The Mind Has Limitations part2
Mon, 01/28/2008 - 18:00 — admin
TEACHER: Yes, the Supreme Being, who exists outside of the laws of material nature, cannot be understood through mental speculation based on information acquired inside the material dimension.
A good example of this can be seen in the story of Doctor Frog. Doctor Frog had never been outside of his well. When informed of the existence of the ocean, he immediately began to speculate and to try to conceive of the vastness of the ocean in terms of his own experience within the well. “Is it twice as big as my well?” “Is it three times as big as my well?” “Is it five times as big as my well?”
In this way, using his well as a gauge, he was trying to speculate on what the ocean was like. Those who try to understand God by the ascending process can thus be compared to Doctor Frog.3
MICHAEL: What about learning from others? Is this an acceptable or unacceptable approach?
TEACHER: We learn fastest by hearing from authorities. Sometimes, however, if the “authorities” are not really authoritative, we can become confused, misled, or deceived.
Receiving information from others by hearing or reading is based on a type of faith that the person whom we are receiving the information from actually knows what he is speaking about. From childhood, a person begins receiving information from parents, teachers, newspaper reporters, politicians, etc., and often believes whatever he is told without really analyzing either the logic behind what is being said or the actual character of the person who is saying it. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava system, very great emphasis is placed on hearing from authorities-but a warning is also issued to be very careful about who you hear from.
This is due to the fact that the vast majority of living beings within the material world are conditioned by the laws of material nature. A materially-conditioned person has four defects, which disqualify him for the time being, at least, from being able to personally understand the nature of God, or to serve as an authoritative source from whom others can gain correct information about God.
One who is materially conditioned tends to be illusioned, has imperfect senses, a propensity to cheat, and is liable to commit mistakes.4
DISPOSABLE PLANETMICHAEL: I think that is the problem we ran into yesterday. Although we were able to determine that a creator existed, we could not determine much more.
Most people are not concerned about the problems we are creating on earth. Our whole attitude towards this planet is that it is disposable. Everyone thinks that they can take anything they want, exploit it, and then conveniently throw it away. So many things have become disposable, not only diapers, towels, plates and spoons, but babies, wives, husbands and old people too.
Science of Identity Foundation – Siddhaswarupananda
TEACHER: Yes, the Supreme Being, who exists outside of the laws of material nature, cannot be understood through mental speculation based on information acquired inside the material dimension.
A good example of this can be seen in the story of Doctor Frog. Doctor Frog had never been outside of his well. When informed of the existence of the ocean, he immediately began to speculate and to try to conceive of the vastness of the ocean in terms of his own experience within the well. “Is it twice as big as my well?” “Is it three times as big as my well?” “Is it five times as big as my well?”
In this way, using his well as a gauge, he was trying to speculate on what the ocean was like. Those who try to understand God by the ascending process can thus be compared to Doctor Frog.3
MICHAEL: What about learning from others? Is this an acceptable or unacceptable approach?
TEACHER: We learn fastest by hearing from authorities. Sometimes, however, if the “authorities” are not really authoritative, we can become confused, misled, or deceived.
Receiving information from others by hearing or reading is based on a type of faith that the person whom we are receiving the information from actually knows what he is speaking about. From childhood, a person begins receiving information from parents, teachers, newspaper reporters, politicians, etc., and often believes whatever he is told without really analyzing either the logic behind what is being said or the actual character of the person who is saying it. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava system, very great emphasis is placed on hearing from authorities-but a warning is also issued to be very careful about who you hear from.
This is due to the fact that the vast majority of living beings within the material world are conditioned by the laws of material nature. A materially-conditioned person has four defects, which disqualify him for the time being, at least, from being able to personally understand the nature of God, or to serve as an authoritative source from whom others can gain correct information about God.
One who is materially conditioned tends to be illusioned, has imperfect senses, a propensity to cheat, and is liable to commit mistakes.4