The actual experience alone can settle this argument. This is what
I found: The ego vanished; the everyday "I" which the world knew and
which knew the world, was no longer there. But a new and diviner
individuality appeared in its place, a consciousness which could say
"I AM" and which I recognized to have been my real self all along. It
was not lost, merged, or dissolved: it was fully and vividly conscious
that it was a point in universal Mind and so not apart from that Mind
itself. Only the lower self, the false self, was gone but that was a
loss for which to be immeasurably grateful.
— Notebooks Category 28: The Alone > Chapter 2: Our Relation To
the Absolute > # 142.......Paul Brunton
Sequence of Cosmic Information Systems, The Pre 1970, Evoluon Theory...
What is happening on the earth indeed is -- ONLY FRAGMENTED-LY known, in terms
of The Background REALITY!
1. Abstract spiritual as well as -- The Physical-Black-hole -- Singularity, 2.
duality of Physics in which Photon -- the particle as well as the Wave of Light
is called the Anti-Particle-of-itself; 3. Chemical Interaction Field, 4.
Replication of The Living Cells covering the entire field of Biology with DNA as
the Linearized Sequence of Exactly four nucleotides in the DNA in cell nuclei
defining The fourth Field i.e. LIFE; -- which in turn -- gives rise to Man as
the 5th field via evolution!
After the five fields as basis The 6TH FIELD IS THE ENTIRE ESSENCE OF THE
UNIVERSE ITSELF.
Profoundly said is: that if any man is asked, he will essentially know at least
six people and these six will cover via their thought vibrations the entirety of
the Cosmic set!
Humbly says,
Manohar Tilak,
the originator of -- The Pre 1970, Evoluon Theory of Cosmic Evolution = the
spirit = Cosmic Evolution which just is one step from the Anthropocentric
Principle of Physics; and the 1998 book: "Infinities to Eternities".........>
of The Background REALITY!
1. Abstract spiritual as well as -- The Physical-Black-hole -- Singularity, 2.
duality of Physics in which Photon -- the particle as well as the Wave of Light
is called the Anti-Particle-of-itself; 3. Chemical Interaction Field, 4.
Replication of The Living Cells covering the entire field of Biology with DNA as
the Linearized Sequence of Exactly four nucleotides in the DNA in cell nuclei
defining The fourth Field i.e. LIFE; -- which in turn -- gives rise to Man as
the 5th field via evolution!
After the five fields as basis The 6TH FIELD IS THE ENTIRE ESSENCE OF THE
UNIVERSE ITSELF.
Profoundly said is: that if any man is asked, he will essentially know at least
six people and these six will cover via their thought vibrations the entirety of
the Cosmic set!
Humbly says,
Manohar Tilak,
the originator of -- The Pre 1970, Evoluon Theory of Cosmic Evolution = the
spirit = Cosmic Evolution which just is one step from the Anthropocentric
Principle of Physics; and the 1998 book: "Infinities to Eternities".........>
The Presence...
Junaid had a young dervish he loved very much, and his older
dervishes became jealous. They could not understand what the sheikh
saw in the young man. One day, Junaid told all his dervishes to buy
a chicken in the marketplace and then kill the chicken. However,
they had to kill the chicken where no one could see them. They were
to return by sundown at the latest.
One by one the dervishes returned to the sheikh, each with a
slaughtered chicken under his arm. Finally, when the sun went down,
the young derivsh returned, with a live chicken still squawking and
struggling. The older dervishes all laughed and whispered among
themselves that the young man couldn't even carry out his sheikh's
orders!
Junaid asked each of the dervishes to describe how they carried out
his instructions. The first man back said that he had gone out and
purchased the chicken, then returned home, locked the door, closed
the curtains over all the windows, and then killed the chicken. The
second dervish said that he returned home with his chicken, locked
his door and pulled the curtains, and then he took the chicken into a
dark closet, but he blindfolded himself, so he himself could not see
the slaughtering. Another dervish went into the a dark deserted area
of the forest to sacrifice his chicken. Another went into a pitch
black cave.
Finally, it was the young man's turn. He hung his head, embarrassed
that he could not follow his sheikh's instructions. "I brought the
chicken into my house, but everywhere in the house there was a
Presence. I went into the most deserted parts of the forest, but the
Presence was still with me. Even in the darkest caves, the Presence
was still there. There was no place I could go where I was not seen."
Sheikh Muzaffer
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
dervishes became jealous. They could not understand what the sheikh
saw in the young man. One day, Junaid told all his dervishes to buy
a chicken in the marketplace and then kill the chicken. However,
they had to kill the chicken where no one could see them. They were
to return by sundown at the latest.
One by one the dervishes returned to the sheikh, each with a
slaughtered chicken under his arm. Finally, when the sun went down,
the young derivsh returned, with a live chicken still squawking and
struggling. The older dervishes all laughed and whispered among
themselves that the young man couldn't even carry out his sheikh's
orders!
Junaid asked each of the dervishes to describe how they carried out
his instructions. The first man back said that he had gone out and
purchased the chicken, then returned home, locked the door, closed
the curtains over all the windows, and then killed the chicken. The
second dervish said that he returned home with his chicken, locked
his door and pulled the curtains, and then he took the chicken into a
dark closet, but he blindfolded himself, so he himself could not see
the slaughtering. Another dervish went into the a dark deserted area
of the forest to sacrifice his chicken. Another went into a pitch
black cave.
Finally, it was the young man's turn. He hung his head, embarrassed
that he could not follow his sheikh's instructions. "I brought the
chicken into my house, but everywhere in the house there was a
Presence. I went into the most deserted parts of the forest, but the
Presence was still with me. Even in the darkest caves, the Presence
was still there. There was no place I could go where I was not seen."
Sheikh Muzaffer
as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager
The true path and the false path...
Jesus himself talked about the "broad way that leads to destruction" and the
"strait and narrow way that leads to eternal life." He also said that most
people follow the former and few find the latter.
Most Christians believe – of course – that they follow the "strait and narrow,"
but this is a highly superficial viewpoint based on a perversion of Jesus' true
teachings, a perversion designed by the power elite to control the population
here on earth.
As described throughout this website, the power elite seeks to create an outer
religion that can control the minds of the people and cause them to submit to
the earthly institution and its hierarchy of human beings. Jesus came to create
a spiritual movement that would set people free from the blind leaders by
showing them that their entry into the kingdom of God does not depend on
anything outside themselves, including an earthly religion and its leaders.
The view of religion presented by the power elite is very simple. You live for a
very short time here on earth, but you have the potential to use this short time
to secure for yourself an eternity in a heavenly paradise. The problem is that
in order to secure your entry into this non-earthly realm, you have to fulfill
certain requirements here on earth. And those requirements are that you follow
the sacraments and doctrines of an external religion, a religion controlled by
the power elite. This requires you to give up some of your freedom and submit to
the power elite. But isn't it worth it to let them have power over you for a
short time on earth, when it can secure an eternity in heaven?
Another way to say this is that the power elite presents an outer path to
salvation, whereby you follow the outer rules and live up to outer requirements.
By doing this, you automatically qualify for salvation—in other words, the outer
path is presented as a guaranteed path to salvation.
Jesus' true teachings on the requirements for salvation are in complete
opposition to this view. Jesus' true teachings can be found even in the official
scriptures, but they are largely ingored or misinterpreted by Christian
preachers. For example, take this stunning statement by Jesus: "Unless your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye
shall in no wise enter the kingdom." What is Jesus saying here? The scribes and
Pharisees were doing everything right according to the external religion and its
rules. Yet Jesus states clearly that this is not enough to get you to heaven.
What is the true requirement for entering the kingdom of God—which as Jesus said
is within you? What is within you? It is your mind, your state of consciousness.
Thus, the true key to entering the kingdom is to change your mind, to raise your
consciousness. You must transcend the lower, human state of consciousness that
Jesus called "death" and be reborn of the Spirit. Thereby, your sense of
identity as a human being will die and you will be reborn into accepting your
Christ potential, your potential to attain the same state of consciousness that
Jesus demonstrated, your potential to "put on the mind of Christ" and be born
into LIFE.
Jesus repeatedly calls people on the external path for hypocrites, and might it
be possible that he would call most modern Christians for hypocrites as well?
Might it be possible that Jesus would call most Christian leaders for the blind
leaders of the blind? After all, most Christian churches do in fact teach an
external path to a guaranteed salvation. Just follow the outer requirements and
you don't have to look at the beam in your own eye and change your
consciousness.
This website contains numerous teachings on the true, inner path of Christ as
well as many tools for enhancing your progress on this path. Why have you found
this website at this time? Might it be because you are ready to abandon the
outer, fraudulent claim of a guaranteed or automatic salvation and embrace the
true inner path of raising your consciousness from death into
life...........from askrealjesus.com
"strait and narrow way that leads to eternal life." He also said that most
people follow the former and few find the latter.
Most Christians believe – of course – that they follow the "strait and narrow,"
but this is a highly superficial viewpoint based on a perversion of Jesus' true
teachings, a perversion designed by the power elite to control the population
here on earth.
As described throughout this website, the power elite seeks to create an outer
religion that can control the minds of the people and cause them to submit to
the earthly institution and its hierarchy of human beings. Jesus came to create
a spiritual movement that would set people free from the blind leaders by
showing them that their entry into the kingdom of God does not depend on
anything outside themselves, including an earthly religion and its leaders.
The view of religion presented by the power elite is very simple. You live for a
very short time here on earth, but you have the potential to use this short time
to secure for yourself an eternity in a heavenly paradise. The problem is that
in order to secure your entry into this non-earthly realm, you have to fulfill
certain requirements here on earth. And those requirements are that you follow
the sacraments and doctrines of an external religion, a religion controlled by
the power elite. This requires you to give up some of your freedom and submit to
the power elite. But isn't it worth it to let them have power over you for a
short time on earth, when it can secure an eternity in heaven?
Another way to say this is that the power elite presents an outer path to
salvation, whereby you follow the outer rules and live up to outer requirements.
By doing this, you automatically qualify for salvation—in other words, the outer
path is presented as a guaranteed path to salvation.
Jesus' true teachings on the requirements for salvation are in complete
opposition to this view. Jesus' true teachings can be found even in the official
scriptures, but they are largely ingored or misinterpreted by Christian
preachers. For example, take this stunning statement by Jesus: "Unless your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye
shall in no wise enter the kingdom." What is Jesus saying here? The scribes and
Pharisees were doing everything right according to the external religion and its
rules. Yet Jesus states clearly that this is not enough to get you to heaven.
What is the true requirement for entering the kingdom of God—which as Jesus said
is within you? What is within you? It is your mind, your state of consciousness.
Thus, the true key to entering the kingdom is to change your mind, to raise your
consciousness. You must transcend the lower, human state of consciousness that
Jesus called "death" and be reborn of the Spirit. Thereby, your sense of
identity as a human being will die and you will be reborn into accepting your
Christ potential, your potential to attain the same state of consciousness that
Jesus demonstrated, your potential to "put on the mind of Christ" and be born
into LIFE.
Jesus repeatedly calls people on the external path for hypocrites, and might it
be possible that he would call most modern Christians for hypocrites as well?
Might it be possible that Jesus would call most Christian leaders for the blind
leaders of the blind? After all, most Christian churches do in fact teach an
external path to a guaranteed salvation. Just follow the outer requirements and
you don't have to look at the beam in your own eye and change your
consciousness.
This website contains numerous teachings on the true, inner path of Christ as
well as many tools for enhancing your progress on this path. Why have you found
this website at this time? Might it be because you are ready to abandon the
outer, fraudulent claim of a guaranteed or automatic salvation and embrace the
true inner path of raising your consciousness from death into
life...........from askrealjesus.com
The Void...
If Mind is to be regarded aright, we must put out of our thought even
the notion of the cosmic Ever-Becoming. But to do this is to enter a
virtual Void? Precisely. When we take away all the forms of external
physical existence and all the differences of internal mental
existence, what we get is an utter emptiness of being which can hardly
be differentiated after we have taken away its features and
individualities, its finite times and finite distances. There is then
nothing but a great void. What is the nature of this void? It is pure
Thought. It is out of this empty Thought that the fullness of the
universe has paradoxically evolved. Hence it is said that the world's
reality is secondary whereas Mind's reality is primary. In the Void
the hidden oneness of things is disengaged from the things themselves.
