tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post6798458593349959993..comments2023-10-16T13:06:42.360+01:00Comments on Happiness of Being: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: The question ‘who am I?’ as a verbalised thoughtMichael Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-16049294903093381512012-12-06T01:06:36.146+00:002012-12-06T01:06:36.146+00:00India is systematically ditching its wonderful anc...India is systematically ditching its wonderful ancient culture and values,and replacing it with all the superficial western ways with the eye's focus on short term expediency to the exclusion of all else,,,but at best so far they can only come up with a shoddy imitation,which makes it look like a sad parody.,,they rather have all these walmarts,instead of stamping out the practice of hundreds of millions using the country as an open toilet.,,or burning their garbage in the open instead of using landfills.,,or doing more for basic public health,,,or allocating resourses in such a way that lifts a huge chunk of the population out of crushing desperate conditions,,,,,or winding back the religious economy,which fabulously serves temple functionaries,but is an impost on all those paying big darshan fees to commune with their deity,,,or really practice ahimsa by showing more compassion to animals,,,or provide drinkable water,,,or simply just tone down the in built hubris borne of one's station in life.and the contempt felt and displayed towards the lesser fortunate........but then walmart might have the solution and remedy to all these ills,,,,,,but more likely the farce and parody will continue as long as the multinationals can fatten their major share holders courtesy of the so called local middle class,with their insatiable propensity for ostentatious lurid and garish consumption,while most of their countryfolk barely able to fill their belly.....happy days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-79137404395796962562012-11-16T01:10:16.534+00:002012-11-16T01:10:16.534+00:00rebirth, or, reincarnation, is snow.
or, to go fur...rebirth, or, reincarnation, is snow.<br />or, to go further, a snowman.<br />Every January, the view from my window is the same. the ground is covered with snow.<br />is it the same snow as last year, or different?<br />Putting aside for a moment (for the sake of the analogy) that there is a tremendous volume of water <br />that blows around the world in a year, we can say that yes, it is the same snow -in essence. <br />The blanket of snow in my yard is not made from the same snowflakes as the ones that fell last year,<br />but the conditions which force the moisture in the air to become snow flakes,<br />those conditions are the same. Or very close. Maybe a few degrees warmer or cooler. <br />Maybe a little more or a little less precipitation. <br />But basically the same.<br />When the conditions are different, that snow is "reborn" as rain, <br />or as fog, or as an ocean, or as a cup of tea.<br /><br />Similarly, I am not the same person I was a year ago<br />but the conditions which bring the aggregates of my existence together are roughly the same.<br />The DNA is still human, there is some genetic coding at work, and some memory storage is operative, <br />so in most respects I resemble both in body and in thought<br />the person I was a year ago. Or a moment ago.<br /><br />My understanding of the Buddhist teachings is that it is the actions of one's <br />body, speech and mind<br />that determine the degree of similarity between <br />who I was before, who i am now, and who i will be in the future.<br />"karma".<br /><br />the problem that seems to present itself to people seems to be death,<br />when we assume that there is a "thing" called "mind" that comes into being<br />due to conditions, the way we think of a blanket of snow as a "thing".<br />But it isn't a single thing. It is trillions of ice crystals.<br />Likewise, "mind" isn't a single thing that moves out of a corpse and into a new womb<br />(although it is described this way).<br />Always moving, whether from moment to moment or from life to life,<br />its is still a collection of conditions.<br /><br />So, a snowman melts, and next summer you swim in its body and next winter it falls into your yard and you build it again.<br />I think this is what describes rebirth.<br />F. MonkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-31904349755929636062012-09-15T20:51:02.570+01:002012-09-15T20:51:02.570+01:00Elsewhere it is stated in many different ways that...Elsewhere it is stated in many different ways that the focus should be the origin of the I and to literally follow the thoughts back to their source and abide there right at that point of origin. Nisargadatta also points to this placeless place as just prior to the rise of the thought. Others even say I is the first name of God and holding the "I" can be a mantra which reminds one strongly of the diamond cutter sutra...a honing of all thoughts down to just the first principle. All that said, the point is the origin and directing the attention there as it wanders again and again. I really don't think there is one specific method for everyone. Don't all stances go in the end? The question is what was there prior to all this coming and going?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com