You demand to know --
How can Ram Tzu laugh
As you are being tortured?
Can't he see you
Being stretched
On a rack
Of your own thoughts?
Can't he see
Your pain
As your ego
Relentlessly turns the wheel?
Ram Tzu sees –
You clutch the ropes
That appear to bind you.
There are no knots.
Nothing else holds you down.
- Ram Tzu
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
No Way for the Spiritually "Advanced"
Ram Tzu
Advaita Press, 1990
Memory...
In the great mirror of consciousness images arise and
disappear, and only memory is material--destructible,
perishable, transient. On such flimsy foundations we
build a sense of personal existence--vague, intermittent,
dreamlike. This vague persuasion: "I am so and so"
obscures the changeless state of pure awareness and
makes us believe that we are born to suffer and to die.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
disappear, and only memory is material--destructible,
perishable, transient. On such flimsy foundations we
build a sense of personal existence--vague, intermittent,
dreamlike. This vague persuasion: "I am so and so"
obscures the changeless state of pure awareness and
makes us believe that we are born to suffer and to die.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
I am wind, You are fire...
O you who've gone on pilgrimage -
where are you, where, oh where?
Here, here is the Beloved!
Oh come now, come, oh come!
Your friend, he is your neighbor,
he is next to your wall -
You, erring in the desert -
what air of love is this?
If you'd see the Beloved's
form without any form -
You are the house, the master,
You are the Kaaba, you! . . .
Where is a bunch of roses,
if you would be this garden?
Where, one soul's pearly essence
when you're the Sea of God?
That's true - and yet your troubles
may turn to treasures rich -
How sad that you yourself veil
the treasure that is yours!
~Rumi 'I Am Wind, You are Fire'
Translation by Annemarie Schimmel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
where are you, where, oh where?
Here, here is the Beloved!
Oh come now, come, oh come!
Your friend, he is your neighbor,
he is next to your wall -
You, erring in the desert -
what air of love is this?
If you'd see the Beloved's
form without any form -
You are the house, the master,
You are the Kaaba, you! . . .
Where is a bunch of roses,
if you would be this garden?
Where, one soul's pearly essence
when you're the Sea of God?
That's true - and yet your troubles
may turn to treasures rich -
How sad that you yourself veil
the treasure that is yours!
~Rumi 'I Am Wind, You are Fire'
Translation by Annemarie Schimmel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open the windows...
“What you really want for yourself is always trying to break through, just as a cooling breeze flows through an open window on a hot day. Your part is to open the windows of your mind.”....
Vernon Howard
Vernon Howard
Changing values...
As he advances on this quest his scheme of values may change. This is partly because he learns by experience what every man has to learn, quester or not, that all is passing and nothing is stable, that the fruits of desire may turn to ashes, and that every day brings him nearer to death and farther from life. But it is partly also what the non-questers too often fail to perceive, that existence is like a dream, ultimately hollow, and that without some sort of link, connection, communion, or glimpse bringing him nearer to the inner reality his life remains unfulfilled.
.... Paul Brunton
.... Paul Brunton
God has no purpose...
Q : Is not this world and what takes place therein the result of
God's will? And if so why should God will thus?
Bhagwan Ramana:
God has no purpose. He is not bound by any action. The
world's activities cannot affect Him. Take the analogy of
the sun. The sun rises without desire, purpose or effort,
but as soon as it rises numerous activities take place on
earth: the lens placed in its rays produces fire in its focus,
the lotus bud opens, water evaporates, and every living
creature enters upon activity, maintains it, and finally drops
it. But the sun is not affected by any such activity, as it
merely acts according to its nature, by fixed laws, without
any purpose, and is only a witness. So it is with God. Or
take the analogy of space or ether. Earth, water, fire and
air are all in it and have their modifications in it, yet none
of these affects ether or space. It is the same with God.
God has no desire or purpose in His acts of creation,
maintenance destruction, withdrawal and salvation to
which beings are subjected. As the beings reap the fruit of
their actions in accordance with His laws, the responsibility
is theirs, not God's. God is not bound by any actions.
God's will? And if so why should God will thus?
Bhagwan Ramana:
God has no purpose. He is not bound by any action. The
world's activities cannot affect Him. Take the analogy of
the sun. The sun rises without desire, purpose or effort,
but as soon as it rises numerous activities take place on
earth: the lens placed in its rays produces fire in its focus,
the lotus bud opens, water evaporates, and every living
creature enters upon activity, maintains it, and finally drops
it. But the sun is not affected by any such activity, as it
merely acts according to its nature, by fixed laws, without
any purpose, and is only a witness. So it is with God. Or
take the analogy of space or ether. Earth, water, fire and
air are all in it and have their modifications in it, yet none
of these affects ether or space. It is the same with God.
God has no desire or purpose in His acts of creation,
maintenance destruction, withdrawal and salvation to
which beings are subjected. As the beings reap the fruit of
their actions in accordance with His laws, the responsibility
is theirs, not God's. God is not bound by any actions.
Art by Rumi...
In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest,
where no one sees you,
but sometimes I do,
and that sight becomes this art.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest,
where no one sees you,
but sometimes I do,
and that sight becomes this art.
Divine Consciousness and Pure Awareness...
When We have finally surrendered the belief that we are separate ego, We enter the Reality called Divine Consciousness.. this is our natural state before entering creation.. We feel the intense Bliss of Unconditional Love within this state.. When We finally offer up this small amount of ego left called identity to the power of Love, then, we no longer exist as separation or as identity.. this is the ultimate gift that We can give to God.. we no longer exist, only Pure Awareness exists.. This is the Source of Complete Love and is Reality.. By not existing, We become Existence Itself before the creation of Divine Consciousness.. Most souls will be quite happy to spend eternity within Divine Consciousness but the Highest Love is Pure Awareness.. and the Highest Love is the Greatest Happiness...............namaste, thomas
Can the Truth be cruel?...
The Truth is never cruel.. only the limitations of our Knowing makes it appear that way.. We are Divine Consciousness as is the Divine Consciousness that we call God.. there is no difference.. This Divine Consciousness is composed of Light, Unconditional Love, and Unlimited Knowledge.. you do not yet Realise this because like most of us, you still believe that You are a separate entity called ego.. The more ego that you dissolve, the more Love comes forward.. this is the lifting of the veil.. Love is non-ego(non-selfishness).. Love is God.. Love is Us... When You have finally returned to this Truth and Reality, You feel the Bliss and Happiness that is Reality,that is God, that is You.. The part of this Truth that brings fear to your mind is that the Final journey is to go beyond even this supreme state and reach Finality.. this is the state of Pure Awareness and contains no ego, no self, no existence.. this is the Highest Reality of God and the birth place of Divine Consciousness that We are.. Fear is your enemy, You were not sent here for the experience of pain, but, for the experience of Unconditional Love.. Death is an illusion of the ego.. You are not the ego and cannot die, for You are Pure Awareness but have forgotten this Truth when you assumed that You were that which You inhabit.. Pure Awareness has no ego and appears to us as non-existence but is the very Creator of that which Creates called Divine Consciousness.. Continue with Your life experience with the assurance that You can never become lost as there is no place that God is not....................namaste, thomas
Know yourself...
Use your mind. Remember. Observe. You are
not different from others. Most of their
experiences are valid for you too. Think clearly,
deeply, go into the entire structure of your desires
and their ramifications. They are a most important
part of your mental and emotional make-up and
powerfully affect your actions. Remember, you
cannot abandon what you do not know. To go
beyond yourself, you must know yourself.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
not different from others. Most of their
experiences are valid for you too. Think clearly,
deeply, go into the entire structure of your desires
and their ramifications. They are a most important
part of your mental and emotional make-up and
powerfully affect your actions. Remember, you
cannot abandon what you do not know. To go
beyond yourself, you must know yourself.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
Success...
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7...
The light which shines
Higher than this heaven ...
Verily, that is the Same
Light ...
Which is here
Within
a person.
- Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7, posted to Mystic-Spirit
from Nonduality Highlights
Higher than this heaven ...
Verily, that is the Same
Light ...
Which is here
Within
a person.
- Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7, posted to Mystic-Spirit
from Nonduality Highlights
The Presence...
"Center of all centers, core of cores,
almond self-enclosed, and growing sweet--
all this universe, to the furthest stars
all beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.
Now you feel how nothing clings to you;
your vast shell reaches into endless space,
and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.
Illuminated in your infinite peace,
a billion stars go spinning through the night,
blazing high above your head.
But in you is the presence that
will be, when all the stars are dead."
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
from _Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke_
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
almond self-enclosed, and growing sweet--
all this universe, to the furthest stars
all beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.
Now you feel how nothing clings to you;
your vast shell reaches into endless space,
and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.
Illuminated in your infinite peace,
a billion stars go spinning through the night,
blazing high above your head.
But in you is the presence that
will be, when all the stars are dead."
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
from _Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke_
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
"The Dome of the Inner Sky"...
The Great King is within me.
He is my dearest friend.
Don't look at my sallow face,
Look at how I stand with legs of iron!
Always turning toward that One
who gave me life.
I am the glorious Sun,
the ocean laden with pearls.
Within my heart is the grandeur of heaven,
Outside, the lowly earth.
I travel in this world like a bee in a jar.
But don't listen to my woeful buzzing -
My house is filled with honey!
O heart, if you want to join us,
raise yourself
to the dome of the inner sky.
Enter the fortress that no one can break.
The vast and mighty waters
move the grinding stones of heaven.
I am that great wheel,
crying so sweetly,
turning with the flow of rushing water.
Men, demons, and spirits all follow my command.
Can't you see that I am Solomon,
with a shimmering seal on my ring?
Why should I be weary
when every cell of my body is bursting with life?
Why should I be a donkey's slave
when I ride upon a magical horse?
Why should I be less than the Moon
when there are no scorpions at my feet?
Why should I stay at the bottom of a well
when a strong rope is in my hand?
I've built a place for the falcons of my soul -
Fly this way, O birds of spirit,
for I am surrounded by a hundred mighty towers!
I am the rays of the Sun
dancing through the windows of every house.
I am carnelian, gold, and rubies,
even though this body is made of water and clay.
Whatever pearl you seek,
look for the pearl within the pearl!
The surface of the earth says,
"The treasure is within."
The glowing jewel says,
"Don't be fooled by my beauty -
the light of my face
comes from the candle of my spirit."
What else can I say?
You will only hear
what you are ready to hear.
Don't nod your head,
Don't try to fool me -
the truth of what you see
is written all over your face!
--Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved "
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997
He is my dearest friend.
Don't look at my sallow face,
Look at how I stand with legs of iron!
Always turning toward that One
who gave me life.
I am the glorious Sun,
the ocean laden with pearls.
Within my heart is the grandeur of heaven,
Outside, the lowly earth.
I travel in this world like a bee in a jar.
But don't listen to my woeful buzzing -
My house is filled with honey!
O heart, if you want to join us,
raise yourself
to the dome of the inner sky.
Enter the fortress that no one can break.
The vast and mighty waters
move the grinding stones of heaven.
I am that great wheel,
crying so sweetly,
turning with the flow of rushing water.
Men, demons, and spirits all follow my command.
Can't you see that I am Solomon,
with a shimmering seal on my ring?
Why should I be weary
when every cell of my body is bursting with life?
Why should I be a donkey's slave
when I ride upon a magical horse?
Why should I be less than the Moon
when there are no scorpions at my feet?
Why should I stay at the bottom of a well
when a strong rope is in my hand?
I've built a place for the falcons of my soul -
Fly this way, O birds of spirit,
for I am surrounded by a hundred mighty towers!
I am the rays of the Sun
dancing through the windows of every house.
I am carnelian, gold, and rubies,
even though this body is made of water and clay.
Whatever pearl you seek,
look for the pearl within the pearl!
The surface of the earth says,
"The treasure is within."
The glowing jewel says,
"Don't be fooled by my beauty -
the light of my face
comes from the candle of my spirit."
What else can I say?
You will only hear
what you are ready to hear.
Don't nod your head,
Don't try to fool me -
the truth of what you see
is written all over your face!
--Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved "
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997
The Quest...
As he advances on this quest his scheme of values may change. This is partly because he learns by experience what every man has to learn, quester or not, that all is passing and nothing is stable, that the fruits of desire may turn to ashes, and that every day brings him nearer to death and farther from life. But it is partly also what the non-questers too often fail to perceive, that existence is like a dream, ultimately hollow, and that without some sort of link, connection, communion, or glimpse bringing him nearer to the inner reality his life remains unfulfilled.
... Paul Brunton
... Paul Brunton
Nonduality, Maya and Spiritual Awakening...
By Remez Sasson
The philosophy of nonduality or nondualism, as it is sometimes called, says that there is just One formless and limitless Spirit, and that everything in the Universe is within it, part of it and created by it. This includes every person, animal, plant and tree, everything animate and inanimate. This One Spirit manifests in and through myriads of forms, all forms being inseparable part of it. This philosophy, which is Eastern in origin and is called Advaita-Vedanta in India, also says that it is only illusion that causes us to view the world as separate from us.
There is so much misunderstanding, disagreement and clashes of egos in the world, due to the fact that each personality-ego is different and unique, considering itself as a separate unit. Everyone is deeply engrossed in their personality - ego, guarding it and protecting it jealously. This attitude leads to being trapped in a small imaginary world, where there are misunderstandings, disagreements, tensions and struggles.
Accepting in theory, or better still experiencing nonduality, can solve of these problems.
It is quite possible that not everyone will agree with the information and description of non duality as presented here. It is also possible that someone else's experience might be different, but I hope that this article will contribute at least some interesting and valuable information about non duality.
The One Spirit manifests through your body, brain and mind. This Spirit is pure Consciousness, but when acting through the body and five senses, it seems to get identified with the body it is manifesting through, and this gives birth to the individual personality - ego. It is as if the Spirit "forgets" itself as being pure, indivisible Spirit- Consciousness. This "forgetfulness" is so strong and deep that the body and the Spirit manifesting through it, tend to act as one unit, as a separate and independent individuality - personality. The One Spirit is pure Consciousness, one homogenous whole, but due to the involvement with the body, five senses and thoughts, there arises identification with them, and the "creation" of a separate individual unit, which one considers to be himself or herself.
The physical body is an instrument created and used by the Spirit and is not the real "I", but as the identification with it is so strong, it is considered to be as the real entity that we are. You can start to realize that you are not the body, the personality which you consider to be yourself, when you learn to witness with detachment the activities of your body, mind and thoughts. This of course requires some degree of the ability to master your mind and still it.
Nonduality and the Mind
By now you may have started to understand what Nonduality really is. The idea is that there is one Spirit - Consciousness everywhere, which cannot be divided into parts, and this Consciousness is the only real, enduring, and existing 'something' in the Universe.
This Consciousness seems to generate thoughts, ideas and feelings, which are impermanent and constantly change, and in this sense are to be regarded as unreal; now they are here, the next moment there are others. This is the Maya of the Eastern philosophies. It sort of covers and hides the pure Consciousness, which seems to forget itself and identify with the body.
In nonduality there is no' two', there is only 'one'. It is only illusion and erroneous way of thinking that causes us to view everything as separate from us. This fact is realized in a state of inner silence and peace, when there are no restless thoughts and mental activity to hide the truth.
When the ability to silence the mind becomes natural, one can live in this Consciousness - Awareness, while living and participating in day-to-day's life and activities. A silent mind is a precondition for becoming aware if the Spirit that one is, and of the essence of nonduality. This might seem strange, since the mind is considered to be the tool through which one gains knowledge, but to awaken to the Spirit, understand nonduality and gain spiritual knowledge one has to silence the mind, because this knowledge and realization is beyond the mind.
All thoughts, ideas and knowledge are mental. In order to know something beyond the mental world we need a different instrument. To comprehend the mind and what is beyond it, we have to rise above it, to the source beyond it.
Nonduality and Maya - Illusion
Here is more information to make the concept of nonduality clearer.
A hologram seems to be three-dimensional, yet it is flat;. A mirage looks so real, yet it is only an illusion. A robot may be built, resembling a human being and acting like one, yet it is just a machine. In all of these cases there is illusion, but there is also some reality behind this illusion.
In the East they use the following metaphors to explain and differentiate between illusion and reality:
Jewels made of gold are called earrings, bracelets or rings, yet they are just gold. For convenience we call all those objects by different names, yet is only gold. Before they were made into jewels they were gold, now they are gold, and after they will be melted they will also be gold.
Objects made of clay are only clay. They may be called plates, vases, or statues, yet they are made of the same stuff, clay, which temporarily exists as a definite object.
There is just One indivisible Consciousness - Reality, but due to an illusionary phenomenon called Maya, this reality becomes hidden. All beings and inanimate objects, including planets and galaxies, are one with the One Spirit, but due to Maya there seems to be separation, individual units in the vast and unlimited Spirit.
