On morals and the steading of the mind

[Greg Goode]

At 08:33 AM 10/6/97 -0600, Nanda Kumar wrote:
>I quite agree with Allan about the moral aspect. Sometime back
>somebody remarked on  the Ramakrishna mission monks insistence on
>mental purification before undertaking jnana yoga. It made immense
>sense to me, because it's been my experience that reading the
>Upanishads and Vivekachoodamani and trying to apply them to my day to
>day life has been quite a strain for me. The reason I believe is that I'm
still
>under the control of my senses and ego and clearly not pure enough. I
>understand that it cannot be done overnight but gradually with practice.
>It's my opinion that undertaking jnana yoga without purification is a
>fruitless task, as there's no point in studying the scriptures if one's heart
>is not wholly in it and one's not able to apply them to one's life.

It was I who posted that.  This emphasis on purifying the mind is something
the Ramakrishna Mission takes very seriously.  I asked one swami something
about non-duality vs. duality.  He replied, "Duality, non-duality!  It
doesn't matter.  One must first purify the mind!"

Another swami had American attendees who were interested in Raja and Jnana
Yoga.  The latter especially, because the swamis do talk a lot about it.
But the attendees were repeatedly told to first purify the mind by devotion
and selfless action.

I agree with your experience in reading the Vivekachoodamani.  Some of the
things exhorted seem to be the RESULTS of enlightenment rather than the
steps to it.  Also agree that one's heart must be in it entirely!

--Greg