extracts from:
I Came Into the Unknown
I came into the unknown
and stayed there unknowing
rising beyond all science.
I did not know the door
but when I found the way,
unknowing where I was,
I learned enormous things,
but what I felt I cannot say,
for I remained unknowing,
rising beyond all science.
It was the perfect realm
of holiness and peace.
In deepest solitude
I found the narrow way:
a secret giving such release
that I was stunned and stammering,
rising beyond all science.
I was so far inside,
so dazed and far away
my senses were released
from feelings of my own.
My mind had found a surer way:
a knowledge of unknowing,
rising beyond all science.
This knowledge is supreme
crossing a blazing height;
though formal reason tries
it crumbles in the dark,
but one who would control the night
by knowledge of unknowing
will rise beyond all science.
And if you wish to hear:
the highest science leads
to an ecstatic feeling
of the most holy Being;
and from his mercy comes his deed:
to let us stay unknowing,
rising beyond all science.
English version by Willis Barnstone
The False Self...
"The false nature cannot be, and need not be changed, but it
can be dissolved and replaced by the True Self. Try to see the
difference in an impossible effort to change the false self and
that of replacing it with your essential self. A hawk cannot be
changed into a dove, but it can be replaced with a dove."
The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power, p. 21.......Vernon Howard
can be dissolved and replaced by the True Self. Try to see the
difference in an impossible effort to change the false self and
that of replacing it with your essential self. A hawk cannot be
changed into a dove, but it can be replaced with a dove."
The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power, p. 21.......Vernon Howard
Living through Grace...
Extracts from The Master Speaks Chapter 13 "Individual Consciousness" Joel S Goldsmith
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God...and all these things shall be added unto you. You seek, you search, you make this truth a conscious activity of your being; and then it must manifest because Truth and its manifestation are not two separate things. Truth and its manifestation are one. . .
Truth is the substance of all form. Therefore, know truth and truth will appear to you as the form necessary to your experience. But it must be a conscious activity of your consciousness. . . Wherever you find Truth, you find It manifested as form.
We have to pray without ceasing until consciousness becomes transformed, until we die daily to the human being that we were, without a sense of separateness from God. . . and until our consciousness is filled with the reminder and remembrance of God's presence.
Never try to find. . . do not seek . . . things. Go within. Realize God as the substance of your being, as the real nature of your being. Realize God as law, as life eternal.
Do not reach outside, even mentally, for person, place, thing, circumstance or condition. . .
On this path, however, the moment that you do acquire something in the external, you should recognize that which you have as nothingness, because even a glimpse of this truth makes as nothing the things of the outer world. And yet, nobody in the world can be as appreciative as we are of the good that comes to us, when it comes, as it does, as the realization of this truth. . . the slightest thing, the smallest thing that comes to me, or the biggest thing, I appreciate, I enjoy. I enjoy the good things of life. I like to see them unfold. I like to see them appear, but only for one reason: I know that there is no longer any mental activity or any reaching out to get them. Whatever comes, comes as the grace of God. This form of living is living by grace. This is living without taking thought. This is living so that all life, all beauty, and all good, come as the gift of God, as the grace of God. It is a beautiful way of living, because you have everything to make life full and complete . . .It is a beautiful way of living - this living through grace."
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God...and all these things shall be added unto you. You seek, you search, you make this truth a conscious activity of your being; and then it must manifest because Truth and its manifestation are not two separate things. Truth and its manifestation are one. . .
Truth is the substance of all form. Therefore, know truth and truth will appear to you as the form necessary to your experience. But it must be a conscious activity of your consciousness. . . Wherever you find Truth, you find It manifested as form.
We have to pray without ceasing until consciousness becomes transformed, until we die daily to the human being that we were, without a sense of separateness from God. . . and until our consciousness is filled with the reminder and remembrance of God's presence.
Never try to find. . . do not seek . . . things. Go within. Realize God as the substance of your being, as the real nature of your being. Realize God as law, as life eternal.
Do not reach outside, even mentally, for person, place, thing, circumstance or condition. . .
On this path, however, the moment that you do acquire something in the external, you should recognize that which you have as nothingness, because even a glimpse of this truth makes as nothing the things of the outer world. And yet, nobody in the world can be as appreciative as we are of the good that comes to us, when it comes, as it does, as the realization of this truth. . . the slightest thing, the smallest thing that comes to me, or the biggest thing, I appreciate, I enjoy. I enjoy the good things of life. I like to see them unfold. I like to see them appear, but only for one reason: I know that there is no longer any mental activity or any reaching out to get them. Whatever comes, comes as the grace of God. This form of living is living by grace. This is living without taking thought. This is living so that all life, all beauty, and all good, come as the gift of God, as the grace of God. It is a beautiful way of living, because you have everything to make life full and complete . . .It is a beautiful way of living - this living through grace."
The Light...
The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun; each of us are atoms held
in position by that eternal Sun we call God. Within us is the same central power
we call the light, or the love of God; by it we hold together the human beings
within our sphere, or, lacking it, we let them fall.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
A close study of the formation of the sun and of its influence on everything in
life will help us to understand the divine Spirit. Heat, gas-light, electric
light, the coal fire, the wood fire, the candle, the flame of the oil-lamp, all
these different manifestations of light have their source in the sun; it is the
sun which is showing itself in all these different forms, although we generally
consider the sun to be separate from all other aspects of light. In the same way
the supreme Spirit is manifested in all forms, in all things and beings, in the
seen and unseen worlds; and yet it stands remote, as the sun stands remote from
all other forms of light. The Qur'an says, 'God is the light of heaven and of
earth'; and in reality all forms, however dense they may be, are to some degree
the radiance of that spirit which is all light. All the different colors are
different degrees of that same light.
The soul becomes like a rose and begins to show the rose quality. The rose holds
together many petals, and so the person who comes to the unfoldment of the soul
begins to show many different qualities. These qualities emit fragrance in the
form of a spiritual personality. The rose has a beautiful structure, and so the
personality which proves the unfoldment of the soul has also a fine structure in
manner, in dealing with others, in speech, in action. It is like the perfume of
the rose that the atmosphere of the spiritual being pervades all.
The rose has in its heart its seeds, and so the developed souls have in their
heart that seed of development which produces many roses. The rose comes and
fades away, but the essence that is taken from the rose lives and keeps the
fragrance that it had in its full bloom. Personalities who touch that plane of
development may live on the earth for a limited time, but the essence which is
left by them will live for thousands and thousands of years, ever keeping the
same fragrance and giving the same pleasure that once the rose gave.
Each one has his circle of influence, large or small; within his sphere so many
souls and minds are involved; with his rise, they rise; with his fall, they
fall. The size of a man's sphere corresponds with the extent of his sympathy, or
we may say, with the size of his heart. His sympathy holds his sphere together.
As his heart grows, his sphere grows; as his sympathy is withdrawn or lessened,
so his sphere breaks up and scatters. If he harms those who live and move within
his sphere, those dependent upon him or upon his affection, he of necessity
harms himself.
The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun. Each of us are atoms held
in position by that eternal sun we call God. Within us is that same central
power, we call it the light of God, or the love of God, and by it we too hold up
the human beings within our sphere; or lacking it, we let them fall. So God
keeps all, and so we keep our friends and surroundings. With this knowledge life
in the world becomes a glorious vision. Not that we are compelled to keep away
from sin, but we learn what power virtue has.
in position by that eternal Sun we call God. Within us is the same central power
we call the light, or the love of God; by it we hold together the human beings
within our sphere, or, lacking it, we let them fall.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
A close study of the formation of the sun and of its influence on everything in
life will help us to understand the divine Spirit. Heat, gas-light, electric
light, the coal fire, the wood fire, the candle, the flame of the oil-lamp, all
these different manifestations of light have their source in the sun; it is the
sun which is showing itself in all these different forms, although we generally
consider the sun to be separate from all other aspects of light. In the same way
the supreme Spirit is manifested in all forms, in all things and beings, in the
seen and unseen worlds; and yet it stands remote, as the sun stands remote from
all other forms of light. The Qur'an says, 'God is the light of heaven and of
earth'; and in reality all forms, however dense they may be, are to some degree
the radiance of that spirit which is all light. All the different colors are
different degrees of that same light.
The soul becomes like a rose and begins to show the rose quality. The rose holds
together many petals, and so the person who comes to the unfoldment of the soul
begins to show many different qualities. These qualities emit fragrance in the
form of a spiritual personality. The rose has a beautiful structure, and so the
personality which proves the unfoldment of the soul has also a fine structure in
manner, in dealing with others, in speech, in action. It is like the perfume of
the rose that the atmosphere of the spiritual being pervades all.
The rose has in its heart its seeds, and so the developed souls have in their
heart that seed of development which produces many roses. The rose comes and
fades away, but the essence that is taken from the rose lives and keeps the
fragrance that it had in its full bloom. Personalities who touch that plane of
development may live on the earth for a limited time, but the essence which is
left by them will live for thousands and thousands of years, ever keeping the
same fragrance and giving the same pleasure that once the rose gave.
Each one has his circle of influence, large or small; within his sphere so many
souls and minds are involved; with his rise, they rise; with his fall, they
fall. The size of a man's sphere corresponds with the extent of his sympathy, or
we may say, with the size of his heart. His sympathy holds his sphere together.
As his heart grows, his sphere grows; as his sympathy is withdrawn or lessened,
so his sphere breaks up and scatters. If he harms those who live and move within
his sphere, those dependent upon him or upon his affection, he of necessity
harms himself.
The worlds are held together by the heat of the sun. Each of us are atoms held
in position by that eternal sun we call God. Within us is that same central
power, we call it the light of God, or the love of God, and by it we too hold up
the human beings within our sphere; or lacking it, we let them fall. So God
keeps all, and so we keep our friends and surroundings. With this knowledge life
in the world becomes a glorious vision. Not that we are compelled to keep away
from sin, but we learn what power virtue has.
The Ego...
Now, what would this ego be then? We know it's a collection of thoughts, but a collection of thoughts standing by themselves would be meaningless. It just doesn't make any sense to say a collection of thoughts is an ego. There has to be some consciousness permeating or pervading those thoughts in order to speak about an ego, an I-ness. But if you remove the consciousness or the mind which pervades those thoughts then you would have no ego. If I was able to subtract the consciousness that permeates you, then all I would have there would be a ghost, a skeleton, collection of a lot of thoughts -- you've no ego.
So this ego seems to be a mixture of two things: collection of thoughts on the one hand, and a fixed and empty center on the other. Although you may not like the idea that that reality is fixed and empty at the same time.
-- Anthony Damiani 7/11/84
So this ego seems to be a mixture of two things: collection of thoughts on the one hand, and a fixed and empty center on the other. Although you may not like the idea that that reality is fixed and empty at the same time.
-- Anthony Damiani 7/11/84
Camel Fodder...
In Khanabad, Mulla Nasrudin was sitting in a teahouse when a stranger walked in
and sat down beside him.
The newcomer said: "Why is that man over there sobbing his heart out?"
"Because I have just come from his home town and told him that all his
winter camel fodder was lost in a fire."
"It is terrible to be a bearer of such tidings," said the stranger.
"It is also interesting to be the man who will shortly tell him the good
news," said Nasrudin. "You see, his camels have died of the plague, so he will
not need the fodder after all."
as collected by Idries Shah
and sat down beside him.
The newcomer said: "Why is that man over there sobbing his heart out?"
"Because I have just come from his home town and told him that all his
winter camel fodder was lost in a fire."
"It is terrible to be a bearer of such tidings," said the stranger.
"It is also interesting to be the man who will shortly tell him the good
news," said Nasrudin. "You see, his camels have died of the plague, so he will
not need the fodder after all."
as collected by Idries Shah
Paul Brunton Quotes...
It is a whisper which comes out of the utter silence, a light which glimmers where all was sable night. It is the mysterious herald of the Overself.
-- Category 18: The Reverential Life > Chapter 5: Grace>#12
There are little graces, such as those which produce the glimpse; but there is only one great Grace: this produces a lasting transformation, a deep radical healing and permanent enlightenment.
-- Category 18: The Reverential Life > Chapter 5: Grace>#13
It is a mystery of Grace that it will come looking for one who is not pursuing truth, not looking for holiness, not even stumbling towards any interest in spirituality. And it will capture that person so completely that the character will totally change, as in Francis of Assisi's case, or the world view will totally change, as in Simone Weil's case.
Category 18: The Reverential Life > Chapter 5: Grace>#258
-- Category 18: The Reverential Life > Chapter 5: Grace>#12
There are little graces, such as those which produce the glimpse; but there is only one great Grace: this produces a lasting transformation, a deep radical healing and permanent enlightenment.
-- Category 18: The Reverential Life > Chapter 5: Grace>#13
It is a mystery of Grace that it will come looking for one who is not pursuing truth, not looking for holiness, not even stumbling towards any interest in spirituality. And it will capture that person so completely that the character will totally change, as in Francis of Assisi's case, or the world view will totally change, as in Simone Weil's case.
Category 18: The Reverential Life > Chapter 5: Grace>#258
Emotions...
"People refuse to give up hurtful ways. A man stubbornly crowds
his mind with troubles because he fears empty space. He thinks an
absence of wrong thoughts will make him vanish without identity or
purpose. He worries 'If I don't get mad I won't know what else to
do.' He is like a child who won't give up a favorite toy for a new
gift. His mistake is in thinking that he is his thoughts, which he
is not. His true nature is spiritual, not mental. So volunteer
emptiness and receive fullness. Only a clear airfield can receive
incoming planes."
Your Power of Natural Knowing, p. 142..........Vernon Howard
his mind with troubles because he fears empty space. He thinks an
absence of wrong thoughts will make him vanish without identity or
purpose. He worries 'If I don't get mad I won't know what else to
do.' He is like a child who won't give up a favorite toy for a new
gift. His mistake is in thinking that he is his thoughts, which he
is not. His true nature is spiritual, not mental. So volunteer
emptiness and receive fullness. Only a clear airfield can receive
incoming planes."
Your Power of Natural Knowing, p. 142..........Vernon Howard
Silence...
Silence, unmoved and rising,
Silence, unmoved and sheltering,
Silence, unmoved and permanent,
Silence, unmoved and brilliant,
Silence, broad and immense like the Ganga,
Silence, unmoved and increasing,
Silence, white and shining like the Moon,
Silence, the Essence of Siva.
- Sivavakkiyar 10th Century, Tamil Poet
Silence, unmoved and sheltering,
Silence, unmoved and permanent,
Silence, unmoved and brilliant,
Silence, broad and immense like the Ganga,
Silence, unmoved and increasing,
Silence, white and shining like the Moon,
Silence, the Essence of Siva.
- Sivavakkiyar 10th Century, Tamil Poet
Meditation...
This idea, or belief, that we must go somewhere, meet someone, read something,
to accomplish life's best fulfilment is the first and last mistake. In the end,
as in the beginning, we have nothing else to do except obey the ancient command
to LOOK WITHIN.
The truth needed for immediate and provisional use may be learned from books and
teachers but the truth of the ultimate revelation can be learned only from and
within oneself by meditation.
The purely intellectual approach to the Overself can never replace the
psychological experience of it. This latter is and must be supreme.
In the life and work of the philosophical aspirant, meditation takes an
important place. There are several different ways and traditions in such work,
so that the aspirant may find what suits him. Although sometimes it is better
for him to discipline himself and practise with a way to which he is not
attracted--that is only sometimes. Generally, it is easier to learn the art of
meditation if we take the way that appeals to us individually. Meditation is,
however, and should be, only part of the program. The importance given to it can
be exaggerated. The work on oneself, on one's character and tendencies, is also
important. The study of the teachings is equally important. And so, out of all
these approaches, there comes a ripening, a broad maturity which prepares the
aspirant for recognition and full reception of the grace--should it come.
In most cases, students must be reminded of the importance of practising
meditation daily and not just occasionally. Lack of time or energy are no longer
acceptable excuses: time can be made for other things easily enough, so let it
be made for meditation, too; and laziness or inertia can be overcome by simply
applying determination and a little self-discipline. The student who
deliberately sticks to his task, and persists through the initial irksomeness of
this practice, will find that the eventual results justify all inconveniences.
Meditation is essential in order to develop sensitivity and intuition, which
play important roles on this Quest.
Notebooks of Paul Brunton-Importance of meditation.
to accomplish life's best fulfilment is the first and last mistake. In the end,
as in the beginning, we have nothing else to do except obey the ancient command
to LOOK WITHIN.
The truth needed for immediate and provisional use may be learned from books and
teachers but the truth of the ultimate revelation can be learned only from and
within oneself by meditation.
The purely intellectual approach to the Overself can never replace the
psychological experience of it. This latter is and must be supreme.
In the life and work of the philosophical aspirant, meditation takes an
important place. There are several different ways and traditions in such work,
so that the aspirant may find what suits him. Although sometimes it is better
for him to discipline himself and practise with a way to which he is not
attracted--that is only sometimes. Generally, it is easier to learn the art of
meditation if we take the way that appeals to us individually. Meditation is,
however, and should be, only part of the program. The importance given to it can
be exaggerated. The work on oneself, on one's character and tendencies, is also
important. The study of the teachings is equally important. And so, out of all
these approaches, there comes a ripening, a broad maturity which prepares the
aspirant for recognition and full reception of the grace--should it come.
In most cases, students must be reminded of the importance of practising
meditation daily and not just occasionally. Lack of time or energy are no longer
acceptable excuses: time can be made for other things easily enough, so let it
be made for meditation, too; and laziness or inertia can be overcome by simply
applying determination and a little self-discipline. The student who
deliberately sticks to his task, and persists through the initial irksomeness of
this practice, will find that the eventual results justify all inconveniences.
Meditation is essential in order to develop sensitivity and intuition, which
play important roles on this Quest.
Notebooks of Paul Brunton-Importance of meditation.
Consciousness as God...
The soul is in itself a most lovely and perfect image of God.
St. John of the Cross
To many, the statement "I am God" rings of blasphemy. God, according to conventional religion, is the supreme deity, the almighty eternal omniscient creator. How can any lowly human being claim that he or she is God?
When the fourteenth-century Christian priest and mystic Meister Eckhart preached that "God and I are One" he was brought before Pope John XXII and forced to "recant everything that he had falsely taught." Others suffered a worse fate. The tenth-century Islamic mystic al-Hallãj was crucified for using language that claimed an identity with God.