Nonduality and Spiritual Awakening
Accepting and realizing what nonduality is, can transform one's attitude toward everything and lead to spiritual awakening. This realization comes through increased ability to focus and calm the mind, through meditation, constant reading about this subject, meditation, and being in the company of people who have realized nonduality. Sometimes there might be a sudden dawn of understanding, a sudden enlightenment, but often it is a process that takes time. The awakening and realization might come and go, faint at first, but getting stronger in time. When the process of understanding nonduality and awakening starts, it will go on, even if sometimes you are not aware of the process. There will be small rays of light at first, but one day the full sun of awakening and realization will shine.
From the perspective of nonduality, when one starts to understand and accept nonduality, the identification with the ego or body starts loosen its grip. Your external life and activities would most probably continue as was before. You will go on acting, interacting, working, eating, sleeping and doing everything as before, but now you start to realize that you are an inseparable part of the One Spirit, and understand that the body and the personality are not you. This realization brings a sense of true and great freedom and bliss.
In this state you feel and know that you are the ever present and impersonal Consciousness - Spirit. The world looks like an illusion from this point of view, even tough you still live in it and experience it. It is then like watching a movie. You see what is happening on the screen, aware of everything, yet not too involved with the characters playing on the screen, knowing that they are not real. You live in the world, yet with consciousness and awareness beyond the immediate world and beyond ego and body. This is spiritual awakening.
Awakening from the dream of unreality is the path of non-duality. This awakening brings happiness, joy, bliss, fearlessness, and inner power. We rise above the mind and return Home, to where we always are, but have forgotten. We realize who we really are.
The philosophy of nonduality or nondualism, as it is sometimes called, says that there is just One formless and limitless Spirit, and that everything in the Universe is within it, part of it and created by it. This includes every person, animal, plant and tree, everything animate and inanimate. This One Spirit manifests in and through myriads of forms, all forms being inseparable part of it. This philosophy, which is Eastern in origin and is called Advaita-Vedanta in India, also says that it is only illusion that causes us to view the world as separate from us.
There is so much misunderstanding, disagreement and clashes of egos in the world, due to the fact that each personality-ego is different and unique, considering itself as a separate unit. Everyone is deeply engrossed in their personality - ego, guarding it and protecting it jealously. This attitude leads to being trapped in a small imaginary world, where there are misunderstandings, disagreements, tensions and struggles.
Accepting in theory, or better still experiencing nonduality, can solve of these problems.
It is quite possible that not everyone will agree with the information and description of non duality as presented here. It is also possible that someone else's experience might be different, but I hope that this article will contribute at least some interesting and valuable information about non duality.
The One Spirit manifests through your body, brain and mind. This Spirit is pure Consciousness, but when acting through the body and five senses, it seems to get identified with the body it is manifesting through, and this gives birth to the individual personality - ego. It is as if the Spirit "forgets" itself as being pure, indivisible Spirit- Consciousness. This "forgetfulness" is so strong and deep that the body and the Spirit manifesting through it, tend to act as one unit, as a separate and independent individuality - personality. The One Spirit is pure Consciousness, one homogenous whole, but due to the involvement with the body, five senses and thoughts, there arises identification with them, and the "creation" of a separate individual unit, which one considers to be himself or herself.
The physical body is an instrument created and used by the Spirit and is not the real "I", but as the identification with it is so strong, it is considered to be as the real entity that we are. You can start to realize that you are not the body, the personality which you consider to be yourself, when you learn to witness with detachment the activities of your body, mind and thoughts. This of course requires some degree of the ability to master your mind and still it.
Nonduality and the Mind
By now you may have started to understand what Nonduality really is. The idea is that there is one Spirit - Consciousness everywhere, which cannot be divided into parts, and this Consciousness is the only real, enduring, and existing 'something' in the Universe.
This Consciousness seems to generate thoughts, ideas and feelings, which are impermanent and constantly change, and in this sense are to be regarded as unreal; now they are here, the next moment there are others. This is the Maya of the Eastern philosophies. It sort of covers and hides the pure Consciousness, which seems to forget itself and identify with the body.
In nonduality there is no' two', there is only 'one'. It is only illusion and erroneous way of thinking that causes us to view everything as separate from us. This fact is realized in a state of inner silence and peace, when there are no restless thoughts and mental activity to hide the truth.
When the ability to silence the mind becomes natural, one can live in this Consciousness - Awareness, while living and participating in day-to-day's life and activities. A silent mind is a precondition for becoming aware if the Spirit that one is, and of the essence of nonduality. This might seem strange, since the mind is considered to be the tool through which one gains knowledge, but to awaken to the Spirit, understand nonduality and gain spiritual knowledge one has to silence the mind, because this knowledge and realization is beyond the mind.
All thoughts, ideas and knowledge are mental. In order to know something beyond the mental world we need a different instrument. To comprehend the mind and what is beyond it, we have to rise above it, to the source beyond it.
Nonduality and Maya - Illusion
Here is more information to make the concept of nonduality clearer.
A hologram seems to be three-dimensional, yet it is flat;. A mirage looks so real, yet it is only an illusion. A robot may be built, resembling a human being and acting like one, yet it is just a machine. In all of these cases there is illusion, but there is also some reality behind this illusion.
In the East they use the following metaphors to explain and differentiate between illusion and reality:
Jewels made of gold are called earrings, bracelets or rings, yet they are just gold. For convenience we call all those objects by different names, yet is only gold. Before they were made into jewels they were gold, now they are gold, and after they will be melted they will also be gold.
Objects made of clay are only clay. They may be called plates, vases, or statues, yet they are made of the same stuff, clay, which temporarily exists as a definite object.
There is just One indivisible Consciousness - Reality, but due to an illusionary phenomenon called Maya, this reality becomes hidden. All beings and inanimate objects, including planets and galaxies, are one with the One Spirit, but due to Maya there seems to be separation, individual units in the vast and unlimited Spirit.
Nonduality and Spiritual Awakening
Accepting and realizing what nonduality is, can transform one's attitude toward everything and lead to spiritual awakening. This realization comes through increased ability to focus and calm the mind, through meditation, constant reading about this subject, meditation, and being in the company of people who have realized nonduality. Sometimes there might be a sudden dawn of understanding, a sudden enlightenment, but often it is a process that takes time. The awakening and realization might come and go, faint at first, but getting stronger in time. When the process of understanding nonduality and awakening starts, it will go on, even if sometimes you are not aware of the process. There will be small rays of light at first, but one day the full sun of awakening and realization will shine.
From the perspective of nonduality, when one starts to understand and accept nonduality, the identification with the ego or body starts loosen its grip. Your external life and activities would most probably continue as was before. You will go on acting, interacting, working, eating, sleeping and doing everything as before, but now you start to realize that you are an inseparable part of the One Spirit, and understand that the body and the personality are not you. This realization brings a sense of true and great freedom and bliss.
In this state you feel and know that you are the ever present and impersonal Consciousness - Spirit. The world looks like an illusion from this point of view, even tough you still live in it and experience it. It is then like watching a movie. You see what is happening on the screen, aware of everything, yet not too involved with the characters playing on the screen, knowing that they are not real. You live in the world, yet with consciousness and awareness beyond the immediate world and beyond ego and body. This is spiritual awakening.
Awakening from the dream of unreality is the path of non-duality. This awakening brings happiness, joy, bliss, fearlessness, and inner power. We rise above the mind and return Home, to where we always are, but have forgotten. We realize who we really are.
The Mind of Absolute Trust ...Early Zen Poetry of Seng-ts'an ...
The great way isn't difficult for those who are unattached to their preferences.
Let go of longing and aversion, and everything will be perfectly clear.
When you cling to a hairbreadth of distinction, heaven and earth are set apart.
If you want to realize the truth, don't be for or against.
The struggle between good and evil is the primal disease of the mind.
Not grasping the deeper meaning, you just trouble your minds serenity.
As vast as infinite space, it is perfect and lacks nothing.
But because you select and reject, you can't perceive its true nature.
Don't get entangled in the world; don't lose yourself in emptiness.
Be at peace in the oneness of things, and all errors will disappear by themselves.
If you don't live the Tao, you fall into assertion or denial.
Asserting that the world is real, you are blind to its deeper reality;
denying that the world is real, you are blind to the selflessness of all things.
The more you think about these matters, the farther you are from the truth.
Step aside from all thinking, and there is nowhere you can't go.
Returning to the root, you find the meaning;
chasing appearances, you lose there source.
At the moment of profound insight, you transcend both appearance and emptiness.
Don't keep searching for the truth; just let go of your opinions.
For the mind in harmony with the Tao, all selfishness disappears.
With not even a trace of self-doubt, you can trust the universe completely.
All at once you are free, with nothing left to hold on to.
All is empty, brilliant, perfect in its own being.
In the world of things as they are, there is no self, no non self.
If you want to describe its essence, the best you can say is "Not-two."
In this "Not-two" nothing is separate, and nothing in the world is excluded.
The enlightened of all times and places have entered into this truth.
In it there is no gain or loss; one instant is ten thousand years.
There is no here, no there; infinity is right before your eyes.
The tiny is as large as the vast when objective boundaries have vanished;
the vast is as small as the tiny when you don't have external limits.
Being is an aspect of non-being; non-being is no different from being.
Until you understand this truth, you won't see anything clearly.
One is all; all are one. When you realize this, what reason for holiness or wisdom?
The mind of absolute trust is beyond all thought, all striving,
is perfectly at peace, for in it there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow.
Let go of longing and aversion, and everything will be perfectly clear.
When you cling to a hairbreadth of distinction, heaven and earth are set apart.
If you want to realize the truth, don't be for or against.
The struggle between good and evil is the primal disease of the mind.
Not grasping the deeper meaning, you just trouble your minds serenity.
As vast as infinite space, it is perfect and lacks nothing.
But because you select and reject, you can't perceive its true nature.
Don't get entangled in the world; don't lose yourself in emptiness.
Be at peace in the oneness of things, and all errors will disappear by themselves.
If you don't live the Tao, you fall into assertion or denial.
Asserting that the world is real, you are blind to its deeper reality;
denying that the world is real, you are blind to the selflessness of all things.
The more you think about these matters, the farther you are from the truth.
Step aside from all thinking, and there is nowhere you can't go.
Returning to the root, you find the meaning;
chasing appearances, you lose there source.
At the moment of profound insight, you transcend both appearance and emptiness.
Don't keep searching for the truth; just let go of your opinions.
For the mind in harmony with the Tao, all selfishness disappears.
With not even a trace of self-doubt, you can trust the universe completely.
All at once you are free, with nothing left to hold on to.
All is empty, brilliant, perfect in its own being.
In the world of things as they are, there is no self, no non self.
If you want to describe its essence, the best you can say is "Not-two."
In this "Not-two" nothing is separate, and nothing in the world is excluded.
The enlightened of all times and places have entered into this truth.
In it there is no gain or loss; one instant is ten thousand years.
There is no here, no there; infinity is right before your eyes.
The tiny is as large as the vast when objective boundaries have vanished;
the vast is as small as the tiny when you don't have external limits.
Being is an aspect of non-being; non-being is no different from being.
Until you understand this truth, you won't see anything clearly.
One is all; all are one. When you realize this, what reason for holiness or wisdom?
The mind of absolute trust is beyond all thought, all striving,
is perfectly at peace, for in it there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow.
The Self...
For see!
The Self is in all beings,
And all beings are in the Self.
Know you are free,
Free of `I",
Free of `mine.'
Be happy.
- Ashtavakra Gita
Chapter 15, verse 6
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
The Heart of Awareness: A Translation
of the Ashtavakra Gita
By Thomas Byrom
Shambala, 1990
The Self is in all beings,
And all beings are in the Self.
Know you are free,
Free of `I",
Free of `mine.'
Be happy.
- Ashtavakra Gita
Chapter 15, verse 6
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
The Heart of Awareness: A Translation
of the Ashtavakra Gita
By Thomas Byrom
Shambala, 1990
The soul is all Light...
The soul is all light; darkness is caused by the deadness of the heart; pain
makes it alive.
Bowl of Saki, June 21, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Those who have avoided love in life from fear of its pain have lost more than
the lover, who by losing himself gains all. The loveless first lose all, until
at last their self is also snatched away from their hands. The warmth of the
lover's atmosphere, the piercing effect of his voice, the appeal of his words,
all come from the pain of his heart. The heart is not living until it has
experienced pain. Man has not lived if he has lived and worked with his body and
mind without heart. The soul is all light, but all darkness is caused by the
death of the heart. Pain makes it alive. The same heart that was once full of
bitterness, when purified by love becomes the source of all goodness. All deeds
of kindness spring from it.
makes it alive.
Bowl of Saki, June 21, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Those who have avoided love in life from fear of its pain have lost more than
the lover, who by losing himself gains all. The loveless first lose all, until
at last their self is also snatched away from their hands. The warmth of the
lover's atmosphere, the piercing effect of his voice, the appeal of his words,
all come from the pain of his heart. The heart is not living until it has
experienced pain. Man has not lived if he has lived and worked with his body and
mind without heart. The soul is all light, but all darkness is caused by the
death of the heart. Pain makes it alive. The same heart that was once full of
bitterness, when purified by love becomes the source of all goodness. All deeds
of kindness spring from it.
Beliefs...
Your strongest held beliefs about "how things
are" will draw into your life those very experiences
that will work to support and prove your strongest
held beliefs about "how things are."
The Universe loves you so completely that it¹s
compelled to present itself to you in ways that will
tend to validate your strongest held beliefs - no matter
how self-limiting or off-the-wall those beliefs might be.
In short, the Universe wants to make you right.
- Chuck Hillig
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003
are" will draw into your life those very experiences
that will work to support and prove your strongest
held beliefs about "how things are."
The Universe loves you so completely that it¹s
compelled to present itself to you in ways that will
tend to validate your strongest held beliefs - no matter
how self-limiting or off-the-wall those beliefs might be.
In short, the Universe wants to make you right.
- Chuck Hillig
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003
The Serene Life...
The serene life is not subject to emotional
crisis. It has clearly worked out, in the hours
of contemplation, its wise attitude towards life
and men so that no situation that arises can
sweep it off its feet.
- Paul Brunton
crisis. It has clearly worked out, in the hours
of contemplation, its wise attitude towards life
and men so that no situation that arises can
sweep it off its feet.
- Paul Brunton
The Unsupported Point...
The point is only supported by personal experience.. The point has been written about for thousands of years and supported by the mystics of all major religions and philosophies.. The point is the meaning of life.. The point is the reason that we continue our ride through these continuous lives.. The point is Knowing who we are.. Are you the self or are You, Divine Consciousness?.. Most people want to keep the sense of individual self and still believe that they are climbing to God by memorizing verses.. All the knowledge in creation is meant only to point to the direction of Truth.. Truth must be felt, It cannot be learned.. The self derives pleasure in attacking others and belittling others in the belief that it then becomes greater and more powerful.. the self is able to do this because the Higher Self is not Awake to take control of thoughts.. So, once again, the key word is to Awaken to Reality.. Reality is Unconditional Love.. illusion is the world of self,known as non-love.. If we were really intelligent and learned, we would choose Reality instead of the fleeting seconds of pleasure through ego...............namaste, thomas
Awareness...
Awareness cleaned my mind
to a polished mirroring.
The presence came near, and I knew
that That was everything,
and I nothing.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
to a polished mirroring.
The presence came near, and I knew
that That was everything,
and I nothing.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
Rising above thought...
To "watch the thinker" is another way of saying:
listen to the voice in your head, be there as the
witnessing presence.
- Eckhart Tolle
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Power of Now"
Eckhart Tolle
New World Library, 1999
listen to the voice in your head, be there as the
witnessing presence.
- Eckhart Tolle
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Power of Now"
Eckhart Tolle
New World Library, 1999
Will I be able to Dream?...
These were the last words from Hal the Computer aboard the starship, as he was
being switched off.. this scene flashed within my mind as I was contemplating
the dream state.. Hal was facing extinction and was willing to except it as long
as he could continue to dream.. he was seeking a perpetual life as a separate
entity as long as he could continue to dream.. This is exactly what we are
doing.. the dream is where we are participating by using time as an instrument
of memory and expectation.. the dream is life.. you must surrender the dream and
gladly accept non-life, non-existence, and non-ego to escape into Reality and
Awaken from the dream...........namaste, thomas
being switched off.. this scene flashed within my mind as I was contemplating
the dream state.. Hal was facing extinction and was willing to except it as long
as he could continue to dream.. he was seeking a perpetual life as a separate
entity as long as he could continue to dream.. This is exactly what we are
doing.. the dream is where we are participating by using time as an instrument
of memory and expectation.. the dream is life.. you must surrender the dream and
gladly accept non-life, non-existence, and non-ego to escape into Reality and
Awaken from the dream...........namaste, thomas
Gautama Speaks...
