To: K-list
Recieved: 1999/12/18 13:23
Subject: [K-list] Still more on karma, suffering, Patanjali...
From: Mhortling
On 1999/12/18 13:23, Mhortling posted thus to the K-list:
Howard wrote:
(Kundalini ) > is absolute freedom & liberation from the
body, mind, intelligence,& ego. Where all the shackles of past impressions
of this life & past ones are dissolved, leaving only the light of the soul.
Surrendering that individual light & soul into the universal spirit or
soul.Jivatma into Paramatma.<
Ahem,
This is in fact the end result that hopefully arises once and if the
kundalini-process is concluded succesfully. The road that we are placed on by
kundalini that takes us there however, is often full of obstacles & pitfalls.
Overcoming these sometimes HURTS (and bad too...) - better believe it, dude !
>Some teachers say that you should go through pain to experience kundalini.
Their reasoning is it is only through pain that one can understand fear and
deal with it.<
It's not at all a matter of should or shouldn't - basically kundalini does
what she wants once she awakes, the right approach is to cooperate as much as
possible. If there is pain to be experienced, best to take it as gracefully
as possible until one effectively reaches that state of consciousness
completely beyond suffering & pain. The reason we experience pain is because
of emotional trauma and wrong views about ourselves and life in general -
this leads to disharmonious thinking and acting, automatically setting us up
for painful experiences to be had somewhere along the road.
Impressions and memories of every thought and action we've performed are
stored in the subconscious and pop out at the right moment, attracting just
the experience and circumstance needed to mirror the original though-patterns
and acts. (see also Christopher Wynter's recent excellent post on how
separation from our original wholeness creates suffering)
>I AM NOT ONE OF THEM. I say when one has been through pain & fear you do
not inflict it on others. you make it easy as possible to share what is
beyond, looking at your mistakes, making sure they are not repeated on
others. Patanjali Y.S.2.16. - <
Pain and suffering & mistakes are good teachers, in fact that's probably why
they're there in the first place - the universe is geared towards evolution,
whereas humans seem more geared towards staying stuck at one particular level
of being. Kundalini drags you out of wherever you're stuck by the hair & ears.
And of course you try not to inflict anything negative on others, if the
heart is open and filled with empathy it's more unlikely to happen, until
then one can just use spiritual logic - do unto others,as you would have them
do unto yourself, as you sow so shall you reap etc..... ('cause if you don't
there's the big karmic stick waiting to leap into action.)
>The pain which is yet to come can and is to
be avoided. Gheranda Samhita(a major tantric work)Lesson 5.31. - He should
avoid anything giving pain to the body.
No sacred texts on tantra / yoga advocate pain. Prove me wrong, quote a
text & verse concerned that does. Otherwise practise more & preach less!
If you wish to go through pain you are welcome to do so. Its not my
problem.<
Right, pain is to be avoided & the body not to be harmed. Very wise this.
However unfortunately it doesn't quite seem to work as simply as that. (And
it might be interesting to note at this point that both Sri Ramakrisnha and
Ramana Maharshi, two of recent history's most famous and appreciated saints &
fully realised beings in India, both suffered and died of cancer)
As I said, there's storehouse of potential experiences and situations stored
inside the consciousness. Part of these "seeds of experience" are already
active in our lives now and constitute the major framework in which we live.
The money we have, the jobs we do, relationships, health patterns, the lot.
In sanskrit this type of already activated karma is called the prarabdha
karma . The seeds of experience that are still waiting to be manifested but
are still in a state of latency are called the sanchita karma. Prarabdha and
sanchita karma are unavoidable in a certain sense, since they're there and
cosmic law of cause and effect demand that they become active.
There seems to be a remote possibility to avoid the fruits of actions if you
find a saint willing to take on your karma. - I wouldn't count on it
though... (This is what Jesus seemed to have done by dying for the sins of
the world).
The last type of karma is the agami karma. It is the seeds we generate by our
acting and thinking right now - and this it is possible to influence. By
self-knowledge and awareness we can (hopefully) change our patterns and thus
change the experience in the future. To some degree it's also possible to be
aware of the latent seeds that are there in the subconscious and not act upon
them. (if you really know your Patanjali, it's all described in there
somewhere...)
I know this is a little bit in contradiction with statements like "there is
no true free will" and "karma ultimately doesn't exist", but I think this
only so looking at these rather big issues in a superficial way.
Most sacred texts, saints, yogis or other instruments of cosmic law &
mechanics worth their salt will as far as I know argue somewhere along these
lines.
And to conclude, Patanjali in his yoga-sutras doesn't at all delve into the
subject of kundalini, in fact the path to liberation he describes is mainly
concerned with reaching samadhi through control of the mind without having an
active kundalini (yogas chitta-vritti-nirodhah and all that...).
The yoga-sutras are extremely useful and contain great wisdom & insight, but
I don't think it's really possible to describe or judge kundalini,
kundalini-yoga and whatever happens to people with active kundalini (or what
they should or should not do), from a purely raja-yoga point of vantage.
Best regards,
Michael
Who has practiced a little bit (and maybe preaches too much & is still
somehow suscebtible to get the blues and wind up in trouble occasionally )
BTW. Howard, is kundalini actually active in YOU ?
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