Thesis on Kundalini

[Guest guest]

Dear Matthew,

 

I believe that all people do not have the ear for music, just as

all people have no taste for poetry or painting.This is not to sound

elitist, but to reiterate a fact of nature. Similarly, some people

have a peculiar senstiveness to certain types of psychic

experiences, whom the society rever as saints.I can be corrected.

 

As to the ontlogical problem, in deep psychical experience , the

mystic feels the basic unity of all phenomena and finds peace with

himself. But this inner transformation means nothing to the outside

world, which goes on with all its struggles and woes. The

commonsense view compels us to recognise variety in phenomena

which to a mystic may be only an illusion. Hence the difference in

the ontological pespective. All this is , of course not something

new. Advaitins like Sankara make a distinction between vyavaharika

and paramarthika planes of existence and put the latter on a higher

pedestal. Philosophers like Bertrand Russell would like to reverse

the hierarch by arguing that the commonsense view is the real one.

 

Thanks a lot for your comments.

 

Rajendran

 

 

Dr.C.Rajendran

Professor of

Sanskrit

 

 

 

University of Calicut

Calicut University

P.O

Kerala 673 635 Phone: 0494-2401144

Residential address:28/1097,Rajadhani Kumaran Nair Road,

Chevayur, Calicut Kerala 673 017 Phone: 0495-2354 624

 

 

 

Dear Rajendran,

 

Sadly, I do have to admit that there are those who cannot carry a

tune even though there seems to be nothing wrong with their hearing

apparatus. In fact, I have a few friends in such a predicament,

though I still cling to the hope that they are not beyond reach if

the interest to learn is there.

 

So yes, it has to be admitted that people are born with a lesser or

greater predisposition to the spiritual life. Yet, so long as the

breath comes in and goes out, so long as thoughts play in the mind,

it is certain that the aatman is present. That being the case,

everyone is qualified, everyone can benefit from saadhana. Reading

the Bhagavad Gita, I don't recall Shree Krishna ever declaring that

anyone was permanently disqualified from becoming a yogi. Rather,

he lays out various methods to suit the temperaments or talents, if

you will, of the various aspirants.

 

I think is important to realise what the goal of spiritual life

really is: to realise the unity of the jivaatman and the

paramaatman. My favorite description of the paramaatman---which

by nature is said to be indescribable!---is sacchidaananda. I love

this because the 3 parts of sacchidaananda are part of our everyday

experience.

 

sat + cit + aananda

 

Suppose I were to gather up a basket of various fruits, vegetables,

and other things, climb a tree, and turn the basket upside down.

Everything within the basket instantly falls back into the arms of

Mother Earth. In fact, her love for all the objects of the world is

so constant that nothing escapes her jealous grasp for long. Birds,

airplanes, and other rebellious types my enjoy some short-lived

freedoms but they ultimately tire or run out of gas and have to

return. What a miracle it would be if we found someone or something

that was immune to her affections. How great that would be! How

impressive!

 

The force of gravity on the surface of the Earth is an every-day

experience of the quality of sat: truth that is everlasting at all

times.

 

Cit, the power of consciousness, is self-evident.

 

Aananda. We all have happy moments in our lives. The yogis declare

that these moments are actually glimpses or reflections of the

supreme joy, the paramaananda that is the nature of the

paramaatman. The supreme happiness that God enjoys is the same

happiness that is the birthright of all human beings. To attain

this happiness is the real goal of saadhana. Supernatural phenomena

and other displays are really only the side effects of saadhana and

actually are to be shunned by the yogi. He or she is taught to

regard these as great enemies that have the power to destroy

whatever merit he/she has gained thus far.

 

The paramaatman by definition is supreme, above, and beyond all

things, yet it is still within our reach because even though we may

feel that we are separate and distinct jivas, we really aren't so

separate after all. In fact, we depend upon the paramaatman for the

very existence of our jivaatman which is like a bubble of the

Supreme Self that has been turned inside-out. Segue to our

ontological problem...

 

Having experienced happiness and peace within, the yogi also

experiences the same outside. Yet the capability to function in the

world is not necessarily destroyed. Looking to the Mahabharata once

again, Krishna is the example of how a fully realised soul might

behave in the context of creation and all its so-called problems.

Having sipped the nectar of the inner joy, the yogi naturally

becomes aligned with the Cosmic Order and fits within it according

to his/her role. The Yoga Vasistha also contains many stories that

illustrate this point. If a physicist, having come to the

conclusion that all matter is composed of atoms and molecules, is

still able to dress himself, eat, drink, and pay the bills, why

should it be so hard for a yogi to similarly function after

realising the truth within? It is true that there exist some yogis

who appear to be completely uninvolved in the world, but there are

also many who continue to act the part that they accepted at birth.

 

Yours,

 

Matt