Gautama Buddha, October 1, 2006.
The true definition of the eightfold path
You see, my beloved, when you rise above duality, you clearly see that there is something that is unreal. But that which is unreal is not in opposition to that which is real, as that which is humanly wrong is in opposition to that which is humanly right.
That which is unreal is simply unreal. It is outside reality, separate from reality. But it is not and cannot be in opposition to reality. For that which is real can have no opposition.
Nothing can threaten that which is real.
Thus, the first step on the spiritual path is to reach for something beyond duality. And that is what Jesus expressed so beautifully when he said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his right-eousness.” Seek ye first the higher “right” of God. This is also what I expressed in the definition of the eightfold path. So many Buddhists have misinterpreted the eightfold path and believe that it can be defined in human terms. What is right livelihood. What is right action. What is right thought. What is right association and so on.
But you see, the true definition of the eightfold path is that you reach for the “right” of God that is beyond duality. But how can you reach for that right, that higher right? Well, you can do so only when you realize the noble truth that everything that springs from duality causes suffering, and that the cause of suffering is wrong desire that is based on an attachment to the things of this world, be it the sensual pleasures or the desire to be right in a human sense and feel that you are better than those whom you define as wrong because they are different from you or hold opposite views from you.
Oh my beloved, there are so many people on this planet who spend their entire lives seeking to establish this sense of superiority of being better than others. They always see themselves as being in competition with others and this goes from the so-called ordinary people, who are, as the saying goes, seeking to keep up with the Joneses, in having better houses, bigger cars and more material goods. And it goes all the way up to the people in the power elite who are seeking to have more power than those other people in those other power elite groups with whom they are comparing themselves.
My beloved, you can spend lifetimes on this senseless quest of seeking to be thought right among men. Or you can reach up for the reality of being right with God. Yet in order to be right with God you must be willing to consciously and willfully choose to let go of your attachments to the things in the material realm. For as long as you are attached to being right with other people, to being popular or not to be seen as an outcast or ridiculed for your beliefs, or your lifestyle or your actions, as long as you are attached to anything, any appearance in this world, to your standing among human beings, then you will not be free to grasp the higher right of God or to express that right.
So my beloved, I taught 2,500 years ago, that non-attachment is the key to peace of mind. And that teaching is true. It is timeless. It is eternal. Yet as Jesus has pointed out, there is no teaching expressed in words that the human ego cannot pervert. For anything expressed in words can be taken by the dualistic mind and interpreted according to this extreme or that extreme or even the false concept of the Middle Way as something that is right between the two dualistic extremes.
So you see my beloved, even the concept of the Middle Way can be misinterpreted. For truly, I never told people to come to the midpoint between the two dualistic extremes. I taught them to transcend the entire scale of duality, the entire consciousness of duality. And this is the essence of Buddhahood. Yet to transcend duality you must be willing to let go of the desires, the beliefs, the attachments that spring from duality. And thus you must come to the point where you love the right of God more than the right of man.
And this must in the end be a conscious decision you make. Truly, not everyone is ready to make that decision. But certainly those who are the spiritual people are ready or can quickly become ready. And if you will contemplate these concepts, you will come to a point where you feel a spontaneous, inner surge of love for the higher reality of God that suddenly makes it easy to let go of some attachment. And once you realize how easy it is to let go of one attachment, you can build a momentum of letting go of the attachments as quickly as you see them.
........from askrealjesus.com
The true definition of the eightfold path
You see, my beloved, when you rise above duality, you clearly see that there is something that is unreal. But that which is unreal is not in opposition to that which is real, as that which is humanly wrong is in opposition to that which is humanly right.
That which is unreal is simply unreal. It is outside reality, separate from reality. But it is not and cannot be in opposition to reality. For that which is real can have no opposition.
Nothing can threaten that which is real.
Thus, the first step on the spiritual path is to reach for something beyond duality. And that is what Jesus expressed so beautifully when he said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his right-eousness.” Seek ye first the higher “right” of God. This is also what I expressed in the definition of the eightfold path. So many Buddhists have misinterpreted the eightfold path and believe that it can be defined in human terms. What is right livelihood. What is right action. What is right thought. What is right association and so on.
But you see, the true definition of the eightfold path is that you reach for the “right” of God that is beyond duality. But how can you reach for that right, that higher right? Well, you can do so only when you realize the noble truth that everything that springs from duality causes suffering, and that the cause of suffering is wrong desire that is based on an attachment to the things of this world, be it the sensual pleasures or the desire to be right in a human sense and feel that you are better than those whom you define as wrong because they are different from you or hold opposite views from you.
Oh my beloved, there are so many people on this planet who spend their entire lives seeking to establish this sense of superiority of being better than others. They always see themselves as being in competition with others and this goes from the so-called ordinary people, who are, as the saying goes, seeking to keep up with the Joneses, in having better houses, bigger cars and more material goods. And it goes all the way up to the people in the power elite who are seeking to have more power than those other people in those other power elite groups with whom they are comparing themselves.
My beloved, you can spend lifetimes on this senseless quest of seeking to be thought right among men. Or you can reach up for the reality of being right with God. Yet in order to be right with God you must be willing to consciously and willfully choose to let go of your attachments to the things in the material realm. For as long as you are attached to being right with other people, to being popular or not to be seen as an outcast or ridiculed for your beliefs, or your lifestyle or your actions, as long as you are attached to anything, any appearance in this world, to your standing among human beings, then you will not be free to grasp the higher right of God or to express that right.
So my beloved, I taught 2,500 years ago, that non-attachment is the key to peace of mind. And that teaching is true. It is timeless. It is eternal. Yet as Jesus has pointed out, there is no teaching expressed in words that the human ego cannot pervert. For anything expressed in words can be taken by the dualistic mind and interpreted according to this extreme or that extreme or even the false concept of the Middle Way as something that is right between the two dualistic extremes.
So you see my beloved, even the concept of the Middle Way can be misinterpreted. For truly, I never told people to come to the midpoint between the two dualistic extremes. I taught them to transcend the entire scale of duality, the entire consciousness of duality. And this is the essence of Buddhahood. Yet to transcend duality you must be willing to let go of the desires, the beliefs, the attachments that spring from duality. And thus you must come to the point where you love the right of God more than the right of man.
And this must in the end be a conscious decision you make. Truly, not everyone is ready to make that decision. But certainly those who are the spiritual people are ready or can quickly become ready. And if you will contemplate these concepts, you will come to a point where you feel a spontaneous, inner surge of love for the higher reality of God that suddenly makes it easy to let go of some attachment. And once you realize how easy it is to let go of one attachment, you can build a momentum of letting go of the attachments as quickly as you see them.
........from askrealjesus.com
The Name of God...
God really has no name, and yet we fools constantly try to name that
which cannot be named.. therefore, we use attributes to name the Source such as
Love, Kindness, Truth, Glory, Peace,Unselfishness, Unity and so on.. Therefore,
the only real name of God is Source...Although, He does not even call Himself,
Source, as there is no duality to see Himself, the sense of duality is the game
of Divine Consciousness but is just a Dream among many Dreams........namaste,
thomas
which cannot be named.. therefore, we use attributes to name the Source such as
Love, Kindness, Truth, Glory, Peace,Unselfishness, Unity and so on.. Therefore,
the only real name of God is Source...Although, He does not even call Himself,
Source, as there is no duality to see Himself, the sense of duality is the game
of Divine Consciousness but is just a Dream among many Dreams........namaste,
thomas
Presence...
The real glory of meditation lies not in any method but in
its continual living experience of presence, in its bliss,
clarity, peace, and most important of all, complete absence
of grasping. The diminishing of grasping in yourself is a sign
that you are becoming freer of yourself. And the more you
experience this freedom, the clearer the sign that the ego
and the hopes and fears that keep it alive are dissolving, and
the closer you will come to the infinitely generous "wisdom
of egolessness." When you live in the wisdom home, you'll no
longer find a barrier between "I" and "you," "this" and "that,"
"inside" and "outside;" you'll have come, finally, to your true
home, the state of non-duality.
~Sogyal Rinpoche
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
its continual living experience of presence, in its bliss,
clarity, peace, and most important of all, complete absence
of grasping. The diminishing of grasping in yourself is a sign
that you are becoming freer of yourself. And the more you
experience this freedom, the clearer the sign that the ego
and the hopes and fears that keep it alive are dissolving, and
the closer you will come to the infinitely generous "wisdom
of egolessness." When you live in the wisdom home, you'll no
longer find a barrier between "I" and "you," "this" and "that,"
"inside" and "outside;" you'll have come, finally, to your true
home, the state of non-duality.
~Sogyal Rinpoche
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The mind...
Time is in the mind, space is in the mind.
The law of cause and effect is also a way of
thinking. In reality all is here and now and
all is one. Multiplicity and diversity are in
the mind only.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
The law of cause and effect is also a way of
thinking. In reality all is here and now and
all is one. Multiplicity and diversity are in
the mind only.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
This is God, speaking...
Hi everybody, I know that we don't get together all that much to do any real conversation, so I decided to write a few words.. I know about all the pain and fear that you daily suffer and I wish that I could do something about it... but, these are your creations and I have given My promise of your free will to create and destroy.. This is usually My job, as I am Divine Consciousness and have the power of creation and destruction.. My Boss is called Pure Awareness and does not even Know Itself.. this is why I run things here in the lower frequencies.. I realise that there is separation, but, this also is a creation of your mind.. You and I are actually the same guy.. this speaking to Myself feels a little weird.. but needed... The real message that I want to give you is to "Wake Up".. I'm tired of sleeping and need to return Home, just as You............namaste, thomas
Observation...
The further one goes, the more difficulties there
are; one finds greater faults in oneself as one
advances along the spiritual path. It is not because
the number of faults has increased, but the sense
has become so keen that one regards differently
faults which formerly one would not have noticed.
It is like a musician: the more he advances and the
better he plays, the more faults he notices. He who
does not notice his faults is in reality becoming
worse. There is no end to one's faults. To think of
them makes one humble.
-Hazrat Inayat Khan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
Omega Press, 1978
are; one finds greater faults in oneself as one
advances along the spiritual path. It is not because
the number of faults has increased, but the sense
has become so keen that one regards differently
faults which formerly one would not have noticed.
It is like a musician: the more he advances and the
better he plays, the more faults he notices. He who
does not notice his faults is in reality becoming
worse. There is no end to one's faults. To think of
them makes one humble.
-Hazrat Inayat Khan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
Omega Press, 1978
Now-here... No-Where...
To Be everywhere is to Be nowhere.. this is True.. you must not exist to
Exist.. strange, isn't it.. try it.. that's all I can say.. try it.. and see
where True lives.. your ego will fight you all the way to the end.. it will
fight to survive using all it's logic and skills.. will You be strong enough to
win this fight?.. only You can answer this question..............namaste, thomas
Exist.. strange, isn't it.. try it.. that's all I can say.. try it.. and see
where True lives.. your ego will fight you all the way to the end.. it will
fight to survive using all it's logic and skills.. will You be strong enough to
win this fight?.. only You can answer this question..............namaste, thomas
Ego game No. 1: Just be normal! ...
NOTE: This teaching was given on November 2, 2006.
Jesus: There are some ego games that are very specific, and they are relatively easy to expose when they are outplayed in specific situations. There are other ego games that are more general, and they can be difficult to expose because they apply in many different situations, even in all situations. These general ego games often set the stage for the specific ego games, and thus they can impair your ability to see through and rise above the specific games. Thus, I will begin by talking about one of the general ego games.
To understand this game, let us summarize what I have explained in the previous couple of discourses:
•The ego wants to blind you to the existence of a higher reality that is beyond the dualistic thinking of the ego.
•Once you are blinded by that illusion, the ego wants to keep you there indefinitely.
•The ego wants you to go where it wants you to go without you realizing what is happening. It wants to take you down the staircase of life so gradually that you don’t notice the descent.
•If you refuse to go further down, the ego wants to keep you standing still at your present level. Even after you start climbing back up, the ego seeks to stop your growth at any level.
•It takes a distinct decision to stand up and start walking back up the staircase of life. The ego will do anything to prevent you from making such a LIFE decision.
So what is the ego’s primary weapon in attempting to prevent you from making LIFE decisions and taking the next step up the staircase of life? It is that the ego seeks to make you accept a norm, a definition of what is considered normal behavior. The ego will then project into your conscious mind that as long as you stay within what it has defined as normal, there is no reason for you to do anything out of the ordinary, such as making a LIFE decision and taking a distinct step up the staircase. In other words, the ego wants you to believe that sliding down the staircase or standing still is normal behavior, whereas taking a step up the staircase is abnormal and therefore unnecessary, dangerous, forbidden or impossible. The ego’s message is, “Don’t rock the boat—just be normal like everyone else!”
In this endeavor, the ego has a major ally, namely what some psychologists call the collective unconscious. We might also call it the mass consciousness or the planetary ego. When you look at society, you will see that many people live their entire lives within the norms of their particular society, blindly following the standards for normal behavior in anything from religion to fashion trends.
Throughout history, you will see that many societies have imposed various penalties for going beyond their norms. This can be drastic measures, such as being killed, deported, imprisoned or herded into railroad cars and taken off to a concentration camp. Or it can be less dramatic – and thus harder to expose – methods ranging from family and social pressure to simply not teaching people that there is a different way to look at life.
Once a society has created a state in which most people fear to go against or question the norm, that society has become rigid. There is little possibility of an internal change, which is why such societies often enter a downward slide that leads to their collapse, either through internal factors or an external enemy that conquers them. The Roman empire is a prime example, but many others litter the pages of history.
Historically speaking, very few societies have had norms that made it acceptable behavior to follow the spiritual path. Most societies have discouraged people from doing so—even – or perhaps especially – religious societies. That is why I was opposed, pressured and attacked from all sides when I started expressing my Christhood. Thus, all sincere spiritual seekers should expect that they will have to go beyond the norms of their society in order to pursue the spiritual path to its full extent. In other words, a spiritual seeker might as well accept the fact that spiritual growth is currently not seen as normal by any Western society. And once you expect to be abnormal – with whatever that entails in your particular environment – you are not as susceptible to your ego’s subtle attempts to make you stay within the norm—stay within the fold.
Beyond your society, you also need to be aware of the inner pressure created by your ego itself. Your personal norm is clearly affected by the environment in which you grew up, but it also has its own personal characteristics that your ego has carefully created over many lifetimes. These are designed to keep you following what your ego has defined as normal, and thus a spiritual seeker must be wiling to examine his or her norms. No one ever has been successful on the spiritual path without examining and questioning – and then transcending – his or her personal norms as well as the external norm of the environment. In other words, for a spiritual seeker, going beyond the norm should be considered normal behavior.
The carrot and the stick
The concept of a norm implies a median value, a sort of average. But a median exists only in relation to two extremes, as an average is found somewhere between a high and a low. So the ego seeks to define its norm by setting up a high and a low:
•The carrot is the highest you can attain, the wildest dream, your ultimate sense of happiness—according to the ego. Yet because the ego cannot see beyond the duality consciousness, it will define this high based on its own limited vision. Or it will define the way to attain this ultimate state based on its illusions. For example, many spiritual people have a somewhat correct vision in terms of thinking the ultimate goal of life is an exalted state in the spiritual realm. Yet their egos often manage to make them believe in the automatic path to that goal, as I explained in previous discourses. One obvious example is the belief that if you verbally confess Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, then I will automatically take upon myself all of your sins and take you to heaven.
•The stick is your greatest fears, the vision of the worst that could possibly happen to you. Again, the ego will define this based on its own illusions, and thus there will always be a clear element of irrationality. In fact, all fear is irrational, for when you truly understand the reality of God, truth will set you free from all fear.
My point here is that – in reality – the ego’s norm is a mental prison that is meant to keep you within the boundaries where your ego feels it can control you. Yet the ego presents the norm as a safe zone that will guarantee that you attain your highest dream while keeping you safe from your worst fears. To use my previous example, as long as you believe Jesus will save you, you will be saved. And as long as you do not question the doctrine of the vicarious atonement, you will avoid burning in hell.
The conclusion is simple. As long as you do not question the norm, including the carrot and the stick, you will stay within the mental box defined by your ego and no spiritual growth is possible. Thus, you will not begin to grow spiritually until you begin to question your ego’s norm. The ego, of course, will do anything it can think of to make you believe questioning the norm is dangerous, and thus you must be prepared to question the reasons for why you should not question the norm.
As I said, all fear is irrational, and all irrationality can be removed through proper understanding. So the very key to any kind of progress is to seek understanding. As the Bible itself puts it, “With all thy getting, get understanding.” This is also why I often talked about those who have “ears to hear” or “eyes to see.” It is why I told people that if they seek, they shall find, if they ask, they shall receive and if they knock, the door shall be opened unto them. Yet I know the fear of questioning the norm is very persuasive, so let me attempt to give you the clarity that will empower you to conquer it.
