Spiritual Evolution and Samsara

[Charles A. Hillig]

At 12:03 AM 4/9/97 CDT, you wrote:
>Namaste:
>
>Something must be in the stars.  Lately I have been having the same feelings
>that Shri Nageshwar and Shri Prasad have shared with us.  I am very concerned
>about getting lost in samsara and maya and getting waylaid on my path to
>spiritual evolution.  I don't think attaining Brahman is possible for me in
>this lifetime.

     There is no way that you can possibly "get lost."   When samsara and
maya show up for you to deal with, (and they always do_) then THAT is your
path.   Then throw yourself into its seductions 100% but don't get attached
to any of it.      The questions you need to address are these:  "Who is the
one who has all of these concerns?  Who is afraid of getting waylaid on
their path to spiritual evolution?  Who thinks that attaining Brahman is
impossible?"

     The thinker and the thought have the same Source.....the Self.


>I was blessed by Grace a few years ago and turned towards light.  Now I am
>extremely worried, because I am at a crossroad of my life.  I have learnt not
>to get attached to material things but I still don't think I am at a point
>where I can give up the world and go to the Himalayas, so what choice do I have
>but to get married and live a worldly life.  Also, how else do I pay my
>ancestral debt?    By the way, are the 3 debts applicable to both men and women
>or applicable to men only?

     No need to go to the Himalayas.  You are not "in" a world that also
"has the Himalayas" in it, too.    Being the Self already, the Himalayas are
within you right now.     So, you can marry and also "stay" detachedly in
the marketplace or "go" to the Himalayas and get attached to your cave and
loin cloth.  It's not where you are. It's WHO you are.

>My all consuming fear these days is: as soon as I get married and have children
>I will get lost in samsara and maya.  Any help on how to avoid that would be
>greatly appreciated.

     Not getting married and not having children will not prevent you from
getting lost in samsara and maya.  Find out WHO is afraid of getting lost.
You are the Source of the samsara and the maya.

>I have been reading the postings on Katha Upnishad verse 1.2.23 and on Volition
>and Grace.  These also concern me:  if my spiritual evolution is pre-destined
>then I am not responsible for my karma or is my understanding faulty here?  All
>I want to do is karma that will take me one step closer to Brahman if not in
>this lifetime in another one.

     Spiritual evolution does not occur in linear time.   Pre-destination
vanishes in the now-ness of the Self.   The actions are not yours because
"you" are doing nothing.  The karma is created by your attachment to your
belief that you are the do-er.

     But "you" are not here.  Only the Self is here.  At best, you might say
that "you" are an instrument of ITS expression.

                                         With Blessings,

                                                   Chuck Hillig