Stop Hating On Yourself

During the Middle Ages Nature became increasingly secularized. Based on a philosophical doctrine of duality - a fully transcendent Supreme Being and a fully mundane world "ruled by the devil" - medieval Christianity embarked on a systematic extermination of all other understandings of divinity in Nature, oftentimes through violent suppression.

The result is a worldview in which responsibility to the environment is not felt. Hated and feared, the world, when not outright rejected as evil (our term: "illusory"), can only be understood as existing to be exploited.

We, as aspiring devotees and regenerators of the Vedic culture, are coming out of this, into an understanding of a divine nature pervaded and sustained by the Transcendent Lord, and existing for the purpose of His service. The divine is present in all aspects of life, from the falling of rain to the eating of grains.

However, we are still afflicted by this dualistic understanding at a deep level. In a lot of cases we have papered over our inner conceptions with a veneer of a philosophy whose conceptual precepts we can repeat, but whose practical implications in many cases elude us. Visitors to our centers are sometimes horrified by the blatant disregard for the environment that we display (styrofoam plates anyone?), which in some cases lags behind that of progressive persons outside the movement.

But my post today is not about nature in the external environment, "out there", it is about our own nature. You see, this disrespect, even contempt for nature, extends to our own nature, and ends up in a subtle or not-so subtle form of self-hate.

The word atma refers to the self, and it refers to the three different aspects of the self - the body, the mind, and the soul.

The body and the mind are composed of apara-prakrti, an eternal energy which is characterized by the manifestation of temporary forms. The soul is composed of para-prakrti, an eternal energy which is immutable (def: not subject or susceptible to change).

Our identity, as spiritual beings having a human experience, is a combination of these three things - the body, the mind, and the soul. Each of these has characteristics which arise from and create identity. These characteristics are called dharma in Sanskrit. Dharma can be understood as "identity". So there is naimittika-dharma, identity arising from the body and mind, and sanatana-dharma, identity arising from the soul.

Both of these dharmas constitute our identity.

Accepting both of these we accept ourselves, and open the door to living a fully integrated spiritual existence in this manifested world.

Bhagavad-gita 18.45-46 speaks of this:

By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect. Now please hear from Me how this can be done. By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, a man can attain perfection through performing his own work.

Perfection consists of accepting your naimittika-dharma, the identity of your body and mind (sva-karma-niratah siddhim), and aligning that with your sanatana-dharma, the identity of the soul (sva-karmana tam abhyarcya).

It does not consist of denigrating or denying who you are.

A Counter Argument

"But this is a low level of realization. A second-class understanding. We have to transcend the bodily identification. This understanding is for the less advanced. It's conditional devotional service."

Number 1: Yes it is - keep it real (=be humble) and stop pretending to be a fully liberated being completely immersed in experience of a transcendental reality. You're not, so live with it. You are not the body or the mind, but you have one, so use it properly in Krishna's service and stop mentalling out in the hope that they will disappear in a puff of smoke. They won't.

Number 2: No it is not. It's good enough for Krishna, according to Him:

O son of Pritha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything -- and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.

Bg. 3.22

And it's good enough for everyone else, again according to Krishna:

Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes. What can repression accomplish?

Bg. 3.33

Conclusion:

You are the soul, eternal and immutable, characterized by an eternal relationship with Reality and the embodiment of Reality - Sri Krishna. You have a body and a mind, which are currently part of your experience and your existence. The harmonious interaction of these three constitute your human life.