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  1. I guess you could say we are trying to prove how ignorant we are. Ignorant of what?—ignorant of our real nature. Our real nature is that we are already happy and we need very little to survive and thrive. What we do need, though, is the Wisdom that removes our ignorance and reveals our real nature.

  2. If you’d say we’re trying to prove how ignorant we are, then where would you draw the line between necessary and unnecessary consumption?

    Is there a level of consumption necessary to obtain the wisdom that will help us remove our ignorance and thereby stop unnecessarily consuming?

  3. Balance is the key. When the balance is maintained through consumption of balanced diet, balanced physical activity (exercise, etc.), and balanced thinking (understanding and exploration of BOTH matter and spirit, or in other words, thought applied to the ordinary things of this world AND to the exploration of the realm of Limitless Consciousness), then, and only then, is the ‘necessary level of consumption’ realized. Otherwise, the consumer (the living self) is itself consumed.

    We are naturally all consumers, and some ‘part’ of us is also naturally consumed. For example, our water component is constantly being consumed by the ‘fire’ component (by both the internal fire component in the form of the internal dynamo of energy, and by the external ‘fire’ in the form of the Sun and the thermodynamic components of our Earth planet, which are derived from the Sun). We have to constantly replenish our water component. Similarly, our ‘earth’ component in the form of the minerals and other solids and semi-solids of our body also require replenishment. Likewise with the air, ‘fire’ (energy), and space components.

    The space component is the substratum of the mind component. If we don’t ‘give ourselves enough space’ we will feel confined or imprisoned in our mind and body. The resulting rebellion, if not well planned and executed, can wreak havoc on the mind and body in the form of anger, frustration, depression, and even insanity. In other words, everyone naturally wants to be free, but to truly become free we need to break away from ALL our images in the form of religious, ethnic, cultural, material, and ‘spiritual’ superimpositions. This requires deliberate thought and deliberate action (disciplined thought and disciplined action). This self-discipline creates and maintains our balance and preserves our consciousness. This consciousness (the consciousness of the living self) we be lost (consumed) if balance is lost. In other words, if we lose our balance, we will become consumed (self-consumed, self-involved), and will have to take birth again and again until we are Self-realized (Self-actualized). Once we actually realize our True Self, we will never lose that awareness even though the body and body-identity (ego) are consigned to destruction (death). In other words, the body dies and we lose our ego, but the consciousness of the Self remains the same. This is our natural state (or you could say, super-natural state), and this is highest Goal.

  4. I suppose my question is of a more worldly (samsaric), material matter, so let me rephrase: How much material stuff (in other words, worldly, material consumption (i.e., clothing, food, electronics, decorations, vehicles, books, television, etc.)) is required to obtain the wisdom that will help us remove our ignorance and thereby stop unnecessarily consuming?

    We’re obviously not consuming for physical survival, because we need very little to survive (this is true even if you take into account where we are living, the laws, the government, weather, etc). So why consume so much? Impulse? Habit? Comfort? Redundancy? A false-sense of self-worth and status?

    I understand that balance is necessary, but a billionaires’ (material) balance will be different from that of a homeless beggar. It would be pointless for a beggar to buy a $1 banana when he can buy a non-organic banana for $0.50. In the same way, it would be seemingly pointless for a billionaire to buy a $0.50 banana when he can buy a healthier organic banana for $1. So in that case, is the distribution and usage of that which we consume (including wealth & knowledge) more important than the actual amount we consume?

  5. Raam: I suppose my question is of a more worldly (samsaric), material matter, so let me rephrase: How much material stuff (in other words, worldly, material consumption (i.e., clothing, food, electronics, decorations, vehicles, books, television, etc.)) is required to obtain the wisdom that will help us remove our ignorance and thereby stop unnecessarily consuming?

    Pa: To “obtain the wisdom that will help us remove our ignorance” it is necessary to stay alive. Other than the bare essentials (food, water, sunlight, air, clothing and shelter) necessary to stay alive (in a healthy way), there are no other material ‘consumables’ that are required.