Why it is dangerous NOT to question the norm
As an example, I will use traditional Christian terminology. Most Christian churches would agree that you need to be saved because you have sinned. Yet why do you have the option to sin, why didn’t God simply create you without that option, so that there would be no question about whether or not you would be saved?
Most churches would also agree that you have to do something in order to be saved—you have to make certain choices. They often disagree on what you have to do, but that is not important in this context. The very fact that you are not automatically saved and that you have to do something in order to be saved shows that God gave you free will. Because you have free will, you can choose to go against God’s law – thereby sinning and jeopardizing your salvation – or you can choose to align yourself with God’s law and be saved.
The very fact that God gave you free will shows that while God wants you to enter his kingdom, he does not want to force you to do so. If he was a forceful God, he would have created you without the option to sin, so that you would automatically be in God’s kingdom. So the logical conclusion is that God did not create you as a robot, but he wants you to enter his kingdom out of your own free-will choosing.
What will it take for you to voluntarily enter God’s kingdom? It will take that you understand that entering God’s kingdom is what you really want, and thus doing what it takes to enter is in your own best interest. You must overcome any sense of fear, the sense that you are somehow forced to be saved because otherwise you will end up in a terrible place. You must overcome any sense of obligation, the sense that you should give up your earthly pleasures in order to enter heaven—which really is the subtle sense that being saved is a loss of earthly things.
Entering God’s kingdom must be a completely free choice, and you can make a free choice only when you have the full understanding of what is involved in the choice. You must be able to see why choosing God’s kingdom over an earthly kingdom is enlightened self-interest. You must see that you do not lose anything but gain something that is infinitely more valuable than anything you have on Earth. If you do not have this full understanding, you simply cannot make a free choice. A choice that is based on even partial ignorance can never be a free choice.
The conclusion is clear. God wants you to make a free choice, which is why he gave you free will. God knows that when you have the full understanding of reality, you will lovingly choose God’s kingdom over anything on Earth. And therefore, God wants you to have the full understanding of reality. In other words, God has nothing to hide and is not seeking to hide anything from you. Thus, it can only be the forces who seek to keep you out of God’s kingdom that want to prevent you from having full understanding.
It is the ego and the prince of this world who are seeking to keep you in ignorance by making you believe that asking certain questions is dangerous. These forces have often used religion to stop people from asking questions, yet in this age it is time people rise above that intimidation and demand the full truth about their relationship with God. The reality is that God never seeks to discourage you from discovering the truth that will make you free. So when you encounter any inner or outer resistance to your growth in understanding, you know the ego and the prince of this world are at work. Thus, be willing to question the norm, be willing to transcend the norm, be willing to be MORE than the norm tells you that you can or are allowed to be.
The norm, an uneven standard
For the vast majority of human beings, the norm set by their egos is to not go beyond what is considered normal behavior in their society. Obviously, various cultures and societies have different standards for what is considered normal, so the norms created in different parts of the world can vary greatly. Yet they all say pretty much the same thing, namely that you should not do anything extraordinary. Just be an ordinary human being and you will reach whatever goal is defined. For example, just be an ordinary Christian and follow the doctrines of your church and then you will be saved.
Most people are happy to live what might be called “ordinary” lives by following the standard for what is considered normal. Yet in every society there are people who cannot be satisfied by being normal, and they long for something extraordinary in their lives. Thus, they often engage in a sincere striving for excellence and seek to rise above “ordinary” people in a variety of ways.
Unfortunately, most of these people get trapped in another ego game, namely that of competing with others. Although their striving for excellence could potentially lead them to make progress on the spiritual path, as long as they are caught in the game of comparison, they are not truly rising above the ego. The ego loves to feel superior to others, so for these people, their egos have simply defined a different norm. This norm says that instead of blending into the crowd, these people’s norm is to stand out from the crowd. It is normal for them to be better than others.
In its extreme form, this can make people believe that they belong to a separate category of people, a higher class, that is inherently above the masses. Thus, for these people, superiority has become the norm, and their lives are eaten up by a quest to prove this superiority by any means, be it power, intelligence, education, sports, money, beauty or whatever else might be available.
Obviously, being involved with a spiritual teaching or movement is not above being used by the ego to create the sense of superiority. Many spiritual people have been trapped in pursuing a goal defined by their egos, often set up as the guaranteed path to salvation. As long as you follow the outer rules set by this or that spiritual organization, you will rise above others and be more spiritual—says the ego.
In fact, the vast majority of the spiritual organizations found on this planet have norms – sometimes clearly defined and sometimes unspoken or vague – that are partially or fully defined by the egos of the leaders and members of the organization. The ego has simply managed to make such people accept its norm for what it means to be a spiritual person.
Behind all norms is an underlying message, namely that it is never normal for you to go beyond being human—as defined by the consciousness of duality. The ego will let you rise however high you want, as long as you stay within the dualistic game of comparing yourself to others or to an outer standard. What the ego does not want to see is that you begin to attain union with your I AM Presence so that you begin to strive to be – here on Earth – an extension of the Being you already are in the spiritual realm.
The ego knows that once you begin to know your spiritual being, you will see beyond any earthly standard and you will want MORE than the Earth – or the ego – can offer. You will begin to become non-attached to the goals and norms defined by the ego, and this will gradually empower you to take command over your own mind and being. You can then follow the original call for all co-creators, namely to multiply and have dominion over the Earth. Thus, any norm defined by the ego has as its underlying goal to prevent you from attaining this non-dualistic approach to life. The ego will let you be any kind of human being you want to be, but it does not want you to be here below all that you are Above.
The norm, an ever-moving target
It is essential for spiritual seekers to realize that the ego’s norm is not a fixed entity. As you grow on the spiritual path, your ego will adapt to your new beliefs, your new world view. Obviously, the ego would prefer to keep you away from the spiritual path and keep you trapped in the materialistic ego games that I will describe in coming discourses. Yet if it cannot do so, it will simply change its norm to incorporate your spiritual beliefs while distorting them in subtle ways so that you still stay within the borders of being a human being.
I have already described the ego’s attempt to create the illusion of an automatic salvation, and it is essential for all spiritual seekers to consider whether they have been trapped by their ego’s attempt to set up a norm that appeases their spiritual beliefs while preventing any serious spiritual growth.
The reality is that as long as you have any ego left, it will attempt to adapt its norm, including the stick and the carrot, to your present level of consciousness. The purpose is always to prevent you from going beyond your current state of consciousness. That is why is is so important for a spiritual seeker to realize that you can never stand still. Stillstand means that the ego will catch up to you, and when it does, it will create a new norm which makes it seem as if your current level on the spiritual path is all that is needed or possible. Thus, you should feel comfortable staying where you are and forget about going higher.
Be aware that the higher you climb on the path, the more subtle your ego becomes. As you educate yourself in spiritual concepts, you are also educating your ego, and it will use this education to create a norm that is very persuasive. This norm will play on all of your spiritual beliefs and it might contain much truth. Yet there is always that slight distortion which seeks to prevent you from transcending your current state of consciousness.
That is why you can never stand still, never allow yourself to become too comfortable. If you will take an honest look at spiritual organizations, you will see that there is a distinct pattern. Many members start out by eagerly following whatever path if offered in the organization. They apply themselves fully and often make great progress. Yet as they climb the ranks of the outer organization, they gradually become more concerned about their outer positions than their inner progress.
Thus, they now seek to defend their positions rather than transcending them, and this is the hallmark of the ego. It is a sure sign that they have now accepted a new norm that reinforces the belief that they are very spiritual because they live up to outer characteristics defined by the dualistic vision of the ego. Many spiritual organizations have been perverted by this process and have lost their original transformative qualities. Instead, they now seek to trap people at a certain level and prevent them from going beyond the norm – overt or hidden – defined by the organization.
Questioning the norm
The effect of the norm is to get you to “do nothing” – or rather to continue to do the same thing – while feeling that you do not need to change yourself or any aspect of your life. That is why so many people only have a spiritual awakening when they experience a major crisis in their lives. Only when some outside event shatters their sense that everything is normal, that everything is okay, do they wake up and acknowledge that something needs to change.
Consider how many people are moving very gradually toward such a crisis, and everyone around them can see where they are going, but they cannot see it themselves. Well, they cannot see it because so far nothing has disturbed the norm, the sense that they are okay and that nothing bad will happen as long as they keep doing what they are doing. The more blinded people are by the norms of their egos, the more severe the crisis that is needed in order to wake them up and make them willing to change.
It is always sad for a spiritual seeker to see how people move toward a crisis while ignoring all of the warning signals. They simply bury their heads in the sand and refuse to heed the people or events that are meant to signal that it is time to change course. As a spiritual teacher, I would very much wish that all sincere seekers would avoid this trap, but the only way to do so is to become aware of the ego’s norm and be willing to question it.
The basic fact is that the ego’s norm is always designed to prevent you from going beyond a certain level. You simply cannot go beyond that level until you see what is holding you back, namely a norm created by the dualistic mind. Thus, it is essential for all spiritual seekers to be aware of the existence of a norm and to always remain open to questioning it.
This involves questioning all elements of the norm, including the high, the low and the median:
•The Median. It might be normal for most people to behave or believe a certain way, but that is not to say it is normal for spiritual seekers. If you truly understand the spiritual path, your goal should be to transcend yourself, so this is the standard you need to apply. Will the norms I have in certain areas help me grow spiritually, or will they tie me to a certain level, a level that might be comfortable but does not lead to growth? You should also be aware that there is always a temptation to become comfortable at any level of the spiritual path. So if you feel yourself becoming comfortable and start to think you do not need to go higher or that you can keep doing the same thing, be alert and start questioning the norm that gives rise to such thoughts and feelings. Self-transcendence means that you cannot keep doing or believing the same thing for an indefinite period of time. There will come a time, when it is necessary to make a LIFE decision and rise to an entirely new level.
•The high. Question your highest dreams or vision and be willing to go within and seek an even higher vision from your Christ self. Be aware that your ego can never truly understand the spiritual path, so it cannot define the highest possible goal for you. That goal is already defined in your divine plan, and you only need to uncover it, but to do so, you need to look beyond the limited vision of the ego. You also need to question the way the ego defines for reaching your/its goals. The ego can never understand self-transcendence, so it will tend to come up with outer criteria for reaching whatever goals you have. Be willing to look beyond them. Study spiritual teachings and ask for direction from your Christ self, so that you can refine your vision of how to reach your goals. Above all, always be willing to reach for more, for a higher vision than you have right now.
•The low. Be willing to realize that all fear springs from an illusion. The crippling effect of fear is that it makes you afraid to look at what you fear, and therefore you cannot discover that your fear is based on an illusion. Once you take a look, you see the irrationality of fear, and that is the first step to leaving it behind. Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could happen? Would that prevent me from learning my lessons and transcending myself?” You see, when you begin to look beyond the ego’s norms, you realize that the true goal of life is for you to grow spiritually, which means you have the potential to learn from every situation. Many people have grown tremendously from the worst tragedies. This is not to say you should long for a tragedy, but that you should realize that even if the worst happened, it would not mean the end of your spiritual growth. Once you begin to consider that even if the worst fears of your ego came to pass, it would only accelerate your growth, you begin to truly overcome the paralyzing effect of the ego’s fears. Your conscious self has no fear. Only the ego has fears, so once you start separating yourself from the ego, you will no longer be overwhelmed by its fears, for you see how irrational and paranoid they are.
Why have I chosen to talk about this norm game before I talk about more specific ego games? Because for each of the specific ego games, there is a norm game. When you are caught in a specific ego game, you think the game is normal behavior, and thus you simply cannot see that there is anything wrong with it. You cannot see how it limits or even hurts yourself, let alone other people. You simply cannot see the beam in your own eye, and thus you obviously cannot start removing it.
So before you can even begin to see through a specific ego game, you must overcome the illusion that playing this game is normal behavior. You must realize that even if it is normal behavior for most human beings, it is not normal for a spiritual seeker, a person who wants spiritual freedom. You must realize that playing the game takes away your freedom, and this empowers you to start separating yourself from that specific game, eventually leaving it behind for good. Thus, the crucial point for overcoming any ego game is to have a moment of truth, where you see what you are doing, see that it is an ego game and then have the spontaneous decision, “I can’t keep doing this anymore, I have to change.”
In the beginning, such a moment of truth can be a shock to you because you are still so identified with the ego. It can cause you some emotional pain and hurt pride to realize that you are trapped in an ego game. Yet as you begin to separate yourself from the ego, the shock will be less and less, until you can discover an ego game without feeling any sense of shock or pain. You simply see it for what it is and let it go, as easily as you throw away a pair of old pants that are worn out.
By building this momentum of seeing and letting go of ego games, you will make it easier for yourself to walk the path. And to encourage this process, I will go on to talk about some of the most materialistic ego games, games that most spiritual seekers have moved beyond. Thus, I hope to help you see that you have already built a momentum on overcoming ego games. You simply need to become aware of this so you can apply it to the ego games you have not yet seen, whereby you can overcome them without pain. The spiritual path is not a painful process, but a joyful process of letting go of what limits you so that you can experience greater freedom.
..........from askrealjesus.com
Jesus: There are some ego games that are very specific, and they are relatively easy to expose when they are outplayed in specific situations. There are other ego games that are more general, and they can be difficult to expose because they apply in many different situations, even in all situations. These general ego games often set the stage for the specific ego games, and thus they can impair your ability to see through and rise above the specific games. Thus, I will begin by talking about one of the general ego games.
To understand this game, let us summarize what I have explained in the previous couple of discourses:
•The ego wants to blind you to the existence of a higher reality that is beyond the dualistic thinking of the ego.
•Once you are blinded by that illusion, the ego wants to keep you there indefinitely.
•The ego wants you to go where it wants you to go without you realizing what is happening. It wants to take you down the staircase of life so gradually that you don’t notice the descent.
•If you refuse to go further down, the ego wants to keep you standing still at your present level. Even after you start climbing back up, the ego seeks to stop your growth at any level.
•It takes a distinct decision to stand up and start walking back up the staircase of life. The ego will do anything to prevent you from making such a LIFE decision.
So what is the ego’s primary weapon in attempting to prevent you from making LIFE decisions and taking the next step up the staircase of life? It is that the ego seeks to make you accept a norm, a definition of what is considered normal behavior. The ego will then project into your conscious mind that as long as you stay within what it has defined as normal, there is no reason for you to do anything out of the ordinary, such as making a LIFE decision and taking a distinct step up the staircase. In other words, the ego wants you to believe that sliding down the staircase or standing still is normal behavior, whereas taking a step up the staircase is abnormal and therefore unnecessary, dangerous, forbidden or impossible. The ego’s message is, “Don’t rock the boat—just be normal like everyone else!”
In this endeavor, the ego has a major ally, namely what some psychologists call the collective unconscious. We might also call it the mass consciousness or the planetary ego. When you look at society, you will see that many people live their entire lives within the norms of their particular society, blindly following the standards for normal behavior in anything from religion to fashion trends.
Throughout history, you will see that many societies have imposed various penalties for going beyond their norms. This can be drastic measures, such as being killed, deported, imprisoned or herded into railroad cars and taken off to a concentration camp. Or it can be less dramatic – and thus harder to expose – methods ranging from family and social pressure to simply not teaching people that there is a different way to look at life.
Once a society has created a state in which most people fear to go against or question the norm, that society has become rigid. There is little possibility of an internal change, which is why such societies often enter a downward slide that leads to their collapse, either through internal factors or an external enemy that conquers them. The Roman empire is a prime example, but many others litter the pages of history.
Historically speaking, very few societies have had norms that made it acceptable behavior to follow the spiritual path. Most societies have discouraged people from doing so—even – or perhaps especially – religious societies. That is why I was opposed, pressured and attacked from all sides when I started expressing my Christhood. Thus, all sincere spiritual seekers should expect that they will have to go beyond the norms of their society in order to pursue the spiritual path to its full extent. In other words, a spiritual seeker might as well accept the fact that spiritual growth is currently not seen as normal by any Western society. And once you expect to be abnormal – with whatever that entails in your particular environment – you are not as susceptible to your ego’s subtle attempts to make you stay within the norm—stay within the fold.
Beyond your society, you also need to be aware of the inner pressure created by your ego itself. Your personal norm is clearly affected by the environment in which you grew up, but it also has its own personal characteristics that your ego has carefully created over many lifetimes. These are designed to keep you following what your ego has defined as normal, and thus a spiritual seeker must be wiling to examine his or her norms. No one ever has been successful on the spiritual path without examining and questioning – and then transcending – his or her personal norms as well as the external norm of the environment. In other words, for a spiritual seeker, going beyond the norm should be considered normal behavior.
