to hug or not to hug.....every act has its effects, its impacts...in a state of awareness,one responds rather than react...in functional realms...
one goes into an act, willing to face possible repurcussions...
in reactionary states, one is kind of compelled in a direction...helpless against our mind cyclones...and then one resents the repurcussions or tries to escape it when it happens..
guess, awareness is the key to the completion of an expereince cycle in mind - spaces or otherwise...

What a good question you ask Aachi.

Acting out in the mind does indeed amount to 'action' (karma) in the Vedic sense, so once you have desired and hugged her in your mind the deed is done. Or for that matter 'killed' him in the mind. What people fail to understand is that the Vedas point to the causal cycle of thought/speech/action which is triggered irrespective of where the actual action is located. To clarify, while a physical action will set off immediate reactions like- she may slap you, call the police or fall into your arms in supine bliss. A thought will set off a different kind of chain which is far more subtle and therefore insidious. Not surprisning that we fail to take responsibility for our thoughts and are largely unaware of the angst/rage/games that are lodged there. However since thought is supposed to be the most powerful atom of energy in the Universe(i.e all conscious intent, desire,aspiration negative/positive will manifest into form) then thinking the hug or the murder shal set up a range of energy feilds to connect you to the aspiration.

What then is the dividing line you ask? None really, at least not through circumscribed laws of good/evil, scared/profane (which is why even the most austere fail to discipline 'lusty' thoughts). The mind is the key. Only because as you become conscious of the thought an inner measure of comfort/discomfort begins to surface. It tells you how you really feel after 'kiling him' or 'hugging her', something of a residue remains and that is the key. It takes a lot of digging to arrive at what the ancients call the 'autonomous mind' where only consciousness reigns and the duality ends. The desire to kill 'him' does not reside there for the 'other'ceases to exist in attraction/repulsion mode.
Sorry its a bit long-winded

very eloquently and insightfully expressed, jasjit...

God this question has blown my mind. Brilliant piece. I agree it is so much better to live out the act in ones own head. But then if this thought is like in the sexual fantasy pieces a thought of rape which becomes obsessive...it is still leading to distortions within the self. So what is the answer then Aachi. Yes it is better to think than act but thinking is also dangerous isnt it?

Great piece Aachi. I guess neither self-control nor indulgence will do the trick as both reek of extremism and one extreme is just as bad as the other. Definitely the hybrid approach seems to be a better option but perhaps there is another way. That of awareness, of diving in to the root of emotion/thought and attending to it in a way that neither creates action, nor the karmic field of intention.

Jasjit,

u are right when u say that the mind is everything. the world is an outcome of the mind, and so any action of the mind is equivalent to the real.

Anusheh, Sundar

diving deep inside and viewing thoughts as but waves that arise in the lake of the subconcious will make us transcend the dividing line...if any.

it is akin to masterly inactivity and witnessing the waves that take form and degenerate. and as u said, an awareness that recognises neither action nor intention.

kranti,

thinking can be very dangerous, but as stated above there is a higher state than thought. it is that of a witness and as Sundar stated ,... to be Aware.

a monk was sitting under a tree. the tree had a huge bee hive on one of its branches. the bees had taken many years to painstakingly build it. suddenly a hunter came and climbed the tree and stole all the honey in it and ran away. the monk watched unperturbed. he was not elated at the hardwork of the bees nor pained at the theft by the hunter.

he just witnessed the play. for he was Aware.

in the scenario of action i would personally hug the girl :) and if it came to killing someone i would resort in trying to be Aware.

dear Aachi,
thru ur post u have delved into a very significant topic ..is mind a seperate entity like the heart or is it the mind tht defines us as a individual..if the mind is a seperate entity..does the mind control u ..its the master and u r the slave ??/
Indian philosophy has always explained tht our mind is our slave and we hav to control our senses and our impulses to enter into higher consciousness...
we all have to go thru horrible experiences to enjoy life ..may be each one draws their own line..there is infinity everywhere but we humans always put limitations..

