Kevin: I love your statement, ”Maya is a bitch, and it bites because it is all one big dream.” Haha!
That’s for sure …
Today after traffic jams, political upheaval on the radio, and a bunch of other mini-trouble – I thought, ‘you’re damn lucky mister Jiva!’ while kicking out some rajas by painting a lot of doors, and, nonetheless, enjoying the Object of perception – grumpy as hell and smiling at the same time 🙂
You said: ”As Vedantins, most of us are rebels in that we have not conformed to reality the way it is perceived by the masses, and very often, also by the group or set of people we come from.”
… That sounds very familiar 🙂 Even to the degree I was an anarchist on the radical side of the spectrum – black hoodie style – fuck the police (and every else for that matter). Sjesus … Now I laugh at this ignorant phase with some understanding.
And even better; now I can be a ‘rebel’ with a cause and love the shit out of everything.
It is true that Self-knowledge makes life normal, special and normal.
Anyway, we’ll see what Covid will bring …
Enjoy your evening
Sundari: Great email, I love your kick-ass attitude! Ramji’s favorite rebel chant is ‘fuck ém, fight ém, dynamite ém!” I like that one too, works really well when dealing with Isvara’s annoying slings and arrows or the bitter pills of life…
!
Ramji was a major rebel at one time until his guru pointed out to him that he was what he was rebelling against…Ain’t that the truth. Reality is nondual, right? Duh. But it is true that as Vedantins we are rebels with a cause because we do not fit with the consensus view of reality, i.e., the superimposition of duality onto nonduality. Maya no longer decieves us. All the same, knowing who we are and that this reality is all a play does not inoculate us from mithya…though we have a very big ace up our sleeves, a major advantage over samsaris.
Aside from karma yoga and guna management which is the best burnout insurance there is for the jiva, though we must accommodate and abide by Isvara’s laws (particularly when it comes to universal dharma), we know that as the Self we can tell Isvara what to do.
In fact, if we don’t, Isvara keeps the karma rolling by default. All changes on the mithya level first must take place on the Causal, and that requires nondual knowledge and the application of Self-knowledge to the jiva’s life. Day by day, thought by thought, tedious job by tedious job. Until that is no longer necessary because the jiva is as good as non-existent. At that point, surrender to Isvara is like floating on a magic carpet ride. Bring it on!
But instructing Isvara only works as the Self, mind you. Does not work to try this as an ego, bad, bad idea! Isvara may well give the ego what it wants, but make sure to check the price. When it comes to egos, Isvara always has the last laugh.
Take it easy, keep sane, keeping loving the shit out of everything (even the shitty bits), and keep the gratitude rolling. Even if it’s grumpy gratitude, Isvara will take it!
Much love
