Separating Awareness and Intellect

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During meditation recently, as I was striving to distinguish my chitta from my buddhi, I realised how inseparable my awareness and my intellect have always been. That's when it dawned upon me how the chitta can become so immersed with buddhi that it loses the ability to disentangle from the maya of the material realm.

All my life, my chitta and buddhi have moved as one. My intellect analyses, plans, worries, remembers and I had no idea that there even was an awareness behind it all. As a child, while my mind was developing, my awareness would have been the silent guide. When my ahamkara had developed and I grew a sense of self, I had no clue that there were separate parts of my mind, each performing its own task. 

From Avatāra to Prophet

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Two Mirrors of Human Evolution

Humanity's story has often been told in two great idioms - the Dharmic story coming out of the Indian sub-continent and the Abrahamic story from the eastern reaches of the Mediterranean. These idioms have been commonly taken to mean something less - merely incarnations of divinity or prophetic appointments by divinity. When examined closely, they tell a deeper story of human evolution.

In the Dharmic view, the ten incarnations of Vishnu, the Daśāvatāra, depict the gradual evolution of human life - from water to land, from beast to human, from ignorance to awakening.

• Matsya - fish (aquatic) 
• Kūrma - turtle (amphibious) 
• Varāha - boar (mammalian) 
• Narasiṃha - lion-man (half-beast) 
• Vāmana - dwarf (early human)
• Paraśurāma - primitive warrior 
• Rāma - civilized man
• Kṛṣṇa - embodiment of love 
• Buddha - awakened soul
• Kalki - redeemer? 

The Kalki Avatār remains a mystery. Perhaps we will find out in our lifetime.

Religion and Spirituality

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A couple of days ago I joined an interfaith webinar on this subject. It was interesting to hear the perspectives from several religions. Following the webinar, I posed a number of questions to ChatGPT to see where a logical analysis would go. I provided no input apart from my opening definition and subsequent leading questions which guided the flow of the conversation.

What follows is entirely the work of the AI. The result looks pretty good to me. What do you think?

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When Revelation Becomes Religion: The Arc from Spirit to Structure

Spirituality and religion share a common root — the human longing for connection with something greater — yet they diverge in how that longing is lived.

Spirituality is the relationship between a person and what he believes in — intimate, interior, and transformative.

Religion is the relationship between people who share a common belief — communal, structured, and institutional.

Each answers a human need, but each carries within it a shadow.

Qur’an and Advaita Vedanta

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A Comparative Exploration

During an interesting discussion on spirituality with ChatGPT, the AI observed that my views tended to be Qur'an centric. I suppose that was because we were discussing Qur'an related ideas.  Taken aback, I asked, what if I said my views were advaita vedantic? The AI replied that it stood to reason since both sources had many commonalities. Then it pointed out some of the commonalities.

We proceeded to examine similarities between the two sources. The correlation was startling. But, given the fact that all messages are from the same singular source, it is inevitable that they will all contain similar core content. Any perceived differences are likely to be due to the different filters through which they are viewed. 

The Feminine in Divinity

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During this Navarātri period, let us ponder upon the celebration of the feminine aspect of divinity in all its splendor. Across India, the nine nights honor the Devi in different forms, yet the underlying message is consistent: divinity manifests both masculine and feminine attributes, and the feminine is often more approachable, nurturing, and accessible as a pathway to the divine.

Since time immemorial, cultures have revered female deities - goddesses of earth, fertility, wisdom, protection, and prosperity. The presence of the feminine in divinity underscores a profound truth: while the ultimate Godhead transcends gender, the human experience of the divine is enriched by perceiving it in both masculine and feminine forms. The masculine embodies will, order, and cosmic authority, while the feminine embodies grace, compassion, and creative energy. Together, they complete the spectrum of the sacred.