Tattva-viveka
Gaudiya... Tao?
Syamasundara - October 4, 2007 7:24 am
The other day I realized the Tao. 
So, that's done. 
:He He:
No, really, I was watching the sunset on the San Diego Bay while perching on the saddle of my pedicab (riksha). I was keeping my back straight to keep the balance, but I was all trembling, until I actually relaxed my back and I found the perfect position; so I had this realization that balance, or peace (santi), or harmony (vrndavana) can only be achieved when both rigidity and flexibility are there. Then so many images came to my mind: antisysmic buildings and bridges resting on oil barrels, or the tallest skyscrapers in South East Asia being very flexible to withstand the strong winds. A structure that's too rigid will break easily or fall out of balance, like if you flick a dry stem of wheat or a standing cigarette. Similarly, something that's too soft and flexible, like a camping tent without the ribs (or whatever they are called) is also useless.
Sounds pretty basic, but often, the biggest realizations are about things that have always been in front of our noses, but we would see them only under a certain light. Also, pretty good for never having read anything about the Tao philosophy! 
The Tao as the object of our meditation can bring us very deep and very far. It can be applied to many aspects of our life in contact with matter, like lifting weights or taking decisions. I realized that the Tao is not just some Chinese way of looking at this world, (like Chinese medicine and astrology, that so much differ from the Vedic ones), but it actually talks about a huge truth, so I started to think of the truth the way we perceive it.
In the Tao there is yang, which is masculine and black (Krsna), and yin, which is feminine and white (Gaurangi). The two come together in a very dynamic way. As you can see in the picture :Ying Yang: where one is the biggest the other one is the smallest and the two asimetric halves seem to run after one another. So for example, Srimati Radharani is the famous "predominated moiety" (black over white), or is she? It depends on the point of view. Yang, Krsna, can also stand for tattva, all that is and all there is to know, and Yin, Gaurangi, is bhava, the feeling of things, that is as strong and real as tattva, and makes Krsna say that Radha is her guru.
Another aspect of the Tao is the black dot where the white is at its fullest and the white dot in the black. They can also be seen in terms of tattva and bhava (apart from its applications in a material context that are quite eye-opening, too). At the heart of Radha we find her beloved Krsna, but it also means that he is the origin of her, and inside Krsna we find Radha, because she is his internal sakti, when Krsna looks within himself deeply, he finds Radha, and the strength of his meditation makes him turn of the color of Gaurangi, and he becomes Gauranga. And inside the fair Gauranga who do we find? That black thief. So we perpetually find the white in the black and the black in the white. Incidentally Mahaprabhu is Radha (yin) and Krsna (yang) combined. Just see, the Tao again! :Ying Yang:
This sort of meditation can go on and on, deeper and deeper. When you catch up with me ( :Batting Eyelashes: ) and you also realize the Tao, you will see how you will naturally apply it to any and every aspect of life.
For example, I was re-reading the thread about spiritual progress, and wondering when will I be like Babhru, with Bhagavatam verses at his fingertips and on his mind.
Like I said somewhere else, when I write here I make sense for the most part, sometimes I even learn from my own words, say, when I reply to someone's question, and that's despite my limited knowledge of scripture, because by the association of my dearest Gurudeva I've got good, solid bases, a good devotional skeleton. This will allow me to learn and understand the Scriptures very quickly and easily when the moment comes, and as I could glimpse already. But a comprehensive and organically applied knowledge of the scripture must also be there. That is like the muscles that allow the bones to make those complex and delicate movements. Both yin and yang must be there.
Just see how curious: I equaled the association of GM to bones, that are rigid in nature (yang, tattva), when in fact what I get from him is a feeling for Krsna consciousness (yin, bhava) and faith, whereas I compared the knowledge of sastric verses, which is what will allow me to establish philosophically that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all the rest (tattva, yang), to muscles, that are so soft and flexible (yin). Again, yin in yang and yang in yin, tattva in bhava and bhava in tattva...
:Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang: :Ying Yang:
