SWAMIJI RETREAT
We usually know what impedes us at the gross level, but people only brood on these impediments rather than solve them. The five kleshas of Yoga, known as ignorance, egotism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life, are the usually unseen obstacles of spiritual life. Ignorance, for instance — no one wants to admit to it. But the seers are telling us that our ignorance runs deep, and its source lies in our blindness of the spiritual Self. Thus, lack of illumination, not illiteracy, is the real problem in the world. Besides, actually seeing our ignorance face to face practically equates to reading the book of Truth.
Neti neti is a qualified nondual practice, higher and deeper than most. Using this method, the sadhika thins out the distinction between the real and the unreal. But that distinction is in your mind, not in God. A stick laid upon the water represents a dualist, the egotist. But a line drawn on water is like the seer who is barely aware of the distinction between matter and Consciousness, God and mankind. Then, beyond neti neti, is a Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who is all undivided waters.
Desire is the cause of rebirth. Desire is why there are so many cows, horses, trees, etc. It is also why there are so many good people seeking heaven; they have not fulfilled their desire for enjoyment yet. But desire is not the reason we have illumined souls here. They have neutralized their karmas and put away their desires forever. You must realize that they are here only to help you neutralize or fulfill your own desires.
The wisdom one obtains after samadhi is of a different nature than both intellectual and religious knowledge. Through it one transcends the world and rebirth, while in the case of the other two one wants to enjoy earth and heaven, respectively.
Jnana – neti neti: A sadhaka has a couch he loves to sit and lie on. He will have to get rid of that pleasure seeking impulse. So he takes that impulse to task and realizes Brahman. Now he sits and lies on that couch and sees Brahman everywhere, even in the couch.
According to Swami Vivekananda, duty is the midday sun that burns the very vitals of humanity. Does this mean we must give up work? No, we transform it. Transform work into worship, labor into love. Renounce all action done for selfish motives and become free via the path of Jnana and Karma Yogas combined.
Existence is. Everything is. I have everything already. One may have to wait for its manifestation, but patience is a virtue that readies the soul for the art of custodianship.
A yogi wants mastery over nature – not so he can covet resources, but so he can give them to others in need and become free of nature himself.
Granthis, knots in the body-mind mechanism, are mental complexes, intellectual uncertainties, and philosophical quandaries that are basically all due to not having faith in one’s own Intelligence. Once the “courage of your convictions” comes to you, there will be only mellifluous flow in thought, word, and deed.
Truth is always revealed, but beings under the influence of avarana and vikshepa shakti — the covering and distorting power of maya — never perceive It. On a worldly level, vikshepa, the distorting power, makes what is bad look good, and what is good look bad. For example, getting intoxicated each night after work seems to be the American way, and trucks full of liquor roll up and down the freeways in support of this wayward lifestyle. Due to that repetitious show, it seems the thing to do to people. Yet, taking time off for spiritual or intellectual pursuits seems odd to most beings, though it is the best move they could ever make in their entire lives.