Do we have a spirit and, if so, what role does it play in our relationship with God?

Thomas said:
That's an over-simplified reading of the text. It's easier understood if you come from Eckhart's Christian perspective.
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:D Why would I go by Eckhart's perspective when I have my Hindu and Buddhist traditions?
Buddha, for us, is the latest avatara of Lord Vishnu.

"nindasi yajna-vidher ahaha sruti-jatam
sadaya-hridaya darsita-pasu-ghatam
kesava dhrita-buddha-sarira jaya jagadisa hare"
Jayadeva, Gita Govinda

You decry the slaughtering of poor animals performed according to the rules of Vedic sacrifice because of your compassionate heart. O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! you have assumed the form of Buddha! All glories to You!
 
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Thomas said:
Why indeed.
I'm not asking you to do that, simply pointing out that you have not accounted for perspective when critiquing the text – so the comment is invalid. ;)
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Hindu scriptures are very miserly about words. A whole upanishad may contain just 18 verses. As you know, Brahma Sutras can carry meaning which can fill up 100 pages in a book in just one small aphoristic sentence. We keep the kernel and discard the shell. :D
 
Aupmanyav said:
"Busy not thyself with this world .."
If not with this world, then which one? What is the evidence for the other world?
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I think sometimes people have dreams or visions, or believe those of others.
I think that is how revelation is supposed to work, however, as often as people mention revelation, they don't explain the process very often😒🫤
 
Thomas said:
Eckhart said:
"The man who abides in the will of God wills nothing else than what God is, and what He wills. If he were ill he would not wish to be well. If he really abides in God's will, all pain is to him a joy, all complication, simple: yea, even the pains of hell would be a joy to him. He is free and gone out from himself, and from all that he receives, he must be free. If my eye is to discern colour, it must itself be free from all colour. The eye with which I see God is the same with which God sees me. My eye and God's eye is one eye, and one sight, and one knowledge, and one love."
(Sermon IV, True Hearing, emphasis mine)
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Is there some chance that this is what Jesus meant when saying "I and the Father are one" ?
 
otherbrother said:
Very true, but it works for me by getting me to look for purpose. I actually borrowed that belief from New Age beliefs someone shared with me. That one’s spirit accepted an assignment as a prerequisite for incarceration.
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otherbrother said:
incarceration.
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Did this mean incarnation instead of incarceration? Or is it both? Is incarnation, in this philosophy, regarded as a form of incarceration?
 
otherbrother said:
If you value growth you must take care of your wellbeing. Otherwise the growth would not be sustainable. And non sustainable growth is not really “growth.” It can even be like a cancer that consumes one’s very being.
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Indeed... a concrete example might be an obsession that takes on a life of its own - even as the obsessed person gains skill or knowledge in their pursuit, they can lose focus and become single-minded and the obsession becomes all consuming.
 
Thomas said:
I have experienced the same, riding my motorcycle ... Riding at night on a well-lit motorway, almost empty of other traffice, approached my turning and the desire was simply to keep going, just ride on ... I think it's along the lines of 'being in the moment'.

A zen sage was asked about the state of no-mind, and he pointed to a man, sitting on the step of his shanty dwelling, weaving a basket. His hands knew exactly what to do, 'he' did not have to interfere. He was not day-dreaming, he was engaged with his work ... The sage commented that the weaver was closer to no-mind than some of the most adept Zen practitioners.
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Brings to mind Robert Pirsig "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
 
Aupmanyav said:
Hindu scriptures are very miserly about words. A whole upanishad may contain just 18 verses. As you know, Brahma Sutras can carry meaning which can fill up 100 pages in a book in just one small aphoristic sentence. We keep the kernel and discard the shell. :D
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Keep the cryptic conclusion, discard the context. 🫤
 
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