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Date Posted: 00:12:37 05/21/03 Wed
Author: Hendrik - 11 Apr 2003
Subject: Re: No more Kriya conversations
In reply to: knonymous - 8 Apr 2003 's message, "Re: No more Kriya conversations" on 00:11:38 05/21/03 Wed

You dislike the teachings on mind and ego and that's fine. It means that maybe that path is not for you. It does not invalidate it or make it lesser than any other path.

I think it is one of many possible approaches to a higher existence, and probably one of those best suited to our present culture. Religion for instance does work in India better than around here, and it seems as if everything occult or mystic is at once turned into perversities or commercialized nowadays. So there is not much left to choose from.

Shankara's teaching however can hold true from a vantage point of mind only - the evidence is that the world does not stop just because one individual or several individuals have found realization. Shankara's is a mental utterance and it does not extend beyond its realm. If I read a poem, that is not necessarily a mental utterance because it appeals to the emotions, in the case of spiritual poetry it can even work like a mantra. And Hatha Yoga affects the body. Shankara is philosophy - the one thing I am not interested in. Fine, the world does not exist -- so what?


To me, Shibendu's teachings are aimed at arriving at the non-dual state. I am not sure if you have ever understood the concept or relevance of the non-dual stuff.

I got into yoga with the notion of the fundamental non-duality of all existence due to own experience. I do not need any concept of what I know already. Shibendu's messages are like a dissonant record that is always played anew. Of course you get allergic to that music. If I need anything then it is to make a more melodious record part of life. Philosophy is redundant. Concepts are good for orientation only, but then they are useful.

The practical manifestations of "non-duality" may be manifold. What is "the" non-dual state you are referring to? Some people encounter a featureless inexpressible Absolute, others experience the unity of all being, still others are immersed in bliss. It is not quite the same.

Everything can be called "non-dual" if it has no form and cannot be understood by the mind. One may argue that all of those experiences are part of another, greater one, but that is not an answer. There are enough yogis who live in a sort of Nirvana but know nothing about Love.

So what is Shibendu's stuff about? I don't know it, but he is no role model to me and this chapter is closed for me.

I did not find anything in his teaching that came as something new to me or which contradicted my beliefs, but I take offence with the dissonant, unbalanced and distorted presentation of what he has to say.

For instance there is all his talk against "Becoming". But that is a different principle. All of us first become in order just to be. He is just juggling with words and ideas as in his A-B-C messages. His simplifications are silly and their overall relevance indeed evades me except that he shouts out, "Look people, I have found something that is special! You are all wrong!".

Shibendu like a child is obsessed with what he believes he has discovered and like a child he kicks against other kid's sandcastles because he likes his own castle best. That does not belittle his own castle but his behavior is that of a Donald Rumsfeld with all its consequences.

Then all this nonsense with the secrecy of the diaries, no reading of spiritual books, etc.

He is surrounded by spiritual forces and guided by his spiritual intuition, but much of it is marred by his outer personality and this conflict makes his presence unbearable or unwanted in the long run by most people. It is not their fault, because he violates customs and likes to listen to himself most. I think it is the inward conflict between the yogi and the worldly man with a modern mind. As many of us suffer from the same problem to be exposed to this becomes twice as unbearable.

It requires an exceptional composure to really get along with him; he lives in his own world and doesn't really listen. I never rebelled and always let him talk (perhaps this was the mistake), but our personalities don't match - I simply did not profit from his acquaintance.

Hendrik

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Replies:

  • Re: No more Kriya conversations -- Hendrik - 9 Apr 2003, 00:14:31 05/21/03 Wed
  • Re: No more Kriya conversations -- knonymous - 9 Apr 2003, 00:15:10 05/21/03 Wed
  • Re: No more Kriya conversations -- Carris - 10 Apr 2003, 00:15:41 05/21/03 Wed
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