Silence therefore is not merely the negation of sound but rather the
element in which, as Carlyle said, great things fashion themselves. It
is the supreme storehouse of power.
— Notebooks Category 28: The Alone > Chapter 1: Absolute Mind > # 114
........Paul Brunton
the notion of the cosmic Ever-Becoming. But to do this is to enter a
virtual Void? Precisely. When we take away all the forms of external
physical existence and all the differences of internal mental
existence, what we get is an utter emptiness of being which can hardly
be differentiated after we have taken away its features and
individualities, its finite times and finite distances. There is then
nothing but a great void. What is the nature of this void? It is pure
Thought. It is out of this empty Thought that the fullness of the
universe has paradoxically evolved. Hence it is said that the world's
reality is secondary whereas Mind's reality is primary. In the Void
the hidden oneness of things is disengaged from the things themselves.
Silence therefore is not merely the negation of sound but rather the
element in which, as Carlyle said, great things fashion themselves. It
is the supreme storehouse of power.
— Notebooks Category 28: The Alone > Chapter 1: Absolute Mind > # 114
........Paul Brunton
Do Not Believe...
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it........
Buddha
Buddha
Nisargadatta...
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj reminds me of Ramana Maharshi. Like Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj is often described as a simple, humble and enlightened man. He was an uneducated shopkeeper when a friend introduced him to his guru. Simply by following his guru's advice, Nisargadatta discovered his true nature:
My guru, before he died, told me: Believe me, you are the Supreme Reality. Don't doubt my words, don't disbelieve me. I am telling you the truth -- act on it. I could not forget his words and by not forgetting -- I have realized.
Nisargadatta Maharaj died on September 8, 1981. No ashram formed around him, so his teaching is preserved in a series of dialogues collected into books. His style is straightforward with emphasis on the earnestness of the disciple:
Q: Experience is subjective, it cannot be shared. Your experience leaves me where I am.
M: Truth can be experienced, but it is not mere experience. I know it and I can convey it, but only if you are open to it. To be open means to want nothing else.
Q: I am full of desires and fears. Does it mean that I am not eligible for truth?
M: Truth is not a reward for good behaviour, nor a prize for passing some tests. It cannot be brought about. It is the primary, the unborn, the ancient source of all that is. You are eligible because your are. You need not merit truth. It is your own. Just stop running away by running after. Stand still, be quiet.
I Am That is a good introductory collection of Maharaj's dialogues from the early 1970s. The stern, bare-bones talks of the last year of his life are collected in Consciousness and the Absolute. These talks represent Maharaj fighting dwindling vitality and forgoing philosophic explanations, in order to directly speak his truth to any with the ears to hear:
M: How did you get this "I Amness"? Did it come spontaneously, or did you try for it? As the Absolute, you were free from all concepts, including the primary concept "I Am"; suddenly you were caught up in the "I Amness". Who did it? Has it not happened spontaneously?
Q: Yes, that is true.
M: You did not have this concept "I Am" in the course of the nine months in the womb. Understand this state of affairs; the concept "I Am" comes spontaneously and goes spontaneously. Amazingly, when it appears, it is accepted as real. All subsequent misconceptions arise from that feeling of reality in the "I Amness". Try to stabilize in that primary concept "I Am", in order to lose that and with it all other concepts. Why am I totally free? Because I have understood the unreality of that "I Am".
My guru, before he died, told me: Believe me, you are the Supreme Reality. Don't doubt my words, don't disbelieve me. I am telling you the truth -- act on it. I could not forget his words and by not forgetting -- I have realized.
Nisargadatta Maharaj died on September 8, 1981. No ashram formed around him, so his teaching is preserved in a series of dialogues collected into books. His style is straightforward with emphasis on the earnestness of the disciple:
Q: Experience is subjective, it cannot be shared. Your experience leaves me where I am.
M: Truth can be experienced, but it is not mere experience. I know it and I can convey it, but only if you are open to it. To be open means to want nothing else.
Q: I am full of desires and fears. Does it mean that I am not eligible for truth?
M: Truth is not a reward for good behaviour, nor a prize for passing some tests. It cannot be brought about. It is the primary, the unborn, the ancient source of all that is. You are eligible because your are. You need not merit truth. It is your own. Just stop running away by running after. Stand still, be quiet.
I Am That is a good introductory collection of Maharaj's dialogues from the early 1970s. The stern, bare-bones talks of the last year of his life are collected in Consciousness and the Absolute. These talks represent Maharaj fighting dwindling vitality and forgoing philosophic explanations, in order to directly speak his truth to any with the ears to hear:
M: How did you get this "I Amness"? Did it come spontaneously, or did you try for it? As the Absolute, you were free from all concepts, including the primary concept "I Am"; suddenly you were caught up in the "I Amness". Who did it? Has it not happened spontaneously?
Q: Yes, that is true.
M: You did not have this concept "I Am" in the course of the nine months in the womb. Understand this state of affairs; the concept "I Am" comes spontaneously and goes spontaneously. Amazingly, when it appears, it is accepted as real. All subsequent misconceptions arise from that feeling of reality in the "I Amness". Try to stabilize in that primary concept "I Am", in order to lose that and with it all other concepts. Why am I totally free? Because I have understood the unreality of that "I Am".
Aloneness...
"Aloneness is a wise teacher. Kierkegaard remarked that one sign of spiritual maturity was the ability to be comfortable when alone.”.......
~ Vernon Howard
~ Vernon Howard
As a man Thinketh...
Thought and Character
The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are
By thought we wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind . . . If one endure in purity
of thought joy follows him as his own shadow - sure.
Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.
Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.
Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his "household." When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.
Only by much searching and mining are gold an diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul. And that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove: if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances; if he will link cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened"; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.........James Allen
The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are
By thought we wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind . . . If one endure in purity
of thought joy follows him as his own shadow - sure.
Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.
Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.
Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his "household." When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.
Only by much searching and mining are gold an diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul. And that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove: if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances; if he will link cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened"; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.........James Allen
Command Yourself...
A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves Truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself.
James Allen
James Allen
Superior Reasoning...
"The superior reasoning power...revealed in the
incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.".....
-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.".....
-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
The Focus of Attention...
I find that somehow, by shifting the focus of attention, I become the very
thing I look at, and experience the kind of consciousness it has; I become
the inner witness of the thing. I call this capacity of entering other
focal points of consciousness, love; you may give it any name you like.
Love says "I am everything". Wisdom says "I am nothing". Between the two,
my life flows. Since at any point of time and space I can be both the
subject and the object of experience, I express it by saying that I am
both, and neither, and beyond both. .........Nisargadatta Maharaj
thing I look at, and experience the kind of consciousness it has; I become
the inner witness of the thing. I call this capacity of entering other
focal points of consciousness, love; you may give it any name you like.
Love says "I am everything". Wisdom says "I am nothing". Between the two,
my life flows. Since at any point of time and space I can be both the
subject and the object of experience, I express it by saying that I am
both, and neither, and beyond both. .........Nisargadatta Maharaj
Action not Words...
A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle........
Kahlil Gibran
Kahlil Gibran
Spiritual Life...
Spiritual life is not an extreme of avoiding or
getting. It is a balance that you have to maintain
between two things. Neither you should cling to
the body, nor should you torture it. That is the
mean that you have to maintain, - the golden
mean.
- Swami Krishnananda
getting. It is a balance that you have to maintain
between two things. Neither you should cling to
the body, nor should you torture it. That is the
mean that you have to maintain, - the golden
mean.
- Swami Krishnananda
Jesus Speaks...
The essential message of this website is that the vast majority of human beings are trapped in the duality consciousness, the consciousness of anti-christ. This consciousness is based on a sense of separation from God, which creates a basic duality that makes people believe God is not where they are. As I explain elsewhere, the duality is defined by two relative opposites, such as good and evil. The problem here is that the duality consciousness comes up with its own definitions of good and evil, and both definitions are out of alignment with the reality of God, which you can know only through the Christ consciousness. The Christ consciousness is the ”only begotten son of the father” because it is the consciousness of being one with God and God’s truth.
The effect of the duality consciousness is the creation of the human ego, which, by its very nature, judges everything according to a dualistic standard, a standard that is based on the “things of this world” rather than the truth of Christ. That is why religious people can believe it is justified in the eyes of God to kill those who oppose their (only true) religion. Quite frankly, if you have not seen or if you deny this tendency for people to define “truth” to suit their ego-needs, you have not seriously started walking the spiritual path.
As Mother Mary explains, everything is created by the expanding force of the Father and the contracting force of the Mother. My point is that the fundamentalist Christians have taken the tendency to judge into one extreme, namely a perversion of the Father. They say that anything which is not in compliance with a literal interpretation of the Bible is of the devil and they see it as their duty to eradicate it. This is what caused the crusades, the inquisition and other atrocities perpetrated by those who claim to be my followers but have not been willing to embody my teachings.
Many New Age people have taken the tendency to judge into the opposite extreme by perverting the Mother. They have created a false image of love as being gentle and never challenging anything, including, of course, their own egos. They believe that as long as they never challenge any imperfections, and in fact ignore anything not positive or pleasant, they will be saved and they will raise the planet. Likewise, the Christians believe that as long as they ignore or run away from the devil, they will be saved and bring the kingdom of God to Earth.
I trust the more perceptive seekers can see that this is essentially the same reaction taken into the two relative extremes defined by the duality consciousness. Whether you say everything not in the Bible is of the devil or say there is no devil, you are refusing to reach for the mind of Christ that will empower you to discern between Christ truth and dualistic lies. My point is that many New Age people think that because they are always being gentle, they are not being as judgmental as fundamentalist Christians. Yet the New Age people are just as judgmental, they have simply adopted a different standard, namely human love, as the standard by which they judge everyone and everything.
So when they come across this website, and run into my fiery divine love that will not let anyone stay trapped in their illusions, they immediately judge me, my words and my vibration. If I do not live up to their standard of being “loving,” I cannot be the real Jesus and they “don’t sense the love” or think this cannot be a divinely inspired message. Well, you don’t sense the divine love because you have allowed the flame of divine love in your heart to be replaced by a golden calf of human love. There is nothing in you that resonates with my divine love, and thus I cannot reach you as I could not reach the scribes and Pharisees. They too thought they knew everything but they had only intellectual knowledge and “had no truth in them.”
.......from askrealjesus.com
The effect of the duality consciousness is the creation of the human ego, which, by its very nature, judges everything according to a dualistic standard, a standard that is based on the “things of this world” rather than the truth of Christ. That is why religious people can believe it is justified in the eyes of God to kill those who oppose their (only true) religion. Quite frankly, if you have not seen or if you deny this tendency for people to define “truth” to suit their ego-needs, you have not seriously started walking the spiritual path.
As Mother Mary explains, everything is created by the expanding force of the Father and the contracting force of the Mother. My point is that the fundamentalist Christians have taken the tendency to judge into one extreme, namely a perversion of the Father. They say that anything which is not in compliance with a literal interpretation of the Bible is of the devil and they see it as their duty to eradicate it. This is what caused the crusades, the inquisition and other atrocities perpetrated by those who claim to be my followers but have not been willing to embody my teachings.
Many New Age people have taken the tendency to judge into the opposite extreme by perverting the Mother. They have created a false image of love as being gentle and never challenging anything, including, of course, their own egos. They believe that as long as they never challenge any imperfections, and in fact ignore anything not positive or pleasant, they will be saved and they will raise the planet. Likewise, the Christians believe that as long as they ignore or run away from the devil, they will be saved and bring the kingdom of God to Earth.
I trust the more perceptive seekers can see that this is essentially the same reaction taken into the two relative extremes defined by the duality consciousness. Whether you say everything not in the Bible is of the devil or say there is no devil, you are refusing to reach for the mind of Christ that will empower you to discern between Christ truth and dualistic lies. My point is that many New Age people think that because they are always being gentle, they are not being as judgmental as fundamentalist Christians. Yet the New Age people are just as judgmental, they have simply adopted a different standard, namely human love, as the standard by which they judge everyone and everything.
So when they come across this website, and run into my fiery divine love that will not let anyone stay trapped in their illusions, they immediately judge me, my words and my vibration. If I do not live up to their standard of being “loving,” I cannot be the real Jesus and they “don’t sense the love” or think this cannot be a divinely inspired message. Well, you don’t sense the divine love because you have allowed the flame of divine love in your heart to be replaced by a golden calf of human love. There is nothing in you that resonates with my divine love, and thus I cannot reach you as I could not reach the scribes and Pharisees. They too thought they knew everything but they had only intellectual knowledge and “had no truth in them.”