Yet when mystics say "I am God," or words to that effect, they are not talking of an individual person. Their inner explorations have revealed the true nature of the self, and it is this that they identify with God. They are claiming that the essence of self, the sense of "I am" without any personal attributes, is God.
The contemporary scholar and mystic Thomas Merton put it very clearly:
If I penetrate to the depths of my own existence and my own present reality, the indefinable am that is myself in its deepest roots, then through this deep center I pass into the infinite I am which is the very Name of the Almighty.
"I am" is one of the Hebrew names of God, Yahweh. Derived from the Hebrew YHWH, the unspeakable name of God, it is often translated as "I AM THAT I AM."
I am the infinite deep
In whom all the worlds appear to rise.
Beyond all form, forever still.
So am I
Ashtavakra Gita
Similar claims appear in Eastern traditions. The great Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharshi said:
"I am" is the name of God… God is none other than the Self.
In the twelfth century, Ibn-Al-Arabi, one of the most revered Sufi mystics, wrote:
If thou knowest thine own self, thou knowest God.
Shankara, the eight-century Indian saint, whose insights revitalized Hindu teachings, said of his own enlightenment:
I am Brahman… I dwell within all beings as the soul, the pure consciousness, the ground of all phenomena... In the days of my ignorance, I used to think of these as being separate from myself. Now I know that I am All.
This sheds new light on the Biblical injunction "Be still, and know that I am God." I do not believe it means:: "Stop fidgeting around and recognize that the person who is speaking to you is the almighty God of all creation." It makes much more sense as an encouragement to still the mind, and know, not as an intellectual understanding but as a direct realization, that the "I am" that is your essential self, the pure consciousness that lies behind all experience, is God.
This concept of God is not of a separate superior being, existing in some other realm, overlooking human affairs and loving or judging us according to our deeds. God is in each and every one of us, the most intimate and undeniable aspect of ourselves. God is the light of consciousness that shines in every mind.
I Am the Truth
Identifying God with the light of consciousness brings new meaning and significance to many traditional descriptions of God.
Whatever is taking place in my mind, whatever I may be thinking, believing, feeling or sensing, the one thing I cannot doubt is consciousness. Consciousness is my only absolute, unquestionable truth. If the faculty of consciousness is God, then God is the truth.
The same applies to other people. The only thing I do not doubt about you is that you are conscious and have your own interior world of experience. I can doubt your physical form–indeed, modern physics tells me there is nothing really there, no material thing, that is. All that I perceive of you is a projection in my mind. I can doubt what you say. I can doubt your thoughts and feelings. But I do not doubt that "in there" is another conscious being like myself.
Like God, consciousness is omnipresent. Whatever our experience, consciousness is always there. It is eternal, everlasting.
When I say "I am," I do not mean a separate entity with a body as its nucleus. I mean the totality of being, the ocean of consciousness, the entire universe of all that is and knows.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
God is omniscient, all-knowing. So too, consciousness is the essence and source of all our knowing. It lies behind all understanding.
God is the creator. Everything in our world, everything we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch; every thought, feeling, fantasy, intimation, hope, and fear; it is all a form that consciousness has taken on. Everything has been created in consciousness from consciousness. I, the light of consciousness, am the creator.
I am the God of my universe. And you are the God of yours.
God is Almighty. What greater power is there than the power of consciousness to appear as the myriad of forms we experience, everything in the world we see, hear, taste. touch and smell.
This pure Mind, the source of everything,
Shines forever and on all with the brilliance of its own perfection.
But the people of the world do not awake to it,
Regarding only that which sees, hears, feels and knows as mind,
Blinded by their own sight, hearing, feeling and knowing,
They do not perceive the spectral brilliance of the source of all substance.
Huang Po
The Materialist Mindset
Not only do traditional descriptions of God make new sense when God is identified with the faculty of consciousness, so do many spiritual practices. The key is the way we create of our personal reality.
In earlier chapters, we considered our construction of reality in terms of our sensory perception–the sounds, colors, and sensations we experience. The way in which we produce this picture of the world is more or less hard-wired into the brain. How we interpret this picture, however, varies considerably. You and I may assess a person’s actions in very different ways. We may read very different meanings into a news story, or see a situation at work in very different lights. These varying interpretations stem from the beliefs, assumptions and expectations we bring to the situation–what psychologists call our mind sets.
In much the same way as our various scientific paradigms are founded on an even more fundamental belief, or metaparadigm, the various assumptions that determine the meaning we give to our experience are based on a more fundamental mindset. We believe that inner peace and fulfillment comes from what we have or do in the external world.
Tragically, this way of thinking actually prevents us finding true peace of mind. We can become so busy worrying about whether or not we may be at peace in the future, or so busy being angry or resentful about what has stood in the way of peace in the past, we never have the chance to be at peace in the present...............Peterrussel.com
St. John of the Cross
To many, the statement "I am God" rings of blasphemy. God, according to conventional religion, is the supreme deity, the almighty eternal omniscient creator. How can any lowly human being claim that he or she is God?
When the fourteenth-century Christian priest and mystic Meister Eckhart preached that "God and I are One" he was brought before Pope John XXII and forced to "recant everything that he had falsely taught." Others suffered a worse fate. The tenth-century Islamic mystic al-Hallãj was crucified for using language that claimed an identity with God.
Yet when mystics say "I am God," or words to that effect, they are not talking of an individual person. Their inner explorations have revealed the true nature of the self, and it is this that they identify with God. They are claiming that the essence of self, the sense of "I am" without any personal attributes, is God.
The contemporary scholar and mystic Thomas Merton put it very clearly:
If I penetrate to the depths of my own existence and my own present reality, the indefinable am that is myself in its deepest roots, then through this deep center I pass into the infinite I am which is the very Name of the Almighty.
"I am" is one of the Hebrew names of God, Yahweh. Derived from the Hebrew YHWH, the unspeakable name of God, it is often translated as "I AM THAT I AM."
I am the infinite deep
In whom all the worlds appear to rise.
Beyond all form, forever still.
So am I
Ashtavakra Gita
Similar claims appear in Eastern traditions. The great Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharshi said:
"I am" is the name of God… God is none other than the Self.
In the twelfth century, Ibn-Al-Arabi, one of the most revered Sufi mystics, wrote:
If thou knowest thine own self, thou knowest God.
Shankara, the eight-century Indian saint, whose insights revitalized Hindu teachings, said of his own enlightenment:
I am Brahman… I dwell within all beings as the soul, the pure consciousness, the ground of all phenomena... In the days of my ignorance, I used to think of these as being separate from myself. Now I know that I am All.
This sheds new light on the Biblical injunction "Be still, and know that I am God." I do not believe it means:: "Stop fidgeting around and recognize that the person who is speaking to you is the almighty God of all creation." It makes much more sense as an encouragement to still the mind, and know, not as an intellectual understanding but as a direct realization, that the "I am" that is your essential self, the pure consciousness that lies behind all experience, is God.
This concept of God is not of a separate superior being, existing in some other realm, overlooking human affairs and loving or judging us according to our deeds. God is in each and every one of us, the most intimate and undeniable aspect of ourselves. God is the light of consciousness that shines in every mind.
I Am the Truth
Identifying God with the light of consciousness brings new meaning and significance to many traditional descriptions of God.
Whatever is taking place in my mind, whatever I may be thinking, believing, feeling or sensing, the one thing I cannot doubt is consciousness. Consciousness is my only absolute, unquestionable truth. If the faculty of consciousness is God, then God is the truth.
The same applies to other people. The only thing I do not doubt about you is that you are conscious and have your own interior world of experience. I can doubt your physical form–indeed, modern physics tells me there is nothing really there, no material thing, that is. All that I perceive of you is a projection in my mind. I can doubt what you say. I can doubt your thoughts and feelings. But I do not doubt that "in there" is another conscious being like myself.
Like God, consciousness is omnipresent. Whatever our experience, consciousness is always there. It is eternal, everlasting.
When I say "I am," I do not mean a separate entity with a body as its nucleus. I mean the totality of being, the ocean of consciousness, the entire universe of all that is and knows.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
God is omniscient, all-knowing. So too, consciousness is the essence and source of all our knowing. It lies behind all understanding.
God is the creator. Everything in our world, everything we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch; every thought, feeling, fantasy, intimation, hope, and fear; it is all a form that consciousness has taken on. Everything has been created in consciousness from consciousness. I, the light of consciousness, am the creator.
I am the God of my universe. And you are the God of yours.
God is Almighty. What greater power is there than the power of consciousness to appear as the myriad of forms we experience, everything in the world we see, hear, taste. touch and smell.
This pure Mind, the source of everything,
Shines forever and on all with the brilliance of its own perfection.
But the people of the world do not awake to it,
Regarding only that which sees, hears, feels and knows as mind,
Blinded by their own sight, hearing, feeling and knowing,
They do not perceive the spectral brilliance of the source of all substance.
Huang Po
The Materialist Mindset
Not only do traditional descriptions of God make new sense when God is identified with the faculty of consciousness, so do many spiritual practices. The key is the way we create of our personal reality.
In earlier chapters, we considered our construction of reality in terms of our sensory perception–the sounds, colors, and sensations we experience. The way in which we produce this picture of the world is more or less hard-wired into the brain. How we interpret this picture, however, varies considerably. You and I may assess a person’s actions in very different ways. We may read very different meanings into a news story, or see a situation at work in very different lights. These varying interpretations stem from the beliefs, assumptions and expectations we bring to the situation–what psychologists call our mind sets.
In much the same way as our various scientific paradigms are founded on an even more fundamental belief, or metaparadigm, the various assumptions that determine the meaning we give to our experience are based on a more fundamental mindset. We believe that inner peace and fulfillment comes from what we have or do in the external world.
Tragically, this way of thinking actually prevents us finding true peace of mind. We can become so busy worrying about whether or not we may be at peace in the future, or so busy being angry or resentful about what has stood in the way of peace in the past, we never have the chance to be at peace in the present...............Peterrussel.com
Deepak Choprah Quotes...
"What would you do if you had all the money and all the time in the world?
Do that, and you will have all the money and all the time in the world."
And another:
"State your desire to the Universe, and relinquish your attachment to the
outcome."
Do that, and you will have all the money and all the time in the world."
And another:
"State your desire to the Universe, and relinquish your attachment to the
outcome."
Divine and human will...
The difference between the divine and the human will is like the difference
between the trunk of a tree and its branches. As from the boughs other twigs and
branches spring, so the will of one
powerful individual has branches going through the will of other individuals. So
there are the powerful beings, the masters of humanity. Their will is God's
will, their word is God's word, and yet they are branches, because the trunk is
the will of the Almighty. Whether the branch be large or small, every branch has
the same origin and the same root as the stem.
From the Teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Selected & arranged by
HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN
between the trunk of a tree and its branches. As from the boughs other twigs and
branches spring, so the will of one
powerful individual has branches going through the will of other individuals. So
there are the powerful beings, the masters of humanity. Their will is God's
will, their word is God's word, and yet they are branches, because the trunk is
the will of the Almighty. Whether the branch be large or small, every branch has
the same origin and the same root as the stem.
From the Teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Selected & arranged by
HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN
Annihilation of self...
The Sheikh (may Allah be well pleased with him, and grant him contentment) said:
When you arrive and get near to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) you will
know that this is through His guidance and by His Grace. What is meant by
arriving and becoming near to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He)? You have to
make your exit from the domain of creation, from your passions, from your will
and from your desires. Then you become conscious and aware of His actions. Now
you follow His actions and abide with His commands without evoking any movement
from your side in your heart, and your heart will only move in response to His
wisdom, decrees and actions. Accordingly, to arrive and be near Allah (Almighty
and Glorious is He) means a state of annihilation to yourself [fana']. Remember
that arriving and becoming near to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) is not
like what we ordinarily understand by becoming near to one of His creatures.
"Revelations from the unseen" by The Sheikh Abdulkader Al Jilani
When you arrive and get near to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) you will
know that this is through His guidance and by His Grace. What is meant by
arriving and becoming near to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He)? You have to
make your exit from the domain of creation, from your passions, from your will
and from your desires. Then you become conscious and aware of His actions. Now
you follow His actions and abide with His commands without evoking any movement
from your side in your heart, and your heart will only move in response to His
wisdom, decrees and actions. Accordingly, to arrive and be near Allah (Almighty
and Glorious is He) means a state of annihilation to yourself [fana']. Remember
that arriving and becoming near to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) is not
like what we ordinarily understand by becoming near to one of His creatures.
"Revelations from the unseen" by The Sheikh Abdulkader Al Jilani
Paul Brunton Quote...
We are neither the originator of this doctrine nor even its prophet. The first man who ventured into the unknown within-ness of the Universe and of himself was its originator whilst every man who has since voiced this discovery has been its prophet. The day will come when science, waking more fully than it is now from its materialistic sleep, will confess humbly that the soul of man does really exist.
Men are free to imprison their hearts and minds in soulless materialism or to claim their liberty in the wider life of spiritual truth. Let them pull aside their mental curtains and admit the life-giving sunlight of truth.
What could be closer to a man than his own mind? What therefore should be more easy to examine and understand? Yet the contrary is actually true. He knows only the surfaces of the mind; its deeps remain unknown.
If the mind is to b ecome conscious of itself, it can do so only by freeing itself from the ceaseless activity of its thoughts. The systematic exercise of meditation is the deliberate attempt to achieve this. Just as muddied water clears if the earth in it is left alone to settle, so the agitated mind clarifies its perceptions if left alone through meditation to settle quietly. There exists a part of man's nature of which ordinarily he is completely ignorant, and of whose importance he is usually sceptical.
What is the truest highest purpose of man's life? It is to be taken possession of by his higher self. His dissatisfactions are incurable by any other remedy. Spinoza saw and wrote that man's true happiness lay in drawing nearer to the Infinite Being. Sanatkumara, the Indian Sage, saw and taught, "That which is Infinity is indeed bliss; there can be no happiness in limited things."
— Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 2: Its Choice > # 1
Men are free to imprison their hearts and minds in soulless materialism or to claim their liberty in the wider life of spiritual truth. Let them pull aside their mental curtains and admit the life-giving sunlight of truth.
What could be closer to a man than his own mind? What therefore should be more easy to examine and understand? Yet the contrary is actually true. He knows only the surfaces of the mind; its deeps remain unknown.
If the mind is to b ecome conscious of itself, it can do so only by freeing itself from the ceaseless activity of its thoughts. The systematic exercise of meditation is the deliberate attempt to achieve this. Just as muddied water clears if the earth in it is left alone to settle, so the agitated mind clarifies its perceptions if left alone through meditation to settle quietly. There exists a part of man's nature of which ordinarily he is completely ignorant, and of whose importance he is usually sceptical.
What is the truest highest purpose of man's life? It is to be taken possession of by his higher self. His dissatisfactions are incurable by any other remedy. Spinoza saw and wrote that man's true happiness lay in drawing nearer to the Infinite Being. Sanatkumara, the Indian Sage, saw and taught, "That which is Infinity is indeed bliss; there can be no happiness in limited things."
— Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 2: Its Choice > # 1
Doubts are Gone...
In the last verse spoken by Arjuna in the Gita, he declares that all his doubts are gone and that he has gained recognition of the true Self. Hence all his questions cease. His enquiry into Truth has come to an end. Nothing more is said either by him or his teacher. Both enter into a state of silence and this silence is revealed as the highest, because the spirit is beyond both the agitations of intellect and the babble of speech. It is best felt and known, understood and communicated, through such inner stillness..............Paul Brunton
Love Your Enemy...
The prescription to love your enemy and to requite evil with good is sometimes thought of as an impractical or impossible ethic, able to be practiced only by a few exceptional souls. But, in fact, this doctrine is widely taught in all religions as a fundamental principle for pursuing relationships with others.
The person who insists upon vengeance or retribution is not necessarily committing a crime, but neither will his act of revenge be helpful to spiritual advancement. Revenge, which requites evil with evil, only multiplies evil in the world, while love, by in which one strives to overcome evil with good, spreads goodness in the world.
True love is unconditional and impartial--thus the metaphor of the sun that shines down on all life. It is tested and proven by encounters with those who are difficult to love. Where true love prevails, there no enemies are found.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me!" In those who harbor such thoughts hatred is not appeased.
"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me!" In those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred is appeased.
Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world; through love alone they cease. This is an eternal law.
1.Buddhism. Dhammapada 3-5
You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
2.Christianity. Matthew 5.43-48
My Lord! Others have fallen back in showing compassion to their benefactors as you have shown compassion even to your malefactors. All this is unparalleled.
3.Jainism. Vitaragastava 14.5
Of the adage, Only a good man knows how to like people, knows how to dislike them, Confucius said, "He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon Goodness will dislike no one."
4.Confucianism. Analects 4.3-4
I should be like the sun, shining universally on all without seeking thanks or reward, able to take care of all sentient beings even if they are bad, never giving up on my vows on this account, not abandoning all sentient beings because one sentient being is evil.
5.Buddhism. Garland Sutra 23
What kind of love is this that to another can shift? Says Nanak, True lovers are those who are forever absorbed in the Beloved. Whoever discriminates between treatment held good or bad, Is not a true lover--he rather is caught in calculations.
6.Sikhism. Adi Granth, Asa-ki-Var, M.2, p. 474
The sage has no fixed [personal] ideas.
He regards the people's ideas as his own.
I treat those who are good with goodness,
And I also treat those who are not good with goodness.
Thus goodness is attained.
I am honest with those who are honest,
And I am also honest with those who are dishonest.
Thus honesty is attained.
7.Taoism. Tao Te Ching 49
It may be that God will ordain love between you and those whom you hold as enemies. For God has power over all things; and God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
8.Islam. Qur'an 60.7
Aid an enemy before you aid a friend, to subdue hatred.
9.Judaism. Tosefta, Baba Metzia 2.26
Do good to him who has done you an injury.
10.Taoism. Tao Te Ching 63
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
11.Christianity. Romans 12.21
God said, "Resemble Me; just as I repay good for evil so do you also repay good for evil."
12.Judaism. Exodus Rabbah 26.2
Conquer anger by love. Conquer evil by good. Conquer the stingy by giving. Conquer the liar by truth.
13.Buddhism. Dhammapada 223
Man should subvert anger by forgiveness, subdue pride by modesty, overcome hypocrisy with simplicity, and greed by contentment.
