By curious coincidence...

I used those words in my previous post... "by curious coincidence." And as I rushed out of the office, I noticed on Deborah (professor of church history in Canada, with whom I share it)'s desk: There Are No Accidents, by Robert H. Hopcke. All about Jung's synchronicity theory.

The theory is simple. Our lives are a story. "Coincidences" are meaningful connections that move the story along. Who knows what triggers will move us out of our sloth and lethargy? The wife burning a husband's clothes so he can look at an insect bite... the coded letter of a brother... the words of an old woman? It is not so much the event as the surge into consciousness that it produces. The same coincidence for a rushed and harried businessman passes by unnoticed.

I pray for that trigger.

Here I am, laughing, thinking maybe this is it, maybe this is the trigger. This collection of small, vairagya-related coincidences.

Comments

Vraja said…
There are no coincidences, just a constant unfolding of a plan.

Jagat you wrote:

"Who knows what triggers will move us out of our sloth and lethargy?"

Maybe this will

http://vedic-varnashrama-blog.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, 03 April, 2007
Jagadananda Das said…
;)

Not exactly my style, but very amusing. Notice you are still promoting Michael Jackson. Shiva, you are an enigma...
Wednesday, 04 April, 2007
Anonymous said…
Jagatji,

I was wondering if you could direct me to an article of yours wherein the the qualification of a diksha Guru is addressed?

sorry to go off topic...

namaskar,

jijaji
Wednesday, 04 April, 2007
Jagadananda Das said…
Sorry Jijaji, for not answering adequately last time. I don't think I ever really addressed the issue in an article, and indeed my thinking on the matter has gone through various changes over time.



By curious coincidence, or perhaps not, you post your question in this particular thread. I would say that one of the prerequisites of the guru is something as ineffable as synchronicity. Which is pretty weak in terms of guidance, but perhaps there is none better.



Looking for the guru on the basis of rational or empirical criteria alone seems to be an almost impossible quest, because the guru should pierce through these categories. If there is one theme that I have come back to frequently on the subject of guru, it is the analogy of falling in love, which is sometimes called "archetypal possession" in Jungian circles.



The juxtaposition of the two Jungian ideas here is rather good. Here is the story: "A young hero (no matter how old, he will always be young) set out to search for Truth. He was told that he must receive a magic lamp from a Wise Man, and that this lamp would reveal the Way to the Truth. But search as he might, he could find no one who was truly wise..."

The story could go many ways from there. The thing is that there are elements beyond our control. Anyway, I have to stop here, but I think I will have to revisit the guru question.
Thursday, 05 April, 2007
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