The carrot and the stick
The concept of a norm implies a median value, a sort of average. But a median exists only in relation to two extremes, as an average is found somewhere between a high and a low. So the ego seeks to define its norm by setting up a high and a low:
•The carrot is the highest you can attain, the wildest dream, your ultimate sense of happiness—according to the ego. Yet because the ego cannot see beyond the duality consciousness, it will define this high based on its own limited vision. Or it will define the way to attain this ultimate state based on its illusions. For example, many spiritual people have a somewhat correct vision in terms of thinking the ultimate goal of life is an exalted state in the spiritual realm. Yet their egos often manage to make them believe in the automatic path to that goal, as I explained in previous discourses. One obvious example is the belief that if you verbally confess Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, then I will automatically take upon myself all of your sins and take you to heaven.
•The stick is your greatest fears, the vision of the worst that could possibly happen to you. Again, the ego will define this based on its own illusions, and thus there will always be a clear element of irrationality. In fact, all fear is irrational, for when you truly understand the reality of God, truth will set you free from all fear.
My point here is that – in reality – the ego’s norm is a mental prison that is meant to keep you within the boundaries where your ego feels it can control you. Yet the ego presents the norm as a safe zone that will guarantee that you attain your highest dream while keeping you safe from your worst fears. To use my previous example, as long as you believe Jesus will save you, you will be saved. And as long as you do not question the doctrine of the vicarious atonement, you will avoid burning in hell.
The conclusion is simple. As long as you do not question the norm, including the carrot and the stick, you will stay within the mental box defined by your ego and no spiritual growth is possible. Thus, you will not begin to grow spiritually until you begin to question your ego’s norm. The ego, of course, will do anything it can think of to make you believe questioning the norm is dangerous, and thus you must be prepared to question the reasons for why you should not question the norm.
As I said, all fear is irrational, and all irrationality can be removed through proper understanding. So the very key to any kind of progress is to seek understanding. As the Bible itself puts it, “With all thy getting, get understanding.” This is also why I often talked about those who have “ears to hear” or “eyes to see.” It is why I told people that if they seek, they shall find, if they ask, they shall receive and if they knock, the door shall be opened unto them. Yet I know the fear of questioning the norm is very persuasive, so let me attempt to give you the clarity that will empower you to conquer it.
Why it is dangerous NOT to question the norm
As an example, I will use traditional Christian terminology. Most Christian churches would agree that you need to be saved because you have sinned. Yet why do you have the option to sin, why didn’t God simply create you without that option, so that there would be no question about whether or not you would be saved?
Most churches would also agree that you have to do something in order to be saved—you have to make certain choices. They often disagree on what you have to do, but that is not important in this context. The very fact that you are not automatically saved and that you have to do something in order to be saved shows that God gave you free will. Because you have free will, you can choose to go against God’s law – thereby sinning and jeopardizing your salvation – or you can choose to align yourself with God’s law and be saved.
The very fact that God gave you free will shows that while God wants you to enter his kingdom, he does not want to force you to do so. If he was a forceful God, he would have created you without the option to sin, so that you would automatically be in God’s kingdom. So the logical conclusion is that God did not create you as a robot, but he wants you to enter his kingdom out of your own free-will choosing.
What will it take for you to voluntarily enter God’s kingdom? It will take that you understand that entering God’s kingdom is what you really want, and thus doing what it takes to enter is in your own best interest. You must overcome any sense of fear, the sense that you are somehow forced to be saved because otherwise you will end up in a terrible place. You must overcome any sense of obligation, the sense that you should give up your earthly pleasures in order to enter heaven—which really is the subtle sense that being saved is a loss of earthly things.
Entering God’s kingdom must be a completely free choice, and you can make a free choice only when you have the full understanding of what is involved in the choice. You must be able to see why choosing God’s kingdom over an earthly kingdom is enlightened self-interest. You must see that you do not lose anything but gain something that is infinitely more valuable than anything you have on Earth. If you do not have this full understanding, you simply cannot make a free choice. A choice that is based on even partial ignorance can never be a free choice.
The conclusion is clear. God wants you to make a free choice, which is why he gave you free will. God knows that when you have the full understanding of reality, you will lovingly choose God’s kingdom over anything on Earth. And therefore, God wants you to have the full understanding of reality. In other words, God has nothing to hide and is not seeking to hide anything from you. Thus, it can only be the forces who seek to keep you out of God’s kingdom that want to prevent you from having full understanding.
It is the ego and the prince of this world who are seeking to keep you in ignorance by making you believe that asking certain questions is dangerous. These forces have often used religion to stop people from asking questions, yet in this age it is time people rise above that intimidation and demand the full truth about their relationship with God. The reality is that God never seeks to discourage you from discovering the truth that will make you free. So when you encounter any inner or outer resistance to your growth in understanding, you know the ego and the prince of this world are at work. Thus, be willing to question the norm, be willing to transcend the norm, be willing to be MORE than the norm tells you that you can or are allowed to be.
The norm, an uneven standard
For the vast majority of human beings, the norm set by their egos is to not go beyond what is considered normal behavior in their society. Obviously, various cultures and societies have different standards for what is considered normal, so the norms created in different parts of the world can vary greatly. Yet they all say pretty much the same thing, namely that you should not do anything extraordinary. Just be an ordinary human being and you will reach whatever goal is defined. For example, just be an ordinary Christian and follow the doctrines of your church and then you will be saved.
Most people are happy to live what might be called “ordinary” lives by following the standard for what is considered normal. Yet in every society there are people who cannot be satisfied by being normal, and they long for something extraordinary in their lives. Thus, they often engage in a sincere striving for excellence and seek to rise above “ordinary” people in a variety of ways.
Unfortunately, most of these people get trapped in another ego game, namely that of competing with others. Although their striving for excellence could potentially lead them to make progress on the spiritual path, as long as they are caught in the game of comparison, they are not truly rising above the ego. The ego loves to feel superior to others, so for these people, their egos have simply defined a different norm. This norm says that instead of blending into the crowd, these people’s norm is to stand out from the crowd. It is normal for them to be better than others.
In its extreme form, this can make people believe that they belong to a separate category of people, a higher class, that is inherently above the masses. Thus, for these people, superiority has become the norm, and their lives are eaten up by a quest to prove this superiority by any means, be it power, intelligence, education, sports, money, beauty or whatever else might be available.
Obviously, being involved with a spiritual teaching or movement is not above being used by the ego to create the sense of superiority. Many spiritual people have been trapped in pursuing a goal defined by their egos, often set up as the guaranteed path to salvation. As long as you follow the outer rules set by this or that spiritual organization, you will rise above others and be more spiritual—says the ego.
In fact, the vast majority of the spiritual organizations found on this planet have norms – sometimes clearly defined and sometimes unspoken or vague – that are partially or fully defined by the egos of the leaders and members of the organization. The ego has simply managed to make such people accept its norm for what it means to be a spiritual person.
Behind all norms is an underlying message, namely that it is never normal for you to go beyond being human—as defined by the consciousness of duality. The ego will let you rise however high you want, as long as you stay within the dualistic game of comparing yourself to others or to an outer standard. What the ego does not want to see is that you begin to attain union with your I AM Presence so that you begin to strive to be – here on Earth – an extension of the Being you already are in the spiritual realm.
The ego knows that once you begin to know your spiritual being, you will see beyond any earthly standard and you will want MORE than the Earth – or the ego – can offer. You will begin to become non-attached to the goals and norms defined by the ego, and this will gradually empower you to take command over your own mind and being. You can then follow the original call for all co-creators, namely to multiply and have dominion over the Earth. Thus, any norm defined by the ego has as its underlying goal to prevent you from attaining this non-dualistic approach to life. The ego will let you be any kind of human being you want to be, but it does not want you to be here below all that you are Above.
The norm, an ever-moving target
It is essential for spiritual seekers to realize that the ego’s norm is not a fixed entity. As you grow on the spiritual path, your ego will adapt to your new beliefs, your new world view. Obviously, the ego would prefer to keep you away from the spiritual path and keep you trapped in the materialistic ego games that I will describe in coming discourses. Yet if it cannot do so, it will simply change its norm to incorporate your spiritual beliefs while distorting them in subtle ways so that you still stay within the borders of being a human being.
I have already described the ego’s attempt to create the illusion of an automatic salvation, and it is essential for all spiritual seekers to consider whether they have been trapped by their ego’s attempt to set up a norm that appeases their spiritual beliefs while preventing any serious spiritual growth.
The reality is that as long as you have any ego left, it will attempt to adapt its norm, including the stick and the carrot, to your present level of consciousness. The purpose is always to prevent you from going beyond your current state of consciousness. That is why is is so important for a spiritual seeker to realize that you can never stand still. Stillstand means that the ego will catch up to you, and when it does, it will create a new norm which makes it seem as if your current level on the spiritual path is all that is needed or possible. Thus, you should feel comfortable staying where you are and forget about going higher.
Be aware that the higher you climb on the path, the more subtle your ego becomes. As you educate yourself in spiritual concepts, you are also educating your ego, and it will use this education to create a norm that is very persuasive. This norm will play on all of your spiritual beliefs and it might contain much truth. Yet there is always that slight distortion which seeks to prevent you from transcending your current state of consciousness.
That is why you can never stand still, never allow yourself to become too comfortable. If you will take an honest look at spiritual organizations, you will see that there is a distinct pattern. Many members start out by eagerly following whatever path if offered in the organization. They apply themselves fully and often make great progress. Yet as they climb the ranks of the outer organization, they gradually become more concerned about their outer positions than their inner progress.
Thus, they now seek to defend their positions rather than transcending them, and this is the hallmark of the ego. It is a sure sign that they have now accepted a new norm that reinforces the belief that they are very spiritual because they live up to outer characteristics defined by the dualistic vision of the ego. Many spiritual organizations have been perverted by this process and have lost their original transformative qualities. Instead, they now seek to trap people at a certain level and prevent them from going beyond the norm – overt or hidden – defined by the organization.
Questioning the norm
The effect of the norm is to get you to “do nothing” – or rather to continue to do the same thing – while feeling that you do not need to change yourself or any aspect of your life. That is why so many people only have a spiritual awakening when they experience a major crisis in their lives. Only when some outside event shatters their sense that everything is normal, that everything is okay, do they wake up and acknowledge that something needs to change.
Consider how many people are moving very gradually toward such a crisis, and everyone around them can see where they are going, but they cannot see it themselves. Well, they cannot see it because so far nothing has disturbed the norm, the sense that they are okay and that nothing bad will happen as long as they keep doing what they are doing. The more blinded people are by the norms of their egos, the more severe the crisis that is needed in order to wake them up and make them willing to change.
It is always sad for a spiritual seeker to see how people move toward a crisis while ignoring all of the warning signals. They simply bury their heads in the sand and refuse to heed the people or events that are meant to signal that it is time to change course. As a spiritual teacher, I would very much wish that all sincere seekers would avoid this trap, but the only way to do so is to become aware of the ego’s norm and be willing to question it.
The basic fact is that the ego’s norm is always designed to prevent you from going beyond a certain level. You simply cannot go beyond that level until you see what is holding you back, namely a norm created by the dualistic mind. Thus, it is essential for all spiritual seekers to be aware of the existence of a norm and to always remain open to questioning it.
This involves questioning all elements of the norm, including the high, the low and the median:
•The Median. It might be normal for most people to behave or believe a certain way, but that is not to say it is normal for spiritual seekers. If you truly understand the spiritual path, your goal should be to transcend yourself, so this is the standard you need to apply. Will the norms I have in certain areas help me grow spiritually, or will they tie me to a certain level, a level that might be comfortable but does not lead to growth? You should also be aware that there is always a temptation to become comfortable at any level of the spiritual path. So if you feel yourself becoming comfortable and start to think you do not need to go higher or that you can keep doing the same thing, be alert and start questioning the norm that gives rise to such thoughts and feelings. Self-transcendence means that you cannot keep doing or believing the same thing for an indefinite period of time. There will come a time, when it is necessary to make a LIFE decision and rise to an entirely new level.
•The high. Question your highest dreams or vision and be willing to go within and seek an even higher vision from your Christ self. Be aware that your ego can never truly understand the spiritual path, so it cannot define the highest possible goal for you. That goal is already defined in your divine plan, and you only need to uncover it, but to do so, you need to look beyond the limited vision of the ego. You also need to question the way the ego defines for reaching your/its goals. The ego can never understand self-transcendence, so it will tend to come up with outer criteria for reaching whatever goals you have. Be willing to look beyond them. Study spiritual teachings and ask for direction from your Christ self, so that you can refine your vision of how to reach your goals. Above all, always be willing to reach for more, for a higher vision than you have right now.
•The low. Be willing to realize that all fear springs from an illusion. The crippling effect of fear is that it makes you afraid to look at what you fear, and therefore you cannot discover that your fear is based on an illusion. Once you take a look, you see the irrationality of fear, and that is the first step to leaving it behind. Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could happen? Would that prevent me from learning my lessons and transcending myself?” You see, when you begin to look beyond the ego’s norms, you realize that the true goal of life is for you to grow spiritually, which means you have the potential to learn from every situation. Many people have grown tremendously from the worst tragedies. This is not to say you should long for a tragedy, but that you should realize that even if the worst happened, it would not mean the end of your spiritual growth. Once you begin to consider that even if the worst fears of your ego came to pass, it would only accelerate your growth, you begin to truly overcome the paralyzing effect of the ego’s fears. Your conscious self has no fear. Only the ego has fears, so once you start separating yourself from the ego, you will no longer be overwhelmed by its fears, for you see how irrational and paranoid they are.
Why have I chosen to talk about this norm game before I talk about more specific ego games? Because for each of the specific ego games, there is a norm game. When you are caught in a specific ego game, you think the game is normal behavior, and thus you simply cannot see that there is anything wrong with it. You cannot see how it limits or even hurts yourself, let alone other people. You simply cannot see the beam in your own eye, and thus you obviously cannot start removing it.
So before you can even begin to see through a specific ego game, you must overcome the illusion that playing this game is normal behavior. You must realize that even if it is normal behavior for most human beings, it is not normal for a spiritual seeker, a person who wants spiritual freedom. You must realize that playing the game takes away your freedom, and this empowers you to start separating yourself from that specific game, eventually leaving it behind for good. Thus, the crucial point for overcoming any ego game is to have a moment of truth, where you see what you are doing, see that it is an ego game and then have the spontaneous decision, “I can’t keep doing this anymore, I have to change.”
In the beginning, such a moment of truth can be a shock to you because you are still so identified with the ego. It can cause you some emotional pain and hurt pride to realize that you are trapped in an ego game. Yet as you begin to separate yourself from the ego, the shock will be less and less, until you can discover an ego game without feeling any sense of shock or pain. You simply see it for what it is and let it go, as easily as you throw away a pair of old pants that are worn out.
By building this momentum of seeing and letting go of ego games, you will make it easier for yourself to walk the path. And to encourage this process, I will go on to talk about some of the most materialistic ego games, games that most spiritual seekers have moved beyond. Thus, I hope to help you see that you have already built a momentum on overcoming ego games. You simply need to become aware of this so you can apply it to the ego games you have not yet seen, whereby you can overcome them without pain. The spiritual path is not a painful process, but a joyful process of letting go of what limits you so that you can experience greater freedom.
..........from askrealjesus.com
Now...
The present moment holds the key to liberation. But you cannot find the present moment as long as you are your mind..... -Eckhart Tolle
I AM THAT... By Nisargadatta Maharaj...
. The Sense of "I am"
Questioner: It is a matter of daily experience that on waking up the world suddenly appears. Where does it come from?
Maharaj: Before anything can come into being there must be somebody to whom it comes. All appearance and disappearance presupposes a change against some changeless background.
Q: Before waking up I was unconscious.
M: In what sense? Having forgotten, or not having experienced? Don"t you experience even when unconscious? Can you exist without knowing? A lapse in memory: is it a proof of non-existence? And can you validly talk about your own non-existence as an actual experience? You cannot even say that your mind did not exist. Did you not wake up on being called? And on waking up, was it not the sense "I am" that came first? Some seed consciousness must be existing even during sleep, or swoon. On waking up the experience runs: "I am -- the body -- in the world." It may appear to arise in succession but in fact it is all simultaneous, a single idea of having a body in a world. Can there be the sense of "I am" without being somebody or other?
Q: I am always somebody with its memories and habits. I know no other "I am".
M: Maybe something prevents you from knowing? When you do not know something which others know, what do you do?
Q: I seek the source of their knowledge under their instruction.
M: Is it not important to you to know whether you are a mere body, or something else? Or, maybe nothing at all? Don"t you see that all your problems are your body"s problems -- food, clothing, shelter, family, friends, name, fame, security, survival -- all these lose their meaning the moment you realise that you may not be a mere body.
Q: What benefit is there in knowing that I am not the body?
