Only by our positive thinking,
By our bringing the positive qualities
Of others to the fore,
Will this world be able
To make progress.”
Let us not worry
About the future.
Let us only do the right thing
Today,
At this moment,
Here and now.
Let the future take care of itself.
Be happy
You will get
What you like most.
You will be
What you like best.
The very nature of kindness
Is to spread.
If you are kind to others,
Today they will be kind to you,
And tomorrow to somebody else.
Love is not a thing to understand.
Love is not a thing to feel.
Love is not a thing to give and receive.
Love is a thing only to become
And eternally be.
No matter what happens,
Do not lose hope,
For once hope is gone,
Everything is gone.
Wake Up Now ...
At the beginning of the second chapter of Wake Up Now, Stephen Bodian explains that "the truth of your being is ordinary, simple, and ever-present." Our being is experiencing every moment with us whether we are aware of it not. Spiritual awakening doesn't have to take us to a place different than this moment. We just have to become aware of the presence that is always behind our thoughts–just as it is behind our thoughts now in this moment.
He explains that it may be beneficial to go through these experiences with the assistance of an experienced teacher, a meditation group, or some other progressive approach. However, he warns against allowing the ego to become powerful in this type of appealing path. It is often helpful to look outside of ourselves for guidance but we must look inside of ourselves to do the actual work.
When you're encouraged to shift your focus from awakening to the practice that will purportedly lead you to awakening, you may end up devoting years to perfecting the form and becoming an accomplished meditator or yoga practitioner without ever awakening to the truth that's so close at hand. [page 42]
These types of practices can be very helpful but they can also reinforce the idea that spiritual awaking is a long, arduous process that is like moving a mountain to uncover a gem. This makes sense to me. I believe that there are countless practitioners in this world that truly do want to help people toward enlightenment; but these practitioners also have rent to pay. It is helpful for them to create a day-to-day process that a student takes towards uncovering enlightenment rather than allowing the student to believe that the enlightenment is available now whether the process is completed or not. Granted I'm sure there are many students that would find the process fulfilling nonetheless.
Staying Present with the Right Attitude
Whatever practice we choose to follow, we need to complete it with the right attitude. Joy, aliveness, and compassion are important to make our every action worthwhile.
If you view your practice as a gradual means to some distant and lofty goal, you may lose your initial passion, enthusiasm, and curiosity and miss the open secret of your true nature in your dogged determination to accumulate spiritual experiences and become a more spiritual person. [page 45]
So many of the experiences that we encounter are exciting when they are new. However, the same experience day after day can eventually turn boring and even cumbersome. The spiritual practices that we incorporate into our lives are no different. They can become such a routine–possibly ritualistic–which can make them pointless as we have lost our presence in the process. Staying present with any practices (yoga, meditation, etc.) will make these practices worthwhile.
The Over-analytical Mind
Deep down, you believe that you're inherently flawed, especially when you compare yourself to the great exemplars of your tradition, and you keep efforting to live up to some image of how you think you're supposed to think, feel, and act. In Zen, this attitude is called putting another head on top of your own, rather than enjoying the perfectly good head you already have. [page 47]
I can see what Bodian is speaking of in myself. And you certainly may relate to this as well. As I learn new techniques toward my ultimate goal, I do find myself overly analyzing my every thought, feeling, and action. This can sometimes be quite overwhelming and antienlightening. When I realize what I'm doing it makes me stop and say, "can I just 'not think' for a while?" That's when I realize that my over-analytical self is actually keeping me from being present. It is such a relief to just take a deep breath and release that analytical part of myself.
The Shortcut to Enlightenment
Bodain explains that many teachers prefer to lead students down a path filled with techniques and exercises that will ultimately lead to enlightenment. He prefers teaching a "direct" approach that is essentially a shortcut past the common techniques used by others. While conceptually I understand what he is talking about, so far it is difficult for me to grasp exactly how to embody the shift in perception that the book attempts to allow me to foster within myself. Although I'm optimistic!
You've never been apart from [your true nature] even for an instant, so you can't possibly approach it, least of all by effort or progression. Just turn your attention back on itself and recognize your true faceless face once and for all. [page 48]
It is very easy for us to look outside of ourselves in order to attempt to find our true nature. In fact, that is what most of us do. And that is what I've been doing for most of my life. We try to find the perfect job, the perfect partner, and the perfect home as a way to attempt to better define ourselves. As I have spoken about before, this search is essentially fruitless because our ego is never satisfied with what is available to us in the moment. Nothing external can possibly solve the the fundamental problem that lurks within our minds.
Hearing, Meditating, and Pondering
According to the Upanishads (philosophical teachings from ancient India), the three paths to discover the true nature of ourselves are through hearing, meditating, and pondering.
Rather than effort or struggle, these three approaches require a quality of openness and receptivity, a willingness to put aside your preconceptions and experience reality directly, combined with a sincere dedication to discovering what's true once and for all. [page 51]
I think it's important to note that I believe that when Bodian says you must have a "willingness to put aside your preconceptions" he is meaning to put aside these preconceptions all the time–not just once. Preconceptions essentially hold us in the past rather than allowing us to experience what is actually happening in the present.
As an example, imagine how lovely all relationships in our lives would be if we always put aside our preconceptions about others before an interaction. Imagine forgetting about past struggles, putting aside grievances, and viewing each person as if you're meeting them for the first time. (This includes putting aside any preconceptions about the race, gender, religion, etc. of a person you are actually meeting for the first time.) The past should be just a small tool to help in the present moment–for example, you can use the past to remember a person's name–but imagine how rewarding it would be to not allow the past to define the present experiences with people. Bodian wants us to approach our spiritual practices with this type of freshness............From the blog Habitualharmony.com
He explains that it may be beneficial to go through these experiences with the assistance of an experienced teacher, a meditation group, or some other progressive approach. However, he warns against allowing the ego to become powerful in this type of appealing path. It is often helpful to look outside of ourselves for guidance but we must look inside of ourselves to do the actual work.
When you're encouraged to shift your focus from awakening to the practice that will purportedly lead you to awakening, you may end up devoting years to perfecting the form and becoming an accomplished meditator or yoga practitioner without ever awakening to the truth that's so close at hand. [page 42]
These types of practices can be very helpful but they can also reinforce the idea that spiritual awaking is a long, arduous process that is like moving a mountain to uncover a gem. This makes sense to me. I believe that there are countless practitioners in this world that truly do want to help people toward enlightenment; but these practitioners also have rent to pay. It is helpful for them to create a day-to-day process that a student takes towards uncovering enlightenment rather than allowing the student to believe that the enlightenment is available now whether the process is completed or not. Granted I'm sure there are many students that would find the process fulfilling nonetheless.
Staying Present with the Right Attitude
Whatever practice we choose to follow, we need to complete it with the right attitude. Joy, aliveness, and compassion are important to make our every action worthwhile.
If you view your practice as a gradual means to some distant and lofty goal, you may lose your initial passion, enthusiasm, and curiosity and miss the open secret of your true nature in your dogged determination to accumulate spiritual experiences and become a more spiritual person. [page 45]
So many of the experiences that we encounter are exciting when they are new. However, the same experience day after day can eventually turn boring and even cumbersome. The spiritual practices that we incorporate into our lives are no different. They can become such a routine–possibly ritualistic–which can make them pointless as we have lost our presence in the process. Staying present with any practices (yoga, meditation, etc.) will make these practices worthwhile.
The Over-analytical Mind
Deep down, you believe that you're inherently flawed, especially when you compare yourself to the great exemplars of your tradition, and you keep efforting to live up to some image of how you think you're supposed to think, feel, and act. In Zen, this attitude is called putting another head on top of your own, rather than enjoying the perfectly good head you already have. [page 47]
I can see what Bodian is speaking of in myself. And you certainly may relate to this as well. As I learn new techniques toward my ultimate goal, I do find myself overly analyzing my every thought, feeling, and action. This can sometimes be quite overwhelming and antienlightening. When I realize what I'm doing it makes me stop and say, "can I just 'not think' for a while?" That's when I realize that my over-analytical self is actually keeping me from being present. It is such a relief to just take a deep breath and release that analytical part of myself.
The Shortcut to Enlightenment
Bodain explains that many teachers prefer to lead students down a path filled with techniques and exercises that will ultimately lead to enlightenment. He prefers teaching a "direct" approach that is essentially a shortcut past the common techniques used by others. While conceptually I understand what he is talking about, so far it is difficult for me to grasp exactly how to embody the shift in perception that the book attempts to allow me to foster within myself. Although I'm optimistic!
You've never been apart from [your true nature] even for an instant, so you can't possibly approach it, least of all by effort or progression. Just turn your attention back on itself and recognize your true faceless face once and for all. [page 48]
It is very easy for us to look outside of ourselves in order to attempt to find our true nature. In fact, that is what most of us do. And that is what I've been doing for most of my life. We try to find the perfect job, the perfect partner, and the perfect home as a way to attempt to better define ourselves. As I have spoken about before, this search is essentially fruitless because our ego is never satisfied with what is available to us in the moment. Nothing external can possibly solve the the fundamental problem that lurks within our minds.
Hearing, Meditating, and Pondering
According to the Upanishads (philosophical teachings from ancient India), the three paths to discover the true nature of ourselves are through hearing, meditating, and pondering.
Rather than effort or struggle, these three approaches require a quality of openness and receptivity, a willingness to put aside your preconceptions and experience reality directly, combined with a sincere dedication to discovering what's true once and for all. [page 51]
I think it's important to note that I believe that when Bodian says you must have a "willingness to put aside your preconceptions" he is meaning to put aside these preconceptions all the time–not just once. Preconceptions essentially hold us in the past rather than allowing us to experience what is actually happening in the present.
As an example, imagine how lovely all relationships in our lives would be if we always put aside our preconceptions about others before an interaction. Imagine forgetting about past struggles, putting aside grievances, and viewing each person as if you're meeting them for the first time. (This includes putting aside any preconceptions about the race, gender, religion, etc. of a person you are actually meeting for the first time.) The past should be just a small tool to help in the present moment–for example, you can use the past to remember a person's name–but imagine how rewarding it would be to not allow the past to define the present experiences with people. Bodian wants us to approach our spiritual practices with this type of freshness............From the blog Habitualharmony.com
The ego vanished...
The actual experience alone can settle this argument. This is what I found: The ego vanished; the everyday "I" which the world knew and which knew the world, was no longer there. But a new and diviner individuality appeared in its place, a consciousness which could say "I AM" and which I recognized to have been my real self all along. It was not lost, merged, or dissolved: it was fully and vividly conscious that it was a point in universal Mind and so not apart from that Mind itself. Only the lower self, the false self, was gone but that was a loss for which to be immeasurably grateful............Paul Brunton
Aura...
A selfless person tends to scatter the atoms of the astral and auric
substance of his being, causing it to radiate, while the more selfish
person condenses the atoms within the confines of his body.
Consequently, the auras of more selfless people shine more brightly.
From the Teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
substance of his being, causing it to radiate, while the more selfish
person condenses the atoms within the confines of his body.
Consequently, the auras of more selfless people shine more brightly.
From the Teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Gratitude...
We are by nature astonishingly heedless and incapable of gratitude. We
can spend a whole lifetime enjoying various benefits and not appreciate
their value until we are deprived of them. How many lovers boldly
contemplate separation, fondly imagining that they have had enough of
the beloved. And yet as soon as they actually experience separation,
they burn up with longing.
Jami
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
can spend a whole lifetime enjoying various benefits and not appreciate
their value until we are deprived of them. How many lovers boldly
contemplate separation, fondly imagining that they have had enough of
the beloved. And yet as soon as they actually experience separation,
they burn up with longing.
Jami
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
you will not care to be small again...
Once you have given up your limited self willingly to the Unlimited,
you will rejoice so much in that consciousness that you will not care
to be small again.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
If you ask someone to say where he is, he will point at his arm, his
hand, his body. He knows little beyond that. There are many who if
asked, 'But where do you think you are in your body?' will say, 'In
my brain.' They limit themselves to that small physical region which
is called body, thus making themselves much smaller than they really
are. The truth is that man is one individual with two aspects, just
like one line with two ends. If you look at the ends, it is two. If
you look at the line, it is one. One end of the line is limited, the
other end of the line is unlimited. One end is man, the other end is
God. Man forgets that end, and knows only the end of which he is
conscious. And it is the consciousness of limitation which makes him
more limited. Otherwise he would have far greater means of
approaching the Unlimited which is within himself, which is only the
other end of the same line, the line which he calls, or which he
considers to be, himself. And when a mystic speaks of self-knowledge
this does not mean knowing how old one is or how good one is or how
bad, or how right or how wrong. It means knowing the other part of
one's being, that deeper, subtler aspect. It is upon the knowledge of
that being that the fulfillment of life depends.
When a man has a ragged coat he says, 'I am poor'. In reality his
coat is poor, not he. What this capacity or accommodation contains is
that which becomes his knowledge, his realization, and it is that
which limits him. It forms that limitation which is the tragedy of
every soul. Now, this capacity may be filled with self, or it may be
filled with God. There is only room for one. Either we live with our
limitation, or we let God reign there in His unlimited Being.
you will rejoice so much in that consciousness that you will not care
to be small again.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
If you ask someone to say where he is, he will point at his arm, his
hand, his body. He knows little beyond that. There are many who if
asked, 'But where do you think you are in your body?' will say, 'In
my brain.' They limit themselves to that small physical region which
is called body, thus making themselves much smaller than they really
are. The truth is that man is one individual with two aspects, just
like one line with two ends. If you look at the ends, it is two. If
you look at the line, it is one. One end of the line is limited, the
other end of the line is unlimited. One end is man, the other end is
God. Man forgets that end, and knows only the end of which he is
conscious. And it is the consciousness of limitation which makes him
more limited. Otherwise he would have far greater means of
approaching the Unlimited which is within himself, which is only the
other end of the same line, the line which he calls, or which he
considers to be, himself. And when a mystic speaks of self-knowledge
this does not mean knowing how old one is or how good one is or how
bad, or how right or how wrong. It means knowing the other part of
one's being, that deeper, subtler aspect. It is upon the knowledge of
that being that the fulfillment of life depends.
When a man has a ragged coat he says, 'I am poor'. In reality his
coat is poor, not he. What this capacity or accommodation contains is
that which becomes his knowledge, his realization, and it is that
which limits him. It forms that limitation which is the tragedy of
every soul. Now, this capacity may be filled with self, or it may be
filled with God. There is only room for one. Either we live with our
limitation, or we let God reign there in His unlimited Being.
