Dear Sundari
Frank: There is certainly a good part of my Jiva that still wants attention for no good reason; it’s a zero sum weight when “I” get it and when “I” don’t, equally.
Sundari: Maya is hard to fathom. Who really knows what’s going on in mithya? Remain firm in the knowledge that you are the knower or witness of the one that gets it and doesn’t get it. The fact that you are cognizant of the zero sum nature of reality, and the witness of this very human tendency is what matters. In my talk this Sunday I talk about nonduality and being human, that it’s a both and, not either or. Our humanity does not disappear because we know who we are. We are free to feel anything as the Self. We just want to regulate our feelings with Self-knowledge because we do not want to be bound to them. See the need for attention pop up, say ‘oh, you again. Ok, let’s have a chat. Why do you need attention, what’s behind it?”. Well, we know what’s behind it. But give the ego a little hug and say ‘There, there. You are safe, no worries!’
Frank: Meaning no disrespect to the “giver”, who is also Iswara, and what may come.
Sundari: Respect means to ‘look again’. When we fail to do so, we ‘dis – re – spect’ only ourselves. We fail to look again because Maya in the form of rajas and tamas has sneaked up on us again. Isvara is unaffected but our ignorance because we share the same identity with Isvara as the Self.
Frank: The tone of your beautiful email reinforces the value of karma yoga and is again so helpful. For years I believed I got the Self but what good is that? if the Jiva is wagging this knowing, like an overgrown tail, on an apparently tiny dog (small mind in a large fog of vasanas). There is indeed something purposeful “to do”!
Sundari: It takes time for Self-knowledge to remove all ignorance and to train the mind to think from the nondual perspective. It’s a big task because Maya is very thorough! If our likes and dislikes, needs and desires are in charge, the tail is wagging the dog. The only ‘doing’ is the surrender to Isvara in the form of the scripture, as the Self, and the controller of the field of karma.
What comes our way is what we need to look at and the path to freedom through knowledge. While karma yoga sounds like ‘doing’, it is not actually. It is knowledge in action because what you want most is to negate the idea of doership. Have compassion for your(not)self, and be vigilant at the same time. Cut yourself some wiggle room but not too much. Vigilance is required because rajas and tamas are always around. Relax. Embrace your humanity and objectify it. Take it easy.
Frank: Now that I think I finally get this basic, every reinforcement is most welcome. Even if I had heard it countless times for years, now the nail seems to have a first purchase in this obstinate wood I observe, it needs hammering home, every day.
Sundari: If we apply it, Self-knowledge works to remove the hard ungiving nature of ignorance, what I call the ‘Duryodhana factor’. Well done, Nick. Your dedication is paying off.
Frank: Vedanta is perfect in its precision and love. What seemed impossible inside, apparently unconscious unquestioned icy bindings, even these can melt in the fire of knowledge. Provided by the scripture and given by great teachers like you both.
Sundari: Thank you Nick. We are privileged to be in the service of imparting these precise and perfect teachings. The fire of Self-knowledge will indeed melt away all the icy unloved inaccessible ideas we harbour, as well as all the fiercely guarded granite of what we fear most about our human selves. The dragons are indeed made of paper.
With much love to you too, dear friend and Self
Sundari
