Views on Humans and Animals

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Views of Others
Mahadevan Views in Hand T

Views of Others

The egg, Hiranyagarbha, is said to be That which all come from. Did the egg come first?

Animals and things are said to be That. But they seem to have to go through an awful lot to get consciously aware of being That, in part against many leanings of Nature.
Instead of thinking very much of rather imponderable things, learn TM and also add fit exercise.

Rat Tale

Dorothy Maclean, one of the originators of the Findhorn Community in northwest Scotland, once was troubled by rats. She laughingly recount that as the fledgling community grew, the compost piles were neglected and they got rats. The rats would chatter away at night under Dorothy's caravan, keeping her awake. After three nights without sleep, she got desperate and tuned into the rat kingdom spiritually. She asked for help and had no problems for the next four years. When she eventually moved into another caravan, the new tenant of her old caravan came running to tell her that the rats were driving him crazy! [Link]

What about Rats?

Hindus also allow rats a lot. It shows up that rats are friendly if they are not persecuted, and in India there are also holy rats, venerated by humans much bigger than themselves. At a certain place in India a huge stone temple stands in honour of one goddess that is thought to manifest herself through holy rats that swarm around at that place. The Karni Mata Temple in Rajastan hosts over 20,000 holy rats. The rats get regularly fed on milk, and never get base and crucial treatment for being just who they are.
If you need to see thousands of temple-rats swim and bathe in milk and crawl in the hair and turbans and all over people sitting there - it may remind one of spoon-feeding babies - there is a place for it.
The Rat - wise, charming, and a great survivor - may also disappear from the public eye. [Ast 369-70] (7)
Here in the West we favour the cat, as evidenced in tales like Dick Whittington's Cat. Dick's way was one of letting a cat catch rats. (9)
Rats have got a very bad reputation in the West, in part undeservedly. For example, humans spread AIDS to humans, rats hardly ever, if at all. (13)
Is it sure that humans have greater will and energy to push through a brick wall than rats? The rat may bite through steel wires and ceramic building blocks in walls.

Non-Violence Mishmash

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) first taught non-violence (called ahimsa) in the walks of life. But for the Second World War Yogananda said disciples had better go to war - several years after he had hailed dictatorship and spoken well of Hitler and Mussolini (in 1933). His fellowship still spreads his non-violence teachings, but talks minimally about his dictatorship-hailing. Still, his followers consider his every word - that they have heard of - holy cows and without fault. It is due to ignorance.
Yogananda also said that where there is a will, there is a way. Still the Sahara Desert is a desert.
Salt in a wound is not to be considered marring if it hinders the amputation of a limb. (3)

Humble Thanks for the Cow

"A cow must not be killed" is amiable.

"A cow must not be killed," is the verdict of the Markandeya Purana [Ma 592]. (4)

Competing for Dwindling Resources

And there is competition on the surface of the earth. If you establish an orchand, maybe the deer that is hunted no more, becomes your competitor, and "eats the fruits of your garden" - even "eats you out of your house".
Shrinking forests make elephants eat the rice of farmers and do havoc thereby, which make the farmers hate the elephants.
It also behoves man to be bold enough to reject a bad mistress - no matter how lovely, holy and incarnated she first appears in the eyes of the jaundiced man. "To the jaundiced eye, everything is yellow" (Proverb). (#1.1)

Mahadevan Views in Hand

Experience of God is Hard to Define

IN ANCIENT INDIA and regular Upanishadic thinking the cosmic reality was thought to be the same - or some sameness [much like a "this-like" field of existence, to pinpoint it], but names varied. In this towering philosophy there was plenty of scope for transmigration, and the big cosmos wasn't denied. And so far is rooted in Professor T. Mahadevan's summary. [Xmd 176, 178, 172. (1)
Cosmic intelligence, cosmic giants: often, "cosmic" is only a word. It may be good to know. It can mean "of the universe", "in the universe", or, to put it more academically: "of or relating to the cosmos, the extraterrestrial vastness, or the universe in contrast to the earth alone; characterized by greatness especially in extent, intensity, or comprehensiveness" [Merriam-Webster].
The Upanishadic cosmism of repeated existences hardly denies that the notion of the Absolute (fairly close to Immanuel Kant's notion) is some sentient experience. The concept or experience of Brahman (much like Western God) cannot be defined - and that concept is much acosmic in Vedic literature. [Cf. Xmd 175, 173] (2)
Terms like "cosmic consciousness, cosmic intelligence, cosmic giants (or man-fishers) indicate expanded awareness.

Experiences that are hard to define, easily breed wrong or limping notions. Be prepared for that

It takes one to know one (Saying)

How goddy do you feel?

There is an undying atman (godhood) deep in man, say many scriptures. According to the New Testament the soul or self in a man can be routed out. Yogananda decreed that he was one hundred per cent aligned to the original teachings of Christ of the gospel and still tells the soul is undying. ""Each soul is a part of God and is therefore imperishable," says Yogananda in the book Sayings of Yogananda [Say 23].
Indians also love to say, "All paths lead to the same goal" - 180. In the light of the foregoing, there is ample reason to doubt it 100 per cent.
A limited or finite God is a contradiction in terms, says Dr. Mahadevan, who also means: "Brahman (God) cannot be defined." These two utterances hardly go well along together. Dr. Mahadevan deals with some definitions, and next goes on to say that his topic of investigation by such definitions, is not covered anyway.
Be wiser than the doctor: If you say you cannot define a thing, refrain from it in the first place and live well. Deep concerns require deep ponderers. 169, 173. (7)(#1.1)

Gist

Experience of your inmost Essence is hard to define -
Experiences that are hard to define, easily breed wrong or limping notions through suggestions.
It takes a god to know a god. "The god of the cannibals will be a cannibal, of the merchants a merchant. [With Emerson]"

Your inmost being is perhaps hard to define, but it contains your godside.

Literature
Ak: Yogananda, Pa.: Man's Eternal Quest. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1975.
Ap: Mieder, Wolfgang (main editor), Stewart A. Kingsbury, and Kelsie E. Harder: A Dictionary of American Proverbs. (Paperback) New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Pa: Yogananda, Pa.: Autobiography of a Yogi. 11th ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1971. – ONLINE 1st edition
Say: Yogananda, Pa.: Sayings of Yogananda. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1958.

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