> --- In [email protected], "Marek Reavis" > <reavismarek@> wrote: snip>
> > In any case, it's definitely not Guru Dev's talk about the salt > statue > > going to measure the ocean's depth; Apparently a common analogy among Yogis sometimes attributed to RamaKrishna. Ramakrishna compared Savikalpa Samadhi (samadhi with consciousness of one's individuality) to a cotton doll which when put in water gets saturated with it, and Nirvikalpa Samadhi (Unity-no distinction) to a doll of salt which when immersed in water disolves and loses itself in it. I guess you could say in Nirvikalpa the drop becomes the ocean... Another story by Swami Yogananda: "To paraphrase a well-known allegory, he is then comparable to an idol made of sugar that sought to measure the depth of the Ocean of Divine Nectar. On entering the Sea, it found itself melting. The idol retreated hurriedly to the shore, thinking: "Why lose my identity in order to determine the depth of divine sweetness? I already know that the Ocean is indeed very deep, and Its nectar exceedingly sweet." Thus the sugar idol chose to perceive the Ocean of Sweetness through the isolated consciousness of individuality. Similarly, a devotee may love to be one with the Infinite, yet love even more the enjoyment of God experienced by retaining his individual existence. The latter is the state of supreme devotion."