Beggars...
Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth. They are looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love, while they have a treasure within that not only includes all those things but is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.
Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle
Just For Fun...
Remembering Childhood Joys
As adults, we often get so caught up in "grown up" business that we
can forget how to have pure fun. This isn't the kind of fun that
comes from doing a specific kind of activity or being in a specific
mood for fun. Rather, this is the fun born from the state of pure
being. You see this kind of fun in small children who are so busy
being fully present to their lives and in their own bodies that the
glow of fun radiates from them just because they are alive: the
delight that flashes across the eyes of a child who discovers that
water flows with the turn of the tap knob or the squeal of pleasure
from a young baby whose tongue is being tickled by cold ice cream;
then there's the full, infectious laughter of a child watching the
same hat trick for the fiftieth time.
Back when we were children, this experience of pure delight didn't
have to come from a heightened, heady event in order for us to feel
like our day had been made; and it can be that way for us again - if
we are willing to remember and reconnect with that part of ourselves
that knows how to be in the flow of fun. You can begin this process
by reminiscing on what was fun for you as a child. Think about what
caused you to giggle in delight or wriggle in pleasure or burst into
endless laughter that you couldn't sit up straight no matter how much
you wanted to. Try to spend a few moments with each memory, and
really feel what it was like to be in those experiences – allowing
that feeling of pure fun to wash over you. It lives, in you – that
feeling. It can't be bottled, manufactured, or sold. You just have to
call it back up in order to experience it again.
Pure fun happens when we are fully engaged with ourselves and our
world in each moment. It is the spontaneous delight that bubbles out
of us when we let go long enough to bring it through; it is the
experience of natural, organic pleasure that springs up from our
bellies, through our souls, up through our faces, and down to our
toes. We've naturally known how to have pure fun since we were babies
and the flicker of lights caused us to jump to attention from the
sheer enjoyment of being able to see. Approach your life today with
the knowledge that pure fun isn't something that is given or done to
you; rather, it is something that you allow yourself to experience.
........by Maggie Craddock
As adults, we often get so caught up in "grown up" business that we
can forget how to have pure fun. This isn't the kind of fun that
comes from doing a specific kind of activity or being in a specific
mood for fun. Rather, this is the fun born from the state of pure
being. You see this kind of fun in small children who are so busy
being fully present to their lives and in their own bodies that the
glow of fun radiates from them just because they are alive: the
delight that flashes across the eyes of a child who discovers that
water flows with the turn of the tap knob or the squeal of pleasure
from a young baby whose tongue is being tickled by cold ice cream;
then there's the full, infectious laughter of a child watching the
same hat trick for the fiftieth time.
Back when we were children, this experience of pure delight didn't
have to come from a heightened, heady event in order for us to feel
like our day had been made; and it can be that way for us again - if
we are willing to remember and reconnect with that part of ourselves
that knows how to be in the flow of fun. You can begin this process
by reminiscing on what was fun for you as a child. Think about what
caused you to giggle in delight or wriggle in pleasure or burst into
endless laughter that you couldn't sit up straight no matter how much
you wanted to. Try to spend a few moments with each memory, and
really feel what it was like to be in those experiences – allowing
that feeling of pure fun to wash over you. It lives, in you – that
feeling. It can't be bottled, manufactured, or sold. You just have to
call it back up in order to experience it again.
Pure fun happens when we are fully engaged with ourselves and our
world in each moment. It is the spontaneous delight that bubbles out
of us when we let go long enough to bring it through; it is the
experience of natural, organic pleasure that springs up from our
bellies, through our souls, up through our faces, and down to our
toes. We've naturally known how to have pure fun since we were babies
and the flicker of lights caused us to jump to attention from the
sheer enjoyment of being able to see. Approach your life today with
the knowledge that pure fun isn't something that is given or done to
you; rather, it is something that you allow yourself to experience.
........by Maggie Craddock
The Illumined Person...
The illumined person must conform to the double action of nature in him, that is, to the outgoing and incoming breaths. So his illumination must be there in the mind, and here in the body. It is the two together which form the equilibrium of the double life we are called upon to live--being in the world and yet not of it. In the prolongation of the expiring breath, we not only get rid of negative thought, but also of the worldliness, the materialism of keeping to the physical alone. With the incoming breath we draw positive inspiring remembrance of the divine hidden in the void. Hence we are there in the mind and here in the body. We recognize the truth of eternity yet act in time. We see the reality of the Void, yet know that the entire universe comes forth from it...........Paul Brunton
Thinking...
Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of control. It believes it is real and tries hard to maintain its supremacy. Negative states of mind, such as anger, resentment, fear, envy, and jealousy, are products of the ego.
Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle
Unpleasant Behavior...
"Unpleasant behavior is sick behavior. Few people want to think
about this fact, but you will do so. From now on, you will see
that unpleasant people are sick people. You know the thousand
varieties of unpleasantness including sarcastic accusations,
delirious demands, repulsive self-worship, a cold and hostile
face. If another person is unpleasant, realize that your wish
for sunlight must have nothing to do with his darkness."
A Treasury of Trueness, # 476.....Vernon Howard
about this fact, but you will do so. From now on, you will see
that unpleasant people are sick people. You know the thousand
varieties of unpleasantness including sarcastic accusations,
delirious demands, repulsive self-worship, a cold and hostile
face. If another person is unpleasant, realize that your wish
for sunlight must have nothing to do with his darkness."
A Treasury of Trueness, # 476.....Vernon Howard
Whoever is loved...
Whoever is loved is beautiful, but the opposite is not true, that whoever
is beautiful is loved. Real beauty is part of loved-ness, and that
loved-ness is primary. If a being is loved, he or she has beauty, because
a part cannot be separate from the whole. Many girls were more beautiful
than Laila, but Majnun did not love them. "Let us bring some of them to
meet you," they used to say to Majnun, and he would reply, "it is not the
form of Laila that I love. Laila is not the form. You're looking at the
cup, whereas I think only of the wine that I will drink from that cup. If
you gave me a chalice studded with gemstones, but filled it with vinegar or
something other than wine, what use would that be? An old, broken
dipper-gourd with Laila-wine in it is better than a hundred precious
goblets full of other liquid."
Passion is present when a man can distinguish between the wine and the
container. Two men see a loaf of bread. One hasn't eaten anything for ten
days. The other has eaten five times a day, every day. He sees the shape
of the loaf. The other man with his urgent need sees *inside* into the
taste, and into the nourishment the bread could give. Be that hungry, to
see within all beings the Friend.
Creatures are cups. The sciences and the arts and all branches of
knowledge are inscriptions around the edges of the cups. When a cup
shatters, the writing can no longer be read. The wine's the thing! The
wine that's held in the mold of these physical cups. Drink the wine and
know what lasts and what to love. The man who truly asks must be sure of
two things: One, that he's mistaken in what he is doing or thinking
now. And two, that there is a wisdom he doesn't even know yet. Asking is
half of knowing.
Everyone turns toward someone. Look for one scarred by the King's
polo stick.
A man or a woman is said to be absorbed when the water has total
control of him, and he no control of the water. A swimmer moves around
willfully. An absorbed being has no will but the water's going. Any word
or act is not really personal, but the way the water has of speaking or
doing. As when you hear a voice coming out of a wall, and you know it's
not the wall talking, but someone inside, or perhaps someone outside
echoing off the wall. Saints are like that. They've achieved the
condition of a wall, or a door.
rumi
is beautiful is loved. Real beauty is part of loved-ness, and that
loved-ness is primary. If a being is loved, he or she has beauty, because
a part cannot be separate from the whole. Many girls were more beautiful
than Laila, but Majnun did not love them. "Let us bring some of them to
meet you," they used to say to Majnun, and he would reply, "it is not the
form of Laila that I love. Laila is not the form. You're looking at the
cup, whereas I think only of the wine that I will drink from that cup. If
you gave me a chalice studded with gemstones, but filled it with vinegar or
something other than wine, what use would that be? An old, broken
dipper-gourd with Laila-wine in it is better than a hundred precious
goblets full of other liquid."
Passion is present when a man can distinguish between the wine and the
container. Two men see a loaf of bread. One hasn't eaten anything for ten
days. The other has eaten five times a day, every day. He sees the shape
of the loaf. The other man with his urgent need sees *inside* into the
taste, and into the nourishment the bread could give. Be that hungry, to
see within all beings the Friend.
Creatures are cups. The sciences and the arts and all branches of
knowledge are inscriptions around the edges of the cups. When a cup
shatters, the writing can no longer be read. The wine's the thing! The
wine that's held in the mold of these physical cups. Drink the wine and
know what lasts and what to love. The man who truly asks must be sure of
two things: One, that he's mistaken in what he is doing or thinking
now. And two, that there is a wisdom he doesn't even know yet. Asking is
half of knowing.
Everyone turns toward someone. Look for one scarred by the King's
polo stick.
A man or a woman is said to be absorbed when the water has total
control of him, and he no control of the water. A swimmer moves around
willfully. An absorbed being has no will but the water's going. Any word
or act is not really personal, but the way the water has of speaking or
doing. As when you hear a voice coming out of a wall, and you know it's
not the wall talking, but someone inside, or perhaps someone outside
echoing off the wall. Saints are like that. They've achieved the
condition of a wall, or a door.
rumi
Initiation...
So, if you'd like to find a better way of life, a life full of love, harmony and
beauty, a life full of bliss, then it's absolutely necessary to take time each
and every day to visit your own "bliss station", a place where all that matters
is learning to become aware of who you are and what you are becoming, a place
where love, harmony and beauty are able to bloom and flower in complete safety
and tranquility.
with love,
wahiduddin
beauty, a life full of bliss, then it's absolutely necessary to take time each
and every day to visit your own "bliss station", a place where all that matters
is learning to become aware of who you are and what you are becoming, a place
where love, harmony and beauty are able to bloom and flower in complete safety
and tranquility.
with love,
wahiduddin
Realization of no-self...
The realization of no-self. There is no-self. There isn't s self. There isn't a me. There isn't really an ego. None of it exists. There isn't a person. It's all true right up until the point that you fixate in that realization. Then you realize it's true but its part of a bigger truth. It doesn't mean it's not true, it just means if taken exclusively, you will not see the bigger picture. It's true that there's not a self, there's not an individual. All of that's true but it is also contained with a much vaster truth. I can't tell you what the vaster truth is. It has to be realized but ultimately the vastest truth can't be spoken 'cause if it could be spoken, everything that can be spoken is just a new point of reference, a fixation. But the ultimate truth is all-transcending and simultaneously all-encompassing. Nothing is left out. So in the end you can't say there is a self, there isn't a self, there is a me, there isn't a me. All of these points of fixation with the relative, they are all removed eventually. If we let them. But most of us have great tendencies to fixate in certain realizations. Because they are so comforting and they seem all inclusive. That's the nature of a great insight. It seems completely inclusive. It may or may not be. It's just like that guy, smoking that cigarette, dropping those ashes on the Buddha figure. What he saw wasn't untrue. It wasn't wrong. It just wasn't the whole picture. And if he didn't either have a little voice in his head saying, 'It's not the whole picture. Keep going. Don't throw out what your realize was but don't fixate on it. If he didn't have that little voice in his head or he didn't have somebody he trusted on the outside say, 'Fine. Wonderful, congratulations and don't stop there, don't fixated. If he didn't have one of those two things he could stay fixated almost indefinitely. But fortunately life will come long, come up and hit us upside the head somehow, someway, somewhere, at some point in time and help us to move on. So one way or another nobody gets to fixate forever. That's the fortunate thing. Everybody, everything ends up in absolute total realization. You can't avoid it. But you sure damn well can lengthen the journey there a lot. You can delay it but you can't avoid it................ Adyashanti
Bhagavad Gita...
"Arjuna said,
'What is this God? What is this oversoul?
What is action, best person?
And what is Lord of being declared to be?
What is divine Lord said to be?
How and who is the Lord of sacrifice
here in this body, slayer of Madhu?
And how at the time of death
are you known by the self-controlled?'
"The blessed Lord said,
'Imperishable God is supreme;
the oversoul is said to be its own essence,
which originates the essence of being;
action is known as creative power.
The realm of being is the perishable essence,
and the divine realm is Spirit.
I am Lord of sacrifice here in the body, best embodied one.
And at the last hour whoever dies remembering me,
releasing the body, goes to my essence.
There is no doubt about this.
Moreover whatever essence is remembered at the end
when one abandons the body, one goes to that, Kaunteya,
always becoming that essence.
Therefore at all times remember me and fight.
The intuitive mind fixed on me, you will surely come to me.
"'Practicing yoga by uniting, by consciousness,
by not going toward anything else,
one goes to supreme divine Spirit, Partha, meditating.
Whoever meditates on the ancient poet, the ruler,
smaller than an atom, supporter of all,
unimaginable form, the color of the sun beyond darkness,
at the time of death with unmoving mind,
with devotion and united with the strength of yoga,
causing the breath to enter correctly between the eyebrows,
one approaches this supreme divine Spirit,
which the knowers of the Vedas call imperishable,
which the ascetics free of passion enter,
which wanting they follow the way to chastity;
this path I shall explain to you briefly.
"'Controlling all doors
and shutting up the mind in the heart,
placing in the head the breath of the soul,
established in yoga concentration,
chanting thus AUM, the one syllable, God, remembering me,
whoever dies, abandoning the body, goes to the supreme goal.
Having undivided consciousness perpetually,
whoever remembers me always,
for this one I am easy to reach,
Partha, for the yogi who is always united.
Coming to me, the great souls gone to supreme perfection
do not incur rebirth, the impermanent home of suffering.
Up to the God realm, worlds are successive rebirths, Arjuna;
but approaching me, Kaunteya, rebirth is not found.
"'As extending a thousand ages they know a day of God,
a night ending a thousand ages, those knowing day and night.
From the unmanifest all manifestations originate at daybreak;
at nightfall they are dissolved there
into what is known as unmanifest.
This multitude of beings becoming, existing, is dissolved
at nightfall without will, Partha;
it comes into existence at daybreak.
"'But higher than this unmanifest
is another ancient unmanifest essence
which in the perishing of all beings does not perish.
Thus the eternal unmanifest is called the supreme goal,
which attaining they do not return.