.......from askrealjesus.com
Sin...
Much is written about sin and much is not understood.. Sin is ignorance.. Sin is
ego.. Sin is selfishness.. Sin is an anchient Hebrew word that means "missing
the mark", this refers to archery and missing the mark of the "bulls eye".. Put
another arrow in the bow and try again.. Sin is not the end.. It is only a bump
in the road.. The key Knowledge is that Sin is ego.. Dissolve the ego and you
will sin no more.. This is what Jesus meant when He said "Sin no More", He was
speaking of the dissolving of the ego.. But few understood His teaching and
still now few understand His teaching..........namaste, thomas
ego.. Sin is selfishness.. Sin is an anchient Hebrew word that means "missing
the mark", this refers to archery and missing the mark of the "bulls eye".. Put
another arrow in the bow and try again.. Sin is not the end.. It is only a bump
in the road.. The key Knowledge is that Sin is ego.. Dissolve the ego and you
will sin no more.. This is what Jesus meant when He said "Sin no More", He was
speaking of the dissolving of the ego.. But few understood His teaching and
still now few understand His teaching..........namaste, thomas
Matter and Spirit...
In reality matter comes from spirit; matter in its true nature is spirit; matter
is an action of spirit that has materialized and has become a reality to our
senses, hiding the spirit under it. It has covered the existence of the spirit
from the eyes of those who look at life from the outside.
From The Teachings Of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Selected & Arranged By
HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN
is an action of spirit that has materialized and has become a reality to our
senses, hiding the spirit under it. It has covered the existence of the spirit
from the eyes of those who look at life from the outside.
From The Teachings Of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Selected & Arranged By
HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN
Nirvana...
The Buddhist text, Visuddhi Magga, declares there is Nirvana but no one who realizes it, that there is a way but not he who goes thereby.........
— Notebooks Category 8: The Ego > Chapter 4: Detaching from The Ego > # 439....Paul Brunton
— Notebooks Category 8: The Ego > Chapter 4: Detaching from The Ego > # 439....Paul Brunton
Always in Love...
You are always in love
and you can only love yourself,
the Changeless One in which even space is.
There is no beginning, no middle, and no end to it.
Only love is worth loving and this is your own Self....
- Papaji
and you can only love yourself,
the Changeless One in which even space is.
There is no beginning, no middle, and no end to it.
Only love is worth loving and this is your own Self....
- Papaji
In the morning...
" In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal
philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and
its literature seen puny and trivial"......... Henry David Thoreau
philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and
its literature seen puny and trivial"......... Henry David Thoreau
Time...
You can begin the quest by trying to get rid of your idea of time. This will be your honourable diploma, this will be your certified matriculation, when you succeed in turning time's illusion into the reality hidden behind it, into the Ever-Presence.
— Notebooks Category 19: The Reign of Relativity > Chapter 4: Time, Space, Causality > # 151.......Paul Brunton
— Notebooks Category 19: The Reign of Relativity > Chapter 4: Time, Space, Causality > # 151.......Paul Brunton
The Last Words of Henry David Thoreau...
Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862)
Have you made your peace with your God?
"I never quarrelled with my God."
But aren't you concerned about the next world?
"One world at a time."
(Discussion on his deathbed)
Have you made your peace with your God?
"I never quarrelled with my God."
But aren't you concerned about the next world?
"One world at a time."
(Discussion on his deathbed)
Thoreau and Whitman...
Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman were great American writers of the 19th century. But did you know that they were also mystics? Mysticism in American Literature: Thoreau's Quest and Whitman's Self by Paul Hourihan focuses on the mysticism in the lives and major writings of Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman. It explains notable passages that have eluded many of us from Thoreau's classic, Walden, and Walt Whitman's ground-breaking poem, "Song of Myself" from his Leaves of Grass.
This study shows how their significant works were inspired by their spiritual revelations and struggles. It discusses reasons for Thoreau's long depression after the publication of Walden. It also compares the very different approaches that each of these Transcendentalists took to reach their spiritual achievements.
Only from a mystical interpretation of their lives and writings can we truly discover the deeper message these two literary mystics have to offer us.
By sharing with these remarkable men of letters their wisdom and strengths as well as their faults, and failings, our own evolution advances. This book serves to open the heart of self-discovery for readers seeking their own enlightenment.
As Dr. Chari states in the Foreword:
"At a time like this, Dr. Hourihan performs a valuable service by his courageous reaffirmation of what is of permanent value in the lives and works of two of the most original minds in American literature."
Paul Hourihan, who had a Ph.D. in American literature, and 25 years teaching and writing in the field of mystical studies, combines his lifelong passion for literature and mysticism to give us an insightful look into the lives of two of America's own celebrated mystical writers of the 19th century.
Winner of 2004 Editor's Choice Award from Allbooks Reviews for their Literary category.
Recommended for religious collections by Library
This study shows how their significant works were inspired by their spiritual revelations and struggles. It discusses reasons for Thoreau's long depression after the publication of Walden. It also compares the very different approaches that each of these Transcendentalists took to reach their spiritual achievements.
Only from a mystical interpretation of their lives and writings can we truly discover the deeper message these two literary mystics have to offer us.
By sharing with these remarkable men of letters their wisdom and strengths as well as their faults, and failings, our own evolution advances. This book serves to open the heart of self-discovery for readers seeking their own enlightenment.
As Dr. Chari states in the Foreword:
"At a time like this, Dr. Hourihan performs a valuable service by his courageous reaffirmation of what is of permanent value in the lives and works of two of the most original minds in American literature."
Paul Hourihan, who had a Ph.D. in American literature, and 25 years teaching and writing in the field of mystical studies, combines his lifelong passion for literature and mysticism to give us an insightful look into the lives of two of America's own celebrated mystical writers of the 19th century.
Winner of 2004 Editor's Choice Award from Allbooks Reviews for their Literary category.
Recommended for religious collections by Library
The Dissolving Mind...
Efforts to quiet the mind or to ignore thoughts cannot succeed with any consistency. Only when Full Realization strikes, only when the "Oh my gosh!" moment happens--only then does the mind dissolve. What to consider meanwhile? It is true that, if you are instructed to "avoid thinking about an elephant," the only thing that you can think of is an elephant. So, what is the answer? The answer is not to try to be rid of a disturbing thought. The answer is to ask when a thought is interrupting the peace, “WHO is thinking that thought?” Only by relinquishing belief in the false identities that inspire thoughts can the thoughts come to an end. Only by abandoning the "this" and "that" in such beliefs as "I am this" (role) or "I am that" (role) will the peace and quiet of only the "I Am" ever happen.
The "mind" is the instrument that supports your personality with thoughts, and those thoughts are the instruments that will forever prevent "peace of mind"; in fact, there is no such thing as "peace of mind." There is only peace if freed of the "mind."
Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. The ‘mind’ is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods.
You are in a play, playing a role, and believing that the role and the play are both real. Why would you believe such nonsense? Because "your mind" is the playwright, the author of every scene.
When Maharaj said, "You are not in the world...the world is in you," what did he mean? He meant, "You are not in the world," that is, there is no "you" that is real or in any world. "The world is in you" means that the world is in your "mind" and is nothing more than a figment of your programming-and-conditioning-induced imaginings.
Everything that is said here is to be used to get rid of another false belief until all ideas and emotional intoxication and beliefs are gone and nothing remains but the unstated understanding. Only then can the constant churning and re-churning of the false beliefs of the corrupted "mind" finally cease.
What is that inner resource, that inner guru? It is the vestige of pure consciousness that remains, deeply buried beneath the waste called “your mind.” “Your mind” obscures the consciousness because that "mind" is so marred with its belief in lies and superstitions and all of its "knowledge," all that learned ignorance, that it leaves you insane…so insane that you don’t know Your Self and so insane that you believe the lies and dreams of the planet.
If your body has disappeared, how can any person remain? And if no person remains, how can a mind remain?
In order to know (the great) Reality, you must be sane. In order to be sane, you must be out of your mind.
For their suffering to end, persons must understand the functioning of the totality; must see that all suffering is rooted in the assumption of ego-states as false identities; must realize that they have no “mind” but instead are being driven by the “minds” of others (which they now think is their own "mind"); must be aware of the fact that a “mind” is nothing more than the storehouse of all the lies and beliefs and ideas and concepts that must be cast aside in order to end human suffering; and must see the limitations of doingness but the timelessness and limitless nature of beingness...and non-beingness as well........ FLOYD HENDERSON
The "mind" is the instrument that supports your personality with thoughts, and those thoughts are the instruments that will forever prevent "peace of mind"; in fact, there is no such thing as "peace of mind." There is only peace if freed of the "mind."
Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. The ‘mind’ is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods.
You are in a play, playing a role, and believing that the role and the play are both real. Why would you believe such nonsense? Because "your mind" is the playwright, the author of every scene.
When Maharaj said, "You are not in the world...the world is in you," what did he mean? He meant, "You are not in the world," that is, there is no "you" that is real or in any world. "The world is in you" means that the world is in your "mind" and is nothing more than a figment of your programming-and-conditioning-induced imaginings.
Everything that is said here is to be used to get rid of another false belief until all ideas and emotional intoxication and beliefs are gone and nothing remains but the unstated understanding. Only then can the constant churning and re-churning of the false beliefs of the corrupted "mind" finally cease.
What is that inner resource, that inner guru? It is the vestige of pure consciousness that remains, deeply buried beneath the waste called “your mind.” “Your mind” obscures the consciousness because that "mind" is so marred with its belief in lies and superstitions and all of its "knowledge," all that learned ignorance, that it leaves you insane…so insane that you don’t know Your Self and so insane that you believe the lies and dreams of the planet.
If your body has disappeared, how can any person remain? And if no person remains, how can a mind remain?
In order to know (the great) Reality, you must be sane. In order to be sane, you must be out of your mind.
For their suffering to end, persons must understand the functioning of the totality; must see that all suffering is rooted in the assumption of ego-states as false identities; must realize that they have no “mind” but instead are being driven by the “minds” of others (which they now think is their own "mind"); must be aware of the fact that a “mind” is nothing more than the storehouse of all the lies and beliefs and ideas and concepts that must be cast aside in order to end human suffering; and must see the limitations of doingness but the timelessness and limitless nature of beingness...and non-beingness as well........ FLOYD HENDERSON
We are our own worst enemy...
The soul is first born into the false self, it is blind; in the true self the
soul opens its eyes.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Our greatest enemy is ourself. All weakness, all ignorance keeps us from the
truth of our being, from all the virtues hidden in us and all perfection hidden
in our souls. The first self we realize is the false self. Unless the soul is
born again it will not see the kingdom of heaven. The soul is born into the
false self; it is blind. In the true self the soul opens its eyes. Unless the
false self is fought with, the true self cannot be realized...
The lions could not harm Daniel because of the harmony of his will with the
universal Will. The lions represent the destructive elements in the human mind.
They represent wars, disappointments, rivalries, jealousies, envy, passions, and
so forth, in different horrible guises. Our ego is the lion of lions, and if
this is conquered, then these external lions -- different egos around us -- are
conquered also, and wherever we go, with anyone, whether foolish or wise, good
or bad, we now have peace.
The work of the spiritual man is to forget his false self and so to realize the
true self which is God, and this true self not only in him, but in his neighbor
also.
Man struggles with things that are outside him, and so he gives a chance to the
foes who exist in his own being. Therefore the first thing necessary in life is
to make peace for the time being with the outside world, in order to prepare for
the war which is to be fought within oneself. Once peace is made within, one
will gain by that sufficient strength and power to be used through the struggle
of life within and without... Life is one long journey, and the further behind
we have left our self, the further we have progressed toward the goal. Verily
when the false self is lost the true self is discovered.
soul opens its eyes.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Our greatest enemy is ourself. All weakness, all ignorance keeps us from the
truth of our being, from all the virtues hidden in us and all perfection hidden
in our souls. The first self we realize is the false self. Unless the soul is
born again it will not see the kingdom of heaven. The soul is born into the
false self; it is blind. In the true self the soul opens its eyes. Unless the
false self is fought with, the true self cannot be realized...
The lions could not harm Daniel because of the harmony of his will with the
universal Will. The lions represent the destructive elements in the human mind.