14.Jainism. Samanasuttam 136
May generosity triumph over niggardliness,
May love triumph over contempt,
May the true-spoken word triumph over the false-spoken word,
May truth triumph over falsehood.
15.Zoroastrianism. Yasna 60.5
The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo!, he between whom and you there was enmity shall become as though he were a bosom friend.
But none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save a person of great good fortune.
16.Islam. Qur'an 41.34-35
A superior being does not render evil for evil; this is a maxim one should observe; the ornament of virtuous persons is their conduct. One should never harm the wicked or the good or even criminals meriting death. A noble soul will ever exercise compassion even towards those who enjoy injuring others or those of cruel deeds when they are actually committing them--for who is without fault?
17.Hinduism. Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda 115
The reason why God does not punish even though He may see an enemy and have the urge to kill him and get revenge, is that He is thinking of the enemy's parents, wife and children who all love. Knowing all too well their unparalleled love toward that person, God cannot strike him with His iron rod. When you really understand such a heart of God, could you take revenge on your enemy? When you know all these things, you would even go and help that person. In this manner one comes closer to the Great Way of heavenly Principle, that Great Way which tries to embrace everything centering on love. When this happens earth will shake and induce even God to shed tears. "You truly resemble me. How happy I am!" He will ex- claim. God always looks at things in that perspective. This is how we should understand the teaching to love one's enemy. The source of such a power to love your enemy is neither knowledge, nor money, nor earthly power. It is only true love.
18.Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 3-30-90
Someone said, "What do you say concerning the principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness?" The Master said, "With what will you then recompense kindness? Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness."
19.Confucianism. Analects 14.36
According to Anas ibn Malik, the Prophet said, "Help your brother whether he is oppressor or oppressed."
According to Anas, after the Messenger of God said, "Help your brother whether he is oppressor or oppressed," Anas replied to him, "O Messenger of God, a man who is oppressed I am ready to help, but how does one help an oppressor?" "By hindering him doing wrong," he said.
20.Islam. Hadith of Bukhari
The person who insists upon vengeance or retribution is not necessarily committing a crime, but neither will his act of revenge be helpful to spiritual advancement. Revenge, which requites evil with evil, only multiplies evil in the world, while love, by in which one strives to overcome evil with good, spreads goodness in the world.
True love is unconditional and impartial--thus the metaphor of the sun that shines down on all life. It is tested and proven by encounters with those who are difficult to love. Where true love prevails, there no enemies are found.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me!" In those who harbor such thoughts hatred is not appeased.
"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me!" In those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred is appeased.
Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world; through love alone they cease. This is an eternal law.
1.Buddhism. Dhammapada 3-5
You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
2.Christianity. Matthew 5.43-48
My Lord! Others have fallen back in showing compassion to their benefactors as you have shown compassion even to your malefactors. All this is unparalleled.
3.Jainism. Vitaragastava 14.5
Of the adage, Only a good man knows how to like people, knows how to dislike them, Confucius said, "He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon Goodness will dislike no one."
4.Confucianism. Analects 4.3-4
I should be like the sun, shining universally on all without seeking thanks or reward, able to take care of all sentient beings even if they are bad, never giving up on my vows on this account, not abandoning all sentient beings because one sentient being is evil.
5.Buddhism. Garland Sutra 23
What kind of love is this that to another can shift? Says Nanak, True lovers are those who are forever absorbed in the Beloved. Whoever discriminates between treatment held good or bad, Is not a true lover--he rather is caught in calculations.
6.Sikhism. Adi Granth, Asa-ki-Var, M.2, p. 474
The sage has no fixed [personal] ideas.
He regards the people's ideas as his own.
I treat those who are good with goodness,
And I also treat those who are not good with goodness.
Thus goodness is attained.
I am honest with those who are honest,
And I am also honest with those who are dishonest.
Thus honesty is attained.
7.Taoism. Tao Te Ching 49
It may be that God will ordain love between you and those whom you hold as enemies. For God has power over all things; and God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
8.Islam. Qur'an 60.7
Aid an enemy before you aid a friend, to subdue hatred.
9.Judaism. Tosefta, Baba Metzia 2.26
Do good to him who has done you an injury.
10.Taoism. Tao Te Ching 63
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
11.Christianity. Romans 12.21
God said, "Resemble Me; just as I repay good for evil so do you also repay good for evil."
12.Judaism. Exodus Rabbah 26.2
Conquer anger by love. Conquer evil by good. Conquer the stingy by giving. Conquer the liar by truth.
13.Buddhism. Dhammapada 223
Man should subvert anger by forgiveness, subdue pride by modesty, overcome hypocrisy with simplicity, and greed by contentment.
14.Jainism. Samanasuttam 136
May generosity triumph over niggardliness,
May love triumph over contempt,
May the true-spoken word triumph over the false-spoken word,
May truth triumph over falsehood.
15.Zoroastrianism. Yasna 60.5
The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo!, he between whom and you there was enmity shall become as though he were a bosom friend.
But none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save a person of great good fortune.
16.Islam. Qur'an 41.34-35
A superior being does not render evil for evil; this is a maxim one should observe; the ornament of virtuous persons is their conduct. One should never harm the wicked or the good or even criminals meriting death. A noble soul will ever exercise compassion even towards those who enjoy injuring others or those of cruel deeds when they are actually committing them--for who is without fault?
17.Hinduism. Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda 115
The reason why God does not punish even though He may see an enemy and have the urge to kill him and get revenge, is that He is thinking of the enemy's parents, wife and children who all love. Knowing all too well their unparalleled love toward that person, God cannot strike him with His iron rod. When you really understand such a heart of God, could you take revenge on your enemy? When you know all these things, you would even go and help that person. In this manner one comes closer to the Great Way of heavenly Principle, that Great Way which tries to embrace everything centering on love. When this happens earth will shake and induce even God to shed tears. "You truly resemble me. How happy I am!" He will ex- claim. God always looks at things in that perspective. This is how we should understand the teaching to love one's enemy. The source of such a power to love your enemy is neither knowledge, nor money, nor earthly power. It is only true love.
18.Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 3-30-90
Someone said, "What do you say concerning the principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness?" The Master said, "With what will you then recompense kindness? Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness."
19.Confucianism. Analects 14.36
According to Anas ibn Malik, the Prophet said, "Help your brother whether he is oppressor or oppressed."
According to Anas, after the Messenger of God said, "Help your brother whether he is oppressor or oppressed," Anas replied to him, "O Messenger of God, a man who is oppressed I am ready to help, but how does one help an oppressor?" "By hindering him doing wrong," he said.
20.Islam. Hadith of Bukhari
No Fear...
Am I not here, who am your Mother?
Are you not under my shadow and my protection?
Am I not the source of your joy?
Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crook of my arms?
Do you need anything else?
(Christian, Our Lady of Guadaloupe)
Are you not under my shadow and my protection?
Am I not the source of your joy?
Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crook of my arms?
Do you need anything else?
(Christian, Our Lady of Guadaloupe)
THE PRESENCE OF GOD...
My Lord, boundless as
The sun and moon
Lighting heaven and earth;
How then can I have concerns
About what is to be?
(Shinto, Man'yoshu XX)
The sun and moon
Lighting heaven and earth;
How then can I have concerns
About what is to be?
(Shinto, Man'yoshu XX)
You are Consciousness...
To take appearance for reality is a grievous
sin and the cause of all calamities. You are
the all-pervading, eternal and infinitely creative
awareness - consciousness. All else is local and
temporary. Don't forget what you are.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
sin and the cause of all calamities. You are
the all-pervading, eternal and infinitely creative
awareness - consciousness. All else is local and
temporary. Don't forget what you are.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
A Dream...
Every experience on the physical or astral plane is just a dream before the
soul. It is ignorance when it takes this experience to be real.
From the Teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
soul. It is ignorance when it takes this experience to be real.
From the Teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Do not look for thanks or appreciation ...
Love lies in service; only that which is done not for fame or name, not for the
appreciation or thanks of those for whom it is done, is love's service.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Love lies in service. Only that which is done, not for fame or name, nor for the
appreciation or thanks of those for whom it is done, is love's service.
The lover shows kindness and beneficence to the beloved. He does whatever he can
for the beloved in the way of help, service, sacrifice, kindness, or rescue, and
hides it from the world and even from the beloved. If the beloved does anything
for him he exaggerates it, idealizes it, makes it into a mountain from a
molehill. He takes poison from the hands of the beloved as sugar, and love's
pain in the wound of his heart is his only joy. By magnifying and idealizing
whatever the beloved does for him and by diminishing and forgetting whatever he
himself does for the beloved, he first develops his own gratitude, which creates
all goodness in his life.
The Sufi moral is this: Love another and do not depend upon his love; and: Do
good to another and do not depend upon receiving good from him; serve another
and do not look for service from him. All you do for another out of your love
and kindness, you should think that you do, not to that person, but to God. And
if the person returns love for love, goodness for goodness, service for service,
so much the better. If he does not return it, then pity him for what he loses;
for his gain is much less than his loss.
Do not look for thanks or appreciation for all the good you do to others, nor
use it as a means to stimulate your vanity. Do all that you consider good for
the sake of goodness, not even for a return of that from God.
appreciation or thanks of those for whom it is done, is love's service.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Love lies in service. Only that which is done, not for fame or name, nor for the
appreciation or thanks of those for whom it is done, is love's service.
The lover shows kindness and beneficence to the beloved. He does whatever he can
for the beloved in the way of help, service, sacrifice, kindness, or rescue, and
hides it from the world and even from the beloved. If the beloved does anything
for him he exaggerates it, idealizes it, makes it into a mountain from a
molehill. He takes poison from the hands of the beloved as sugar, and love's
pain in the wound of his heart is his only joy. By magnifying and idealizing
whatever the beloved does for him and by diminishing and forgetting whatever he
himself does for the beloved, he first develops his own gratitude, which creates
all goodness in his life.
The Sufi moral is this: Love another and do not depend upon his love; and: Do
good to another and do not depend upon receiving good from him; serve another
and do not look for service from him. All you do for another out of your love
and kindness, you should think that you do, not to that person, but to God. And
if the person returns love for love, goodness for goodness, service for service,
so much the better. If he does not return it, then pity him for what he loses;
for his gain is much less than his loss.
Do not look for thanks or appreciation for all the good you do to others, nor
use it as a means to stimulate your vanity. Do all that you consider good for
the sake of goodness, not even for a return of that from God.
Clearing the Mind...
Taking no theoretical position, not committed to any beliefs, not wearing any labels, not putting himself in any categories, the philosophical student starts his search for truth in intellectual freedom and ends it in personal inner freedom. He is then what he is...............Paul Brunton
Mystic...
Mystic may refer to:
A person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery a mystic knows or studies. It may also be a person who seeks the truth of life beyond the five senses.
The Christian mystic’s goal is to reach for the highest level of Christian perfection, which is to have a heart filled with the Holy Spirit, to have a mind united with the mind of Christ, and to live free from sin and in perfect obedience to God’s will. In Christian mysticism the mystic seeks spiritual experiences of an overpowering sense of God being with the mystic in a very personal way. The mystical experience leaves the mystic feeling completely known by God, cared about and loved by God, even to the extent of feeling as though he or she were within God, or surrounded by the Holy Spirit.
Any Christian can have a mystical experience in the normal course of life, the Christian mystic on the other hand makes a conscious effort to draw near to God through deep prayer and the use of spiritual exercises aimed at opening the heart and mind to God. The mystic may feel overwhelmed by God’s love or power or wisdom and moved to tears, so mysticism is dismissed as overly emotional by some Christian academics.............From Wikipedia
A person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery a mystic knows or studies. It may also be a person who seeks the truth of life beyond the five senses.
The Christian mystic’s goal is to reach for the highest level of Christian perfection, which is to have a heart filled with the Holy Spirit, to have a mind united with the mind of Christ, and to live free from sin and in perfect obedience to God’s will. In Christian mysticism the mystic seeks spiritual experiences of an overpowering sense of God being with the mystic in a very personal way. The mystical experience leaves the mystic feeling completely known by God, cared about and loved by God, even to the extent of feeling as though he or she were within God, or surrounded by the Holy Spirit.
Any Christian can have a mystical experience in the normal course of life, the Christian mystic on the other hand makes a conscious effort to draw near to God through deep prayer and the use of spiritual exercises aimed at opening the heart and mind to God. The mystic may feel overwhelmed by God’s love or power or wisdom and moved to tears, so mysticism is dismissed as overly emotional by some Christian academics.............From Wikipedia
A Cloud of Unknowing...
Sometimes we try too hard to attain a deep understanding of truth. We feel that we need to have much knowledge, but this is not the truth, because God does not need your knowledge or your understanding in order to function. God functions “in a moment ye think not.” God functions clearly through something that passes understanding. God functions through you when you are unknowing. The Spirit of God flows through all those who are willing to remain an open channel as a beholder or a witness. The Spirit of God works through you, in you and as you when you rest back in a cloud of unknowing; when you have the attitude of a trusting child, then the Father can work It’s wonders.
We have read that “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” And it is the truth. But to demonstrate this truth it becomes necessary to have the simple awareness of a beholder. We do not need a deep understanding. We do not need a tremendous amount of knowledge. We only need the simple attitude of being still and beholding that Spirit of the Lord. And in this stillness, that Spirit flows through and does Its work in a way we know not of.
We learn to be receptive. We learn to stand a little to the side. Sometimes it is necessary to stop our studies, that is, stop trying to gain more knowledge. If we are to gain something, let us acquire this ability to trust; to step aside and be a beholder; to witness the Spirit working It’s works; to not have to know anything, not to have to understand anything, not have to be anything -- this is the way, the spiritual way of living and resting back in that cloud of unknowing. Here we have the firsthand experience of an inner "I" going before us to prepare a place for us, an Invisible Spirit which has come to give us Life and Life more abundantly. The greater works are always done through this inner state of unknowing.
--
Bill skiles www.mysticalprinciples.com
We have read that “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” And it is the truth. But to demonstrate this truth it becomes necessary to have the simple awareness of a beholder. We do not need a deep understanding. We do not need a tremendous amount of knowledge. We only need the simple attitude of being still and beholding that Spirit of the Lord. And in this stillness, that Spirit flows through and does Its work in a way we know not of.
We learn to be receptive. We learn to stand a little to the side. Sometimes it is necessary to stop our studies, that is, stop trying to gain more knowledge. If we are to gain something, let us acquire this ability to trust; to step aside and be a beholder; to witness the Spirit working It’s works; to not have to know anything, not to have to understand anything, not have to be anything -- this is the way, the spiritual way of living and resting back in that cloud of unknowing. Here we have the firsthand experience of an inner "I" going before us to prepare a place for us, an Invisible Spirit which has come to give us Life and Life more abundantly. The greater works are always done through this inner state of unknowing.
--
Bill skiles www.mysticalprinciples.com
God is All there Is...
If clear reasoning does deliver the perception of the allness of Truth, and if Truth is a synonym for God, then we may say: God is all there is.
~ Ernest Holmes, Your Invisible Power
~ Ernest Holmes, Your Invisible Power
The Kabbalah...
First we receive the Light; then we impart the Light.Thus we repair the world.
~ Kabbalah
~ Kabbalah
The Question...
The question remains, what have we to learn?..perhaps, that we are not the
separate entity that we believe we are.. perhaps, we are actually Light existing
within the energy of Love that inhabits a human body that is actually an
illusion.. Perhaps, we learn that selflessness leads to Freedom and Love.. What
have we learned within this illusion that we call life?...Have we learned that
it is just an illusion, a dream, a desire, a limitation?.. What have we
learned?.. Perhaps, we have learned that the energy of Love is Home...Perhaps,
we have learned that we are the "Prodigal Son"........namaste, thomas
separate entity that we believe we are.. perhaps, we are actually Light existing
within the energy of Love that inhabits a human body that is actually an
illusion.. Perhaps, we learn that selflessness leads to Freedom and Love.. What
have we learned within this illusion that we call life?...Have we learned that
it is just an illusion, a dream, a desire, a limitation?.. What have we
learned?.. Perhaps, we have learned that the energy of Love is Home...Perhaps,
we have learned that we are the "Prodigal Son"........namaste, thomas
Buddha's Teachings...
Buddha's teachings stood out so strongly: the root of suffering is the
misconception of the I to exist in its own right as an independent
entity. This means that nothing - from what we believe to be our own
self to other people, events and external objects themselves - exists
as it appears to exist. Our minds invest all things with non-existent
qualities, good or bad, which we believe to come from the side of the
object, not from our mind. We then react with attachment or anger
according to our projections. Thus the antidote to all suffering - the
path to peace and happiness - is the wisdom that sees through these
mistaken appearances. This wisdom sees that all things are empty of
our mental projections; empty of existing in the way we perceive them
to exist.
Lama Thubten Gyatso
misconception of the I to exist in its own right as an independent
entity. This means that nothing - from what we believe to be our own
self to other people, events and external objects themselves - exists
as it appears to exist. Our minds invest all things with non-existent
qualities, good or bad, which we believe to come from the side of the
object, not from our mind. We then react with attachment or anger
according to our projections. Thus the antidote to all suffering - the
path to peace and happiness - is the wisdom that sees through these
mistaken appearances. This wisdom sees that all things are empty of
our mental projections; empty of existing in the way we perceive them
to exist.
Lama Thubten Gyatso
Evolution...
The word evolution has been used lately, but the Truth is that Universal
Consciousness does not need to evolve.. We are already All that we need to Be..
Instead of evolution, we need Realization.. All the traveling for knowledge and
asending that you are seeking merely lead back to the beginning.. All
Knowledge is already within you, "The kingdom of Truth is within".. Whether the
planetery system rises in frequency so that all souls will have an increased
consciousness is minute to the Realization that you are already far beyond this
state.. Heaven on Earth is found only through your Self.. Whether all humans
reach this state through the increase in frequencies or not is really not all
that important.. because, through adversity we grow more quickly, this is why we
came here in the first place.. Concentrate your mind upon the Energy of Love and
All will be revealed to you..............namaste, thomas
Consciousness does not need to evolve.. We are already All that we need to Be..
