' Meditation '...
Meditation is running into reality.
It does not insulate you from the
pain of life.
It allows you to delve so deeply into life and all its
aspects that you pierce the pain barrier and go beyond suffering.
-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
"Mindfulness in Plain English"
' Unbroken egoless consciousness '...
The limitation of the Long Path is that it is concerned only with thinning down, weakening, and reducing the ego's strength. It is not concerned with totally deflating the ego.
Since this can be done only by studying the ego's nature metaphysically, seeing its falsity, and recognizing its illusoriness, which is not even done by the Short Path, then all the endeavours of the Short Path to practise self-identification with the Overself are merely using imagination and suggestion to create a new mental state that, while imitating the Overself's state, does not actually transcend the ego-mind but exists within it still.
So a third phase becomes necessary, the phase of getting rid of the ego altogether; this can be done only by the final dissolving operation of Grace, which the man has to request and to which he has to give his consent.
To summarize the entire process, the Long Path leads to the Short Path, and the Short Path leads to the Grace of an unbroken egoless consciousness.
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 5: Balancing the Paths > # 206
-- Perspectives > Chapter 23: Advanced Contemplation > # 3
Paul Brunton
' True compassion '...
Compassion free from concepts is an expression of self-existing wakefulness.
What is the experience of true compassion?
While recognizing mind essence [pure awareness], there's some sense of being wide awake and free. At the same time there's some tenderness that arises without any cause or condition.
There is a deep-felt sense of being tender and somewhat delighted at the same time. There's a mixture, that is the true compassion.
It's slightly joyful and slightly sad.
There's no sadness for oneself, nothing selfish about it. Nor is there sadness for anyone in particular either.
Its like being saturated with juice, just like an apple full of juice. In this way the empty openness is saturated with the juice of compassion.
- Tsoknyi Rinpoche in "Carefree Dignity", Dzogchen teachings
' Grace , Love and Bliss '...
"Divine Love is the highest attainment.
All spiritual practices should end in this sweet consummation.
Love is the end of the quest.
See that you are absorbed in God who is Love and become an image of Him.
Let all our emotions be of love.
Life is dry and insipid if it is not filled with love.
Be intoxicated with love—the love that blesses you with a vision of your Beloved.
All beings are the forms of your Beloved.
Grace, Love and Bliss are synonymous.
The three are one in your Beloved and you are He.
Dance with joy."
Swami Ramdas
Thus Speaks Ramdas, 80
Kerala: Anandashram, 2009, p. 22
' Be moderate '...
When you eat too much,
you forget your truth,
and fasting makes you conceited,
so eat with some discipline,
and consciously. Be
an ordinary human being.
Then the door will open,
and you'll recognize the way.
Lalla, be moderate!
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
' thought believes itself to be intelligence '...
"Constantly over the years with the habit patterns going on it (thought) has believed itself to be the intelligence. It believes it has reality; it has power; it has will; it can do what it likes and what it thinks it wants to do.
That is why this investigation is needed. Just stop and question. Have a look at what we have believed ourselves to be Thought can’t of itself do anything! Because that thought ‘I see’, can’t see! The thought ‘I hear’, can’t hear! The thought ‘I am aware’, can’t be aware! But there is seeing; there is hearing; and there is awareness. It is happening right now! The seeing itself cannot conceptualise. It cannot say ‘I am seeing this’.
Neither can the hearing say ‘I am hearing this’. It is just pure seeing and pure hearing. It is conceptualised by the mind, which must refer to some past memory to get that name.
The mind or the ‘me’, the thought that I have about myself, is the past. That is all it is. It is the past, and the past is dead. It is gone. It has happened. It is not what is. That center that we constantly refer to or believe in is a dead image. Now, can you understand why it can never be happy, it can never be complete or whole: because it can’t keep up with what is."
-Bob Adamson from What Is
' Intellect and fear '...
Intellect is what brings about the sense of
fear,
because it is the intellect that rejects
change and wants security.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' 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
' Put down the script '...
Of course, the reason I ask you to inquire into what you are is because, at this moment, you are living the answer. Nothing that I would tell you is a substitute for that aliveness, for that living of the answer.
That's why it has been said many times that only the people who don't know who they are, are the ones who are awake. Everyone else knows who he or she is. They are their script, whatever their script is, even if that script is, ''I'm not awake." Awakeness is to have no script, to know that ultimately a script is just a script, and a story is just a story.