    Raam: We’re obviously not consuming for physical survival, because we need very little to survive (this is true even if you take into account where we are living, the laws, the government, weather, etc). So why consume so much? Impulse? Habit? Comfort? Redundancy? A false-sense of self-worth and status?

    Pa: The answer to the above question (“why consume so much?”) is found in your own question, i.e., (impulse, habit, comfort, etc.), the slavery to which indicate that we are ignorant of our real nature (higher nature, or True Self).

    Raam: I understand that balance is necessary, but a billionaires’ (material) balance will be different from that of a homeless beggar. It would be pointless for a beggar to buy a $1 banana when he can buy a non-organic banana for $0.50. In the same way, it would be seemingly pointless for a billionaire to buy a $0.50 banana when he can buy a healthier organic banana for $1. So in that case, is the distribution and usage of that which we consume (including wealth & knowledge) more important than the actual amount we consume?

    Pa: The way one human keeps his balance is not different from the way all other human beings keep their balance. For example, there is a relationship between the inner ear and the fluid within the inner ear which is integral to the maintenance of physical balance. This is the same in everyone. (For instance, no one’s balance is based on the saliva underneath their tongue or blood in their little finger.)

    Similarly, everyone’s mental balance is based on the same parameters: the state or condition of one’s thoughts and actions being in agreement with, or in disagreement with, one’s true self. Now, this involves some detailed explanation which could take some time, but I will cover it just briefly:

    A human being is a ‘study in contrasts.’ We have both a lower (material) nature and a higher (spiritual) nature. We have actions, impressions, tendencies, and thoughts/emotions/attitudes/feelings associated with both our lower nature and higher nature (our ‘small self’ and our True Self or Real Self).

    The mind is an inert, subtle, material substance possessing material properties. However, the mind does NOT exist separate from the living self: it is infused with the energy of Consciousness which gives rise to ‘spiritual’ inclinations and thoughts in the mind, which in turn lead to selfless (unselfish) actions and impressions, which reinforce one’s spiritual inclinations and prompt deeper metaphysical thoughts, compassion, dispassion, courage, and other ‘spiritual’ traits and trains of thought.

    The cycle of action/impression/tendency/thought and then again action is called the Law of Action and Reaction (the Law of Karma). Positive actions result in positive reactions (in the form of positive impressions, tendencies, thoughts/attitudes/emotions/feelings, and again action). A positive action is one that is conducive to one’s total well-being. One’s total well-being includes one whole being: physical, mental, and spiritual. One’s total well-being is NOT any different than everyone else’s total well-being.

    To know what our total well-being is, it is necessary to know both our lower nature and our higher nature. The knowledge of both together AND the application of this knowledge, creates balance and this balance manifests (is experienced) as the state of total well-being.

  6. Pa: The way one human keeps his balance is not different from the way all other human beings keep their balance. For example, there is a relationship between the inner ear and the fluid within the inner ear which is integral to the maintenance of physical balance. This is the same in everyone. (For instance, no one’s balance is based on the saliva underneath their tongue or blood in their little finger.)

    I do not see how this could be true. One persons’ blood sugar level would dictate a different diet balance for that person, when compared with other humans. Although a vast majority of humans can be categorized into one large group of physical similarities (two eyes, two ears, two legs, two arms, a measurable average caloric intake, blood sugar level, etc.) and even a large category of mental similarities (knowing its wrong to kill, an understanding of respect, etc.), no two humans are exactly identical. If you can agree with that, then why would you say that “The way one human keeps his balance is not different from the way all other human beings keep their balance.”? How could this be possible if we’re all unique in so many ways? The billionaire in my example surely has different “balance requirements” (both physically and mentally, although perhaps not spiritually) than the beggar.

