A Little Wisdom
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Profound, and just what I needed . . . you have explained that beautifully. - VB
Crank is what crank does - Mooh is not unfit! |
Ancient Jokers
WANTING to correct their minds, the ancient jokers strove to make their wills sincere.Wanting to cultivate themselves by exerting will, they depended on mature, relevant outlooks from likeable and proper minds -
To arrive at minds like that or correct their minds, they had to use the will power in partners or themselves - or some measure of sound prowess - yes, they tried to make their wills sincere to cultivate agreeable minds so as to log out of the whole universe.
Go for well-being, teaches Buddha
It should be wise enough to make a proper examination before committing.Buddha advises, "Do not believe something just because it is cited in a text - Do not believe something thinking, "This is what our teacher says".
But when you yourselves directly know, "These things are wholesome, blameless, praised by the wise; when adopted and carried out they lead to well-being, prosperity and happiness", then you should accept and practise them." [Extracts from the Kesamutti Sutta].
To reject gems is not good enough
- Accept gem standards wherever you come across them. Unless you have such freedom, plots may accrue in time.
- Prosperity and well-being: Many a bathing crowd has it. Go for it and do not get stuck by it either. Aiming well is not going for material affluence alone. Wealth is one among several worthy life goals in Hinduism and Buddhism.
- Master this in time: let what is spontaneous give good fortune.
Renounce the world, and also renounce renunciation . . . (Avadhut Gita 4,21]
"Who spends before he thrives, will beg before he thinks (Proverb)."
It seems stupid to look down on the common man, if he gives alms to wandering holy men, or monks like St. Francis. He might not have survived many a winter but for the help of many so-called common men with homes and provisions.
Laws
What if something untoward happens? Religions and societies have laws to conform to ensure stability and control - not necessarily just peace, but a stability that serves those on top, mainly, for example through some established, bulwarked system."How valid are the Laws of Manu nowadays? Rationality, good conscience, and a sane mind are not worth forsaking.
Scriptures and laws
Every book must be chewed to get out its juice (Chinese proverb).There are intricacies in it. Laws of Manu, or Manu Samhita in the translation of G. Bühler, decrees, "When two sacred texts (Sruti) are conflicting, both are held to be law; for both are pronounced by the wise (to be) valid law. [Laws of Manu, 2:12-14]
Is that so? Rather, if one hoary and gruff text says you should kill your mother for something, please refrain. If you dare, dictate a tiny scripture that overrules the other rule, for example. Why think that scriptures have to be old to be valid? Or old to be of use? Overcome such foggy weakness. It is insistence that makes the scripture. For example, the Bible contained many books that are no longer included in it (the Apocrypha), and the Christian part of it, the New Testament, is not part of what the Jews consider the scriptures either. It us upheld insistence that breeds the scripture status.
A crisis hint: In a pucker, some interpret scriptures of others as metaphorical, and say they don't mean what they clearly say. Some theologians serve such an end too - they explain away commands and teachings that seem too hard to back up, for example.
Yogananda's Great Begging
To beg is to ask for something, to entreat. It suggests insistence in asking for favours, maybe while assuming a posture of humility, and so on. To become first-class renouncers or swamis, some beg for super-human assistance from those who are willing to take on huge responsibility on their behalf. By contrast, "Freely you have received, freely give." [Matthew 10:8]. No begging is needed in such a set-up.The coming paramahansa Yogananda to his guru Yukteswar:
Another scene from his autobiography:"I . . . was determined, as his disciple, to press my advantage.
"You are of exacting disposition." [See Ha 103]
"How priceless is a guru's help. . . . Finding difficulty ... one evening I paid a visit to Lahiri Mahasaya and pleaded for his divine intercession . . . during the entire night." [Ha 25]Here is one more Yogananda scene:
Another scene:
"Holy sir, thine intercession! Ask Divine Mother if I find any favour ...!"
The future world guru shamelessly gripped his feet, deaf to remonstrance, and besought again and again for intervening grace. [Ha 75]
Yogananda, at that time a guru for many Americans, would not even let another die in peace, but begged then too.
What if you don't think begging is decent or all right in the first place? Suspect that real worth is not a worth that's attained by being a top-notch at begging, as "He is an old dog who knows not an old enemy.
Much and real worth is not a fruit of begging only. Maturity is into it at times, self-actualisation, accomplishments, and more. Solid future attainments stem from genuineness.
Ramakrishna
The literature surrounding Ramakrishna reveals a deep truism - note the steps:- First they thought he was crank or insane.
- Next he got jovially accepted.
- Finally that rare one was hailed as some godhood - an avatar.
As for guru visions, who knows what they may be taken to mean?
Holy
Better a castle of bones than of stones. [Dp 227]It is taught that God is inside us or with us, and that it pays to show the right God respect - by living decently, a clean body and sane, moral mind, a wisely furnished home, and so on. That is a basic outlook, and may be aligned to the main thrust Buddha's teachings nicely.
Really holy is most likely child-natured. Go on to ask: Is anything more holy in nature than staunch vivacity? It is not publicity at any rate.
Given the premises of Jesus, if he did not tell the truth he is not holy and God. And according to passages in the gospels and New Testament, he did not always tell the truth. Be an able fact-finder the sooner the better.
Real holiness is not ritualistic in essence. It is being quite child-like in good ways, and fond of delicate tact, frivolous play, and humour. Much great deviates from the common anyway.
Because hundreds of thousands of Americans ignore or are uninstructed in Christianity, Christianity-fakers may end up with colossal prestige given to them by simpletons in numbers. Cult members - they believe almost anything:
SRF members trust all of it because their Master has said it, alas.One of the patron saints of Kashmir, the 14th-century Lalla . . . practiced a technique, closely allied to Kriya Yoga . . . The saint dematerialised herself in fire. [Pa 201n]
Points added
No universe, no infinity to grasp by it.There are those who qualify for big things - Pride goes before a fall (Proverb)
Some of us may perceive the Norse Mjolne - the hammering boom bang from deep inside. You can tune in to that deep and cosmic vibration till you get senseless, sort of. That hammering sound route is a deep, majestic sound delving route available through initiation. There are those who qualify . . . [Cf. Ng] Top athletic training may accelerate the coming of Mjolne - (and few understand it).
Skilful Tantric training goes much against getting haughty and marringly religious-looking. We can try instead to get a sense of worth from our solid accomplishments.
In Siva Purana much of what insistent religion is about could be formulated: "Find your opponent's weak points and there attack." [Cf. Si]
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