Instead of evolution, we need Realization.. All the traveling for knowledge and
asending that you are seeking merely lead back to the beginning.. All
Knowledge is already within you, "The kingdom of Truth is within".. Whether the
planetery system rises in frequency so that all souls will have an increased
consciousness is minute to the Realization that you are already far beyond this
state.. Heaven on Earth is found only through your Self.. Whether all humans
reach this state through the increase in frequencies or not is really not all
that important.. because, through adversity we grow more quickly, this is why we
came here in the first place.. Concentrate your mind upon the Energy of Love and
All will be revealed to you..............namaste, thomas
TIME AND ETERNITY...
May 2, 2009
Laurance R. Doyle
I understand there are some folks here today that have not previously
been
introduced to Christian Science. You may wonder why an astrophysicist
has been
asked to address the annual meeting of a Christian Science Nursing
Facility. I'm
not as familiar with various religious communities as I am with the
scientific
community, but when introducing Christian Science I would point out that
Christian Scientists do not so much consider themselves as a faith-based
congregation as a science-based congregation. That is to say, blind
faith is not
encouraged while scientific understanding is. How can scientific
understanding
be applied to things that are spiritual? you might ask. Well, in
Christian
Science spiritual evidence is taken as being more reliable than material
evidence -- that is, more reliable than the evidence of the senses.
This is not
something new to any science, really. It was when the evidence of
intelligence
began to take precedence over the evidence of the appearances that the
Scientific Revolution actually began. In that case it was the
intelligent
evidence that the Earth went around the Sun over the sense appearance
that the
Sun went around the Earth. We'll refer to this a bit more later. So in
Christian
Science spiritual evidence is not only acceptable, it is considered
the more
reliable.
We can look at various analogies that might help make this position more
tenable. One used a lot in the Christian Science Sunday School is about
mathematics. (And thanks to the Christian Scientists in the audience
for their
patience at this explanation.) The math is not, of course, in the
chalk on the
blackboard. The chalk is, at best, a limited representation of
mathematics when
an equation is correctly written on the blackboard. But, unlike
mathematics
itself, chalk can indicate a mistake if a sum is incorrectly written.
To be
original, let's take 2 + 2 =5. If we believe the chalk evidence then
the mistake
is more real than the truth. We can argue that chalk is more real
because it is
visible to the senses whereas the truth is not. We might even say that
the chalk
has power to do evil because when we believed 2 + 2 = 5 it, for
example, really
messed up our efforts to balance our bank account. Well, it only has
the power
to mess things up if you believe it to be true, right?
Christian Science training is not so different from the way one solves
a math
problem. First, while one seems to see a mistake on the blackboard
from the
evidence of the senses, one does not therefore conclude that
mathematics itself
has made the mistake. Rather one starts with the most basic
understanding that
mathematics is an unchanging, exact, perfect, and one could even say,
harmonious
principle that we need to, rather, align our thinking with so that the
right
answer can become evident. The right answer will not only be
reasonable, but
deeply intuitive and harmonious also. Mary Baker Eddy who discovered
Christian
Science, and whom we'll discuss in a moment, wrote about the process
this way
(S+H 259: 11-14), "The Christlike understanding of scientific being
and divine
healing includes a perfect Principle and idea, -- perfect God and
perfect man,
-- as the basis of thought and demonstration." So now, if I had not
previously
heard of Christian Science, I'd be asking at this point, what? Where
did Christ
come in? And are we talking about math or are we talking about God?
Well, in
Christian Science we consider Christ Jesus to have been the most
scientific
person to ever walk this planet. We do not consider that his mission
was to
found a church, nor that he performed what are called "miracles" in
defiance of
the natural laws of the universe. Christian Scientists consider these
miracles
actually demonstrations of the deeper nature of spiritual reality.
This is more
in line with what Christ Jesus himself said he came for. Jesus said,
(John 18:
37 To, to 1st .), "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I
into the
world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." Christ Jesus came
to show us
what the Truth is. He also said that his works, rather than other
people's word
for it, bore witness to his correctness, and also that if he did not
do the
works of healing we were not to believe him. He said the Source of the
works was
his Father, God, and that God was our Father too. Thus the Principle
of his
scientific demonstrations of healing was God, his Father, which might
be thought
of as another name for Life Itself. Rather than detracting from the
precious
sacredness of Christ Jesus teachings, the idea that he came to reveal
to us the
harmonious reality of God's creation reveals what a great purpose he
really had.
To reveal the Truth of spiritual reality.
Everything he taught and did helped to jolt us out of a false belief
in the
reliability of the senses and bring our understanding into line with the
thoughts of God. (Matt 5: 48), "Be ye therefore perfect even as your
Father,
which is in heaven, is perfect," he said. His goal for us was not to
become
perfect, but to be right now perfect -- and this relates to our talk
today. Mary
Baker Eddy, as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, is
greatly loved
and revered because she recognized that Christ Jesus was talking about
reality
when he taught and healed. She discovered that reality is spiritual
and perfect,
that this is what Christ Jesus had been teaching all along, and knew
that this
had been scientifically confirmed when she started to reproduce the
"miraculous"
healings that Jesus had performed. Realizing that this healing ability
was not
based upon a personality, but rather based upon the same Principle
that Jesus
demonstrated, she was able therefore to actually teach the healing
process to
others.
So hopefully this is an introductory background giving an idea about
where
Christian Scientists are coming from. You should feel free to try it out
yourself too. Allowing one's thinking to be aligned with the Mind that
is God is
not an exercise in human mind control -- it is an exercise in giving
up human
mind control. It is actually an exercise in seeing that there is only
one Mind
and that this Mind is God. Feel free to try this out. It won't hurt
you. You
can't overdose on Christian Science. You will find that previous
apparent
limitations -- whether in health, work, intelligence, inspiration,
world peace,
whatever -- will become less evident in your experience. But, again,
as LeVar
Burton says in the television show Reading Rainbow, "You don't have to
take my
word for it!" Try it out!
OK, hopefully now we're all pretty much on the same page. So let's now
talk a
bit about time and eternity. We'll just take a quick look at time as
physics
defines it, and then at eternity as metaphysics reveals it. Now you
may consider
this a topic for scientists, but Christian Scientists are scientists,
and we
shall see that correcting the false notion of time relates to the
solution of
many problems, including stress, aging, and healing. We shall find
that time is
considered an important healing ingredient in medical practice but
that it is
not a consideration in Christian Science healing at all. The two
currently most
successful foundations of modern physics -- general relativity and
quantum
mechanicsâ€"are apparently incompatible with each other according to
the current
understanding of modern physics. One of the fundamental differences
between
these two fields can be said to be based on their different concepts
of what
time actually is.
In general relativity time is a direction -- up, down, left, right,
back, forth,
in space, and "forwards" and "backwards" in time are the four
dimensions known
in physics as "spacetime." In general relativity, time is also
relative -- that
is to say that there are as many answers to the question, "What time
is it?" as
there are clocks in the universe. ("Clocks" here mean any measurement of
redundant matter -- atoms oscillating, planets orbiting, or the hands
of Big Ben
going around and around). Another interesting thing is that the faster
you go,
the less time you have, at least compared to folks going more slowly.
You've
heard the statement, "Haste makes waste" and according to relativistic
physics
what one wastes by haste is time itself. In general relativity, then,
time is
only stretched out by going faster so that everyone else seems to be
going much
faster then the speeding person. In other words, if you get in a
rocket and
accelerate fast enough (very fast), in the first hour of flight
thousands of
years could have passed on Earth.
However, the illusory nature of time has been understood by physicists
for some,
ah, "duration" now. It is difficult to avoid the term "time"
sometimes. That is,
most of the time I try not to use it. But the idea of a field against
which
things flow from past to future has been recognized as an illusion in
physics.
When Einstein's long-time friend, Michele Besso, passed on, Einstein
wrote a
letter to Besso's son (March 21, 1955), saying "For us, physicists, in
the soul,
the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly
persistent illusion." Of course, 80 years before this -- in a
victorian Age
where time was considered immutable -- Mary Baker Eddy had already
defined time
(S+H 595: 17-19 limits), in part, as "limits, . . . matter, . . .
error."
Now, as opposed to general relativity, what does quantum physics have
to say
about time? In quantum physics time is basically considered to be a
particle.
That is to say that it is a particle if it is measured -- it is a
probability
wave when no one looks at it. As I have mentioned before, the leading
theory in
quantum physics is that -- referring to material particles – nothing
really
exists as something until it is observed or measured. This is actually
called
the "quantum measurement problem" -- a problem because it is difficult
for
physicists (and, frankly, most other folks) to relate to things not
existing
until they are observed. (Other possible explanations are even more
far out; I'm
just taking the main stream interpretation here.) In quantum physics the
apparent transformation from possibility to actual sub-atomic particle
is called
"the collapse of the wave function." It's kind of like having a bunch
of 1/6ths
in the dice cup when playing a game that only become dice when they
are rolled
out onto the table. But this is apparently the case as many physics
labs have
shown. Mrs. Eddy once told a student who was not healing a case, "Get
a higher
sense of the nothingness of matter." In the Glossary of Science and
Health Mrs.
Eddy defines matter, in part, as (S+H 591: 8-9 Mythology): "Mythology;
mortality; another name for mortal mind; illusion". Note that one
cannot have
time without matter. One of the most fundamental discoveries in
quantum physics
is known as the "Uncertainty Principle." It is interesting that one
definition
of "Principle" is "A fundamental source or basis of something." So we
see, then,
that the fundamental source or basis of matter is uncertainty. The term
"uncertainty principle" is actually somewhat contradictory.
As we have said, one of the "particles" in quantum physics subject to
this
uncertainty is actually time itself. As I have mentioned before, I'm
being very
careful with nomenclature because I am trying to say something that is
really
mathematical in the English language. But if you want to share what
physicists
are presently discovering with others feel free to say it this way and
you will
not run into any problems with the physicists (or else send them to
me). In many
experiments in quantum physics, if one measures the energy of a tiny
particle,
for example, then one cannot measure precisely at what time it had
that energy.
And, vice versa, if one wants to precisely measure the time, then one
cannot
measure the energy precisely. We could contrast this with ideas, for
example. Is
2 + 2 ever equal to 3.99999999, or 4.0000001? No, it is always exact
and precise
-- perfectly and to as many decimal points as possible, always 4. So
mathematical ideas are always exact. (I might add that even irrational
-- that
is, ongoing -- numbers can be computed exactly.) As already mentioned,
imprecision only arises in the chalk. Quantum physics actually states
that
material measurement must be imprecise. The chalk also takes time to
correct,
while math does not take time to be correct because it is already
correct. So
while matter is subject to time, ideas exist only in the realm of
eternity. Mrs.
Eddy writes (S+H 463: 12-13), "A spiritual idea has not a single
element of
error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive." And by
the way,
you are one of the spiritual ideas she is talking about. General
relativity and
quantum physics can, then, at least agree that time is not an immutable
structure. To refer to Mrs. Eddy's definition of time again: "Mortal
measurements; limits, . . . ; matter; error; . . . " we should
certainly think
again if we find ourselves saying, "I'd like more time," shouldn't we?
Aren't we
saying, "Gee, I wish I had more limits so I could get everything
done!" Or "If I
only had more error I could find the right answers." The concept of
time seems
to be very prevalent today but it is, even in physics, understood to
be an
illusion. Let me say that immortality depends not on getting more time
but in
getting rid of it. I like what one reverend said when he was asked,
"What do you
think of immortality?" He said, "I'm enjoying every moment of it!"
Let's take an
example. When I went back east to teach at a little college that lies
along the
Mississippi River I remember thinking, "There is the old Mississippi."
But then
I realized it was not the same river at all. All the water I had seen
last time
was long gone out into the ocean. Hum, so why is it still the same
Mississippi
if no material component is the same? Well, it is also known that
every atom in
the human body is replaced every few years (98% in one year). If our
identity is
material, then how can we be the same people we were a few years ago?
You get,
for example, completely new liver atoms in a few weeks. So how can one
have
liver complaint for months? Clearly the concept of our identity being
fundamentally material does not work, even according to biology.
Let's take another example. One might ask, why should the human body
age just
because it has been orbiting around the Sun for a while? When we ask
someone's
age, aren't we asking, "How many orbits around the Sun has your body
traveled?"
(When people ask my age, I give it to them in kilometers.) The
assumption in the
question is that life was put into matter at birth. How long ago did the
impossible occur? Mrs. Eddy reminds us (S+H 245: 27), "Impossibilities
never
occur." She also points out (S+H 336: 2-6), "Mind never enters the
finite.
Intelligence never passes into non-intelligence, or matter. Good never
enters
into evil, the unlimited into the limited, the eternal into the
temporal, nor
the immortal into mortality." From a physicist's viewpoint, then,
there is no
known direct force connecting the orbit of the Earth with the aging of
the human
body. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (S+H 246: 10-13, 17-18),
"The
measurement of life by solar years robs youth and gives ugliness to
age. The
radiant sun of virtue and truth coexists with being. Manhood is its
eternal
noon, undimmed by a declining sun. . . . Never record ages."
Chronological data are no part of the vast forever." You are rather
ever eternal
because God has ever thought of you as His idea. But you are also
created every
moment by the divine Mind, so in that sense you can say that you are
"now' old.
We'll make up a fancier term, OK? You can say your age is
"eternitesimal" --
fresh from the Mind of God every moment. Mrs. Eddy addresses this age
thing by
asking and answering ten of the following eleven questions: (My 235:
15-27), "Is
God infinite? Yes. Did God make man? Yes. Did God make all that was
made? He
did. Is God Spirit? He is. Did infinite Spirit make that which is not
spiritual?
No. Who or what made matter? Matter as substance or intelligence never
was made.
Is mortal man a creator, is he matter or spirit? Neither one. Why?
Because
Spirit is God and infinite; hence there can be no other creator and no
other
creation. Man is but His image and likeness. Are you a Christian
Scientist? I
am. Do you adopt as truth the above statements? I do. Then why this
meaningless
commemoration of birthdays, since there are none?" The answer to this
last
question she leaves to us as an exercise for the student. I've had
occasion to
think about another statement of Mrs. Eddy's in Science and Health
with regard
to age, that also includes the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. She
writes,
(S+H 209: 16-24), "The compounded minerals or aggregated substances
composing
the earth, the relations which constituent masses hold to each other,
the
magnitudes, distances, and revolutions of the celestial bodies, are of
no real
importance, when we remember that they all must give place to the
spiritual fact
by the translation of man and the universe back into Spirit. In
proportion as
this is done, man and the universe will be found harmonious and
eternal." I
thought it was interesting that she had not written that the study of
astronomy
was of no importance -- she does, after all, put it first in the list of
"academics of the right sort" in Science and Health (S+H 195: 15-22).
Her
statement is actually that, " . . . the magnitudes, distances, and
revolutions
of the celestial bodies [themselves!] are of no real importance . . .
" That is,
frankly, a lot more profound statement.
Life does not depend on the distance to the Sun, or how bright the Sun
is, does
it? Life, and its expression, does not depend on the revolution of the
Earth
around the Sun either, in other words, on number of days or number of
years you
have traveled around the Sun. Mrs. Eddy writes, (S+H 310: 14-17
Science), " . .
. Science reveals Soul as God, untouched by sin and death,--as the
central Life
and intelligence around which circle harmoniously all things in the
systems of
Mind." Mrs. Eddy uses an analogy from astronomy taken from what is
known in the
history of science as "The Copernican Revolution." She writes, (No 6:
17-28),
"The evidence that the earth is motionless and the sun revolves around
our
planet, is as sensible and real as the evidence for disease; but Science
determines the evidence in both cases to be unreal. To material sense
it is
plain also that the error of the revolution of the sun around the
earth is more
apparent than the adverse but true Science of the stellar universe.
Copernicus
has shown that what appears real, to material sense and feeling, is
absolutely
unreal. Astronomy, optics, acoustics, and hydraulics are all at war
with the
testimony of the physical senses. This fact intimates that the laws of
Science
are mental, not material; and Christian Science demonstrates this."
Again Mrs. Eddy writes, "Our theories make the same mistake regarding
Soul and
body that Ptolemy made regarding the solar system. They insist that
soul is in
body and mind therefore tributary to matter. Astronomical science has
destroyed
the false theory as to the relations of the celestial bodies, and
Christian
Science will surely destroy the greater error as to our terrestrial
bodies."
(S+H 122:29-3). What progress has been made since we gave up even this
small
evidence of the senses in favor of the evidence of intelligence! Right
now we
are in what we might call the "The Mary-Baker-Eddyian Revolution" that
is
actually much more profound, because it requires us to give up -- not
just the
idea of the Earth being the center of the universe -- but to give up the
self-centered and false notion that we are each a little mind centered
in our
own little finite consciousnesses. It requires us to recognize that
the one,
infinite Mind is "the central Life and intelligence around which we
circle"
timelessly and agelessly all ideas of creation. The progress that came
from the
Copernican Revolution is clear -- from a few planets and stars on
celestial
spheres a few thousand miles away to the expanding universe billions
of light
years in extent known today. However, what will come from The Eddyian
Revolution
will be the limitless, infinite.
You know, Mrs. Eddy contrasts astronomy with Christian Science in a
letter
quoted in Years of Authority by Robert Peel to Rev. Frank L. Phalen.
She wrote:
"Christian Science like all Science must be discovered or learned. It
is not a
native of the senses and cometh not with observation. . . . Indeed the
testimony
of or the evidence before the senses contradict it but not more flatly
than they
disputed the facts of astronomy and then accepted them through the
understanding
. . . .It is only more difficult to understand Christian Science than
astronomy
because the former [Christian Science] wars against the whole mortal
man and the
latter [astronomy] against only a part of him." Then she concludes the
letter,
"I never know where to stop on this subject." (Mary Baker Eddy: Years of
Authority, Robert Peel, p. 112). Christ Jesus also talked about the
ever-present
now, about not waiting for the blessings of goodness, using an analogy
from
harvesting that his disciples could relate to. He said (John 4: 35, 36
to :)
"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?
Behold, I say
unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are
white already
to harvest." And then, in case there was any doubt as to what he was
talking
about, he added, "And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth
fruit unto
life eternal: . . . " So it is about life eternal that he was talking,
and that
we can be "gathering" it right now. Immortality is "already to
harvest". We have
but to "lift up [our] eyes, and look . . . ". Christ Jesus also proved
that now
was also forever. He demonstrated this in his instantaneous healings.
