| "In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty...in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe." - Guru Swami G |
FAQ
Part of walking the path is being open - the questions you have may be of value to others - so emails are subject to being posted as a way of helping others.
What is Ego?
GuruSwamiG: Ego is that which you perceive yourself to be. Such as body, emotions, thoughts, etc. You are living your illusions of what is true through the conditions and conditionings of life. Enlightenment or Realization occurs when you drop all ideations that "I am this" or "I am that"... when you go beyond the transient world and see the Eternal Formless Constant, That which holds all yet grasps nothing. When one rests within the Constant, only then will one truly understand the transient world or Maya (that which creates and perpetuates illusion). Then you will KNOW that this is just a waking Dream State, and there is no bondage nor is there freedom for these are states that are created by mind alone. Enlightenment or Realization is when you go beyond ego, mind and rationalizations etc etc., when you reach the Heart and the Essence of Being. For ONLY then do you truly live the life of unbound Bliss and Truth and Awareness which is Consciousness beyond mind.
What is this 'Self' in Self-Realization?
GuruSwamiG: When the Self is spoken of it not speaking of the egoic self. Self is That which is the Formless Constant which is beyond all division and time etc. So when it is said to be in the NOW, if you are truly in the NOW then you will be reaching to the state of Anand (bliss, happiness or joy), or the beginning of where the opening to Realization is. When the mind is silent, with no thought, then the Anand or Bliss will rise of its own accord. You will then be in the natural state, and from there you proceed on to Realization or Enlightenment (which is not something that may be attained or obtained, as it is the natural state and therefore is instead a process of letting go, not creating more).
Is Self-Realization an altered state?
GuruSwamiG: From your point of view it would be an altered state, but once living from this so-called "state" it is all that Is. Once the false notions and conditionings drop you don't pick them up again, and at that time (when so-called Enlightenment occurs) that which was our individualization into the ego personality dissolves, so to speak. So from then on you are non-separate from existence, you do not experience anything as being separate from that point. YOU ARE THAT. When desire drops it is only karma that you continue to play out, but you are not involved within the action of the body. It is consciousness that moves you.
Can Enlightenment be learned or proven?
GuruSwamiG: People always wish to obtain Enlightenment like they obtain a degree. But this is a path of simplicity itself. Only in the utmost simplicity will you realize That Which Is. Realization is simply awakening to the Truth of Being, which is beyond all concepts and ideas which belong to the world of Maya (that which creates and perpetuates illusion) and change and mind. Therefore, you cannot get there by intellectual means. In Kundalini the process is that of dispelling ignorance not gaining more relative knowledge.
If we all live within the same world then what is Maya and illusions of Truth?
GuruSwamiG: All Maya realm experience is unique to you alone. Each person views reality of the Maya realm from their conditionings. Two can face the same circumstances and have totally different experiences. There are as many illusions of Truth as there are people. Only when mind and thought and conditionings are dropped, and you go beyond division and personality and aspects, is the experience the same.
What is the cause of the dream state of Maya realm?
GuruSwamiG: The cause of this dream? Why must there be a cause? It is Self-exploration and play. What is love, etc? When only the One which is not the one but the Emptiness of Being exists in its separateness, it is love that manifests as the various seeming forms. Desire creates the forms and sustains the worlds. Anytime desire arises then ego form will come into being.
Can you speak a bit about deception among healers?
GuruSwamiG: Most are not out to actively deceive you. The ones involved in the deception are themselves deluded. This delusion carries over into their actions. They are attempting to bring you into their perceived illusion of truth, their distortions, although they most likely believe that they are helping. Such is the delusion of Maya. Until one has completed and has reached beyond the Maya realm, has successfully integrated Shiva/Shakti or come to KNOW and rest within the Constant, when one has transcended the duality into the non-dual, has gone from personal to impersonal, when one's own illusions of truth have been utterly shattered to the point of non-existence, when the Truth of Being is reached, only THAT ONE is ready to guide and point the way to liberation to anyone else. Anyone that is still in suffering cannot hand happiness or Bliss of Self to another. One that is still in theory cannot give experience.
How does one find a right Guru?
GuruSwamiG: Find One that moves your spirit to Silence and Peace. One that is readily available to answer questions as they arise. Do not gravitate to any that give initiations and then leave you to simmer on the back burner, so to speak. In olden days the Guru was served by the students. It was not that he needed their service, it was so that they were living around in close proximity, not just going to a seminar here and there. If you want simply a good Teacher that you can glean something from, then go to One that gives you tools to move towards center and silence and peace. Which is not to say one that sits and feeds your ego, getting a big head. While in the beginning this seems to lead to peace and joy, in the end it only brings a bigger disaster. And when you find your Guru, give them the respect due, but do not expect then to run your entire life. The mindset you enter and the actions and re-actions that occur, you must live with. So use wisdom, do not follow blindly. It is only by direct experience that you KNOW anything, not by concepts and conjectures that the teacher speaks, no matter how grand.
Why does one need a Guru on the Spiritual Path?
GuruSwamiG: It is much easier for the Guru to define what is taking place in a Sadhaka's life than for the sadhaka. Why is this? Because Guru and Sage are not invested in your storyline. There is nothing that needs to be kept safe and protected. Storylines can be insidious.... And while the sadhaka's may think "i know my life better than any Sage or Guru-G" the truth is they are often times very blinded by the embroiled mind which seeks always to make itself *right* no matter the cost ---- One needs to have a Realized Master or Guru in place to aide in one's journey or else one has simply a blind man bumping through the night. Without having the Gurus and Mentors in place that were there at the right time this one would still be wandering around in no-man's-land chasing phenomena and having ideas about what it should be versus being able to break through to the Reality. It is only a Realized Master that can understand and stabilize one that is having the conditioned mind broken apart and dismantling pulling one towards Realization. ONLY 0-ne that rests in Realization understands whether or not it is Realization or just another passing stage along the way. The one traversing these stages can get to a passing stage where there is Bliss and oneness and may mistake it to be Realization. This is where it is Paramount to have in place a Guide and Mentor that KNOWS the path - the way - from start to finish.
How did Swami-G become a Guru?
GuruSwamiG: i have said to those who start with the litany of "you are self-appointed" that, No, i had a Guru that indeed pronounced the state of Realization here. His background was that he was taught by 3 Tantric Masters and he himself was also a Tantric although for him Realization came through Poonjaji. As he was Ripe through his former practices so there was but a thread to be cut. His father was a Realized Being as well. This means simply that when my Guru saw that indeed all had fallen away into Realization that he commissioned me to be a Guru by directly saying "It is now time for you to be a Guru". This was not an idea that i had - it was his admonition. He didn't appear in a dream nor was it that i simply decided "Gee, being a guru would be nice".
What is the importance of a Guru's lineage?
GuruSwamiG: Indeed only one that has actually walked it from start to finish can understand and write the map of it. It can't be given by one with theory and no practical knowledge. No lineage by itself is going to help. One HAS to have a Master in place that has Mastered their own journey rather than a set of dogmatic rules and practices. Am not speaking of dead lineages of pomp and circumstance. Am speaking of the Lineage of Realized Masters no matter what the tradition they passed through. There is lineage as far as a tradition and school is concerned. And this can become a dead thing - when you have those who are caught up within dogmas - practices by rote - etc. that simply keep on in a spin of creating and exchanging one conditioning for another. So am not speaking of this type of being commissioned... hahahahahahah nor this type of lineage. The journey here was long and colorful - hahahaahahah... it was like tying up lose ends from lifetimes of practices and coming out the other side Free of them. O-ne enters into the Tradition and Lineage of Lineage Holders - those who speak from the Fluidity of Crazy Wisdom or Direct and Penetrating Knowing that carries the Transmission of Stillness Directly. It does no good to be locked into a *tradition* or even a *lineage* when it has been reduced to dogmas and dead practices.
