Theos-Talk Archives (March 2004 Message tt00005)

March 1 2004

RE: MEDITATION and LAW - PERSONAL and IMPERSONAL

Dear Friends:


In the BHAGAVAD GITA ( pp. 45 -49) Sri Krishna, in Chapter 6 offers a simple recipe for a magnetically insulated "seat" to be used by the devotees who desire to mediate on the Supreme Spirit..

This may be an outer expression of an inner resolution and definition, and this ought to be sought for in the "heart" of the devotee by himself.

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"The man who hath spiritual knowledge and discernment, who standeth upon the pinnacle, and hath subdued the senses, to whom gold and stone are the same, is said to be devoted. 

And he is esteemed among all who, whether amongst his friends and companions, in the midst of enemies or those who stand aloof or remain neutral, withthose who love and those who hate, and in the company of sinners or the righteous, is of equal mind. 

"He who has attained to meditation should constantly strive to stay at restin the Supreme,

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* In this play upon "self" the Higher and the lower self are meant, in thatthe lower is the enemy of the Higher through its resistance to true development; and the lower self is at the same time the enemy of its own best interests through its downward tendency.
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remaining in solitude and seclusion, having his body and his thoughts undercontrol, without possessions and free from hope. He should in an undefiledspot place his seat, firm, neither too high nor too low, and made of kusa grass which is covered with a skin and a cloth. * 

There, for the self's purification he should practice meditation with his mind fixed on one point, the modifications of the thinking principle controlled and the action of the senses and organs restrained. 

Keeping his body, head, and neck firm and erect, with mind determined, and gaze directed to the tip of his nose without looking in any direction, withheart at peace and free from fear, the Yogee should remain, settled in thevow of a Brahmacharya, his thoughts controlled, and heart fixed on me. Thedevotee of controlled mind who thus always bringeth his heart to rest in the Supreme reacheth that

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* These directions are for those hermits who have retired from the world. Many of the translators have variously construed the text; one reads that the devotee has "only skin and sheet to cover him and grass to lie upon"; another that "his goods are a cloth and deerskin and kusa grass." "Those who know" say that this is a description of a magnetically arranged seat and that kusa grass is laid on the ground, the skin on the grass, and the cloth onthe skin. Philological discussion will never decide the point. 
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tranquility, the supreme assimilation with me. 

"This divine discipline, Arjuna, is not to be attained by the man who eateth more than enough or too little, nor by him who hath a habit of sleeping much, nor by him who is given to overwatching. 

The meditation which destroyeth pain is produced in him who is moderate in eating and in recreation, of moderate exertion in his actions, and regulated in sleeping and waking.

When the man, so living, centers his heart in the true Self and is exempt from attachment to all desires, he is said to have attained to Yoga. 

Of the sage of self-centered heart, at rest and free from attachment to desires, the simile is recorded, 'as a lamp which is sheltered from the wind flickereth not.' When regulated by the practice of yoga and at rest, seeing the self by the self, he is contented; when he becometh acquainted with that boundless bliss which is not connected with objects of the senses, and being where he is not moved from the reality; *having gained which he considereth no other superior to it, and in which,

-------------------------FOOTNOTE------------------------------
* "Reality," Nirvana and also complete realization of the True and the disappearance of the illusion as to objects and separateness. 
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being fixed, he is not moved even by the greatest grief; know that this disconnection from union with pain is distinguished as yoga, spiritual union or devotion, which is to be striven after by a man with faith and steadfastly. 

"When he hath abandoned every desire that ariseth from the imagination and subdued with the mind the senses and organs which impel to action in every direction, being possessed of patience, he by degrees finds rest; and, having fixed his mind at rest in the true Self, he should think of nothing else. 

To whatsoever object the inconstant mind goeth out he should subdue it, bring it back, and place it upon the Spirit. 

Supreme bliss surely cometh to the sage whose mind is thus at peace; whose passions and desires are thus subdued; who is thus in the true Self and free from sin. He who is thus devoted and free from sin obtaineth without hindrance the highest bliss―union with the Supreme Spirit. 

The man who is endued with this devotion and who seeth the unity of all things perceiveth the Supreme Soul in all things and all things in the SupremeSoul. He who seeth me in all things and all things in me looseneth not hishold on me and I forsake him not. 

And whosoever, believing in spiritual unity, worshipeth me who am in all things, dwelleth with me in whatsoever condition he may be. He, O Arjuna, whoby the similitude found in himself seeth but one essence in all things, whether they be evil or good, is considered to be the most excellent devotee."
BHAGAVAD GITA , Ch. 6, pp. 45-49

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Additionally in NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD BHAGAVAD GITA( pp. 126-131) Mr. Judgewrites on meditation: --

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"Renunciation, equal-mindedness, true meditation, the golden mean in action, the unity of all things, the nature of rebirth and the effect of devotionupon it and devachan, are all touched upon. 

It is a most practical chapter which would benefit students immensely if fully grasped and followed. The mistakes made many thousand years ago by disciples were the same as those of today. Today, just as then, there are thosewho think true renunciation consists in doing nothing except for themselves, in retiring from active duties, and in devoting their attention to what they are pleased to call self-development. 

On the other hand are those who mistake incessant action for true devotion.The true path is between these two. 