This is my supreme abode.
This supreme Spirit, Partha, is to be attained
by undivided devotion, within which beings exist,
by which all this universe is pervaded.
'What is this God? What is this oversoul?
What is action, best person?
And what is Lord of being declared to be?
What is divine Lord said to be?
How and who is the Lord of sacrifice
here in this body, slayer of Madhu?
And how at the time of death
are you known by the self-controlled?'
"The blessed Lord said,
'Imperishable God is supreme;
the oversoul is said to be its own essence,
which originates the essence of being;
action is known as creative power.
The realm of being is the perishable essence,
and the divine realm is Spirit.
I am Lord of sacrifice here in the body, best embodied one.
And at the last hour whoever dies remembering me,
releasing the body, goes to my essence.
There is no doubt about this.
Moreover whatever essence is remembered at the end
when one abandons the body, one goes to that, Kaunteya,
always becoming that essence.
Therefore at all times remember me and fight.
The intuitive mind fixed on me, you will surely come to me.
"'Practicing yoga by uniting, by consciousness,
by not going toward anything else,
one goes to supreme divine Spirit, Partha, meditating.
Whoever meditates on the ancient poet, the ruler,
smaller than an atom, supporter of all,
unimaginable form, the color of the sun beyond darkness,
at the time of death with unmoving mind,
with devotion and united with the strength of yoga,
causing the breath to enter correctly between the eyebrows,
one approaches this supreme divine Spirit,
which the knowers of the Vedas call imperishable,
which the ascetics free of passion enter,
which wanting they follow the way to chastity;
this path I shall explain to you briefly.
"'Controlling all doors
and shutting up the mind in the heart,
placing in the head the breath of the soul,
established in yoga concentration,
chanting thus AUM, the one syllable, God, remembering me,
whoever dies, abandoning the body, goes to the supreme goal.
Having undivided consciousness perpetually,
whoever remembers me always,
for this one I am easy to reach,
Partha, for the yogi who is always united.
Coming to me, the great souls gone to supreme perfection
do not incur rebirth, the impermanent home of suffering.
Up to the God realm, worlds are successive rebirths, Arjuna;
but approaching me, Kaunteya, rebirth is not found.
"'As extending a thousand ages they know a day of God,
a night ending a thousand ages, those knowing day and night.
From the unmanifest all manifestations originate at daybreak;
at nightfall they are dissolved there
into what is known as unmanifest.
This multitude of beings becoming, existing, is dissolved
at nightfall without will, Partha;
it comes into existence at daybreak.
"'But higher than this unmanifest
is another ancient unmanifest essence
which in the perishing of all beings does not perish.
Thus the eternal unmanifest is called the supreme goal,
which attaining they do not return.
This is my supreme abode.
This supreme Spirit, Partha, is to be attained
by undivided devotion, within which beings exist,
by which all this universe is pervaded.
Turn the other cheek...
Somebody once hit Bayazid Bistami with a stick. The stick broke. The
venerable saint took a new stick and a bowl of honey and gave them to
the man who had struck him, saying, "Because of my face, your stick
broke and you suffered loss, so here is a new one in its place and some
honey for you to eat."
Sheikh Muzaffer
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
venerable saint took a new stick and a bowl of honey and gave them to
the man who had struck him, saying, "Because of my face, your stick
broke and you suffered loss, so here is a new one in its place and some
honey for you to eat."
Sheikh Muzaffer
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
Rigpa...
Rigpa (Tibetan; Sanskrit vidya) is the primordial, nondual awareness advocated by the Dzogchen and Mahamudra teachings.
“ Rigpa is a Tibetan word, which in general means ‘intelligence’ or ‘awareness’. In Dzogchen, however, the highest teachings in the Buddhist tradition of Tibet, rigpa has a deeper connotation, ‘the innermost nature of the mind’. The whole of the teaching of Buddha is directed towards realizing this, our ultimate nature, the state of omniscience or enlightenment – a truth so universal, so primordial that it goes beyond all limits, and beyond even religion itself.[1]
—Sogyal Rinpoche
“ Rigpa is a Tibetan word, which in general means ‘intelligence’ or ‘awareness’. In Dzogchen, however, the highest teachings in the Buddhist tradition of Tibet, rigpa has a deeper connotation, ‘the innermost nature of the mind’. The whole of the teaching of Buddha is directed towards realizing this, our ultimate nature, the state of omniscience or enlightenment – a truth so universal, so primordial that it goes beyond all limits, and beyond even religion itself.[1]
—Sogyal Rinpoche
Satsanga..by Sananda
I sit quietly to the side
of the Satsanga
overcome with emotion
at the beauty which surrounds me.
From darting glances behind
my lowered eyes
I catch quick glimpses
of this illustrious company.
There is Jesus and with him Muhammad,
Nanak sits next to Buddha,
Abraham is beside Mahavira,
and Krishna sits next to Moses.
As I look from saint to saddhu,
holyman to messiah,
I can see the face of God
in the unity of this gathering.
of the Satsanga
overcome with emotion
at the beauty which surrounds me.
From darting glances behind
my lowered eyes
I catch quick glimpses
of this illustrious company.
There is Jesus and with him Muhammad,
Nanak sits next to Buddha,
Abraham is beside Mahavira,
and Krishna sits next to Moses.
As I look from saint to saddhu,
holyman to messiah,
I can see the face of God
in the unity of this gathering.
Sight Itself...
As the eyes cannot see themselves, so it is with the soul; it is sight
itself, and therefore it sees all. The moment it closes its eyes to all
it sees, its own light makes it manifest to its own view. It is for
this reason that people take the path of meditation.
From the Teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
itself, and therefore it sees all. The moment it closes its eyes to all
it sees, its own light makes it manifest to its own view. It is for
this reason that people take the path of meditation.
From the Teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Spirit Energy...
Student reads from PB: "It is not enough to lull the mind: the heart's feeling must be stimulated and directed in aspiration and devotion, warm and strong, toward the Overself, which by reaction, arouses a certain force, the Spirit-Energy, which acts for a short time to prepare him for deeper, more concentrated contemplation." (Persp.p 41)
S: I would like to understand what is this process a little more.
AD: If you succeed in arousing that Spirit energy, you'll see it. It's like a golden thread coming from above, and it comes into you, and there's a deepening, and a further inwardization of your consciousness.
S: I thought by "short time period" he meant like two or three years.
AD: No, it'll only last a couple of minutes.
S: So it is something that's a specific experience in meditation?
AD: Yes. You may or may not be aware of it -- it depends.
S: Were you saying it takes you from one stage of meditation to another?
AD: I don't know if it's one state to another; I think it's more accurately described by noticing the deepening inwardization -- that before you didn't have the strength to plummet inward further, but now it gives you that strength to go in much further.
It's not that rare. Sometimes you may not see it, but you may feel it. You would feel an increase in your will, in your resolution. You might temporarily be surprised that you have it or that it came, but then you realize it wasn't you: it was like help extended, or PB would probably say grace. But basically it is help that is being extended to you to help you further the deepening.
S: Anthony, is it an experience that happens only once in a lifetime?
AD: No, it could happen a few times.
-- Anthony Damiani and students 11/30/83
S: I would like to understand what is this process a little more.
AD: If you succeed in arousing that Spirit energy, you'll see it. It's like a golden thread coming from above, and it comes into you, and there's a deepening, and a further inwardization of your consciousness.
S: I thought by "short time period" he meant like two or three years.
AD: No, it'll only last a couple of minutes.
S: So it is something that's a specific experience in meditation?
AD: Yes. You may or may not be aware of it -- it depends.
S: Were you saying it takes you from one stage of meditation to another?
AD: I don't know if it's one state to another; I think it's more accurately described by noticing the deepening inwardization -- that before you didn't have the strength to plummet inward further, but now it gives you that strength to go in much further.
It's not that rare. Sometimes you may not see it, but you may feel it. You would feel an increase in your will, in your resolution. You might temporarily be surprised that you have it or that it came, but then you realize it wasn't you: it was like help extended, or PB would probably say grace. But basically it is help that is being extended to you to help you further the deepening.
S: Anthony, is it an experience that happens only once in a lifetime?
AD: No, it could happen a few times.
-- Anthony Damiani and students 11/30/83
The True Human and Happiness...by Plotinus
Authentic human happiness for Plotinus consists of the true human identifying with that which is the best in the universe. Because happiness is beyond anything physical, Plotinus stresses the point that worldly fortune does not control true human happiness, and thus “… there exists no single human being that does not either potentially or effectively possess this thing we hold to constitute happiness.” (Enneads I.4.4) The issue of happiness is one of Plotinus’ greatest imprints on Western thought, as he is one of the first to introduce the idea that eudaimonia (happiness) is attainable only within consciousness.
The true human is an incorporeal contemplative capacity of the soul, and superior to all things corporeal. It then follows that real human happiness is independent of the physical world. Real happiness is, instead, dependent on the metaphysical and authentic human being found in this highest capacity of Reason. “For man, and especially the Proficient, is not the Couplement of Soul and body: the proof is that man can be disengaged from the body and disdain its nominal goods.” (Enneads I.4.14) The human who has achieved happiness will not be bothered by sickness, discomfort, etc., as his focus is on the greatest things. Authentic human happiness is the utilization of the most authentically human capacity of contemplation. Even in daily, physical action, the flourishing human’s “…Act is determined by the higher phase of the Soul.” (Enneads III.4.6) Even in the most dramatic arguments Plotinus considers (if the Proficient is subject to extreme physical torture, for example), he concludes this only strengthens his claim of true happiness being metaphysical, as the truly happy human being would understand that that which is being tortured is merely a body, not the conscious self, and happiness could persist.
Plotinus offers a comprehensive description of his conception of a person who has achieved eudaimonia. “The perfect life” involves a man who commands reason and contemplation.(Enneads I.4.4) A happy person will not sway between happy and sad, as many of Plotinus’ contemporaries believed. Stoics, for example, question the ability of someone to be happy (presupposing happiness is contemplation) if they are mentally incapacitated or even asleep- Plotinus disregards this claim, as the soul and true human do not sleep or even exist in time, nor will a living human who has achieved eudaimonia suddenly stop using its greatest, most authentic capacity just because of the body’s discomfort in the physical realm. “…The Proficient’s will is set always and only inward.” (Enneads I.4.11)
Overall, happiness for Plotinus is "...a flight from this world's ways and things." (Theat 176AB) and a focus on the highest, i.e. Forms and The One............from Wikipedia
The true human is an incorporeal contemplative capacity of the soul, and superior to all things corporeal. It then follows that real human happiness is independent of the physical world. Real happiness is, instead, dependent on the metaphysical and authentic human being found in this highest capacity of Reason. “For man, and especially the Proficient, is not the Couplement of Soul and body: the proof is that man can be disengaged from the body and disdain its nominal goods.” (Enneads I.4.14) The human who has achieved happiness will not be bothered by sickness, discomfort, etc., as his focus is on the greatest things. Authentic human happiness is the utilization of the most authentically human capacity of contemplation. Even in daily, physical action, the flourishing human’s “…Act is determined by the higher phase of the Soul.” (Enneads III.4.6) Even in the most dramatic arguments Plotinus considers (if the Proficient is subject to extreme physical torture, for example), he concludes this only strengthens his claim of true happiness being metaphysical, as the truly happy human being would understand that that which is being tortured is merely a body, not the conscious self, and happiness could persist.
Plotinus offers a comprehensive description of his conception of a person who has achieved eudaimonia. “The perfect life” involves a man who commands reason and contemplation.(Enneads I.4.4) A happy person will not sway between happy and sad, as many of Plotinus’ contemporaries believed. Stoics, for example, question the ability of someone to be happy (presupposing happiness is contemplation) if they are mentally incapacitated or even asleep- Plotinus disregards this claim, as the soul and true human do not sleep or even exist in time, nor will a living human who has achieved eudaimonia suddenly stop using its greatest, most authentic capacity just because of the body’s discomfort in the physical realm. “…The Proficient’s will is set always and only inward.” (Enneads I.4.11)
Overall, happiness for Plotinus is "...a flight from this world's ways and things." (Theat 176AB) and a focus on the highest, i.e. Forms and The One............from Wikipedia
from The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep...
Developing the capacity for clear light dreams is similar to developing the capacity of abiding in the non-dual presence of rigpa during the day. In the beginning, rigpa and thought seem different, so that in the experience of rigpa there is no thought, and if thought arises we are distracted and lose rigpa. But when stabliity in rigpa is developed, thought simply arises and dissolves without in the least obscuring rigpa; the practitioner remains in non-dual awareness.
The Illuminate...
The illuminate sees objects as other persons do, only his sense of materiality is destroyed, for he sees them too as ideas, unreal. The illuminate's viewpoint is not the yogi's viewpoint. The illuminate finds all the world in himself, says the Gita. This means he feels sympathetically at one with all creatures, even mosquitoes or snakes.
— Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism > Chapter 5: The Key To the Spiritual World > # 24.............Paul Brunton
— Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism > Chapter 5: The Key To the Spiritual World > # 24.............Paul Brunton
Enlightenment isn't a big deal, illusion is a big deal...
Get to the cause. The cause of it is the perceived separateness. The perception of separateness rips open this immense negative void inside of us that you can't fill. That's why spirituality goes to the root of things, the cause of things, the ultimate root which is the perception of separateness. When the perception of separateness is healed or awoken from, it's very odd until you get used to it that all of a sudden all these things that you were doing to fill this perceived void, all of a sudden you have no desire to do them anymore. And those of you who have had that experience and live this know that it's actually sort of odd until you get used to it cause all these things you were doing in your life to fill this perceived void …all of a sudden the separateness is healed, you've woken up from the illusion of separation and no longer do you feel like you have to keep pouring things into yourself to satisfy yourself. And your mind for awhile sits around going, 'Well, that's strange! I don't have the impulse for that or for that or for that. I don't need to achieve that, I don't need to grasp that and I don't need to receive that from that person.' And also even the inner seeking disappears. To seek it seems ridiculous. Why would we ever seek for what we already are? Unless of course we haven't realized what we already are.
All these forms of suffering arise from various misperceptions. I would be much better instead of trying to fill ourselves, to look at, 'How am I creating, right now, how am I literally creating with my thoughts and belief systems the illusion of separation. How am I making myself feel like I'm isolated. How is it that I pull off the amazing magic act of making myself appear less than I am. What thoughts must I believe to make myself feel separate.' This would be much better than trying to fill the void 'cause there's no bottom to it. It has an infinite capacity for you to put things into it trying to heal it.