They represent wars, disappointments, rivalries, jealousies, envy, passions, and
so forth, in different horrible guises. Our ego is the lion of lions, and if
this is conquered, then these external lions -- different egos around us -- are
conquered also, and wherever we go, with anyone, whether foolish or wise, good
or bad, we now have peace.
The work of the spiritual man is to forget his false self and so to realize the
true self which is God, and this true self not only in him, but in his neighbor
also.
Man struggles with things that are outside him, and so he gives a chance to the
foes who exist in his own being. Therefore the first thing necessary in life is
to make peace for the time being with the outside world, in order to prepare for
the war which is to be fought within oneself. Once peace is made within, one
will gain by that sufficient strength and power to be used through the struggle
of life within and without... Life is one long journey, and the further behind
we have left our self, the further we have progressed toward the goal. Verily
when the false self is lost the true self is discovered.
Fear and Desire...
The "I AM" is that which makes all life possible.
The "I AM" cleverly uses fear and desire to pretend
that the "there and then"...what isn't...is, somehow,
better than the "here and now"...what is.
However, if spiritual enlightenment is the Sum-of-
all-Desires, then, by contrast, the final and inevitable
annihilation of the personal ego is truly the Sum-of-
all-Fears.
- Chuck Hillig
The "I AM" cleverly uses fear and desire to pretend
that the "there and then"...what isn't...is, somehow,
better than the "here and now"...what is.
However, if spiritual enlightenment is the Sum-of-
all-Desires, then, by contrast, the final and inevitable
annihilation of the personal ego is truly the Sum-of-
all-Fears.
- Chuck Hillig
Ralph Waldo Emerson...
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” .......
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Fana...
This experience of self-annihilation (fana, the Sufis call it) teaches several valuable truths, but the one which needs mention here is that whether you feel the Reality in an overwhelming mystic experience or not, what matters is that you should carry the unfaltering faith that it is always there, always present with you and within you.
— Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 7: Contemplative Stillness > # 151
— Collections: Presence of Reality........Paul Brunton
— Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 7: Contemplative Stillness > # 151
— Collections: Presence of Reality........Paul Brunton
Henry David Thoreau ...
"... in the distant woods or fields, in unpretending sprout-lands or pastures tracked by rabbits, even in a bleak and, to most, cheerless day, like this, when a villager would be thinking of his inn, I come to myself, I once more feel myself grandly related, and that cold and solitude are friends of mine. I suppose that this value, in my case, is equivalent to what others get by churchgoing and prayer. I come home to my solitary woodland walk as the homesick go home. I thus dispose of the superfluous and see things as they are, grand and beautiful. I have told many that I walk every day about half the daylight, but I think they do not believe it. I wish to get the Concord, the Massachusetts, the America, out of my head and be sane a part of every day."
- Thoreau's Journal, January 7, 1857
- Thoreau's Journal, January 7, 1857
Trust...
All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen..........
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The merging...
To each person that way is the best which
appears easiest or appeals most. All the ways
are equally good, as they lead to the same goal,
which is the merging of the ego in the Self.
What the bhakta [devotee] calls surrender, the
man who does vichara calls jnana. Both are trying
only to take the ego back to the source from which
it sprang and make it merge there.
- Sri Ramana Maharshi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
edited by David Godman
Arkana, 1985
appears easiest or appeals most. All the ways
are equally good, as they lead to the same goal,
which is the merging of the ego in the Self.
What the bhakta [devotee] calls surrender, the
man who does vichara calls jnana. Both are trying
only to take the ego back to the source from which
it sprang and make it merge there.
- Sri Ramana Maharshi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
edited by David Godman
Arkana, 1985
Becoming...
If you want money more than anything,
you'll be bought and sold.
If you have a greed for food,
you'll be a loaf of bread.
This is a subtle truth:
whatever you love, you are.
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Version by Coleman Barks
"Birdsong"
Maypop, 1993
you'll be bought and sold.
If you have a greed for food,
you'll be a loaf of bread.
This is a subtle truth:
whatever you love, you are.
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Version by Coleman Barks
"Birdsong"
Maypop, 1993
Attained the Unattainable...
I have stilled my restless mind, and my heart is
radiant: for in That-ness I have seen beyond
That-ness, in company I have seen the Comrade
Himself.
Living in bondage, I have set myself free: I have
broken away from the clutch of all narrowness.
Kabir says: "I have attained the unattainable,
and my heart is coloured with the colour of love."
- Kabir
radiant: for in That-ness I have seen beyond
That-ness, in company I have seen the Comrade
Himself.
Living in bondage, I have set myself free: I have
broken away from the clutch of all narrowness.
Kabir says: "I have attained the unattainable,
and my heart is coloured with the colour of love."
- Kabir
The Wave...
The wave realizes "I am the sea", and by falling into the sea prostrates itself
before its God.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Prayer has been taught by all religions in different forms: by bowing, by
prostrations, by recitation or chant. As soon as man begins to feel the
immanence of God in nature, he begins to prostrate himself before that Being,
calling his limited self helpless before Him, bowing before Him, worshipping
Him. ... There are many virtues, but there is one principal virtue. Every moment
passed outside the presence of God is sin, and every moment in His presence is
virtue. The whole object of the Sufi, after learning this way of communicating
is to arrive at a stage where every moment of our life passes in communion with
God, and where our every action is done as if God were before us. Is that within
everyone's reach? We are meant to be so. Just think of a person who is in love:
when he eats or drinks, whatever he does, the image of the beloved is there. In
the same way, when the love of God has come, it is natural to think of God in
everything we do.
The Sufi does not need to follow a particular belief or faith, to restrict
himself to a particular path. He can follow the Hindu way, the Muslim way, the
way of any Church or faith, provided he treads this royal road: that the whole
universe is but an immanence of beauty. ... How is the perfection of mind
reached that we have to touch? It is reached through contemplation, through
realization and understanding of the one current running through the whole of
life. We begin to contemplate on that. The mind which we call in religious
language the Almighty, and in mystical terms the divine mind, is the depth of
life, the depth of activity, with which all activity and every activity is
connected.
Therein lies the whole of religion. The mystic's prayer is to that beauty, and
his work is to forget the self, to lose himself like a bubble in the water. The
wave realizes, 'I am the sea', and by falling into the sea prostrates itself
before its God. As it is said, 'Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect'.
The Sufi recognizes the knowledge of self as the essence of all religions; he
traces it in every religion, he sees the same truth in each, and therefore he
regards all as one. Hence he can realize the saying of Jesus; 'I and my Father
are one.' The difference between creature and Creator remains on his lips, not
in his soul. This is what is meant by union with God. It is in reality the
dissolving of the false self in the knowledge of the true self, which is divine,
eternal, and all pervading. 'He who attaineth union with God, his very self must
lose,' said Amir.
before its God.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Prayer has been taught by all religions in different forms: by bowing, by
prostrations, by recitation or chant. As soon as man begins to feel the
immanence of God in nature, he begins to prostrate himself before that Being,
calling his limited self helpless before Him, bowing before Him, worshipping
Him. ... There are many virtues, but there is one principal virtue. Every moment
passed outside the presence of God is sin, and every moment in His presence is
virtue. The whole object of the Sufi, after learning this way of communicating
is to arrive at a stage where every moment of our life passes in communion with
God, and where our every action is done as if God were before us. Is that within
everyone's reach? We are meant to be so. Just think of a person who is in love:
when he eats or drinks, whatever he does, the image of the beloved is there. In
the same way, when the love of God has come, it is natural to think of God in
everything we do.
The Sufi does not need to follow a particular belief or faith, to restrict
himself to a particular path. He can follow the Hindu way, the Muslim way, the
way of any Church or faith, provided he treads this royal road: that the whole
universe is but an immanence of beauty. ... How is the perfection of mind
reached that we have to touch? It is reached through contemplation, through
realization and understanding of the one current running through the whole of
life. We begin to contemplate on that. The mind which we call in religious
language the Almighty, and in mystical terms the divine mind, is the depth of
life, the depth of activity, with which all activity and every activity is
connected.
Therein lies the whole of religion. The mystic's prayer is to that beauty, and
his work is to forget the self, to lose himself like a bubble in the water. The
wave realizes, 'I am the sea', and by falling into the sea prostrates itself
before its God. As it is said, 'Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect'.
The Sufi recognizes the knowledge of self as the essence of all religions; he
traces it in every religion, he sees the same truth in each, and therefore he
regards all as one. Hence he can realize the saying of Jesus; 'I and my Father
are one.' The difference between creature and Creator remains on his lips, not
in his soul. This is what is meant by union with God. It is in reality the
dissolving of the false self in the knowledge of the true self, which is divine,
eternal, and all pervading. 'He who attaineth union with God, his very self must
lose,' said Amir.
Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus...
Elihu's lessons. The unity of life. The two selfs. The devil. Love the saviour
of men. The David of the light. Goliath of the dark.
AGAIN Elihu met his pupils in the sacred grove and said, 2 No man lives unto
himself; for every living thing is bound by cords to every other living thing. 3
Blest are the pure in heart; for they will love and not demand love in return. 4
They will not do to other men what they would not have other men do unto them. 5
There are two selfs; the higher and the lower self. 6 The higher self is human
spirit clothed with soul, made in the form of God. 7 The lower self, the carnal
self, the body of desires,is a reflection of the higher self, distorted by the
murky ethers of the flesh. 8 The lower self is an illusion, and will pass away;
the higher self is God in man, and will not pass away. 9 The higher self is the
embodiment of truth reversed, and so is falsehood manifest. 10 The higher self
is justice, mercy, love and right; the lower self is what the higher self is
not. 11 The lower self breeds hatred, slander, lewdness, murders, theft, and
everthing that harms; the higher self is mother of the virtues and the harmonies
of life. 12 The lower self is rich in promises, but poor in blessedness and
peace; it offers pleasure, joy and satisfying gains; but gives unrest and misery
and death. 13 It gives men apples that are lovely to the eye and pleasant to the
smell; their cores are full of bitterness and gall. 14 If you would ask me what
to study I would say, yourselves; and when you will have studied them, and then
would ask me what to study next, I would reply, yourselves. 15 He who knows well
his lower self, knows the illusions of the world, knows of the things that pass
away; and he who knows his higher self, know God; knows well the things that
cannot pass away. 16 Thrice blessed is the man who has made purity and love his
very own; he has been ransomed from the perils of the lower self and is himself
his higher self. 17 Men seek salvation from an evil that they deem a living
monster of the nether world; and they have gods that are but demons in disguise;
all powerful, yet full of jealousy and hate and lust; 18 Whose favours must be
bought with costly sacrifice of fruits, and of the lives of birds, and animals,
and human kind. 19 And yet these gods possess no ears to hear, no eyes to see,
no heart to sympathise, no power to save. 20 This evil is myth; these gods are
made of air, clothed with shadows of a thought. 21 The only devil from which men
must be redeemed is self, the lower self. If man would find his devil he must
look within; his name is self. 22 If man would find his saviour he must look
within; and when the demon self has been dethroned the saviour, Love, will be
exulted to the throne of power. 23 The David of the light is Purity, who slays
the strong Goliath of the dark, and seats the saviour, Love, upon the throne.
http://reluctant-messenger.com/aquarian_gospel_008_014.htm
of men. The David of the light. Goliath of the dark.
AGAIN Elihu met his pupils in the sacred grove and said, 2 No man lives unto
himself; for every living thing is bound by cords to every other living thing. 3
Blest are the pure in heart; for they will love and not demand love in return. 4
They will not do to other men what they would not have other men do unto them. 5
There are two selfs; the higher and the lower self. 6 The higher self is human
spirit clothed with soul, made in the form of God. 7 The lower self, the carnal
self, the body of desires,is a reflection of the higher self, distorted by the
murky ethers of the flesh. 8 The lower self is an illusion, and will pass away;
the higher self is God in man, and will not pass away. 9 The higher self is the
embodiment of truth reversed, and so is falsehood manifest. 10 The higher self
is justice, mercy, love and right; the lower self is what the higher self is
not. 11 The lower self breeds hatred, slander, lewdness, murders, theft, and
everthing that harms; the higher self is mother of the virtues and the harmonies
of life. 12 The lower self is rich in promises, but poor in blessedness and
peace; it offers pleasure, joy and satisfying gains; but gives unrest and misery
and death. 13 It gives men apples that are lovely to the eye and pleasant to the
smell; their cores are full of bitterness and gall. 14 If you would ask me what
to study I would say, yourselves; and when you will have studied them, and then
would ask me what to study next, I would reply, yourselves. 15 He who knows well
his lower self, knows the illusions of the world, knows of the things that pass
away; and he who knows his higher self, know God; knows well the things that
cannot pass away. 16 Thrice blessed is the man who has made purity and love his
very own; he has been ransomed from the perils of the lower self and is himself
his higher self. 17 Men seek salvation from an evil that they deem a living
monster of the nether world; and they have gods that are but demons in disguise;
all powerful, yet full of jealousy and hate and lust; 18 Whose favours must be
bought with costly sacrifice of fruits, and of the lives of birds, and animals,
and human kind. 19 And yet these gods possess no ears to hear, no eyes to see,
no heart to sympathise, no power to save. 20 This evil is myth; these gods are
made of air, clothed with shadows of a thought. 21 The only devil from which men
must be redeemed is self, the lower self. If man would find his devil he must
look within; his name is self. 22 If man would find his saviour he must look
within; and when the demon self has been dethroned the saviour, Love, will be
exulted to the throne of power. 23 The David of the light is Purity, who slays
the strong Goliath of the dark, and seats the saviour, Love, upon the throne.
http://reluctant-messenger.com/aquarian_gospel_008_014.htm
Macbeth...
"Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
- William Shakespeare, Macbeth (V,v,19)
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
- William Shakespeare, Macbeth (V,v,19)
All This...
"When you really understand that you are
what you see and know, you do not run around
the countryside thinking, "I am all this!"
There is simply all this..."
-Alan Watts
what you see and know, you do not run around
the countryside thinking, "I am all this!"
There is simply all this..."
-Alan Watts
Unhappiness...
“Why are you unhappy?
Because 99.9% of everything you think
And of everything you do
Is for yourself –
And there isn’t one.”
- Wei Wu Wei
Because 99.9% of everything you think
And of everything you do
Is for yourself –
And there isn’t one.”
- Wei Wu Wei
Every Moment...
The world exists only when we think about it; creation stories are for children. In reality the world is created every moment.....
- Jean Klein
- Jean Klein
The Great Peace...
Emotional ecstasies are not or should not be the final goal of meditation practice. They may be welcomed, but the quest ought not be pursued so far and allowed to end with them. Better the Great Peace, the Self melted in Divine Being, the mind enlightened by Divine Truth, the result a return to the world with the heart suffused by a Great Goodwill. Such is the philosopher's goal. It does not depend on meditation alone. To those struggling in and with the world as it is today, it may seem inaccessible, utterly beyond one's ambitions.
— Notebooks Category 4: Elementary Meditation > Chapter 7: Mindfulness, Mental Quiet > # 21.......Paul Brunton
— Notebooks Category 4: Elementary Meditation > Chapter 7: Mindfulness, Mental Quiet > # 21.......Paul Brunton
Lucifer...
The thought formed entity called Lucifer began to believe that it was a part of
Reality instead of being just a working Thought of Divine Consciousness.. This
is the same problem that we have in the belief in separate ego.. The ego begins
to believe that it is real and tries to convince the sub-conscious mind (soul),
that the ego is separate from each other ,separate from God, and is real.. When
we use the word "Freedom", we are speaking of being Freed from the domination
and illusion of the ego.. This "Freedom" is Unity with Divine Consciousness and
is Reality.. But, we have the ability to achieve "Freedom" because we were
always part of Reality(Divine Consciousness) but angels such as lucifer were
never part of Divine Consciousness but were only entities created by thought..
This is why lucifer was forced further away from the Center of Divine
Consciousness just as all Spirits, such as us, are also forced further from the
center of Consciousness when we declare that we are separate and selfish.. This
self-ishness is called ego.. This is why we must disolve the false belief in the
ego if we want to experience Unity with God (Divine Consciousness).. To
experience Complete Love (God), we must become Complete Love,, lucifer was
unwilling to practice Love(non-ego) if he had no means to become part of
Reality(God) so he chose the path of ego(evil) and false power..........namaste,
thomas
Reality instead of being just a working Thought of Divine Consciousness.. This
is the same problem that we have in the belief in separate ego.. The ego begins
to believe that it is real and tries to convince the sub-conscious mind (soul),
that the ego is separate from each other ,separate from God, and is real.. When
we use the word "Freedom", we are speaking of being Freed from the domination
and illusion of the ego.. This "Freedom" is Unity with Divine Consciousness and
is Reality.. But, we have the ability to achieve "Freedom" because we were
always part of Reality(Divine Consciousness) but angels such as lucifer were
never part of Divine Consciousness but were only entities created by thought..
This is why lucifer was forced further away from the Center of Divine
Consciousness just as all Spirits, such as us, are also forced further from the
center of Consciousness when we declare that we are separate and selfish.. This
self-ishness is called ego.. This is why we must disolve the false belief in the
ego if we want to experience Unity with God (Divine Consciousness).. To
experience Complete Love (God), we must become Complete Love,, lucifer was
unwilling to practice Love(non-ego) if he had no means to become part of
Reality(God) so he chose the path of ego(evil) and false power..........namaste,
thomas
Consciousness...
There
are levels of Understanding which depend upon your Spiritual Level..
Consciousness is All, Thought is Consciousness, Consciousness has entered the
illusion of materiality and the higher frequencies beyond visibility called
spiritual.. On this planet, Divine Consciousness has chosen the Human animal as
a vehicle for movement and learning.. Although, Consciousness exists within the
entire illusion, the human brain was suitable for use in advancement towards
Self-Realization and Learning.. Consciousness has created both angels and
animals, why would one be above another?.. The difference is the ability of
Divine Consciousness Awakening called Self-Realization within the human and not
within animals and angels............namaste, thomas
are levels of Understanding which depend upon your Spiritual Level..
Consciousness is All, Thought is Consciousness, Consciousness has entered the
illusion of materiality and the higher frequencies beyond visibility called
spiritual.. On this planet, Divine Consciousness has chosen the Human animal as
a vehicle for movement and learning.. Although, Consciousness exists within the
entire illusion, the human brain was suitable for use in advancement towards
Self-Realization and Learning.. Consciousness has created both angels and
animals, why would one be above another?.. The difference is the ability of
Divine Consciousness Awakening called Self-Realization within the human and not
within animals and angels............namaste, thomas
Winner and Loser...
"An individual sadly and badly injures himself by calling himself
a winner, when in fact he is a loser. We have our ideas and opinions
as to what constitutes winning and according to those false standards
and values think thereby that it is legitimate to call ourselves a
winner. For example, you have certain prides, certain vanities and
you have certain accomplishments and possessions in your home, in
your garage, in your bank. These - to a sleeping human being - are
called evidences of having won, of having succeeded at what you
were supposed to succeed at as a human being.
Very seldom does a man or a woman challenge this disastrous
self-concept of what it means to win.
If you even need to win anything, including the argument,
including getting your way, the very fact that you have a
compulsive need to win means that there is a loser there
trying to win, which means that the winning must be losing
in actuality.
It is so essential for you to listen to yourself talk to
yourself and catch instantly all such definitions of you
being right, being the winner."
from a talk given 4/5/1986
Vernon Howard's Higher World - MP3 CD Volume 3, talk 54.......Vernon Howard
a winner, when in fact he is a loser. We have our ideas and opinions
as to what constitutes winning and according to those false standards
and values think thereby that it is legitimate to call ourselves a
winner. For example, you have certain prides, certain vanities and
you have certain accomplishments and possessions in your home, in
your garage, in your bank. These - to a sleeping human being - are
called evidences of having won, of having succeeded at what you
were supposed to succeed at as a human being.
Very seldom does a man or a woman challenge this disastrous
self-concept of what it means to win.
If you even need to win anything, including the argument,
including getting your way, the very fact that you have a
compulsive need to win means that there is a loser there
trying to win, which means that the winning must be losing
in actuality.
It is so essential for you to listen to yourself talk to
yourself and catch instantly all such definitions of you
being right, being the winner."
from a talk given 4/5/1986
Vernon Howard's Higher World - MP3 CD Volume 3, talk 54.......Vernon Howard
Christ Consciousness...
Yogananda explains that the “Christ Consciousness” is a state of inner realization that had been achieved by Jesus, by Buddha, and by spiritual masters of various traditions.
More relevantly, it is a state, he assures us, which we also can achieve when we follow the inner path to enlightenment, or what Yogananda called “Self-realization.” Yogananda explains that we are safe from the deceptions of Maya when we are anchored in the state of Christ of Consciousness. In this sense, Christ is our salvation, and this is as true for a Buddhist or a Muslim as it is for a Christian.
One of the stages along the inner path to enlightenment is the ability to perceive the cosmic sound of creation, known in the Hindu philosophy as the AUM, in Christianity as the AMEN, in the tradition of Islam as the AMIN.
St.John refers to this sound at the beginning of his Gospel when he says, “In the beginning was the Word.” This Word, or cosmic vibration, is the basic building block of all sounds, and of all languages. This is what Yogananda writes about the day on which the close disciples of Jesus Christ were given the grace to perceive this cosmic sound:
All material human beings are prodigal sons who have left the home of Omnipresent Holy Ghost and have identified themselves with the infinitely smaller territory of the human body. This Holy Ghost is the Great Comforter. Being guided by the universal, reflected God-consciousness, it contains the all-coveted bliss of God.
One filled with this Holy Ghost, or Holy Vibration, can talk with the diverse tongues of inspiration of men, animals, and atoms.
Since all languages are productions of the Holy Ghost, when man can hear, touch, and spread in Aum (or cosmic sound emanating from Holy Ghost), then he can understand or utter all languages, not only of men, but also of all animals and all atoms too.
Holy Ghost, Aum of the Hindus, the Mohammedan Amin, the Christian Amen, Voice of Many Waters, Word are the same thing. Aum is called the Word because the Word signifies cosmic intelligent vibratory sound which is the origin of all sounds and languages.
This intelligent cosmic vibration or Word is the first manifestation of God in creation.
On the day of Pentecost the disciples were filled with the new wine of joy coming from the touch of Aum, or the Comforting Holy Vibration, and they could talk “in divers tongues.”
..............Nayaswami Shivani
More relevantly, it is a state, he assures us, which we also can achieve when we follow the inner path to enlightenment, or what Yogananda called “Self-realization.” Yogananda explains that we are safe from the deceptions of Maya when we are anchored in the state of Christ of Consciousness. In this sense, Christ is our salvation, and this is as true for a Buddhist or a Muslim as it is for a Christian.
One of the stages along the inner path to enlightenment is the ability to perceive the cosmic sound of creation, known in the Hindu philosophy as the AUM, in Christianity as the AMEN, in the tradition of Islam as the AMIN.
St.John refers to this sound at the beginning of his Gospel when he says, “In the beginning was the Word.” This Word, or cosmic vibration, is the basic building block of all sounds, and of all languages. This is what Yogananda writes about the day on which the close disciples of Jesus Christ were given the grace to perceive this cosmic sound:
All material human beings are prodigal sons who have left the home of Omnipresent Holy Ghost and have identified themselves with the infinitely smaller territory of the human body. This Holy Ghost is the Great Comforter. Being guided by the universal, reflected God-consciousness, it contains the all-coveted bliss of God.
One filled with this Holy Ghost, or Holy Vibration, can talk with the diverse tongues of inspiration of men, animals, and atoms.
Since all languages are productions of the Holy Ghost, when man can hear, touch, and spread in Aum (or cosmic sound emanating from Holy Ghost), then he can understand or utter all languages, not only of men, but also of all animals and all atoms too.
Holy Ghost, Aum of the Hindus, the Mohammedan Amin, the Christian Amen, Voice of Many Waters, Word are the same thing. Aum is called the Word because the Word signifies cosmic intelligent vibratory sound which is the origin of all sounds and languages.
This intelligent cosmic vibration or Word is the first manifestation of God in creation.
On the day of Pentecost the disciples were filled with the new wine of joy coming from the touch of Aum, or the Comforting Holy Vibration, and they could talk “in divers tongues.”
..............Nayaswami Shivani
Only One...
To see god is to be God. There is no all apart
from God for him to pervade. He alone is.
- Sri Ramana Maharshi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
This quotation is from "Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
edited by David Godman
Arkana, 1985
from God for him to pervade. He alone is.
- Sri Ramana Maharshi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
This quotation is from "Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
edited by David Godman
Arkana, 1985
Attachment...
If I hold you with my emotions, you'll become
a wished-for companion.
If I hold you with my eyes, you'll grow old
and die.