There is a state in which the mind says, "I have no idea who I am," because it can't find the right script. Awakening is the realization that happens after the mind says, "I give up. I just have no idea who I am."
When you start to understand this, you realize that if you put down your script of being someone listening, and if you put down your script of being someone saying something, and you just drop these roles for a moment, you are not who you have taken yourself to be.
Coming to satsang is a very revolutionary thing for this idea of "me" to do, because the me thinks it's going to get its happiness through changing its script, its role, its identity—even if its identity is to have no identity. It will do whatever it takes to keep the ball called "me" rolling.
- Adyashanti, 'Emptiness Dancing'
' Worshiping Satan '...
To Worship means to keep a Thought within the mind..
Keeping a Thought constant within the mind is our means of creation..
This is why Mantras' are used..
We as humans have been taught as children to believe that the false personality of thoughts and memories called ego is actually our Real Self...
Keeping this false personality within our mind is Worship of Satan (ego)...
We may not be aware that this ego is so evil but this can be Realized when we have abandoned the ego and can finally see the duality and pain that ego creates...
The sacrifices that we give to this false god of illusion called satan are the thoughts and actions of selfishness and non-Love that we daily take part in...
You cannot serve two masters..
Choose thoughts of selflessness and You will be Worshiping God(Divine Consciousness)(Reality)...
Choose thoughts of ego and you will be worshiping satan (Duality)(selfishness)..
As Gautama once said:" You are that which You think about all day"...
The purpose of the Spiritual Path is to learn that You are the Master of the Mind and You Create Reality..
The problem is that You as Consciousness believes that You are the body,mind,and ego..
As with all dreams, all You have to do is Wake Up...-
thomas
' The cause of Love '...
Laying hold of that Self,
which is the cause of love,
you should realize your true nature
in the bliss of the Real.
- Muruganar
' The personal self vanishes '...
The knowledge that no two human beings are alike refers to their bodies and minds.
But this leaves out the part of their nature which is spiritual, which is found and experienced in deep meditation.
In that, the deepest part of their conscious being, the personal self vanishes; only consciousness-in-itself, thought-free, world-free, remains.
This is the source of the "I" feeling, and it is exactly alike in the experience of all other human beings.
This is the part which never dies, "where God and man may mingle."
-- Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself >
Chapter 3: The Overself's Presence > # 380
Paul Brunton
' James Allen '...
James Allen (28 November 1864 – 24 January 1912) was a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry and as a pioneer of the self-help movement. His best known work, As a Man Thinketh, has been mass-produced since its publication in 1903. It has been a source of inspiration to motivational and self-help authors.
Born in Leicester, England, into a working-class family, Allen was the elder of two brothers. His mother could neither read nor write. His father, William, was a factory knitter. In 1879 following a downturn in the textile trade of central England, Allen's father travelled alone to America to find work and establish a new home for the family. Within two days of arriving his father was pronounced dead at New York City Hospital, believed to be a case of robbery and murder. At age fifteen, with the family now facing economic disaster, Allen was forced to leave school and find work.
For much of the 1890s, Allen worked as a private secretary and stationer in several British manufacturing firms. In 1893 Allen moved to London and later to South Wales, earning his living by journalism and reporting. In South Wales he met Lily Louisa Oram (Lily L. Allen) who he then wed in 1895. In 1898 Allen found an occupation in which he could showcase his spiritual and social interests as a writer for the magazine The Herald of the Golden Age. At this time, Allen entered a creative period where he then published his first book of many books, From Poverty to Power (1901). In 1902 Allen began to publish his own spiritual magazine, The Light of Reason, later retitled The Epoch.
In 1903 Allen published his third and most famous book As a Man Thinketh. Loosely based on the Biblical passage of Proverbs 23:7, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," the small work eventually became read around the world and brought Allen posthumous fame as one of the pioneering figures of modern inspirational thought. The book's minor audience allowed Allen to quit his secretarial work and pursue his writing and editing career. In 1903, the Allen family retired to the town of Ilfracombe where Allen would spend the rest of his life. Continuing to publish the Epoch, Allen produced more than one book per year until his death in 1912. There he wrote for nine years, producing 19 works.