I often say to people, 'Don't worry about looking for enlightenment. Find out how is it that you unenlighten yourself at each moment. It's much more important. Since everybody's nature is enlightenment. Contrary to popular opinion, enlightenment isn't a big deal. Illusion is a big deal. Enlightenment is just the perception of the way things are. I mean it feels like a big deal for awhile if you haven't seen it. And it is kind of a big deal in the sense that it's not anything we suspect it to be. But illusion, that's the big deal. How it is that we could be the One, the only One, whatever you want to call the One—Consciousness, Spirit, Buddha-nature, Allah, it doesn't matter. How it is that we could be the One and then delude ourselves into imaging we are not the One and separate from the One, that's impressive. That's not an easy thing to pull off. It takes lots of training to do that. So much more valuable than chasing enlightenment would be to really look, present time, right here, right now, since everything is One, since you are the One, how is it that you unenlighten yourself. In any given moment. Once you see exactly how you unenlighten yourself and you see through it and you see the illusions of it, any way we unenlighten ourselves is based on ideas and assumptions and beliefs and self-images that have no basis in reality. When we see that we stop unenlightening ourselves. We don't need to achieve enlightenment, we need to stop unachieving unenlightenment.
Adyashanti – Omega 2007
All these forms of suffering arise from various misperceptions. I would be much better instead of trying to fill ourselves, to look at, 'How am I creating, right now, how am I literally creating with my thoughts and belief systems the illusion of separation. How am I making myself feel like I'm isolated. How is it that I pull off the amazing magic act of making myself appear less than I am. What thoughts must I believe to make myself feel separate.' This would be much better than trying to fill the void 'cause there's no bottom to it. It has an infinite capacity for you to put things into it trying to heal it.
I often say to people, 'Don't worry about looking for enlightenment. Find out how is it that you unenlighten yourself at each moment. It's much more important. Since everybody's nature is enlightenment. Contrary to popular opinion, enlightenment isn't a big deal. Illusion is a big deal. Enlightenment is just the perception of the way things are. I mean it feels like a big deal for awhile if you haven't seen it. And it is kind of a big deal in the sense that it's not anything we suspect it to be. But illusion, that's the big deal. How it is that we could be the One, the only One, whatever you want to call the One—Consciousness, Spirit, Buddha-nature, Allah, it doesn't matter. How it is that we could be the One and then delude ourselves into imaging we are not the One and separate from the One, that's impressive. That's not an easy thing to pull off. It takes lots of training to do that. So much more valuable than chasing enlightenment would be to really look, present time, right here, right now, since everything is One, since you are the One, how is it that you unenlighten yourself. In any given moment. Once you see exactly how you unenlighten yourself and you see through it and you see the illusions of it, any way we unenlighten ourselves is based on ideas and assumptions and beliefs and self-images that have no basis in reality. When we see that we stop unenlightening ourselves. We don't need to achieve enlightenment, we need to stop unachieving unenlightenment.
Adyashanti – Omega 2007
Enlightenment...
Enlightenment is the sudden recognition that non-duality is, has always been, and will always be the reality of our experience. Duality is an illusion. Consciousness is
not private and personal, but impersonal, universal, and eternal. There is no limited personal entity, no conscious ego. The ego is a perceived object, not the all perceiving awareness. ~Francis Lucille
from Allspirit
not private and personal, but impersonal, universal, and eternal. There is no limited personal entity, no conscious ego. The ego is a perceived object, not the all perceiving awareness. ~Francis Lucille
from Allspirit
No Body...
Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that called Body is a portion of Soul discerned by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age.
William Blake
William Blake
Inner Negativity...
Quit thinking that you must halt before the barrier of inner negativity. You need not. You can crash through... whatever we see a negative state, that is where we can destroy it.
Vernon Howard
Vernon Howard
Common Sense...
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.........Gautama the Buddha
GOD POURS LIGHT...
God
pours light
into every cup,
quenching darkness.
The proudly pious
stuff their cups with parchment
and critique the taste of ink
while God pours light
and the trees lift their limbs
without worry of redemption,
every blossom a chalice.
Hafiz, seduce those withered souls
with words that wet their parched lips
as light
pours like rain
into every empty cup
set adrift on the Infinite Ocean.
~ Hafiz ~
pours light
into every cup,
quenching darkness.
The proudly pious
stuff their cups with parchment
and critique the taste of ink
while God pours light
and the trees lift their limbs
without worry of redemption,
every blossom a chalice.
Hafiz, seduce those withered souls
with words that wet their parched lips
as light
pours like rain
into every empty cup
set adrift on the Infinite Ocean.
~ Hafiz ~
Sooner or Later...
Sooner or later it becomes necessary to take each truth that rings a
bell inside of you, and there are a lot of them, you know. You're
reading along, you're listening and it just hits you. You hear it and
something rings. It resonates within you and you know when the truth
resonates within you. You can feel it. There's this inner quickening.
When that happens, that truth /is for you/. It's for you right now. And
so take that truth into your meditation, into your contemplation. Mull
it over, look at it, feel it, sense it, ask God what it means, ask
Spirit to reveal the inner meaning, and then be quiet; be still. Create
an opening so God can happen in your meditation, and then you will know.
It will be revealed to you, what that truth means. When you get up from
your meditation, and go out into your daily life, practice what was
revealed to you, don't practice what was revealed to Joel. Don't
practice what was revealed to Bill, or Virginia, or Herb, or anybody
else. Practice what was revealed to *you* in your meditation, because
that was for *you*. Then when you've practiced that truth, and you have
practiced it for a while, that truth will become a working part of your
consciousness. And your awareness of that truth is the substance of the
new kingdom in which you will now be walking.
Bill Skiles -- Secrets of the Spiritual Kingdom
bell inside of you, and there are a lot of them, you know. You're
reading along, you're listening and it just hits you. You hear it and
something rings. It resonates within you and you know when the truth
resonates within you. You can feel it. There's this inner quickening.
When that happens, that truth /is for you/. It's for you right now. And
so take that truth into your meditation, into your contemplation. Mull
it over, look at it, feel it, sense it, ask God what it means, ask
Spirit to reveal the inner meaning, and then be quiet; be still. Create
an opening so God can happen in your meditation, and then you will know.
It will be revealed to you, what that truth means. When you get up from
your meditation, and go out into your daily life, practice what was
revealed to you, don't practice what was revealed to Joel. Don't
practice what was revealed to Bill, or Virginia, or Herb, or anybody
else. Practice what was revealed to *you* in your meditation, because
that was for *you*. Then when you've practiced that truth, and you have
practiced it for a while, that truth will become a working part of your
consciousness. And your awareness of that truth is the substance of the
new kingdom in which you will now be walking.
Bill Skiles -- Secrets of the Spiritual Kingdom
The Beloved In Our Heart...
In the heart of all is the hidden Beloved, the divine love that enfolds us, merges with us, and ushers us into the unity that is the truth of all being. We can never be alone when we discover the great love secreted in the depth of our being. Wherever we are, our Beloved is with us.
We cannot experience division with the Beloved in our heart. All appearances of difficulty or estrangement melt away, revealing their illusory nature. There is One, no other. All that we desire is to stand with this presence revealed in and as our own soul and to experience its rapture.
To live in this love is to be in bliss. This feeling evokes the serenity of a stream, skipping over stones, leaping over water-falls and gurgling through gullies in a pure ecstasy of being. In so doing, divine love flows through us and shapes the world in which we dwell.
~ Patricia J. Gentry
We cannot experience division with the Beloved in our heart. All appearances of difficulty or estrangement melt away, revealing their illusory nature. There is One, no other. All that we desire is to stand with this presence revealed in and as our own soul and to experience its rapture.
To live in this love is to be in bliss. This feeling evokes the serenity of a stream, skipping over stones, leaping over water-falls and gurgling through gullies in a pure ecstasy of being. In so doing, divine love flows through us and shapes the world in which we dwell.
~ Patricia J. Gentry
Hate...
"Hate is a disguised form of love. You can only hate someone that you have the capacity to love because if you are really indifferent, you cannot even get up enough energy to hate him. Hatred is the frustration or blockage of normal, free-flowing love."..........Sri Chinmoy
Complete Faith...
Once Hasan al-Basri, accompanied by several people was on the way to
Mecca. They came to a well. They were all thirsty but had no rope to
pull up a bucket of water. Hasan said, "I am going to pray. While I
am praying you will see the water rise. Drink freely and quench your
thirst."
So it happened. But when one man, after drinking, filled his
water bag for future use, the water sank to its original level. When
asked the reason for the strange occurrence, Hasan replied, "It was due
to your lack of faith to depend solely on God.
Fariduddin Attar
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
Mecca. They came to a well. They were all thirsty but had no rope to
pull up a bucket of water. Hasan said, "I am going to pray. While I
am praying you will see the water rise. Drink freely and quench your
thirst."
So it happened. But when one man, after drinking, filled his
water bag for future use, the water sank to its original level. When
asked the reason for the strange occurrence, Hasan replied, "It was due
to your lack of faith to depend solely on God.
Fariduddin Attar
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
WE ARE FIELDS BEFORE EACH OTHER...
How is it they live for eons in such harmony -
the billions of stars -
when most men can barely go a minute
without declaring war in their mind against someone they know.
There are wars where no one marches with a flag,
though that does not keep casualties
from mounting.
Our hearts irrigate this earth.
We are fields before
each other.
How can we live in harmony?
First we need to
know
we are all madly in love
with the same
God.
~ St. Thomas Aquinas ~
(Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky)
the billions of stars -
when most men can barely go a minute
without declaring war in their mind against someone they know.
There are wars where no one marches with a flag,
though that does not keep casualties
from mounting.
Our hearts irrigate this earth.
We are fields before
each other.
How can we live in harmony?
First we need to
know
we are all madly in love
with the same
God.
~ St. Thomas Aquinas ~
(Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky)
Overself Awareness...
Although the Overself does not pass through the diverse experiences of its imperfect image, the ego, nevertheless it witnesses them. Although it is aware of the pain and pleasure experienced by the body which it is animating, it does not itself feel them; although detached from physical sensations, it is not ignorant of them. On the other hand, the personal consciousness does feel them because it regards them as states of its own self. Thus the Overself is conscious of our joys and sorrows without itself sharing them. It is aware of our sense-experience without itself being physically sentient. Those who wonder how this is possible should reflect that a man awakened from a nightmare is aware once again in the form of a revived memory of what he suffered and what he sensed but yet does not share again either the suffering or the sensations.
— Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself > Chapter 3: The Overself's Presence > # 337.......Paul Brunton
— Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself > Chapter 3: The Overself's Presence > # 337.......Paul Brunton
The Buddha Mind...
The Buddha Mind contains the universe.
In this universe there is only one pure substance,
One absolute and indivisible Truth.
The notion of duality does not exist.
The small mind contains only illusions of separateness, of division.
It imagines myriad objects and defines truth in terms of relative opposites.
Big is defined by small, good by evil, pure by defiled,
Hidden by revealed, full by empty.
What is opposition?
It is the arena of hostility, of conflict and turmoil.
Where duality is transcended peace reigns.
This is the Dharma's ultimate truth.
- Maxims of Master Han Shan Te'Ch'ing, # 76, 1600
Journey to Dreamland
Translated by Grandmaster Jy Din Shakya
In this universe there is only one pure substance,
One absolute and indivisible Truth.
The notion of duality does not exist.
The small mind contains only illusions of separateness, of division.
It imagines myriad objects and defines truth in terms of relative opposites.
Big is defined by small, good by evil, pure by defiled,
Hidden by revealed, full by empty.
What is opposition?
It is the arena of hostility, of conflict and turmoil.
Where duality is transcended peace reigns.
This is the Dharma's ultimate truth.
- Maxims of Master Han Shan Te'Ch'ing, # 76, 1600
Journey to Dreamland
Translated by Grandmaster Jy Din Shakya
You are Life...
Many expressions that are in common usage, and sometimes the structure of language itself, reveal the fact that people don't know who they are. You say: "He lost his life" or "my life," as if life were something that you can possess or lose. The truth is: you don't have a life, you are life. The One Life, the one consciousness that pervades the entire universe and takes temporary form to experience itself as a stone or blade of grass, as an animal, a person, a star or a galaxy.
Can you sense deep within that you already know that? Can you sense that you already are That?
Stillness Speaks
http://peacefulrivers.homestead.com/EckhartTolle.html
Can you sense deep within that you already know that? Can you sense that you already are That?
Stillness Speaks
http://peacefulrivers.homestead.com/EckhartTolle.html
"Who are you, really? A Message From "T"
There are different belief systems attached to the origin of man, most of them irregular while others are just plain inaccurate. Adhering to the policies of others often leaves one pondering aimlessly through a maze of definitions that fall short on an internal soul level. The power of spirit is most often defined outside the self, painting a picture of omnipotent energy that an individual in human form should worship for bits of understanding and favor so that they may come to heaven profoundly. While all of this may give comfort to younger souls, the more evolved ones find themselves at a loss for a real defined moment of accurate information. The real test of humanity begins in the realization that God or the energy of creation is not an outside influence but rather a pulse of energy that resides in every soul, including you. The magic of creation at any level begins in the thought process in everyone of the universe's beings. The key to realization begins slowly. Your thoughts are experience and evolution waiting to occur both linearly and eternally. God does not exist outside of our current form. The energy exists in the hearts of all of you waiting patiently to manifest through your thoughts. Worship is irrelevant. Embracing the energy is more conducive to transcending to a higher place of understanding. So, if your belief system includes a god why not blend completely and be a miracle instead of expecting one?" --T
The Stages of Consciousness...
1. I am the physical body in a still, often, apparently God-less, materialistic universe, the universe of my physical senses. But I now have sufficient human maturity, and have been sufficiently Graced with the Revelation of God (through my Spiritual Master's Transmission), that I am now aware that the degree to which I am not feeling God for Real on any regular basis is not evidence that God doesn't exist. Rather it is an exact reflection of the amount of counter-egoic (even bodily) work that is required of me in order for the "vision of God" to be restored as my ordinary Realization in every moment.
