There is Only One God -- poem and thoughts

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

[quote=Nichole;6772][FONT=Century Gothic]There is only one God but his names are countless,
and countless are the aspects under which He can be considered.
Name Him with any name and worship Him in the form you like best,
you are sure to reach Him.

Shri Ramakrishna[/FONT][/quote]

Dear Friends,
namaste,

God is only one. As per vedas there is only one god who is formless, omnipresent,supreme,omnipotent all pervading and everlasting.In sanatan dharma the word AUM or OM is called nad brahma, (you can hear this sound while in meditation depending on your spiritual progress).After reading scriptures other then vedas three main lords are worshipped Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.Other gods are the manifestations of these three gods only.Shiva is associated with shakti or godees durga .Various goddess like lakshmi, saraswati etc are manifestations of Divine mother or mother aspect of lord.As i have understood is these all are great siddha/yogi purush who have taken rebirth on divines will to protect dharma and guide people whenever dharma is on decline as proclaimed by lord Krishna in Gita. Becos the places described in Ramayana, mahabharata, puranas are still existing.In ramayana and mahabharat accurate astronomical details of locations and position of Stars during birth of Lord Rama and Krishna are described with similies and methaphors. Further we are ordinary people aspiring for moksha.We can not understand the mystery behind it untill under a guidance of a siddha and enlightened Guru.Vedas say each of us should follow vedic dharma and practice astanga yog to realise self /God.Mostly people in this forum are doing that.Whenever siddhas take birth we respect them and worship them as the embodiment of God.However as i have told the time frame is too huge whatever is recorded we should read and respect that further every soul should try to realise God by hard practice of astang yoga and preach of Vedas.Its upto you which deity you want to worship becoz a soul never dies it is immortal .So all the great ones are there in siddhalok your purity of devotion, faith should touch them .

Further as per valmiki ramayan Rishi valmiki has seen the entire charitra(life) of Lord rama by his yogic powers, both were contemporary.He was well versed with vedas and a astang yogi.To me the only hope lies in the hard practice of astanga yoga, vedas and devotion to God.I go to all temples as the spiritual vibrations are strong and have a glimpse of these siddha pursuhas.I hope we reach some where near by inculcating values of Non violence in deed and thought, loving others , helping others maintaing chastity and purity.

#2

Dear Rashmi,

If I may comment on your beautiful post, I will say I wish you all the light and best of luck in your journey and practices.

<b>I myself no longer believe so much in the traditional way of practice anymore.</b> It is one way yes, and many take that road, which is fine and good, however, to me personally that road seems ironically deluded now. Maybe not the road itself, not Yoga itself, but they way people interpretate it and apply it.

I even quit my teachers school for Yoga and Meditation because everything was explained so traditionally and limited by belief, by system, by tradition. I could not agree with many of the things my teacher was telling us, it was just so limiting in vision. Many teachings and especially when systems of belief and practice are worshipped through ego are limiting IMO.

<b>I think Ashtanga yoga and the Sutras are the most accurate science of the practice of Life and Yoga.</b> It descripes in great details all the levels and all the steps and experiences that may occur. But what many fail to see, in my opinion, is that they [B]may[/B] occur, they are no must-do’s.

It is a science of life, a science describing every bit, every step, to clarify for the mind what god and the obstacles on the path to God is all about, but that does not mean we are obliged to follow every step or perform every practice in order to reach ourselves. Don’t you think?

I like the way Osho and Krishnamurti talk about the immediate freedom of the mind, followed by the experience of that One God within. Instead of believing we need to do anything in order to reach something, or the limiting belief in our subconsicous that we have to go somewhere, meet some people or follow a discipline to become enlightened, I prefer and strongly feel and belief that for me (and I think for many others) there is a much easier way that we are overlooking, or underestimating.

To take a quote from Krishnamurti I like that speaks of this:

“If you set out to meditate it will not be meditation. If you set out to be good, goodness will never flower. If you cultivate humility, it ceases to be. Meditation is like the breeze that comes in when you leave the window open; but if you deliberately keep it open, deliberately invite it to come, it will never appear.”

And:

[LEFT]“Extrasensory perception, clairvoyance, occult powers, cannot free thought from confusion and misery; sensitive awareness of our thoughts and motives, from which spring our speech and action, is the beginning of lasting understanding and love. Mere self-control, discipline, self-punishment, or renunciation, cannot liberate thought; but constant awareness and pliability give clarity and strength. Only in becoming aware of the cause of ignorance, in understanding the process of craving and its dual opposing values, is there freedom from suffering. This discerning awareness must begin in our life of relationship with things, people, and ideas, with our own hidden thoughts and daily action.” [/LEFT]

<b>How beautiful and accurate the science of Yoga is does not matter, it remains a practice, it is not God.</b> I believe they are merely very accurate guidelines for a possible track in general that combines the same aspects experienced by every completed seeker. These are guidelines, descriptions, rules, one [B]could[/B] follow or things one [B]might[/B] experience on the way there. We want to be free of rules, descriptions and guidelines right? We want freedom of everything, the highest freedom of that One God you speak of. It cannot be found in the sutras, it can only be lived. It cannot be found in practice, it can only be lived. It can be. It cannot be reached, it must forever [B]be[/B].

