Re: How can I find my path?
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
Originally Posted by
gurio
I have read and read and read and am ready to finally just start doing something, if you know what I mean. ...and continue to pray that I be blessed with a helmsperson. Wonderful.
Note that one's unfoldment is composed of knowledge and experience. We can technically say:
- pauruṣa jñāna - knowledge of Self ( Being, pure awareness); typically 'sparked' by dikṣā1 (initiation)
- bauddha jñāna - intellectual knowledge of Self; sparked by reading, listening, contemplating, cognition
Both complement and support each other. Over time they become pure (Self) knowledge (jñāna). Yet in the beginning bauddha jñāna may be differentiated ( fractionalized) knowledge and pauruṣa jñāna my be glimpses of that transcendental state ( the 4th) , we do not wait. We begin.
Having the helmsman (amala karṇadhārāḥ) is no doubt a blessing. Yet one does not wait. We look for a practice that makes sense to us. We do not strain, but we look to find one’s abhyāsa2 (practice) and begin. It may change over time as one finds more utility from another practice. We look for these practices from a capable ācārya (teacher – source of right conduct, guide) to point the way.
So, our knowledge and reading give us a lay of the land, no different than a map. Yet a vehicle (abhyāsa) is still needed to take advantage of the map ( knowledge); one compliments and supports the other.
This is not my invention (the same words of abhinavaguta-ji regarding this matter – tantrāloka 1.46) and are the words of my teacher. Knowledge and experience is the upāya ( the means), patience and persistence.
इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ
1.dikṣā - initiation; some call śaktipāta – the decent of power; the decent of grace
2. abhyāsa - repeated or permanent exercise , discipline , use , habit; that practice of the mind to remain in its unmodified condition of sattva/balance/purity.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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