What is Swami-G's lineage?
GuruSwamiG: My path has been eclectic - my Guru's none that would be recognized lineage - Esoteric Christian - Tantric - Shavite one of the 10 Dasnami traditions- this is one of the oldest traditions in India. The Lineage of having walked the path from start to completion. The Lineage of Realized Masters - as far as the externals of lineages, they are only indicators of perhaps what type of leanings that the practices will take. Some lineages have become so bogged down in dogmas that they have lost the lifeblood. When speaking of lineage it simply means that there was guidance along the way - although for most of my life it was the Inner Mystics Path- traversing the dark night of the soul and much inner soul searching etc. That came under the heading of the Esoteric Christian Order. Walking the path of Christ. It only matters to those in the world that have a bookish mentality. It is only another way to classify and to box in a way of thinking. The world wants a way to define and categorize but really the path is about breaking free of all of this.
What is Meditation?
GuruSwamiG: True meditation is when there are no longer any thoughts, only the silence of awareness; no judgments, no rationalizing, nothing but Pure Awareness. Otherwise it is not meditation but focused contemplation.
When the mind is stilled how do you think?
GuruSwamiG: When someone asks a question the answer is just there, it just comes forward, appearing within the framework of consciousness. There is no rational thought pattern that is happening. Otherwise, since there is no longer any search there is only silence. Any random thoughts that may occur are only clouds with no substance and not really recognized.
How should I deal with this raging mind?
GuruSwamiG: The thoughts arise and keep coming until they clear. Then simply Clarity will remain. This is why you must stay centered within the Heart. The Heart of Being will see you through this amazing journey. It is now in the process of showing you what you are NOT. To show you that all that is rising is due to mind and thought. The illusiveness and illusion of it all. This is the value in what is happening. But yes, it appears to have substance and be real at the time. But it only has the reality that you give it, that you cling to. The main thing is to not fear what is happening. The fear in itself will generate thoughts like thoughts and happenings. So, come to center, and be Still. Just sit and go within. Be Still. Yes, in the beginning the mind will rage. It is the accumulated garbage which surfaces and shows itself at first, but it WILL clear. Just have patience. This is why it is stated in the teachings that an external Guru is needed, to help support during this important time, to help point the way through. This is the sword of the spiritual realm, it cuts ego and brings life and death within the same blow. Enlightenment is being blown out, so be prepared for the wild ride in the beginning. In the end is Bliss and Peace. So hang in there...
Why is there so much fear?
GuruSwamiG: It is the fear that you yourself generate through mind and perceive as an illusion of truth which is keeping one bound. In Truth you have NEVER been bound. You exist in complete FREEDOM. But you unwittingly create and sustain your illusions, such as: "I am not good enough" or "What if I fail?" and "I am a failure for I have failed before...". All of these, and I repeat ALL of these, are ego-generated fears alone. They have no lasting truth, no validity. You alone keep yourself bound. It is your false perception of ego- that you are body and personality- which keeps you in this cycle of fear-induced perplexity. You are not the bound form. You, the Self, is the One that is AWARE of the form, but it is not the form. The form only gives the medium of experience. You, in Truth, are the Formless Constant which is of Eternal Existence. You are the ever-vigilant Consciousness of Awareness. The bodies come and go as they will. Experience come and goes as it will. The nature of things come and go.. they are good, they are bad...emotions are happy, then they are sad...This is the transient world. Constant Change. That is nature, that is natural. But you are BEYOND ALL of the transient. The transient is your world of play and re-creation. And if you appear to make a "wrong" decision or fail, SO WHAT! Look at it again... Have you ever truly failed at anything? NO! NEVER! All is learning and wisdom-gaining experience. ALL. There are no right nor wrong choices. Life is just Life. It is here for direct experiential play to Discover the Truth of your Being. So RELAX. Go out and enjoy the play (as in a movie) and play (as in re-creation) of life.
What do you do when the mind questions what to think or is frightened of not having anything to think?
GuruSwamiG: You Let it Go. When thought ends there is just simply a gentle peace that remains. What is lost in the unproductive mind drama? The ability to think is not lost. So simply let go...
Is it necessary to have the Kundalini experience in order to attain Self-Realization?
GuruSwamiG: No, not per se, but each that are on a spiritual path have some type of conscious energy urging them onwards.
What does the Kundalini do?
GuruSwamiG: Kundalini is an energy force. Concentrated Consciousness that moves when awakened through the three bodies: physical, subtle, causal. Moving through the physical body it releases all past and present vasannas [habitual tendencies or dispositions] and samskaras [cumulative impressions carried over from past lives and learnings] to see and go through, until they are dropped and cleared. Although having a great impact on the physical form it has little to do with form at all, but simply to go beyond ego to merge with the Formless Constant or Pure Conscious Awareness, the Emptiness of Being which all form emerges from and returns to. During it's upward journey the three bodies are traversed, or you may say the physical, mental and emotional bodies will be cleared. On this journey you will see and experience many levels but remember that all are only mindplay, movements of consciousness. The power and energy comes to a halt when the Kundalini reaches it's end destination, which is loss of ego and merging with the Source. Within the Source there is only clear light, the power ends as there is no longer any movement. From there you will once again enter the flow of life- Being simply Truth, Consciousness and Bliss- clear of all past preconceived notions and illusions created by the forms experience. There is no longer a feeling of "I am this form" but rather "The Universe is Consciousness Moving". There is no separate "I" from Consciousness, only Consciousness beyond the form remains, ever conscious of the One and knowing the many to be only seeming aspects of the One.
Is Kundalini Awakening synonymous with Self-Realization?
GuruSwamiG: NO. It can help in the process, but it can also take one down a long road on many other journeys first. It does not always lead to Self-Realization. It is a falsehood that when Kundalini reaches the crown chakra Self-Realization is entered. First it must come back to the heart, it must rest in the heart. The surrender must be complete. When the searching ends Self-Realization is entered into. As long as the mind keeps seeking the continuing phenomena will happen: visions, lights, sounds, siddhis etc. But when the heart is entered into and the seeking ends then Grace descends and Self-Realization of Enlightenment takes place. The other happenings help to purify and move conscious awareness towards being ready to accept that Divine Grace. To ultimately surrender all experience, concepts and self-ideations to the Altar of Truth and willingness to enter into the great unknown and unknowable. Kundalini is a process of preparation. It prepares one for Self-Realization, to move beyond the physical and subtle realms into the Reality which makes the other realms possible. When you have searched the physical and the subtle, have seen how things may be manipulated and how powers come, and that in the end are not themselves enlightening nor do they bring the peace nor Bliss that lasts, then you are ready to utterly surrender. When the heart is entered and surrender is complete the Enlightenment or Self-Realization happens by Grace. When all of the doing has been done. And all of the searching comes to an end and surrender happens, then Divine Grace takes over..
Should the Kundalini experience be sought out? Should one try to get it activated?
GuruSwamiG: No. In processing Kundalini one should be under the guidance and care of a Kundalini-completed guide and Guru. One that is completed can help to balance and also accelerate the process if time is spent in their presence. All that is needed is to implement the given practices. Kundalini Awakening just puts everything in your face where it has to be addressed.
