COMMENTS


MANBLUNDER
April 28, 2015 10:56 AM

There are two aspects in spiritual life, First one is knowledge about Brahman. Brahman is One irrespective of which path we follow. There are enough philosophies to confuse us. The highest spiritual knowledge is available in Upanishads. If we ask mundane questions to a jñāni, he may not be interested in explanation. For him everything is Shiva. We have to take the essence of personal experience of James Cowan. Everyone's experience is different. Sādhana is more important than knowledge. Many of James Cowan's experiences are not published for various reasons.In future, comments on this article will be published only on selective basis.

nadar
April 28, 2015 08:50 AM

Can ladies pray Lord Bhairavar and recite the mantras which you have published. What should be timing of the prayers to be offered and kindly explain the method too

gjcowan
April 28, 2015 06:46 AM

We can debate these concepts all day, but it will make no difference whatsoever to your acquisition of knowledge. You are using your intellect to agree or disagree with my experiences. This is based on relative observation and has no relevance. Unless you yourself undertake maha shodasi mantra japa for as long as I have, there is no way you can refute what I describe. Until such time you take action and observe your experiences, any time responding to your arguments are a complete waste of my precious time.

Jithesh Sathyan
April 28, 2015 12:08 AM

Just because "mayashunya - Darkness, silence, emptiness without form or attribute" is without attributes, does not mean you are empty. In order to experience it (Turya or whatever state), you the Witness needs to exist. You atleast need to know about it when you return to jagrat (waking) state, for which you should be Witness and not "Emptiness". You have written "Shiva is formless, so sound, colour, feeling or any attribute cannot be the highest reality." and in saying that you have contradicted you own statement.I agree to individual karma and group karma in VIṢṆUSAHASRANĀMA. However saying that one person can interfere with Karma of someone else is not correct. The problem here is the lack of understanding of the difference between Brahman, Isvara and Jiva. All three are same from Paramartika perspective, but from Vyavaharika perspective they are different. Pure consciousness, Cosmic consciousness and Individual consciousness are the same. However it does not mean you can play Isvara's role of distribution in materialistic plane. Have to understand the different states and the limitations in each state.You are not interfering with karma by "guiding seekers" to be empty of mind. You are only "guiding the seeker". You can kindle the desire for spiritual realization. The seeker has to perform the actions to achieve self-realization. So the question of interfering with Karma does not arise.I will make it really simple - no philosophy is required to refute the statement of "interfering with Karma", because the very statement is wrong. Karma relies on two key concepts: (1) Free Will and (2) Cause and Effect. If a person can change/interfere with the Karma of someone else then this is against the principle of free will. Also if I am not given the results of what I do (good or bad), by the interference of someone, then this will be against cause and effect principle. So if you want to use the term "Karma", then don't use the term "interfere" with it. The distribution/management of the Karma's of Jiva is handled by Isvara who is impartial and agrees with free will. You (Jiva) cannot play Isvara role in materialistic plane.

gjcowan
April 25, 2015 01:58 PM

When I say interfere with karma, that is simply helping others who are currently undertaking japa sadhana, as I have done. When they have doubts, all I do is tell them of my experiences and I hope to help someone who is walking the same path as I, nothing more.I don't understand the point you are trying to make in regard to relative existences. We exist in all lokas simultaneously, and a human is a Jiva among innumerable jivass

MANBLUNDER
April 25, 2015 01:52 PM

Universe consists of so many planets and obviously, there are many sentient and insentient beings. Teaching is a wrong concept. Someone is sharing his or her experience to know Shiva. All Upanishads reveal someone's experience or through conversation between the teacher and student. Sharing of experience (teaching) is needed for someone till such time, he or she realizes that everything is Shiva. After that, everything is unlearning as that jñāni will perpetually be with Shiva only. Series "Revelations by Upanishads" discuss this in detail;

Adyaksh Kalajith
April 25, 2015 01:31 PM

If you are not concerned about entities and believe all is Shiva, then whom you are trying to teach? to Shiva? if you think fellow humans to whom you can "teach" or "interfere" in their Karma do exist, then you have to concede that there are other relative existences, other than humans, also exist.

MANBLUNDER
April 25, 2015 12:01 PM

Individual karma and group karmas are explained in VIṢṆUSAHASRANĀMA.823. Udumbaraḥ उदुम्बरःHe nourishes the manifested universe. His job is not merely to create, but also to sustain the created beings through nourishment. Nourishment is a generalised term used here. The individual nourishment depends upon one’s karmic account. In the world, some group of people suffer and another group of people prosper. There is imbalance amongst His creations. This is because of group karma. Group karmas and individual karmas always act together in shaping the destiny of a society. In a plane crash, many of the passengers perish. For all these passengers, both group karma and individual karma are triggered at that point of time. Those who escape in a plane crash, their individual karmas are more powerful than the group karma. Another example is tsunamis, where people perish in thousands. This is the case of group karma and individual karma working together. If a person is not present at the time of tsunami, it means that his individual karma is too good and hence he escapes from the claws of death. His individual karma makes him to move away from the place where tsunami is detained to hit.Ultimate realization happens only through one’s experience. Experience always differs from person to person. Experience is based on the knowledge acquired and his sādhana. At the end of knowledge he begins to experience due to his own efforts called sādhana. Sādhana alone leads to realization. At the end of sādhana one becomes a jñāni. If we ask a jñāni to explain about the path he transcended, he may not be able to explain as unlearning would have taken place in him. For him, everything is Shakti and Shiva only (Shiva’s Power and Shivia Himself, former leading to the latter). If unlearning does not happen, we can be sure that we are still afflicted with duality or māyā. If māyā is dissolved, then there is no question or knowledge, as everything is Brahman to such a jñāni.If there is a need, we can think of writing a separate article based on the articles of James and the comments therein.

gjcowan
April 25, 2015 08:09 AM

I do not follow a school of thought or philosophy to arrive at conclusions of Shiva as this would mean I am relying on my intellect to comphrend the formless. Thus any conclusions would be based on ignorance. I am stating what I have experienced.Does emptiness only exist as long as I attempt to witness/experience emptiness? Or does it always exist? When all samskaras have been eradicated, and my mind is empty from thoughts at all times, what then of emptiness?What about light and darkness? Our awareness of the existence of light is only possible if it is reflected off objects like the surface of a mirror. If there are no objects to reflect and we cannot see light, does light still exist?In samadhi, the sound of OM which is a synthesis of all possible sounds cannot be heard. Does this mean that OM does not exist?Shiva is formless, so sound, colour, feeling or any attribute cannot be the highest reality. Absolute truth regarding the formless cannot be realised using any senses, intellect, mind, ego, philosophy or arguement.I interfere with karma by guiding seekers to be empty of mind, as I was instructed by the admin of this site. If samskaras have been completely eradicated, does karma still exist? Does birth and death still exist?

Jithesh Sathyan
April 24, 2015 10:47 PM

Also in the article, you mention about interfering with Karma of humanity, and later in comments mention that prarabdah karmas have to be experienced through pleasure and pain. How would you explain to interfere with others Karma, when you are unable to negate the pain in your own prarabdah karma.