2. I am the physical body, but now tangibly aware of the Divine Presence, thanks to the unrelenting Transmission of my Spiritual Master. I am now rightly practicing as the 'servant' of God, conforming the body-mind to better serve as a vehicle that conducts the force and Presence of the Divine. The core of my practice is conscious absorption in You, conscious surrender of all my (otherwise unconsciously self-contracted, self-absorbed) parts – mind, body, emotion, and breath – so that they are absorbed in You. I am fulfilling what was for Hamlet only a yearning:
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2
3. I am spirit or energy. The physical body is spirit or energy. The entire cosmos is spirit or energy. E = mC2, but I am now directly aware of the equation of matter and energy as my actual experience. I have "lived to God" long and deeply enough that a fundamental, even physical conversion has occurred in the body-mind. What I am is not fundamentally that which dies when the physical body dies; I am most primarily the "mind" (or “soul”) part of the body-mind, which survives the death of the more superficial "body" part. Thus I have been set free of my mortal fear. I am now directly aware that "I am a part of You", and what I used to have to even muscularly feel through to You, my physicality, has now been transformed to become as if transparent (to feeling). My practice continues to be absorption in You through contemplation of You in the form of my Spiritual Master, but it is now easier and more profound.
4. I am Consciousness. Even “soul” is understood to be a limit – like the physical body, it too is not immortal, but rather, a passing thing. The entire body-mind complex, body and soul, has been brought into a profound equilibrium through steady, prolonged absorption in You, and the moment Gracefully occurs when the self-contraction is relaxed even beyond any identification with the body-mind. I suddenly discover: "I am You". What I am, most primally, is neither matter nor energy, but simply Consciousness Itself. You are my True Self, only appearing in the apparent human and Spiritual guise of my Master for the sake of bringing about this Realization of Identification with You. My practice has shifted from communion with and absorption in You, to Identification with You. Even so, there still appears to be a "difference" between Consciousness and the universe of arising phenomena.
5. There Is Only God. The Great and Ultimate Realization, Divine Enlightenment, has occurred. I have completely Awakened. I am Consciousness, but there is not the slightest difference between Me and anything. All beings and worlds are arising in Me. Everything is directly tacitly recognizable as a modification of My Own Consciousness. I am Perfectly Eternally Free. I am Perfectly Eternally Happy. Paradoxically, I may still be associated with My human body for the span of its years, and thus may serve as an Instrument of Realization for all beings who still suffer the illusion and activity of separateness, effortlessly and continuously transmitting this Revelation of God to all other beings...................Avatar Adi Da Samraj,
2. I am the physical body, but now tangibly aware of the Divine Presence, thanks to the unrelenting Transmission of my Spiritual Master. I am now rightly practicing as the 'servant' of God, conforming the body-mind to better serve as a vehicle that conducts the force and Presence of the Divine. The core of my practice is conscious absorption in You, conscious surrender of all my (otherwise unconsciously self-contracted, self-absorbed) parts – mind, body, emotion, and breath – so that they are absorbed in You. I am fulfilling what was for Hamlet only a yearning:
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2
3. I am spirit or energy. The physical body is spirit or energy. The entire cosmos is spirit or energy. E = mC2, but I am now directly aware of the equation of matter and energy as my actual experience. I have "lived to God" long and deeply enough that a fundamental, even physical conversion has occurred in the body-mind. What I am is not fundamentally that which dies when the physical body dies; I am most primarily the "mind" (or “soul”) part of the body-mind, which survives the death of the more superficial "body" part. Thus I have been set free of my mortal fear. I am now directly aware that "I am a part of You", and what I used to have to even muscularly feel through to You, my physicality, has now been transformed to become as if transparent (to feeling). My practice continues to be absorption in You through contemplation of You in the form of my Spiritual Master, but it is now easier and more profound.
4. I am Consciousness. Even “soul” is understood to be a limit – like the physical body, it too is not immortal, but rather, a passing thing. The entire body-mind complex, body and soul, has been brought into a profound equilibrium through steady, prolonged absorption in You, and the moment Gracefully occurs when the self-contraction is relaxed even beyond any identification with the body-mind. I suddenly discover: "I am You". What I am, most primally, is neither matter nor energy, but simply Consciousness Itself. You are my True Self, only appearing in the apparent human and Spiritual guise of my Master for the sake of bringing about this Realization of Identification with You. My practice has shifted from communion with and absorption in You, to Identification with You. Even so, there still appears to be a "difference" between Consciousness and the universe of arising phenomena.
5. There Is Only God. The Great and Ultimate Realization, Divine Enlightenment, has occurred. I have completely Awakened. I am Consciousness, but there is not the slightest difference between Me and anything. All beings and worlds are arising in Me. Everything is directly tacitly recognizable as a modification of My Own Consciousness. I am Perfectly Eternally Free. I am Perfectly Eternally Happy. Paradoxically, I may still be associated with My human body for the span of its years, and thus may serve as an Instrument of Realization for all beings who still suffer the illusion and activity of separateness, effortlessly and continuously transmitting this Revelation of God to all other beings...................Avatar Adi Da Samraj,
Pistis Sophia...
Pistis Sophia combines the ideas of reincarnation and divine union in a passage that begins with the question: What happens to "a man who has committed no sin, but done good persistently, but has not found the mysteries?" The Pistis Sophia tells us that the soul of the good man who has not found the mysteries will receive "a cup filled with thoughts and wisdom." This will allow the soul to remember its divine origin and so to pursue the "mysteries of the Light" until it finds them and is able to "inherit the Light forever." To "inherit the Light forever" is a Gnostic code for union with God............Gnostic Library
Neither Fear nor Ignorance...
Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.
St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi
Truth is hidden within Religion...
The soul of all is one soul, and the truth is one truth, under
whatever religion it is hidden.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
With all the opposition to the Master at the time when the Jews
demanded his crucifixion, did those who were present sincerely think
the Master was guilty? No, each one of them was more or less
impressed by the truth of the message, yet torn by convention and
custom, bound by laws, held fast by the religious authority that was
in power. They could not express their sincere feelings, and so law
governed instead of love. And this state of things has existed in all
ages. Blinded by conventions and by the laws of his time and the
customs of his people, man has ignored and opposed the truth. Yet at
the same time the truth has never failed to make its impression upon
the soul, because the soul of all is one soul, and truth is one truth
under whatever religion it is hidden.
In reality there cannot be many religions; there is only one. There
cannot be two truths; there cannot be two masters. As there is only
one God and one religion, there is one master and there is one truth.
And the weakness of man has been that only what he is accustomed to
consider as truth he takes to be truth, and anything he has not been
accustomed to hear or think frightens him. Just like a person in a
strange land, away from home, the soul is a stranger to the nature of
things it is not accustomed to. But the journey to perfection means
rising above limitations, rising so high that not only the horizon of
one country, of one continent, is seen, but that of the whole world.
The higher we rise, the wider becomes the horizon of our view.
If we come face to face with truth, it is one and the same. One may
look at it from the Christian, from the Buddhist, or from the Hindu
point of view, but in reality it is one point of view. One can either
be small or large, either be false or true, either not know or know.
As long as a person says, 'When I look at the horizon from the top of
the mountain I become dizzy. This immensity of space frightens me,'
he should not look at it. But if it does not make one dizzy it is a
great joy to look at life from above. And from that position a
Christian, Jew, Muslim and Buddhist will all see the same immensity.
It is not limited to those of any one faith or creed. Gradually, as
they unfold themselves and give proof of their response to the
immensity of the knowledge, they are asked to go forward, face to
face with their Lord.
whatever religion it is hidden.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
With all the opposition to the Master at the time when the Jews
demanded his crucifixion, did those who were present sincerely think
the Master was guilty? No, each one of them was more or less
impressed by the truth of the message, yet torn by convention and
custom, bound by laws, held fast by the religious authority that was
in power. They could not express their sincere feelings, and so law
governed instead of love. And this state of things has existed in all
ages. Blinded by conventions and by the laws of his time and the
customs of his people, man has ignored and opposed the truth. Yet at
the same time the truth has never failed to make its impression upon
the soul, because the soul of all is one soul, and truth is one truth
under whatever religion it is hidden.
In reality there cannot be many religions; there is only one. There
cannot be two truths; there cannot be two masters. As there is only
one God and one religion, there is one master and there is one truth.
And the weakness of man has been that only what he is accustomed to
consider as truth he takes to be truth, and anything he has not been
accustomed to hear or think frightens him. Just like a person in a
strange land, away from home, the soul is a stranger to the nature of
things it is not accustomed to. But the journey to perfection means
rising above limitations, rising so high that not only the horizon of
one country, of one continent, is seen, but that of the whole world.
The higher we rise, the wider becomes the horizon of our view.
If we come face to face with truth, it is one and the same. One may
look at it from the Christian, from the Buddhist, or from the Hindu
point of view, but in reality it is one point of view. One can either
be small or large, either be false or true, either not know or know.
As long as a person says, 'When I look at the horizon from the top of
the mountain I become dizzy. This immensity of space frightens me,'
he should not look at it. But if it does not make one dizzy it is a
great joy to look at life from above. And from that position a
Christian, Jew, Muslim and Buddhist will all see the same immensity.
It is not limited to those of any one faith or creed. Gradually, as
they unfold themselves and give proof of their response to the
immensity of the knowledge, they are asked to go forward, face to
face with their Lord.
Zen Poem...
It is as though you have an eye
That sees all forms
But does not see itself.
This is how your mind is.
Its light penetrates everywhere
And engulfs everything,
So why does it not know itself?
Foyan
That sees all forms
But does not see itself.
This is how your mind is.
Its light penetrates everywhere
And engulfs everything,
So why does it not know itself?
Foyan
Being...
Being is not only beyond but also deep within every form as its innermost invisible and indestructible essence. This means that it is accessible to you now as your own deepest self, your true nature. But don't seek to grasp it with your mind. Don't try to understand it. You can know it only when the mind is still. When you are present, when your attention is fully and intensely in the Now, Being can be felt, but it can never be understood mentally. To regain awareness of Being and to abide in that state of "feeling-realization" is enlightenment.
From http://peacefulrivers.homestead.com/EckhartTolle.html
From http://peacefulrivers.homestead.com/EckhartTolle.html
Ego by Sri Chinmoy...
THE SONG OF EGO
My ego needs.
My soul has.
My ego tries.
My soul does.
My ego knows the problem that is.
My soul becomes the answer that is.
I am not alone.
Within my unlit self:
My ego, my naked death.
I am not alone.
Within my snow-white heart:
My soul, and my Spirit's Flame.
Ego is the thief of thieves. Not to speak of ordinary experiences, even realisations are afraid of this intruder.
To feel the absence of ego is as difficult as to see God's constant presence in oneself.
Ego helps bondage grow. Bondage, in return, helps ego flourish or run amuck.
Self-pity, self-indulgence and egoistic emotional cries are but one shortcoming with different names.
O small ego, O big ego, don't worry. Both of you have God's Compassion at your disposal. As there is no difference between a rill and a river when they run into the sea, neither is there a difference between an ordinary man and an important man when they dive into the Sea of God's Compassion.
Ego is diversity in unfulfilling action. Surrender is unity in fulfilled action, fulfilled manifestation and fulfilled perfection.
Self-advertisement cannot even touch the feet of God-Realisation. God-Realisation cannot lower itself even to touch the head of self-advertisement.
To think oneself always great is to believe that toil and skill are unnecessary.
No doubt, man is infinitely superior to a wild beast. But he always drinks two bottles of poison: one bottle is ego and the other is doubt. Until he has done away with these two bottles, man is no more than a higher animal.
To strive to do something unique is undoubtedly good, but it is better to know whether that unique thing is what God wants you to do.
The difference between God and man is this: man is the determining I. God is the determined We.
Happy is he who has overcome all selfishness. Blessed is he who sees God emerging from the sea of his ego.
The moment we remove the minor of self-flattery from our eyes and hold up before us the minor of Truth, we see a half-animal jumping within and without us.
With your unlit and wild ego do not destroy yourself. Suicide is the worst possible barrier to the goal of self-realisation. If you destroy yourself, instead of starting your next life where you have left off in this one, you will have to go back to a much earlier point.
There is one defeat that brings us a greater triumph than even victory does. What is that defeat? The defeat of our ego by our soul.
(The Oneness of the Eastern Heart and the Western Mind by Sri Chinmoy)
My ego needs.
My soul has.
My ego tries.
My soul does.
My ego knows the problem that is.
My soul becomes the answer that is.
I am not alone.
Within my unlit self:
My ego, my naked death.
I am not alone.
Within my snow-white heart:
My soul, and my Spirit's Flame.
Ego is the thief of thieves. Not to speak of ordinary experiences, even realisations are afraid of this intruder.
To feel the absence of ego is as difficult as to see God's constant presence in oneself.
Ego helps bondage grow. Bondage, in return, helps ego flourish or run amuck.
Self-pity, self-indulgence and egoistic emotional cries are but one shortcoming with different names.
O small ego, O big ego, don't worry. Both of you have God's Compassion at your disposal. As there is no difference between a rill and a river when they run into the sea, neither is there a difference between an ordinary man and an important man when they dive into the Sea of God's Compassion.
Ego is diversity in unfulfilling action. Surrender is unity in fulfilled action, fulfilled manifestation and fulfilled perfection.
Self-advertisement cannot even touch the feet of God-Realisation. God-Realisation cannot lower itself even to touch the head of self-advertisement.
To think oneself always great is to believe that toil and skill are unnecessary.
No doubt, man is infinitely superior to a wild beast. But he always drinks two bottles of poison: one bottle is ego and the other is doubt. Until he has done away with these two bottles, man is no more than a higher animal.
To strive to do something unique is undoubtedly good, but it is better to know whether that unique thing is what God wants you to do.
The difference between God and man is this: man is the determining I. God is the determined We.
Happy is he who has overcome all selfishness. Blessed is he who sees God emerging from the sea of his ego.
The moment we remove the minor of self-flattery from our eyes and hold up before us the minor of Truth, we see a half-animal jumping within and without us.
With your unlit and wild ego do not destroy yourself. Suicide is the worst possible barrier to the goal of self-realisation. If you destroy yourself, instead of starting your next life where you have left off in this one, you will have to go back to a much earlier point.
There is one defeat that brings us a greater triumph than even victory does. What is that defeat? The defeat of our ego by our soul.
(The Oneness of the Eastern Heart and the Western Mind by Sri Chinmoy)
Our Work...
