Could a person be initiated in a previous lifetime and then acquire only fragments of initiation in their current one?
Though it may appear that I am asking this question so that an answer can be directed at me, my hope is that others who can read this might be close to the stage where thought is committed to becoming Self aware. On my way to Self awareness, I had an unimaginable fortune where none could tell me about the pathway but there was a longing, almost dire at times, that someone (a guru perhaps) would be available for guidance. Many of my inquiries we able to be sifted down to the level that a simple affirmation is enough. ~Jason Skeie~
Long live dear blessed soul for such an excellent and daring question raised to me from inner realm of your spiritual heart. I will certainly share with you the answer which has been learnt by me in lotus feet of revered Gurudev. Such sacred knowledge is still surviving just because of sharing from one deserving to another under spiritual lamp post of divine intuitions. I would prefer to reply your question in background of Bhagavad Gita verses so that it’s authenticity may not be challenged.
Says revered Gurudev:
“Be it in India or any other country, the Soul in all is identical. So, if anywhere on the earth there is a man who is aware of the true nature of Self and his ultimate goal, and who is eager to take to the way which will eventually lead his Self to the Supreme Spirit, be he a professed Christian, Muslim, Jew, or anything else, he undoubtedly also belongs to the fold of Eternal Dharm-the changeless and immutable.”
Pathway is always available for such seekers who have real longing as you have and wisdom transfer always takes place at exact moment when it is needed but “how” factor is a divine secret which gets unfolded after certain span of time. I can suggest you just to wait for appearance of your real “Guru” in physical form who will himself search you at an earliest. And one thing more, important is not appearance of physical form of a real “Guru” instead it is appearance of HIS grace which will always keep you enlightened.
And I am confident, you are struggling for attainment of ultimate bliss under umbrella of Guru’s grace though still non-visible to you.This line is in reference of your emotional feeling which you describe that On your way to Self awareness, you had an unimaginable fortune where none could tell you about the pathway but there was a longing, almost dire at times, that someone (a guru perhaps) would be available for guidance.
As you have already mentioned in your post while raising this question, yes….I feel that there’s a capacity for spiritual awareness within you that has not been seen to be common among individuals in your local environment. You inquire about this also because there was an overwhelmingly amazing amount of synchronicity in a life experience where the previous 6 stages to meditation came about in an authentic quest to comprehend what the essence of meditation.
But never mind dear blessed soul and be sure that we belong to a single court yard whether it is East or West, North or South and local environment will never matter much. I have experienced this pain in so many around the globe which is not going to be a great hurdle in any case. God is omnipresent and HIS attributes are common to each of us. It is all game of our sanskars.
The real base of the body is constituted by sanskar, the merits-the influences and impressions-earned during a previous existence. And sanskar rests upon the mind. Perfect subjugation of the mind, so that it can be changeless, firm, and constant, and the dissolution of the last sanskar, are all different aspects of same process.The disintegration of the last crust of this sanskar marks end of physical existence. But yes, I do agree that if you find support from the local environment, it becomes easier but never forget, a seeker has always to swim against the existing current of life throughout the journey which is a course of number of births and rebirths cycles.
Let me share first a short syllabus in brief which is that there are a gradual fostering of pious impulses, restraint of the working of senses, and parrying off of sensual perceptions through a modification of their intent. In a still higher state than this, yogi offer as oblation the functions of all senses and operations of life-breaths to the fire of yog that is lit up by knowledge of God.
When restraint is integrated with the Self and the operations of breath and senses are stilled, the current which stimulates passions and the current which propels one towards God merge into the Self. The outcome of yagya then emerges as God-realization, the culmination of this spiritual exercise. When one dwells in the God who had to be realized,nothing else remains to be achieved.
The stage of meditation is here which pushes us forward in perfect absorption of thought in the Supreme Spirit which is of transcendental mode to stay in absolute Samadhi. That Soul which has resolved his doubts is in the state of samadhi or perfect absorption of thought in the Supreme Spirit, the one worthy object of meditation. One who has achieved even- minded discrimination by identification with the eternal essence, which has neither a beginning nor an end, is said to be in the state of abstract contemplation of the nature of the Supreme Spirit.
Such a short syllabus but not so easy to get through and attain the ultimate bliss. I do not claim that it is impossible to complete the whole syllabus in a single birth, but can feel how tough the task is?
Lord Krishn sings in Bhagavad Gita:
‘‘The equipoise of mind that arises from profound absorption
in the performance of action after renouncing attachment
and being even-minded in respect of success and failure is,
O Dhananjay (Arjun), given the name of yog.”
Resting in yog, renouncing infatuation for worldly ties, and looking at success and failure with an equal mind, Arjun should undertake action. But what action?
Lord Krishn’s pronouncement is that men should do selfless action. Equipoise of mind is what is called yog. The mind in which there is no unevenness is full of equanimity. Greed destroys its evenness, attachments make it unequal, and desire for the fruits of action destroy its serenity. That is why there should be no hankering after the fruits of action. At the same time, however, there should also be no diminishing of faith in the performance of action. Renouncing attachment to all things, seen as well as unseen, and giving up all concern about achievement and non-achievement, we should only keep our eyes fixed on yog, the discipline that joins the individual Soul with the Supreme Spirit, and lead a life of strenuous action.
