Danielle: Lately, it has felt like I should reach out to you (or James), at least to express my gratitude for your generous resource and how by hearing Vedanta my life has simply righted itself. However, I also know that while nididhysana is my way of life and this dear jiva knows she is none other than Me, a review by you as guru would make sure I’m not (jiva) kidding myself or carrying on with any misunderstanding.
Sundari: Thank you for your feedback and appreciation. Our reward is knowing how much these teachings transform people’s lives.
Danielle: This seems to me proper due diligence while adjusting this life to fit Vedanta, especially since it directly affects my work. For 12 years I have already been teaching and guiding others in taking a new perspective for relating to and caring for horses. There has always been a spiritual component to this as it came to me from my teachers in this area, but until Vedanta came to me it remained muddled in duality.
I realize it may sound like I think I’m inventing something new by saying I see the horse is symbolic in terms of Jnana yoga. That’s not the case. I’m aware of the existing Vedic metaphor of the horse and chariot as a symbol for managing the gross and subtle bodies. And I am also aware of the horse symbology in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, though I admit to not having yet fully read it. My point is that there is a niche of people who engage with actual horses and who exhibit a belief in a spiritual purpose of such relationships within the framework of seeing the horse for his own sake and not someone to be controlled for the benefit of ego. However, this spiritual and religious impulse usually becomes simply another samsaric exercise rife with magical thinking and virtue seeking/attachment because the nondual perspective does not get clearly explained. I wish to explain it from the perspective of the Self.
Sundari: I understand your reverence for the horse, having been a keen rider myself for many years, I had my first horse in my late teens. My daughter had a special affinity and connection with horses from a very young age too and had her own horse for many years. The horse symbol is indeed interesting and used widely in cultures and spiritual paths east and west. It has always had a mystical component, such as in the tales of the indigenous people of America. In the Hindu tradition, the horse and chariot are of course a good metaphor for the mind and the senses—who or what is driving the chariot is the defining factor in terms of the jiva’s life experience.
I get what you mean about the horse as a symbol of jnana yoga too. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that he must put all his energy into the ‘steed of yoga’, meaning he must put all his faith in the scripture. He uses the powerful horse as a symbol, not for jnana per se, but for it as the means, yoga. In other words, once you trust the scripture/Vedanta to carry you, and Self-knowledge will take you where nothing else can, freedom from and for the jiva (moksa).
A similar metaphor we use is the Vedanta bus. Once you are on board, you can put your heavy suitcase down (life/jiva issues) and trust the bus (scripture) to take you to your destination (moksa). Which of course in either case is not a destination because you are and always have been ‘there’! But if there is ignorance standing in the way of that knowledge you are bound by ignorance and suffer.
But there is a codicil to either metaphor. One must be qualified to ride the horse or have the right ticket to board the bus. And if so, one must stay on the horse/bus. Meaning, we must have the requisite qualifications for self-inquiry, we must be properly taught by a qualified teacher, totally dedicated to self-inquiry, and we must apply the teachings to our lives, or we will not go the distance. So self-inquiry (jnana yoga) will not work to produce Self-knowledge, moksa. We will not get to our destination.
In this metaphor, I can see that the work you do to help people connect with horses as a vehicle to impart karma yoga and rudimentary guna yoga could be very helpful. Even though all objects are mithya, it is possible to see anything as a symbol of the Self as everything is a reflection of it. The horse in particular being such a powerful, noble and magnificent animal, giving humans so much (and suffering a great deal because of them too), lends itself well as a symbol of purity and eternal truth. But from what I understand what you teach is not really about the horse; what you do is psychological counseling, really. Jnana yoga, or triguna vibhava yoga, unfolds Isvara’s psychological order, and karma yoga is the most powerful tool to manage the ego and the senses, the horse. An unskilled rider will not last long on a runaway horse, just as without Self-knowledge managing the mind (the chariot) we are powerless against binding vasanas. As stated, it all depends on what is in charge of the chariot.
Vedanta’s defining message is that your true nature is Consciousness, the Self, you are unborn undying, ever-present, whole and complete, and require nothing to be happy. Nothing gives this truth to you or takes it away. The teachings do not give you anything you do not have; they are purely to remove the ignorance standing in the way of you appreciating your true nature as truth. But while it is relatively easy to realize the Self, it is quite another to actualize Self-knowledge. This is where all the ‘work’ of both teaching and self-inquiry takes place, in deconstructing mithya to negate it. While freedom is about discriminating satya (that which is always present and unchanging, the Self) from mithya (that which is not always present and unchanging, the jiva/world) how are we to be free of mithya unless we understand it in light of Vedanta? Therefore, as we are already the Self, completing all three stages of self-inquiry, srvanna, manana, and nididhysana, is about negating mithya so that Self-knowledge actualizes. Meaning, we are permanently free of the jiva, and the jiva lives a great life.
As everything in mithya is subject to Isvara, the giver of results, and to the gunas, which condition all objects, I can see how karma yoga and guna yoga apply in connecting to horses, as it does to anything else. Even for an unqualified person, knowledge of these two practices improves anyone’s life and can be ‘de-coupled so to speak, from traditional Vedanta. If someone does not have the qualifications for self-inquiry, they can still benefit greatly from secular karma yoga and guna yoga. Both are really commonsense logic, especially karma yoga. There is no way to fully practice mind management, nor to understand what is unfolding in ones’ environment, without knowledge of the gunas, even if you do not call them that.
Danielle: Once I began to evaluate it all in light of Vedanta, I knew I could no longer continue teaching as I had been but could clearly see the metaphorical value of the horse and human relationships. So, yes, I can help people literally change their relationship with their actual horse, which really comes as a result of karma yoga, but there is the opportunity to see the horse symbolically in terms of jnana yoga.
If I may, I would like to share this experience and my developing outlook with you in more detail and then have a Zoom meeting with you to start a dialog to discuss the nitty-gritty of my Vedanta practice to make sure I am not misunderstanding or misusing the knowledge, especially since sharing it with others or a least leading them to it is at the fore of my dharma.
I have a sincere reverence for the Vedanta sampradaya and would not dare call myself a qualified Vedanta teacher now, though in another several years perhaps that could be true – if you say so. I don’t take it lightly and would and do willingly defer and refer to ShingingWorld as a resource and authority as I share the non-dual wisdom to the best of my ability now.
Sundari: I commend you on your attitude to the teachings, both for your sadhana and for imparting them. As you seem very aware, teaching Vedanta is a tricky business unless one can discriminate satya from mithya. Though many so-called teachers claim to teach Vedanta, and some not fully qualified ones even do a fair job of it, when it is the ego teaching as opposed to the Self, there is a very big difference. Not to mention that unless a teacher fully understands the teachings it is very possible that you will confuse or mislead inquirers. Furthermore, teaching builds ego. Vedanta is the most powerful teaching, and to teach it properly not only requires complete knowledge of the teachings but the humility and solid understanding that Isvara is the only teacher. To me, it seems clear that you understand this very well, and do not have the ambition to teach. It is taking place as a natural consequence of your svadharma.
I am happy to talk further about this on zoom or skype.
Much love
Sundari