Hello dear James,
How are you? I hope you are well. I am sending you an update regarding my progress and situation and would love to read your comments as always.
Regarding the Western guru type in India I told you about , you were right; he had strong money and power vasanas. I am thankful to God for sending him to me, however, he was able to help me balance emotionally, but most of all for learning not to believe these kind of people again.
James: I take no joy in hearing this but most of these middle-aged guru types Indian and Western have their sexual vasanas nicely quarantined from their spiritual lives. I noticed it with gays when I had an ashram in San Francisco during the Gay Mecca. They loved Self inquiry on all topics except sex. That was the bedrock identity from which they pursued moksa. Of the more than fifty gays that came to me, only three were qualified enough to look at sex objectively. It stands to reason since sex is the highest high for most samsaris. It’s sad, actually. I don’t mean to imply that there aren’t plenty of people stuck in various limited identities who think sex is the be all and the end all. The beauty of Yoga and Vedanta is that they open the mind up to much more meaningful, long lasting and sattvic pleasures.
X: I have come to the understanding that it is true that western psychotherapy is bullshit.
James: It is probably best to give yourself a little wiggle room because that is a pretty dogmatic statement. Why not say “much of Western physhotherapy is bulshit?” Or better yet, “some of Western…” It has it’s place.
X: I have decided to shift my studies into developmental psychology which is about identifying babies and young children with developmental disorders (e.g. Autism, Mental retardation etc) in order to give them the right kind of loving treatment and support their development as early as possible. I feel that this work actually gives value to the children and humanity and does not contradict the worship of God. I have 2 more semesters until I finish and it seems worth the suffering for the meaningful work (and good salary) I can do.
James: Good for you.
X: Regarding my anxiety issues and praying – Prayer has been extremely helpful; thank you for that. I have opened up to prayer in my own language as part of my tradition, Judaism. I have slowly learned how to put the non-dual mindset and heartset into my prayers and eliminate Tamas and Rajas from it. Since I have started praying in Hebrew at the synagogue. I have encountered beautiful sattivic people who have supported and helped me a lot with understanding how to pray “from the heart” and deepen my non dual understanding. I have discovered traditional non-dual literature here that is really amazing. Things that have really helped me understand God better and that have given me beautiful tools on how to eliminate anxiety, anger and other emotional stuff all through prayer and religious studies. I have enrolled in a “midrasha,” which is a school for studying religious ancient Jewish texts. I am amazed by how fortunate I am for discovering this and I am thankful to God for directing me that way to deepen my understanding and “burn my karma” as a Jew or in other words, worship God.
James: I answer this below.
In the Jewish tradition, it is not advised to become a sanyas, the logic here says to start a family as a worship to God + study & practice religious and non dual studies until you merge with God, slowly slowly. There are many explanations on why the tradition was founded that way but none of them matter, it is just the way it is. There is no Advita Vedanta here, non duality and religion are woven fine into each other.
James: I also reply to this paragraph comprehensively below.
Some secular people here think that the Jewish religion is racist or that it claims that other nations are “out to get us”. It is not true in essence. It basically points to how these people interpret the scriptures, not the other way around. But it is true that non-dual wisdom is kept secret here and if you really want to study it to its core you need to work hard. Ancient texts are written here in codes in an ancient language called “Aramit” and only a few can properly teach it. These teachers are very picky.
James: Well, no race has a monopoly on racism. Most of the complaints I’ve heard about Judaism comes from the idea that Jews are God’s “chosen” people, but most religious people think their religion is better than all others. Nothing new there. When I stayed in Israel for several month at least fifty Jews told me that I was a Jew. I said I was a WASH, a White Anglo Saxon Hindu. It got a few laughs.
I guess that I am writing this to you because I have come to the understanding that the “Vedantic” lifestyle, as I understand it from you, Swami Chinmayananda and Swami Dyananda is not for me. I don’t see myself spending my life, (asides from studying scripture and teaching scriptures) making a living and having sex randomly as an intelligent sin. Not that I think that Advaita Vedanta is not enough, it is just that I don’t think Ishvara likes that mindset. I think that Ishvara has created the program so that we would have sexual desire to reproduce in a righteous manner, as a worship to God. And if there are too many people in the world as we might assume, God will take care of it as it has always been. In fact, it is not my responsibility to make the calculations of God, only to simply follow my Dharma. I love to study scriptures and teach as much as I love breathing but I also want to have sex in a righteous way and possibly have a family. And I have come to the understanding that this desire does not go against Dharma as I might have thought before. The same goes for work, work should be a meaningful contribution to God, not solely for making a living. It is true that the greatest contribution is to be Vedanta and teach Vedanta but insofar as you have to make a living, it should be a form of worship according to my Dharma and not just working at Mcdonalds.
James: See the reply below.
One Rebi I met was in contact with Swami Dayananda and learned Advaita Vedanta from him. He said that Advita does not contradict Judaism in essence, but that every nation and every person was born into different circumstances and should worship God in his own life settings. And Hinduism is just not our way of doing things. Meaning I can decide to have a family the Hindu way, but is it my Dharma? I believe not. And I can move to India and live cheaply as I have done before, working a little in the west a part of the year.. I know the drill. But is it my Dharma? No. And Is it wrong for me to hold on to Advaita Vedanta and Judaism altogether? I believe it is not wrong, since the contradiction is not large, in essence.
James: See the reply below.
To conclude, as I understand it I have only one identity: Brahman the absolute. In addition I have roles in my life, some of them I am choosing and some I have not chosen: A daughter, a sister, a psychologist, possibly a wife, possibly a mother, a Jew (it is a role submitted by God not an identity), A Swamini (since I have students, am I allowed to call myself that?), a gardener (only in the mornings..) and so on.. 🙂 all for the worship of God.
James: This is a mature understanding. Good for you. I would love to read your thoughts.
With great appreciation,
Love
X
Dear X.
That rebe was right: the Hindu tradition does not recommend the lifestyle of sanyass until after the householder phase. There are four stages in in Hindu dharma and sanyass is optional in the third. It is also dharmic to leave the householder phase by mutual consent once one’s children are established in society. I have never counselled anyone to take lifestyle sanyass and always made it clear that my case was unique. Arjuna was a householder and the Gita is the essence of Vedanta so you can gain moksa as a householder. The rishis to whom the Vedas were revealed were not sanyassis; they were householders. All the tools you need are there in Judiasm so you should stick to your own culture and know that once the idea of family as a road to happiness is no longer dominant in your mind, you will be prepared to focus exclusively on liberation, assuming you’ve done the family life as karma yoga, which really is the only way it works. Karma Yoga is for householders. The three stage process of Vedanta is for lifestyle sanyassis with a burning desire or householders with the temperament of a sanyasi who has a burning desire. I have a few disciples who gained moksa as householders because they had viveka, vigraya and mumukshutva and certain worldly circumstances that made family life very pleasant and easy. Finally, no, it isn’t wrong do Advaita and Judiasm together, as long as you do karma yoga. Advaita doesn’t work without karma yoga. Many sanyassis don’t get moksa because they don’t do karma yoga. Contemplate the Nididyasana document I just sent. I will explain it tonight. I’m happy that you are making such good progress. Good for you!
Much love,
Ramji