Our work is so different from anything that the world has imagined and
the reason for that is because the world is made up of 'no one' and 'no
one' doesn't want to step aside. If you really recognize that no one is
on earth; only God is present, if you have an inner realization of that
at depth - not a thought about it, not a wondering about it, but a real
inner realization where for a moment you make that leap, you rest back
in that infinite sea of Spirit, "only God is present; there is no one on
earth," then God becomes a living reality to you. And God does take
over. In this inner realization, we stand still. "Stand still and see
the salvation of God" means in the recognition that no one is here, I
can relax and be still. God is living Itself.
Bill Skiles -- Secrets of the Spiritual Kingdom
the reason for that is because the world is made up of 'no one' and 'no
one' doesn't want to step aside. If you really recognize that no one is
on earth; only God is present, if you have an inner realization of that
at depth - not a thought about it, not a wondering about it, but a real
inner realization where for a moment you make that leap, you rest back
in that infinite sea of Spirit, "only God is present; there is no one on
earth," then God becomes a living reality to you. And God does take
over. In this inner realization, we stand still. "Stand still and see
the salvation of God" means in the recognition that no one is here, I
can relax and be still. God is living Itself.
Bill Skiles -- Secrets of the Spiritual Kingdom
Advanced Ego Annihilation...
At this stage there is no struggle for further growth; it comes as softly and as naturally as a flower's. There is no sacrifice of things the ego desires or clutches to itself, for there is such insight as to their worth or worthlessness that they stay or fall away of themselves........Paul Brunton
One with God...
The call to Unity is the message of all scriptures which declare that
everyone is the One Self.. Understand that everyone is the Self only,
which is the Essence of the Vedic teaching.. Even the gains of sand are
ever declaring this Truth.. The quiescent mind can hear that Voice, the
Voice of the Unmoving Self...................Ammachi
everyone is the One Self.. Understand that everyone is the Self only,
which is the Essence of the Vedic teaching.. Even the gains of sand are
ever declaring this Truth.. The quiescent mind can hear that Voice, the
Voice of the Unmoving Self...................Ammachi
Adyashanti - Omega 2007
"There is a point in the whole process that many if not most, maybe even all, I don't know, but a lot of people go through, and it's actually a taboo. It's a taboo not in individuals, it's a collective taboo because there is a collective mind and a collective consciousness and there is a collective taboo against anybody leaving the realm of separation. You will eventually bump into it and when you bump into it, it feels like you are almost being undutiful, 'How dare you leave the realm of separation?' 'How dare you?' How unkind, how unloving to leave everybody behind, like a rocket ship leaves the earth. 'How dare you do that?' 'You'll be of no use to them.' And its this sort of collective taboo that keeps illusion in line. It uses our deepest concern, our greatest love, our love of humanity and things that are bigger than our limited sense of self and it pretends like staying with its domain of separation and suffering is somehow good and dutiful and we're obligated to do it. As if a Bodhisattva ideal¡Äwhen I was doing all this stuff, I remember, the Bodhisattva ideal is sort of, you know, 'I will not go into full enlightenment until all beings have gone in before me.' When I heard that, I don't mean to offend any of the Buddhists in the group, I was one of you, I remember, 'What the hell could that possibly¡Ähow could that help anybody? I'll consciously stay deluded until all of you get enlightened and then I'll come in the door behind you and somehow that's going to be good for everybody.' Now I understand, I'm certain that probably the deepest meaning of the Bodhisattva ideal is much deeper than that but that's how a lot of people interpret it. That's how a lot of us hear it at some level. To somehow not totally let go, leave everything and everybody behind and thank you very much, the whole dramatic thing has been a total nightmare, of very little entertainment value, I'm done. I'm not done for today or tomorrow, I'm done forever. Thank you. It's over. Bow. Off the stage. That's it, right? That somehow to do that is the most terrible thing you could do. That somehow to stay within it is the better thing to do. Is somehow noble. But of course there is something mysterious that happens that is in many ways very unexpected. When that final letting go happens, when you step totally outside of that taboo, when that thing says, 'You can't leave it all behind. Forever.' And you just step though it.
A funny thing happens. You find yourself right back in it. That's the funny thing, you find yourself right¡Äcause of course there's nowhere else to go. But at that point you are in it but you are no longer of it. You were leaving the 'of it' behind. That's what gets left behind. We don't actually leave anything or anybody behind. But it feels like that. There is a time when it literally feels like that but what you are leaving behind is your consciousness being in the realm of separation. That's what you're leaving behind. And there comes a point when you leave it behind and you leave it behind for good. But you don't leave humanity behind. You don't leave any of that behind. You can't. And only then do you and I live from a different perspective. And that different perspective, that is the assistance. That is unconditional love, the difference in perspective, is what counts. That's what saves."
Adyashanti
Omega 2007
A funny thing happens. You find yourself right back in it. That's the funny thing, you find yourself right¡Äcause of course there's nowhere else to go. But at that point you are in it but you are no longer of it. You were leaving the 'of it' behind. That's what gets left behind. We don't actually leave anything or anybody behind. But it feels like that. There is a time when it literally feels like that but what you are leaving behind is your consciousness being in the realm of separation. That's what you're leaving behind. And there comes a point when you leave it behind and you leave it behind for good. But you don't leave humanity behind. You don't leave any of that behind. You can't. And only then do you and I live from a different perspective. And that different perspective, that is the assistance. That is unconditional love, the difference in perspective, is what counts. That's what saves."
Adyashanti
Omega 2007
"Qualifications for Advaita?!?
Advaita vedanta recommends the practice of karma, bhakti and raja yoga before one
undertakes jnana yoga. In formal advaita vedanta, it is said that the karma-kanda
(ritualistic form of Hinduism) precedes the jnana-kanda (non-dual inquiry). Advaita even
outlines certain qualifications for the effective study of Truth. And advaita is not alone in
this kind of recommendation. In Kabbala (Judaism's non-dual path) it is often said that the
incoming student must be 40 years old, married, and "have a bellyful of Torah." In
Madhyamika, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, it is said that the student must never be
exposed to the sublime teachings on emptiness without already practicing compassion.
Not only that, but it should be that "tears come to their eyes at the very mention of the
word 'emptiness'." Age-old wisdom and experience has shown that the personality
characteristics one gains in other yogic pursuits greatly facilitate the quiet mind and
equipoise that allow the deep experience of one's self as Self.
Qualifications -- Why??
The idea behind "qualifications" is not to bar or reject anyone from the pursuit of a
nondual path. Anyone may enter at any time. But the qualifications are to encourage a
quiet mind and balanced emotional outlook so that one can focus more effectively on the
inquiry into one's nature. The happiness and liberation indicated by the great nondual
world teachings are best realized when the only outstanding personal issue is liberation
itself. If the mind is busy with other things such as the satisfaction of worldly desires or
the attainment of emotional bliss states, then advaita will be derailed and co-opted to
serve these other purposes. Liberation must be sought for its own sake (or for the sake of
all beings), not as a means to another personal end.".............greg goode
undertakes jnana yoga. In formal advaita vedanta, it is said that the karma-kanda
(ritualistic form of Hinduism) precedes the jnana-kanda (non-dual inquiry). Advaita even
outlines certain qualifications for the effective study of Truth. And advaita is not alone in
this kind of recommendation. In Kabbala (Judaism's non-dual path) it is often said that the
incoming student must be 40 years old, married, and "have a bellyful of Torah." In
Madhyamika, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, it is said that the student must never be
exposed to the sublime teachings on emptiness without already practicing compassion.
Not only that, but it should be that "tears come to their eyes at the very mention of the
word 'emptiness'." Age-old wisdom and experience has shown that the personality
characteristics one gains in other yogic pursuits greatly facilitate the quiet mind and
equipoise that allow the deep experience of one's self as Self.
Qualifications -- Why??
The idea behind "qualifications" is not to bar or reject anyone from the pursuit of a
nondual path. Anyone may enter at any time. But the qualifications are to encourage a
quiet mind and balanced emotional outlook so that one can focus more effectively on the
inquiry into one's nature. The happiness and liberation indicated by the great nondual
world teachings are best realized when the only outstanding personal issue is liberation
itself. If the mind is busy with other things such as the satisfaction of worldly desires or
the attainment of emotional bliss states, then advaita will be derailed and co-opted to
serve these other purposes. Liberation must be sought for its own sake (or for the sake of
all beings), not as a means to another personal end.".............greg goode
Where is Happiness?...
"I have discovered that it is actually impossible to find happiness.
As long as you are seeking to find happiness somewhere,
you are overlooking where happiness is.
in your true nature."
~ Gangaji.
"There is a great secret that beings throughout time have announced, the
secret of an extraordinary treasure, the treasure of the nectar of eternal
life. It is the nectar of pure beingness, recognizing itself as
consciousness and overflowing in the love of that recognition.
If you imagine yourself to be located in a body, then you will move that
body from place to place, searching for this treasure of nectar. But, if you
will stop all searching right now and tell the truth to yourself, you will
know what is known in the core of your bones. You will know what these great
beings knew and attempted to describe. You will know it with no image of it,
no concept of it, no thought of it. You will know it as that which has
eternally been here. And you will know it as yourself."
~ Gangaji
As long as you are seeking to find happiness somewhere,
you are overlooking where happiness is.
in your true nature."
~ Gangaji.
"There is a great secret that beings throughout time have announced, the
secret of an extraordinary treasure, the treasure of the nectar of eternal
life. It is the nectar of pure beingness, recognizing itself as
consciousness and overflowing in the love of that recognition.
If you imagine yourself to be located in a body, then you will move that
body from place to place, searching for this treasure of nectar. But, if you
will stop all searching right now and tell the truth to yourself, you will
know what is known in the core of your bones. You will know what these great
beings knew and attempted to describe. You will know it with no image of it,
no concept of it, no thought of it. You will know it as that which has
eternally been here. And you will know it as yourself."
~ Gangaji
Comparing...
Ordinarily, we spend all our time comparing and discriminating between this and that, always looking around for something good to happen to us. And because of that we become restless and anxious about everything. As long as we are able to imagine something better than what we have or who we are, it follows naturally that there could also be something worse. We are constantly pursued by misgivings that something bad will happen. In other words, as long as we live by distinguishing between the better way and the worse way, we can never find absolute peace such that whatever happens is all right. When we let go of our thoughts that distinguish better from worse and instead see everything in terms of the Universal Self, we are able to settle upon a different attitude toward life--the attitude of magnanimous mind that whatever happens, we are living out Self which is only Self. Here a truly peaceful life unfolds.
--Kosho Uchiyama, Opening the Hand of Thought
from NonDuality Highlights
--Kosho Uchiyama, Opening the Hand of Thought
from NonDuality Highlights
Desires...
"All disciplines are fixations: discipline excludes everything, except the one thing that one wishes to concentrate upon. Thus one establishes a dictatorship over oneself and all understanding is jeopardized. What is absolutely necessary is attention without strain. When I observe myself, I am really forced to admit that every day I am the prisoner of a thousand unsatisfied desires, or desires whose satisfaction brings me no permanent bliss. So it seems to me that instead of endless running from one desire to another, it would be better to stop and examine the true nature of desire. If this investigation is successful you will penetrate the nature of the true aim of all desire. What any desire really aims at, is a state of non desire. This non desire is a state in which we demand absolutely nothing. Thus it is a state of extreme abundance, of fullness. This fullness is revealed as being bliss and peace. You now know that you are really seeking nothing else but fullness and absolute peace. Now that you have understood the inner nature of your ultimate goal, you perceive that the ultimate goal is, in fact, not a goal, that is to say an end towards which you strive, but that the ultimate state can only be the consequence of relaxing and letting go. Liberation is not to be obtained by collecting and accumulating, but by being rooted in a state of being which is truly ours and in which we live constantly without knowing it. Even if we wished to, we could not live for a single moment outside of this state."
--JEAN KLEIN posted to TheNow_2 culled from Nondual Highlights Editor: Gloria Lee
--JEAN KLEIN posted to TheNow_2 culled from Nondual Highlights Editor: Gloria Lee
False Self...
This is the ego that we falsely think of as being our real self. This is the ego to which memory ties us. This is the illusive part of our dual personality; this is the known part of our being, a mere shadow thrown by the unknown part which is infinitely greater. This moves from one earthly body to another, from one dream to another through the phantasmagoria of existence without awakening to reality.........Paul Brunton
Who Are We...
"Who You really are Is eternal, therefore absolute. You Are the Absolute, Eternal principle in which this whole drama is taking place.
Words come and go, so no word is an absolute. This is why the Truth about Your existence has no verbal explanation. So stop trying so hard to understand , IF you can.
The words that come out of my mouth may help put the mind in perspective, but between the words, before and after the words, that's where the Truth is."
Esther Veltheim
Who Am I
The Seeker's Guide to Nowhere
Published by PaRama @2001
Words come and go, so no word is an absolute. This is why the Truth about Your existence has no verbal explanation. So stop trying so hard to understand , IF you can.
The words that come out of my mouth may help put the mind in perspective, but between the words, before and after the words, that's where the Truth is."
Esther Veltheim
Who Am I
The Seeker's Guide to Nowhere
Published by PaRama @2001
The Just Man...
Do all you do, acting from the core of your soul, without a single "Why"... Thus, if you ask a genuine person, that Is, one who acts from his heart: "Why are you doing that?" -- he will reply in the only possible way: "I do it because I do It!" [The just man] wants nothing, seeks nothing, and has no reason for doing anything. As God, having no motives, acts without them, so the just man acts without motives. As life lives on for its own sake, needing no reason for being, so the just man has no reason for doing what he does. (R. B. Blakney, trans., Meister Eckhart (New York: Harper and Row, 1941), pp. 127, 241)
Non-Duality...