If not, how then should one proceed without having the Kundalini in process?
GuruSwamiG: Through the practices and simplifying the life, taking the road of mindfulness. A Zen approach.
But I want to activate the Kundalini to feel completely self-empowered and unlimited in my potential, so that I can manifest my potential. So I can achieve some success with my work and relationships...?
GuruSwamiG: Success has nothing to do with the exteriors, and what is self-empowerment? You are already all that you need to be. That, once again, is ego-based desire; to "be" some-thing. More control; you equate more energy with more control, but this energy is NOT controlled or controllable. It controls you. So once again, this is not the way. In the end the most control is when nothing is controlled, but simply seen as the natural flow and progression of this life's being. That is all. And you move forward for this moment alone, not projecting into the future nor clinging to the past. They have no relevance in the NOW. Be in this moment what you ARE. That is all.
I feel trapped by my limiting beliefs and habits that I cannot seem to get rid of; I figured Kundalini might be a way through these problems?
Absolutely not. You break through the identifications through self-contemplation (by seeing absolutely that you are not the body, nor mind, nor emotions), not by creating energy which only intensifies the body and subtle body identifications. While Kundalini creates a moving consciousness it is, in the end, based on the transients. Anything that is moving, that moves, is transient, and not the Constant which is beyond all form and movement. You do not reach the seed or Source by moving anywhere. It is only when the Kundalini has completed its course and once again rests within the heart that the Constant is Known, and that can take lifetimes", not simply days, months, or even years. It is not a quick-fix path.
But isn't there only one intention behind everyone's wish to awaken the Kundalini, i.e. for Self-Realization or Enlightenment?
GuruSwamiG: To many being Realized or Enlightened has many different ideations and concepts attached to it. That is why there is an attempt on this end to clarify just what is wanted. For many have the misguided notion that when one is Realized or Enlightened their life if full of mystical happenings, that one "controls the world", that they have the ability to wave a magic wand so to speak, that they become caricatures of the "enlightened master". It, for many, is more of an ego trip rather than a sincere longing for the Truth to be revealed. This is not to imply that you are on an ego trip, not at all, it is simply said to have one look at their intentions and motivations and what they entail...truthfully..
Can you tell me more about this feeling of being energetically rebuilt on a cellular level?
GuruSwamiG: Don't concern yourself with all of that. It has nothing to do with the real you in the end. The body comes and goes. You are not touched by any of these seeming unfolding events, including all of the Kundalini activity. In the end the Self is unchanging. These appear to be quite real happenings but just let them unfold and see the Source from where they are emerging. Concern yourself with only the root, not the by-product. But indeed one does go through a cellular cleansing.
What about Siddhis?
GuruSwamiG: Siddhis [spiritual powers or psychic abilities] come and go. In attempting to hold on to any of them one gets caught up into more ego, to the point of egotistical belief that you are a superior creation far above the masses. This is a dangerous and quite real trap. Those not ready fall into it quite easily, and in their self-importance they fall ever-farther away from truth. Just because siddhis manifest it does not mean that one is spiritual. If you are sincere in wanting to reach Realization you see the trap and do not use the siddhis. Let them fall away, they are nothing in the end. What is there to control? Only ego. Only the egotistical want to control. So if someone is boasting about their powers and siddhis RUN. Do not walk, RUN in the other direction. For this one is lost in a delusion of his or her own creation. Maya sets many traps along the way. Those that are not purifying their thoughts, not coming from the heart, not surrendering to the Source, will definitely get caught in these traps. Energy may be used or MISUSED. It is directed by Consciousness, if mind gets into the play it can easily be misdirected.
What about celibacy? Is abstaining from sex necessary for the path?
GuruSwamiG: While suppression is not always the answer, neither is wanton sex. Brahmacharya [the practice of dedicating ones life to the quest for Self-Realization] is a state of mind. To be pure and chaste within, to not cling; to be within emptiness, a gentle silence. When the Bliss within is found and uncovered then it will radiate. When wholeness within is found and rested in, then the need for an outward coming together is no longer chased after. The wholeness being sought is always in the end found within the Heart of your own BE-ing.
How can my relationship be used along the path?
GuruSwamiG: Relationships are always good to work on the ego self. It really puts ego out in your face, so to speak. The more you can give in and not argue the point of any ego stance the more you serve to break down the ego of all the important "i" verses "I" of the soul, which encompasses all beings equally. Only in breaking the "i" of the self-importance, do we progress. Until we can once again drop the "i" for the "I" and become again the ocean instead of the drop (which in its self-appointed aloneness seeks to claim its importance). Only in non-importance does the important emerge, in all its glory...
After initiation does the Shakti stay active all the time?
GuruSwamiG: It is moving within it's own timing. Sometimes more active, sometimes it appears to rest. But it is always there.
How can one be sure Shakti has pierced all chakras and if not, how does one achieve Samadhi?
GuruSwamiG: You need not worry about attempting to categorize where you are. Just continue on in your Sadhana (spiritual discipline or practice) and when you have reached to where you need to be you will indeed be pulled into a State. When enough has been released and when you have surrendered and forgotten the ego identity, you will find that you will enter into a Samadhi.
Can only a truly enlightened being give Shaktipat, or is Shaktipat a yogic power- that one who is not totally enlightened can acquire?
GuruSwamiG: Shaktipat is a yogic power. It does not mean that the one that possesses it is enlightened. Many give Shaktipat as a matter of course, not taking into account where the person receiving it is at mentally-emotionally-spiritually. Many are facing many problems and a difficult path due to an awakening by a well-meaning but unqualified guru. I am sure that these gurus are not meaning to hurt anyone but in fact, it happens. When the Kundalini is going strong it is possible to give Shaktipat to another. Just as when one battery is well-charged you can charge and jump-start a dead battery. It does not mean that the charged battery has any greater intelligence than the dead battery, it is simply a matter of energy. But if it is directed by humble intent and a desire to know truth it will be constructive. It will burn away the dross one way or another in the end. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that just because someone has a lot of Kundalini activity and energy that they are necessarily enlightened.
I have read some scientific reports about brains and consciousness that says brain activity produces consciousness. Do you have any insights about this?
GuruSwamiG: They are 100% backwards. Consciousness creates brain activity. As the consciousness changes indeed the brain changes. More connections are made, balance happens. The brain is simply like a switchboard, but it does not create consciousness. It is like a computer. There must be something that programs it. It holds and stores and moves electrical impulses within the physical form, but it does not create consciousness.
Why am I getting so sick? How can I get through this?
GuruSwamiG: Remember that Kundalini is a cleansing process on all levels (spiritual, mental, physical) and indeed brings forth all the psychological fears, sadness, pain, etc that have been part of your make-up for lifetimes. If you can keep this in mind it helps one through the process. It will end. The trick is in learning how to see through the process and the rising thoughts etc. This is where Guru comes in.
I feel like I am going crazy and wonder how much the human brain can take before it goes crazy?
GuruSwamiG: All of these processes and experiences are, in the end, to show you that all is created and sustained by mind, that the transient is transparent and empty in nature. The problem happens when you cling to the experiences and want to make 'sense' within what is termed the 'normal' life. This all happens to get you to break through all the identifications. This is why I stress doing the practices given, to break through the illusions more rapidly and safely rather than having everything appearing to manifest in your face point-blank. It is the egoic identification with the transient as being the permanent, with the self being a compilation of the body-mind-conditioned experience within the terms and context called 'this lifetime'. All this proceeds to take you to discover the Timeless Source which makes the play of the so-called individual possible, and shows you what you are not in the end.
