The penchant for complexity, and the simplicity of Truth

[dwai]

The Truth is Simple. It is hidden in plain sight. It is so simple that as a rule, most people don’t see it. Even if they’re told the “secret”, they don’t believe it.

 

A great Indian mystic from the Middle Ages, who used to share the truth in the form of poems (couplets) wrote —

 

 

Musk lies in the musk deer’s own nave,

But roam in the forest he does – it to seek;

Alike, God pervades heart to heart,

But men of the world this don’t conceive.

*

In man himself the Master dwells,

But man, deluded, knows not this,

So similar to the musk deer who

Again and again the grass sniffs.

*

The seeker of Ram*, says Kabir,

To the Singhal Island** did march;

When in himself he was convinced,

He found that Ram pervaded his heart.

*

God exists, profuse, in each place,

So don’t think He’s less here and more there,

Those who say He’s far – He is far,

Those who know Him near – He’s near.

*

I knew God to be far away,

But He is ubiquitous – here and there;

Thou didst know Him to be far off,

He’s far off though very near.

(Source : https://zocalopoets.com/2012/04/11/kabir-of-the-musk-deer-15th-century-hindi-poems/amp/)

 

Ram (Rāma) is an avatar of Lord Vishnu, and the great Hindu epic Rāmāyāna, is the story of his life. 

This brings me to the penchant for complexity. Like the musk deer, who doesn’t know that it holds the musk in its own navel, goes crazy searching for it throughout the forest sniffing grass and thorny bushes, people don’t realize that they carry the spark of divinity within their own spiritual hearts, searching here and there, looking for the Truth/Self/Enlightenment. 
 

Thus follows elaborate plans and schemes to control the body, produce golden elixirs and alchemical gymnastics, and before long, the time is up, and the mind, caught up in the quest for knowledge and “mastery” gets lost in the labyrinth of its own creation. 
 

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by dwai

[Lairg]

The cosmic spirit is anchored in the heart of each standard human.  What need is there of teachers?

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

9 hours ago, Lairg said:

The cosmic spirit is anchored in the heart of each standard human.  What need is there of teachers?

To stop us from nofap and blistered palms

[dwai]

A teacher is needed to point the way. If pointing doesn’t work, teach us to still the mind. If stilling the mind doesn’t work, teach us to calm the body/consolidate the energy,  and focus the mind. And then reverse the direction. 

[forestofclarity]

On 3/28/2022 at 7:52 PM, dwai said:

Thus follows elaborate plans and schemes to control the body, produce golden elixirs and alchemical gymnastics, and before long, the time is up, and the mind, caught up in the quest for knowledge and “mastery” gets lost in the labyrinth of its own creation. 

 

I would say that these other practices may have other ends--- sometimes worldly (samsaric goals), sometimes heavenly (higher samsaric goals), sometimes preparatory.