The concept of nonduality given by the Advaitins seems impossible to grasp and to accept to the normal Western mind and quite rightly so. This impasse must exist unless and until the situation is clarified and the only way to do so lies through mentalism. The human mind normally functions in a dualistic manner--that is, it identifies itself as a subject with an object of its consciousness outside. This dualism penetrates the practices followed on the Quest and the knowledge gained as a consequence of them. It cannot be got rid of until both subject and object are thrown into and unified by the pure consciousness--Mind--in which, from which, and by which all happens. In this connection a further point must be established. I have written admiringly of two great souls--Sri Ramana Maharshi and Shankaracharya of Kanchi, the spiritual head of South India. Now both these are strict followers of the original, the first Shankaracharya, who lived more than a thousand years ago, and they quote from his writings very frequently. Whoever studies those writings will discover that Adi Shankara, meaning the first Shankara, in his arguments against the Buddhists--especially those of the idealistic Yogacara and Vijnana schools--seems to reject idealism which is an incomplete form of mentalism. But let us not forget that Shankara was engaged in a campaign to reduce the power of Buddhism and increase the power of Hinduism. Let us not forget too that Buddha himself was not bound by any such bias; he was a free thinker and he did not hesitate to question the authority of the Vedas which Shankara followed and accepted. The Buddha rejected animal sacrifices and futile religious rituals, for instance. It is to Shankara's credit that he gave out the Advaitic teaching of nonduality--which is impossible for a Western mind in all its rationality to accept unless it falls into mysticism and yoga. Both the living Shankara and Ramana Maharshi were upholders of Hinduism. As I have said, the doctrine of nonduality is quite acceptable when presented with a mentalistic explanation or through a mystical experience, but not otherwise...............Paul Brunton
Reform...
The more elevated the soul, the broader the outlook.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
There are many different opinions how the condition of the world
should be bettered: some think by religious reform, some think by
educational reform, and some think by social reform. Every reform
made with the idea of doing some good is worthwhile, but the reform
most needed today is spiritual reform. Today the hour has come when
narrowness should be abandoned, in order to arise above those
differences and distinctions which divide human beings. ... The way
to spirituality is the expansion and the widening of the heart. In
order to accommodate the divine Truth the heart must be expanded.
With the expansion of the heart the divine bliss is poured out.
The eyes of the man who neglects his duty to his fellow men, absorbed
in life's intoxication, will certainly become dazzled and his mind
exhausted before the presence of God. It does not mean that any soul
will be deprived of the divine vision, it only means that the soul
who has not learned to open his eyes wide enough will have his eyes
closed before the vision of God. All virtues come from a wide outlook
on life, all understanding comes from the keen observation of life.
Nobility of soul, therefore, is signified in the broad attitude that
man takes in life.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
There are many different opinions how the condition of the world
should be bettered: some think by religious reform, some think by
educational reform, and some think by social reform. Every reform
made with the idea of doing some good is worthwhile, but the reform
most needed today is spiritual reform. Today the hour has come when
narrowness should be abandoned, in order to arise above those
differences and distinctions which divide human beings. ... The way
to spirituality is the expansion and the widening of the heart. In
order to accommodate the divine Truth the heart must be expanded.
With the expansion of the heart the divine bliss is poured out.
The eyes of the man who neglects his duty to his fellow men, absorbed
in life's intoxication, will certainly become dazzled and his mind
exhausted before the presence of God. It does not mean that any soul
will be deprived of the divine vision, it only means that the soul
who has not learned to open his eyes wide enough will have his eyes
closed before the vision of God. All virtues come from a wide outlook
on life, all understanding comes from the keen observation of life.
Nobility of soul, therefore, is signified in the broad attitude that
man takes in life.
The Secret Gospels...
Some early Christians believed that certain gospels contained secret knowledge. Copies of these gospels were usually passed around privately, so that only certain people would have a chance to read them. For these reasons, biblical scholars call them "secret gospels".
In some cases, a secret gospel was only used by a particular group or sect of Christians. When that group or sect disappeared, or was absorbed into the general Christian movement, its secret gospel could be lost, especially if only a few copies had existed. Some of these gospels may have also been destroyed intentionally because they expressed unorthodox views.
Even so, several secret gospels have survived. One of them, the Gospel of Thomas, could be one of the earliest known Christian writings. Another one, the Secret Gospel of Mark, may contain some missing sections of the New Testament Gospel of Mark. Others may provide information about the gnostics and other groups that existed outside the main Christian movement.
Judging by their content, secret gospels could contain two different kinds of special knowledge:
1. A private revelation received directly from God or Jesus. Such a revelation could be received through a vision or dream, or through a mystical communication.
2. Secret teachings of Jesus or his disciples which were passed down privately. In most cases these teachings would initially be transmitted through private conversations, but eventually someone would write them down, often in the form of secret sayings.
Many people were interested in secret gospels because it was thought that reading them would enable a person to gain true wisdom. Many also believed that gaining this wisdom was the key to final salvation.
But anyone lucky enough to obtain a secret gospel could have encountered an unexpected problem. This is because the writing in these gospels was often hard to interpret, and the reader might have to find a "hidden meaning". Thus, only the select group of people who could interpret the gospel correctly would gain any benefit from it.
Evidence for the existence of secret knowledge can be found within the New Testament itself. For example, in Mark 4:11-12, Jesus tells his disciples:
"The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding."
This suggests that Jesus revealed a special "secret of the kingdom of God" to his disciples, but not to "those on the outside".
The letters of Paul indicate that he also passed along secret knowledge to certain favored individuals. For instance, in 1Corinthians 2:6-8 he mentions "God's secret wisdom", and says that he has given it to "the mature", by which he apparently meant his most advanced converts.
The gnostic sects of Christians were especially interested in secret knowledge. In fact, the word "gnostic" is derived from the Greek word "gnosis", which means "knowledge". In gnostic writings this word often had the special meaning of "hidden" or "secret" knowledge.
Some secret gospels have probably been lost forever. Others survive only as fragments or secondary translations. The best known survivors are the Gospel of Thomas, the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Apocryphon of James, the Secret Book of John, the Gospel of Judas, the Dialogue of the Savior, and the Gospel of Truth..........From the Gnostic Society Library
In some cases, a secret gospel was only used by a particular group or sect of Christians. When that group or sect disappeared, or was absorbed into the general Christian movement, its secret gospel could be lost, especially if only a few copies had existed. Some of these gospels may have also been destroyed intentionally because they expressed unorthodox views.
Even so, several secret gospels have survived. One of them, the Gospel of Thomas, could be one of the earliest known Christian writings. Another one, the Secret Gospel of Mark, may contain some missing sections of the New Testament Gospel of Mark. Others may provide information about the gnostics and other groups that existed outside the main Christian movement.
Judging by their content, secret gospels could contain two different kinds of special knowledge:
1. A private revelation received directly from God or Jesus. Such a revelation could be received through a vision or dream, or through a mystical communication.
2. Secret teachings of Jesus or his disciples which were passed down privately. In most cases these teachings would initially be transmitted through private conversations, but eventually someone would write them down, often in the form of secret sayings.
Many people were interested in secret gospels because it was thought that reading them would enable a person to gain true wisdom. Many also believed that gaining this wisdom was the key to final salvation.
But anyone lucky enough to obtain a secret gospel could have encountered an unexpected problem. This is because the writing in these gospels was often hard to interpret, and the reader might have to find a "hidden meaning". Thus, only the select group of people who could interpret the gospel correctly would gain any benefit from it.
Evidence for the existence of secret knowledge can be found within the New Testament itself. For example, in Mark 4:11-12, Jesus tells his disciples:
"The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding."
This suggests that Jesus revealed a special "secret of the kingdom of God" to his disciples, but not to "those on the outside".
The letters of Paul indicate that he also passed along secret knowledge to certain favored individuals. For instance, in 1Corinthians 2:6-8 he mentions "God's secret wisdom", and says that he has given it to "the mature", by which he apparently meant his most advanced converts.
The gnostic sects of Christians were especially interested in secret knowledge. In fact, the word "gnostic" is derived from the Greek word "gnosis", which means "knowledge". In gnostic writings this word often had the special meaning of "hidden" or "secret" knowledge.
Some secret gospels have probably been lost forever. Others survive only as fragments or secondary translations. The best known survivors are the Gospel of Thomas, the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Apocryphon of James, the Secret Book of John, the Gospel of Judas, the Dialogue of the Savior, and the Gospel of Truth..........From the Gnostic Society Library
Embodied Enlightenment...
Enlightenment must be lived here and now through this very body or else it is not genuine. In this body and mind we find the cause of suffering and the end of suffering. For awakening to be an opening into freedom in this very life, the body must be its ground. Embodied enlightenment is not about special psycho- physical accomplishments, mastering the yogas of inner fire, fulfilling sexual tantras, or developing a rainbow body. Yes, certain Tibetan lamas can sit naked in the snow at 18,000 feet and generate sufficient heat to melt the snow in a twenty-foot circle around their bodies. And Catholic saints have demonstrated stigmata and miraculous healing powers. "But these powers are not the true miracle," said the Buddha. "Awakening to the truth is the miracle." Embodied enlightenment is about living wisely in your particular body, as it is, on this day, in this amazing life.
Western Buddhist meditation master and nun Pema Chodron calls this understanding "The Wisdom of No Escape."
*It is helpful to realize that being here, sitting in meditation, doing simple everyday things like working, walking outside, talking with people, eating, using the toilet, is actually all that we need to be fully awake, fully alive, fully human. It's also helpful to realize that this body that we have, this very body that's sitting here right now in this room, this very body that perhaps aches, and this mind that we have at this very moment, are exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, and fully alive. Furthermore, the emotions that we have right now, the negativity and the positivity, are what we actually need. It is just as if we looked around to find out what would be the greatest wealth that we could possibly possess in order to lead a decent, good, completely fulfilling, energetic, inspired life, and found it all right here.*
Enlightenment flowers not as an ideal, but in the miraculous reality of our human form, with its pleasures and pains. No master can escape this truth, nor does enlightenment make the vulnerability of our body go away. The Buddha had illnesses and backaches. Sages like Ramana Maharshi, Karmapa, and Suzuki Roshi died of cancer in spite of their holy understanding. Their example shows we must find awakening in sickness and in health, in pleasure and in pain, in this human body as it is.
How do we touch this body of life, the joys and sorrows of it? An embodied awakening neither denies nor reviles the body, nor does it grasp and mindlessly indulge in pleasures. In embodied awakening we become present for the life that is given us, respectful of what the Tibetans call "this precious human form." Tsong Khapa, the Tibetan master, taught: "This human body is more precious than the rarest gem. Cherish your body; it is yours for this one time only ... a thing of beauty that passes away." Such a respectful presence allows the life of our body to be blessed.
From: 'After the Ecstasy, the Laundry'
by Jack Kornfield
posted by Gill Eardley http://groups.yahoo.com/group/allspiritinspiration/
Western Buddhist meditation master and nun Pema Chodron calls this understanding "The Wisdom of No Escape."
*It is helpful to realize that being here, sitting in meditation, doing simple everyday things like working, walking outside, talking with people, eating, using the toilet, is actually all that we need to be fully awake, fully alive, fully human. It's also helpful to realize that this body that we have, this very body that's sitting here right now in this room, this very body that perhaps aches, and this mind that we have at this very moment, are exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, and fully alive. Furthermore, the emotions that we have right now, the negativity and the positivity, are what we actually need. It is just as if we looked around to find out what would be the greatest wealth that we could possibly possess in order to lead a decent, good, completely fulfilling, energetic, inspired life, and found it all right here.*
Enlightenment flowers not as an ideal, but in the miraculous reality of our human form, with its pleasures and pains. No master can escape this truth, nor does enlightenment make the vulnerability of our body go away. The Buddha had illnesses and backaches. Sages like Ramana Maharshi, Karmapa, and Suzuki Roshi died of cancer in spite of their holy understanding. Their example shows we must find awakening in sickness and in health, in pleasure and in pain, in this human body as it is.
How do we touch this body of life, the joys and sorrows of it? An embodied awakening neither denies nor reviles the body, nor does it grasp and mindlessly indulge in pleasures. In embodied awakening we become present for the life that is given us, respectful of what the Tibetans call "this precious human form." Tsong Khapa, the Tibetan master, taught: "This human body is more precious than the rarest gem. Cherish your body; it is yours for this one time only ... a thing of beauty that passes away." Such a respectful presence allows the life of our body to be blessed.
From: 'After the Ecstasy, the Laundry'
by Jack Kornfield
posted by Gill Eardley http://groups.yahoo.com/group/allspiritinspiration/
Satisfaction...
To be satisfied with a little is the greatest wisdom, and he that
increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a
hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not.
Akhenaton
increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a
hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not.
Akhenaton
The Overself...
Knowing about the existence of your Overself is hugely important as you are currently only one 10th conscious, whilst your overself is the other nine 10th’s conscious. But what is the 'Overself'?
Before we go any further we should try and establish a platform of understanding; a point of reference, else its pointless going any further as you wouldn't be able to understand.
Most people would like to think that they know what “God” is, and yet the closest being to them; which we could term a God, is their own Overself and they have little or no idea of what it is - or where it is - or that it even exists!
There is a God, a good God, a fair God. But of course God is not the same as a human and it is useless to attempt to comprehend what is God when most people cannot even comprehend their own Overself. Just as you cannot comprehend your Overself, nor can you comprehend the God of your Overself, but that getting into realms quite beyond comprehension whilst existing within the 3rd dimension.
Your Overself resides in the 10th dimension - the true you is a multi-dimensional being - and seeing that most people haven't a clue what dimensions are, perhaps we should digress and elaborate on dimensions before continuing with the Overself.
We currently live in the 3rd dimension, but that still doesn't help, so let’s start at the 1st and explain up to the 3rd dimension. Pointless going any further as you cannot comprehend beyond the 3rd until you can consciously astral travel which is then the 4th dimension.
The 1st dimension is like a train on a single track running between two points. It can only go forward and backwards; so it has a single line of sight; a bit like tunnel vision. So we have length only. The 2nd dimension is like a ship. It can also go forward and backwards, but it can also move from side to side, a bit like a shadow. So now we have length and breadth. The 3rd Dimension is like a plane. It can also go forward and backwards; move side to side, but it can also move up and down. So now we have length, breadth and height.
The 4th Dimension is not “time” as many scientists may think. “Space” is the 4th dimension. Time is just a convention established by mankind to suit their personal convenience. Time in the 4th dimension is variable and not constant as some think. In fact time is never constant; even on earth its variable depending on each living creature, but we are digressing.
Small interesting fact regarding dimensions; a 2nd dimensional object will cast a 1st dimensional shadow. A 3rd dimensional object will cast a 2nd dimensional shadow. A 4th dimensional object will cast a 3rd dimensional shadow. This is why some UFOs are seen - but not registered on radars - as you are seeing the 3rd dimensional shadow of a 4th dimensional object which current technology cannot monitor.