Is the "Dark Night of the Soul" an essential state for every individual pass through to reach Realization?
GuruSwamiG: Although it is not essential, as anything is possible in the journey, it is for the most part a valid happening for most on the path. Do not attempt to bring up such an occurrence. If it happens it is arising to draw you to center. If you are already moving toward center then perhaps it may be bypassed.
What is the significance of OM?
GuruSwamiG: OM is the first sound and the last: Alpha-Omega. It is the first sound of creation and the last when entering into the Formless Constant. It is representative of that which is beyond the transient, the Infinite One.
Can conditioned mind re-root after Falling Away?
GuruSwamiG: Yes. That is why one must stay close to their Guru during this time and conintue practices as instructed. .
Maha Shanti OM
I welcome you All with Great Love and Respect.
Guru Kaliuttamananda-Giri (GuruSwamiG)
No one should suffer abuse ----
0- Let's look deeper at what Abuse Is and is not to categorize what is taking place here. Is it really abuse OR is it something else? What is actually taking place? Is this teacher really abusive or rather directly willing to confront ego spins in order to shine a light on what would benefit to be seen? While this path isn't lovey dovey sweet neither is it abusive - let's look deeper ok? The cutting of ego isn't pleasent nor fun it can be a painful process but one that gains great benefits in the end if one can delve into what is beyond an immediate knee jerk reaction of fight or flight response. What is it that is really bothering you?
If it is Really Abuse then Run don't Walk to the Door
abuse - verb [ trans. ] 1. use (something) to bad effect or for a bad purpose; misuse : the judge abused his power by imposing the fines.
0- So what is the bad purpose here ? helping one to break through their drama is that a bad purpose ?
• make excessive and habitual use of (alcohol or drugs, esp. illegal ones).
0- ok that bears no weight here.
2. treat (a person or an animal) with cruelty or violence, esp. regularly or repeatedly : riders who abuse their horses should be prosecuted.
0- there has never been cruelty or violence used here.
• assault (someone, esp. a woman or child) sexually : he was a depraved man who had abused his two young daughters | [as adj. ] ( abused) abused children.
0- well you can rule this out as well.
• use or treat in such a way as to cause damage or harm : he had been abusing his body for years.
0- again not even anywhere close. • speak in an insulting and offensive way to or about (someone) : the referee was abused by players from both teams.
0- no one has been spoken to in any way offensive nor in an insulting manner.
As you can see from the rest of the following again these hold no water.
noun |əˈbyoōs| 1. the improper use of something : alcohol abuse | an abuse of public funds.
• unjust or corrupt practice : protection against fraud and abuse | human rights abuses. 2 cruel and violent treatment of a person or animal : a black eye and other signs of physical abuse.
• violent treatment involving sexual assault, esp. on a repeated basis : young people who have suffered sexual abuse.
• insulting and offensive language : waving his fists and hurling abuse at the driver.
0- None can be claimed by any to take place here. So abuse ? i think not now let's look at what is happening.
0- Really Look at the difference between suffering an affront versus genuine abuse. What ego's suffer here is an affront to their egos there has never been abuse of anyone who has stepped through the portals here. Read affront and Ego and what you will find is that an ego that is challenged is going to suffer an affront but to say it is abuse - is really over the top stating what is taking place. And if you want to layer it over saying it's abuse then one is really expecting the ego's games and drama's to be respected and played to rather than being cut through. Let's look again deeply at the difference of Abuse versus an Affront to ones Ego.
affront - noun an action or remark that causes outrage or offense : he took his son's desertion as a personal affront | privilege publicly worn is an affront to democracy.
0- Yep this about sums it up. Ego hears something it doesn't want to hear and is up in arms about it.
verb [ trans. ] (usu. be affronted) offend the modesty or values of : she was affronted by his familiarity. ORIGIN Middle English (as a verb): from Old French afronter `to slap in the face, insult,' based on Latin ad frontem `to the face.'
0- again this hold true. Your games of what ego wants and doesn't want isn't being played to - so it's up in arms suffering an affront. But affront is by no means abuse.
ego |ˈēgō| noun ( pl. egos) a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance : a boost to my ego.
0- There you have it in spades you self importance has suffered an affront. Huge Difference between that and actual Abuse. And if you want to claim abuse then you are off on a rant that will build and nothing can be cut through.
0- If you are beaten - or having mind games being played with you or are being raped THEN claim Abuse. But hearing something you don't like is simply hearing what is an affront to your holdings and your self collected image. To claim abuse is absurd. Am sorry that peoples ego's are suffering because they don't get their way at every turn. Again nothing get's cut through if it doesn't get confronted. If people have to construct and hold onto a nice comfy Ego image and can't hear something that is going to challenge then they are in the wrong place. To confuse an Affront and claim it Abuse is really projecting out from a place of poor wounded me syndrome. Again if you can't see the difference between genuine abuse versus having an ego affront then one is a fool to remain here. If one is being abused and they don't run for the door then they are a fool SO if you really feel abuse is taking place; don't walk but run through the door.
• Psychoanalysis the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity. Compare with id and superego . • an overly high opinion of oneself : some major players with really big egos. • Philosophy (in metaphysics) a conscious thinking subject. DERIVATIVES egoless adjective ORIGIN early 19th cent.: from Latin, literally `I.'
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Namaste Guruji,
Namaste and Om -
*...There are some things, "stories" of the ego, that discourage me from writing:
0 - then it is time to challenge these stories by going beyond them. Find
out if they hold true or not.
* - the feeling of unworthiness --
0- what is un- worthy ?
when All are the Same Eternal Essence what can be un-worthy ?
* I am not as steady in my practices as many of the people here.
0- ah well this is another matter - it isn't about taking time out of life to do *practices* - it is about incorporating the practices into ones Life as Life. there is a big difference between the two. As every moment of life may be a type of practice.
* I have my morning practice, but there are seldom times when I make time for extended formal meditation. Still, things move along. There are shifts taking place. In particular, I think maintaining focus on gratitude is very helpful to me now.
0- formal meditation is a misnomer - meditation is a stilled mind that has entered into Pure Awareness. One may do an open eye meditation. There are ways to bring it into the moment. With continued use of even the starting practices of Balanced Breath - I Am That I Am - and the OM That I Am. One may find that shifts to a stilling will take place in the midst of activity.
* - not wanting to "hog bandwidth" -- there are a lot of long posts to read! I simply cannot read them all, and most of them have great teachings throughout!
0- think what it is to write and answer them all. and you complain about not being able to read them all. hahahahahahahah
* So my question is: how often would you like to hear from us ideally? I can write almost daily if this is useful.
0- start with once a week - see if it starts to make a difference. It will keep you more dilligent in moving forward.
* Anyway, the subject of this post... today I was reminded during breakfast that my dog Harry takes great pleasure in even just taking a drink. How do I know this? Harry has a kind of snorting sound that he makes when he's happy. Often when I take a long
drink he will look at me and snort. "Ah, that hits the spot!" is what he is saying. Then I look at my own state, how rarely I experience the joy of doing the simplest things. I'm thinking about one thing or another, but I rarely pause to just experience the bliss that is available in everyday activities.
