--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Susan" <wayback71@...> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophaneros Anartaxius" <anartaxius@> > wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Susan" <wayback71@> wrote: > > > > > I have read a bit of his [Adyashanti's] website, too (lots to listen to, > > > most for free). One way he describes the purpose of his "teaching" is to > > > help people understand what awakening is like, what it feels like, from > > > an Experiential perspective. What it is like for an average person to > > > awaken. Apparently, he does not want to be dealing with the experience > > > from a spiritual or religious perspective - altho he draws on quotes from > > > many traditions. He seems not to hype up how great awakening will be, > > > but lays out the silence, the death of the ego/self, how day to day life > > > feels after awakening. And he mentions that he gets many many calls and > > > emails from people who are shifting into enlightenment and are really > > > challenged by just what is going on. It seems really good that there is > > > someone around who can ease the confusion. > > > > > > I also give Maharishi all the credit in the world (an understatement) > > > for his work in describing the different states so clearly. TM'ers can > > > take that for granted, when in fact we, or at least I, refer back to that > > > knowledge as my basic understanding. I realize that it is all a > > > construct or opinion about reality, but as Vasishta so beautifully says > > > in your quote below, one needs to have the discussion of duality and non > > > duality in order to come to know it is only a path. And Maharishi said > > > the same - that the path is only a path. > > > > > > MMY's emphasis is heavy on the bliss and success in life. Sometimes I > > > wonder if that is because there was even more that MMY experienced, > > > perhaps something that had to do with the Vedic tradition. Or some final > > > tweak that eventually occurs and that infuses the whole thing with > > > something not-a-feeling but nevertheless ecstatic. (as opposed to Zen > > > which keeps it rather plain). MMY said it was important to choose a > > > tradition with heart, because once enlightened, that prior emphasis would > > > color the experience in some way and affect behavior. I am not sure what > > > he meant by "heart" but think it might have had to do with serving a guru. > > > > > [Xeno wrote:] > > > > Vasistha to Rama: > > > > > > > > 'It is only the childish and ignorant people who talk of duality and > > > > non-duality; the enlightened ones laugh at all this. However, without > > > > such a discussion based on duality and non-duality it is not possible > > > > to clean one's consciousness of ignorance. It is only in that spirit > > > > that I have dealt with all this, dear friend.' > > > > > > Just a great quote. > > > > This is wonderful stuff Susan. I had not heard some of this about MMY > > before. I think I do not always grasp heart very well, being one with a bit > > over emphasis on the mind. I sense a lot of people focus on the teacher - > > religions seem to end up focusing on the teacher rather than what the > > teacher taught. Buddhists seem to focus more on heart as compassion, and > > directing that at all beings. Mother Theresa seemed to be about heart, but > > the private revelations that she was quite barren spiritually and > > emotionally throws a dark light on the idea that devotion, that is, > > appearance and activity that looks like devotion might not be appropriate > > for some people. That is my superficial contribution to the matter of heart. > > Yes, it was odd to read about Mother Teresa's depression. Our motivations > for "doing good" are so varied. > > I am not totally clear on what Maharishi meant either. There are others on > this forum with much better memories of all that MMY said, but in several > lectures he talked about choosing a tradition with heart. As I recall, this > was usually when he was talking about Guru Dev. Guru Dev apparently > wandered and checked out many Masters before finally choosing his. He was > looking for "heart," not just a path to Enlgihenement, but one with heart as > well. I always took that to mean that the teacher had a sense of compassion > and also joy or humor and a lightness of attitude. But I could be wrong > about this. MMY himself talked bout seeing Guru Dev for the first time and > having his heart leap. But MMY definitely said that it helped to have the > heart developed prior to Enlightenment. While he said enlightenment would > change one's behavior or mean that you functioned spontaneously from the > source of Being and Natural Law, he also implied that doing the work and > making the changes before enlightenment was better, since after the Big E, > there would not be the self-directed motivation to change at all. > Spontaneously one would be doing the right thing once enlightened; however, > the flavor of the person's remaining individuality - simply because you still > have a body -is nicer with lots of heart. I take this to mean you can still > be an intellectual, but heart makes it all more rich and fun (if those terms > even apply at that point).
Also to add: or maybe he meant that the experience along the way, thru GC, would be livelier with heart as part of the path. But once the journey to E was completed, it did not really matter. > > Others with better memories and more info should chime in on this. > > Also, he talked many times about the path being just a path, and that once > achieved, E meant that the path was irrelevent. >