Following his death in 1912, his wife continued publishing the magazine under the name The Epoch. Lily Allen summarised her husband's literary mission in the preface to one of his posthumously published manuscripts, Foundation Stones to Happiness and Success saying:
"He never wrote theories, or for the sake of writing; but he wrote when he had a message, and it became a message only when he had lived it out in his own life, and knew that it was good. Thus he wrote facts, which he had proven by practice.
-from Wilipedia
' thoughts'...
Why do I ask you to listen to 'Tubular Bells '?..
There are few words, there are mainly frequencies..
Within Divine Consciousness, there is no sound..
The frequencies of speech are accomplished by Thought..
We float within frequencies of Light..
And yet, We still think of Self..
The Self of Love that seeks complete Love..
The Mind of Consciousness turns from the Dreams of ego and seeks Home..
This 'rest spot' called Divine Consciousness is perfect for regeneration of Reality..
Love and Wisdom are your Brothers..
But, You must leave your Brothers..
Your Father calls, because,
You have forgotten Your name...
-thomas
' When we stop regarding the unreal as real '...
We loosely talk of Self-realization, for lack of a better term.
But how can one realize or make real that which alone is real?
All we need to do is to give up our habit of regarding as real that
which is unreal.
All religious practices are meant solely to help us
do this.
When we stop regarding the unreal as real, then reality
alone will remain, and we will be that.
- Ramana Maharshi
' Emptiness of mind '...
Emptiness of mind is not a nothingness, nor a state of torpor, for it
possesses by its very nature a luminous faculty of knowledge which is
called Awareness.
These two aspects, emptiness and Awareness, cannot
be separated.
They are essentially one, like the surface of the mirror
and the image which is reflected in it.
-Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
' Everything Under the Sun '...
Look around you; there is only one reality. The reason that you are here, wherever here is for you, is because it is the only place that you can be right now. But even though reality is right here, and even though there is quite literally nothing but reality, it is very possible for you to miss it altogether. By miss it I mean to imagine that reality is something or somewhere other than here. As strange as it may sound it is very possible, even probable, that even though you have eyes to see, you do not see. And even though you have ears to hear, you do not hear. What you see and hear is not exactly what is actually here, but what you imagine is here.
Our imagination is a very powerful force in determining what we perceive. If we imagine that the world is teeming with evil forces, we will surely perceive the world as evil. But if we imagine the world to be essentially good, we will perceive it as good. Either way it is the same world that we are looking at. But the world is neither good nor bad in and of itself; it is simply what it is. And if we see the world as either good or bad, we will not be able to see it as it actually is. We will only be able to see it as we imagine it to be.
Now take this idea and apply it to everything and everyone in your life. Try it for a moment, or an hour, or a day. And if you do, you may begin to notice that the world you imagine to exist does not exist at all. This may cause you some fear, or possibly the thrill of discovery, but either way the important thing is to get some distance from the habitual way the mind contorts and creates perception.
But even though our mind imagines the world and everything in it to be other than the way it actually is, the reality of existence remains eternally untouched by our misperception of it. This is both relatively good and bad. It is good in that existence is eternally what it is. We need not worry about reality becoming something other than reality. But it is bad in the sense that the world we imagine to exist is always colliding with the world as it actually is. This collision is the cause of immense human suffering and conflict.
So we are trapped within our illusions and misperceptions. And the greatest illusion of all is to believe that we are not trapped. But even when we realize that we are confined within a prison of our own making, we are trapped because all the ways we struggle to get out of our illusions are illusions themselves. So, yes, we are trapped, and helpless to boot.
But there is a very strange thing that can occur at exactly the point where you realize that there is no escaping the imaginary world of your illusions. You bare your heart open to illusion, surrender your eternal struggle against it, and admit to being bound by its cunning imagination. I don't mean that you become despondent or resigned to your fate. I mean that you truly let go in the face of your utter defeat and stop struggling.
And when all the struggle ceases, we realize that the prison of our mind cannot hold us in anymore, because the prison was all along something we imagined into existence. And imagined things aren't real, they don't exist. But we could never really see this as long as we were fighting the phantoms of our minds. We needed the one thing that our imaginary minds could not bring about, could not fake or create: the genuine surrender of all struggle.
In the blink of an eye, we are no longer confined within illusion nor our attempt to avoid illusion. When all struggle ceases, there is nothing to bind us to a distorted perception of existence and we can finally see. What we see is that we do not simply exist within existence, but all of existence exists within us as well. And although everywhere we look we see the endless diversity of life, we also now see our own true face in everything under the sun.
