Agony of the soul (?) etc

[Charles A. Hillig]

At 05:10 PM 1/16/97 +0530, you wrote:
>Jaldhar wrote:
>
>> of them.  Does this strike you as being a prideful statement?  It is.
>But
>> it is also the truth.  Why shouldn't I be proud of the truth?  It's the
>> same with the acharyas you speak of.  They know the truth.  The truth is
>> the ignorant will never achieve moksha no matter how saintly, humble, or
>> good they may be.  pride is a far, far smaller sin than ignorance and
>> pride in the truth is no sin at all.


      Until we move beyond a spiritual hierarchy that seeks to stratify
people, how can we ever experience the loving equanimity demonstrated so
beautifully in how Maharshi lived out his life and related so
compassionately to those around him?

     You cannot really "achieve" liberation.  How can you become freer than
you already are?  Moksha is not something to be gained, but something  only
to be discovered.   It is always fully present.  Bondage is illusory.

     There's only the Self.  The ego is only the Self pretending that it's
not the Self.
     I hesitate naming either pride or ignorance as sins  because it implies
that they are wrong or bad.  They are only states of mind that are there to
help you discover that there is nothing  to be either "proud of" or
"ignorant about."  The Self does not have either (or any) of  these
attributes.

     The illusory ego wants to say "NO!"   The Self only says the
unconditional "YES!" .......even to the times when you become proud of your
pride.

                                        With Blessings,

                                                   Chuck Hillig