Having seen many dharma students who lack insight or are completely baffled by these words, and a number of satsang-givers stumble and grope to clarify them,
I will endeavor to do some research and self-inquiry to at least clarify them in my own "mind." What is badly needed is to go beyond mere definition and investigate how they work and play together as constructs. Some teach that certain words are the same, yet there must be subtle differences or we could simply agree on one word instead of 2 or 3.
Exploration will require looking into Buddha's teachings, Advaita Vedanta, perhaps Taoism. Sutras, Upanishads, Nisargadatta (who everyone loves), Ramana, and contemporary and local teachers. I will also use my own direct interpretation.
Definitions - authors redefine these words outside of the dictionary definitions especially in expressions like "Things occuring in Consciousness" - and that means whatever the author wants it to mean! - and often one has to read an entire book to try to figure out how an author is defining the terms when they might have defined their use of them at the outset.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this is why myself and others struggle to define them - in spirituality these terms have come to mean a lot of different things!
Lest we forget there is no truth in language as it dwells in the illusion of Duality(I hope you know what I mean by Duality) - this is why just silently sitting with a Guru often communicates more than having questions answered!