![Obstacles appear when you lose sight of your goal. [Swami Anubhavananda Saraswati]](https://i0.wp.com/vedanta.manishverma.site/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/02/obstacles-goal-swami-anubhavananda-saraswati.png?ssl=1 "Obstacles & Goal - Swami Anubhavananda Saraswati")
Obstacles & Goal Quote
Detachment from Desire
Maya – Kabir
Maya Mari Na Mann Mara, Mar Mar Gaya Shareer
Asha Trishna Na Mari, Keh Gaya Das Kabir
Meaning: Neither maya nor the mind, only body attained death*. Hope and thirst did not die, so said Kabir.
Kabir Maya Papini, Phandh Le Baithi Haati
Sab Jag Tou Phandhe Padya, Gaya Kabeera Kaati
Meaning: Maya is sinful, sitting with its noose in the bazaar. The whole world got trapped in the noose, Kabir has cut the noose.
*The body gets old and eventually dies but maya and mind are not affected. The desires may still be there at the time of death.
Dashehara Festival Symbolism
Here is one way of looking at the symbolism of Dashehara:
Ravan has 10 heads which is the symbol of strong egotism (Ego + Doership = Egotism).
Ram is the symbol of pure Consciousness.
Dashehara is the day when egotism is defeated by pure Consciousness. It can be viewed as enlightenment.
Is NDE Enlightenment?
Enlightenment means direct knowledge of the Seer as Seer. In NDE (Near Death Experience), since there is an experience without body and this experience appears much more real than the experience that a normal mind has, there is a clear realisation that one is not the body and not the mind. One is inclined to call oneself as the individual soul after NDE. There is a feeling of unconditional love, of timelessness etc. in NDE but it is a feeling after all. Seer merely sees without feeling. Seer does not have any individuality also. Negating body and mind is fine but if individual soul is not negated it is not enlightenment. Seer is pure Consciousness which is beyond body, mind and individual soul. NDE does not necessarily mean enlightenment. If Self Inquiry continues during NDE, it can give rise to enlightenment.
Attachment Quote
All Seeking is for Self
Below passage is in the context of sage Yajnavalkya addressing his wife, Maitreyi.
[Brhadaranyaka Upanishad Translation, 2.4.5, Advaita Ashram]
He said: It is not for the sake of the husband, my dear, that he is loved, but for one’s own sake that he is loved. It is not for the sake of the wife, my dear, that she is loved, but for one’s own sake that she is loved. It is not for the sake of the sons, my dear, that they are loved, but for one’s own sake that they are loved. It is not for the sake of wealth, my dear, that it is loved, but for one’s own sake that it is loved. It is not for the sake of the Brahmana*, my dear, that he is loved, but for one’s own sake that he is loved. It is not for the sake of the Kshatriya, my dear, that he is loved, but for one’s own sake that he is loved. It is not for the sake of the worlds, my dear, that they are loved, but for one’s own sake that they are loved. It is not for the sake of the gods, my dear, that they are loved, but for one’s own sake that they are loved. It is not for the sake of the beings, my dear, that they are loved, but for one’s own sake that they are loved. It is not for the sake of all, my dear, that all is loved, but for one’s own sake – that it is loved. The Self, my dear Maitreyi, should be realised-should be heard of, reflected on and meditated upon. By the realisation of the Self, my dear, through hearing, reflection and meditation, all this is known.
*Brahmana here refers to a cast.