“There are so many who take the dawn for noon, [who take] a momentary experience for full realization and destroy even the little they gain by excess of pride.”--Maharaj
FROM A SITE VISITOR: “What is your comment on 'Bhakti,' the path of devotion to achieving realization? Would you say that its only stage #3? I have come to believe that its not only possible, but also much easier, to attain realization by 'Bhakti' alone with no attempt to build 'Jnana' (knowledge) whatsoever. Thanks, Sanjay"
F.: Greetings, Sanjay. Thank you for a relevant question and an insightful comment. What I learned from my vision, which was confirmed by my guide, was that bhakti generally involves adoration and devotion. If that is accepted as a working definition, then indeed the practice would require someone or something to adore or someone of something to be devoted to. And if that is accepted, then bhakti is practiced on many levels by those not-realized as well as those moving along the path to realization.
F.: Greetings, Sanjay. Thank you for a relevant question and an insightful comment. What I learned from my vision, which was confirmed by my guide, was that bhakti generally involves adoration and devotion. If that is accepted as a working definition, then indeed the practice would require someone or something to adore or someone of something to be devoted to. And if that is accepted, then bhakti is practiced on many levels by those not-realized as well as those moving along the path to realization.
I have witnessed persons who are identified with nothing but the physical body who adore their bodies and the bodies of others and who are devoted to their bodies and to the bodies of others. Theirs is body-bhakti. I have witnessed persons at level two who are devoted to their "minds" and the content thereof, who seem to worship their "knowledge" (a.k.a., learned ignorance.) They practice "mind" bhakti. That avails them nothing, so I concur that persons are wasting time and effort if they have as a goal to seek gnana/jnana of any form or class. If persons transcend worship of both the body and the "mind" or the seeking of knowledge, then their next level on the "journey" you have rightly identified as Stage Three (of the seven-step "journey" to Reality): there, they will devote themselves to someone or something or will worship or adore someone or something that is beyond the physical and beyond the mental. Many generally describe that as a "spiritual" or "metaphysical" or "religious" stage. It is a stage that cannot be skipped and must be experienced. Yet haven't the realized shifted beyond such duality?
To declare, "I am devoted to this or that" can happen at the Step Five Witness stage with its subject-object experiences, yet the Pure Witness is beyond, witnesses NO duality, and would observe that It Is either (a) whatever it worshipped or adored or was devoted to or (b) that whatever it worshipped, adored or was devoted to was an illusion and that "Devotee" is merely another state-of-being-this-or-that...another false role, another ego-state. The jnana/jnani stage must be transcended, the devotion stage must be transcended, the child ignorance state must be revisited, the S-O duality must happen, but eventually the True Self can witness purely, and all of that which came before pure witnessing is seen for what it was: another stop along the "journey" away from ALL and to NOTHING (to the freedom on "no concepts"). Adoration, devotion and objects or concepts thereof are still "SOMETHING." (By the way, my teacher, fully realized, still organized bhajans in his loft on a bi-daily basis for years, though they were "attention-getters," offerings that drew to the presence of the pure consciousness those persons who would later be ready for the full "journey" but who were at the time in stage three devotion and adoration. So it was. So it can be now. Eventually, however, he refused those and addressed only those proteges who were "gunpowder," not fixed in the "wet charcoal" or "dry charcoal" stage.) Best regards and thanks for stopping by and taking the time to write. f.
Religious and spiritual ego-states have experiences such as mistaking the sunrise for high noon. A sunrise can appear to be beautiful and can generate emotional intoxication, but appearances and emotional intoxication are the very stuff that prevent Full Realization. Religious and spiritual persons mistake a “momentary experience” for Full Realization and in that process end up destroying whatever they have “gained.” In that process, all opportunity to know true peace and tolerance are lost. The use of assets to relieve misery and suffering are redirected toward “destroying.”
Religious and spiritual ego-states have experiences such as mistaking the sunrise for high noon. A sunrise can appear to be beautiful and can generate emotional intoxication, but appearances and emotional intoxication are the very stuff that prevent Full Realization. Religious and spiritual persons mistake a “momentary experience” for Full Realization and in that process end up destroying whatever they have “gained.” In that process, all opportunity to know true peace and tolerance are lost. The use of assets to relieve misery and suffering are redirected toward “destroying.”
See how that plays out in the relative existence: the U.S. Government is currently in the hands of self-proclaimed religious people who worship their “god” and his “son.” See their emotional intoxication. See how they mistake their religious experiences for awakening. See how they foster neither peace nor tolerance. See how they assign assets to be used for destroying. No argument is offered to counter their claim that they are "religious people” and “worshippers.” The pointer is, those are ego-states that (1) if transitioned might allow for Full Realization but (2) if not transcended will generate the same disharmony and misery and destruction that any other ego-state will generate. For Full Realization to happen--and for peace and tolerance to happen--all ego-states must be transcended...including religious and spiritual ego-states. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
