Ramji: Dear Kathy, sorry for the delay. I just finished a Zoominar on the weekend and I’ve been very busy.
Kathy: Thanks for making my day with your loving and nurturing comment. I feel like a flower that has been watered! I love you too, Ramji. You have always been there for me in some way or another and I so enjoy your company, wisdom and humor!
Ramji: Appreciation is always appreciated, Kathy!
Kathy: I read your conspiracy argument and sent it to a few people. I am not really afraid of getting the virus and think I may have already had mild case of it. I just wonder about how much freedom will come back into our lives so that we can be free to travel, etc. Also, it is distressing that so many people are suffering physically or financially and other ways, even though I adopt the more positive, spiritual view of what is happening with this virus. I hope it will build more of my spiritual muscles, so to speak, as I practice the teachings more and am not so busy.
Ramji: Pump that iron, Kathy! Your spiritual muscles will grow. Always look on the bright side of life.
Kathy: I am also wondering about the Vedanta view of Isvara. The Meher Baba people see all that is happening in the world as being controlled by six perfect masters. They say one was in charge of World War II and probably they think one is in charge of this virus and the spiritual, evolutionary changes it might bring to people and our planet. I don’t really resonate with this idea and I am wondering about it from a Vedanta standpoint. It seems that Isvara is in charge, but how much and where does free will fit in? Is Isvara in charge to the degree the Baba people think?
Ramji: Yes and no. In our most important text, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, speaking as Isvara, says, “In whatever way you worship me, I respond to you to make your faith strong.” If you think Jesus is the answer, worship Jesus, and Isvara will increase your faith in Jesus, who is just an Isvara proxy. Jesus refers to God as “my Father.” If you worship a sunset, then Isvara generates a sense of beauty and peace that makes your faith in Isvara strong. The feeling you get from worship of your chosen deity is the experience of Isvara, your innermost Self. It will make your mind subtle and the mind will turn inward, seeking a more constant bliss of the Self. So they are more or less right. Their formulation of Isvara is, however, a bit precious. An unrefined mind needs a form to worship at first but as it gets more and more subtle the form isn’t necessary and the mind loses itself in love. The mind needs symbols. Children, for instance, are taught numbers using their fingers and toes until they no longer need them. The love that you feel for anything is just the love of Isvara. There is only one love.
As long as you take yourself to be a limited person, you have limited free will. You may be hungry, the only solution for which is to eat, but you can eat an apple or a hamburger. So an appropriate choice for someone who wants six-pack spiritual abs is to choose to worship Isvara by dedicating one’s actions to Isvara, which we call karma yoga.
Kathy: I also know that we are not born, so we don’t die, so to speak. You make it sound very easy to accept death from this standpoint, but how would you feel if your body was to die now? You have a wonderful relationship with a most lovely woman, are at the peak of your teachings and have always been one to enjoy life. Would it really not bother you to leave the planet now?
Ramji: Would it help to be bothered, since death is inevitable? Of course I would like everything here to last forever because I have everything I want. But the body is decaying as we speak. My wife will also die one fine day. Nothing here stays the same. What good is it to contemplate its loss when it is as good a lost right now? So the answer is no.
Kathy: I just read the article about Andrew Cohen in the ShiningWorld newsletter. I thought it was he you mentioned in your book. I wanted to send it to my friend, who was a devotee of his until she saw the light, like many of the people who were at your workshop in India. Some of them told me a lot. Anyway, after reading it I could not find it again, nor your article on the coronavirus, which I also wanted to send to a friend. I will look again later, but is there a way to access back issues?
Ramji: Here is the link to the article, Karen: (click here).
Kathy: I hope you and Sundari will be together again soon. I also hope to see both of you in the near future! Spain is so beautiful and I really want to get to southern Spain. Or maybe see you in Trout Lake. You both are always welcome in Asheville too!