--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Ravi Yogi" <raviyogi@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Ravi Yogi" <raviyogi@> wrote: > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, dharmacentral no_reply@ wrote: > > > > > > > > > > The Difference Between Devotion and Emotion > > > > > > > > > > By Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya > > > > > > > > > > "The central message of the Bhagavad Gita, the most important > > > > > scripture in all of Sanatana Dharma, is that bhakti, or > > > > > devotion to the Absolute, constitutes the most effective and > > > > > highly recommended path in all of the Yoga tradition. > > > > > > > > How can one practice devotion to the Absolute?? You can't > > > > worship the Impersonal. > > > > > > Very good catch, you are indeed very sharp..:-), I hardly > > > skimmed the post like I do when they get too intellectual > > > (I have spoken like a true Bhakta..:-D). > > > > > > It has to start with personal and end up with impersonal. > > > > On the other hand, in SBAL MMY makes a case for realization > > of the Impersonal (on the level of the Self, i.e., Cosmic > > Consciousness) before true devotion to Personal God is even > > possible. He's not opposed to Bhakti prior to CC, but he > > does seem to think it's merely emotional until that point. So > > in that respect he's in agreement with Pravartaka. He just > > organizes the mechanics of development differently: first > > Self-realization (CC), then true devotion (GC), then Unity. > > If Bhakti in the emotional sense helps propel one toward the > > first of these, that's fine. > > > > I would guess that it depends to some extent on the > > individual, though. > > Thanks for MMY's viewpoint, that seems to reinforce my view > that TM'ers are mostly intellectual. However when I made > this remark to a former TM'er here in Amma's she said > Maharishi was "all heart".
I'm not sure Self-realization (Cosmic Consciousness in TM lingo) is any more intellectual than it is emotional. The means is said to be regular transcending via TM, and there's nothing either emotional or intellectual about TM. It's really just MMY's old "Highest first" axiom.
