Bill, Of course. No, the gift of being human is the capacity to know the divine while still being in this body. On prakriti and purusha: I am not real familiar with these terms but I can see, IMO, what they refer to. Prakriti is the material realm, along with the individual mind and body. You may divide it up into different levels if you wish, the lower is the common mental state of man, the higher the enlightened man. Purusha is the witness. The term "Witness" is used in many schools to denote him who sees all, the all seeing eye, the one who is left when all else is stripped away. It is the fundamental being covered over by the ego. But we are talking about thier relationship, so we must divide. We know in truth that there is only one. On time: Everything is a concept. True it flows all kind of ways, depending on your point of view. Time is needed for human brains to work. mariecstasy, In My opinion god is sometimes called consciousness, but God is beyond consciousness as consciousness must have something to be conscious of and God is not dual in nature.
Well I think I've said all I can here. Can't think of much to add. Of course, I have my way of seeing it all, which may be different in the way I formulate things than others, but I'm not saying my view is the only correct one. I think that one can see it in different ways from different angles, and there is validity in different views. Just say though that it is only to the thinking, discursive mind/intellect that everything is a concept. The whole purpose of yoga on one level is to move beyond the conceptual into a direct relation with reality. To know the divine, rather than just have ideas about it.
I agree. ::nods:: Who am I to say? Purushotama as Krishna is what I need...but I was trying to tell a friend of Vedanta and for him the idea of Nirguna Brahman addressed his needs and understanding more... ...that is the beauty of it and perhaps the love of it...it is all there so that however we seek Divinity, it is there in a way for us to understand... ...but in the end...I see it as all the same...imho
Well part of the beauty of the whole path is that there are different conceptions which appeal to people at different stages, and with different natures. My own opinion, which is very much influenced by Sri Aurobindo, is that the Puroshottama is the Supreme, as explained in the quote from the Gita I posted. I think that for many people brought up on a mixture of western materialism and Christianity, it's perhaps hard to even understand what is meant by the Purushottama. A kind of impersonal pure being seems somehow more 'rational' to a lot of people. Esp those in whom the rational intellect is dominant. When Krishna says in the Gita quote I posted earlier that as Puroshottama He is above both the personal and the impersonal, the moving and the non-moving, it really doesn't yield to intellectual analysis, which is what people mainly rely on in our lop-sided culture. But again, it's also got to do with other things. Ma Indira Devi experienced Nirguna Parabrahman, or Nirvikalpa Samadhi, on more than one occaision. In 'Pilgrims of the Stars' She writes: "They say this stage is higher than savikalpa samhadi. But to Indira the stature of her supernormal consciousness is not important. If she can be in a state where she percieves Dada or the Lord smiling on her, she asks for nothing more. Nirvikalpa samadhi is not her goal. All she prays for is to be able to give herself completely, without reserve, in her normal consciousness"
Hare Krishna! It is nice to see Param back again with a load of 'awareness' thing. I am yet to understand what awareness he is or we are talking about ! However, it is interesting to read the posts. Param would do better to take a serious note of what Xexon, SGB and BBB are saying. May be then he would be able to untie and fix a proper knot again. Param, please do not feel any sarcasm here. Love, Kumar.
