|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
mr_anderson
USA
734 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 02 2013 : 10:55:10 AM
|
Swami Abayananda (quote from the History of Mysticism). I like this as it encompasses both duality (as a devotee to God), and non-duality (you are God himself), relinquishing the need to accept one approach and exclude the other. I find this is true in my own practice.
"When I identify with my form, I am God's servant; I worship Him as my Lord. When I identify with God, my eternal Self, there are not two, but only one; and I am He.This complementarity of identities necessitates two entirely different mental attitudes, or states of awareness: when we focus on the Self, we become aware, "I am the one infinite Existence-Consciousness-Bliss"; but when we take the attitude of love toward God, we become aware, "I am Thy creature and Thy servant, O Lord."
"And it is the paradoxical fact that both attitudes are correct and valid which accounts for the confused oscillation many dedicated truth-finders feel between the attitude of Self-knowledge (jnana) and devotion to God (bhakti). To say, "I am He," as did al-Hallaj, or Shankara, is offensive to the bhakti, for it denies the separate existence and fallibility of the individual soul; and to say, "I am the servant of God," does not satisfy the jnani, for it asserts a duality where none in fact exists."
"I am convinced that, if we are to speak truly and to live realistically, it is necessary to embrace both attitudes, and to relinquish the logic which begs for an either/or approach to identity. The greatest contemplatives who ever lived, having pondered this quandary, have come to the same conclusion, and have taken a position which defies categorization into one classification or another. For example, the Blessed Jan Ruysbroeck, a 14th century disciple of Meister Eckhart, wrote,
"Though I have said before that we are one with God, ... yet now I will say that we must eternally remain other than God, and distinct from Him. .... And we must understand and feel both within us, if all is to be right with us."
"Just as the Formless and the form cannot be separated one from the other, neither can the knower (jnani) and the devotee (bhakti) be separated; though mutually exclusive, they co-exist as complements in every awakened individual." |
|
|
cosmic
USA
821 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2013 : 10:09:17 PM
|
| This is fantastic, Mr. Anderson! |
 |
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
Swami Abayananda
