Guest guest Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Continued from Part 15... As I stood outside the souvenir shop, conversing with X1, I was struck by his intensity. Upto that point, I had not come across any other ashramite with the kind of intensity that was evident in his mien. I don't remember exactly how it came up, but at some point in our conversation, we touched on the subject of death. X1 said to me with considerable feeling, "Death is a joke. If anyone dies here, we have more than enough people to take the body out to the beach and cremate it after performing the last rites." In his telling, death was not even a comma, much less the full stop that most people take it to be. I did not find his view or sentiment particularly jarring as the subject of death had come up in my own ruminations, over the years. The status of death, in my view, has evolved from an early glorification of its false potential as an antidote to the misery of life to something bordering on irrelevance. X1 seemed to be on the same page as I was. Later, on my return from India, I happened to mention X1 in a meeting with some local acquaintances (members of the Amma satsang). I was giving them a brief account of my visit to Amritapuri and told them that I met up with so and so from their country. Thereupon, I was treated to the view that X1 was a somewhat crazy fellow. "Do you know, he has even asked Amma for death?!" That was the clincher, in their view. Anyone who was not absolutely brimming over with the sheer delight of living must be a total lunatic. Edgar Allan Poe would never have penetrated their stony hearts with his famous lines: Thank Heaven! The crisis, The danger, is past, And the lingering illness Is over at last - And the fever called "Living" Is conquered at last. With some effort, I managed to repress my contempt for their view and even feigned an expression of mild incredulousness. I asked, "Did he really do that?" But in my mind, I was not surprised at all. There was so much suffering in the world and a modicum of that was reflected in my own life. It was not hard for me to visualize that people might be driven to despair by their circumstances, even to the point of desiring death. I found myself at odds with their rating of X1 as inferior to some of the other characters (not yet discussed) who were seen to be more conventional and also 'cool'. Those other characters, like my acquaintances in the present instance, appeared to be practitioners of a brand of spirituality that involved bhajans, 'hanging out' and other soft options with near zero effort aimed at integrating Amma's teachings into their daily lives. In my deeply felt but diplomatically unarticulated view, this kind of superficial subscription to spirituality was only marginally better than being hooked to MTV. I decided immediately that X1 had to be a good guy, my kind of fellow, if these folks did not like him. I also guessed that the converse was likely to hold good ie. it might be a good idea for me to give their favorites a wide berth. I had nothing but the deepest respect for people such as X1 who engaged deeply with the questions of life and death, who experimented with their own lives out of scientific curiosity, with an air of nonchalance and for whom spirituality was not a fad. On the other hand, my regard for 'devotees' who jetted from Japan to Switzerland to sing with Amma's choir but who exhibited only pettiness in their daily lives was not very high, to put it mildly. I realize I am being totally judgmental here but I have never claimed unity with Brahman. However I would like to qualify my judgments by pointing to the possibility of error. There is a possibility, however remote, that my reading of these people is totally wrong and they are really Jnanis/Bhaktas of a high order who have just done an exceptionally good job of camouflaging themselves. If that is the case, I am guilty of gross ignorance and misrepresentation. To be continued in Part 17... Previous episodes blogged at http://www.sulekha.com/weblogs/listingsbyblog.asp?pg=1&blogid=750 Om Amriteshwaryai Namah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 - faintglow Ammachi Saturday, November 08, 2003 12:24 AM My Amritapuri Experience: Part 16 Ah, Dear Faintglow, How wonderfully worded! You commented that you might have misinterpreted the actions you mentioned, and that's always a huge possibility with anything our monkey minds think they've figured out -but it also follows right along with Mother's "warning" that going from holy place to holy place without true understanding is misguided. One of my favorite lines from adolescent literature says "We heard the Teaching, but we took it all wrong." As for death- I thought our experience in this lifespan and these forms was supposed to help us see that this is not where, or how, we wish to remain. Certainly there is great beauty to behold, and I wonder what could be better than the taste of a perfect peach or the fragrance of lilacs, but for each "good" there is a "bad." Roses smell wonderful, but many species carry a defense mechanism of staph - prick your hand trying to capture one and it's not so wonderful. I also thank my body daily for its excellence service - and politely do not mention that I am aware it is full of bugs, parasites, waste, and is in the active process of decaying. So it seems, to me anyway, that there may well be delight in living but death has a pretty strong upside, too. Om Namaha Shivaya, Snehalata Continued from Part 15... As I stood outside the souvenir shop, conversing with X1, I was struck by his intensity. Upto that point, I had not come across any other ashramite with the kind of intensity that was evident in his mien. I don't remember exactly how it came up, but at some point in our conversation, we touched on the subject of death. X1 said to me with considerable feeling, "Death is a joke. If anyone dies here, we have more than enough people to take the body out to the beach and cremate it after performing the last rites." In his telling, death was not even a comma, much less the full stop that most people take it to be. I did not find his view or sentiment particularly jarring as the subject of death had come up in my own ruminations, over the years. The status of death, in my view, has evolved from an early glorification of its false potential as an antidote to the misery of life to something bordering on irrelevance. X1 seemed to be on the same page as I was. Later, on my return from India, I happened to mention X1 in a meeting with some local acquaintances (members of the Amma satsang). I was giving them a brief account of my visit to Amritapuri and told them that I met up with so and so from their country. Thereupon, I was treated to the view that X1 was a somewhat crazy fellow. "Do you know, he has even asked Amma for death?!" That was the clincher, in their view. Anyone who was not absolutely brimming over with the sheer