Frank: Thank you for our communications and in my previous mail (referring to the dilemma of Iswara and Karma Yoga and the “struggle” to love God) I feel a reversal taking place in the mind.
Sundari: You as an ego can’t make this happen. If Self-knowledge is at work, it will be correcting the lens setting of the mind from automatically dualistic to spontaneously nondual. This means the resistance and struggle to understand and love God starts dissolving. It has no choice because when the veil of Maya lifts, reality/God is known to be you. Ignorance of reality is what creates the struggle, and karma yoga and jnana yoga are the weapons we go into battle with. They will do the job if applied correctly and consistently.
Frank: Previously I understood Karma Yoga like this:
If I do Karma Yoga, take Dharmic action, then I get good Karma and will be a good person. And God will like me and I will ….[reincarnate well, be promoted in the ashram, cult, group, get a nice job, gold stars on my school report and meet the love of my life]. And if I get these things I should of course be grateful and may still have time to search for my spiritual Swadharma. This is completely false. It’s nice but I, as the Jiva, have tried that so many times!
Sundari: This is the typical spiritual materialist fantasy. If you have evolved beyond it, you want God, not God’s stuff. You have realized the complete illusion of chasing anything, even ‘being a good person’ in achieving satisfaction and peace of mind.
Frank: My understanding of Karma Yoga is currently:
I don’t actually “do” Karma Yoga; rather my Jiva cannot help taking actions, even in the subtle body; it is subject to the experience and results of actions already taken. I, as a person with free agency, is an illusion; the Jiva is inert with imputed awareness like a baby looking out of the cot, triggered by desires or fears and has no free will from the standpoint of the Self. One hopes through some grace the Vasanas are not so strong as to cloud this perception (in anyone) Tamasically or distract them from it Rajasically. But if this is the case, the universe just waits while the Karma plays out perhaps for decades or centuries even.
Sundari: Correct, if we provisionally accept that the creation exists. Except ‘the universe’ or Isvara is not waiting for anything because Isvara is the Self and for the Self, nothing is going on. This creation is a leela, a game or mirage taking place in you, the Self.
Frank: Karma Yoga is an address in awareness I take in the mind towards the desires and fears which I see in me.
Sundari: Karma yoga is an attitude of consecration, my combat tool for desires and fears that arise in ‘me’ under the spell of ignorance. They are not ‘in’ me but a product of ignorance of my true nature – Maya.
Frank: Even provisionally, it redresses, as a practice, these objects to their rightful source (Iswara, the field, rather than “me” the Jiva) and also respects the field in its huge complex precision.
Sundari: Well put.
Frank: At that moment two things happen seemingly in parallel; a continual correct re-positioning of the Jiva as well as recognising the reflected Self in the mind. Each action then “brings” both the diminishment of the Jiva / Ego’s incentive “to do” for results plus the benefit of the reflected knowledge that I am the Self (until that is all which remains).
Sundari> Yes, correct. Often an inquirer believes that they are identified with the nondual Self, when in fact, it’s the reflection of the self in a pure mind, which is still an object known to the Self. It can also be said, in fact, the reflected self is the jiva.
Frank: If this is not done or rather the attitude is not performed (?), the maelstrom of forces bigger than the Jiva remains – which is actually how it is for the Jiva but not the Self. The acts of Karma Yoga repetitively reposition the truth of how things are in reality, in the subtle body (mind / intellect / emotions).
Sundari: Our attitude to anything will dictate our response. If my attitude is based in duality, my likes and dislikes will try to manipulate the field to get what I want and avoid what I don’t want. In which case, you will be rubbing up against Isvara as an ego, and that probably won’t go well. Whereas if the doer is surrendered to Isvara in the consecration of karma yoga, ‘your’ likes and dislikes are in harmony with Isvara. How you act or don’t act will therefore, be in accordance with your svadharma and with universal dharma, automatically. You may not like what’s happening as a jiva, but it will be what it will be and you will remain satisfied.
I made this point in my talk last Sunday. It’s not a case of not acting, but taking appropriate action or inaction. There will be a distinct shift to making that choice at first, but as Self-knowledge firms up, there is no choice to be made anymore. Being in harmony with Isvara, which is what karma yoga is, is automatic. It’s the only sane option. Your likes and dislikes are God’s likes and dislikes, so to speak.
Frank: This freedom is what I am grateful for – to the field; the one all-pervading God. Without this God it would not be possible and “I” would not even be here. It is up to this God why I am here. I may never know, nor do I need to know, in order to be free (that is what the Jiva wants, but I don’t). I just wanted to get my current understanding down on paper and am grateful for any clarification, especially where the ignorance is!
Sundari: You as the Self are never not ‘here’. You were here before the creation manifested and will be here to witness it going unmanifest, unaffected. If you can get past the sticking point of needing an answer for why the creation exists, and be perfectly satisfied with how it exists, Self-knowledge is working. Good for you!
Frank: As I still need to act (including “doing nothing”) the guideline in all cases is if the action is Dharmic which at best I can refer to the internal compass of the intellect, wisdom but may still make mistakes but these too will bring new knowledge.
Sundari: The process is simple, though not easy:
1) discriminate/determine satya – mithya;
2) objectify the jiva/identify gunas at play/see secondary jiva interpretation;
3) dispassion/surrender/karma yoga;
4) take a stand as the Self/primary experience;
5) let God/allow nondual love to be the lens through which you live
Frank: Your response, the Vedanta teachings, sequenced in this beautiful multi-dimensional form which at once focuses the mind on all aspects at once; dispelling ignorance, covering all the bases, even the back doors where ignorance tries to still hang on, is [I have no words here – “wonderful” seems incomplete at this moment]
Sundari: The Vedanta teachings are flawless – but for them to assimilate requires faith, dedication and application. No teacher can set you free of ignorance. All praise to the tradition, to the ancient lineage, and to you for doing the work.
Frank: While I understand it takes many patient approaches (and thank you again), at this moment, no gaps are left at all and only “love” remains which is complete.
For now, “Maybe you need to start with loving yourself.”
Yes, I can (finally) start with this! Thank you so much to you both, I cannot express my appreciation enough.
Sundari: You are so welcome dear Self. May the blessings of Self-knowledge ever deepen for you
With much love,
Sundari