The forsaking of worldly action― called sannyas ― is the same as what is known in Europe as the monastic life, especially in some veryascetic orders. Adopted selfishly under a mistaken notion of duty it cannot be true devotion. It is merely an attempt to save oneself. The course adopted by some theosophical students very much resembles this erroneous method, although it is practiced in the freedom of the world and not behind monastery walls. 

To be a true renouncer of action and a devotee one must put the problem on another plane. 

On the physical brain plane there is no way of reconciling a contradiction such as appears to exist in the direction to perform actions and yet renounce their performance. It is exactly here that many readers of the Bhagavad-Gita stop and are confused. They have for so long been accustomed to thinking of the physical and living in it, the terms used for their thought are so material in their application, that, seeing this contradiction, they say that the book will not benefit them. 

But considering the difficulty from the view that the real actor is the mind, that acts are not the dead outward expressions of them, but are the thoughts themselves, we can see how one can be both a renouncer and a devotee, how we can outwardly perform every action, multitudes of them, being as active as anyone who is wrapped up in worldly pursuits, and yet be ourselves unattached and unaffected. 

Duty and the final imperative ― the “what ought I to do”― comes in here and becomes a part of the process. The actions to be performed are not any and every one. We are not to go on heedlesslyand indiscriminately doing everything that is suggested. We must discover what actions ought to be performed by us and do them for that reason and not because of some result we expect to follow. The fact that we may be perfectly certain of the result is no reason for allowing our interest to fastenupon that. Here again is where certain theosophists think they have a great difficulty. They say that knowing the result one is sure to become interested in it. But this is the very task to be essayed -- to so hold one's mind and desires as not to be attached to the result. 

By pursuing this practice true meditation is begun and will soon become permanent. For one who watches his thoughts and acts, so as to perform those that ought to be done, will acquire a concentration in time which will increase the power of real meditation. It is not meditation to stare at a spot on the wall for a fixed period, or to remain for another space of time in a perfectly vacuous mental state which soon runs into sleep. 

All those things are merely forms which in the end will do no lasting good.But many students have run after these follies, ignoring the true way. Thetruth is that the right method is not easy; it requires thought and mentaleffort, with persistency and faith. Staring at spots and such miscalled occult practices are very easy in comparison with the former. 

However, we are human and weak. As such we require help, for the outer selfcannot succeed in the battle. So Krishna points out that the lower self isto be raised up by the help of the higher; that the lower is, as it were, the enemy of the higher, and we must not allow the worse to prevail. It will all depend upon self-mastery. 

The self below will continually drag down the man who is not self-conquered. This is because that lower one is so near the thick darkness that hangs about the lower rungs of evolution's ladder it is partly devil. Like a heavyweight it will drag into the depths the one who does not try to conquer himself. 

But on its other side the self is near to divinity, and when conquered it becomes the friend and helper of the conqueror. 

The Sufis, the Mohammedan mystical sect, symbolize this in their poetry relating to the beautiful woman who appears but for a moment at the window andthen disappears. She refuses to open the door to her lover as long as he refers to their being separate; but when he recognizes their unity then she becomes his firm friend. 

The next few verses in the Gîta outline that which is extremely difficult ― equal-mindedness, and intentness upon the Supreme Being in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, success and failure. We cannot reach to this easily, perhaps not in many lives, but we can try. Every effort we make in that direction will be preserved in the inner nature and cannot be lost at death. It is a spiritual gain, the riches laid up in heaven to which Jesus referred. 

To describe the perfection of equal-mindedness is to picture an adept of the highest degree, one who has passed beyond all worldly considerations and lives on higher planes. Gold and stones are the same to him. The objects heseeks to accomplish are not to be reached through gold, and so it and the pebbles have the same value. He is also so calm and free from delusion of mind and soul that he remains the same whether with enemies or friends, withthe righteous or the sinners. 

This high condition is therefore set before us as an ideal to be slowly butsteadfastly striven after so that in the course of time we may come near it. If we never begin we will never accomplish, and it is far better to adopt this high ideal, even though failing constantly, than to have no ideal whatever. 

But some are likely to make a mistake herein. Indeed they have done so. They set up the ideal, but in a too material and human manner. Then they thought to walk on the chosen path by outward observance, by pretending to regard gold and stones as the same to them, while in their hearts they preferredthe gold. 

Their equal-mindedness they confined to other people's affairs, while they displeased and alarmed all relatives and friends by the manner of riding this hobby and by wrong neglect of obvious duty. Truly they sought for equal-mindedness, but failed to see that it can only be acquired through right performance of duty, and not by selecting the duties and environments that please us."
BHAGAVAD GITA NOTES, pp. 126-131

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It must be remembered that Krishna came as a reformer of Brahmanism and lived over 5,000 years ago -- at the time when cycles changed and Kali-Yuga began.  

We might conclude that His mighty words and ideas will resound down the ages in one form or another for the following 427,000 y\ears (the cycle of theKali Yuga is 432,000 years). 

Best wishes,


Dallas

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-----Original Message-----
From: krishtar
Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 5:54 AM
To: 
Subject: MEDITATION and LAW - PERSONAL and IMPERSONAL


Hi friends


Have you ever participated in the e-group called "OriginalMind group"?
Has anyone any clue to tell about it?

I have received two invitations from it and do not know the "quality" of it.
Any impressions welcome.

thanks in advance.

Krishtar