ADVENTURES IN ADVAITA VEDANTA...

Adventures in Advaita Vedanta, the philosophy and science of spirit. We are one you and I; are you curious why?..


What Decisions?

Hari Om
Each 'Choose-day' we will investigate the process by which we can reassess our activity and interaction with the world of plurality and become more congruent within our personality.

During February you were given some plain examples of the sorts of choices which we can face in life. A tiny, tiny sample. From them, however, it would be obvious how we are faced with this dilemma constantly - if we are aware of it. Much of the time, though, we respond without too much thought. Either through habit or through a driving need to satisfy our tastes.

It is not that there was anything particularly bad about the preyas choices, in and of themselves. If we are living entirely based upon preyas, though, what right do we have to claim to be living a spiritual existence?

Some of the choices may have looked like the sorts of choices about health which we are constantly reminded of these days. That is fair enough - what is clear is that this choice has always been there. A part of shreyas and preyas is assessing what is best for the body, which is the carrier of the soul and needs to be kept healthy in order to further the means of the spirit. It is also true that, particularly with direct diet, but also with the 'diet of the mind' which is fed through the eyes and ears, we can nourish or bloat our being.

Neither is one to think that there is to be no enjoyment if living the divine life. Rather, it is that we must understand our relationship with all this input, that it is there to serve us and not drive us or have us surrender our self-control to it.


Watch yourself in each and every transaction with the world. Even if with the recent examples you sought pick 'the right answer', know for yourselves what really drew you. Observe it from now on in everything. Become your own monitor of the shreyas and preyas in your lives and find where the weight of it is just now, then seek to find how to balance it, first, then into the favour of shreyas. This is a part of saadhana.