So I hold you where we both mix with the infinite.
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Version by Coleman Barks
"Say I Am You"
Maypop, 1994
a wished-for companion.
If I hold you with my eyes, you'll grow old
and die.
So I hold you where we both mix with the infinite.
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Version by Coleman Barks
"Say I Am You"
Maypop, 1994
Looking...
As soon as a person is able to look at his spirit he is born again. By looking
at one's spirit one can analyze how all that one says, thinks, and feels acts
upon one's spirit, and also how the spirit reacts.
From The Teachings Of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
at one's spirit one can analyze how all that one says, thinks, and feels acts
upon one's spirit, and also how the spirit reacts.
From The Teachings Of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
On the Way...
On the way to God the difficulties
feel like being ground by a millstone,
like night coming at noon, like
lightning through the clouds.
But don't worry!
What must come, comes.
Face everything with love,
as your mind dissolves in God.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
feel like being ground by a millstone,
like night coming at noon, like
lightning through the clouds.
But don't worry!
What must come, comes.
Face everything with love,
as your mind dissolves in God.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
The Remedy...
Don't look for help from someone other
than yourself. The remedy for your wound
is the wound itself.
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Muriel Maufroy
"Breathing Truth - Quotations from Jalaluddin Rumi"
Sanyar Press - London, 1997
than yourself. The remedy for your wound
is the wound itself.
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Muriel Maufroy
"Breathing Truth - Quotations from Jalaluddin Rumi"
Sanyar Press - London, 1997
Francis Lucille on thinking and the Non-Dual path...
AIthough I know I am already that which I am seeking, thoughts still seem to prevent me from truly living in the present moment. How can I free myself from thinking?
There are three kinds of thoughts:
1. Practical thoughts, which are useful in conducting our business or our daily life. For instance, "I need to get some gas." These types of thoughts should not be suppressed. Once they have been given due consideration and the required steps have been taken, they leave us spontaneously.
2. Thoughts related to the ultimate, to our understanding of the non-dual perspective, such as, "I am already that for which I am looking." These thoughts come from the ultimate. If we welcome them, they purify the mind from its dualistic conditioning and eventually take us back to their source. They bring about clarity and foreshadow the bliss which is inherent to our real nature.
3. Thoughts related to the notion of being a personal entity, such as desires, fears, doubts, daydreaming, and other kinds of wishful thinking. Some thoughts of this their kind appear innocuous and are difficult to detect at first. A strong emotion that produces suffering and disharmony, such as jealousy or fear, can easily be detected. On the other hand, we may indulge pleasant thoughts for some time without noticing, such as imagining yourself vacationing on the beaches of the French Riviera.
It is a common error to consider any kind of thought as an obstacle to self-realization. Only the thoughts in the third category are obstacles to knowingly being the absolute. There are two ways to deal with these thoughts as they arise:
If we still believe that we are a limited personal entity and we notice such a thought, we should attempt to find its source, the ego. When we attempt to catch it, it vanishes and we experience our innate freedom for what seems to be a very brief moment. This glimpse of the truth reveals to us that we are not a personal entity. Repeated glimpses reinforce this revelation until it becomes a conviction.
Once we are convinced that we are not a personal entity, the thoughts of the their kind usually keep recurring for some time as a matter of habit, just as inertia keeps an electrical motor running after its power cord has been unplugged. In this case, there is no need to investigate the origin of these thoughts. We can simply drop them as soon as we notice them.
Sri Ramakrisbna once said, "When an onion is completely peeled, all the layers are removed and no substance is left. Similarly, on analyzing the ego no entity can be found Unfortunately, I still have a few layers to go!"
This last sentence is a typical thought of the third kind. Enjoy your thoughts about the ultimate and the peace that comes with them.
There are three kinds of thoughts:
1. Practical thoughts, which are useful in conducting our business or our daily life. For instance, "I need to get some gas." These types of thoughts should not be suppressed. Once they have been given due consideration and the required steps have been taken, they leave us spontaneously.
2. Thoughts related to the ultimate, to our understanding of the non-dual perspective, such as, "I am already that for which I am looking." These thoughts come from the ultimate. If we welcome them, they purify the mind from its dualistic conditioning and eventually take us back to their source. They bring about clarity and foreshadow the bliss which is inherent to our real nature.
3. Thoughts related to the notion of being a personal entity, such as desires, fears, doubts, daydreaming, and other kinds of wishful thinking. Some thoughts of this their kind appear innocuous and are difficult to detect at first. A strong emotion that produces suffering and disharmony, such as jealousy or fear, can easily be detected. On the other hand, we may indulge pleasant thoughts for some time without noticing, such as imagining yourself vacationing on the beaches of the French Riviera.
It is a common error to consider any kind of thought as an obstacle to self-realization. Only the thoughts in the third category are obstacles to knowingly being the absolute. There are two ways to deal with these thoughts as they arise:
If we still believe that we are a limited personal entity and we notice such a thought, we should attempt to find its source, the ego. When we attempt to catch it, it vanishes and we experience our innate freedom for what seems to be a very brief moment. This glimpse of the truth reveals to us that we are not a personal entity. Repeated glimpses reinforce this revelation until it becomes a conviction.
Once we are convinced that we are not a personal entity, the thoughts of the their kind usually keep recurring for some time as a matter of habit, just as inertia keeps an electrical motor running after its power cord has been unplugged. In this case, there is no need to investigate the origin of these thoughts. We can simply drop them as soon as we notice them.
Sri Ramakrisbna once said, "When an onion is completely peeled, all the layers are removed and no substance is left. Similarly, on analyzing the ego no entity can be found Unfortunately, I still have a few layers to go!"
This last sentence is a typical thought of the third kind. Enjoy your thoughts about the ultimate and the peace that comes with them.
Silence...
Last night
I begged the Wise One to tell me
the secret of the world.
Gently, gently he whispered,
"Be quiet,
the secret cannot be spoken,
it is wrapped in silence."
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"Rumi - Whispers of the Beloved:
Selected and translated by
Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Thorsons, London 1999
I begged the Wise One to tell me
the secret of the world.
Gently, gently he whispered,
"Be quiet,
the secret cannot be spoken,
it is wrapped in silence."
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"Rumi - Whispers of the Beloved:
Selected and translated by
Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Thorsons, London 1999
Freedom...
“The human form is higher than the angel form; of all forms it is the highest. Man is the highest being in creation, because he aspires to freedom.”.......
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda
The Kingdom of God is Within...
The spirit of God in man – consciously realized - is the wholeness and harmony and completeness of his being - nothing else. It isn't declaring God's allness, it isn't loving God, it isn't this or that or the other thing – it is actually realizing God. Actually having an awareness here, a feeling, of God's presence - and until you achieve that you are only disciple students, initiates, on the way.
You only become brothers of the brotherhood when you have attained that moment in which something in here says I am with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. When you have that divine assurance that wherever you go It goes with you, you are now a brother of the brotherhood. And until then you are an initiate seeking the way..........Joel S Goldsmith
You only become brothers of the brotherhood when you have attained that moment in which something in here says I am with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. When you have that divine assurance that wherever you go It goes with you, you are now a brother of the brotherhood. And until then you are an initiate seeking the way..........Joel S Goldsmith
Four Noble Truths...
1. Life on earth consists of suffering.
2. The cause of this suffering is the desire for sensual pleasure, material possessions, and nonexistence or continued existence.
3. Individuals can end their suffering by suppressing or giving up their desires.
4. The way to suppress or give up their desires is to follow the Eightfold Path. This path consists of having (1) the right view, requiring seeing the world and reality as they really are through belief in the Buddhist system; (2) the right intention, requiring a willingness to renounce the material world and follow the Buddhist system; (3) the right speech, requiring abstention from lying, verbal abuse, slander, and idle talk; (4) the right action, requiring abstention from committing murder or harming in any way another living thing, from committing theft, and from committing sexual improprieties; (5) the right livelihood, requiring the refusal to do work that contravenes Buddhist tenets; (6) the right effort, requiring avoidance of harmful thoughts and the development of good thoughts; (7) the right mindfulness, requiring continual awareness of thoughts, feelings, and anything that affects the body; (8) the right concentration, requiring meditation that detaches one from the world and brings tranquillity and composure.
.............by Michael J. Cummings
2. The cause of this suffering is the desire for sensual pleasure, material possessions, and nonexistence or continued existence.
3. Individuals can end their suffering by suppressing or giving up their desires.
4. The way to suppress or give up their desires is to follow the Eightfold Path. This path consists of having (1) the right view, requiring seeing the world and reality as they really are through belief in the Buddhist system; (2) the right intention, requiring a willingness to renounce the material world and follow the Buddhist system; (3) the right speech, requiring abstention from lying, verbal abuse, slander, and idle talk; (4) the right action, requiring abstention from committing murder or harming in any way another living thing, from committing theft, and from committing sexual improprieties; (5) the right livelihood, requiring the refusal to do work that contravenes Buddhist tenets; (6) the right effort, requiring avoidance of harmful thoughts and the development of good thoughts; (7) the right mindfulness, requiring continual awareness of thoughts, feelings, and anything that affects the body; (8) the right concentration, requiring meditation that detaches one from the world and brings tranquillity and composure.
.............by Michael J. Cummings
Siddhartha (novel)...
Siddhartha is an allegorical novel by Hermann Hesse which deals with the spiritual journey of a boy known as Siddhartha from the Indian Subcontinent during the time of the Buddha.
The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple yet powerful and lyrical style. It was first published in 1922, after Hesse had spent some time in India in the 1910s. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s. Hesse dedicated Siddhartha to Romain Rolland, "my dear friend".
The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in the Sanskrit language, siddha (achieved) + artha (meaning or wealth). The two words together mean "he who has found meaning (of existence)" or "he who has attained his goals".[1] The Buddha's name, before his renunciation, was Prince Siddhartha Gautama. In this book, the Buddha is referred to as "Gotama".
Plot summary
The story takes place in ancient Nepal around the time of Gautama Buddha (likely between the fourth and seventh centuries BC[2]). It starts as Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, leaves his home to join the ascetics with his companion Govinda. The two set out in the search of enlightenment. Siddhartha goes through a series of changes and realizations as he attempts to achieve this goal.
Experience is the aggregate of conscious events experienced by a human in life – it connotes participation, learning and knowledge. Understanding is comprehension and internalization. In Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, experience is shown as the best way to approach understanding of reality and attain enlightenment – Hesse’s crafting of Siddhartha’s journey shows that understanding is attained not through scholastic, mind-dependent methods, nor through immersing oneself in the carnal pleasures of the world and the accompanying pain of samsara; however, it is the totality of these experiences that allow Siddhartha to attain understanding.
Thus, the individual events are meaningless when considered by themselves—Siddhartha’s stay with the samanas and his immersion in the worlds of love and business do not lead to nirvana, yet they cannot be considered distractions, for every action and event that is undertaken and happens to Siddhartha helps him to achieve understanding. The sum of these events is thus experience.
For example, Siddhartha’s passionate and pained love for his son is an experience that teaches him empathy; he is able to understand childlike people after this experience. Previously, though he was immersed in samsara, he could not comprehend childlike people’s motivations and lives. And while samsara clung to him and made him ill and sick of it, he was unable to understand the nature of samsara. Experience of samsara at this point did not lead to understanding; perhaps it even hindered him. In contrast to this, Siddhartha’s experience with his son allows him to love, something he has not managed to do before; once again, the love itself does not lead to understanding.
The novel ends with Siddhartha being a ferryman, learning from a river, and at long last at peace and capturing the essence of his journey:
Slower, he walked along in his thoughts and asked himself: “But what is this, what you have sought to learn from teachings and from teachers, and what they, who have taught you much, were still unable to teach you?” And he found: “It was the self, the purpose and essence of which I sought to learn. It was the self, I wanted to free myself from, which I sought to overcome. But I was not able to overcome it, could only deceive it, could only flee from it, only hide from it. Truly, no thing in this world has kept my thoughts thus busy, as this my very own self, this mystery of me being alive, of me being one and being separated and isolated from all others, of me being Siddhartha! And there is no thing in this world I know less about than about me, about Siddhartha!”
....................from Wikipedia......This is dedicated to Kathie, who had a vivid dream of Siddhartha on the eve of her birthday...Perhaps, signaling a "New Day of Birth" into Reality and Consciousness.........namaste, thomas
The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple yet powerful and lyrical style. It was first published in 1922, after Hesse had spent some time in India in the 1910s. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s. Hesse dedicated Siddhartha to Romain Rolland, "my dear friend".
