Dear X….
Let me put it this way. You are very concerned about yourself but put yourself in my shoes. If I allow you to attend, I will go against my principles, one of which is that the needs of the total are more important than the needs of individuals. The world is crying for vaccines. The vaccines, social distancing and masks defeat the virus. I won’t waste my time trying educate you because you are committed to another point of view.
Anyway, what does the fact that you aren’t allowed to attend one seminar have to do with Vedanta? You’ve missed many seminars before the virus. One day the virus will be gone and you can come again if you like. I just did a weekend in Germany. We allowed one unvaccinated person to attend because it was a small group and a big venue and she wore a mask and sat away from the rest. You could have come to that one. The situation here is different; we don’t have a big enough venue to accommodate both vaxers and anti-vaxers.
Actually, X…, I wonder if this isn’t just the same issue you brought up before about Bill Gates and conspiracies etc. It seems to me that you want to have your cake and eat it too. I think your view on the vaccine is a political issue that actually masks a spiritual problem. There is a very simple way to solve this problem that doesn’t involve staying away from the seminar or attending the seminar, getting vaccinated or not getting vaccinated or any other action. I don’t have much faith that you will work it out on your own so I will help you.
Your trust in Vedanta conditional. Probably you have found that certain teachings help your ego to cope and are useful in your career but you are quiet happy to ignore those that don’t align with your biases, in this case fear. But if you are a true inquirer you will have the honesty to look at ALL of your opinions in light of the truth. People who are sex or money or power or fame-oriented exclude their particular obsessions from dispassionate analysis as do the conspiracy types, who imagine the world is an evil place, when the world is a perfect reflection of God’s mercy and the scripture is God’s words. “On y soi qui mal y pense.” Evil is the mind that thinks it. As Krishna says, “You are either your best friend or your worst enemy. Lift yourself up by yourself.” You are just keeping yourself small and petty by thinking the way you do. You are better than that.
You owe it to yourself to stop believing that what is unreal is real and take a stand in your true self. The health issue is a red herring. Almost every anti-vaxer I’ve met uses the same lame excuse. You should be honest and say, “I’ve got Daddy issues. I’m just a rebellious timid little mouse, afraid of my shadow. Nobody is going to tell me what to do.”
Sundari told you that attendees had to be vaccinated and you said you were going to attend unvaccinated! Then you were “astounded” when she informed you that you were not welcome to attend. You had an opportunity to take her statement as a gift from God, but that option didn’t appeal to you. See the arrogance. You took it personally.
What part of Isvara’s statement didn’t you understand? It was clear. It was a satsang rule, decided by me, who you would understand as Isvara if you actually understood what Vedanta is. I make it clear at the beginning of every seminar that the guru is Isvara. This gives seekers the opportunity to climb out of their small selves and access their best self. It begins the sublime process of transformation. If you’re still the same X… that started seeking long ago, you’ve not been blessed with the uplifting radical transformation that always happens to unconditionally committed seekers.
Sundari wanted to let you come but she gladly accepted my policy. It didn’t create a family fight. You should look for a personal guru who panders to your likes and dislikes. As I pointed out above, your sympathy for me is fickle. You didn’t even think about my position. You weren’t willing to get a small jab in your arm to get the teaching and trust that Isvara had your back. Several hundred million people have been vaccinated, more every day, and life goes on.
And you call yourself a seeker? A seeker of what? I suspect you have authority issues related to your childhood. Yes, you can say “no” to Isvara but you’d better be clear about the why, because Isvara knows a lot more than you about who you are and what you need and He/She doesn’t deliver anybody’s else’s results to you. What happens to you, in this case a closed door, is Isvara’s teaching for you. It shines a light on you. Of course, being conspiracy minded, you will probably start to think that even Ramji is a power-hungry deluded guru and denounce me to your friends. The problem with that idea is that the same Ramji you now don’t like is the same Ramji you used to think highly of. I’d like to know how that works.
You think you’re quite clever and independent but you surrender to fear. Stand up and fight the real enemy! Or just keep imagining that you are on some kind of noble quest. It’s up to you. At some point in this life or the next you will need to become a noble person beyond duality as Krishna tells Arjuna in the Gita.
I just posted on the nature of that nobility entitled The Role Model. I wish you all the best and hope that you come to your senses.
Much love,
James
