From: raj@globe1.att.com (Rajendra P Sharma)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: 10 Questions on Spiritual Guidance
Date: 23 Jul 92 14:21:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: qiclab.1992Jul24.003524.17188
Organization: AT&T

James writes:

> Here are ten multiple choice and true/false questions which may
> be worthy of consideration.  We can, of course, add additional
> options like "All of the above," "None of the above," and
> "Other...".

> 1.    Widespread guru gullibillity means
> 
>       a.  The desire for a teachers is stronger than the desire
>           for enlightenment.
>       b.  People are are superficial. 
>       c.  We are reacting to powerful thought-formations.

	
	...is part of the God's play.
	
	
> 2.    My values are
> 
>       a.  born from the soul.
>       b.  laid upon me by my group karma.
>       c.  the standardized formula of the herd.


	If as Tagi has said: "I" is nowhere to be found, who does "my"
	refer to? If "I" is not there, "my"looses its meaning.
	
	
> 3.    Repeating a good mantra will lift your consciousness. 
>       True/False


	Repeating a mantra may keep the thoughts wandering on other
	things. 
	

> 4.    Most meditation is selfish and therefore not meditation at
>       all.   True/False


	Meditation is an effort to still the mind, until the distinction
	between effort and effortless disappears.
	
	[When learning bicycling, a lot of effort is required; after it's
	 mastered, riding a bike becomes effortless.]
	
	[Everything one does is selfish until the Meditation happens by
	 itself].
	
	
> 5.    Masters issue orders to their followers (or devotees) to do
>       thus and so, to form this or that organization.  True/False


	Masters guide the devotee [on the path] to self discovery.


> 6.    Disciples of the Masters deal in claim making and the art
>       of attracting attention.   True/False


	Some do; some don't.
	
	[All the time, the ego is trying to attract attention to itself.]
	

> 7.    A disciple may find it necessary to say, "The Master has
>       chosen me," or "The Master stands behind my effort," or "I
>       am the representative of Hierarchy."   True/False


	What is said is unimportant. The feeling matters.


> 8.    When most people shut out the physical world and stop
>       thinking, what they have left is 
> 
>       a.  the spiritual world of reality
>       b.  the emotional-mental world illusions


	Please tell "how this [shutting up of the physical
	world] possible? Is this based on experience?

	
	As long as the body is there, there will be all perceptions
	[except in the Samadhi state; and one can't stay in that state
	all the time; note only "nirvikalpa" state is implied here, and
	not the "sahaja" state].
	
	
	The saints (realized ones) also feel pain when they see a child
	beaten or dying; they also see the beauty of the universe, as well
	as the sorrows. To imply otherwise is to "propagate" nonsense.
	Only they are in touch with All of It [the universe] and don't
	take a "partial [optimization of a part only] attitude;" and thus
	they may remain unaffected [by the parts] and are able to help the
	entire universe [although unknown to others].
	
	
> 9.    Most spiritual guidance is
> 
>       a.  subconscious "wish life."
>       b.  old aspirations from previous lives.
>       c.  communication (good, bad, or indifferent) from ordinary
>           discarnate people.
>       d.  unconscious telepathic "eavesdropping"
>       e.  contact with thought-formulations
>       f.  invasion by emotion-formulations
>       g.  from one's own mind
>       h.  from one's own soul
>       i.  from the Masters


	...Undefinable, unknowable, and always present, of course.
	


> 10.   All people who have only two eyes and ears are blind and
>       deaf.  True/False


	A blind person can't read "religious words," but can see God.
	Therefore what can be seen only with the eyes is not God.
	
	A deaf person can't hear  "religious words," but can hear God.
	Therefore what can be heard only with the ears is not God.
	
	A mute person can't say "religious words," but can talk to God.
	Therefore what can be said only with the lips is not God.
	
	A sleeping person can't see "I" or the "universe; yet is with God.
	Therefore what can be seen only with the mind is not God.
	
	A "comatose person" is also with God.
	
	Therefore, God is there independent of a person's senses and mind,
	indeed beyond the universe itself. God is beyond even the
	existence or non existence of "I, "Mind," and the "Universe."
	
	Only God is God. 
	
	There is only the perception of blindness when the attention is
	focussed away from God; in reality, there is no blindness.
	Never was, never is, never will be.
	
	Because God alone is.
	
	
	
---raj