- Adyashanti
' The idea of unity '...
The aim of the mystic is to keep near to the idea of unity, and to find out where we unite.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
When people say that they distinguish between right and wrong by their results, even then they cannot be sure if in the punishment there was not a reward, or in the reward a punishment. What does this show us? It shows us that life is a puzzle of duality. The pairs of opposites keep us in an illusion and make us think, 'This is this, and that is that'. At the same time by throwing a greater light upon things we shall find in the end that they are quite different from what we had thought.
Seeing the nature and character of life the Sufi says that it is not very important to distinguish between two opposites. What is most important is to recognize that One which is hiding behind it all. Naturally after realizing life the Sufi climbs the ladder which leads him to unity, to the idea of unity which comes through the synthesis of life, by seeing One in all things, in all beings.
Whatever a man desires, that desire informs us of the state of mind he is in, and those who understand the mind well, know the mind of another simply by studying the desires and tendencies of his life. Love of a rose, a lily, a jasmine, of sweet, sour, salt, or savory things, expresses the particular tendency of a person's mind, the mood he is in. Modern education omits the study of the truth which teaches us that unity comes from nature's variety, whereas the sole aim of the mystic is to keep near to the idea of unity and to find out where we unite.
There is an Arabic saying, 'If you wish to know God, you must know yourself.' How little man knows while he is in the intoxication of individualism! He thinks, 'I am a separate being; you are another; there is no connection between you and me, and we all have our own joys and free will.' Did man but know it, his life is dependent not only on the objects and things that keep the body alive, but also on the activity of a thousand minds in a day. ... Who then can say, 'I am an individual, independent and free, I can think as I wish, and I can do what I wish? ... We are connected with one another. Our lives are tied together, and there is a link in which we can see one current running through all. There are many globes and lamps, and yet one current is running through all. The mystic seeks to realize this constantly and to impress it on his mind in whatever he may see. What, for him, are the waves of the sea? Are they not the sea itself?
' That which sees the false self '...
Just be what you are right now without trying to change it.
The movement to change what you are is a movement of mind.
That movement of mind comes from the memorized past, which is the false self. The movement of mind that seeks to change that story of past is the projected future, which is also the false self.
See that time-bound story that moves along a continuum of past to future?
That is not what you are. Simply notice the false self when it arises. That which sees the false self is what you really are.
Presence.
Scott Kiloby, Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' The illusion of ego '...
It is certainly better to remove faults and remedy weaknesses than to leave them as they are.
But it is not enough to improve, refine, ennoble, and even spiritualize the ego.
For all such activity takes place under the illusion that the ego possesses reality.
This illusion needs to be eliminated, not merely changed for another one.
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation >
Chapter 2: Pitfalls and Limitations > # 119
Paul Brunton
' Don't be afraid of mistakes '...
Behave as best you know, do what you think you should.
Don't be afraid of mistakes; you can always correct them,
only intentions matter.
The shape things take is not within
your power; the motives of your actions are.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
' Resolve, Dissolve, Solve '...
You are fighting
with yourself.
You have to resolve it,
not fight with it.
Resolve it
resolve
dissolve
solve.
-Swami Amar Jyoti
' To be like a leaf '...
Enlightenment is just a fancy word for being totally surrendered. It’s like being a leaf. The wind blows you every which way and you are just glad to go in whatever direction it takes you. And you know that wherever you are, that is exactly where you are supposed to be because that is where you are.
You aren’t trying to figure out how to be a better or more spiritual leaf.
But if those thoughts arise, that is fine too. You are not arguing with other leaves or trying to be heard or seen above all other leaves. But if that arguing or trying happens, that is fine too. You are not fighting the wind. And yet if fighting happens, that is fine too. You are just content moving in whatever way the wind (life) moves you. Even when you are moving, you are naturally at rest because you are not separate from the wind. There is no you and the wind. There is only One Life, appearing as two. You are the One pretending to be a separate leaf, dancing with your friend “wind.”
You are happy being exactly where you are, whether anyone is paying attention to you or not, and whether anyone thinks you are an enlightened leaf or just a plain old leaf because you know that there is no real boundary between those two.
-Scott Kiloby, Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' Do Archons or Angels await ?'...
When the body has reached expiration, the sub-conscious mind called Soul begins to move..
The small light that you see within the darkness of death draws you naturally towards it..