0- your Guru dog has given you a very good teaching. hahahahahaha Dogs live in the moment. They enjoy and savor the simple things. They aren't given to debate but simply love and enjoy without measure. Simplicity is the key.
*That's all for now..
0- ok - now go enjoy your day with the same enthusiasm as your dog gives to life.
pranams
*
Maha Shanti OM
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May this One simply explain from the ongoing experience of Self (while Self remains a misnomer for within THAT moment, of realization or enlightenment (being blown out) the ideation of any personal self is extinct and That which is termed the SELF for lack of a better name is known to be ever devoid of form; and yet it has more viable existance than anything ever experienced within the transient planes and realms)... When Nirvakalpa Samadhi is entered and the ego self is seen to implode as you will..... Simply Source is KNOWN as absolute Existance..... without Source which permeates and makes possible all seeming diversity - existance would not be.... And Source or That which is ever Unborn and beyond Death is the Essense or the only ONE existance... although you may be conscious of the many... the Realized person KNOWS and is ever esconsed in the undeniable Truth that ONLY the Primary Source IS.... the rest are simply waves upon the ocean top.... the waves are never separate from the Ocean of Source..... you are caught in the waves... the realized Being KNOWS the Ocean as it IS...... From that moment on the Realized or Enlightened Being remains seen as form by others but his reality and cognition is totally within a different space.......
so yes..... a person that is Realized at once while aware of the Diversity is ever esconsed in the Singular Truth of Existance beyond the relative..... there is no longer mind as you will with the various problems and ideations and concepts to be gravitated to...... He/She KNOWS that while there is the appearance of waves which translates to existance that these waves are not the reality but only a miniscule seen fraction of Source... the Source or Self is Ever the Same un-changing Bliss and Abstract Intelligence beyond measure or forms seeming bondage.....
Realization is simply ONE that is aware of the Self.... and an Enlightened Being is ONE that has been blown out...... so to answer this question YES ONE that rests within the Truth of Being can indeed say that they are enlightened.... for they KNOW that they have no existance apart nor separate from the ONE indivisble Source termed Self.........
now a few renderings as to what Sri Ramana Maharishi has said on Realized Beings.......
D: If the Realized and the unrealized alike perceive the world, where is the difference between them?
B: When the Realized Man sees the world he sees the Self that is the substratum of all that is seen. Whether the unrealized man sees the world or not, he is ignorant of his true being, the Self. Take the example of a film on a cinema screen. What is there in front of you before the film begins? Only the screen. On that screen you see the entire show, and to all appearances the pictures are real. But go and try to take hold of them and what do you take hold of? the screen on which the pictures appears so real. After the play, when the pictures disappear, what remains? the Screen again. So it is with the Self. That alone exists; the pictures come and go. If you hold on to the Self, you will not be decieved by the appearance of the pictures. Nor does it matter at all whether the pictures appear or disappear...
Once permanent, unwavering sahaja samadhi has been obtained, this is the state of Mukti or Liberation. People speak of jivanmukti and videhamukti, that is liberation whicle still living and Liberation after death, but Bhagavan explained that the difference is only from the point of view of the observer; to the Realized Man himself it makes no difference whether he wears a body or not......
What is the differance between jivanmukti and videhamukti?
B: there is no difference... For those who ask it is said that a Realized Man with a body is a jivanmukta and that he attains videhamukti when he sheds the body, but this difference exists only for the onlooker and not him.... His state is the same before shedding the body and after... We think of him as a human form or as being in that form, but he knows that he is the Self, the One Reality, both inner and ouoter, which is not bound by any form......
Love and Blessings Sat*Chit*Anand shanti-shanti-shanti
OM
Guru G's exchange with a student...
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G: sometimes i have to take the bull by the horns and confront with how things are. Of course all would like to see you find some Freedom and Peace within. This would take some drastic steps on your side being that you have been run, and have allowed yourself to be run with negative mind for quite sometime.
It IS possible to change - but it takes being willing to step foward day by day and to begin to release those things which only serve to keep us in an internal bondage to the hamster wheel mind and emotional roller coaster.
As stated i am not here to *save* you - you must *save* youself in a sense. The journey in the end shows us that all we needed to be saved from was our own mental projections which continue to create and sustain the illusion of a suffering *me*. As one progresses they begin to cut the moorings of mind and emotional reactionary drama. This takes time and a willingness to let go of our driving factors and rather than escapism it takes getting real with ourselves looking at what is really happening in our lives versus what we Believe is taking place, with a blown up drama story. We are very good at creating run away drama stories - of IF only - or But you don't understand - or The World has done this to me and now i am damaged - or It is all their fault - or whatever else keeps the wheels spinning on and on. This keeps us externalized and running in endless circles which keep pulling in the same types of drama's and story lines and experiences in, again and again in endless succession Until we finally stop fighting the world or looking for escapism, and start looking within for the Truth of it versus our emotionally laden story line of a Grims Fairytale me.
Student: I suppose [your] own insights come from [your] 'positive mind' - or like I heard from spiritual experts from 'No Mind'. So my mind must work in a negative, in a destructive way. The results are obvious.
G: you may be helped but the First step is to see that your way brings nothing but more angst and that you don't have the key to freedom. Has all your wrestling brought any Peace ? Has it really given you any control ? Me - My - Mine - I - we fight and rant and scream against the night and yet the night approaches to swallow us up in misery. And we try time after time to Affirm to ourselves - that the great ME is the one that has the answers. hahahahahahahahah Ego continues to try and say No Dammit it's MY life. And in the seperation Loneliness is the constant companion that must seek another to give us acceptance, to give some sense of filling a large hole. And yet the stubborn nature and Fear will continue to convince the ME of it's right path yet clearly it has been futile to find that which has been sought by ones own way.
When one is blind and is lost - do you believe that the map will suddenly appear ? It is only the One's that have gone from dispair, confusion, depression, and fear to Freedom that KNOW the ways and means to liberate the caged me. It cannot be done For you but when a true and honest willingness to hear and to put into motion what may be given takes place then step by step the bars to the jail are cut. Ego has the freedom to continue it's suffering ways. None wish to force you to leave this - but i can say Trust this - Suffering is over rated. hahahahahahah
Student: Gurus, like Ganga too, create guilt with judgements and advises like: 'fight against negative mind!'
G: this is not based upon judgement - the judgement alone is yours if you see it in this darkened shadow. i did not say *fight* against - this is [your mental] construct. i have said rather to let go of. Letting go is very different than fighting against. Fighting is another resistence - Letting go is acceptance of what cannot be changed and a freeing up. Being willing to walk away from that which is not beneficial and which will only be entrenched by fighting against. When you argue with someone - do they not only become more entrenched in their stance by the argument ? Leave them to their own hell realms and karmic happenings as Karma is not mocked. Go your way and leave them to their rambling ways as they are within their own realm of suffering. Suffering against Suffering what does it benefit ? What good does it do to fight against ignorance and darkness - fighting and railing against it does nothing but entrench things on both sides. One may only bring Light and may the light finally allow the shadows to dissolve and that Expansiveness to emmerge rather than the contraction of fighting.
Student: When mind fights for better mind, the struggle creates tension inside!
G: exactly - so much for your theory of fighting. See this for what it is - you cannot Fight your way anywhere. - this has been your methodology. Contract - fight - protect. Yet in fighting the mind is like an animal backed into a corner. One rather must start to ignore minds tantrums. to give it space to burn itself out. This is a vastly different energy than fighting again the mind.