Well, this is a good question every person asks himself at various stages of his life in different perspectives.And some great person said, if you want to generalize something very abstract and subjective then think philosophy. And why do we get to the roads where there are no road maps. Do we really know what we are talking about, when we address these fundamental questions ? I mean, really " know " ? The great saints have spent all their lives giving us ways to live, have descibed what is the "Trikarna shudhi ( thought/speech/action), which should follow one after the other " and many more ? I feel before we set out to answer these questions,ask ourselves why we stop doing or saying something that comes to our mind ? It is because we know that it is going to cost us our life too, if it is a killing. It is as basic as an instint such as a reward/punishment. We dont really have to get to a point where we dont know what the holy saints talked about,like being aware of the thoughts and being a spectator of ones own thoughts. I tried to think about this for a moment, about how easy is is for every person to answer this question and how difficult can we get to ? I tried to recall every single line I read as a child from the scriptures. The answer I came up with is : There are several planes, in which the mind functions, which finally is covered with a cover called Intellect " Buddhi ", which is like a seive for the thoughts. It is hence covered with an all pervading spirit. Every thought is produced from the mind, is processed by the intellect and gets a green signal. The Intellect which is a gatekeeper has influences of previous karmas (cause and effect) lets the thougts convert them into actions. The thoughts are basically emerging from the all pervading spirit (reflects as mind) and then take the shape depending upon the persons abilities to handle the thoughts. The wise person would witness these thoughts as different from himself and discard them through the Intellect.This is being as " aware of ", according to Bhagwad geeta (bible of philosophy. Even if you control the actions, and fight with the mind to cease, it wouldn t unless the karmas are nullified. They karmas are not nullified by doing good actions. The good actions have equal baggage as bad ones do. Hence, pause for a moment and let the buddhi decide the action is answer I got. And, if I rationalize this with the limited abilities to answer, I felt it is important for us to know what we can do or cant do ? If the action can cause an inconvenince to others and being happy at their expense, is certainly not the way to do it. It is straight road, to pursue. Have a heart filled with compassion, it is very easy to answer this question.

Ari

Many times when we embark on a journey we usually end up generalising our knowledge of the road towards the destination. We base our thoughts on peoples' inputs who have already been to that place.

In that scenario, Trikarna Shuddhi relys heavily on Faith.

About the emotion that should judge our thoughts, I second your thoughts that a heart filled with compassion is absolutely necessary. I would however replace the word of compassion with that of empathy. Compassion boils down to pity, empathy to the true feeling of oneness.

Hey Aachi( & commentors)

Thoughtful post. Personally I too would hug her though haven't really felt the killing mode ever so dunno..need to think on that one. But I like Jasjit's thought on how either way it all connects to a larger design which influences are immediate life.
IMO though compassion is a more universal consciousness state and empathy far more linear.
Good reading cheers!

Preethi I dont know why you are insisting that you have to go through horrendous things to enjoy life. Really pal its all about the life you set up for yourself and the perspective you bring to it. I dont think pain is a pre-requisite for joy.

Ari
I think you're being a little simplistic. Go a little deeper and you may be surprised.

Hi Aachi, here is my 'flowing' take lol.

From physical actions we came to the mental actions (acting in thoughts), from mental actions we come to the spiritual action (acting by mere dhyana or consciousness).

Then we go beyond even dhyana. We just do not act.

But then action gets done through us.

For then people come to us - in physicality or thoughts or dhyana - and make us react passively, as a looking glass reacts to some one coming before it. Action has yet again taken place.

First is physical action, second is mental action, third is spiritual action, the fourth is flowing action.

This is our whole game. Carry on wherever you are, you will willingly or unwillingly have to go through all these steps, that is, till you find that all this is a dream. Then just dont bother what you do.

BTW, those who will kill will kill without thinking whether it is right or wrong, those who get into thinking will usually not kill. They have already risen above the physical aspect in most cases.

Harb,

so are u suggesting that mental action is more important than physical? spiritual than mental and finally flowing more than the spiritual? in that case even thought is dangerous.

i might have missed your point. can you explain a little more.

Aachi,

I do not see things in this way. To me there is no danger anywhere. It is all the perfect scheme of things of the Perect One. It is all evolution. It is just that we will have to go through all these stages one after the other. We will have to pass through the inferno of our passions of all these stages to go on overcoming them, to use a phrase from C.G.Jung. There are no short cuts and nor should we opt for them. There is no danger, no sin, nothing. Just a nameless, wordless scheme of things, in which we have to progress step by step and if we were learned, silently, that is, without bother.

I know somtimes something, some constraints have been put in our minds by the soceity in our childhood and youth and untill we free ourselves from them in one big sudden explosion from within we are forced into such thoughts of good and bad, dangerous or beneficial. It is a phase in which we are intensely self-conscious of ourselves, and because of this, as thoughts can take us no where we are subjected to non-decision on such matters. Once we reach the next stage we will do what we will have to do without such thoughts. I was exactly in this situation at about the age of about 28. Then I had what I call my first experience of Oneness, or of "I and universe are one." Then for about 8 years I almost wallowed in wine, women and wealth so to say yet as if I was doing nothing only playing spectator to events. Then I outgrew these things and got ready for next bigger things/experiendes. But I know I had to induldge in all those things in such an mindless way because I was deprived in my childhood and early youth of my natural indulgences.

Harb.

thats very beautiful and integral , harb...everything is sacred , even the seemingly unpleasant expereinces of our lives..the butterfly necessarily has to go through the pain of being cocooned...