All
healings are actually instantaneous, because they are already true.
As the Christian Science lecturer, Jill Gooding, pointed out, the word
"medicine" comes from the same base word "mediate." But in Christian
Science we
do not need an intermediary between ourselves and healing. Christian
Science, in
other words, is im-mediate. Time is an important aspect of medical
healing --
maybe the most important. But time is no part of a Christian Science
healing
because Christian Science healing is not fixing, it is realizing what
was always
true. I can share an illustration of this. When I was in high school I
played
sport judo. We used to go to tournaments on weekends. I was in a
particular
contest when, in the excitement of the moment, my opponent grabbed my
finger and
snapped it back. I finished the match but could not move the finger.
My judo
instructor, Sensei Nakamura, was known to be knowledgeable about such
things and
from the protrusion under the skin in my hand told me to go to the
emergency
room as the finger was broken. My folks were at this tournament, so
they took me
to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. When we got there there
seemed to be
a lot of other people waiting, some needing serious attention, and my
Mom and I
started to pray for them (I have no doubt my Mom was already praying
about me).
This means that we were seeing the presence of divine Love which had
the effect
of dispelling fear. And there is no danger where there is no fear. I
remember
forgetting about my finger completely during this time. When my name
was called,
I went in and got an x-ray of the hand. When the doctor looked at the
x-ray he
showed me where the finger had been broken, that it was set nicely,
and that I
should not use the emergency room for checkups. To the great surprise
of my
Sensei, I was back the next week at judo. People at the dojo came over
to look
at my hand.
Now someone unacquainted with Christian Science healings might say
that that was
impossible. Why? Because it is supposed to take more time to heal a
broken bone.
Why is that? "Well, just because it takes more time, that's all,"
might be the
reply. Well, in this case it didn't take time to heal, it took Truth
to heal.
Time is not a factor in Christian Science healing. And Christ Jesus'
healings
never took time. Healing, then, is not about gaining something we
lack, but
rather seeing something we already have. Christ Jesus illustrated this
by
anointing the eyes of a blind man with clay he had made. He said "Go,
wash in
the pool of Siloam" to the blind man. We read then that the blind man,
" . . .
went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing" (John 9: 7).
Wasn't Jesus
asking him to wash away the materialistic notion that his sight was
dependent on
matter? He instructed him to see through the false belief that man is
made of
clay. The man did not regain something he had lost. Rather he got rid
of the
belief that he had ever lost anything. Jesus asked him to wash away
something --
drop the false belief that was keeping him from seeing his real,
spiritual
perfection.
So, healing is a letting go of a false or unreal notion that has
seemed to get
in the way of our seeing the Truth of our perfection. Being already
eternally
true, it does not take time for a Christian Science healing. This
washing away
the material concept is why healing in Christian Science can be called
"enlightenment" rather than "enheavyment". Spiritual healing is always
enlightening. Next time you feel inspired, ask yourself if you feel
heavier or
lighter. Jesus did say (Matt 11: 30), " . . . my yoke is easy, and my
burden is
light." He also said (Matt 5: 14), "Ye are the light of the world." It
is an
interesting and unworldly fact that taking Christ's burden upon you
will make
you lighter. Try it! So enlightenment is when a healing truth shines
through to
dispel the mist of unreality. It is a sign of our immortality because we
recognize the truth as true. When someone says something true, don't we
recognize it? Don't we say, "Ah yes, that's true!" But how could we have
recognized it if we had never heard it before? We could recognize it
only if we
already knew it. It was already a part of you, already part of your
immortal
identity. It is part of your own "Before Abraham was, I am"-ness, your
eternal
identity (John 8:58). If Christ Jesus were around today, I could
picture him
perhaps saying to the natural scientists, "Before the Pre-Cambrian, I
am."
It is also interesting that Christ Jesus demonstrated the eternality
of Life by,
for example, having friends in other millennia. We read in John about
this: "And
it came to pass . . . , [Jesus] took Peter and John and James, and
went up into
a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was
altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there
talked
with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory,
and spake
of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." (Luke 9:
28-30). Now
Elias supposedly lived about 900 years before this, and Moses another
600 or
more years before that. Yet Jesus could discuss important things with
them. The
Bible only tells us here that he discussed, with Moses and Elias, the
importance
of the crucifixion and what it could accomplish for the enlightenment
of the
people at Jerusalem. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "Life is
without
beginning and without end. Eternity, not time, expresses the thought
of Life,
and time is no part of eternity. One ceases in proportion as the other
is
recognized. Time is finite; eternity is forever infinite." So,
eternity is not
the sum of all time. Spiritual qualities do not come in limited
amounts. For
example, Christ Jesus did not have to take time to grow the wheat to
make the
loaves to feed the multitude. Supply was eternally present already.
Jesus
dispensed with the error of limitation, allowing him to demonstrate,
as Mrs.
Eddy writes (S+H 507: 28-29), "Creation is ever appearing, and must ever
continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source."
This creation, including you, is an ever ongoing process. Did you ever
notice,
for example, that in the first part of Genesis, where Elohim, God, is
the
Creator, that God creates by letting? Let there be light, let there be a
firmament, let the waters be gathered, let the earth bring forth grass
and
trees, let us make man in our image and likeness, let them have
dominion. But in
the entirely different story starting in the second chapter of
Genesis, where it
is Jehovah, or Lord God, who is supposed to be the creator, that the
Lord God
creates by forming? The Lord God forms man of the dust of the ground,
He puts
"the man whom he had formed" into a garden called Eden, he then forms
every
beast of the field. Doesn't this "forming" notion of creation break
the second
commandment? The image and likeness of God is never confined in any
way; one
cannot have a graven, or formed, image and likeness of God. So letting
is God's
way of creating -- letting implies no actual beginning but rather an
allowing to
be expressed of something already created, doesn't it? Paul also spoke
of the
nowness of reality. He said, (II Cor 6: 02), "behold, now is the
accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation." Mrs. Eddy defines "Salvation" as
"Life,
Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin,
sickness,
and death destroyed." So Paul was saying, that this is already a done
deal. Now
is the moment that Life, Truth, and Love are understood and
demonstrated by
destroying any sense of sin, sickness, or death. In a sense, this is
your
destiny.
There is nothing you can do about perfection -- you are stuck with it.
Immortality, health, individuality, joy, this is no way of escaping
from these
being your attributes because it is what you really are, right now.
Mrs. Eddy
writes, "Each individual must fill his own niche in time and
eternity." (Ret.
70:18-19). This is a "must" here. Why? Because God would not be
infinite in
expression without you. One God means there is only one of you in all of
creation. Filling your niche is something that no one can do for you;
you
naturally help infinite Mind complete Its infinite expression by being
yourself.
You are the best at being yourself too -- really no one else is going
to be very
good at it. Mrs. Eddy writes (S+H 266: 29-1), "Man is the idea of
Spirit; he
reflects the beatific presence, illuming the universe with light. Man is
deathless, spiritual. He is above sin or frailty. He does not cross
the barriers
of time into the vast forever of Life, but he coexists with God. So
let's start
enjoying our eternal coexistence right this moment.....
Laurance R. Doyle
I understand there are some folks here today that have not previously
been
introduced to Christian Science. You may wonder why an astrophysicist
has been
asked to address the annual meeting of a Christian Science Nursing
Facility. I'm
not as familiar with various religious communities as I am with the
scientific
community, but when introducing Christian Science I would point out that
Christian Scientists do not so much consider themselves as a faith-based
congregation as a science-based congregation. That is to say, blind
faith is not
encouraged while scientific understanding is. How can scientific
understanding
be applied to things that are spiritual? you might ask. Well, in
Christian
Science spiritual evidence is taken as being more reliable than material
evidence -- that is, more reliable than the evidence of the senses.
This is not
something new to any science, really. It was when the evidence of
intelligence
began to take precedence over the evidence of the appearances that the
Scientific Revolution actually began. In that case it was the
intelligent
evidence that the Earth went around the Sun over the sense appearance
that the
Sun went around the Earth. We'll refer to this a bit more later. So in
Christian
Science spiritual evidence is not only acceptable, it is considered
the more
reliable.
We can look at various analogies that might help make this position more
tenable. One used a lot in the Christian Science Sunday School is about
mathematics. (And thanks to the Christian Scientists in the audience
for their
patience at this explanation.) The math is not, of course, in the
chalk on the
blackboard. The chalk is, at best, a limited representation of
mathematics when
an equation is correctly written on the blackboard. But, unlike
mathematics
itself, chalk can indicate a mistake if a sum is incorrectly written.
To be
original, let's take 2 + 2 =5. If we believe the chalk evidence then
the mistake
is more real than the truth. We can argue that chalk is more real
because it is
visible to the senses whereas the truth is not. We might even say that
the chalk
has power to do evil because when we believed 2 + 2 = 5 it, for
example, really
messed up our efforts to balance our bank account. Well, it only has
the power
to mess things up if you believe it to be true, right?
Christian Science training is not so different from the way one solves
a math
problem. First, while one seems to see a mistake on the blackboard
from the
evidence of the senses, one does not therefore conclude that
mathematics itself
has made the mistake. Rather one starts with the most basic
understanding that
mathematics is an unchanging, exact, perfect, and one could even say,
harmonious
principle that we need to, rather, align our thinking with so that the
right
answer can become evident. The right answer will not only be
reasonable, but
deeply intuitive and harmonious also. Mary Baker Eddy who discovered
Christian
Science, and whom we'll discuss in a moment, wrote about the process
this way
(S+H 259: 11-14), "The Christlike understanding of scientific being
and divine
healing includes a perfect Principle and idea, -- perfect God and
perfect man,
-- as the basis of thought and demonstration." So now, if I had not
previously
heard of Christian Science, I'd be asking at this point, what? Where
did Christ
come in? And are we talking about math or are we talking about God?
Well, in
Christian Science we consider Christ Jesus to have been the most
scientific
person to ever walk this planet. We do not consider that his mission
was to
found a church, nor that he performed what are called "miracles" in
defiance of
the natural laws of the universe. Christian Scientists consider these
miracles
actually demonstrations of the deeper nature of spiritual reality.
This is more
in line with what Christ Jesus himself said he came for. Jesus said,
(John 18:
37 To, to 1st .), "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I
into the
world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." Christ Jesus came
to show us
what the Truth is. He also said that his works, rather than other
people's word
for it, bore witness to his correctness, and also that if he did not
do the
works of healing we were not to believe him. He said the Source of the
works was
his Father, God, and that God was our Father too. Thus the Principle
of his
scientific demonstrations of healing was God, his Father, which might
be thought
of as another name for Life Itself. Rather than detracting from the
precious
sacredness of Christ Jesus teachings, the idea that he came to reveal
to us the
harmonious reality of God's creation reveals what a great purpose he
really had.
To reveal the Truth of spiritual reality.
Everything he taught and did helped to jolt us out of a false belief
in the
reliability of the senses and bring our understanding into line with the
thoughts of God. (Matt 5: 48), "Be ye therefore perfect even as your
Father,
which is in heaven, is perfect," he said. His goal for us was not to
become
perfect, but to be right now perfect -- and this relates to our talk
today. Mary
Baker Eddy, as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, is
greatly loved
and revered because she recognized that Christ Jesus was talking about
reality
when he taught and healed. She discovered that reality is spiritual
and perfect,
that this is what Christ Jesus had been teaching all along, and knew
that this
had been scientifically confirmed when she started to reproduce the
"miraculous"
healings that Jesus had performed. Realizing that this healing ability
was not
based upon a personality, but rather based upon the same Principle
that Jesus
demonstrated, she was able therefore to actually teach the healing
process to
others.
So hopefully this is an introductory background giving an idea about
where
Christian Scientists are coming from. You should feel free to try it out
yourself too. Allowing one's thinking to be aligned with the Mind that
is God is
not an exercise in human mind control -- it is an exercise in giving
up human
mind control. It is actually an exercise in seeing that there is only
one Mind
and that this Mind is God. Feel free to try this out. It won't hurt
you. You
can't overdose on Christian Science. You will find that previous
apparent
limitations -- whether in health, work, intelligence, inspiration,
world peace,
whatever -- will become less evident in your experience. But, again,
as LeVar
Burton says in the television show Reading Rainbow, "You don't have to
take my
word for it!" Try it out!
OK, hopefully now we're all pretty much on the same page. So let's now
talk a
bit about time and eternity. We'll just take a quick look at time as
physics
defines it, and then at eternity as metaphysics reveals it. Now you
may consider
this a topic for scientists, but Christian Scientists are scientists,
and we
shall see that correcting the false notion of time relates to the
solution of
many problems, including stress, aging, and healing. We shall find
that time is
considered an important healing ingredient in medical practice but
that it is
not a consideration in Christian Science healing at all. The two
currently most
successful foundations of modern physics -- general relativity and
quantum
mechanicsâ€"are apparently incompatible with each other according to
the current
understanding of modern physics. One of the fundamental differences
between
these two fields can be said to be based on their different concepts
of what
time actually is.
In general relativity time is a direction -- up, down, left, right,
back, forth,
in space, and "forwards" and "backwards" in time are the four
dimensions known
in physics as "spacetime." In general relativity, time is also
relative -- that
is to say that there are as many answers to the question, "What time
is it?" as
there are clocks in the universe. ("Clocks" here mean any measurement of
redundant matter -- atoms oscillating, planets orbiting, or the hands
of Big Ben
going around and around). Another interesting thing is that the faster
you go,
the less time you have, at least compared to folks going more slowly.
You've
heard the statement, "Haste makes waste" and according to relativistic
physics
what one wastes by haste is time itself. In general relativity, then,
time is
only stretched out by going faster so that everyone else seems to be
going much
faster then the speeding person. In other words, if you get in a
rocket and
accelerate fast enough (very fast), in the first hour of flight
thousands of
years could have passed on Earth.
However, the illusory nature of time has been understood by physicists
for some,
ah, "duration" now. It is difficult to avoid the term "time"
sometimes. That is,
most of the time I try not to use it. But the idea of a field against
which
things flow from past to future has been recognized as an illusion in
physics.
When Einstein's long-time friend, Michele Besso, passed on, Einstein
wrote a
letter to Besso's son (March 21, 1955), saying "For us, physicists, in
the soul,
the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly
persistent illusion." Of course, 80 years before this -- in a
victorian Age
where time was considered immutable -- Mary Baker Eddy had already
defined time
(S+H 595: 17-19 limits), in part, as "limits, . . . matter, . . .
error."
Now, as opposed to general relativity, what does quantum physics have
to say
about time? In quantum physics time is basically considered to be a
particle.
That is to say that it is a particle if it is measured -- it is a
probability
wave when no one looks at it. As I have mentioned before, the leading
theory in
quantum physics is that -- referring to material particles – nothing
really
exists as something until it is observed or measured. This is actually
called
the "quantum measurement problem" -- a problem because it is difficult
for
physicists (and, frankly, most other folks) to relate to things not
existing
until they are observed. (Other possible explanations are even more
far out; I'm
just taking the main stream interpretation here.) In quantum physics the
apparent transformation from possibility to actual sub-atomic particle
is called
"the collapse of the wave function." It's kind of like having a bunch
of 1/6ths
in the dice cup when playing a game that only become dice when they
are rolled
out onto the table. But this is apparently the case as many physics
labs have
shown. Mrs. Eddy once told a student who was not healing a case, "Get
a higher
sense of the nothingness of matter." In the Glossary of Science and
Health Mrs.
Eddy defines matter, in part, as (S+H 591: 8-9 Mythology): "Mythology;
mortality; another name for mortal mind; illusion". Note that one
cannot have
time without matter. One of the most fundamental discoveries in
quantum physics
is known as the "Uncertainty Principle." It is interesting that one
definition
of "Principle" is "A fundamental source or basis of something." So we
see, then,
that the fundamental source or basis of matter is uncertainty. The term
"uncertainty principle" is actually somewhat contradictory.
As we have said, one of the "particles" in quantum physics subject to
this
uncertainty is actually time itself. As I have mentioned before, I'm
being very
careful with nomenclature because I am trying to say something that is
really
mathematical in the English language. But if you want to share what
physicists
are presently discovering with others feel free to say it this way and
you will
not run into any problems with the physicists (or else send them to
me). In many
experiments in quantum physics, if one measures the energy of a tiny
particle,
for example, then one cannot measure precisely at what time it had
that energy.
And, vice versa, if one wants to precisely measure the time, then one
cannot
measure the energy precisely. We could contrast this with ideas, for
example. Is
2 + 2 ever equal to 3.99999999, or 4.0000001? No, it is always exact
and precise
-- perfectly and to as many decimal points as possible, always 4. So
mathematical ideas are always exact. (I might add that even irrational
-- that
is, ongoing -- numbers can be computed exactly.) As already mentioned,
imprecision only arises in the chalk. Quantum physics actually states
that
material measurement must be imprecise. The chalk also takes time to
correct,
while math does not take time to be correct because it is already
correct. So
while matter is subject to time, ideas exist only in the realm of
eternity. Mrs.
Eddy writes (S+H 463: 12-13), "A spiritual idea has not a single
element of
error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive." And by
the way,
you are one of the spiritual ideas she is talking about. General
relativity and
quantum physics can, then, at least agree that time is not an immutable
structure. To refer to Mrs. Eddy's definition of time again: "Mortal
measurements; limits, . . . ; matter; error; . . . " we should
certainly think
again if we find ourselves saying, "I'd like more time," shouldn't we?
Aren't we
saying, "Gee, I wish I had more limits so I could get everything
done!" Or "If I
only had more error I could find the right answers." The concept of
time seems
to be very prevalent today but it is, even in physics, understood to
be an
illusion. Let me say that immortality depends not on getting more time
but in
getting rid of it. I like what one reverend said when he was asked,
"What do you
think of immortality?" He said, "I'm enjoying every moment of it!"
Let's take an
example. When I went back east to teach at a little college that lies
along the
Mississippi River I remember thinking, "There is the old Mississippi."
But then
I realized it was not the same river at all. All the water I had seen
last time
was long gone out into the ocean. Hum, so why is it still the same
Mississippi
if no material component is the same? Well, it is also known that
every atom in
the human body is replaced every few years (98% in one year). If our
identity is
material, then how can we be the same people we were a few years ago?
You get,
for example, completely new liver atoms in a few weeks. So how can one
have
liver complaint for months? Clearly the concept of our identity being
fundamentally material does not work, even according to biology.