This leads you from the Dream of egoic-desire to the steps of Love..
If the Archons or Angels speak softly to you of the necessity of Karmic Reincarnation,
Tell them that they have the wrong soul,
as Divine Consciousness has no Karma..
Perhaps, this is why the Nazarene said;
" Your sins are forgiven "..
All of this Duality of Saint and Sinner must be scrapped..
There is only One Mind,
the rest are just stories of play...
-thomas
' The non--ego of Love '...
Don't be dead or asleep or awake.
Don't be anything.
What you most want,
what you travel around wishing to find,
lose yourself as lovers lose themselves,
and you'll be that.
-Farid ud-Din Attar
' Being Born Again '...
Heaven is the experience when we've passed into our own nothingness. We realize our own pure awakeness and see that what we are is pure spirit with no form.
We recognize that formless spirit is the essence, the animating presence of everything. This is being in heaven because, in each step, spirit and essence are occupying our body. That's the true meaning of being born again.
Being born again is not just a great emotional religious conversion experience. That can be nice, but it's only like changing your clothes. Being born again is actually being born again, not getting a new spiritual garment. More accurately, it is being unborn when we realize that eternal nothingness is actually living this life called "my life."
- Adyashanti, 'Emptiness Dancing'
' Keep thoughts upon Overself '...
If he keeps on fixing his attention upon fighting the wandering characteristic of his thoughts, he may find after many attempts that the task seems impossible.
Why is this?
It is because at the same time he is limiting himself to attention upon the ego.
Let him move in the opposite direction and turn to the Short Path, let the thoughts fix themselves on the Overself, upon Its great stillness, Its serene impersonality.
The ego will not and cannot remove itself by itself but by going outside to THAT which is its origin.
The thoughts in the end are led into surrender to the power which transcends it and will master it.
- Paul Brunton
'Jesus and Reincarnation '...
In the last small lecture from John Smallman, Jesus speaks of Reincarnation..
Jesus and the Apostles believed in Reincarnation as did the followers until the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., in which Emperor Constantine demanded that the teaching of reincarnation be eliminated..
Reincarnation does exist as long as you consent to continue the wheel of pain and try to climb to the State of God..
This is why I teach the Knowledge of First Reality of Creator God and often use the words of Jesus to explain the meaning of, " I and the Father, are One "..
I then lead you to Gautama the Buddha, to lead You to Final Reality..
Reincarnation does not exist within Final Reality,
as there is no personality to seek egoic-existence..
The Archons which are called 'evil spirits' within Christianity often fool the soul into returning into the Dreams of Reincarnation because the negative emotions and selfishness of mind is an energy source for these Entities that cannot receive energy from Light..
The words of John Smallman speaking as the voice of Jesus, still believes in the 'Long Path' of seeking Love..
I can only defend these thoughts from the entity called Jesus to say to you that He always taught of the First Reality and perhaps did not know of Final Reality..
I did not begin to learn of Final Reality until I asked the 'Father' a question that He would not answer..
The question was;
" Is this the Final Reality ?"...
-thomas
' Meditation in Affliction '...
Assailed by afflictions, we discover Dharma
And find the way to liberation. Thank you, evil forces!
When sorrows invade the mind, we discover Dharma
And find lasting happiness. Thank you, sorrows!
Through harm caused by spirits we discover Dharma
And find fearlessness. Thank you, ghosts and demons!
Through people's hate we discover Dharma
And find benefits and happiness. Thank you, those who hate us!
Through cruel adversity, we discover Dharma
And find the unchanging way. Thank you, adversity!
Through being impelled to by others, we discover Dharma
And find the essential meaning. Thank you, all who drive us on!
We dedicate our merit to you all, to repay your kindness.
-Meditation in Affliction
Gyalwa Longchenpa
' Controling the mind '...
Trying to control the mind forcefully is like trying to flatten out
waves with a board.
It can only result in further disturbance.
-Ramesh S. Balsekar
' The illusion of separation '...
What you take to be a “you” totally separate from the rest of life is really just awareness contracting or focusing on (i.e., identifying with) phenomena arising in awareness. The phenomena are the body, thoughts, beliefs, ideas, positions, opinions, emotions, sensations, experiences, states and all other temporary forms. As phenomena arise in awareness, there is identification. This identification creates a false center known as “me.”
