From: Roger Adams <RADAMS@cerritos.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Effort vs clinging on the spiritual path
Date: 17 Nov 1992 14:00:46 -0800
Organization: Cerritos College, Norwalk CA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandman.caltech.edu

In article <1ea2qgINNss1@sandman.caltech.edu>, 
mw%ki.fht-mannheim.de (Marc Wachowitz) writes:

> : He is drawing from the ultimate truth sayings which I do not take issue 
>  with.
> 

> : The clinging we have to ego-control is astoundingly powerful
> Agreed so far ...
> : and requires effort to let go of.
> .. but this conclusion supposes the ego would have to reach something.

The ego _is_ the problem. Throw the dog a bone and it will leave you alone.
The techniques of meditation keep the mind from bothering you so that you
can experience deeper and deeper realization without obstructions.

> What we are seeking is (obviously) not to need seeking any more.
> 

Yes, we want to be at a level of realization where we need to no longer
seek. But it is faulty logic to equate "not seeking" with "finding".
Christ understood the dilemma of the ego-rule that most of us are slaves
to. Even though he said that the kingdom is within, he also said "seek, and
you will find". He did not say that since the kingdom is already within us
that we need not do anything in order to abide fully in it. He said that
"harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few". He is saying that the
treasures are within us, but most do not make the effort to find it within
(ie. remove the obstructions covering this kingdom such as our own 
indifference or laziness) so they go on being deluded. The ego-consciousness
is actively obstructing our realization of who we really are - it works
full time, 24 hours a day (if you let it) to maintain this delusion. If
you go with the flow, you will remain deluded. A diamond covered with mud
looks like a mudball, acts like a mudball, and for all intents and purposes,
_is_ a mudball. One must do what is necessary to remove the mud from the
diamond that is preventing the diamond from fully manifesting itself.

> : This nice story points to the truth. Real effort is required to "simply let
> : go". If this were not so, we would all be in nirvana and would not bother
> : with metaphysical discussions on the matter because we probably have all
> : experienced a "letting go" sometime.
> This would only be so if effort were the only possible "solution to the
> problem" - but there may be approaches of a very different kind.
> 

If, as the story you quoted implied, that all you need to do is to let go,
and this letting go requires, as you say, absolutely no effort of any kind,
then we all should be in nirvana, since letting go is something that we all
have experienced from time to time, and it surely (if you are correct) would
not take any practice or iteration in order for us to be fully enlightened. 
Since this has not occurred, I conclude that effort is required here :-).


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	Roger Adams
	radams@cerritos.edu               To those in whom love dwells,
	Cerritos College                  the whole world is one family.
	11110 Alondra Blvd                             A Hindu Proverb
        Norwalk, California 90650
	USA        		          292 Dwapara :-)
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