Sandeep's Prattling

File under: Real True Gurus and The Siddhi of PR

Today our friend Sandeep Chatterjee – who is also one of our gurus of gurubusting – dropped in at the Guruphiliac Yahoo! discussion group to drop a bit of science for us. Absolutely as qualifed to be a guru as any personage ever mentioned on this blog, Sandeepji is always at the ready with a glass of Remy Martin and the unvarnished nondual truth:

One of the common and wide-spread issues debated and discussed in the spiritual circles whether it is in physical satsanghs or in cyber based forums........is the issue of whether practice is absolutely a must for spiritual enlightenment.......or........ there being nothing else but the Self (or Bozo)......who is to do what and for what purpose, to what end.

The debate goes on and on with disciples of either schools absolutely convinced about their own position and the absurdity/foolishness of the other's position.

Arguments go to and fro and supporting quotes from scriptures are hurled by both sides in order to clinch the debate.

The school of practice have even coined phrases like "neo-Advaita" and the "Advaita-shuffle" to disparage the "All-is-Self-anyway" proponents.

The debate is very interesting and reveals nuances in both the positions.

First of all the very debate is ambrosia for the "me-entity".

For the "me".....the very debate is its existence and the continuance of the debate......the perpetuation of its identity.

The debate lends the spiritual halo, the religious glow to the "me".

For the school of practice (whether the specific practice is of Self-Enquiry, aka Ramana or Nisargadatta, or meditation aka the various schools of Zen, prayer aka Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, or charity work to earn merits useful for salvation, it makes no difference).....

....fundamentally the issue is the belief that an effect, any effect needs a cause, separate from the effect.

The "me" having seen evidence where apparently without effort there is no success in the material world,........... this belief gets reinforced by Teachers, Gurus hollering from the rooftops that the path of salvation, is only through the practice of X, Y, Z, which of course only the specific hollering teacher can show, teach, transmit, deeksha-it.

The "me" which is essentially the sense of insecurity.........having sought security in the temporal icons like relationship, career, money, social position, acquisitions, knowledge, power etc....

....realizes the hollowness, the transitory nature of these temporal icons and now seeks security in the eternal.

The same equation is brought in, with the only change being a conceptualization of a new icon which is now chased.

Aka, there is a problem, for which there exists a solution, if only the seeking can diverted to the right direction and the necessary cost be paid.

And there are enough characters who are skillful in utilizing the innate sense of insecurity to create "to-be-chased-solutions", in the process augmenting Bank balances and disciple numbers with some good old sexual romps thrown in.

Why does the "me" not see through this charade?

It does but does not acknowledge........because now the claim of ownership of the meditation, of the Pranayam, of the Self-Enquiry, of the number of charities supported, worked for........is its identity.

There's more where that came from on the list and at Sandeep's own website. If you're lucky, you may get him to take one of his famous "walks" with you. We went on a few of those ourselves and want you all to know that they are highly recommended here.