--- In [email protected], "benjaminccollins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > <snip great rap to> > So in conclusion, I'd say that yagyas are about empowerment. They > are all about empowering the divine in you and as a result enabling > you to manifest the results that you desire in life. Whether you > use puja.net or yagyas by choice is really a matter of personal > preference and style.
Well said. Also whether you choose to get involved with them or find some other way of empowerment is a matter of personal preference and style. > And this is where the skeptics get it right. They point out that it > is <you> who have to change. Yagyas don't do it for you, but they > give you a boost in the right direction and smooth the path. So > does meditation, so does puja, and so do a lot of other things like > sports, and art, and service, and study, etc. Because they are all > the tools with which you build your life. It is just a matter of > what ones you want to use. Well said again. I guess at the end of this all of your patient explanations have helped me understand the value you see in yagyas, and have at the same time helped me to understand my resistance to them or skepticism about them. I think that when it comes down to it, some people in Eastern spiritual traditions believe in the technology of mantras as a form of magic. Know the right word, chant or think it, and magic happens because the power in the equation lies within the magic word -- the mantra or the set of verses. That's a viable way of looking at things, and very traditional. My life experiences have suggested another way of interpreting the same situations. I find myself unconvinced that the magic in the equation lies in the magic words -- the mantras or the verses. I suspect that the value of these practices just may lie in 1) their value in focusing attention, and 2) the intent of those performing the practice and those watching it or benefitting from it. This theory does *not* mean that I don't think the magic happens, merely that I attribute the magic to something else, not the stuff on the surface (the chanting) that *seems* to make it happen. I come to this theory *because* of my life experiences of having seen major magic performed through nothing *but* the focusing of attention and clean intent, with no supporting "technology" of chanting or thinking a mantra or set of verses in the way. But it's not as if I'm convinced I know the Truth or anything. I'm just trying to come up with a temporary explanation that satisfies my self, until it tires of this intellectual masturbation and gets back to just being Self. Thanks for all the explanations, everyone... Unc ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
