Dear James & Sundari,
Thank you for your responses to my e-mail. I greatly appreciate them.
When I sent my 50th anniversary America e-mail, I wrote about what I learned in America that is most meaningful to me. I forgot to write that the most valuable thing that I learned in America is to learn to be completely sastified with myself as I am and the world as it is. I have both of you and Vedanta to thank for this knowledge.
Even though James is my first Vedanta teacher, Sundari is an influential figure in my Vedanta education. Sundari urged me to take a stand in Awareness and I could not wrap my head around Sundari’s suggestion when Sundari first suggested it to me a decade ago because it felt “inorganic and unnatural” to me. I used the word “unnatural” at the time but what it really was was that taking a stand as Awareness felt profoundly counterintuitive. That is what makes the knowledge of Vedanta so hard to get. I felt like I could not do it at the time but with the grace of Isvara, I gradually and imperceptibly shifted my identity and my identification. What a huge relief and astounding joy that is when I made that shift. I felt so light and free. I felt like I could walk on water.
Every day I experience the mental agitation and suffering of everyone around me and every day I see the huge cost of identifying as a jiva. Jivas get reactive and bent out of shape at the drop of a hat. Paul thinks that I sound crazy when I say to some people that their problems are because they think they are human. What else could people be if they do not have the KNOWLEDGE? Even if they have the knowledge, they may not be able to realize who they are because they are not qualified.
I realize that this waking up process has to do with karma and knowledge As James has pointed out many times, you can get THE KNOWLEDGE for a day, a week or a month but for many, the knowledge does not stick. I see clearly now that what is needed, among other things, is qualifications, the guidance of a teacher, knowledge of Isvara and GRACE. I need not tell you the essential requirements for Vedantic inquiries are but I want to share with you that the most exquisite one is DISPASSION. Dispassion lessens my mental agitation and virually eliminates my suffering.
Love,
Thien