The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in the Sanskrit language, siddha (achieved) + artha (meaning or wealth). The two words together mean "he who has found meaning (of existence)" or "he who has attained his goals".[1] The Buddha's name, before his renunciation, was Prince Siddhartha Gautama. In this book, the Buddha is referred to as "Gotama".
Plot summary
The story takes place in ancient Nepal around the time of Gautama Buddha (likely between the fourth and seventh centuries BC[2]). It starts as Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, leaves his home to join the ascetics with his companion Govinda. The two set out in the search of enlightenment. Siddhartha goes through a series of changes and realizations as he attempts to achieve this goal.
Experience is the aggregate of conscious events experienced by a human in life – it connotes participation, learning and knowledge. Understanding is comprehension and internalization. In Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, experience is shown as the best way to approach understanding of reality and attain enlightenment – Hesse’s crafting of Siddhartha’s journey shows that understanding is attained not through scholastic, mind-dependent methods, nor through immersing oneself in the carnal pleasures of the world and the accompanying pain of samsara; however, it is the totality of these experiences that allow Siddhartha to attain understanding.
Thus, the individual events are meaningless when considered by themselves—Siddhartha’s stay with the samanas and his immersion in the worlds of love and business do not lead to nirvana, yet they cannot be considered distractions, for every action and event that is undertaken and happens to Siddhartha helps him to achieve understanding. The sum of these events is thus experience.
For example, Siddhartha’s passionate and pained love for his son is an experience that teaches him empathy; he is able to understand childlike people after this experience. Previously, though he was immersed in samsara, he could not comprehend childlike people’s motivations and lives. And while samsara clung to him and made him ill and sick of it, he was unable to understand the nature of samsara. Experience of samsara at this point did not lead to understanding; perhaps it even hindered him. In contrast to this, Siddhartha’s experience with his son allows him to love, something he has not managed to do before; once again, the love itself does not lead to understanding.
The novel ends with Siddhartha being a ferryman, learning from a river, and at long last at peace and capturing the essence of his journey:
Slower, he walked along in his thoughts and asked himself: “But what is this, what you have sought to learn from teachings and from teachers, and what they, who have taught you much, were still unable to teach you?” And he found: “It was the self, the purpose and essence of which I sought to learn. It was the self, I wanted to free myself from, which I sought to overcome. But I was not able to overcome it, could only deceive it, could only flee from it, only hide from it. Truly, no thing in this world has kept my thoughts thus busy, as this my very own self, this mystery of me being alive, of me being one and being separated and isolated from all others, of me being Siddhartha! And there is no thing in this world I know less about than about me, about Siddhartha!”
....................from Wikipedia......This is dedicated to Kathie, who had a vivid dream of Siddhartha on the eve of her birthday...Perhaps, signaling a "New Day of Birth" into Reality and Consciousness.........namaste, thomas
Francis Lucille from Eternity Now...
Isn't it legitimate to use the term "enlightened person" when referring to someone from whom ignorance has been removed? If so, didn't this removal occur at some specific point in time?
Enlightenment is the absolute understanding that you are not a person. When this is understood, is there a person left from whom ignorance has been removed? Enlightenment is also the realization that time is an illusion. When this is realized, is there a specific point in time that can be assigned to this realization?
These answers may seem intellectual to you. However, I assure you that they are simply honest and straightforward, and that they take you directly to the truth. I am reluctant to use the term "enlightened person" because it implies the belief that a personal entity might ever reach enlightenment. When you think of a beautiful human being, one you may call "enlightened," his or her enlightenment originates from the absence of the idea of being anything objective. From the viewpoint of light, that is, in the absence of such a notion, nobody is enlightened, nobody is non-
enlightened, everything is light. The direct path consists of taking this viewpoint and boldly staying there. In other words, understanding that you are not a limited entity, and feeling and living in accordance with this understanding. Although this position may seem unusual at first, you soon find that it is the door to the perfect way of living, just as a tennis player who has been taught the correct grip for the backhand realizes, after a series of strokes, that this new way of holding the racket creates the possibility for hitting the ball almost effortlessly, with increased power and precision.
Francis Lucille
Eternity Now
p.28
Enlightenment is the absolute understanding that you are not a person. When this is understood, is there a person left from whom ignorance has been removed? Enlightenment is also the realization that time is an illusion. When this is realized, is there a specific point in time that can be assigned to this realization?
These answers may seem intellectual to you. However, I assure you that they are simply honest and straightforward, and that they take you directly to the truth. I am reluctant to use the term "enlightened person" because it implies the belief that a personal entity might ever reach enlightenment. When you think of a beautiful human being, one you may call "enlightened," his or her enlightenment originates from the absence of the idea of being anything objective. From the viewpoint of light, that is, in the absence of such a notion, nobody is enlightened, nobody is non-
enlightened, everything is light. The direct path consists of taking this viewpoint and boldly staying there. In other words, understanding that you are not a limited entity, and feeling and living in accordance with this understanding. Although this position may seem unusual at first, you soon find that it is the door to the perfect way of living, just as a tennis player who has been taught the correct grip for the backhand realizes, after a series of strokes, that this new way of holding the racket creates the possibility for hitting the ball almost effortlessly, with increased power and precision.
Francis Lucille
Eternity Now
p.28
Consciousness...
Consciousness has produced this play.
Consciousness has written the script.
Consciousness is playing all the characters.
And Consciousness is witnessing the play.
It's a one man show.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1966
Consciousness has written the script.
Consciousness is playing all the characters.
And Consciousness is witnessing the play.
It's a one man show.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1966
To Serve...
Life is given.
Nothing is earned,
so learn to serve others,
not your own desire and greed
and ego. They steal your energies,
whereas devotion builds your strength
and protects the intelligent flame
that leads to the truth within.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
Nothing is earned,
so learn to serve others,
not your own desire and greed
and ego. They steal your energies,
whereas devotion builds your strength
and protects the intelligent flame
that leads to the truth within.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
Patience...
Patience is one of the principle things in life, although
sometimes patience is as bitter, as hard, as unbearable
as death. Sometimes one would prefer death to patience.
But is it of the greatest importance for the human race to
develop patience in all conditions of life, in all walks of
life. Whether we are rich or poor, high or low, this is the
one quality that must be developed. Besides it is patience
that is all-powerful, and by lack of patience one loses much.
Very often the answer to one's prayer is within one's reach,
the hand of Providence not very far off, and then one loses
one's patience and thereby the opportunity.
Therefore impatience, in whatever form, is to be avoided.
It makes one lose one's equilibrium, and when that is
lost, nothing can be accomplished. There is no gain to be
had from impatience; yet patience does not necessarily
mean sloth, negligence, or laziness.
-Hazrat Inayat Khan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
Omega Press, 1978
sometimes patience is as bitter, as hard, as unbearable
as death. Sometimes one would prefer death to patience.
But is it of the greatest importance for the human race to
develop patience in all conditions of life, in all walks of
life. Whether we are rich or poor, high or low, this is the
one quality that must be developed. Besides it is patience
that is all-powerful, and by lack of patience one loses much.
Very often the answer to one's prayer is within one's reach,
the hand of Providence not very far off, and then one loses
one's patience and thereby the opportunity.
Therefore impatience, in whatever form, is to be avoided.
It makes one lose one's equilibrium, and when that is
lost, nothing can be accomplished. There is no gain to be
had from impatience; yet patience does not necessarily
mean sloth, negligence, or laziness.
-Hazrat Inayat Khan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
Omega Press, 1978
The Way...
Jesus was a teacher of the ancient organisation called The Way. The Way goes back many thousands of years; some believe it goes back to Mithra (the earlier date of c. 2000BC). We have archaeological evidence of The Way from Mohenjo-daro and Harappa and in some of the older Great Flood legends. Remnants of The Way’s understanding of Mother Nature and God the Mother linger in some ancient religious ideas. We have parallel symbols in the birth of Jesus, Gautama Buddha, Zoroaster and Mithra. To name a few…
We don’t know much about the history of The Way (which is a remarkable thing because every tradition in The Way over thousands of years share this) but here are a few samples of information we have from Scripture. Melchizedek, the king of Salem was a teacher in this tradition and at one time he engaged in some serious spiritual counselling with Abraham (Gen.14:18), a disciple of The Way. Jesus was ordained in the Order of Melchizedek (Heb.7:1). Lao Tzu was a teacher in the tradition and the teaching he recorded is called The Way (Tao Teh Ching) (600BCE). Gautama Buddha was recognised as a teacher in this tradition (600 BCE), and so was Mani of Persia (2ndcent), many early Gnostic movements and most Essene movements aligned with The Way. The Bhagavad Gita and Wisdom traditions of the 1st century and Yoga traditions of antiquity aligned with The Way. The ‘golden thread’ of Truth that runs through all these cultures and movements was so strong that Jesus and Thomas’ ministry in Asia was mostly absorbed in the prevailing Buddhist society of the time. We see much of this in the particulars of the art of 1st and 2nd century Gandahara.
To learn a little more about the time when Paul and Barnabas applied to The Way to form a popular religious movement they would call Christianity, see Acts of the Apostles in the Christian Bible: 9:2, 19:9, 19:23, and 24:22.
The Yoga of Jesus is a particular school in The Way but it is by all means The Way, and it comes from Jesus The Saviour and the early disciples and apostles of The Way. Church of the East forwards the teaching and Tradition of the Yoga of Jesus.............from churchoftheeast.ca
We don’t know much about the history of The Way (which is a remarkable thing because every tradition in The Way over thousands of years share this) but here are a few samples of information we have from Scripture. Melchizedek, the king of Salem was a teacher in this tradition and at one time he engaged in some serious spiritual counselling with Abraham (Gen.14:18), a disciple of The Way. Jesus was ordained in the Order of Melchizedek (Heb.7:1). Lao Tzu was a teacher in the tradition and the teaching he recorded is called The Way (Tao Teh Ching) (600BCE). Gautama Buddha was recognised as a teacher in this tradition (600 BCE), and so was Mani of Persia (2ndcent), many early Gnostic movements and most Essene movements aligned with The Way. The Bhagavad Gita and Wisdom traditions of the 1st century and Yoga traditions of antiquity aligned with The Way. The ‘golden thread’ of Truth that runs through all these cultures and movements was so strong that Jesus and Thomas’ ministry in Asia was mostly absorbed in the prevailing Buddhist society of the time. We see much of this in the particulars of the art of 1st and 2nd century Gandahara.
To learn a little more about the time when Paul and Barnabas applied to The Way to form a popular religious movement they would call Christianity, see Acts of the Apostles in the Christian Bible: 9:2, 19:9, 19:23, and 24:22.
The Yoga of Jesus is a particular school in The Way but it is by all means The Way, and it comes from Jesus The Saviour and the early disciples and apostles of The Way. Church of the East forwards the teaching and Tradition of the Yoga of Jesus.............from churchoftheeast.ca
Happiness...
If you investigate the matter deeply enough and widely enough, you will find that happiness eludes nearly all men despite the fact that they are forever seeking it. The fortunate and successful few are those who have stopped seeking with the ego alone and allow the search to be directed inwardly by the higher self. They alone can find a happiness unblemished by defects or deficiencies, a Supreme Good which is not a further source of pain and sorrow but an endless source of satisfaction and peace.
— Notebooks Category 24: The Peace within You > Chapter 1: The Search for Happiness > # 74........Paul Brunton
— Notebooks Category 24: The Peace within You > Chapter 1: The Search for Happiness > # 74........Paul Brunton
Consciousness Seeking Itself...
At the intellectual level there can be no end to
questions. Instead, hang on to the one who is
asking. That is all you need do. Indeed, there
is nothing else really that you could do. If you
can do this, never allowing the self to escape
your attention, you will ultimately find that the
seeker is none other than consciousness
seeking its own source and that the seeker
himself is both the seeking and the sought –
and THAT IS YOU.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
questions. Instead, hang on to the one who is
asking. That is all you need do. Indeed, there
is nothing else really that you could do. If you
can do this, never allowing the self to escape
your attention, you will ultimately find that the
seeker is none other than consciousness
seeking its own source and that the seeker
himself is both the seeking and the sought –
and THAT IS YOU.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
'Sailor' Bob - What IS ...
The description can never be the described. All we are doing is describing what is. Right here, right now, presently, is what is happening. There is nothing other.
