The Journey

[Dennis Hill]

On Wed, 19 Mar 1997, Giri quotes:

> >Chariot implies a journey. Whose journey is it ? Atman does not need it.
> >Where is this journey to ? Is this journey inward in search of "Who am I?"
> >(Atman already knows the answer). Or is this journey into the infinite ?

On Sun. 23  Mar 1997, G. Murthy wrote:

>  In my view, the journey referred to by Lord Yama, is not a journey of
>  one life but a series of lives which the jeeva has to go through
>  before the jeeva recognizes that it is the same as the Atman. Then it
>  sheds the extraneous upadhis (body, buddhi, mind and the senses) and
>  recognizes sameness with Atman. At that stage, there is no journey
>  anymore. The chariot, charioteer, reins and the horses all disappear.

May I make a comment about this?

Introduction:
When I was a child I became malcontent with inconsistencies in adult
explanations about things, and decided then that I only wanted the Truth
about everything, worldly and spiritual. I imagined myself to be Alladin
demanding from the Genie to find Truth, and to know God. Worldly
curiosity began fulfillment after a degree in chemistry and a career in
the physical sciences. Spiritual seeking began fulfillment after shakti
diksha from a Siddha guru in India in 1980. A near death experience gave
me the direct experience of the conscious Self that continues after the
body and mind fall away. Since then life has just been deepening in the
stillness that watches.

The jeeva has four bodies: physical, subtle (prana), causal (sancita &
parabdha karmas, and samskaras), and supra-causal (Brahman). Of course
the Atman does not need the journey. At death the physical and subtle
bodies fall away. If the jeeva has not become realized, it is the causal
body that continues the journey until the karmas are spent and samskaras
are a burnt string. Since Brahman is unchanging, it is the causal body
that draws another physical body to complete the journey.

How nice it is to be in the company of those so close to finishing the
journey that participate in this list.

Dennis Hill