Let's take another example. One might ask, why should the human body
age just
because it has been orbiting around the Sun for a while? When we ask
someone's
age, aren't we asking, "How many orbits around the Sun has your body
traveled?"
(When people ask my age, I give it to them in kilometers.) The
assumption in the
question is that life was put into matter at birth. How long ago did the
impossible occur? Mrs. Eddy reminds us (S+H 245: 27), "Impossibilities
never
occur." She also points out (S+H 336: 2-6), "Mind never enters the
finite.
Intelligence never passes into non-intelligence, or matter. Good never
enters
into evil, the unlimited into the limited, the eternal into the
temporal, nor
the immortal into mortality." From a physicist's viewpoint, then,
there is no
known direct force connecting the orbit of the Earth with the aging of
the human
body. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (S+H 246: 10-13, 17-18),
"The
measurement of life by solar years robs youth and gives ugliness to
age. The
radiant sun of virtue and truth coexists with being. Manhood is its
eternal
noon, undimmed by a declining sun. . . . Never record ages."
Chronological data are no part of the vast forever." You are rather
ever eternal
because God has ever thought of you as His idea. But you are also
created every
moment by the divine Mind, so in that sense you can say that you are
"now' old.
We'll make up a fancier term, OK? You can say your age is
"eternitesimal" --
fresh from the Mind of God every moment. Mrs. Eddy addresses this age
thing by
asking and answering ten of the following eleven questions: (My 235:
15-27), "Is
God infinite? Yes. Did God make man? Yes. Did God make all that was
made? He
did. Is God Spirit? He is. Did infinite Spirit make that which is not
spiritual?
No. Who or what made matter? Matter as substance or intelligence never
was made.
Is mortal man a creator, is he matter or spirit? Neither one. Why?
Because
Spirit is God and infinite; hence there can be no other creator and no
other
creation. Man is but His image and likeness. Are you a Christian
Scientist? I
am. Do you adopt as truth the above statements? I do. Then why this
meaningless
commemoration of birthdays, since there are none?" The answer to this
last
question she leaves to us as an exercise for the student. I've had
occasion to
think about another statement of Mrs. Eddy's in Science and Health
with regard
to age, that also includes the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. She
writes,
(S+H 209: 16-24), "The compounded minerals or aggregated substances
composing
the earth, the relations which constituent masses hold to each other,
the
magnitudes, distances, and revolutions of the celestial bodies, are of
no real
importance, when we remember that they all must give place to the
spiritual fact
by the translation of man and the universe back into Spirit. In
proportion as
this is done, man and the universe will be found harmonious and
eternal." I
thought it was interesting that she had not written that the study of
astronomy
was of no importance -- she does, after all, put it first in the list of
"academics of the right sort" in Science and Health (S+H 195: 15-22).
Her
statement is actually that, " . . . the magnitudes, distances, and
revolutions
of the celestial bodies [themselves!] are of no real importance . . .
" That is,
frankly, a lot more profound statement.
Life does not depend on the distance to the Sun, or how bright the Sun
is, does
it? Life, and its expression, does not depend on the revolution of the
Earth
around the Sun either, in other words, on number of days or number of
years you
have traveled around the Sun. Mrs. Eddy writes, (S+H 310: 14-17
Science), " . .
. Science reveals Soul as God, untouched by sin and death,--as the
central Life
and intelligence around which circle harmoniously all things in the
systems of
Mind." Mrs. Eddy uses an analogy from astronomy taken from what is
known in the
history of science as "The Copernican Revolution." She writes, (No 6:
17-28),
"The evidence that the earth is motionless and the sun revolves around
our
planet, is as sensible and real as the evidence for disease; but Science
determines the evidence in both cases to be unreal. To material sense
it is
plain also that the error of the revolution of the sun around the
earth is more
apparent than the adverse but true Science of the stellar universe.
Copernicus
has shown that what appears real, to material sense and feeling, is
absolutely
unreal. Astronomy, optics, acoustics, and hydraulics are all at war
with the
testimony of the physical senses. This fact intimates that the laws of
Science
are mental, not material; and Christian Science demonstrates this."
Again Mrs. Eddy writes, "Our theories make the same mistake regarding
Soul and
body that Ptolemy made regarding the solar system. They insist that
soul is in
body and mind therefore tributary to matter. Astronomical science has
destroyed
the false theory as to the relations of the celestial bodies, and
Christian
Science will surely destroy the greater error as to our terrestrial
bodies."
(S+H 122:29-3). What progress has been made since we gave up even this
small
evidence of the senses in favor of the evidence of intelligence! Right
now we
are in what we might call the "The Mary-Baker-Eddyian Revolution" that
is
actually much more profound, because it requires us to give up -- not
just the
idea of the Earth being the center of the universe -- but to give up the
self-centered and false notion that we are each a little mind centered
in our
own little finite consciousnesses. It requires us to recognize that
the one,
infinite Mind is "the central Life and intelligence around which we
circle"
timelessly and agelessly all ideas of creation. The progress that came
from the
Copernican Revolution is clear -- from a few planets and stars on
celestial
spheres a few thousand miles away to the expanding universe billions
of light
years in extent known today. However, what will come from The Eddyian
Revolution
will be the limitless, infinite.
You know, Mrs. Eddy contrasts astronomy with Christian Science in a
letter
quoted in Years of Authority by Robert Peel to Rev. Frank L. Phalen.
She wrote:
"Christian Science like all Science must be discovered or learned. It
is not a
native of the senses and cometh not with observation. . . . Indeed the
testimony
of or the evidence before the senses contradict it but not more flatly
than they
disputed the facts of astronomy and then accepted them through the
understanding
. . . .It is only more difficult to understand Christian Science than
astronomy
because the former [Christian Science] wars against the whole mortal
man and the
latter [astronomy] against only a part of him." Then she concludes the
letter,
"I never know where to stop on this subject." (Mary Baker Eddy: Years of
Authority, Robert Peel, p. 112). Christ Jesus also talked about the
ever-present
now, about not waiting for the blessings of goodness, using an analogy
from
harvesting that his disciples could relate to. He said (John 4: 35, 36
to :)
"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?
Behold, I say
unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are
white already
to harvest." And then, in case there was any doubt as to what he was
talking
about, he added, "And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth
fruit unto
life eternal: . . . " So it is about life eternal that he was talking,
and that
we can be "gathering" it right now. Immortality is "already to
harvest". We have
but to "lift up [our] eyes, and look . . . ". Christ Jesus also proved
that now
was also forever. He demonstrated this in his instantaneous healings.
All
healings are actually instantaneous, because they are already true.
As the Christian Science lecturer, Jill Gooding, pointed out, the word
"medicine" comes from the same base word "mediate." But in Christian
Science we
do not need an intermediary between ourselves and healing. Christian
Science, in
other words, is im-mediate. Time is an important aspect of medical
healing --
maybe the most important. But time is no part of a Christian Science
healing
because Christian Science healing is not fixing, it is realizing what
was always
true. I can share an illustration of this. When I was in high school I
played
sport judo. We used to go to tournaments on weekends. I was in a
particular
contest when, in the excitement of the moment, my opponent grabbed my
finger and
snapped it back. I finished the match but could not move the finger.
My judo
instructor, Sensei Nakamura, was known to be knowledgeable about such
things and
from the protrusion under the skin in my hand told me to go to the
emergency
room as the finger was broken. My folks were at this tournament, so
they took me
to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. When we got there there
seemed to be
a lot of other people waiting, some needing serious attention, and my
Mom and I
started to pray for them (I have no doubt my Mom was already praying
about me).
This means that we were seeing the presence of divine Love which had
the effect
of dispelling fear. And there is no danger where there is no fear. I
remember
forgetting about my finger completely during this time. When my name
was called,
I went in and got an x-ray of the hand. When the doctor looked at the
x-ray he
showed me where the finger had been broken, that it was set nicely,
and that I
should not use the emergency room for checkups. To the great surprise
of my
Sensei, I was back the next week at judo. People at the dojo came over
to look
at my hand.
Now someone unacquainted with Christian Science healings might say
that that was
impossible. Why? Because it is supposed to take more time to heal a
broken bone.
Why is that? "Well, just because it takes more time, that's all,"
might be the
reply. Well, in this case it didn't take time to heal, it took Truth
to heal.
Time is not a factor in Christian Science healing. And Christ Jesus'
healings
never took time. Healing, then, is not about gaining something we
lack, but
rather seeing something we already have. Christ Jesus illustrated this
by
anointing the eyes of a blind man with clay he had made. He said "Go,
wash in
the pool of Siloam" to the blind man. We read then that the blind man,
" . . .
went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing" (John 9: 7).
Wasn't Jesus
asking him to wash away the materialistic notion that his sight was
dependent on
matter? He instructed him to see through the false belief that man is
made of
clay. The man did not regain something he had lost. Rather he got rid
of the
belief that he had ever lost anything. Jesus asked him to wash away
something --
drop the false belief that was keeping him from seeing his real,
spiritual
perfection.
So, healing is a letting go of a false or unreal notion that has
seemed to get
in the way of our seeing the Truth of our perfection. Being already
eternally
true, it does not take time for a Christian Science healing. This
washing away
the material concept is why healing in Christian Science can be called
"enlightenment" rather than "enheavyment". Spiritual healing is always
enlightening. Next time you feel inspired, ask yourself if you feel
heavier or
lighter. Jesus did say (Matt 11: 30), " . . . my yoke is easy, and my
burden is
light." He also said (Matt 5: 14), "Ye are the light of the world." It
is an
interesting and unworldly fact that taking Christ's burden upon you
will make
you lighter. Try it! So enlightenment is when a healing truth shines
through to
dispel the mist of unreality. It is a sign of our immortality because we
recognize the truth as true. When someone says something true, don't we
recognize it? Don't we say, "Ah yes, that's true!" But how could we have
recognized it if we had never heard it before? We could recognize it
only if we
already knew it. It was already a part of you, already part of your
immortal
identity. It is part of your own "Before Abraham was, I am"-ness, your
eternal
identity (John 8:58). If Christ Jesus were around today, I could
picture him
perhaps saying to the natural scientists, "Before the Pre-Cambrian, I
am."
It is also interesting that Christ Jesus demonstrated the eternality
of Life by,
for example, having friends in other millennia. We read in John about
this: "And
it came to pass . . . , [Jesus] took Peter and John and James, and
went up into
a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was
altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there
talked
with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory,
and spake
of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." (Luke 9:
28-30). Now
Elias supposedly lived about 900 years before this, and Moses another
600 or
more years before that. Yet Jesus could discuss important things with
them. The
Bible only tells us here that he discussed, with Moses and Elias, the
importance
of the crucifixion and what it could accomplish for the enlightenment
of the
people at Jerusalem. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "Life is
without
beginning and without end. Eternity, not time, expresses the thought
of Life,
and time is no part of eternity. One ceases in proportion as the other
is
recognized. Time is finite; eternity is forever infinite." So,
eternity is not
the sum of all time. Spiritual qualities do not come in limited
amounts. For
example, Christ Jesus did not have to take time to grow the wheat to
make the
loaves to feed the multitude. Supply was eternally present already.
Jesus
dispensed with the error of limitation, allowing him to demonstrate,
as Mrs.
Eddy writes (S+H 507: 28-29), "Creation is ever appearing, and must ever
continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source."
This creation, including you, is an ever ongoing process. Did you ever
notice,
for example, that in the first part of Genesis, where Elohim, God, is
the
Creator, that God creates by letting? Let there be light, let there be a
firmament, let the waters be gathered, let the earth bring forth grass
and
trees, let us make man in our image and likeness, let them have
dominion. But in
the entirely different story starting in the second chapter of
Genesis, where it
is Jehovah, or Lord God, who is supposed to be the creator, that the
Lord God
creates by forming? The Lord God forms man of the dust of the ground,
He puts
"the man whom he had formed" into a garden called Eden, he then forms
every
beast of the field. Doesn't this "forming" notion of creation break
the second
commandment? The image and likeness of God is never confined in any
way; one
cannot have a graven, or formed, image and likeness of God. So letting
is God's
way of creating -- letting implies no actual beginning but rather an
allowing to
be expressed of something already created, doesn't it? Paul also spoke
of the
nowness of reality. He said, (II Cor 6: 02), "behold, now is the
accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation." Mrs. Eddy defines "Salvation" as
"Life,
Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin,
sickness,
and death destroyed." So Paul was saying, that this is already a done
deal. Now
is the moment that Life, Truth, and Love are understood and
demonstrated by
destroying any sense of sin, sickness, or death. In a sense, this is
your
destiny.
There is nothing you can do about perfection -- you are stuck with it.
Immortality, health, individuality, joy, this is no way of escaping
from these
being your attributes because it is what you really are, right now.
Mrs. Eddy
writes, "Each individual must fill his own niche in time and
eternity." (Ret.
70:18-19). This is a "must" here. Why? Because God would not be
infinite in
expression without you. One God means there is only one of you in all of
creation. Filling your niche is something that no one can do for you;
you
naturally help infinite Mind complete Its infinite expression by being
yourself.
You are the best at being yourself too -- really no one else is going
to be very
good at it. Mrs. Eddy writes (S+H 266: 29-1), "Man is the idea of
Spirit; he
reflects the beatific presence, illuming the universe with light. Man is
deathless, spiritual. He is above sin or frailty. He does not cross
the barriers
of time into the vast forever of Life, but he coexists with God. So
let's start
enjoying our eternal coexistence right this moment.....
Mystical Awakening...
The first sign of awakening is usually a growing reverence for life. You find you are immensely appreciative of being alive. Life itself is revealed as a wonder or a miracle. In your reverence for life you delightedly value the lives of others and of yourself. You perceive life as extremely precious, such an extraordinary phenomenon. You find it easy to conceive in your musings that incredibly great consciousness and energy is at work wherever there is life. With awe and enthusiasm you often turn your mind to consider how great must be that higher consciousness which gives life and sustains it! In life itself there is enough to wonder at forever. In your unique heart you see enough to explore and develop for much more than a lifetime. What is life? Who can say? But you, the awakening aspirant, wholeheartedly treasure being alive and love to watch that life force animating each person; indeed, you admire all living creatures.
You become aware that you may have many negative qualities but, nevertheless, you have an extremely positive and undeniable plus — you have life. You are an expression of that higher consciousness which maintains and sustains life. Life is a marvel. You see it. You know it. You abide in wonder.
You find, with these realizations, that you begin to value other people a great deal. Whether they value themselves and have noticed the miracle of life or not, you perceive uniqueness and significance in each one. You have become enabled, as your eyes of higher consciousness open, to see life well. You can easily understand why Albert Schweitzer said that it’s fine to cut the grass in order to grow a garden, but on the way home from the garden do not drag your scythe and needlessly kill one blade of grass. This now makes great sense to you.
You also clearly understand "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." You know all people are, in reality, sharing life together. You deeply yearn that everyone will see the preciousness of life and not hurt, deny, or strive to destroy the life in another.
Your awakening to life’s richness also prompts a profound consideration of your own conduct. Your interactions with others more deeply reflect your respect for their concerns and feelings. You actively strive not to harm people or cause them any suffering. You practice, "Do unto others ...." You seek to be constructive and helpful to your fellow human beings...........from TheMystic.org
You become aware that you may have many negative qualities but, nevertheless, you have an extremely positive and undeniable plus — you have life. You are an expression of that higher consciousness which maintains and sustains life. Life is a marvel. You see it. You know it. You abide in wonder.
You find, with these realizations, that you begin to value other people a great deal. Whether they value themselves and have noticed the miracle of life or not, you perceive uniqueness and significance in each one. You have become enabled, as your eyes of higher consciousness open, to see life well. You can easily understand why Albert Schweitzer said that it’s fine to cut the grass in order to grow a garden, but on the way home from the garden do not drag your scythe and needlessly kill one blade of grass. This now makes great sense to you.
You also clearly understand "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." You know all people are, in reality, sharing life together. You deeply yearn that everyone will see the preciousness of life and not hurt, deny, or strive to destroy the life in another.
Your awakening to life’s richness also prompts a profound consideration of your own conduct. Your interactions with others more deeply reflect your respect for their concerns and feelings. You actively strive not to harm people or cause them any suffering. You practice, "Do unto others ...." You seek to be constructive and helpful to your fellow human beings...........from TheMystic.org
Nisargadatta Maharaj on the "I-Am"...
31
The fact is you. The only thing you know for sure is: ‘here and
now I am’. Remove the ‘here and now’, the ‘I am’ remains
unassailable.
32
All I can say is ‘I am’, all else is inference. But the inference has
become a habit. Destroy all habits of thinking and sleeping. The
sense ‘I am’ is a manifestation of a deeper cause, which you may
call self, God, Reality or by any other name. The ‘I am’ is in the
world but it is the key which can open the door out of the world.
33
Only your sense ‘I am’ though in the world, is not of the world. By
no effort of logic you can change the ‘I am’ into ‘I am not’. In the
very denial of your being you assert it. Once you realize that the
world is your own projection, you are free of it. You need not free
yourself of a world that does not exist, except in your imagination.
from
http://www.stillnessspeaks.com/images/uploaded/file/iamquotesofnisargadatta.pdf
The fact is you. The only thing you know for sure is: ‘here and
now I am’. Remove the ‘here and now’, the ‘I am’ remains
unassailable.
32
All I can say is ‘I am’, all else is inference. But the inference has
become a habit. Destroy all habits of thinking and sleeping. The
sense ‘I am’ is a manifestation of a deeper cause, which you may
call self, God, Reality or by any other name. The ‘I am’ is in the
world but it is the key which can open the door out of the world.
33
Only your sense ‘I am’ though in the world, is not of the world. By
no effort of logic you can change the ‘I am’ into ‘I am not’. In the
very denial of your being you assert it. Once you realize that the
world is your own projection, you are free of it. You need not free
yourself of a world that does not exist, except in your imagination.
from
http://www.stillnessspeaks.com/images/uploaded/file/iamquotesofnisargadatta.pdf
Awakening is sneaky - Tomas Stubbs...