Primarily there is that registering of everything. Just like that mirror on the wall is reflecting everything in front of it, so that essence, intelligence or whatever name you like to call it, is registering everything just as it is. You heard that siren, but you didn’t have to say it was a siren. You are hearing this voice, seeing the sights in the room, feeling your body sitting in the chair. All just as it is. And—just as it is—what can you say about it? You can’t say anything at all about it. From that point of view, it either is or is not.
The description can never be the described, the what is.
The thinking is being registered also. That is discriminated into ‘this thought’ or ‘my thought’ or whatever the word might be. Rather, be aware that it all is just as it is.
Say you are walking somewhere and you are not naming anything, there is no thinking going on. You are passing houses, trees, picket fences or whatever is in the street. Everything is registering immediately. You don’t have to name each individual thing. Your thoughts might be happening, and your mind might be totally involved in those thoughts. Yet one piece of concrete paver may be higher than the other, but you won’t trip over it. It will be registered immediately and the appropriate steps will be taken over it.
Or if there is a crowd walking in the street, you’re not going to bump into everyone. You find yourself avoiding them quite effortlessly without having to think, ‘I have to dodge around this one’. Yet they will be coming from all directions and all places, but that intelligence is registering everything just as it is. And in the moment, the proper activity takes place.
It is the same with thoughts also. As you are going along, you’re passing this house or the next house. And as you are going along, thoughts are happening too. They are registered just as is. What happens? The house you have just passed has disappeared from view, or the picket fence you passed is gone. Thought is registered just as is also. What has happened to that thought? It is left behind. It also disappears. One thought might be acted upon, the next may not be.
The only way we can change what is, is to correct it, modify it or alter it in some way or form. The only thing that can do that is the mind: ‘The chair over there is in the wrong position and I want to move it’. It is no longer what is. It is what I think I would like it to be. That is all that has happened —the thinking ‘That should not be there’. That thought, of itself, has no power whatsoever. It is only a thought; it is only based on words. But it refers to this ‘I’ that I believe, or have believed, myself to be up until investigation. That is so, because what has been added to that ‘I’, that belief, has become the ‘self-centre’ or the ‘reference point’. Everything is evaluated from that reference point. And because it is closely associated with that pure intelligence, it has come to believe also that it is the intelligence.
Like the piece of iron in the fire, it will get red-hot and burn, just like fire. Now, if the iron had a mind it would think it was the fire: ‘I am going to burn this and that’. But take it out of the fire and what can it do? So it is with the thoughts: ‘I can’, ‘I will’, ‘I am’. Take them away from awareness or consciousness or that pure intelligence: what substance have they got? Can they stand without that? Can you have a single thought if you are not conscious or not aware?
Constantly over the years with the habit patterns going on it (thought) has believed itself to be the intelligence. It believes it has reality; it has power; it has will; it can do what it likes and what it thinks it wants to do.
That is why this investigation is needed. Just stop and question. Have a look at what we have believed ourselves to be. Thought can’t of itself do anything! Because that thought ‘I see’, can’t see! The thought ‘I hear’, can’t hear! The thought ‘I am aware’, can’t be aware! But there is seeing; there is hearing; and there is awareness. It is happening right now!
The seeing itself cannot conceptualise. It cannot say ‘I am seeing this’. Neither can the hearing say ‘I am hearing this’. It is just pure seeing and pure hearing. It is conceptualised by the mind, which must refer to some past memory to get that name. The mind or the ‘me’, the thought that I have about myself, is the past. That is all it is. It is the past, and the past is dead. It is gone. It has happened. It is not what is. That centre that we constantly refer to or believe in is a dead image.
Now, can you understand why it can never be happy, it can never be complete or whole: because it can’t keep up with what is. What is, is this manifestation, this transient manifestation, which is constantly changing. Like the river, it is constantly flowing. How can a bucket of water, taken from the river, keep up with the river? It is impossible.
So, we tell you right here, that what you are seeking you already are! The idea of a separation is only a concept. With that idea of separation, there immediately comes along with it the sense of insecurity and vulnerability. Anything that thinks or believes it is separate must also feel isolated and alone, apart from ‘me’, other than ‘me’. That is the way the mind functions. As soon as there is ‘me’, there must be ‘other than me’, and that is the seeming separation. That is the cause of all of our problems. When that is understood, what problem is there, if there is no centre to refer it to?
Got it?
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/teachers/whatis_sailorbob.htm
HTML by Mike Graham, 19 Jan 2008, last edited 7 Feb 2008, last edited 17 Feb 2008
Primarily there is that registering of everything. Just like that mirror on the wall is reflecting everything in front of it, so that essence, intelligence or whatever name you like to call it, is registering everything just as it is. You heard that siren, but you didn’t have to say it was a siren. You are hearing this voice, seeing the sights in the room, feeling your body sitting in the chair. All just as it is. And—just as it is—what can you say about it? You can’t say anything at all about it. From that point of view, it either is or is not.
The description can never be the described, the what is.
The thinking is being registered also. That is discriminated into ‘this thought’ or ‘my thought’ or whatever the word might be. Rather, be aware that it all is just as it is.
Say you are walking somewhere and you are not naming anything, there is no thinking going on. You are passing houses, trees, picket fences or whatever is in the street. Everything is registering immediately. You don’t have to name each individual thing. Your thoughts might be happening, and your mind might be totally involved in those thoughts. Yet one piece of concrete paver may be higher than the other, but you won’t trip over it. It will be registered immediately and the appropriate steps will be taken over it.
Or if there is a crowd walking in the street, you’re not going to bump into everyone. You find yourself avoiding them quite effortlessly without having to think, ‘I have to dodge around this one’. Yet they will be coming from all directions and all places, but that intelligence is registering everything just as it is. And in the moment, the proper activity takes place.
It is the same with thoughts also. As you are going along, you’re passing this house or the next house. And as you are going along, thoughts are happening too. They are registered just as is. What happens? The house you have just passed has disappeared from view, or the picket fence you passed is gone. Thought is registered just as is also. What has happened to that thought? It is left behind. It also disappears. One thought might be acted upon, the next may not be.
The only way we can change what is, is to correct it, modify it or alter it in some way or form. The only thing that can do that is the mind: ‘The chair over there is in the wrong position and I want to move it’. It is no longer what is. It is what I think I would like it to be. That is all that has happened —the thinking ‘That should not be there’. That thought, of itself, has no power whatsoever. It is only a thought; it is only based on words. But it refers to this ‘I’ that I believe, or have believed, myself to be up until investigation. That is so, because what has been added to that ‘I’, that belief, has become the ‘self-centre’ or the ‘reference point’. Everything is evaluated from that reference point. And because it is closely associated with that pure intelligence, it has come to believe also that it is the intelligence.
Like the piece of iron in the fire, it will get red-hot and burn, just like fire. Now, if the iron had a mind it would think it was the fire: ‘I am going to burn this and that’. But take it out of the fire and what can it do? So it is with the thoughts: ‘I can’, ‘I will’, ‘I am’. Take them away from awareness or consciousness or that pure intelligence: what substance have they got? Can they stand without that? Can you have a single thought if you are not conscious or not aware?
Constantly over the years with the habit patterns going on it (thought) has believed itself to be the intelligence. It believes it has reality; it has power; it has will; it can do what it likes and what it thinks it wants to do.
That is why this investigation is needed. Just stop and question. Have a look at what we have believed ourselves to be. Thought can’t of itself do anything! Because that thought ‘I see’, can’t see! The thought ‘I hear’, can’t hear! The thought ‘I am aware’, can’t be aware! But there is seeing; there is hearing; and there is awareness. It is happening right now!
The seeing itself cannot conceptualise. It cannot say ‘I am seeing this’. Neither can the hearing say ‘I am hearing this’. It is just pure seeing and pure hearing. It is conceptualised by the mind, which must refer to some past memory to get that name. The mind or the ‘me’, the thought that I have about myself, is the past. That is all it is. It is the past, and the past is dead. It is gone. It has happened. It is not what is. That centre that we constantly refer to or believe in is a dead image.
Now, can you understand why it can never be happy, it can never be complete or whole: because it can’t keep up with what is. What is, is this manifestation, this transient manifestation, which is constantly changing. Like the river, it is constantly flowing. How can a bucket of water, taken from the river, keep up with the river? It is impossible.
So, we tell you right here, that what you are seeking you already are! The idea of a separation is only a concept. With that idea of separation, there immediately comes along with it the sense of insecurity and vulnerability. Anything that thinks or believes it is separate must also feel isolated and alone, apart from ‘me’, other than ‘me’. That is the way the mind functions. As soon as there is ‘me’, there must be ‘other than me’, and that is the seeming separation. That is the cause of all of our problems. When that is understood, what problem is there, if there is no centre to refer it to?
Got it?
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/teachers/whatis_sailorbob.htm
HTML by Mike Graham, 19 Jan 2008, last edited 7 Feb 2008, last edited 17 Feb 2008
Be Intelligent...
"Human beings cannot see beyond their immediate personal self-
interest. Their inner mental eyesight looks around the room,
around the field, wherever they are, and the object of their
gaze sets off desire.'I want to go over there, I want to get
that, I want to meet her, I'd like to taste that.' And this is
the way the day is squandered by practically everyone.
Because that is all there is, no one can look out at the world
and see something and then have a proper reaction, and I'm going
to tell you about the right reaction.
Every time you see anything, anybody, any situation, immediately
go intelligent about it instead of mechanical about it, instead
of wanting to grab it, possess it, thrill at it, wonder at it,
wonder whether you can get it or not. Be intelligent. And I'll
tell you what 'be intelligent' means. It means that you think
about the connection between you and that person, object, what-
ever it might be, in case you get it.
Humans can't do that, they can't see the hidden consequences of
obtaining what they desire. They can't see that maybe they'll
change their mind about what they're going after in the next
five minutes. There's no ability to think about hidden traps in
chasing your desire. A little child, five or six year old Billy
or Mary, all they can say is 'I want.' At their age it's
legitimate, at your age it isn't.
You're supposed to be someone who's able to operate on yourself
so that when you say 'I want,' you'll take the whole thing apart
and say, 'Who is this wanter, who's the desirer, the seeker who
says if I think this way or talk that way then it will be good for
me?' But you can't do that because you haven't grown up where you
can ask yourself, 'why am I nothing but a collection of desires?'"
from a talk given 1/3/1986
Vernon Howard's Higher World - MP3 CD Volume 1, talk 1
interest. Their inner mental eyesight looks around the room,
around the field, wherever they are, and the object of their
gaze sets off desire.'I want to go over there, I want to get
that, I want to meet her, I'd like to taste that.' And this is
the way the day is squandered by practically everyone.
Because that is all there is, no one can look out at the world
and see something and then have a proper reaction, and I'm going
to tell you about the right reaction.
Every time you see anything, anybody, any situation, immediately
go intelligent about it instead of mechanical about it, instead
of wanting to grab it, possess it, thrill at it, wonder at it,
wonder whether you can get it or not. Be intelligent. And I'll
tell you what 'be intelligent' means. It means that you think
about the connection between you and that person, object, what-
ever it might be, in case you get it.
Humans can't do that, they can't see the hidden consequences of
obtaining what they desire. They can't see that maybe they'll
change their mind about what they're going after in the next
five minutes. There's no ability to think about hidden traps in
chasing your desire. A little child, five or six year old Billy
or Mary, all they can say is 'I want.' At their age it's
legitimate, at your age it isn't.
You're supposed to be someone who's able to operate on yourself
so that when you say 'I want,' you'll take the whole thing apart
and say, 'Who is this wanter, who's the desirer, the seeker who
says if I think this way or talk that way then it will be good for
me?' But you can't do that because you haven't grown up where you
can ask yourself, 'why am I nothing but a collection of desires?'"
from a talk given 1/3/1986
Vernon Howard's Higher World - MP3 CD Volume 1, talk 1
Intuition of the Oneness...
It is from the more or less obscure (mystical) intuition of the oneness that is the ground and principle of all multiplicity that philosophy takes its source. And not alone philosophy, but natural science as well. All science, in Meyerson's phrase, is the reduction of multiplicities to identities. Divining the One within and beyond the many, we find an intrinsic plausibility in any explanation of the diverse in terms of a single principle....... (Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy)
A Genius Speaks...
The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.......
(Albert Einstein,The Merging of Spirit and Science)
(Albert Einstein,The Merging of Spirit and Science)
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