This contracted “me” energy creates the sense that you are a person “in here” (in the body and mind) that is separate from what is “out there” (outside the body and mind). The crux of this separate self sense is the time-bound, thought-based story of past, present, and future. That story is continuously fed by interpreting life conceptually and thinking of yourself as existing along a timeline. You believe you are the past and that you are heading towards future. All of that is purely conceptual.
To see through this illusion of separation between self and life, notice that what you are in the most fundamental sense is unchanging, no-boundary, non-local awareness. No matter what phenomena appear and disappear in awareness, the awareness never leaves or changes. In simply noticing the phenomena, without focusing in on it, the phenomena are allowed to be exactly as they are. They are allowed to pass without identification. In this disidentification, the boundary between self and the rest of life is seen as illusory.
Scott Kiloby, Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' The Long Path '...
The man on the Long Path reaches a point where he tends to overdo its requirements or to do them in an unbalanced way.
He is then too self-conscious, too much ridden by guilt, oscillating between indulgence and remorse.
Only when his efforts seem to be futile and his mind to be baffled, only when he gives up in exhaustion does he give up the tension which causes it.
Then, relaxed, spontaneity released, the gate is at last open for grace to enter.
In its light he may see that in one sense he had been running around in circles because he had been running around inside his own ego.
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation >
Chapter 4: The Changeover To the Short Path > # 135
Paul Brunton
You and God are One, and you cannot remain forever unaware of this divine truth. by John Smallman
There are no accidents, there are only synchronicities. Every human is always on their chosen life path. Whatever arises is intended. That may seem like a harsh or insane suggestion when you look around at all the suffering in the world, or even at your own personal suffering. But everyone who incarnates as a human in any time era has, with infinitely wise spiritual guidance to assist them, made the free will choice to do so in that particular time and place with great clarity of mind. You all have a divine purpose, every child of God has a divine purpose and that is to be Yourself, the perfect being that God created.
As humans within the illusion that often seems not to be the case. By incarnating you enter the illusion, a place of forgetfulness, memory loss, and, in truth, insanity! Your purpose, every human’s purpose, is to awaken from the illusory dream or nightmare and help others to awaken, in order to be once more Yourselves. However, when you constructed the illusion you used your infinite divine power to do so, and you intended to make it appear absolutely real, and in this you succeeded.
Everyone on Earth is a child of God, a divine Being, absolutely perfect, because what God creates can only be perfect. However, as you grow from infancy, the faint memory of the spiritual realms that was with you initially fades from your conscious awareness, and so you learn the rules of the race, culture, and creed or belief system into which you were born as a matter of survival. Not conforming leads to disapproval and often to punishment, so mostly you conform.
Yes, you rebel, when you think no one is watching or when you think you can get away with it. And then as young adults, depending on the effectiveness of the acculturation (brainwashing!) that you have undergone, you enter the adult world, the work place, with a set of firm beliefs that guide you in your daily lives.
At some stage in your life between adolescence and old age events occur or ideas come to mind that set you to questioning those beliefs and you either reaffirm them, modify them, or break from them completely. In the latter case they are frequently replaced by totally opposing beliefs, which mostly have no more validity than the ones you chose to discard, to which you then give your wholehearted support.
Being a human and moving to awaken is a very difficult task, which is why you have so much assistance in the form of seemingly unforeseeable and unexpected meetings, relationships, events, or even catastrophes occurring in your lives, as well as the availability of unlimited assistance from those in the spiritual realms whose sole purpose is to watch over you and respond instantly when you call on them for help. Your calls are always heard and always answered, but mostly your ability to hear is interfered with by the cacophony of distractions with which the illusion presents you constantly.
Intense dissatisfaction with life will arise for some of you, dissatisfaction that it seems you can discuss with no one, because due to the common sense of inadequacy so many experience but cannot admit to, you never share with anyone those ingrained and deeply unsettling feelings because everyone else seems to you to be so self-assured.
Today, as the Tsunami of Love continues to intensify across the planet, more and more of you are opening to sharing those feelings of inadequacy. In doing so you are discovering the fact that not only are you in no way alone, everyone has similar feelings, but also that those feelings are invalid! By sharing them with others you realize that feeling inadequate is part of the human condition, part of the illusion, something with which you all have to deal, and in doing so it points you toward the spiritual path that has been waiting for you to acknowledge it.
