I remember…
It was over 30 years ago when I first learned the Siddhis. While deep within the transcendent a feeling of solidity, far beyond the solidity I had felt through meditative transcending, overtook me. It permeated my body. I remember trying to describe the feeling… “I feel like a walnut… solid, fixed, strong, established.”
The transcendent is solid but unstructured… infinite, but without edge… all pervasive. This feeling was very different… infinitely integrated… as if all pieces of the infinite puzzle of life fit together into a solid integrated field of Oneness. Yet no piece was dissolved or lost. The integration was so complete that ‘other’ and ‘all one’ created a state of oneness in unity. This is integration… wholeness… Holiness.
It is not an attitude. It is not about choosing to be strong. It can not be adhered to via behavioral modification. It is not superficial… not a personality trait. It is not forceful, aggressive, macho or controlling. All of those things are superficial… of the personality. It is rooted in the deepest level of existence, where Oneness births multiplicity. From that level it wells up to permeate the entire physiology… body and mind, heart and soul. It certainly has little if anything to do with what society portrays as strong. It is a state of physiology.
It is the ‘Iron Ball.’
One of the most important things to me in my learning with Brahmarshi is the consistency. Year after year, lecture after lecture, the teaching is perfectly consistent. It is the only field of study in my life that is perfectly consistent. Even the multitudes of paradoxes were always consistently explained. I think that is the Iron Ball.
Mark,
Your point speaks beautifully of the seamless integration of life and existence. Every piece of the puzzle fits perfectly and all pieces in concert create a most exquisite picture. Yet due to such profound subtlety, pure knowledge eludes humanity through the ages.
I wanted to tie together this metaphor about the iron ball physiological state with the question of motivation. One can be very clear and yet still feel that there needs to be a reason arising from desire in order to act. So, how to see alternatives to this view?
The best I can come up with at the moment is this: if you choose to have a plant in your home in order to enjoy its nature, why do you water it? Do you water it because you have decided you want to be the provider of water? Maybe, but that is turning the plant into an extension of the self. You can also water it because you have acknowledged the plants’ way of being woven into the fabric of existence. Then there is no ‘cost’ or competition of desires impeding immediate action.
Bramarshi, does this relate to the iron ball metaphor?
thanks,
Kevin
NYC