In this episode, Swami Padmanabha and Jaya Jagannath discuss the importance of individuation, of “knowing who we are as an individual; accepting who we are; being who we are; becoming all that we can be”, and how Individuation is not only a preliminary requisite for a balanced experience of bhakti, but also a principle of reality that will play out in all of the different stages of our devotional progress into perfection.

Many restrictions to such individuation were also explored: fear of being a person and all that that implies; ••• anger arising from unresolved grief over the loss of idealized expectations; ••• unwillingness to accept our responsibility to our own progress, handing that off to others, such as the guru or the institution; ••• compelled by the need to fit in, connecting our sense of self too tightly to the collective community, and therefore fearing repercussions if we step outside the box; ••• misconceptions about bhakti that close us off from opportunities to receive bhakti in our life because the form doesn’t “conform” to how I conceived it should be.

Also explored was the collapse of our conceptual framework as being an invitation by god to upgrade and refine those conceptions. And interesting observation was shared that our contemporary culture lacks rituals that traditionally assisted people going thru those critical moments of dis-integrating old ideas of self and the world making room for new growth.

All of this and much more in a lively discussion, trying to keep pace with the necessity of the moment. And remember, crisis is not a bad word and variegatedness is not deviation.

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