Yog is thus the state of culmination. But it is also the initial stage. At the outset our eyes should be fixed on the goal. It is for this reason that we should act keeping our eyes on yog. Equanimity of mind is also named yog. When the mind cannot be shaken by failure and success, and nothing can destroy its evenness, it is said to be in the state of yog. It cannot then be moved by passion. Such a state of mind enables the Soul to identify himself with God.
This is another reason why this state is called Samattwa Yog, the discipline that makes the mind filled with equanimity. Since there is, in such a state of mind, complete renunciation of desire, it is also called the Way of Selfless Action (Nishkam Karm Yog). Since it requires us to perform action, it is also known as the Way of Action (Karm Yog) .Since it unites the Self with the Supreme Spirit, it is called yog.
It is necessary to keep in mind that both success and failure should be viewed with equanimity, that there should be no sense of attachment, and that there is no desire for the rewards of action. It is thus that the Way of Selfless Action and the Way of Knowledge are the same. But while traversing upon the path either to any of the way, the grace of an enlightened and totally accomplished teacher is a must.
When the mind of any worshiper has steered safely across the marsh of attachment, and when it is completely free from yearning for either children or riches or honour, all its worldly ties are broken, it will then be receptive, not only to what is proper for hearing, but also to the idea of renunciation, making it an integral part of its action according to what it has learnt.
Is this so easy to cover in a single birth? And if not, a person has to be initiated in a previous lifetime and then acquire only fragments of initiation in their current one according to own spiritual capacity.
Your question automatically gets answered here.
To support your vision, I would prefer to quote this verse from Bhagavad Gita.
Lord Krishn sings:
“Doubtlessly nothing in the world is more purifying than this knowledge
and your heart will realize it spontaneously when you have attained
to perfection on the Way of Action.”
Nothing in this world purifies as this knowledge does. And this knowledge will be manifest to the doer alone, not to anyone else, when his practice of yog has reached maturity, not at its inception, not in the middle, not externally but within his heart-within his Self.
And next verse when Lord Krishn sings:
“The yogi, who has purified his heart and mind through several births
by intense meditation and thus rid himself of all sins, attains
to the ultimate state of realizing God.’’
Only an endeavour made over a number of lives effects this ultimate accomplishment. The yogi who practices diligent meditation is well rid of all kinds of impiety and then attains to the final beatitude. This is the way of attainment. Setting out on the path of yog with but a feeble effort and initiated into it when the mind is yet restless, he is admitted to the family of an accomplished teacher and, with the undertaking of meditation in life after life, he at last arrives at the point called salvation-the state in which the Soul is merged into God.
Lord Krishn also says that the seed of this yog is never annihilated. If we just take a couple of steps, the merits earned from them are never destroyed. A man of true faith can embark upon the ordained action in every circumstance of worldly life. Whether you are a woman or a man, of whatever race or culture, if you are simply a human being, this Bhagavad Gita is for you.The Gita is for all mankind-for the man devoted to his family and the sanyasi, the educated and the unlettered, and for everyone. It is not only for that unique creature called a hermit (sadhu). This indeed is Lord Krishn’s pronouncement.
You have mentioned:
“One such great affirmation that I can see now is that the seeds are never destroyed as well as the merits earned from just a couple steps. As setting out on the path of yog was done because the mind was restless, no external determining factor could found to independently verify that committing to Self awareness would provide any benefit nor mention that benefit would be at such a subtle level that talking about it with those not already aware of the path would be difficult.”
Yes…the seeds are never destroyed as well as the merits earned from just a couple steps.
Lord Krishn sings:
“This man, O Parth, is destroyed neither in this world nor in the next because,
my brother, one who performs good deeds never comes to grief.’’
Arjun is addressed as “Parth” because, as we have already seen, he has turned his mortal body itself into a chariot to proceed to his goal. And now Lord Krishn tells him that the man who deviates from yog, because of his mind’s fickleness, is not destroyed in this world or in the next. This is so because a doer of good deeds, of God-related deeds, is never damned. However, what is his destiny?
We will see this in next verse.
“The righteous man who deviates from the path of yog achieves
celestial merits and pleasures for countless years after which
he is reborn in the house of a virtuous and noble man.”
What a paradox that the man who has fallen from yog enjoys in the worlds of the virtuous satisfaction of the same desires for sensual pleasure by which his restless mind was lured away from the appointed way in the mortal world. But this is God’s synoptic way of providing him a glimpse of all he wanted, after which he is reborn in the house of a noble man-a man of righteous conduct.
To clear your next doubt, let me clarify that since the journey is internal and purely based on divine intuitions, the seeker learns through the guidance and grace of an accomplished teacher how to communicate with Self as and when required in inner realm internally for getting suitable spiritual guidance in form of certain divine codes and needs no external determining factor to independently verify that committing to Self awareness would provide any benefit.
What can be more beneficial than attainment of Self awareness?
With the gradual elevation of spiritual austerities, seeker gains divine wisdom and knows how subtle this knowledge is and how difficult is talking about it with those not already aware of the path to make such understand without proper spiritual base?
I hope, this answers your question completely and in case if furthermore clarifications are required, you are most welcome dear blessed soul.
Bow down in lotus feet of revered Gurudev for such teaching to me.
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~