Student: Running like everybody in the hamster wheel, misery changes into joy and back again. That's my experience. The promises of Bibles and Priests sound shallow from this my decades of experiences. Somehow I love to dive into my misery, because after dark nights of sorrows always an ecstatic sun rises up joyfully.
G: there is a difference in diving through the mistery versus diving into it and engaging it. Try the first one.
Student: How to trust these promises, when fairytales of gain and greed fantasize about some unknown long lasting peace inside?
G: it's not about trusting promises - so one will only know by being willing to Find Out - and one won't have even an opportunity to find out when the mind and the ego of fear labels it quite conveniently *fairytales* and *fantasy*. What a convenient self destruction and out so that one doesn't even begin.
Student: And anyway: trust is not part of my warrior culture!
G: warrior my ass - what warrior is it that fears loss and defeat and puts labels, so there is a convenient out before even starting. This isn't being a *warrior* this is being a coward that pretends at being a warrior.
Student: Maybe in the dead end road of death my warrior mind is in the mood to pray or to 'meditate' for 'peace'. Until now my mood fights for everything -
G: no it is fighting not For anything - but Against everything. There is a vast difference between the two.
Student: even for peace.
G: Do you mean like fighting for Peace in the middle east ? Fighting for Peace is a misnomer. There is NO Fighting For Peace - when the fighting has been laid down THEN AND ONLY THEN MAY PEACE BE. When there is no fighting - no greed - no holding to lack - Then Peace IS.
Student: And when this peace comes as sleep after a hard struggling day, this is my quite common miracle.
G: and How does this Peace come ? Doesn't it come to Surrendering into Sleep ? Did it come by fighting your way to sleep ? No - it comes out of Surrender and letting go into that which comes by itself.
Student: This confession is written at and on one of the Bavarian lakes. Alone in my boat. The wind in the sunny Sunday brings up waves, half meter high.
G: This sharing of Light comes from sitting in a studio apartment - alone yet never lonely - being with what IS. Looking out the window at trees which are sentinels that may remind mankind that they can construct nothing as glorious as what nature IS.
Maha Shanti OM
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... hahahahahaha the Ego is simply the identification with form and substance, conditionings and tendancies..... now start to question what is this "I".... is it the body? is it the mind ? is it the emotions? what is its Source? Here is from What Sri Ramana Maharish said about the Subject...By Sri Ramana Maharishi
Who Am I? - (Nan Yar?) As all living beings desire to be happy always, without misery, as in the case of everyone there is observed supreme love for one's self, and as happiness alone is the cause for love, in order to gain that happiness which is one's nature and which is experienced in the state of deep sleep where there is no mind, one should know one's self. For that, the path of knowledge, the inquiry of the form "Who am I?", is the principal means.
1 . Who am I ? The gross body which is composed of the seven humours (dhatus), I am not; the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz. sound, touch, colour, taste, and odour, I am not; the five cognitive sense-organs, viz. the organs of speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion, and procreation, which have as their respective functions speaking, moving, grasping, excreting, and enjoying, I am not; the five vital airs, prana, etc., which perform respectively the five functions of in-breathing, etc., I am not; even the mind which thinks, I am not; the nescience too, which is endowed only with the residual impressions of objects, and in which there are no objects and no functioning's, I am not.
2. If I am none of these, then who am I? After negating all of the above-mentioned as 'not this', 'not this', that Awareness which alone remains - that I am.
3. What is the nature of Awareness The nature of Awareness is existence-consciousness-bliss
4. When will the realization of the Self be gained? When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.
5. Will there not be realization of the Self even while the world is there (taken as real)? There will not be.
6. Why? The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the snake. Just as the knowledge of the rope which is the substrate will not arise unless the false knowledge of the illusory serpent goes, so the realization of the Self which is the substrate will not be gained unless the belief that the world is real is removed.
7. When will the world which is the object seen be removed? When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition's and of all actions, becomes quiescent, the world will disappear.
8. What is the nature of the mind? What is called 'mind' is a wondrous power residing in the Self. It causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no independent entity called the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts, and there is a world also. Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself. When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines) the world does not appear. When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self (as the residue). What is referred to as the Self is the Atman. The mind always exists only in dependence on something gross; it cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul (jiva).
9. What is the path of inquiry for understanding the nature of the mind? That which rises as 'I' in this body is the mind. If one inquires as to where in the body the thought 'I' rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind's origin. Even if one thinks constantly 'I' 'I', one will be led to that place. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the 'I' thought is the first. It is only after the rise of this that the other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.
10. How will the mind become quiescent? By the inquiry 'Who am I?'. The thought 'who am I?' will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.
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Namaste,
Here are some articles and excerpts about Kali --- These will aide you in understanding the path and the journey of Kundalini.... This path is a Tantric path which cuts the delusion and pulls one ever closer to Realization.... When one understands the iconography etc. then one understands the path and it's eternal nature... OM Shanti
Kali, the Great Mother Goddess of the Hindu tradition, is the Source, the One that gives birth to All. Known as a slayer of demons, She destroys the army of mind-born delusions symbolized by demons that separate us from the Divine as our own true Self. To our bound, limited and contracted ego identities She may strike terror, at times appearing as a coal-black, sword-wielding, blood-smeared dancer of death and destruction. To our Divine Self, She is our supremely beautiful Beloved, our dear spouse, performing a ballet of incomparable grace, overwhelming us with love.
The Great Goddess Kali can never be understood by the intellect. She and the essence of what She symbolizes are beyond the mind. Don't be surprised if your rational mind rebels and wants to go no further! Poets and mystics advise us that in order to know Her we must plunge into Her luscious, radiant, blackness, dive through our fear of the unknown, into Her overwhelming mystery and allow ourselves to dissolve in Her velvety midnight embrace. By Her grace we may know the unutterable truth of Her love, even as we are annihilated by Her infinitude. Beware, you may return babbling, forever lost to your spouse!
More on Kali aka The Kundalini journey and Path
KALI THE GODDESS OF TRANSFORMATION KALI : THE SANSKRIT WORD KALI LITERALLY MEANS TIME. KALI IS THE FEMININE OF THE WORD FOR TIME WHICH IS THE MASCULINE IS KALA.TIME AS WE ALL ARE FORCED TO UNDERSTAND, IS THE FOREMOST OF THE POWERS WHICH GOVERNS THE UNIVERSE. IN ITS ESSENTIAL NATURE TIME IS ETERNITY ITSELF, PERPETUAL CHANGELESS DURATION. EVERYTHING CHANGES BUT CHANGE ITSELF THIS PERPETUITY OR IMMUTABILITY IN DURATION IS THE SECRET MESSAGE OF TIME. ULTIMATELY TIME IS BEING ITSELF THE UNBORN, UNCREATED, UNDYING, ABSOLUTE REALITY.TIME IS BOTH CREATION & DESTRUCTION. TIME IS WORKING OUT OF COSMIC INTELLIGENCE. IT IS THE VERY BREATH OF COSMIC SPIRIT.