M: Even to say that you are not the body is not quite true. In a way you are all the bodies, hearts and minds and much more. Go deep into the sense of "I am" and you will find. How do you find a thing you have mislaid or forgotten? You keep it in your mind until you recall it. The sense of being, of 'I am' is the first to emerge. Ask yourself whence it comes, or just watch it quietly. When the mind stays in the 'I am' without moving, you enter a state which cannot be verbalised but can be experienced. All you need to do is try and try again. After all the sense "I am" is always with you, only you have attached all kinds of things to it -- body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, possessions etc. All these self-identifications are misleading. Because of them you take yourself to be what you are not.
Q: Then what am I?
M: It is enough to know what you are not. You need not know what you are. For as long as knowledge means description in terms of what is already known, perceptual, or conceptual, there can be no such thing as self-knowledge, for what you are cannot be described, except as except as total negation. All you can say is: "I am not this, I am not that". You cannot meaningfully say "this is what I am". It just makes no sense. What you can point out as 'this' or 'that' cannot be yourself. Surely, you can not be 'something' else. You are nothing perceivable, or imaginable. Yet, without you there can be neither perception nor imagination. You observe the heart feeling, the mind thinking, the body acting; the very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. Can there be perception, experience without you? An experience must "belong'. Somebody must come and declare it as his own. Without an experiencer the experience is not real. It is the experiencer that imparts reality to experience. An experience which you cannot have, of what value is it to you?
Q: The sense of being an experiencer, the sense of "I am", is it not also an experience?
M: Obviously, every thing experienced is an experience. And in every experience there arises the experiencer of it. Memory creates the illusion of continuity. In reality each experience has its own experiencer and the sense of identity is due to the common factor at the root of all experiencer-experience relations. Identity and continuity are not the same. Just as each flower has its own colour, but all colours are caused by the same light, so do many experiences appear in the undivided and indivisible awareness, each separate in memory, identical in essence. This essence is the root, the foundation, the timeless and spaceless 'possibility' of all experience.
Q: How do I get at it?
M: You need not get at it, for you are it. It will get at you, if you give it a chance. Let go your attachment to the unreal and the real will swiftly and smoothly step into its own. Stop imagining yourself being or doing this or that and the realisation that you are the source and heart of all will dawn upon you. With this will come great love which is not choice or predilection, nor attachment, but a power which makes all things love-worthy and lovable.
2. Obsession with the body
Questioner: Maharaj, you are sitting in front of me and I am here at your feet. What is the basic difference between us?
Maharaj: There is no basic difference.
Q: Still there must be some real difference, I come to you, you do not come to me.
M: Because you imagine differences, you go here and there in search of "superior" people.
Q: You too are a superior person. You claim to know the real, while I do not.
M: Did I ever tell you that you do not know and, therefore, you are inferior? Let those who invented such distinctions prove them. I do not claim to know what you do not. In fact, I know much less than you do.
Q: Your words are wise, your behaviour noble, your grace all-powerful.
M: I know nothing about it all and see no difference between you and me. My life is a succession of events, just like yours. Only I am detached and see the passing show as a passing show, while you stick to things and move along with them.
Q: What made you so dispassionate?
M: Nothing in particular. It so happened that I trusted my Guru. He told me I am nothing but my self and I believed him. Trusting him, I behaved accordingly and ceased caring for what was not me, nor mine.
Q: Why were you lucky to trust your teacher fully, while our trust is nominal and verbal?
M: Who can say? It happened so. Things happen without cause and reason and, after all, what does it matter, who is who? Your high opinion of me is your opinion only. Any moment you may change it. Why attach importance to opinions, even your own?
Q: Still, you are different. Your mind seems to be always quiet and happy. And miracles happen round you.
M: I know nothing about miracles, and I wonder whether nature admits exceptions to her laws, unless we agree that everything is a miracle. As to my mind, there is no such thing. There is consciousness in which everything happens. It is quite obvious and within the experience of everybody. You just do not look carefully enough. Look well, and see what I see.
Q: What do you see?
M: I see what you too could see, here and now, but for the wrong focus of your attention. You give no attention to your self. Your mind is all with things, people and ideas, never with your self. Bring your self into focus, become aware of your own existence. See how you function, watch the motives and the results of your actions. Study the prison you have built around yourself by inadvertence. By knowing what you are not, you come to know your self. The way back to your self is through refusal and rejection. One thing is certain: the real is not imaginary, it is not a product of the mind. Even the sense "I am" is not continuous, though it is a useful pointer; it shows where to seek, but not what to seek. Just have a good look at it. Once you are convinced that you cannot say truthfully about your self anything except "I am", and that nothing that can be pointed at, can be your self, the need for the "I am" is over -- you are no longer intent on verbalising what you are. All you need is to get rid of the tendency to define your self. All definitions apply to your body only and to its expressions. Once this obsession with the body goes, you will revert to your natural state, spontaneously and effortlessly. The only difference between us is that I am aware of my natural state, while you are bemused. Just like gold made into ornaments has no advantage over gold dust, except when the mind makes it so, so are we one in being -- we differ only in appearance. We discover it by being earnest, by searching, enquiring, questioning daily and hourly, by giving one's life to this discovery.
3. The Living Present
Questioner: As I can see, there is nothing wrong with my body nor with my real being. Both are not of my making and need not be improved upon. What has gone wrong is the "inner body", call it mind, consciousness, antahkarana, whatever the name.
Maharaj: What do you consider to be wrong with your mind?
Q: It is restless, greedy of the pleasant and afraid of the unpleasant.
M: What is wrong with its seeking the pleasant and shirking the unpleasant? Between the banks of pain and pleasure the river of life flows. It is only when the mind refuses to flow with life, and gets stuck at the banks, that it becomes a problem. By flowing with life I mean acceptance -- letting come what comes and go what goes. Desire not, fear not, observe the actual, as and when it happens, for you are not what happens, you are to whom it happens. Ultimately even the observer you are not. You are the ultimate potentiality of which the all-embracing consciousness is the manifestation and expression.
Q: Yet, between the body and the self there lies a cloud of thoughts and feelings, which neither server the body nor the self. These thoughts and feelings are flimsy, transient and meaningless, mere mental dust that blinds and chokes, yet they are there, obscuring and destroying.
M: Surely, the memory of an event cannot pass for the event itself. Nor can the anticipation. There is something exceptional, unique, about the present event, which the previous, or the coming do not have. There is a livingness about it, an actuality; it stands out as if illuminated. There is the "stamp of reality" on the actual, which the past and the future do not have.
Q: What gives the present that 'stamp of reality"?
M: There is nothing peculiar in the present event to make it different from the past and future. For a moment the past was actual and the future will become so. What makes the present so different? Obviously, my presence. I am real for I am always now, in the present, and what is with me now shares in my reality. The past is in memory, the future -- in imagination. There is nothing in the present event itself that makes it stand out as real. It may be some simple, periodical occurrence, like the striking of the clock. In spite of our knowing that the successive strokes are identical, the present stroke is quite different from the previous one and the next -- as remembered, or expected. A thing focussed in the now is with me, for I am ever present; it is my own reality that I impart to the present event.
Q: But we deal with things remembered as if they were real.
M: We consider memories, only when they come into the present The forgotten is not counted until one is reminded -- which implies, bringing into the now.
Q: Yes, I can see there is in the now some unknown factor that gives momentary reality to the transient actuality.
M: You need not say it is unknown, for you see it in constant operation. Since you were born, has it ever changed? Things and thoughts have been changing all the time. But the feeling that what is now is real has never changed, even in dream.
Q: In deep sleep there is no experience of the present reality.
M: The blankness of deep sleep is due entirely to the lack of specific memories. But a general memory of well-being is there. There is a difference in feeling when we say "I was deeply asleep" from "I was absent".
Q: We shall repeat the question we began with: between life"s source and life"s expression (which is the body), there is the mind and its ever-changeful states. The stream of mental states is endless, meaningless and painful. Pain is the constant factor. What we call pleasure is but a gap, an interval between two painful states. Desire and fear are the weft and warp of living, and both are made of pain. Our question is: can there be a happy mind?
M: Desire is the memory of pleasure and fear is the memory of pain. Both make the mind restless. Moments of pleasure are merely gaps in the stream of pain. How can the mind be happy?
Q: That is true when we desire pleasure or expect pain. But there are moments of unexpected, unanticipated joy. Pure joy, uncontaminated by desire -- unsought, undeserved, God-given.
M: Still, joy is joy only against a background of pain.
Q: Is pain a cosmic fact, or purely mental?
M: The universe is complete and where there is completeness, where nothing lacks, what can give pain?
Q: The Universe may be complete as a whole, but incomplete in details.
M: A part of the whole seen in relation to the whole is also complete. Only when seen in isolation it becomes deficient and thus a seat of pain. What makes for isolation?
Q: Limitations of the mind, of course. The mind cannot see the whole for the part.
M: Good enough. The mind, by its very nature, divides and opposes. Can there be some other mind, which unites and harmonises, which sees the whole in the part and the part as totally related to the whole?
Q: The other mind -- where to look for it?
M: In the going beyond the limiting, dividing and opposing mind. In ending the mental process as we know it. When this comes to an end, that mind is born.
Q: In that mind, the problem of joy and sorrow exist no longer?
M: Not as we know them, as desirable or repugnant. It becomes rather a question of love seeking expression and meeting with obstacles. The inclusive mind is love in action, battling against circumstances, initially frustrated, ultimately victorious.
Q: Between the spirit and the body, is it love that provides the bridge?
M: What else? Mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it.
4. Real World is Beyond the Mind
Questioner: On several occasions the question was raised as to whether the universe is subject to the law of causation, or does it exist and function outside the law. You seem to hold the view that it is uncaused, that everything, however small, is uncaused, arising and disappearing for no known reason whatsoever.
Maharaj: Causation means succession in time of events in space, the space being physical or mental. Time, space, causation are mental categories, arising and subsiding with the mind.
Q: As long as the mind operates, causation is a valid law.
M: Like everything mental, the so-called law of causation contradicts itself. No thing in existence has a particular cause; the entire universe contributes to the existence of even the smallest thing; nothing could be as it is without the universe being what it is. When the source and ground of everything is the only cause of everything, to speak of causality as a universal law is wrong. The universe is not bound by its content, because its potentialities are infinite; besides it is a manifestation, or expression of a principle fundamentally and totally free.
Q: Yes, one can see that ultimately to speak of one thing being the only cause of another thing is altogether wrong. Yet, in actual life we invariably initiate action with a view to a result.
M: Yes, there is a lot of such activity going on, because of ignorance. 'Would people know that nothing can happen unless the entire universe makes it happen, they would achieve much more with less expenditure of energy.
Q: If everything is an expression of the totality of causes, how can we talk of a purposeful action towards an achievement?
M: The very urge to achieve is also an expression of the total universe. It merely shows that the energy potential has risen at a particular point. It is the illusion of time that makes you talk of causality. When the past and the future are seen in the timeless now, as parts of a common pattern, the idea of cause-effect loses its validity and creative freedom takes its place.
Q: Yet, I cannot see how can anything come to be without a cause.
M: When I say a thing is without a cause, I mean it can be without a particular cause. Your own mother was needed to give you birth; But you could not have been born without the sun and the earth. Even these could not have caused your birth without your own desire to be born. It is desire that gives birth, that gives name and form. The desirable is imagined and wanted and manifests itself as something tangible or conceivable. Thus is created the world in which we live, our personal world. The real world is beyond the mind's ken; we see it through the net of our desires, divided into pleasure and pain, right and wrong, inner and outer. To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net. It is not hard to do so, for the net is full of holes.
Q: What do you mean by holes? And how to find them?
M: Look at the net and its many contradictions. You do and undo at every step. You want peace, love, happiness and work hard to create pain, hatred and war. You want longevity and overeat, you want friendship and exploit. See your net as made of such contradictions and remove them -- your very seeing them will make them go.
Q: Since my seeing the contradiction makes it go, is there no causal link between my seeing and its going?
M: Causality, even as a concept, does not apply to chaos.
Q: To what extent is desire a causal factor?
M: One of the many. For everything there are innumerable causal factors. But the source of all that is, is the Infinite Possibility, the Supreme Reality, which is in you and which throws its power and light and love on every experience. But, this source is not a cause and no cause is a source. Because of that, I say everything is uncaused. You may try to trace how a thing happens, but you cannot find out why a thing is as it is. A thing is as it is, because the universe is as it is.
5. What is Born must Die
Questioner: Is the witness-consciousness permanent or not?
Maharaj: It is not permanent. The knower rises and sets with the known. That in which both the knower and the known arise and set, is beyond time. The words permanent or eternal do not apply.
Q: In sleep there is neither the known, nor the knower. What keeps the body sensitive and receptive?
M: Surely you cannot say the knower was absent. The experience of things and thoughts was not there, that is all. But the absence of experience too is experience. It is like entering a dark room and saying: 'I see nothing'. A man blind from birth knows not what darkness means. Similarly, only the knower knows that he does not know. Sleep is merely a lapse in memory. Life goes on.
Q: And what is death?
M: It is the change in the living process of a particular body. Integration ends and disintegration sets in.
Q: But what about the knower. With the disappearance of the body, does the knower disappear?
M: Just as the knower of the body appears at birth, so he disappears at death.
Q: And nothing remains?
M: Life remains. Consciousness needs a vehicle and an instrument for its manifestation. When life produces another body, another knower comes into being,
Q: Is there a causal link between the successive bodyknowers, or body-minds?
M: Yes, there is something that may be called the memory body, or causal body, a record of all that was thought, wanted and done. It is like a cloud of images held together
Q: What is this sense of a separate existence?
M: It is a reflection in a separate body of the one reality. In this reflection the unlimited and the limited are confused and taken to be the same. To undo this confusion is the purpose of Yoga.
Q: Does not death undo this confusion?
M: In death only the body dies. Life does not, consciousness does not, reality does not. And the life is never so alive as after death.
Q: But does one get reborn?
M: What was born must die. Only the unborn is deathless. Find what is it that never sleeps and never wakes, and whose pale reflection is our sense of 'I'.
Q: How am I to go about this finding out?
M: How do you go about finding anything? By keeping your mind and heart in it. Interest there must be and steady remembrance. To remember what needs to be remembered is the secret of success. You come to it through earnestness.
Q: Do you mean to say that mere wanting to find out is enough? Surely, both qualifications and opportunities are needed.
M: These will come with earnestness. What is supremely important is to be free from contradictions: the goal and the way must not be on different levels; life and light must not quarrel; behaviour must not betray belief. Call it honesty, integrity, wholeness; you must not go back, undo, uproot, abandon the conquered ground. Tenacity of purpose and honesty in pursuit will bring you to your goal.
Q: Tenacity and honesty are endowments, surely! Not a trace of them I have.
M: All will come as you go on. Take the first step first. All blessings come from within. Turn within. 'l am' you know. Be with it all the time you can spare, until you revert to it spontaneously. There is no simpler and easier way.
Questioner: It is a matter of daily experience that on waking up the world suddenly appears. Where does it come from?
Maharaj: Before anything can come into being there must be somebody to whom it comes. All appearance and disappearance presupposes a change against some changeless background.
Q: Before waking up I was unconscious.
M: In what sense? Having forgotten, or not having experienced? Don"t you experience even when unconscious? Can you exist without knowing? A lapse in memory: is it a proof of non-existence? And can you validly talk about your own non-existence as an actual experience? You cannot even say that your mind did not exist. Did you not wake up on being called? And on waking up, was it not the sense "I am" that came first? Some seed consciousness must be existing even during sleep, or swoon. On waking up the experience runs: "I am -- the body -- in the world." It may appear to arise in succession but in fact it is all simultaneous, a single idea of having a body in a world. Can there be the sense of "I am" without being somebody or other?
Q: I am always somebody with its memories and habits. I know no other "I am".
M: Maybe something prevents you from knowing? When you do not know something which others know, what do you do?
Q: I seek the source of their knowledge under their instruction.
M: Is it not important to you to know whether you are a mere body, or something else? Or, maybe nothing at all? Don"t you see that all your problems are your body"s problems -- food, clothing, shelter, family, friends, name, fame, security, survival -- all these lose their meaning the moment you realise that you may not be a mere body.
Q: What benefit is there in knowing that I am not the body?
M: Even to say that you are not the body is not quite true. In a way you are all the bodies, hearts and minds and much more. Go deep into the sense of "I am" and you will find. How do you find a thing you have mislaid or forgotten? You keep it in your mind until you recall it. The sense of being, of 'I am' is the first to emerge. Ask yourself whence it comes, or just watch it quietly. When the mind stays in the 'I am' without moving, you enter a state which cannot be verbalised but can be experienced. All you need to do is try and try again. After all the sense "I am" is always with you, only you have attached all kinds of things to it -- body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, possessions etc. All these self-identifications are misleading. Because of them you take yourself to be what you are not.
