaita.

However, what I do agree with is that other religions are true ways to experience divinity. I just think their own saints are better evidence of this than Ramakrishna is. Even though I do greatly admire him.

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

The interesting thing about meditation...

I learned how to do japa from reading Deepak Chopra lol. I'm not so much a fan anymore, but his book How to Know God was my favourite book when I was a teenager. I sometimes do other types of meditation as well, but japa is the only one I have done a lot of and consistently. It is only in the last few years that I started working with Patanjali's advice.

For what it's worth, I have read Ashtavakra Gita. I preferred Avadhuta Gita, but really they were both a bit much for me. I am still holding onto copies of them, in the hopes that if I come back to them in a few years, I might see something different in them.

The Upanishad I read most often is probably Mundaka. Shvetashvatara has some especially beautiful passages as well.

[ajay00]

Originally Posted by Meerkat

It's interesting how things develop. I practised satipatthana (mindfulness) for many years in a Buddhist context. I worked mainly with the sense bases (sights sounds, sensations etc), and gradually became aware of a great stillness beneath the movement of mind and senses. I couldn't find an explanation in the Buddhist context so I've been exploring Hinduism for the last couple of years.

Yes, this is the Self (awareness) which is emphasized in Hinduism.


The lower sense of false self arises by identification with thoughts and emotions.