Your physical body is not the “real” you, it's just a “shell” you have to enable you to be on this planet, to learn the lessons you came down here to learn. Now back to establishing a platform of understanding. We can liken the “Overself” to a brain - in this case your Overself is a very powerful brain, but far too powerful to actually come down to such a lower plane of existence and therefore it just send down an extension of itself which is you - but let’s use your brain for this rationalisation.
The overself managing its many puppets
Your brain; by itself, cannot do very much as see, hear, feel, touch, smell etc. So for our brain to understand it needs a variety of extensions attached to a body. To see it needs eyes, to hear it needs ears, to feel is needs fingers - which in turn needs hands, which need arms - to smell it needs a nose and so on, until each and every part of you body serves a purpose for the brain to perceive and understand its surroundings. Such is with your Overself; you are just an extension of it, as your fingers are to your physical body. You and your Overself are the same thing and by injuring yourself, you injure your Overself.
Let’s say that your brain has a string of ambitions. It wants to know what things are like on Earth, what is poverty? What are riches? What is famine? What is plethora? What is adversity? What are privileges? To enable your overself to fully experience and understand all these possibilities; and many more experiences, it sends down an extension of itself into a physical body so it can learn and HELLO! that's you!.........T Lobsang Rampa
Before we go any further we should try and establish a platform of understanding; a point of reference, else its pointless going any further as you wouldn't be able to understand.
Most people would like to think that they know what “God” is, and yet the closest being to them; which we could term a God, is their own Overself and they have little or no idea of what it is - or where it is - or that it even exists!
There is a God, a good God, a fair God. But of course God is not the same as a human and it is useless to attempt to comprehend what is God when most people cannot even comprehend their own Overself. Just as you cannot comprehend your Overself, nor can you comprehend the God of your Overself, but that getting into realms quite beyond comprehension whilst existing within the 3rd dimension.
Your Overself resides in the 10th dimension - the true you is a multi-dimensional being - and seeing that most people haven't a clue what dimensions are, perhaps we should digress and elaborate on dimensions before continuing with the Overself.
We currently live in the 3rd dimension, but that still doesn't help, so let’s start at the 1st and explain up to the 3rd dimension. Pointless going any further as you cannot comprehend beyond the 3rd until you can consciously astral travel which is then the 4th dimension.
The 1st dimension is like a train on a single track running between two points. It can only go forward and backwards; so it has a single line of sight; a bit like tunnel vision. So we have length only. The 2nd dimension is like a ship. It can also go forward and backwards, but it can also move from side to side, a bit like a shadow. So now we have length and breadth. The 3rd Dimension is like a plane. It can also go forward and backwards; move side to side, but it can also move up and down. So now we have length, breadth and height.
The 4th Dimension is not “time” as many scientists may think. “Space” is the 4th dimension. Time is just a convention established by mankind to suit their personal convenience. Time in the 4th dimension is variable and not constant as some think. In fact time is never constant; even on earth its variable depending on each living creature, but we are digressing.
Small interesting fact regarding dimensions; a 2nd dimensional object will cast a 1st dimensional shadow. A 3rd dimensional object will cast a 2nd dimensional shadow. A 4th dimensional object will cast a 3rd dimensional shadow. This is why some UFOs are seen - but not registered on radars - as you are seeing the 3rd dimensional shadow of a 4th dimensional object which current technology cannot monitor.
Your physical body is not the “real” you, it's just a “shell” you have to enable you to be on this planet, to learn the lessons you came down here to learn. Now back to establishing a platform of understanding. We can liken the “Overself” to a brain - in this case your Overself is a very powerful brain, but far too powerful to actually come down to such a lower plane of existence and therefore it just send down an extension of itself which is you - but let’s use your brain for this rationalisation.
The overself managing its many puppets
Your brain; by itself, cannot do very much as see, hear, feel, touch, smell etc. So for our brain to understand it needs a variety of extensions attached to a body. To see it needs eyes, to hear it needs ears, to feel is needs fingers - which in turn needs hands, which need arms - to smell it needs a nose and so on, until each and every part of you body serves a purpose for the brain to perceive and understand its surroundings. Such is with your Overself; you are just an extension of it, as your fingers are to your physical body. You and your Overself are the same thing and by injuring yourself, you injure your Overself.
Let’s say that your brain has a string of ambitions. It wants to know what things are like on Earth, what is poverty? What are riches? What is famine? What is plethora? What is adversity? What are privileges? To enable your overself to fully experience and understand all these possibilities; and many more experiences, it sends down an extension of itself into a physical body so it can learn and HELLO! that's you!.........T Lobsang Rampa
Consciousness of the Overself...
Deeper than all other desires is this need to gain consciousness
of the Overself. Only it is unable to express itself directly at
first, so it expresses itself in the only ways we permit it to--first
the physical, then the emotional and intellectual quest of happiness.........Paul Brunton
of the Overself. Only it is unable to express itself directly at
first, so it expresses itself in the only ways we permit it to--first
the physical, then the emotional and intellectual quest of happiness.........Paul Brunton
Tenderness...
Tenderness contains an element of sadness.
It is not the sadness of feeling sorry for yourself
or feeling deprived
but it is a natural situation of fullness.
You feel so full and rich, as if you were about to shed tears.
Your eyes are full of tears, and the moment you blink,
the tears will spill out of your eyes and roll down your cheeks.
In order to be a good warrior, one has to feel this sad and tender heart.
If a person does not feel alone or sad, he cannot be a warrior at all.
` Chogyam Trungpa
It is not the sadness of feeling sorry for yourself
or feeling deprived
but it is a natural situation of fullness.
You feel so full and rich, as if you were about to shed tears.
Your eyes are full of tears, and the moment you blink,
the tears will spill out of your eyes and roll down your cheeks.
In order to be a good warrior, one has to feel this sad and tender heart.
If a person does not feel alone or sad, he cannot be a warrior at all.
` Chogyam Trungpa
The Greatest Mystery...
There is no greater mystery than this, that being the reality yourself, you seek to gain reality.
http://www.atmapress.com/Articles/Ramana/Ramana_1.htm
http://www.atmapress.com/Articles/Ramana/Ramana_1.htm
Grace and Age...
When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an
unspeakable dawn in happy old age.
Victor Hugo
unspeakable dawn in happy old age.
Victor Hugo
Winter...
In the stillness of the leafless trees, meditating in the depth of winter, we come upon spring. In the emptiness between the stars, we become part of all things. This is the place of beginnings where we can speak our word and emerge into new realities for our lives. It is the place to which we need to retreat when conditions shatter our consciousness. Here, in the holy temple within, we find peace, stillness and assurance~ our true being.
When we immerse ourselves in the silence, we wash away the struggle and turmoil of our lives. Then, unadorned, we can dwell in timelessness. When we surface from this sacred space, we find our lives have taken on a divine direction and we are renewed.
~ Patricia J. Gentry
When we immerse ourselves in the silence, we wash away the struggle and turmoil of our lives. Then, unadorned, we can dwell in timelessness. When we surface from this sacred space, we find our lives have taken on a divine direction and we are renewed.
~ Patricia J. Gentry
Negative Thoughts...
Mentalism says that most of one's misery is inflicted on oneself by accepting and holding negative thoughts. They cover and hide the still centre of one's being, which is infinite happiness............Paul Brunton
Freedom...
Buddha says the greatest joy in life is freedom: freedom from all prejudices, freedom from all scriptures, freedom from all concepts and ideologies, freedom from all desires, freedom from all possessiveness and jealousy, freedom from all hatred, anger, rage, lust... in short, freedom from everything, so that you are just a pure consciousness, unbounded, unlimited. That is the greatest joy, and it is possible -- it is within everybody's grasp. You just have to grope for it a little. The groping will be in the dark, but it is not far away. If you try, if you make an effort, you are bound to find it. It is your birthright.
The Dhammapada
The Dhammapada
Love turns sins into virtues...
Our virtues are made by love, and our sins caused by the lack of it.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
There is one moral; the love that springs forth from self-denial and
blooms in deeds of beneficence.
The orthodox say, 'This is good, that is bad. This is right, that is
wrong,' but to a Sufi the source of all good deeds is love. Someone
may say that this is the source of bad deeds also, but that is not
so; it is lack of love.
Our virtues are made of love, and our sins are caused by lack of it.
Love turns sins into virtues, and its lack makes virtues meaningless.
Christ said when a woman was brought before Him accused of sin, 'Her
sins are forgiven, for she loved much.' Heaven is made so beautiful
with love, and life becomes a hell through the lack of it. Love in
reality creates harmony in one's life on earth and peace in heaven.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
There is one moral; the love that springs forth from self-denial and
blooms in deeds of beneficence.
The orthodox say, 'This is good, that is bad. This is right, that is
wrong,' but to a Sufi the source of all good deeds is love. Someone
may say that this is the source of bad deeds also, but that is not
so; it is lack of love.
Our virtues are made of love, and our sins are caused by lack of it.
Love turns sins into virtues, and its lack makes virtues meaningless.
Christ said when a woman was brought before Him accused of sin, 'Her
sins are forgiven, for she loved much.' Heaven is made so beautiful
with love, and life becomes a hell through the lack of it. Love in
reality creates harmony in one's life on earth and peace in heaven.
Pearls...
A young man came to Junaid and wished to become his student. He
said, "You have been recommended as an expert on pearls (of wisdom).
Please give me one, or sell it to me."
Junaid replied, "You could not afford the price if I sold it, and
if I gave you one for nothing, you will not realize its value. You
must do as I have done. Dive into the Sea and wait patiently until you
obtain your pearl."
Furiduddin Attar
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
said, "You have been recommended as an expert on pearls (of wisdom).
Please give me one, or sell it to me."
Junaid replied, "You could not afford the price if I sold it, and
if I gave you one for nothing, you will not realize its value. You
must do as I have done. Dive into the Sea and wait patiently until you
obtain your pearl."
Furiduddin Attar
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
Pure Knowledge...
Forget the known, but remember that you are
the knower. Don't be all the time immersed in
your experiences. Remember that you are beyond
the experiencer, ever unborn and deathless. In
remembering it, the quality of pure knowledge
will emerge, the light of unconditional awareness.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
the knower. Don't be all the time immersed in
your experiences. Remember that you are beyond
the experiencer, ever unborn and deathless. In
remembering it, the quality of pure knowledge
will emerge, the light of unconditional awareness.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
Illusion and Ignorance...
More and more man fell into illusion and ignorance as he fell more and more into identification with the body and with the ego. Mentalism tells us that they are really thought-complexes. All thought is derived from the mind. He can begin to undo these identifications if he will bring back his thoughts to their truth and reality and constantly let them stay there. By the activity of the Quest and by the non-activity of allowing truth to work upon him, the illusion will vanish and the real will take over..........Paul Brunton
No-Man...
The collective disease of humanity is that people are so engrossed in what happens, so hypnotized by the world of fluctuating forms, so absorbed in the content of their lives, they have forgotten the essence, that which is beyond content, beyond form,beyond thought. They are so consumed by time that they have forgotten eternity, which is their origin, their home, their destiny. Eternity is the living reality of who you are.
Some years ago when visiting China, I came upon a stupa on a mountaintop near Guilin. It had writing embossed in gold on it, and I asked my Chinese host what it meant. "It means 'Buddha,' " he said. "Why are there two characters rather than one?" I asked. "One," he explained.,means 'man.' The other means 'no.' And the two together means 'Buddha.' " I stood there in awe. The character for Buddha already contained the whole teaching of the Buddha, and for those who have eyes to see, the secret of life.
Here are the two dimensions that make up reality, thingness and no-thingness, form and the denial of form, which is the recognition that form is not who you are. E.Tolle
Some years ago when visiting China, I came upon a stupa on a mountaintop near Guilin. It had writing embossed in gold on it, and I asked my Chinese host what it meant. "It means 'Buddha,' " he said. "Why are there two characters rather than one?" I asked. "One," he explained.,means 'man.' The other means 'no.' And the two together means 'Buddha.' " I stood there in awe. The character for Buddha already contained the whole teaching of the Buddha, and for those who have eyes to see, the secret of life.
Here are the two dimensions that make up reality, thingness and no-thingness, form and the denial of form, which is the recognition that form is not who you are. E.Tolle
The Buddha...
The buddha in the mind is like a fragrance in a tree.
The buddha comes from a mind free of suffering,
Just as a fragrance comes from a tree free of decay.
There's no fragrance without a tree and no buddha without the mind.
If there's a fragrance without a tree it's a different fragrance.
If there's a buddha without your mind, it's a different buddha.
- The Teachings of Bodhidharma
The buddha comes from a mind free of suffering,
Just as a fragrance comes from a tree free of decay.
There's no fragrance without a tree and no buddha without the mind.
If there's a fragrance without a tree it's a different fragrance.
If there's a buddha without your mind, it's a different buddha.
- The Teachings of Bodhidharma
Light and Overself...
There is only a single light of consciousness in the mind's camera. Without it the world could not be photographed upon the film of our ego-mind. Without it, the ego-mind itself would be just as blank. That light is the Overself..........Paul Brunton
Thought and Consciousness...
Thinking and consciousness are not synonymous. Thinking is only a small aspect of consciousness. Thought cannot exist without consciousness, but consciousness does not need thought.
Spiritual Quotes from Eckhart Tolle
Spiritual Quotes from Eckhart Tolle
Unselfish Love...
I was the companion to Abdullah al-Razi as he was going into the
desert. He said, "Either you or I must act as leader." So I said, "I
would rather that you be the leader."
"Then you must obey me," he said.
"Very well," I agreed.
Then he took a bag, filled it with provisions, and carried it on
his back. When I said, "Hand it over to me." He replied, "Did you not
say, 'You are the leader'? Well then, you must obey me."
That night we were caught by the rain. He stood at my head until
morning, shielding me from the rain with a cloak he wore, while I sat
there, saying to myself, "If only I had died sooner than said, 'You be
leader!'"
Abu Ali al-Ribati
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
desert. He said, "Either you or I must act as leader." So I said, "I
would rather that you be the leader."
"Then you must obey me," he said.
"Very well," I agreed.
Then he took a bag, filled it with provisions, and carried it on
his back. When I said, "Hand it over to me." He replied, "Did you not
say, 'You are the leader'? Well then, you must obey me."
That night we were caught by the rain. He stood at my head until
morning, shielding me from the rain with a cloak he wore, while I sat
there, saying to myself, "If only I had died sooner than said, 'You be
leader!'"
Abu Ali al-Ribati
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
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