Q: Then what am I?
M: It is enough to know what you are not. You need not know what you are. For as long as knowledge means description in terms of what is already known, perceptual, or conceptual, there can be no such thing as self-knowledge, for what you are cannot be described, except as except as total negation. All you can say is: "I am not this, I am not that". You cannot meaningfully say "this is what I am". It just makes no sense. What you can point out as 'this' or 'that' cannot be yourself. Surely, you can not be 'something' else. You are nothing perceivable, or imaginable. Yet, without you there can be neither perception nor imagination. You observe the heart feeling, the mind thinking, the body acting; the very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. Can there be perception, experience without you? An experience must "belong'. Somebody must come and declare it as his own. Without an experiencer the experience is not real. It is the experiencer that imparts reality to experience. An experience which you cannot have, of what value is it to you?
Q: The sense of being an experiencer, the sense of "I am", is it not also an experience?
M: Obviously, every thing experienced is an experience. And in every experience there arises the experiencer of it. Memory creates the illusion of continuity. In reality each experience has its own experiencer and the sense of identity is due to the common factor at the root of all experiencer-experience relations. Identity and continuity are not the same. Just as each flower has its own colour, but all colours are caused by the same light, so do many experiences appear in the undivided and indivisible awareness, each separate in memory, identical in essence. This essence is the root, the foundation, the timeless and spaceless 'possibility' of all experience.
Q: How do I get at it?
M: You need not get at it, for you are it. It will get at you, if you give it a chance. Let go your attachment to the unreal and the real will swiftly and smoothly step into its own. Stop imagining yourself being or doing this or that and the realisation that you are the source and heart of all will dawn upon you. With this will come great love which is not choice or predilection, nor attachment, but a power which makes all things love-worthy and lovable.
2. Obsession with the body
Questioner: Maharaj, you are sitting in front of me and I am here at your feet. What is the basic difference between us?
Maharaj: There is no basic difference.
Q: Still there must be some real difference, I come to you, you do not come to me.
M: Because you imagine differences, you go here and there in search of "superior" people.
Q: You too are a superior person. You claim to know the real, while I do not.
M: Did I ever tell you that you do not know and, therefore, you are inferior? Let those who invented such distinctions prove them. I do not claim to know what you do not. In fact, I know much less than you do.
Q: Your words are wise, your behaviour noble, your grace all-powerful.
M: I know nothing about it all and see no difference between you and me. My life is a succession of events, just like yours. Only I am detached and see the passing show as a passing show, while you stick to things and move along with them.
Q: What made you so dispassionate?
M: Nothing in particular. It so happened that I trusted my Guru. He told me I am nothing but my self and I believed him. Trusting him, I behaved accordingly and ceased caring for what was not me, nor mine.
Q: Why were you lucky to trust your teacher fully, while our trust is nominal and verbal?
M: Who can say? It happened so. Things happen without cause and reason and, after all, what does it matter, who is who? Your high opinion of me is your opinion only. Any moment you may change it. Why attach importance to opinions, even your own?
Q: Still, you are different. Your mind seems to be always quiet and happy. And miracles happen round you.
M: I know nothing about miracles, and I wonder whether nature admits exceptions to her laws, unless we agree that everything is a miracle. As to my mind, there is no such thing. There is consciousness in which everything happens. It is quite obvious and within the experience of everybody. You just do not look carefully enough. Look well, and see what I see.
Q: What do you see?
M: I see what you too could see, here and now, but for the wrong focus of your attention. You give no attention to your self. Your mind is all with things, people and ideas, never with your self. Bring your self into focus, become aware of your own existence. See how you function, watch the motives and the results of your actions. Study the prison you have built around yourself by inadvertence. By knowing what you are not, you come to know your self. The way back to your self is through refusal and rejection. One thing is certain: the real is not imaginary, it is not a product of the mind. Even the sense "I am" is not continuous, though it is a useful pointer; it shows where to seek, but not what to seek. Just have a good look at it. Once you are convinced that you cannot say truthfully about your self anything except "I am", and that nothing that can be pointed at, can be your self, the need for the "I am" is over -- you are no longer intent on verbalising what you are. All you need is to get rid of the tendency to define your self. All definitions apply to your body only and to its expressions. Once this obsession with the body goes, you will revert to your natural state, spontaneously and effortlessly. The only difference between us is that I am aware of my natural state, while you are bemused. Just like gold made into ornaments has no advantage over gold dust, except when the mind makes it so, so are we one in being -- we differ only in appearance. We discover it by being earnest, by searching, enquiring, questioning daily and hourly, by giving one's life to this discovery.
3. The Living Present
Questioner: As I can see, there is nothing wrong with my body nor with my real being. Both are not of my making and need not be improved upon. What has gone wrong is the "inner body", call it mind, consciousness, antahkarana, whatever the name.
Maharaj: What do you consider to be wrong with your mind?
Q: It is restless, greedy of the pleasant and afraid of the unpleasant.
M: What is wrong with its seeking the pleasant and shirking the unpleasant? Between the banks of pain and pleasure the river of life flows. It is only when the mind refuses to flow with life, and gets stuck at the banks, that it becomes a problem. By flowing with life I mean acceptance -- letting come what comes and go what goes. Desire not, fear not, observe the actual, as and when it happens, for you are not what happens, you are to whom it happens. Ultimately even the observer you are not. You are the ultimate potentiality of which the all-embracing consciousness is the manifestation and expression.
Q: Yet, between the body and the self there lies a cloud of thoughts and feelings, which neither server the body nor the self. These thoughts and feelings are flimsy, transient and meaningless, mere mental dust that blinds and chokes, yet they are there, obscuring and destroying.
M: Surely, the memory of an event cannot pass for the event itself. Nor can the anticipation. There is something exceptional, unique, about the present event, which the previous, or the coming do not have. There is a livingness about it, an actuality; it stands out as if illuminated. There is the "stamp of reality" on the actual, which the past and the future do not have.
Q: What gives the present that 'stamp of reality"?
M: There is nothing peculiar in the present event to make it different from the past and future. For a moment the past was actual and the future will become so. What makes the present so different? Obviously, my presence. I am real for I am always now, in the present, and what is with me now shares in my reality. The past is in memory, the future -- in imagination. There is nothing in the present event itself that makes it stand out as real. It may be some simple, periodical occurrence, like the striking of the clock. In spite of our knowing that the successive strokes are identical, the present stroke is quite different from the previous one and the next -- as remembered, or expected. A thing focussed in the now is with me, for I am ever present; it is my own reality that I impart to the present event.
Q: But we deal with things remembered as if they were real.
M: We consider memories, only when they come into the present The forgotten is not counted until one is reminded -- which implies, bringing into the now.
Q: Yes, I can see there is in the now some unknown factor that gives momentary reality to the transient actuality.
M: You need not say it is unknown, for you see it in constant operation. Since you were born, has it ever changed? Things and thoughts have been changing all the time. But the feeling that what is now is real has never changed, even in dream.
Q: In deep sleep there is no experience of the present reality.
M: The blankness of deep sleep is due entirely to the lack of specific memories. But a general memory of well-being is there. There is a difference in feeling when we say "I was deeply asleep" from "I was absent".
Q: We shall repeat the question we began with: between life"s source and life"s expression (which is the body), there is the mind and its ever-changeful states. The stream of mental states is endless, meaningless and painful. Pain is the constant factor. What we call pleasure is but a gap, an interval between two painful states. Desire and fear are the weft and warp of living, and both are made of pain. Our question is: can there be a happy mind?
M: Desire is the memory of pleasure and fear is the memory of pain. Both make the mind restless. Moments of pleasure are merely gaps in the stream of pain. How can the mind be happy?
Q: That is true when we desire pleasure or expect pain. But there are moments of unexpected, unanticipated joy. Pure joy, uncontaminated by desire -- unsought, undeserved, God-given.
M: Still, joy is joy only against a background of pain.
Q: Is pain a cosmic fact, or purely mental?
M: The universe is complete and where there is completeness, where nothing lacks, what can give pain?
Q: The Universe may be complete as a whole, but incomplete in details.
M: A part of the whole seen in relation to the whole is also complete. Only when seen in isolation it becomes deficient and thus a seat of pain. What makes for isolation?
Q: Limitations of the mind, of course. The mind cannot see the whole for the part.
M: Good enough. The mind, by its very nature, divides and opposes. Can there be some other mind, which unites and harmonises, which sees the whole in the part and the part as totally related to the whole?
Q: The other mind -- where to look for it?
M: In the going beyond the limiting, dividing and opposing mind. In ending the mental process as we know it. When this comes to an end, that mind is born.
Q: In that mind, the problem of joy and sorrow exist no longer?
M: Not as we know them, as desirable or repugnant. It becomes rather a question of love seeking expression and meeting with obstacles. The inclusive mind is love in action, battling against circumstances, initially frustrated, ultimately victorious.
Q: Between the spirit and the body, is it love that provides the bridge?
M: What else? Mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it.
4. Real World is Beyond the Mind
Questioner: On several occasions the question was raised as to whether the universe is subject to the law of causation, or does it exist and function outside the law. You seem to hold the view that it is uncaused, that everything, however small, is uncaused, arising and disappearing for no known reason whatsoever.
Maharaj: Causation means succession in time of events in space, the space being physical or mental. Time, space, causation are mental categories, arising and subsiding with the mind.
Q: As long as the mind operates, causation is a valid law.
M: Like everything mental, the so-called law of causation contradicts itself. No thing in existence has a particular cause; the entire universe contributes to the existence of even the smallest thing; nothing could be as it is without the universe being what it is. When the source and ground of everything is the only cause of everything, to speak of causality as a universal law is wrong. The universe is not bound by its content, because its potentialities are infinite; besides it is a manifestation, or expression of a principle fundamentally and totally free.
Q: Yes, one can see that ultimately to speak of one thing being the only cause of another thing is altogether wrong. Yet, in actual life we invariably initiate action with a view to a result.
M: Yes, there is a lot of such activity going on, because of ignorance. 'Would people know that nothing can happen unless the entire universe makes it happen, they would achieve much more with less expenditure of energy.
Q: If everything is an expression of the totality of causes, how can we talk of a purposeful action towards an achievement?
M: The very urge to achieve is also an expression of the total universe. It merely shows that the energy potential has risen at a particular point. It is the illusion of time that makes you talk of causality. When the past and the future are seen in the timeless now, as parts of a common pattern, the idea of cause-effect loses its validity and creative freedom takes its place.
Q: Yet, I cannot see how can anything come to be without a cause.
M: When I say a thing is without a cause, I mean it can be without a particular cause. Your own mother was needed to give you birth; But you could not have been born without the sun and the earth. Even these could not have caused your birth without your own desire to be born. It is desire that gives birth, that gives name and form. The desirable is imagined and wanted and manifests itself as something tangible or conceivable. Thus is created the world in which we live, our personal world. The real world is beyond the mind's ken; we see it through the net of our desires, divided into pleasure and pain, right and wrong, inner and outer. To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net. It is not hard to do so, for the net is full of holes.
Q: What do you mean by holes? And how to find them?
M: Look at the net and its many contradictions. You do and undo at every step. You want peace, love, happiness and work hard to create pain, hatred and war. You want longevity and overeat, you want friendship and exploit. See your net as made of such contradictions and remove them -- your very seeing them will make them go.
Q: Since my seeing the contradiction makes it go, is there no causal link between my seeing and its going?
M: Causality, even as a concept, does not apply to chaos.
Q: To what extent is desire a causal factor?
M: One of the many. For everything there are innumerable causal factors. But the source of all that is, is the Infinite Possibility, the Supreme Reality, which is in you and which throws its power and light and love on every experience. But, this source is not a cause and no cause is a source. Because of that, I say everything is uncaused. You may try to trace how a thing happens, but you cannot find out why a thing is as it is. A thing is as it is, because the universe is as it is.
5. What is Born must Die
Questioner: Is the witness-consciousness permanent or not?
Maharaj: It is not permanent. The knower rises and sets with the known. That in which both the knower and the known arise and set, is beyond time. The words permanent or eternal do not apply.
Q: In sleep there is neither the known, nor the knower. What keeps the body sensitive and receptive?
M: Surely you cannot say the knower was absent. The experience of things and thoughts was not there, that is all. But the absence of experience too is experience. It is like entering a dark room and saying: 'I see nothing'. A man blind from birth knows not what darkness means. Similarly, only the knower knows that he does not know. Sleep is merely a lapse in memory. Life goes on.
Q: And what is death?
M: It is the change in the living process of a particular body. Integration ends and disintegration sets in.
Q: But what about the knower. With the disappearance of the body, does the knower disappear?
M: Just as the knower of the body appears at birth, so he disappears at death.
Q: And nothing remains?
M: Life remains. Consciousness needs a vehicle and an instrument for its manifestation. When life produces another body, another knower comes into being,
Q: Is there a causal link between the successive bodyknowers, or body-minds?
M: Yes, there is something that may be called the memory body, or causal body, a record of all that was thought, wanted and done. It is like a cloud of images held together
Q: What is this sense of a separate existence?
M: It is a reflection in a separate body of the one reality. In this reflection the unlimited and the limited are confused and taken to be the same. To undo this confusion is the purpose of Yoga.
Q: Does not death undo this confusion?
M: In death only the body dies. Life does not, consciousness does not, reality does not. And the life is never so alive as after death.
Q: But does one get reborn?
M: What was born must die. Only the unborn is deathless. Find what is it that never sleeps and never wakes, and whose pale reflection is our sense of 'I'.
Q: How am I to go about this finding out?
M: How do you go about finding anything? By keeping your mind and heart in it. Interest there must be and steady remembrance. To remember what needs to be remembered is the secret of success. You come to it through earnestness.
Q: Do you mean to say that mere wanting to find out is enough? Surely, both qualifications and opportunities are needed.
M: These will come with earnestness. What is supremely important is to be free from contradictions: the goal and the way must not be on different levels; life and light must not quarrel; behaviour must not betray belief. Call it honesty, integrity, wholeness; you must not go back, undo, uproot, abandon the conquered ground. Tenacity of purpose and honesty in pursuit will bring you to your goal.
Q: Tenacity and honesty are endowments, surely! Not a trace of them I have.
M: All will come as you go on. Take the first step first. All blessings come from within. Turn within. 'l am' you know. Be with it all the time you can spare, until you revert to it spontaneously. There is no simpler and easier way.
He's that rascally kind of yogi...
By Kabir
(15th Century)
He's that rascally kind of yogi
who has no sky or earth,
no hand, foot,
form or shape.
Where there's no market
he sets up shop,
weighs things
and keeps the accounts.
No deeds, no creeds,
no yogic powers,
not even a horn or gourd,
so how can he
go begging?
"I know you
and you know me
and I'm inside of you."
When there isn't a trace
of creation or destruction,
what do you meditate on?
That yogi built a house
brimful of Ram.
He has no healing herbs,
his root-of-life
is Ram.
He looks and looks
at the juggler's tricks,
the magician's sleight-of-hand --
Kabir says, saints, he's made it
to the King's land.
-- from The Bijak of Kabir, Translated by Linda Hess / Translated by Shukdeo
Singh
(15th Century)
He's that rascally kind of yogi
who has no sky or earth,
no hand, foot,
form or shape.
Where there's no market
he sets up shop,
weighs things
and keeps the accounts.
No deeds, no creeds,
no yogic powers,
not even a horn or gourd,
so how can he
go begging?
"I know you
and you know me
and I'm inside of you."
When there isn't a trace
of creation or destruction,
what do you meditate on?
That yogi built a house
brimful of Ram.
He has no healing herbs,
his root-of-life
is Ram.
He looks and looks
at the juggler's tricks,
the magician's sleight-of-hand --
Kabir says, saints, he's made it
to the King's land.
-- from The Bijak of Kabir, Translated by Linda Hess / Translated by Shukdeo
Singh
Time...
Shri Atmananda from Spiritual Discourses;
The one thought which is the permanent background of all thoughts is: ‘I am.’
Usually this background thought is forgotten, and immediately a plurality of
thoughts come in. This plurality is what is called ‘time’.
The one thought which is the permanent background of all thoughts is: ‘I am.’
Usually this background thought is forgotten, and immediately a plurality of
thoughts come in. This plurality is what is called ‘time’.
Beyond all doubt...
When you know beyond all doubting that
the same life flows through all that is and
you are that life, you will love all naturally
and spontaneously. When you realize the
depth and fullness of your love of yourself,
you know that every living being and the
entire universe are included in your affection.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
the same life flows through all that is and
you are that life, you will love all naturally
and spontaneously. When you realize the
depth and fullness of your love of yourself,
you know that every living being and the
entire universe are included in your affection.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
Jesus Speaks...
Do you have any recommendations on methods for introducing spiritual concepts and the spiritual path to children?