Kali is dark blue in color and wears a garland of skulls. She has her long tongue sticking out and is laughing. Sometimes instead of a tongue she has two fangs. Kali has four arms and holds a head chopper in one hand and a severed head dripping blood with the other. With her other two hands she makes the mudras of bestowing boons and dispelling fear. She wears a skirt made of human arms. Kali is portrayed as dancing in a cremation ground and striding on a corpse (who is the form of Lord Shiva himself). Kali is Mother Gauri, the present wife of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva in his destructive aspect is known as Mahakala, and the Divine Mother Gauri as Kali or Mahakali. The Sanskrit word kala is "death" on one hand and "time" on the other. Everything in this phenomenal world is time-bound. When a being's time is over, its shakti is gone and the being is dead. Death, in other words, is the end point in time of the life force (prana). Matter is neither created nor destroyed; it only changes form. Death is therefore a change or transformation, which is essential for the renewal of energy (the life force) and spiritual growth.Attachment to the material form (the physical body) causes fear of death. This is the basic fear rooted in our brain stem, the primitive brain, and is the basic obstacle in the path of the spiritual growth. Shum and Nishumb are the demonic forces of attachment, threatening our spiritual helpers and forcing them out of their abode. Invoking Kali by these spiritual forces can bring an end to this threat. Kali thus removes the fear of death, the basic insecurity of the first chakra. For the ignorant ones who are attached to their physical body and are eternally insecure, she is ferocious, but for the gods (the spiritual forces) she is Gauri, who has assumed the form of Kali to help them. In that ferocious form she conquers the demonic forces of false attachment - Shumbh and Nishumbh, Chand and Mund.The sadhak of Tantra has to conform his or her Shumb and Nishumbh, and through invoking Kali (kundalini) the sadhak can escape the clutches of fear and death. The love of Kali removes this fear and opens the door of knowledge (mahavidya) of eternity.
The physical body is dependent upon prana, flowing through the left and right nostrils, or the ida and pingala, so called because they excite the working of ida and pingala nadis when active. The ida and pingala originate in the muladhara Chakra (first chakra) with sushumna and terminate in the left and right nostrils respectively. By pranayama, the prana is controlled and the passage of sushumna nadi is opened. In an individual, prana is breath, but it is the same prana or pranic force that pervades the cosmos as time, movement, or frequencies. By mastering prana the yogi becomes free from the bondage of time. Ida and pingala, the lunar and the solar currents, keeps the sadhak time-bound and create in him the fear of death. Sushumna is beyond time. It goes across the brain strem to the cerebral cortex, the seat of consciousness, where matter is transformed into consciousness. When prana is made to flow through sushumna, the evil forces of lunar and solar currents (Shumbh and Nishumbh) are paralyzed and the kundalini is awakened from its deep sleep. She rises up through the bramanadi, which is the center of sushumna, and pierces the six chakras, dissolving the five basic elements into their source, the mahat. These basic elements are the material constituents of the physical body. Any attachment to these elements in any form (desire) creates a terrifying kundalini experience. When the material attachments are removed by purification (bhuta-shuddhi), Kali (Kundalini, the primordial force) is please and the sadhak is able to have a pleasent kundalini experience, which leads him or her beyond tattvas (tattvatic state) and beyond guna (gunatic state) to the realm of anada (bliss) and transcends him to the region of eternity (beyond time-bound consciousness), where there is no fear of death.Kali is therefore the mahavidya that removes the avidya (ignorance) that makes us fear death. She is the first mahavidya and also known as Adya (the first born) - one of the names used for Kundalini Shakti.
Kali's Dwelling Place - The Heart
The cremation ground, Kali's dwelling place, denotes a place where the five elements (panca mahabhuta) are dissolved. Kali dwells where dissolution takes place. In terms of devotion, worship, and sadhana, this denotes the dissolving of attachments, anger, lust, and other binding emotions, feelings and ideas. The heart of the devotee is where this burning away takes place, and it is in the heart that Kali dwells. The devotee makes her image in his heart and under her influence burns away all limitations and ignorance in the cremation fires. This inner cremation fire in the heart is the fire of knowledge, jnanagni, which Kali bestows.
To die daily is Her daily worship Everyday before we go to sleep we should empty the mind, as if each day was our last. This also makes each day our first and turns life itself into a meditation. Those who seek to merge themselves into the unknown, formless, uncreate Nirvanic field are true worshippers of Kali.--
GODDESS KALI MA
Goddess Kali Ma - Liberator of Souls - Destroyer of Negativity The Goddess Kali Ma is the supreme feminine manifestation of compassion as she frees us from the prison of our own ego. Discover the many other forms of the Goddess here.
The name Kali derives from the Sanskrit root word Kal meaning time. Nothing escapes from time. Her Tibetan Buddhism counterpart is named Kala, a male figure. Of the Hindu goddesses, Goddess Kali Ma is the most misunderstood. The Encyclopedia Britannica is very mistaken in this quote, "Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love."
It is partially accurate to say the Goddess Kali Ma is a goddess of death. However, She brings the death of the ego as the delusional self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the sriptures is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated exclusively with the process of human dying like Yama the Hindu god of death. Both Goddess Kali Ma and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. The purpose is not to glorify death but to overcome the I-am-the-body idea. The cremation grounds reinforce the idea that the body is a temporary. Kali and Shiva are said to dwell in these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Kali and Shiva give liberation by dissolving the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the ever-existing I AM and not the impermanent body. This is emphasized by the scene in the cremation grounds.
Out of all the Devi forms, Kali is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva. They are the destroyers of unreality. When the ego sees Mother Kali it trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise. An individual who is attached to his/her ego will not be able to receive the vision of Mother Kali and She will appear in a fear invoking or "wrathful" form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children.
Ma Kali wears a garland made of 52 skulls and a skirt made of dismembered arms because the ego comes out of identification with the body. In fact, we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only prevail when our attachment to the body comes to an end. Therefore, the skirt and garland are trophies worn by Her to represent the liberation of Her children from attachment to the finite body. In two of Her hands, She holds a sword and a freshly severed head that is dripping blood. This represents a great battle in which she defeated the demon Raktabija. Her black (or sometimes dark blue) skin represents the womb of the unmanifest from which all of creation is born and into which all of creation will eventually return. Goddess Kali Ma is depicted as standing on a white skinned Shiva who is lying beneath Her. His white skin is in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin. He is showing a blissful detached look on His face. Shiva is pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) while She represents "form" eternally sustained by the underpinning of pure awareness.
Through ignorance of the story behind Goddess Kali Ma it is easy to misinterpret Her symbolism. In the same way one could say that Christianity is a religion of destruction, death, and cannibalism in which the followers drink the eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood. Of course, we know this is not the correct way to understand the communion sacrament.
Associating sexuality to Mother Kali is not founded in the traditional understanding of Her. In the Hindu stories, there is nothing that associates Her with sexuality. It is just the opposite. Kali is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate and practicing renunciation!
The idea that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply not true. When we study the life of the great saint Ramakrishna or the great poet saint Ramprasad (both famous Kali worshippers), or listen to traditional Hindu devotional songs to Goddess Kali Ma, there is no suggestion of this death-sex-violence idea. This can also be substantiated by going to any of the Hindu websites such as www.hindunet.com and reading about Her. Anyone sincerely interested in Mother Kali should read the book Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding. In addition, there is a beautiful traditional Kali temple in Laguna Beach, California which may be visited on-line at www.kalimandir.org. Goddess Kali Ma is the goddess of liberation or enlightenment.
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Student: Thanks for your note. I haven't listened to the CDs [with practices / mantras], but I will soon. However, as I listen to my life and to my intuition, I'm noticing that discipleship on this path is not calling to me in the way I'd hoped.
