Literary Discussions

Excerpt from link -

Psychiatrist: What, in your erudite opinion, is the essence of the Bhagvad-Gita? In very briefly. I'd like to know your perception of the essence of the Gita not quotations, please, if you do not mind. 

No quotations, please, talk to me, don't show off your knowledge. I want to know the essence of the Gita, in your opinion, your views. I am interested in you as a person relating to me, not as a mouth-piece. 

Sitaram: It is like asking me to write to you, but without using letters of the alphabet, since I would be showing off my knowledge of the alphabet. To talk about Gita,... we must quote the Gita. To talk about Gospels, we must quote Gospels. You must realize that whatever I say, I am only the sum total of everything which I have internalized. 

Have you ever read Dostoevsky? The Brothers Karamazov? The first 100 pages or so is an account given by the fictional character, the monk Zossima....in Brothers Karamazov. The monk Zossima tells how as a young man, he rejected a career in the military to take up the orthodox monastic spiritual life. If you read Doestoevsky's account... you will see that someone like Zossima.... BECOMES ZOSSIMA,.... precisely by internalizing all the scriptures until they become second nature. In other words.... the individuality of Zossima is not what is interesting. That individuality dies as part of the spiritual developmental process; that which TRULY interests us is the personality which evolves as a living embodiment of those scriptures and traditions. A Ramakrishna, or a Ramana Marharshi fascinates us PRECISELY because their own individuality perished as they became LIVING EMBODIMENTS of the traditions that they represent. Zossima is of interest only when, through a process, his individuality dies... and Zossima becomes an embodiment of the Gospels. 

One of the pages at my website states that "we are exactly what we should be at each point in time". Someone was scandalized by this and said, "Does that mean that people should be prostitutes or drug dealers." My answer was that people like Gandhi and Mother Theresa and Ramana Maharshi were as much ineluctably drawn to satyagraha, charity, and ascetical tapas, as the thief or prostitute or drug addict is drawn to their life and activities. It is part of a karmic cause and effect that each of us must work through. There was a necessity for Hitler and Ravanna; without them there would be no Schindler's List, and no Ramanand Sagar (or Tulsidas) Ramayan. For all we know, a bee is happy making honey, the viper is happy making venom, and the cow is "happy" making milk; yet all three drink from the same pool of water to quench their thirst. 

Bottom line: If you are circus clown, and know you were meant to be a circus clown, and have surrendered to that Dharma, then be a GOOD circus clown. Don't pine away because you are not playing Hamlet.