Throw the Dog a Bone

Hi James, it’s been a while, how are you? 

James:  Never better.  

I’ve been less consistent with it all in more recent times due to a number of factors, particularly a house move. That said, I’ve kept in touch with some texts and am always attempting to stay consistent with karma yoga, guna management and meditation. I’m finally relatively settled in the new place and it’s time to ramp up the mission, Operation get the F*%$k out of Samsara. In light of this, I have some doubts that keep bugging me if you don’t mind. 

James:  Helping people get out of samsara is what I do.  

The world has become blah, the zero sum nature and pointlessness of all the run-around has become annoyingly obvious. I feel dull, ripped off, sad even sitting in this knowledge. At the same time Vedanta blooms in necessity, to understand the world and having no relief package would appear disastrous, so it’s not all bad.  

James:  Appreciating the zero-sum nature of samsara, is the key to freedom from samsara.   

This is further compounded by my other recent hard realization, that despite feeling that I have a decent grip on the teaching, actual assimilation is a big leap, more than I assumed in the earlier days. So I guess what I’m saying is I feel a bit overwhelmed and disheartened, worried I’ll be stuck in the uncomfortable limbo for a long time, perhaps many many years, I sure as hell can’t turn back and moksha sure as hell isn’t going to fall in my lap. Perhaps this is more a therapy session than a satsang haha. Could you provide any insight or advice on the scenario? 

James:  Yes.  You got high on the idea that you are the Self but your desire for security and pleasure pulled you away from the path.  You have bits and pieces but don’t understand the big picture, the five stages of Self inquiry aka Vedanta.  You need to organize your life around your practice, not the other way around.  Please start over.  Go to ShiningWorld home page and click the start here arrow and proceed logically and patiently.  You should have a daily practice.  For instance, karma yoga, the first stage involved five daily practices, etc. I can’t help you until you are clear what is actually involved.  Vedanta works.  Read the satsangs on the website, which are testimonials to the transformative power of this great teaching.  Once you are committed I am happy to guide you.   

Ok so the second thing is killing vasana related. I feel at this point I only have one major binding (problematic) vasana to neutralise. You’ve probably never heard of this one, the sex/relationship vasana. My entire 20’s and early 30’s could be defined by this alone. I’ve had numerous failed relationships and am absolutely certain I want none of it anymore, I tasted the forbidden fruit for the first time in a while recently just in case something had changed and Ishvara made it very clear that enough is enough. So anyway, I’ve ditched the dating app and have embarked on a celibacy quest. Yep, it’s harder than I thought. Question is, should I go straight Pope or should I cut myself some slack? I have the discipline to go all the way (i think), but just want to be sure it’s worthwhile. I don’t really know how else to do this vasana in good and proper? 

James:  Sin intelligently.  Commit to Self inquiry and throw the dog a bone now and then.  Full Pope doesn’t work.  You don’t have the temperament for it.  Don’t think that sex isn’t one of the most blatant zero-sum endeavors in samsara.  You need to learn what love is.  Read the Yoga of Love.  You should have a daily devotional practice.   

This one is a bit random…. given apparent duality and all that, would this mean that everyone’s suffering is proportionate to their happiness in a single lifespan? For example if someone (a friend of a friend) would have many years of pain well beyond the norm does that mean they would be leveled up to experience an equal amount of ease at some stage in their life? 

James: No.  This question is born out of an insufficient understand of the law of karma.   

Sorry I’ve got a few. I’ll just say it, I have issues with frustration (anger at times), both towards my own health challenges and at aspects of the world. Adharmic behaviours seriously piss me off, real suffering pisses me off, stupid selfish people piss me off. I know I’m not supposed to be taking it as real and the importance of killing likes and dislikes and all that. My question is.. how the hell do i do that? I know it’s not real but it feels real for the jiva. I just don’t know if I can “love” it all. I even know it’s all happening in my mind, which makes me feel like shit. In addition to this, I have a hard time with karma and bhakti yoga, I honestly have beef with Ishvara who is facilitating all this apparent nonsense. I read something to the tune of Isvara is not the issue, ignorance is, in one of your books recently, which I couldn’t grasp. If Ishvara is the whole show then isn’t ignorance as much IT than anything else? If I didn’t know that Ishvara was everything then I’d love that explanation because I could continue my tirade against the dumbass godless asuras. But we are taught that this kind of view and attitude will keep us stuck in the hell hole (or is it paradise?), hard to tell for an ignorant jiva. 

James:  As I said above, you need to start over.  Stage one is karma yoga.  It is desire and anger management. Once it starts to work your mind will calm down enough so it can start to understand what needs to be done.  You don’t understand the difference between emotion and devotion.     

My final question is less a rant, sorry about that, I’ve been bottling this up for awhile. I want to understand what it actually means to “offer” actions to Ishvara as part of karma yoga. Is it just saying “here Ishvara” mentally throughout the day, which I’ve been doing, while not really knowing what that means.

God this may seem like a stupid rookie question but I’m unsure. Is it a word symbol which is used as a shorthand way of “acknowledging that all the factors involved in being able to perform this action are gifted by Ishvara, Ishvara is the performer and the giver of the results, so I offer up the idea that any of this is me”. Is it essentially an application of the non-doer knowledge?  

James:  Yes.  It is offloading the emotion before you commit to an action so that you can act dispassionately as the Self would act if it were in a body, which it is but which you don’t appreciate.  It is seeing every situation as a opportunity to contribute to your environment aka Isvara, not an opportunity to cotton to your likes and dislikes.  As I said I haven’t time to untangle your messy mind.  You need to calm down and take baby steps.  You are way ahead of yourself, caught in the spell of rajoguna.  The desire/anger is clouding your intellect.  Isvara has sent you to the right place, no doubt, but there is no quick fix.   Rome wasn’t built in a day. 

Further to this, you instruct an attitude of gratitude. Admittedly I’m not the best at feeling gratitude, not hopeless but I’ve definitely developed a victim vasana over the years. That said, I am committed to working hard to transform that. I have developed an early morning devotional practice where I pray and sit in silence contemplating the gifts of Ishvara, which is a pleasant experience. Is this sufficient or do you have any other tips? 

James:  Good.  There is not one thing in life that you value that you created.  If you are the author of your life, you can own it, but everything you experience, whether it is in harmony with a like or a dislike comes from Isvara, the world.  

I’m glad you wrote.  It is an honest letter.   Think of my reply as tough love.  I think you’re starting to figure out that the big spoiled baby act doesn’t work, which is the dawn of wisdom.  Vedanta works, but you have start over.  To repeat, you have most of the bits and pieces but they need to be stitched together.  If you really commit yourself you will make rapid progress.  So the first step is to stop thinking of yourself as Jack Jones.  Think of yourself as a karma yogi and concoct a workable identity day by day.  You’re a clever guy, perhaps too clever by half.   Don’t bite off more than you can chew.  And throw the dog the occasional bone.  And please make regular donations to ShiningWorld.  It’s incumbent on inquirers to support the teaching and the teacher.  

Much love,

James