delight of living must be a total lunatic. Edgar Allan Poe would never have penetrated their stony hearts with his famous lines: Thank Heaven! The crisis, The danger, is past, And the lingering illness Is over at last - And the fever called "Living" Is conquered at last. With some effort, I managed to repress my contempt for their view and even feigned an expression of mild incredulousness. I asked, "Did he really do that?" But in my mind, I was not surprised at all. There was so much suffering in the world and a modicum of that was reflected in my own life. It was not hard for me to visualize that people might be driven to despair by their circumstances, even to the point of desiring death. I found myself at odds with their rating of X1 as inferior to some of the other characters (not yet discussed) who were seen to be more conventional and also 'cool'. Those other characters, like my acquaintances in the present instance, appeared to be practitioners of a brand of spirituality that involved bhajans, 'hanging out' and other soft options with near zero effort aimed at integrating Amma's teachings into their daily lives. In my deeply felt but diplomatically unarticulated view, this kind of superficial subscription to spirituality was only marginally better than being hooked to MTV. I decided immediately that X1 had to be a good guy, my kind of fellow, if these folks did not like him. I also guessed that the converse was likely to hold good ie. it might be a good idea for me to give their favorites a wide berth. I had nothing but the deepest respect for people such as X1 who engaged deeply with the questions of life and death, who experimented with their own lives out of scientific curiosity, with an air of nonchalance and for whom spirituality was not a fad. On the other hand, my regard for 'devotees' who jetted from Japan to Switzerland to sing with Amma's choir but who exhibited only pettiness in their daily lives was not very high, to put it mildly. I realize I am being totally judgmental here but I have never claimed unity with Brahman. However I would like to qualify my judgments by pointing to the possibility of error. There is a possibility, however remote, that my reading of these people is totally wrong and they are really Jnanis/Bhaktas of a high order who have just done an exceptionally good job of camouflaging themselves. If that is the case, I am guilty of gross ignorance and misrepresentation. To be continued in Part 17... Previous episodes blogged at http://www.sulekha.com/weblogs/listingsbyblog.asp?pg=1&blogid=750 Om Amriteshwaryai Namah Sponsor Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha! Ammachi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 Ammachi, "Dixie Thacker" <dixielou@s...> wrote: > > > As for death- I thought our experience in this lifespan and these forms was supposed to help us see that this is not where, or how, we wish to remain. Certainly there is great beauty to behold, and I wonder what could be better than the taste of a perfect peach or the fragrance of lilacs, but for each "good" there is a "bad." Roses smell wonderful, but many species carry a defense mechanism of staph - prick your hand trying to capture one and it's not so wonderful. I also thank my body daily for its excellence service - and politely do not mention that I am aware it is full of bugs, parasites, waste, and is in the active process of decaying. So it seems, to me anyway, that there may well be delight in living but death has a pretty strong upside, too. > > Om Namaha Shivaya, > Snehalata > > > Dear Snehalata, My friends and acquaintances think it weird of me, but I confess to thinking about my future death at least once a day, not in a morbid way or as wishful thinking (LOL), but as a way of practicing stepping back and resting in the immortal Silence which is the true essence of each of us. I use my daily contemplation of death as an anchor to help me remember how precious my time on earth is to practice resting in the Self, and how vain it is to believe in the permanence of anything I might wish to cling to in the phenomenal world. I consider my time spent with death in this way to be a core part of my spiritual practices, one that has arisen naturally over the course of many years after experiencing a near death experience that was so blissful and filled with unconditional Love that it defies description. I consider death a friend, not an enemy--a reward for a life well-lived and well-loved. Pam :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 9, 2003 Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 Ammachi, "pamkowal" <kowalsbuff@m...> wrote: > Dear Snehalata, > My friends and acquaintances think it weird of me, but I confess > to thinking about my future death at least once a day, not in a > morbid way or as wishful thinking (LOL), but as a way of practicing > stepping back and resting in the immortal Silence which is the true > essence of each of us. I use my daily contemplation of death as an > anchor to help me remember how precious my time on earth is to > practice resting in the Self, and how vain it is to believe in the > permanence of anything I might wish to cling to in the phenomenal > world. I consider my time spent with death in this way to be a core > part of my spiritual practices, one that has arisen naturally over > the course of many years after experiencing a near death experience > that was so blissful and filled with unconditional Love that it > defies description. I consider death a friend, not an enemy--a > reward for a life well-lived and well-loved. Pam :-) I second that. I do not think it is weird, and do consider it as part of my spiritual cleansing. I am aware, atleast once and sometimes more than that, of my impending (in the near or distant future) death. Till sometime back, I was detached about it, but of late questions of 'what after death etc' have arisen in my mind. I take it as a sign of either growing attachment to life etc, or of lack of trust in my Guru's ability or intent to take care of me in the afterlife. Either way, it is not good for me. I love Amma dearly. I wish I got more chance to spend with her, so that I could 'centre' myself around Her, and yet be able to perform my daily duties. I know that left to myself, I could not centre for nuts, and also intuitively know that the magnetizing power of Amma's presence or of her disciples can help me 'permanently center myself' to Her. I wish I could say I embody the Zen master who realizes himself, and yet carries the bag of life on his shoulder with a smile of total surrender to existence's infinite intelligence. I know I cannot say that. That is my goal though .... I hope goals are not a deterrent to being so ..... or at arriving so. In other words, I hope that, by keeping a goal (as opposed to a fancy wish or a silly desire), I am not 'efforting' to get to the effortless state. Jai Ma! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.