Deeds Are Destiny
Bulla came across some words of wisdom...and felt like sharing it with the eternal mortals searching for a fleeting immortality.....
Excerpt from "Discovering Your Hidden Resources" by Eknath Easwaran
The Upanishads contain a summary of human condition: You are what your deep driving desire is. As your deep, driving desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny. Spinoza said that most of us mistake our desires for decisions. When we think we decide to buy something, go somewhere, see someone, all too often the choice is being made not by us but by unconcious desires.
That is why even little desires like smoking a cigarette or polishing off two servings of dessert, even when we to say no to them, get the beter of us. One connotation of the word Maya is that it is a cosmic sleight-of-hand in which the senses cast a spell over us with their promise that if only we indulge them, they will make us happy.
They have no power to do anything of the kind. If we fail to see through their game of illusion and go on giving what they clamour for, we go through life more and more frustrated, longing to get from sensory experience what it can never give.
When I was teaching meditation in Berkeley, I knew that the young people coming there were sampling drugs.
I told them, "This is a come-as-you-are party. Come with whatever difficulties and addictions you have, learn to meditate and listen to what the great mystics say about fusing desires and directing them to a supreme goal". Hundreds of them gave up smoking drugs without a direct appeal from me. When they learned to take the Energy that fuelled those desires and direct it to goals which they have the power to fulfill, addiction fell away.
The Berkeley students had what it takes to understand the spiritual psychology of desire: A good intellect, some measure of sophistication and just a dash of wickedness. 'A dash of wickedness' here, means the daring which prompts us to experiment with experiences we suspect are likely to burn our fingers.
Excerpt from "Discovering Your Hidden Resources" by Eknath Easwaran
The Upanishads contain a summary of human condition: You are what your deep driving desire is. As your deep, driving desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny. Spinoza said that most of us mistake our desires for decisions. When we think we decide to buy something, go somewhere, see someone, all too often the choice is being made not by us but by unconcious desires.
That is why even little desires like smoking a cigarette or polishing off two servings of dessert, even when we to say no to them, get the beter of us. One connotation of the word Maya is that it is a cosmic sleight-of-hand in which the senses cast a spell over us with their promise that if only we indulge them, they will make us happy.
They have no power to do anything of the kind. If we fail to see through their game of illusion and go on giving what they clamour for, we go through life more and more frustrated, longing to get from sensory experience what it can never give.
When I was teaching meditation in Berkeley, I knew that the young people coming there were sampling drugs.
I told them, "This is a come-as-you-are party. Come with whatever difficulties and addictions you have, learn to meditate and listen to what the great mystics say about fusing desires and directing them to a supreme goal". Hundreds of them gave up smoking drugs without a direct appeal from me. When they learned to take the Energy that fuelled those desires and direct it to goals which they have the power to fulfill, addiction fell away.
The Berkeley students had what it takes to understand the spiritual psychology of desire: A good intellect, some measure of sophistication and just a dash of wickedness. 'A dash of wickedness' here, means the daring which prompts us to experiment with experiences we suspect are likely to burn our fingers.
posted by vinay @ 9:56 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Just wanted to say that I've sent some notes I gathered from your blog including Deeds Are Destiny for research on What is important which I'm helping with, with so thanks a lot vinay. Anny.
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