> > > The goal refers to jivanmukti, or liberation in this > > > very life. > > > RoryGoff: > * * * "Liberation in this very life" is not really a > "goal" to be achieved with effort as it is conventionally > understood; liberation is if anything more of an a priori > understanding to be surrendered into. The only effort > involved, is in the *removal* or *cessation* of effort -- > is in the relinquishment of one's ingrained and separatist > resistance to the utter perfection of what IS, now, always > has been, and ever shall be. > Yoga is the *isolation* of the Purusha from the prakriti.
This cannot be accomplished with goal-driven effort, for the simple reason that you are going to get only as much enlightenment as you are going to get. No amount of effort is going to get rid of your past samskaras. The only way to do that is through tapas and many lives to burn up your accumulated karma and at the same time to accrue no new karma. But 'liberation' would not be a step-wise process, as the historical Buddha found out after five years of striving. It is only when he sat down under Bodhi Tree and accepted conditioning as it is, what is, that he had his great realization. It's an all or nothing event - but it is not achieved by striving.