Guru G: when you don't implement anything how can you even think that you could hear any type of calling .... ? or do you expect that a conceptual image is going to arise and pull you into deeper waters ? this isn't about a passing whim .... this is about starting to put into motion and then allowing it time to unfold .... you can't plant a seed and expect to smell roses by next week ... it is like saying well i planted the seed but it just isn't drawing me in the way that i thought it would .... you Have to take the time to dedicate to watering the garden and then you Will enjoy the blossoming and the fragrance when the seed has had a chance to grow into what you are expecting ....
if someone buys your book and leaves it on a table then writes and says they aren't being moved in a direction to open it so why isn't it helping them what would you say ? try opening it up and putting it into practice ..... just laying there as a table ornament of course isn't going to draw you anywhere.... just buying the book isn't going to move you a hill of beans in any direction ... it takes actually delving into it and allowing it time to resonate before anything is going to take place...
Let's see how you resonate with what has been said here.... don't think that simply taking Diksha is going to make a big forward motion in your life without you participating and putting into motion that which is given .... you have Free will .... Free will means that in order to advance you must want to and be willing to walk forward.... being a disciple means taking what is given and using it Wholeheartedly ..... not about having some Expectation about being called into discipleship ... by the way just what have you done in that area ? to this point not even put into practice anything that was given let alone making any type of effort at connection .... discipleship isn't something that is going to stand behind you and beat you over the head with a club in order to make an appearance in your life.... it is a conscious choice about going forward within the context of a committed path wherein a Guru has taken you under their wing to give the best they can give you of support and maps and tools to enhance and keep balanced your journey to completion .... to help you tear away the layers of accumulated garbage that is keeping at bey that which you Are in the core of Being.....
...what IS important is to open up and to put into motion that which helps to move you along in your own journey to Absolute .... of course Ego is going to fight it .... Ego wants to remain in the drivers seat .... Surrender is an ugly word that ego can do without .... it is a scary thing to contemplate as all manner of suspicions may arise regarding just what Might happen .... the great barrier of What IF ? but Surrender is the key in the Kundalini journey .... i am not speaking of Surrender to a personality ... but Surrender to THAT Truth which is the Living Reality of Being ... it is this that Guru represents and speaks from .... that inherent Truth which is at the core of your own life once the layers of ignorance which are the foundations of all bondage have been stripped bare.....
.....Open the Heart to what is Possible Here and Now - rather than putting everything on hold while you attempt to mentally come to grips with discipleship as to what your concept of feeling how it is or is not manifesting as per your expectations ... i don't need nor want people hanging on my skirts ... i want to see you move forward to Completion so that you can use the tools you have [....] to be able to give the Seva which is needed to move the world forward..... in order to do that you must first complete the journey and Then you will have ALL the available Knowledge which now you are grasping at straws to find.... you can only give what you yourself have Experienced in Direct Expression ... while what you are giving in this moment has value there is Much Much more that is possible .... be Willling to step the mind aside and go beyond the intellectualized step by step learning process of the world to that which can cut the chords of all bondage and separation .... go into the practices Fully .... go into Meditation deeply .... start to loosen and step out of the boxes .... yes become a Heart on Fire ... you want to Liberate your life .... ? you want Real Unconditional Bliss ... then be willing to step forward to Realization ... that will take Surrender .... Surrendering the personal *Me* which has been gathered and collected as a covering .... letting go of the collected identifications and ideations will bring that Total Freedom which you are attempting to find and lead others to ..... it will be found ONLY when you have transcended the mind and the barriers of a boxed life and allowed the Love to Expand until you are no more and only THAT which is core Being is touched and dissolved within ... that Clarity ... that Pristine IS will blow out whatever hindrance remains.....
Then you can give that which you are seeking ... that Pristine Diamond of Transparent Truth and Bliss which is ever Present to be Known and Lived in Spontaneous Awareness within the Liberated Fragrance of Existence ....
Maha Shanti OM
Namaste -
So students think that there is something that they can share with teachers? now if that isn't ego.... and that is exactly Why they haven't realized the self......
i had the same problem.... had the right words.... had the right concepts.... over 40 + years on the path.... had an awakened Kundalini the whole shot....phenomena everywhere..... really thought i knew it.... but there was no happiness, no joy, no peace, no calm....... i knew it all, but really knew nothing... Thought that it was enough that my full desire was for realization... and that i could just demand it....... after all it was the teachers job to hand it to me.... right? wrong!!!!
it was Grace, Grace, Grace, that my teacher took the time to slam me and slam me hard.... Now that was True Grace and Compassion... it was enough that the nonsense was broken through.... there is Eternal Gratitude for His Compassion... What can you Really give? what do you have to share? The teacher is Liberated.... they need nothing , nor can you give anything but gratitude.... but don't think you are really going to share any big wisdom with them.... don't think you are on the same footing.. you are not... you are as close as their breath yet as far away as - dark from light......
Teachers Know there is no differance within the Absolute.... they also Know the suffering of your delusions... While it is a paradox it is so........
Here is what Nityananda had to say and it is still true:
Without the Guru, you cannot reach the goal. (sutra 9)
The paradox is repeated in the form of the guru, because the guru has two aspects. Nityananda called these the primary/action guru and the secondary Causal guru.. On the one hand, there is the physical teacher, a personality to be dealt with and talked to, a person who performs actions that have an effect in the world, a person viewed by some with admiration and by others with disgust.. In other words, a human being viewed by ordinary people as the same or less than they are.. On the other hand, for those few people who are able to, or care to, look deeply into the situation, what is really there is not a personality at all, but an extraordinary field of spiritual energy. Grom this field, a human being can draw deep nourishment for his innermost being, and with this nourishment, he can grow into a complete maturity in the supreme state of pure consciousness...
The secondary guru leads you to the well. The primary guru drinks from it.... (sutra 104)
The physical aspect of the guru, the secondary teacher, serves us like a doorway. With our dilligence , love, and devotion we pass through this doorway of the physical teacher into the level of consciousness that Nityananda calls the , action guru.. The action guru is the same as Parabrahma, Parashiva, or chidakasha. At this level, we express the infinite spaciousness, extraordinary power, and creative intelligence that are the characteristics of the Essential state of Unity from which all experience takes its form....
Liberation does not come to search for you, you must seek liberation, you must make the effort." (Sutra 117)
The effort required if you are a Sincere seeker of God is to see Through the form, to Pass beyond the Personality and the Individuality and the eccentricity of the teacher, and in so doing to Transcend you Own Personality and limitations....
G: until there comes humility and a willingness to let go of all you think you know..... realization will not be entered....... If a teacher has compassion then they will attempt to tear away at the fibers of your illusion and stubborness.... if you wake to that then liberation may follow.... if a digging in of the heels happens or demand that the Guru cater to your ego to wash it away .... then you are only fooling yourself in the end.....
Liberation is death that there may be life.... that is the path of Jnana.... in the path of Bhakti the opposite dynamic is entered there must arise so much love for the world that you become erased in the process.....
The Master is the Servant of All....
do you think it is hard here? hahhahahaha... try an indian master....... they will either sit in total silence.... or tear you down at the top of their lungs.... they may put you through the hoops... test after test..... throw you out and see how much it is really wanted... they don't cater to the egos there as much as allowances are made here.... why is that? is it because they are Revelling within their own egos...... that would be the chorus here....... No.... that is not it..... because what they offer is beyond price.... it is the Pearl of Great Price.....
how can a price be put on being beyond suffering, mind, illusions and pain........ ? simply it cannot.....
Love shanti om ....g...
Archives Archives 2010 Guru Swami G