Awakening sneaked up on me. I was training as a yoga teacher in England and out of curiosity picked two books to read, «The Power of Now» by Eckhart Tolle and «I Am That» by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Reading «The Power of Now» a light came on inside, everything in the book seemed so obviously true, and so easy to access. I then began reading «I Am That» and in the first few pages a very deep chord was played. Afterwards, walking in the street, the incesssant thinking spontaneously stopped, I was amazed. A few days later, in a moment of complete grace, I had a clear realization of what was real and what was illusion and all further questions became unnecessary. From that moment on the mind became quiet and took the back seat. A few weeks later I met my first spiritual teacher, Tony Parsons. The meeting was brief but the affect was profound and over the next year it was Tony´s words «there is no one» that came back to me over and over, anchoring the shift in me and my feet to the ground.
But awakening is a funny thing, it´s never quite what you think it is. Even after the fact. For the longest time it seemed like the essential shift happened in a moment of realization. Now I see that the realization was just a moment of crystallisation, the head finally got what the heart had always been yearning for, what it already knew, somehow, and I began to know the subtlety of the heart. What is called the shift is then the inner aligning to this, it´s not a mental position that you can choose or not... that´s always the surprising thing, it´s like reality changes, every cell transformed. It´s as though the room had been full of water before and someone came along and drained it ~ somehow everything is light, and clear.
from http://www.livingpresence.ca/tomas/
But awakening is a funny thing, it´s never quite what you think it is. Even after the fact. For the longest time it seemed like the essential shift happened in a moment of realization. Now I see that the realization was just a moment of crystallisation, the head finally got what the heart had always been yearning for, what it already knew, somehow, and I began to know the subtlety of the heart. What is called the shift is then the inner aligning to this, it´s not a mental position that you can choose or not... that´s always the surprising thing, it´s like reality changes, every cell transformed. It´s as though the room had been full of water before and someone came along and drained it ~ somehow everything is light, and clear.
from http://www.livingpresence.ca/tomas/
Dealing with insult ...
The Buddha explained how to handle insult and maintain compassion.
One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man
came up and began insulting him. "You have no right teaching others," he
shouted. "You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake."
Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man "Tell me,
if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does
the gift belong?"
The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, "It
would belong to me, because I bought the gift."
The Buddha smiled and said, "That is correct. And it is exactly the same with
your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the
anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me..
All you have done is hurt yourself."
"If
you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become
loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy. But when you
love others, everyone is happy."
The young man listened closely to these wise words of the Buddha. "You are
right, o Enlightened One, "he said. "Please teach me the path of love. I wish to
become your follower."
The Buddha answered kindly, "Of course. I teach anyone who truly wants to learn.
Come with me."
One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man
came up and began insulting him. "You have no right teaching others," he
shouted. "You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake."
Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man "Tell me,
if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does
the gift belong?"
The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, "It
would belong to me, because I bought the gift."
The Buddha smiled and said, "That is correct. And it is exactly the same with
your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the
anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me..
All you have done is hurt yourself."
"If
you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become
loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy. But when you
love others, everyone is happy."
The young man listened closely to these wise words of the Buddha. "You are
right, o Enlightened One, "he said. "Please teach me the path of love. I wish to
become your follower."
The Buddha answered kindly, "Of course. I teach anyone who truly wants to learn.
Come with me."
Dharma...
The term dharma (Sanskrit: dhárma, Pāḷi dhamma), is an Indian spiritual and religious term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term.[1] In Indian languages it can be equivalent simply to "religion", depending on context. Throughout Indian philosophy, Dharma is presented as a central concept that is used in order to explain the "higher truth" or ultimate reality of the universe.
The word dharma literally translates as that which upholds or supports, and is generally translated into English as law. The word "dharma" can also be translated as "the teachings of the Buddha".
The various Indian religions and philosophy (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, among others) have all accorded a central focus to Dharma and advocate its practice. Each of these religions emphasizes Dharma as the correct understanding of reality in its teachings.[2] In these traditions, beings that live in accordance with Dharma proceed more quickly toward Dharma Yukam, Moksha or Nirvana (personal liberation). Dharma also refers to the teachings and doctrines of the founders of these traditions, such as those of Gautama Buddha and Mahavira. In traditional Hindu society with its caste structure, Dharma constituted the religious and moral doctrine of the rights and duties of each individual. (see dharmasastra). Dharma in its universal meaning shares much in common with the way of Tao or Taoism.
The antonym of dharma is adharma meaning unnatural or immoral..............From Wikipedia
The word dharma literally translates as that which upholds or supports, and is generally translated into English as law. The word "dharma" can also be translated as "the teachings of the Buddha".
The various Indian religions and philosophy (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, among others) have all accorded a central focus to Dharma and advocate its practice. Each of these religions emphasizes Dharma as the correct understanding of reality in its teachings.[2] In these traditions, beings that live in accordance with Dharma proceed more quickly toward Dharma Yukam, Moksha or Nirvana (personal liberation). Dharma also refers to the teachings and doctrines of the founders of these traditions, such as those of Gautama Buddha and Mahavira. In traditional Hindu society with its caste structure, Dharma constituted the religious and moral doctrine of the rights and duties of each individual. (see dharmasastra). Dharma in its universal meaning shares much in common with the way of Tao or Taoism.
The antonym of dharma is adharma meaning unnatural or immoral..............From Wikipedia
Zen...
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chán. Chán is itself derived from the Sanskrit Dhyāna, which means "meditation" ..
Zen emphasizes experiential Prajñā—particularly as realized in the form of meditation known as zazen—in the attainment of awakening, often simply called the path of enlightenment. As such, it de-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of direct, experiential realization through meditation and dharma practice.
The establishment of Zen is traditionally credited to the Southern Indian Pallava prince-turned-monk Bodhidharma, who is recorded as having come to China to teach a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not stand upon words". The emergence of Zen as a distinct school of Buddhism was first documented in China in the 7th century CE. It is thought to have developed as an amalgam of various currents in Mahāyāna Buddhist thought—among them the Yogācāra and Madhyamaka philosophies and the Prajñāpāramitā literature—and of local traditions in China, particularly Taoism and Huáyán Buddhism. From China, Zen subsequently spread southwards to Vietnam and eastwards to Korea and Japan........From Wikipedia
Zen emphasizes experiential Prajñā—particularly as realized in the form of meditation known as zazen—in the attainment of awakening, often simply called the path of enlightenment. As such, it de-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of direct, experiential realization through meditation and dharma practice.
The establishment of Zen is traditionally credited to the Southern Indian Pallava prince-turned-monk Bodhidharma, who is recorded as having come to China to teach a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not stand upon words". The emergence of Zen as a distinct school of Buddhism was first documented in China in the 7th century CE. It is thought to have developed as an amalgam of various currents in Mahāyāna Buddhist thought—among them the Yogācāra and Madhyamaka philosophies and the Prajñāpāramitā literature—and of local traditions in China, particularly Taoism and Huáyán Buddhism. From China, Zen subsequently spread southwards to Vietnam and eastwards to Korea and Japan........From Wikipedia
Nisargadatta on transitions leading to non-duality ...
M: It is only when you are satiated with the changeable and long for the
unchangeable, that you are ready for the turning round and stepping into what
can be described, when seen from the level of the mind, as emptiness and
darkness. For the mind craves for content and variety, while reality is, to the
mind, contentless and invariable.
Q: It looks like death to me.
M: It is. It is also all-pervading, all-conquering, intense beyond words. No
ordinary brain can stand it without being shattered; hence the absolute need for
sadhana. Purity of body and clarity of mind, non-violence and selflessness in
life are essential for survival as an intelligent and spiritual entity." ( I AM
THAT)
unchangeable, that you are ready for the turning round and stepping into what
can be described, when seen from the level of the mind, as emptiness and
darkness. For the mind craves for content and variety, while reality is, to the
mind, contentless and invariable.
Q: It looks like death to me.
M: It is. It is also all-pervading, all-conquering, intense beyond words. No
ordinary brain can stand it without being shattered; hence the absolute need for
sadhana. Purity of body and clarity of mind, non-violence and selflessness in
life are essential for survival as an intelligent and spiritual entity." ( I AM
THAT)
Thoughts Vanish...
When all thoughts vanish into the Stillness, the ego-personality vanishes too. This is Buddha's meaning that there is no self, also Ramana Maharshi's meaning that ego is only a collection of thoughts..........Paul Brunton
David Godman interview ...
I would say that Self-realization is what remains when the mind irrevocably dies in the Heart. The Heart is not a particular place in the body. It is the formless Self, the source and origin of all manifestation. Self-realization is permanent and irreversible. I also suspect that it is quite rare. Many people have had glimpses or temporary experiences of a state of being in which the mind, the individual "I", temporarily stops functioning, but I don't think that there are many people in the world in whom the "I" has died.
Papaji used to say, "What comes and goes is not real. If you have had an experience that came and went, it was not an experience of the Self because the Self never comes and goes."
I think this is an interesting comment. If it is true, it means that most waking-up experiences are merely new states of mind. It is only when the mind dies completely, never to rise again, that the Self really shines as one's own natural state.
The terms "glimpses" and "waking-up experiences" that you refer to are temporary. They come and they go because the '"I" itself has not been permanently eradicated. A powerful Guru may be able to give a glimpse of the Self to just about anyone, but it is not within his power to make it stick. If the person has a mind that is full of desires, those desires will eventually rise again and cover up the glimpse.
Papaji used to say, "What comes and goes is not real. If you have had an experience that came and went, it was not an experience of the Self because the Self never comes and goes."
I think this is an interesting comment. If it is true, it means that most waking-up experiences are merely new states of mind. It is only when the mind dies completely, never to rise again, that the Self really shines as one's own natural state.
The terms "glimpses" and "waking-up experiences" that you refer to are temporary. They come and they go because the '"I" itself has not been permanently eradicated. A powerful Guru may be able to give a glimpse of the Self to just about anyone, but it is not within his power to make it stick. If the person has a mind that is full of desires, those desires will eventually rise again and cover up the glimpse.
Escape...
Just as a man who has escaped from the inside of a burning house and finds himself in the cool outdoors understands that he has attained safety, so the man who has escaped from greed, lust, anger, illusion, selfishness, and ignorance into exalted peace and immediate insight, understands that he has attained heaven.........Paul Brunton
CompassionWorks... Eckhart Tolle. India Retreat 2002
So, what I'm saying here is that there is a sufficient degree of presence in
you, now, for you to choose to dwell in the state of presence rather
than the state of mind identification.
You only need to remember that you have that choice, of being identified
with mind, or stepping out of mind.
I can hear one mind here asking the question, "Who is choosing?"
The answer is of course, it's not really you who is choosing.
Presence is choosing to emerge through this form. From the perspective of
this form, it looks as if this form were choosing.
But that is a helpful perspective...that is why I say you can choose
presence.
Don't try to work that out through the mind. (laughter)
Very often, the truth, the deepest truth, can only be expressed through
paradox...not through some neat, logical statement that says this is
how it is, and
that's how it is not.
That's the fragmentary way that thought happens.
When you create thought systems, they may look spiritual, but they may be
belief systems...then you have very neat ways of putting it..."This is
how it is and there is no contradiction here."
Everything is logically explained.
Be suspicious when you encounter a teaching that is totally logically
consistent and has no contradictions.
It's a mind-structure (he laughs).
Here we are using different pointers to take you beyond
mind-identification...and whatever pointer is helpful will be used.
The pointers are not there to contain or convey the truth...any absolute
truth.
They are only temporary means, that's all.
So, you can choose the state of presence.
That is a helpful perspective, and all you need to do is remember that...
that you have that choice and then you exercise that choice.
At that moment presence has chosen you, one could say.
Ok, it doesn't matter. (he laughs)
So there come these philosophic questions when you listen to different
teachings.
There is a 'doer'...there is no 'doer'.
And then people identify with one of these perspectives...they go to
one teacher, who says there's no doer, and they repeat that
perspective mentally.
And they start to argue with people who say, "No, no, there is a doer."
(laughter)
And the mind loves that because then the egoic self has reincarnated into
some new belief and has adopted a new mental position...
"This is me now, and I'm telling you there is no doer." (laughter)
And you're doing a lot while you're saying that.
loooooong pause
When questions arise, you're welcome to write them on a piece of paper and
tomorrow or the next day we will look at questions.
I don't promise there will be an answer, but we'll look at the question.
Avoid questions that are speculative, because they are not all that helpful.
Avoid questions that are too comparative, comparing signposts.
But ask vital questions concerning your own practice.
Avoid questions that try to catch me out in some contradiction. (laughter)
"This morning you said this, and in the afternoon you said that...which one
is true?"
I had a question, not long ago, a very powerful mind, she wrote a very
elaborate question...and said in your book you say: "You are here to
enable the divine universe to unfold.
That is how important you are."
And then on page so-in-so you say that "no form is important." Which one is
true.
They can't both be true."
But they are.
So, if you asked me "do you consider yourself important?"
I would have to say, "not at all...not at all, this form."
This teaching only happens because this form knows its own nothingness...
its complete unimportance.
That's why the transparency is there and the teaching can come through.
When you think you are special, the transparency isn't there...it can't come
through.
It's completely unimportant.
That's why this teaching is so important!
(laughter) looong pause
Just a suggestion....close your eyes for a moment and listen to the sound of
the bell.
Allow the sound to arise and be aware of the field in which the sound
arises...and the field into which the sound subsides.
Then the sound subsides and the field of awareness is left.
And even while you listen to the sound, you listen to the sound...
and at the same time, you're aware of the awareness, the underlying field.
Form and formless...one.
Close your eyes......chimes (3)
The reason there is silence and I don't speak for a while...one way of
putting it...is because I don't know what to say.
Potentially that could be a very uncomfortable state.
If I don't know what to say and I'm looking for something to say it becomes
uncomfortable.
When I don't know what to say and think I should know...that's
uncomfortable.
If I don't know what to say and feel bad about not knowing what to say, it's
very stressful.
But to be comfortable with not knowing is a state of creativity and depth...
and then you have access to a deep knowing.
That's not just the case with a spiritual teacher...it applies to you.
You are also a teacher. Become comfortable with not-knowing.
A deeper knowing arises when the not-knowing is not resisted.
You surrender into the state of not-knowing.
And it is the most beautiful state...deep inner connectedness.
Then, whatever needs to be known in this moment truly needs to be
known...not to satisfy mental curiosity.
What truly needs to be known or done, is known...right now, when it
needs to be known.
And there's a lot that does not need to be known.
But what is truly needed is always there...out of that state, in which you
seem to have disappeared as an existing entity.
And then you realize that all 'thought knowledge'...all knowledge that is
derived from thought...is a kind of pseudo-knowledge.
In thought, when you call it something, you think you know.
When you have a label for something, you think that's what it is...
not realizing that every label is an abstraction.
very very looong pause
The state of not-knowing causes another state, as we talked about yesterday,
when you walk around or sit and perceive without interpretation,
without labeling.
And again that's the state of not-knowing.
And yet it's a state of a deep knowing that is beyond mind.
As the awareness or the unconditioned consciousness arises, separative
knowledge which is of the mind, (because every label separates you
from that which you label...it becomes a barrier), that separative
knowledge is replaced by a unitive knowing, which doesn't separate you
from that which is known.
And you can see how that transforms your relationship with nature, and how
it transforms your relationship with other human beings.
So far, 90% or more of human interaction has been through
separative...attaching labels on to people...interpreting, judging.
Not realizing that every interpretation and judgment is no more than a very
limited perspective...one standpoint, one small perspective, no more.
Once you know that, you no longer get deceived by the mind and believe that
one perspective contains the truth... that one thought that you express
could ever contain the truth.
It is a small perspective, no more. It is a fragment, no more.
So the recognition of the relativity of all thought...and we are moving
toward a different kind of knowing...a knowing in which the sense of
separateness does not arise.
That knowing is also loving...it's one...because love is obscured
through the delusion of separateness.
Love as the realization of your oneness with all that is, is obscured by the
labeling, the interpreting, the knowing mind.
Whatever you look upon in that state of not knowing (from the point of view
of mind), is looked upon with love and compassion.
They are all aspects of that state of deep knowing that to the mind looks
like not knowing at all.
And you can imagine how that changes human relationships, when you can be
with another human being in the state of not-knowing.
This either means you are totally present, totally still, allowing this form
the form that this moment takes, the form of this human being to be
completely...or it could mean that certain thoughts still arise about
that human being - 'who they are...what they should be doing...they
should be doing this or that, should know better, they are this, they
are that' - that thought is recognized as
thought and you don't believe in it totally anymore.
And you recognize that it's a fragment, it's only a thought.
You allow it to pass, and you re-enter the state of not-knowing. You don't
get tricked anymore by the mind.
There is, continuously, that dimension of aware presence that may be all
there is, or it may be the undercurrent...on the surface of it there
are mind movements.
That's fine.
All sense perceptions are surface phenomena.
Ultimately, in themselves, sense perceptions are not all that satisfying.
They are never satisfying for long...nothing here in the world of form
satisfies for long, even if it's beautiful initially.
From Now2 transcribed by Jani
you, now, for you to choose to dwell in the state of presence rather
than the state of mind identification.
You only need to remember that you have that choice, of being identified
with mind, or stepping out of mind.
I can hear one mind here asking the question, "Who is choosing?"
The answer is of course, it's not really you who is choosing.
Presence is choosing to emerge through this form. From the perspective of
this form, it looks as if this form were choosing.
But that is a helpful perspective...that is why I say you can choose
presence.
Don't try to work that out through the mind. (laughter)
Very often, the truth, the deepest truth, can only be expressed through
paradox...not through some neat, logical statement that says this is
how it is, and
that's how it is not.
That's the fragmentary way that thought happens.
When you create thought systems, they may look spiritual, but they may be
belief systems...then you have very neat ways of putting it..."This is
how it is and there is no contradiction here."
Everything is logically explained.
Be suspicious when you encounter a teaching that is totally logically
consistent and has no contradictions.
It's a mind-structure (he laughs).
Here we are using different pointers to take you beyond
mind-identification...and whatever pointer is helpful will be used.
The pointers are not there to contain or convey the truth...any absolute
truth.
They are only temporary means, that's all.
So, you can choose the state of presence.
That is a helpful perspective, and all you need to do is remember that...
that you have that choice and then you exercise that choice.
At that moment presence has chosen you, one could say.
Ok, it doesn't matter. (he laughs)
So there come these philosophic questions when you listen to different
teachings.
There is a 'doer'...there is no 'doer'.