Practice may help us to get the mind clear enough to reflect this god, but this way it will always be a reflection from within the mind. And just as the reflection of the sun in a still lake (the mind) may be beautiful, it cannot enlighten and warm an entire solar system. The sun itself can do that alone. So as handy as a clear mind (a clear lake) may be, eventually, if we want to dissolve into that one god, we need to leave the lake and its reflection entirely and reside only in the sun.

Practice is mind-food. Meditation is mind-food. God is mindless. God is <a href=“http://www.yoga-mind-control.com/no-mind.html”>No-Mind</a>.Wanting to find god or reach god through some practice, technique or discipline seems far-fetched and even silly to me now.

But please tell me what you think, I am not here to offend anyone, just to share my experiences like everybody here. What’s in it for you, what’s in the practice and system for you? I like dialogs so if you will, let me know.

Again, I wish you and everybody else the greatest of luck in their Yoga and or similar systems of practice.

[LEFT]Bentinho Massaro[/LEFT]

#3

This started out in Poems and Quotes, but had become a discussion to be shared here.

[quote=Nichole;6772][FONT=Century Gothic]There is only one God but his names are countless,
and countless are the aspects under which He can be considered.
Name Him with any name and worship Him in the form you like best,
you are sure to reach Him.

Shri Ramakrishna[/FONT][/quote]

#4

You take away a lot and you do not give anything in return. Don’t you think one deserves to know what one rejects ?

Do you think Krishnamurti was who he was without practicing ? Even if he rejects his former practices, it is only possible because he passed that stage.
Do you think Buddha would be Buddha without his ascetic years ?
Even Jesus Christ the Son of God spent 40 days in the desert.

Why do you expect me than to realize my Self, or God, in an instant ?
If I could do that, I would not be sitting here and writing this post.

#5

Sure practice brings us to a certain point in which enlightenment becomes almost like a decicion. But the sooner and more fully we try to realize what that point is, the less practice, thought and years we need.

So let’s discuss… what is this point that practice brings us to…? I think it is like a cliff. practice brings you closer to the edge of your ego. Once you are ready through practice, you are ready to jump off your ego and into the unknown. Practice brings you there yes.

But if we truly realize this edge is where all practices eventually take us… why do we still take the long way around? Why do we still look down to the stone beneath our feet that is our path of practice, instead of raising our heads and aim for the cliff now that we realize that is where we are going? You’ll get there much faster than if you keep searching the top side of the cliff looking at your feet.

Because by the douns of your post, You seem to realize that there is some truth, some point in which you can choose for truth, or truth will happen to you. You say after practice these realized yogis have realized that there is no need for practice… After alot of practice they realize something distinct from all teachings, some here-and-now-jump-in-right-away-button has been found.

But if you yourself, Hubert, realize that all practice leads towards this point of realization… why still focus on the practice if you just discovered the reason for it? Practice, in my opinion, is there to realize where it is taking you. Once you realize that, you are beyond the traditional practice and you can discover that very point of realization where practice is taking you to. This is a direct route.

You see the Irony? You know that practice is there to bring you to a certain point of realizing the quicker way, yet your believe in practice remains rooted so firmly in your mind… why not make the jump to that point by focussing only on realizing that point, instead of focussing on practicing as a way to realizing that point… is the latter not more far-fetched? If it is not necessary anymore for you, why would you do it? if you realize there is a deeper meaning to practice, why still stick to regular practice instead of focussing on that deeper meaning, or finding that deeper meaning, that edge, that point of realization? Our minds want security, a path, a direction… but if we could just be brave and courageous… we could jump to the edge in one leap.

And in the meanwhile you can continue your practices… but let’s not blind ourselves by believing that practice itself is sacred, or that practice itself is the deeper meaning. in my eyes, many fo us forget that practice is a tool. Practice, in my opnion, is a symbol referring to a deeper meaning. To worship this symbol as the deeper meaning itself is ignorance.

What are your thoughts/beliefs on this?

#6

… but let’s not blind ourselves by believing that practice itself is sacred, or that practice itself is the deeper meaning. In my eyes, many of us forget that practice is a tool. Practice, in my opnion, is a symbol referring to a deeper meaning. To worship this symbol as the deeper meaning itself is ignorance.

There is nothing sacred, all is illusory.
Everything is sacred as everything is God.

The first sentence is Alpha, the second is Omega.