I enjoyed reading this very much. For me it was a great example of having to let go of one's ego. "Humility is a strange thing. The minute you think you have got it, you have lost it!” made me smile. Some years ago a friend was telling me about what she had been doing as a volunteer in a meditation centre. I remarked that she must be accumulating lots of good Karma. She replied that as she will now be thinking about how spiritual she is being, all that good Karma will be negated because she will be doing it for all the wrong reasons!
In a similar vein, a guru called Rajneesh once said that Christians are really greedy, because most people just want a good life while they are living, whereas Christians want a great life after death too! I think he was simply making the point about living in the here and now rather than having a dig at Christianity!
Thank you, Terry! The issue with humility—at which my former boss and mentor Bruce really excelled at as we pointed out at his Memorial Service yesterday—is that you have to accept or appear to accept that you could be wrong, even if you might be right. And then listen to others and sometimes have them arrive at the conclusion that you were right after all. That requires patience! So it’s not simple at all and might take a lifetime. But it’s worth trying. It’s very hard for me, Ms. Know-it-all;))
That was clever of me! I wrote a comment and then came back to try to edit it and managed to delete it instead! My comment ran something like this: “that was a fascinating read Anu. I have to confess that I had not even heard of Verdanta before and had to resort to Google to find out what it was all about. I found it too deep to taken, in one session but I shall read more about it. Like many, I worry about the meaning of life, and I’m receptive to any new thoughts philosophies and interpretations. More prosaically I like your comments on editing. Although I’m not a big league writer, I have often found that reading a piece aloud reveals nuances repetitions and sometimes nonsenses which you miss by simply staring at a screen. Thank you for sharing your thoughts”
I think version two came across a lot longer than the first version!
Hi Richard, thank you for your kind words. Vedanta does sound lofty, but the premise is simple: true divinity lies within our Self, and our lifelong quest is to discover that perfection within. A key ally to this process is to NOT let our body, mind, or intellect dictate our life, but rather use them as tools to lead us through life. Identifying with the vagaries of our body (I am fat, thin, ugly, beautiful); thoughts produced by our mind (I am sad, happy, depressed, anxious), and our intellect (I am intelligent, dumb, over analytical, a dud) lead to highs and lows and we digress from who we are—perfection. If we are not then our body, mind, or intellect, what or who are we? That’s the spiritual quest: we are our Self, perfection, once we stop listening to our mind. The Self is also called many other terms in scriptures: Divine consciousness, Atman, Sakshi. It’s really beautiful because it’s empowering and calming—we have God within!
I enjoyed reading this very much. For me it was a great example of having to let go of one's ego. "Humility is a strange thing. The minute you think you have got it, you have lost it!” made me smile. Some years ago a friend was telling me about what she had been doing as a volunteer in a meditation centre. I remarked that she must be accumulating lots of good Karma. She replied that as she will now be thinking about how spiritual she is being, all that good Karma will be negated because she will be doing it for all the wrong reasons!
In a similar vein, a guru called Rajneesh once said that Christians are really greedy, because most people just want a good life while they are living, whereas Christians want a great life after death too! I think he was simply making the point about living in the here and now rather than having a dig at Christianity!
Thank you, Terry! The issue with humility—at which my former boss and mentor Bruce really excelled at as we pointed out at his Memorial Service yesterday—is that you have to accept or appear to accept that you could be wrong, even if you might be right. And then listen to others and sometimes have them arrive at the conclusion that you were right after all. That requires patience! So it’s not simple at all and might take a lifetime. But it’s worth trying. It’s very hard for me, Ms. Know-it-all;))
😂
That was clever of me! I wrote a comment and then came back to try to edit it and managed to delete it instead! My comment ran something like this: “that was a fascinating read Anu. I have to confess that I had not even heard of Verdanta before and had to resort to Google to find out what it was all about. I found it too deep to taken, in one session but I shall read more about it. Like many, I worry about the meaning of life, and I’m receptive to any new thoughts philosophies and interpretations. More prosaically I like your comments on editing. Although I’m not a big league writer, I have often found that reading a piece aloud reveals nuances repetitions and sometimes nonsenses which you miss by simply staring at a screen. Thank you for sharing your thoughts”
I think version two came across a lot longer than the first version!
Hi Richard, thank you for your kind words. Vedanta does sound lofty, but the premise is simple: true divinity lies within our Self, and our lifelong quest is to discover that perfection within. A key ally to this process is to NOT let our body, mind, or intellect dictate our life, but rather use them as tools to lead us through life. Identifying with the vagaries of our body (I am fat, thin, ugly, beautiful); thoughts produced by our mind (I am sad, happy, depressed, anxious), and our intellect (I am intelligent, dumb, over analytical, a dud) lead to highs and lows and we digress from who we are—perfection. If we are not then our body, mind, or intellect, what or who are we? That’s the spiritual quest: we are our Self, perfection, once we stop listening to our mind. The Self is also called many other terms in scriptures: Divine consciousness, Atman, Sakshi. It’s really beautiful because it’s empowering and calming—we have God within!
This is a simplification of course:)
YES to reading aloud!:)