And then people identify with one of these perspectives...they go to
one teacher, who says there's no doer, and they repeat that
perspective mentally.
And they start to argue with people who say, "No, no, there is a doer."
(laughter)
And the mind loves that because then the egoic self has reincarnated into
some new belief and has adopted a new mental position...
"This is me now, and I'm telling you there is no doer." (laughter)
And you're doing a lot while you're saying that.
loooooong pause
When questions arise, you're welcome to write them on a piece of paper and
tomorrow or the next day we will look at questions.
I don't promise there will be an answer, but we'll look at the question.
Avoid questions that are speculative, because they are not all that helpful.
Avoid questions that are too comparative, comparing signposts.
But ask vital questions concerning your own practice.
Avoid questions that try to catch me out in some contradiction. (laughter)
"This morning you said this, and in the afternoon you said that...which one
is true?"
I had a question, not long ago, a very powerful mind, she wrote a very
elaborate question...and said in your book you say: "You are here to
enable the divine universe to unfold.
That is how important you are."
And then on page so-in-so you say that "no form is important." Which one is
true.
They can't both be true."
But they are.
So, if you asked me "do you consider yourself important?"
I would have to say, "not at all...not at all, this form."
This teaching only happens because this form knows its own nothingness...
its complete unimportance.
That's why the transparency is there and the teaching can come through.
When you think you are special, the transparency isn't there...it can't come
through.
It's completely unimportant.
That's why this teaching is so important!
(laughter) looong pause
Just a suggestion....close your eyes for a moment and listen to the sound of
the bell.
Allow the sound to arise and be aware of the field in which the sound
arises...and the field into which the sound subsides.
Then the sound subsides and the field of awareness is left.
And even while you listen to the sound, you listen to the sound...
and at the same time, you're aware of the awareness, the underlying field.
Form and formless...one.
Close your eyes......chimes (3)
The reason there is silence and I don't speak for a while...one way of
putting it...is because I don't know what to say.
Potentially that could be a very uncomfortable state.
If I don't know what to say and I'm looking for something to say it becomes
uncomfortable.
When I don't know what to say and think I should know...that's
uncomfortable.
If I don't know what to say and feel bad about not knowing what to say, it's
very stressful.
But to be comfortable with not knowing is a state of creativity and depth...
and then you have access to a deep knowing.
That's not just the case with a spiritual teacher...it applies to you.
You are also a teacher. Become comfortable with not-knowing.
A deeper knowing arises when the not-knowing is not resisted.
You surrender into the state of not-knowing.
And it is the most beautiful state...deep inner connectedness.
Then, whatever needs to be known in this moment truly needs to be
known...not to satisfy mental curiosity.
What truly needs to be known or done, is known...right now, when it
needs to be known.
And there's a lot that does not need to be known.
But what is truly needed is always there...out of that state, in which you
seem to have disappeared as an existing entity.
And then you realize that all 'thought knowledge'...all knowledge that is
derived from thought...is a kind of pseudo-knowledge.
In thought, when you call it something, you think you know.
When you have a label for something, you think that's what it is...
not realizing that every label is an abstraction.
very very looong pause
The state of not-knowing causes another state, as we talked about yesterday,
when you walk around or sit and perceive without interpretation,
without labeling.
And again that's the state of not-knowing.
And yet it's a state of a deep knowing that is beyond mind.
As the awareness or the unconditioned consciousness arises, separative
knowledge which is of the mind, (because every label separates you
from that which you label...it becomes a barrier), that separative
knowledge is replaced by a unitive knowing, which doesn't separate you
from that which is known.
And you can see how that transforms your relationship with nature, and how
it transforms your relationship with other human beings.
So far, 90% or more of human interaction has been through
separative...attaching labels on to people...interpreting, judging.
Not realizing that every interpretation and judgment is no more than a very
limited perspective...one standpoint, one small perspective, no more.
Once you know that, you no longer get deceived by the mind and believe that
one perspective contains the truth... that one thought that you express
could ever contain the truth.
It is a small perspective, no more. It is a fragment, no more.
So the recognition of the relativity of all thought...and we are moving
toward a different kind of knowing...a knowing in which the sense of
separateness does not arise.
That knowing is also loving...it's one...because love is obscured
through the delusion of separateness.
Love as the realization of your oneness with all that is, is obscured by the
labeling, the interpreting, the knowing mind.
Whatever you look upon in that state of not knowing (from the point of view
of mind), is looked upon with love and compassion.
They are all aspects of that state of deep knowing that to the mind looks
like not knowing at all.
And you can imagine how that changes human relationships, when you can be
with another human being in the state of not-knowing.
This either means you are totally present, totally still, allowing this form
the form that this moment takes, the form of this human being to be
completely...or it could mean that certain thoughts still arise about
that human being - 'who they are...what they should be doing...they
should be doing this or that, should know better, they are this, they
are that' - that thought is recognized as
thought and you don't believe in it totally anymore.
And you recognize that it's a fragment, it's only a thought.
You allow it to pass, and you re-enter the state of not-knowing. You don't
get tricked anymore by the mind.
There is, continuously, that dimension of aware presence that may be all
there is, or it may be the undercurrent...on the surface of it there
are mind movements.
That's fine.
All sense perceptions are surface phenomena.
Ultimately, in themselves, sense perceptions are not all that satisfying.
They are never satisfying for long...nothing here in the world of form
satisfies for long, even if it's beautiful initially.
From Now2 transcribed by Jani
Roza Bal...
Roza Bal is the name of a shrine located in the Khanyar district of Srinagar, in Kashmir, India, venerated by some Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. It is believed to be the final resting place of a Prophet named Yuz Asaf. Many ancient scriptures and some other facts suggest that Yuz Asaf is in fact none other than Jesus himself.
Nicolai Notovich, a Russian scholar, was the first to suggest that Christ may have gone to sub-continent. In 1887, he visited a Buddhist monastery near Zoji-la pass where a monk told him of a bhodisattva saint called "Issa". Notovich was stunned by the remarkable similarities of Issa's teachings and martyrdom with that of Christ's life, teachings and crucifixion.
After crucifixion, the first trail of Jesus is found in the Persian scholar F. Mohammed's historical work "Jami-ut-tuwarik" which tells of Christ's arrival in the kingdom of Nisibis (now known as Nusaybin in Turkey) . The same is found in the Imam Abu Jafar Muhammed's "Tafsi-Ibn-i-Jamir at-tubri." Holger Kersten who researched on Jesus being in the sub-continent, found that in both Turkey and Persia there are ancient stories of a saint called "Yuz Asaf" ("Leader of the Healed"), whose behaviour, miracles and teachings are remarkably similar to that of Christ.
More clues are drawn from the Apocrypha. These are texts said to have been written by the Apostles but which are not officially accepted by the Church. The Apocryphal 'Acts of Thomas', for example, tell how Christ met Thomas several times after the Crucifixion. In fact they tell us how Christ sent Thomas to teach his spirituality in India. This is corroborated by evidence found in the form of stone inscriptions at Fatehpur Sikri, near the Taj Mahal, in Northern India. They include "Agrapha", which are sayings of Christ that don't exist in the mainstream Bible. Their grammatical form is most similar to that of the Apocryphal gospel of Thomas.
Then there are more in The Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, and the Gospel of Thomas which are of Syrian origin and have been dated to the 4th Century AD, or possibly earlier. In these texts Thomas tells of Christ's appearance in Andrapolis, Paphlagonia (today known as in the extreme north of Anatolia) as a guest of the King of Andrappa. It seems that Christ and Mary then moved along the West coast of Turkey, proof of this could be an old stopping place for travellers called the "Home of Mary", found along the ancient silk route. In his travels through Persia (today's Iran) Christ became known as Yuz Asaf (leader of the Healed). We know this because a Kashmiri historical document confirms that Isa (the Koranic name for Christ) was in fact also known as Yuz Asaf. The Jami - uf - Tamarik, Volume II, tells that Yuz Asaf visited Masslige, where he attended the grave of Shem, Noah's son. There are various other accounts such as Agha Mustafa's "Awhali Shahaii-i-paras" that tell of Yuz Asaf's travels and teachings all over Persia. It seems that Yuz Asaf blessed Afghanistan and Pakistan with his presence also. There are for example two plains in Eastern Afghanistan near Gazni and Galalabad, bearing the name of the prophet Yuz Asaf. Again in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, Thomas says that he and Christ attended the Court of King Gundafor of Taxila (now Pakistan), in about 47AD, and that eventually both the King and his brother accepted Christ's teachings. Researchers claim that there are more than twenty one historical documents that bear witness to the existence of Jesus in Kashmir, where he was known also as Yuz Asaf and Issa. For example the Bhavishyat Mahapurana (volume 9 verses 17-32) contains an account of Issa-Masih (Jesus the Messiah). It describes Christ's arrival in the Kashmir region of India and his encounter with King Shalivahana, who ruled the Kushan area (39-50AD), and who entertained Christ as a guest for some time.
The historian Mullah Nadini (1413) also recounts a story of Yuz Asaf who was a contemporary to King Gopadatta, and confirms that he also used the name Issa, i.e. Jesus. There is also much historical truth in the towns and villages of Northern Pakistan to prove that Jesus and his mother Mary spent time in the area. For instance, at the border of a small town called Murree, there is nearby a mountain called Pindi Point, upon which is an old tomb called ‘Mai Mari da Asthan’ or "The final resting place of Mary". The tomb is said to be very old and local Muslims venerate it as the grave of Issa's Mother. The tomb itself is oriented East-West consistent with the Jewish tradition, despite the fact it is within a Muslim area. Assuming its antiquity, such a tomb could not be Hindu either since the Hindus contemporary to Christ cremated their dead and scattered their ashes as do Hindus today.
Between the villages of Naugam and Nilmge, 40km south of Srinagar, is a meadow called Yuz-Marg (the meadow of Yuz Asaf, i.e. Jesus). Then there is the sacred building called Aish Muqam, 60km south east of Srinagar and 12km from Bij Bihara. "Aish" is derived from "Issa" and "Muqam" place of rest or repose. Within the Aish Muqam is a sacred relic called the 'Moses Rod' or the 'Jesus Rod', which local legend says, belonged to Moses himself. Christ is said to also have held it, perhaps to confirm his Mosaic heritage. Above the town of Srinagar is a temple known as "The Throne of Solomon", which dates back to at least 1000BC, which King Gopadatta had restored at about the same time as Christ's advent. The restoration was done by a Persian architect who personally left four inscriptions on the side steps of the temple. The third and fourth inscription read: "At this time Yuz Asaf announced his prophetic calling in Year 50 and 4" and "He is Jesus -- Prophet of the Sons of Israel"! Christ may have travelled to the South of India also, finally returning to Kashmir to die at the age of approximately 80 years. Christ's tomb, lies in Srinagar's old town in a building called Rozabal. "Rozabal" is an abbreviation of Rauza Bal, meaning "tomb of a prophet". At the entrance there is an inscription explaining that Yuz Asaf is buried along with another Muslim saint. Both have gravestones which are oriented in North-South direction, according to Muslim tradition. However, through a small opening the true burial chamber can be seen, in which there is the Sarcophagus of Yuz Asaf in East-West (Jewish) orientation!
According to Professor Hassnain, who has studied this tomb, there are carved footprints on the grave stones and when closely examined, carved images of a crucifix and a rosary. The footprints of Yuz Asaf have what appear to be scars represented on both feet, if one assumes that they are crucifixion scars, then their position is consistent with the scars shown in the Turin Shroud (left foot nailed over right). Crucifixion was not practised in Asia, so it is quite possible that they were inflicted elsewhere, such as the Middle East. The tomb is called by some as "Hazrat Issa Sahib" or "Tomb of the Lord Master Jesus". Ancient records acknowledge the existence of the tomb as long ago as 112AD. The Grand Mufti, a prominent Muslim Cleric, himself has confirmed that Hazrat Isa Sahib is indeed the tomb of Yuz Asaf!
Courtesy: www.tombofjesus.com, BBC Documentary: Jesus in India, Jesus in India by Holger Kersten
Nicolai Notovich, a Russian scholar, was the first to suggest that Christ may have gone to sub-continent. In 1887, he visited a Buddhist monastery near Zoji-la pass where a monk told him of a bhodisattva saint called "Issa". Notovich was stunned by the remarkable similarities of Issa's teachings and martyrdom with that of Christ's life, teachings and crucifixion.
After crucifixion, the first trail of Jesus is found in the Persian scholar F. Mohammed's historical work "Jami-ut-tuwarik" which tells of Christ's arrival in the kingdom of Nisibis (now known as Nusaybin in Turkey) . The same is found in the Imam Abu Jafar Muhammed's "Tafsi-Ibn-i-Jamir at-tubri." Holger Kersten who researched on Jesus being in the sub-continent, found that in both Turkey and Persia there are ancient stories of a saint called "Yuz Asaf" ("Leader of the Healed"), whose behaviour, miracles and teachings are remarkably similar to that of Christ.
More clues are drawn from the Apocrypha. These are texts said to have been written by the Apostles but which are not officially accepted by the Church. The Apocryphal 'Acts of Thomas', for example, tell how Christ met Thomas several times after the Crucifixion. In fact they tell us how Christ sent Thomas to teach his spirituality in India. This is corroborated by evidence found in the form of stone inscriptions at Fatehpur Sikri, near the Taj Mahal, in Northern India. They include "Agrapha", which are sayings of Christ that don't exist in the mainstream Bible. Their grammatical form is most similar to that of the Apocryphal gospel of Thomas.
Then there are more in The Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, and the Gospel of Thomas which are of Syrian origin and have been dated to the 4th Century AD, or possibly earlier. In these texts Thomas tells of Christ's appearance in Andrapolis, Paphlagonia (today known as in the extreme north of Anatolia) as a guest of the King of Andrappa. It seems that Christ and Mary then moved along the West coast of Turkey, proof of this could be an old stopping place for travellers called the "Home of Mary", found along the ancient silk route. In his travels through Persia (today's Iran) Christ became known as Yuz Asaf (leader of the Healed). We know this because a Kashmiri historical document confirms that Isa (the Koranic name for Christ) was in fact also known as Yuz Asaf. The Jami - uf - Tamarik, Volume II, tells that Yuz Asaf visited Masslige, where he attended the grave of Shem, Noah's son. There are various other accounts such as Agha Mustafa's "Awhali Shahaii-i-paras" that tell of Yuz Asaf's travels and teachings all over Persia. It seems that Yuz Asaf blessed Afghanistan and Pakistan with his presence also. There are for example two plains in Eastern Afghanistan near Gazni and Galalabad, bearing the name of the prophet Yuz Asaf. Again in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, Thomas says that he and Christ attended the Court of King Gundafor of Taxila (now Pakistan), in about 47AD, and that eventually both the King and his brother accepted Christ's teachings. Researchers claim that there are more than twenty one historical documents that bear witness to the existence of Jesus in Kashmir, where he was known also as Yuz Asaf and Issa. For example the Bhavishyat Mahapurana (volume 9 verses 17-32) contains an account of Issa-Masih (Jesus the Messiah). It describes Christ's arrival in the Kashmir region of India and his encounter with King Shalivahana, who ruled the Kushan area (39-50AD), and who entertained Christ as a guest for some time.
The historian Mullah Nadini (1413) also recounts a story of Yuz Asaf who was a contemporary to King Gopadatta, and confirms that he also used the name Issa, i.e. Jesus. There is also much historical truth in the towns and villages of Northern Pakistan to prove that Jesus and his mother Mary spent time in the area. For instance, at the border of a small town called Murree, there is nearby a mountain called Pindi Point, upon which is an old tomb called ‘Mai Mari da Asthan’ or "The final resting place of Mary". The tomb is said to be very old and local Muslims venerate it as the grave of Issa's Mother. The tomb itself is oriented East-West consistent with the Jewish tradition, despite the fact it is within a Muslim area. Assuming its antiquity, such a tomb could not be Hindu either since the Hindus contemporary to Christ cremated their dead and scattered their ashes as do Hindus today.
Between the villages of Naugam and Nilmge, 40km south of Srinagar, is a meadow called Yuz-Marg (the meadow of Yuz Asaf, i.e. Jesus). Then there is the sacred building called Aish Muqam, 60km south east of Srinagar and 12km from Bij Bihara. "Aish" is derived from "Issa" and "Muqam" place of rest or repose. Within the Aish Muqam is a sacred relic called the 'Moses Rod' or the 'Jesus Rod', which local legend says, belonged to Moses himself. Christ is said to also have held it, perhaps to confirm his Mosaic heritage. Above the town of Srinagar is a temple known as "The Throne of Solomon", which dates back to at least 1000BC, which King Gopadatta had restored at about the same time as Christ's advent. The restoration was done by a Persian architect who personally left four inscriptions on the side steps of the temple. The third and fourth inscription read: "At this time Yuz Asaf announced his prophetic calling in Year 50 and 4" and "He is Jesus -- Prophet of the Sons of Israel"! Christ may have travelled to the South of India also, finally returning to Kashmir to die at the age of approximately 80 years. Christ's tomb, lies in Srinagar's old town in a building called Rozabal. "Rozabal" is an abbreviation of Rauza Bal, meaning "tomb of a prophet". At the entrance there is an inscription explaining that Yuz Asaf is buried along with another Muslim saint. Both have gravestones which are oriented in North-South direction, according to Muslim tradition. However, through a small opening the true burial chamber can be seen, in which there is the Sarcophagus of Yuz Asaf in East-West (Jewish) orientation!
According to Professor Hassnain, who has studied this tomb, there are carved footprints on the grave stones and when closely examined, carved images of a crucifix and a rosary. The footprints of Yuz Asaf have what appear to be scars represented on both feet, if one assumes that they are crucifixion scars, then their position is consistent with the scars shown in the Turin Shroud (left foot nailed over right). Crucifixion was not practised in Asia, so it is quite possible that they were inflicted elsewhere, such as the Middle East. The tomb is called by some as "Hazrat Issa Sahib" or "Tomb of the Lord Master Jesus". Ancient records acknowledge the existence of the tomb as long ago as 112AD. The Grand Mufti, a prominent Muslim Cleric, himself has confirmed that Hazrat Isa Sahib is indeed the tomb of Yuz Asaf!
Courtesy: www.tombofjesus.com, BBC Documentary: Jesus in India, Jesus in India by Holger Kersten
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