From: kish@kish.rutgers.edu (Kish)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Effort vs clinging on the spiritual path
Date: 19 Nov 1992 13:29:44 -0800
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> >
> > My question before about preferences for Hindu thinking was based on
> > intellectual curiosity spurred by Scott's book more than anything
> > else.  Can you place Paramahansa Yogananda's thinking in a historical
> > context i.e. do you think he has been influenced by Shangkara ?  Scott
> > seems to either have been either a student or an admirer of Sri
> > Aurobindo.
> 
> Paramahansa Yogananda spoke from his own direct realization of truth
> so the question of the ordinary kind of influence one might expect a
> writer or philosopher to have does not apply because it refers to
> schools of thought, branches of philosophy, sects, denominations, etc.
> etc. which are not the direct realization of truth that masters such
> as Yogananda, Shankara, Pantanjali, Christ, Buddha, had.

I'm not a big fan of sectarianism either, but I am a great believer in
the influence of individuals on each other, both synchronically and
diachronically.  For each of these great teachers, the manifestation
of their realization in the relative world is both wonderfully nuanced
and distinct from his "peers".  And each one also had his respective
influences and formative stages which precipitated his ultimate
awakening.  A precise and detailed narrative of lives and traditions
such as these is, IMHO, one of the joys of life, and can be viewed as
an extended spiritual biography.  The study of such a spiritual
biography, when accompanied by practice, is hardly incompatible with
walking a spiritual path.

> The dualism you mention in relation to vedanta philosophy is quite
> superficial.

[ The dualism in question is between nature and God, the view that
maya is an illusion based on avidya, and most importantly, that this
avidya has no continuity with vidya. This is presented in Mary Scott's
"Kundalini in the World". She attributes this duality to Shankara, and
posits Shankara's view as distinct from that of Tantric cosmology - BK ]

Is it really too much to ask for a little detail here ??  I presented
the passage from Mary Scott's book with a sincere and genuine interest
in trying to broaden my understanding of non-Buddhist Indian
traditions.  I suspect that Shankara's view is intrinsic to much of
the yoga practice which has come into the West, and I don't feel it to
be insignificant that his approach might differ fundamentally from his
tantric predecessors and contemporaries.  In particular, I think
Shankara has contributed to or is at least consistent with the view of
"effort" that you have presented here, and which, if I remember
correctly, is the basis for this thread.

> If you were to read some Vivikananda, you will see how the dualism
> disappears from pure vedanta as interpreted by a master.

I've not read Vivikananda, and I thank you for the reference.  

> I think Yogananda's teachings convey the best of what India has to
> offer to the rest of the world on the spiritual goal of life and the
> means to reach it, fully in accord to what Krishna, Christ, Patanjali,
> (and other great ones) taught.

I have no desire to tread on Yogananda or his teachings.  Judging from
your posts, he was a teacher of the highest caliber. I do think,
however, that you are being a little harsh on the "lazy man".  A true
"lazy man" is a man without rank, and he has much insight as well.

Yours in Dharma,
-Bill
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