The best way to teach children about anything is to teach them by example. Children are natural imitators and follow the examples of the adults around them. So the very best way to teach children about spiritual concepts is to make sure that you yourself have adopted the attitude that you are a seeker of truth instead of a follower of doctrine. You need to adopt the approach to spirituality that this website calls the inner approach. And you need to move away from the outer, doctrinal or dogmatic approach.
In other words, you need to be constantly searching for a higher understanding of spiritual matters than what you have right now. You need to be curious and willing to ask difficult questions. You need to realize that your present understanding is not the final or infallible understanding, but simply a stepping stone to an even deeper understanding. You need to be willing to consider and discuss any topic about spirituality without feeling like certain topics are taboos or go too far beyond an accepted doctrine or standard.
Only by adopting this open approach to spirituality will you avoid hurting children and destroying their natural spirituality. It is a sad fact that millions of devoutly religious people, be they Christians or members of other religions, believe that they are doing the right thing by giving their children a religious upbringing. Yet in reality these parents, and their ministers, are destroying the children's natural spirituality. This has two aspects.
In the New Testament, you will see that I rebuked my disciples for trying to prevent the children from approaching me. I also said that unless you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven. What I truly meant with that statement was that unless you develop the approach to God that children have, you cannot put on the state of consciousness that allows you to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
The two most important aspects of children's approach to God are their natural curiosity and their innocence, or unconditionality.
You will see that children are naturally curious about God and the spiritual side of life. This is because when a child is young, it usually has a direct inner experience of the spiritual side of life. Many children literally experience angels or ascended beings who are with them as helpers. Therefore, they know there is more to life than the material universe, and they are naturally curious about it.
Unfortunately, most adults tend to ignore or outright deny the inner spirituality of children. Many adults do this because modern psychology has labeled children’s spirituality as a sign of immaturity or the fictitious belief in “magic helpers”. Other adults do it because children naturally tend to ask questions that cannot readily be answered by the doctrines that these adults accept as infallible or complete.
The simple fact is that because children have a direct experience of the reality of the spiritual realm, they see no reason why this reality should be forced into the framework of a set of man-made doctrines, be they in the field of science or in the field of religion. Therefore, they are willing to ask any question that comes to mind, and this is the hallmark of all true spiritual seekers. After all, the type of questions you are willing to ask will determine the type of answers you can receive. Does the Bible not say, “Ask and ye shall receive?” So if you are afraid to ask questions that go beyond your present beliefs, how can you receive deeper answers?
When it comes to presenting spiritual concepts to children, it is extremely important to do this in such a way that it does not discourage or destroy children's curiosity about God and about spiritual matters. Therefore, it is very important not to present spiritual concepts in the form of closed or infallible doctrines. Allow children to ask any questions that come into their innocent minds. Encourage them to ask questions and discuss these questions with them.
The other aspect of children’s spirituality is their innocent, or unconditional, approach to spiritual topics and to God. Because children experience the spiritual realm as real, and because they see it as a benevolent force that is there to help them, they have no fear of God. They are not afraid to approach God, and indeed why should they be?
During Old Testament times, the Israelites developed an image of God as an angry and judgmental God. Part of my mission was to present a new image of God, namely that of a loving father figure. This is the image that most children naturally have of God. Unfortunately, many of today's Christians have reverted back to the Old Testament image of an angry and judgmental God, and they inevitably pass this image on to their children. Therefore, as soon as children begin to receive religious training, their natural innocence and unconditionality is quickly destroyed.
These children learn to see God as something dangerous or something to be feared. They learn to think that they can approach God only in specific ways, defined by their religious culture. They learn to think that they can be worthy to approach God only if they live up to certain conditions defined by church doctrines and rules.
This is a completely artificial programming that children should never be exposed to. Why do you think I said that unless you become as little children you cannot enter the kingdom? It is because of one simple fact. Love is an attractive force and fear is a repulsive force. If you fear God, you will never want to approach God or to get close to God. Therefore, how could you enter God's kingdom? Everything is subject to your free will, and God will not force you to enter his kingdom. You must do so of your own free will, but how can you do so if you fear God?
Children naturally love God, and this love for God is the most important asset that any soul can have on the spiritual path. Therefore, the greatest crime against children is to destroy their natural love for God and their natural feeling that they are welcome to approach God without following any outer conditions.
When I allowed the little children to approach me, I set up no conditions for their approach. It was my disciples who attempted to set up conditions for their approach. If I did not do so, why do so many modern Christians feel that their children should live up to certain conditions before they can approach God, Christ or spiritual topics?
Let the children come to me with their curiosity, their innocence and their unconditional attitude. Let the parents stand back and do some soul searching so they can realize that they need to follow my command and become as curious and innocent as a little child. And then too the adults can approach me, and they will be received with the same unconditional love with which the children are received.
In reality, all people who approach God are received with unconditional love. The problem is that most people do not perceive this unconditional love or cannot accept it. Most people have set up conditions in their minds which makes them feel that unless they live up to certain outer rules and regulations, they are not worthy to receive God’s love. Because everything is subject to free will, God cannot force you to receive his love. You must accept it, and you can do so only when you accept that you are worthy to receive it.
Most children are born with this sense of worthiness and unconditionality, and it is truly one of their greatest assets. Please do not destroy it in your zeal to give your children a “good Christian upbringing.”
.......from askrealjesus.com
The best way to teach children about anything is to teach them by example. Children are natural imitators and follow the examples of the adults around them. So the very best way to teach children about spiritual concepts is to make sure that you yourself have adopted the attitude that you are a seeker of truth instead of a follower of doctrine. You need to adopt the approach to spirituality that this website calls the inner approach. And you need to move away from the outer, doctrinal or dogmatic approach.
In other words, you need to be constantly searching for a higher understanding of spiritual matters than what you have right now. You need to be curious and willing to ask difficult questions. You need to realize that your present understanding is not the final or infallible understanding, but simply a stepping stone to an even deeper understanding. You need to be willing to consider and discuss any topic about spirituality without feeling like certain topics are taboos or go too far beyond an accepted doctrine or standard.
Only by adopting this open approach to spirituality will you avoid hurting children and destroying their natural spirituality. It is a sad fact that millions of devoutly religious people, be they Christians or members of other religions, believe that they are doing the right thing by giving their children a religious upbringing. Yet in reality these parents, and their ministers, are destroying the children's natural spirituality. This has two aspects.
In the New Testament, you will see that I rebuked my disciples for trying to prevent the children from approaching me. I also said that unless you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven. What I truly meant with that statement was that unless you develop the approach to God that children have, you cannot put on the state of consciousness that allows you to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
The two most important aspects of children's approach to God are their natural curiosity and their innocence, or unconditionality.
You will see that children are naturally curious about God and the spiritual side of life. This is because when a child is young, it usually has a direct inner experience of the spiritual side of life. Many children literally experience angels or ascended beings who are with them as helpers. Therefore, they know there is more to life than the material universe, and they are naturally curious about it.
Unfortunately, most adults tend to ignore or outright deny the inner spirituality of children. Many adults do this because modern psychology has labeled children’s spirituality as a sign of immaturity or the fictitious belief in “magic helpers”. Other adults do it because children naturally tend to ask questions that cannot readily be answered by the doctrines that these adults accept as infallible or complete.
The simple fact is that because children have a direct experience of the reality of the spiritual realm, they see no reason why this reality should be forced into the framework of a set of man-made doctrines, be they in the field of science or in the field of religion. Therefore, they are willing to ask any question that comes to mind, and this is the hallmark of all true spiritual seekers. After all, the type of questions you are willing to ask will determine the type of answers you can receive. Does the Bible not say, “Ask and ye shall receive?” So if you are afraid to ask questions that go beyond your present beliefs, how can you receive deeper answers?
When it comes to presenting spiritual concepts to children, it is extremely important to do this in such a way that it does not discourage or destroy children's curiosity about God and about spiritual matters. Therefore, it is very important not to present spiritual concepts in the form of closed or infallible doctrines. Allow children to ask any questions that come into their innocent minds. Encourage them to ask questions and discuss these questions with them.
The other aspect of children’s spirituality is their innocent, or unconditional, approach to spiritual topics and to God. Because children experience the spiritual realm as real, and because they see it as a benevolent force that is there to help them, they have no fear of God. They are not afraid to approach God, and indeed why should they be?
During Old Testament times, the Israelites developed an image of God as an angry and judgmental God. Part of my mission was to present a new image of God, namely that of a loving father figure. This is the image that most children naturally have of God. Unfortunately, many of today's Christians have reverted back to the Old Testament image of an angry and judgmental God, and they inevitably pass this image on to their children. Therefore, as soon as children begin to receive religious training, their natural innocence and unconditionality is quickly destroyed.
These children learn to see God as something dangerous or something to be feared. They learn to think that they can approach God only in specific ways, defined by their religious culture. They learn to think that they can be worthy to approach God only if they live up to certain conditions defined by church doctrines and rules.
This is a completely artificial programming that children should never be exposed to. Why do you think I said that unless you become as little children you cannot enter the kingdom? It is because of one simple fact. Love is an attractive force and fear is a repulsive force. If you fear God, you will never want to approach God or to get close to God. Therefore, how could you enter God's kingdom? Everything is subject to your free will, and God will not force you to enter his kingdom. You must do so of your own free will, but how can you do so if you fear God?
Children naturally love God, and this love for God is the most important asset that any soul can have on the spiritual path. Therefore, the greatest crime against children is to destroy their natural love for God and their natural feeling that they are welcome to approach God without following any outer conditions.
When I allowed the little children to approach me, I set up no conditions for their approach. It was my disciples who attempted to set up conditions for their approach. If I did not do so, why do so many modern Christians feel that their children should live up to certain conditions before they can approach God, Christ or spiritual topics?
Let the children come to me with their curiosity, their innocence and their unconditional attitude. Let the parents stand back and do some soul searching so they can realize that they need to follow my command and become as curious and innocent as a little child. And then too the adults can approach me, and they will be received with the same unconditional love with which the children are received.
In reality, all people who approach God are received with unconditional love. The problem is that most people do not perceive this unconditional love or cannot accept it. Most people have set up conditions in their minds which makes them feel that unless they live up to certain outer rules and regulations, they are not worthy to receive God’s love. Because everything is subject to free will, God cannot force you to receive his love. You must accept it, and you can do so only when you accept that you are worthy to receive it.
Most children are born with this sense of worthiness and unconditionality, and it is truly one of their greatest assets. Please do not destroy it in your zeal to give your children a “good Christian upbringing.”
.......from askrealjesus.com
Quit Imagining...
Enlighten your desires.
Meditate on who you are.
Quit imagining.
What you want is profoundly expensive,
and difficult to find,
yet closeby.
Don't search for it. It is nothing,
and a nothing within nothing.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
Meditate on who you are.
Quit imagining.
What you want is profoundly expensive,
and difficult to find,
yet closeby.
Don't search for it. It is nothing,
and a nothing within nothing.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
Living from the Level of the Soul...
If we could learn to live from the level of the soul, we would see that the best, most luminous part of ourselves is connected to all the rhythms of the universe. We would truly know ourselves as the miracle-makers we are capable of being.
We would lose fear, and longing, and hatred, and anxiety, and hesitation. Living form the level of the soul means diving past the ego, past the limitations of the mind that harness us to events and outcomes in the physical world.
In the vastness of the ocean there is no individual “I” clamoring for attention. There are waves and eddies and tides, but it is all, in the end, ocean. We are all patterns of nonlocality pretending to be people. In the end, it is all spirit.
And yet, we feel quite individual, don’t we? Our senses reassure us that these bodies are real, and we think our own very personal, individual thoughts. We learn, fall in love, have children, and work at our own careers. How is it that we do not feel this vast ocean churning inside us? Why do our lives feel so circumscribed? It all comes back to the three levels of existence.
At the physical level, what we call the real world, the soul is the observer in the midst of the observation. What about our thoughts? Our thoughts are recycled information. Emotions are just recycled energy. Emotions do not originate with us. They come and go depending on situations, circumstances, relationships, and events.
Whatever else we are, no matter how much of a mess we may have made of our lives, it is always possible to tap into the part of the soul that is universal, the infinite field of pure potential, and change the course of our destiny.
Adapted from The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press).
We would lose fear, and longing, and hatred, and anxiety, and hesitation. Living form the level of the soul means diving past the ego, past the limitations of the mind that harness us to events and outcomes in the physical world.
In the vastness of the ocean there is no individual “I” clamoring for attention. There are waves and eddies and tides, but it is all, in the end, ocean. We are all patterns of nonlocality pretending to be people. In the end, it is all spirit.
And yet, we feel quite individual, don’t we? Our senses reassure us that these bodies are real, and we think our own very personal, individual thoughts. We learn, fall in love, have children, and work at our own careers. How is it that we do not feel this vast ocean churning inside us? Why do our lives feel so circumscribed? It all comes back to the three levels of existence.
At the physical level, what we call the real world, the soul is the observer in the midst of the observation. What about our thoughts? Our thoughts are recycled information. Emotions are just recycled energy. Emotions do not originate with us. They come and go depending on situations, circumstances, relationships, and events.
Whatever else we are, no matter how much of a mess we may have made of our lives, it is always possible to tap into the part of the soul that is universal, the infinite field of pure potential, and change the course of our destiny.
Adapted from The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press).
Saint Meerabai Quotes...
Let people say good things or bad things
I will bear them all!
Meera cannot love even a moment without her beloved Lord Krishna.
O my mind,
Worship the lotus feet of the Indestructible One!
O my companion,
Worldly comfort is an illusion,
As soon you get it, it goes.
My eyes are sad without seeing you!
Ever since you left, my Lord!
I have no peace of mind!
I am mad, not conscious of my body!
Nobody understands my agony!
Meera says: only He knows my state,
in whose hands are life and death!
Drink the nectar of the Divine Name,
O human! Drink the nectar of the Divine Name!
Leave the bad company,
always sit among righteous company.
With my tears,
I watered the creeper of love that I planted;
Now the creeper has grown spread all over,
and borne the fruit of bliss.
If abandoning one's wife could summon God
Would not thousands be eunuchs?
Mirabai knows that to find the Divine One,
The only indispensable is Love.
I have no father, no mother, relatives or brothers.
I have broken family ties; who can do anything?
I have spoken of my love through my tears.
Servant Meera has fallen in love with the Lord,
He is now mine. Gopala (Lord Krishna) is mine. No one else!
One night as I sat in quiet,
I seemed on the verge of entering a world inside so vast
I know it is the source of all of us.
Do not mention the name of love,
O my simple-minded companion.
Strange is the path
When you offer your love.
Your body is crushed at the first step. .....................from buddhasangha.com
I will bear them all!
Meera cannot love even a moment without her beloved Lord Krishna.
O my mind,
Worship the lotus feet of the Indestructible One!
O my companion,
Worldly comfort is an illusion,
As soon you get it, it goes.
My eyes are sad without seeing you!
Ever since you left, my Lord!
I have no peace of mind!
I am mad, not conscious of my body!
Nobody understands my agony!
Meera says: only He knows my state,
in whose hands are life and death!
Drink the nectar of the Divine Name,
O human! Drink the nectar of the Divine Name!
Leave the bad company,
always sit among righteous company.
With my tears,
I watered the creeper of love that I planted;
Now the creeper has grown spread all over,
and borne the fruit of bliss.
If abandoning one's wife could summon God
Would not thousands be eunuchs?
Mirabai knows that to find the Divine One,
The only indispensable is Love.
I have no father, no mother, relatives or brothers.
I have broken family ties; who can do anything?
I have spoken of my love through my tears.
Servant Meera has fallen in love with the Lord,
He is now mine. Gopala (Lord Krishna) is mine. No one else!
One night as I sat in quiet,
I seemed on the verge of entering a world inside so vast
I know it is the source of all of us.
Do not mention the name of love,
O my simple-minded companion.
Strange is the path
When you offer your love.
Your body is crushed at the first step. .....................from buddhasangha.com
The Lankavatara Sutra...
The Lankavatara Sutra, an essential chapter of The Buddhist Bible, states: "...let every disciple take good heed not to become attached to words as being in perfect conformity with meaning, because Truth is not in the letters. When a man with his finger-tip points to something, the finger-tip may be mistaken for the thing pointed at; in like manner the ignorant and simple-minded, like children, are unable even to the day of their death to abandon the idea that in the finger-tip of words there is the meaning itself. They cannot realise Ultimate Reality because of their intent clinging to words which were intended to be no more than a pointing finger. Words and their discrimination bind one to the dreary round of rebirths into the world of birth-and-death; meaning stands alone and is a guide to Nirvana. Meaning is attained by much learning, and much learning is attained by becoming conversant with meaning and not with words; therefore, let seekers for truth reverently approach those who are wise and avoid the sticklers for particular words."
from nonduality.com
from nonduality.com
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