    Since each person is so unique, would it not be safe to say that every human requires a different “path” (different cycles “of action/impression/tendency/thought”) and that each person must discover what that path is by using his own intelligence, wisdom from elders, and self-discovery?

    The idea that there is a single “balance” that is compatible with all humans simply doesn’t make sense to me. The same way worldly wealth is basically the same around the entire planet even though each person must obtain and use it in his own unique way to reach financial freedom, and the way physical health can be “characterized” across all humans but no two people will obtain the same results doing and eating the same thing.

    I feel life is less about the end result (Moksha, liberation, enlightenment) and more about the perfection of this very moment, through the knowledge of past experience and with preparation for the next moment.

  7. Raam: I do not see how this could be true. . . . . no two humans are exactly identical. If you can agree with that, then why would you say that “The way one human keeps his balance is not different from the way all other human beings keep their balance.”?

    Pa: The example was referring explicitly to the balancing ‘mechanism’ common to ALL human beings for maintaining their physical balance (as in ‘standing upright and not falling over’). Similarly, mental balance (as in the difference between sanity and insanity) is universal. Certainly there are differences in balances in blood sugar levels, etc., (though even these differences are not very ‘wide,’ and one could just as easily note ‘range levels’ that are applicable to everyone and thereby establish similarities instead of differences).

    Raam: How could this be possible if we’re all unique in so many ways? The billionaire in my example surely has different “balance requirements” (both physically and mentally, although perhaps not spiritually) than the beggar.

    Pa: Definitely we are all unique. But just as we can establish the common quality of being ‘unique,’ we can also emphasize the common (albeit, not EXACT) requirements for physical, mental, and spiritual balance.

    Raam: Since each person is so unique, would it not be safe to say that every human requires a different “path” (different cycles “of action/impression/tendency/thought”) and that each person must discover what that path is by using his own intelligence, wisdom from elders, and self-discovery?

    Pa: Yes, “different cycles of ‘action/impression/tendency/thought,’ but the ‘Path’ is ultimately the same: ‘the Path Within.’

    Raam: The idea that there is a single “balance” that is compatible with all humans simply doesn’t make sense to me.

    Pa: Why not? Everyone requires the same air, the same water, and the same sunlight. Yes, these requirements may vary slightly from one person to the next, but still everyone requires these (even someone allergic to certain rays of sunlight cannot live without sunlight). Just as there are basic elements which are the building blocks of life, there is also a basic ‘balance’ applicable to all human beings. Although everyone is absolutely unique, in another way we are all absolutely the same. Everyone is an absolutely unique entity of Consciousness, but all are comprised (physically) of the same primordial matter. Ultimately, science will discover that the mind too is comprised of extremely subtle matter and that consciousness is distinct from the mind. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions arising from the mind are also comprised of subtle matter (infused, like the mind, with the energy of Consciousness).

    Raam: The same way worldly wealth is basically the same around the entire planet even though each person must obtain and use it in his own unique way to reach financial freedom, and the way physical health can be “characterized” across all humans but no two people will obtain the same results doing and eating the same thing.

    Pa: Yes, I agree with this.

    Raam: I feel life is less about the end result (Moksha, liberation, enlightenment) and more about the perfection of this very moment, through the knowledge of past experience and with preparation for the next moment.

    Pa: NOW is forever and NOW is changeless AND ever new. The past and the future are framed in time, but NOW is timeless. NOW becomes the past or the future only in the mind. Beyond the mind there is no time. In deep, dreamless sleep one (the conscious Self) is established in NOW, but ‘unconciously.’ ‘Unconsciously’ simply means the mind is not attuned to NOW. When the mind is attuned to NOW, one is consciously established in Eternity (Timelessness, NOW), and this is called Samadhi. This Samadhi (typically referred to as transconsciousness, or transcendental consciousness) leads to Moksha, liberation, enlightenment. Thus, this transcendental consciousness is not the end result but IS “the perfection of this very moment,” which is what this life is really all about.