Total Thoughts (Feb 22, 2010): Tattva Bodha, The Gross Body (page 43)

Reincarnation and karma, what is the point of it? Should we even care? Let's discuss…

 

 

Total Thoughts (February 22, 2010):  Tattva Bodha, The Gross Body (pages 42 - 43)

• Human birth is the rarest and is the result of good actions. Self enlightenment is only available to humans due to the faculty of awareness. Therefore, each rebirth provides an opportunity for self enlightenment.
• The body has a grander role driven by choice, which is of the nature of tamas, rajas, or sattva. What we think is our nature, can be controlled using the intellect and knowledge, e.g. love instead of hate, understanding instead of anger…
• It is through the body we perform karma and have the ability to exhaust or collect vasanas. With intellect we can replace materialistic vasanas with spiritual ones.
• By transcending doership, we are able to exhaust vasanas which also prevents gathering more vasanas
• It is impossible to exhaust vasanas one by one. The only way to exhaust vasanas is through knowledge to know that the vasanas are not mine! They belong to the ego!

 

 

Foundation for our upcoming discussion: Tattva Bodha, The Gross Body (pages 43 - 44)

Total Thoughts (Feb 8, 2010): Tattva Bodha, The Gross Body (pages 40 - 42)

What does it take to change our vision? We gather this week to challenge our knowledge and cast a light upon the illusion of dream and waking. To truly understand what "Anything that I know, I cannot be" means. Here are our total thoughts…

 

Total Thoughts (February 8, 2010):  Tattva Bodha, The Gross Body (pages 40 - 44)

• The body like every other object can be indicated as 'this'.  'I' the knower of 'this' am different from it. 'I' is ever present in the dream and waking state and is free of all limitations, and this is the source of bliss.
• We must remember that perspective or relativity is not a measure of an illusion – the nature of the change is the measure. Anything that changes and is experienced, is an illusion.
• The ego is the reason for our rebirth. The ego prevents us from realizing our true Self. The ego only seems to exist, but is not real. Any experience, or anything, that is not the nature of existence, awareness and bliss, is not real.
• We need to change our vision, realize that at the gross level everything is the same, and although functionally we see differences, the utility remains the same.
• Maya is not paying attention. Pay attention, and maya disappears.

 

Total Thoughts (Feb 1, 2010): Tattva Bodha, What is the Soul (pages 36 - 39)

• Science states that energy is neither created nor destroyed and only changes shape (i.e. upon death of the body, the atoms of the body simply merge with atoms of the universe) - Vedanta states that Essence is unborn and undying and only assumes names and forms (i.e. upon death of the body, the 5 elements of the body simply merge with the 5 elements of the universe)
• During the waking and dream state our Spirit illumines objects, beings and situations whereas in sleep the Spirit illumines the absence of these - the illumined (i.e. the states of consciousness) and the source of illumination (i.e. Spirit) are always different
• What proof is there that we are not dreaming right now - why do we give the waking state more importance than the dream or sleep state
• We cannot control our thoughts but through our discussions we raise the tendency of our forthcoming thoughts being more meaningful - only a reflecting mind can seek out the answer to the most fundamental question of 'Who am I?
• The greatest gift one can give is Self Knowledge and the greatest gift one can receive is also Self Knowledge - are we aware of what is being offered to us through our discussions