When you seek your path and turn toward spirit, toward God, toward Source, unencumbered by unrealistic beliefs about sin and guilt, judgment, punishment, and hell, it is an initial kind of awakening. It means either that you have realized that God is Love and that therefore there is no such thing as sin, guilt, or hell, or, having never bought into the “fear of God” mentality, you have realized the insanity of the world around you and have concluded that there must be a better way to live together and that it has to be loving. And so, for the first time consciously, you set out along your own personal path to awakening. You have always been on it, you just had not realized it. For each one of you on Earth there is only your own personal spiritual path! You cannot follow anyone else’s and no else can follow yours.
Seeking assistance from wise humans who you can see are following a holy path, a way of life whereby they demonstrate love in action can be very helpful. Nevertheless, they can only offer suggestions, they cannot tell you what you need to do. That is something you have to decide for yourselves using your inner knowing, your intuition, your higher or Real Self for the necessary confirmation. Guidance from mentors can greatly assist you and help you to avoid errors or pitfalls, but in the end the path you follow is solely your own, and to others it may appear strange, wrong, or even insane.
To return to the standard advice I offer you in every message, it is absolutely essential that you go within daily, to your inner sanctuary or temple where the Light that you share with God burns inextinguishably, and open your hearts to the boundless Love that is offered to you. You are only seemingly separated from It by an extremely thin veil, and as your practice – your daily visits within – strengthens and becomes an effortless part of your daily lives, that veil will gently fade away until you can feel the Presence of God within You! You and God are One, and you cannot remain forever unaware of this divine truth, your awakening is divinely assured.
Your loving brother, Jesus.
' Fear prevents Unity '...
Fear is what prevents you from surrendering your very life to God, which is what
you must do to Enter Enlightenment or what is called Mystical Union, it is the fear
of the ego not existing..
This is the Greatest Fear that prevents you from Union
with God..
This is why the Mystical Path Requires the most Courage that you can
ever muster..
"This is called the "Dark night of the Soul"..
It is the struggle
between the ego and God..
The Anti-Christ against The Christ..
you feel comfort
in communing with God within , as long as the ego stays alive, but, this is not
possible..
The ego must be offered in sacrifice to God if you wish to Know and
Feel God..
There is no other way..
The ego is anti-love and cannot enter the
Divine Love that is called God..
I desire that you succeed in this
Truth...
- thomas
' The Fifth Dimension '...
Within the spiritual societies, you will hear of the Fifth Dimension and if you can see further,
the higher dimensions appear within Consciousness..
I call these teachers of spiritual knowledge concerning the dimensions,
teachers of entrapment..
These Dimensions of Consciousness are only Dreams of less separation from Reality..
You feel more Love as you climb higher but only because the material and physical desires have evaporated within higher frequencies..
But, who is the one that feels ?..
As long as you desire to climb a ladder into Love, you remain within reincarnations..
There is no ladder within Love..
There is no ascention into Love as You are already Love Itself..
Love is the State of non-egoic desire,
as long as you climb, you remain trapped..
You are desiring to become One with Creator and never Realising that You never needed Desire..
You have always been the 'Dreamer',
The God of Love...
-thomas
' Tranquillity '...
Only when they are tired of the frustrations and
obstructions, the spites and cruelties which so often
mar worldly life, will they feel ready to turn in real
earnest to the Quest.
Only then will its perfect
tranquillity seem more desirable than the hectic
excitement of following desires.
Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest >
Chapter 2: Its Choice > # 192
Paul Brunton
' Learning words is not enough '...
Learning words is not enough.
You may know the theory,
but without the actual experience of yourself
as the impersonal and unqualified center of being,
love and bliss,
mere verbal knowledge is sterile.
So many words you have learnt,
so many you have spoken.
You know everything,
but you do not know yourself.
For the Self is not known through words
only direct insight will reveal it.
Look within, search within.
Whatever you can know with your mind
is of the mind,
not you.
The above Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj quotes are from the book
The Seven Steps to Awakening.
' The Wave '...
Nothing arises without Self.
All existence is one in one's own Self.
The wave plays on the chest of the ocean,
feeling separation, she moves through time.
Eventually, she falls back into ocean.
As she rises from the Ocean,
and she falls back into Ocean,
the Oneness is not disturbed.
The movement of the wave
makes no difference to the Ocean.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
' One with Known '...
"Naught ever can be known in God:
One and Alone Is He.
To know Him, Knower must be one with Known."
Angelus Silesius
Selections from The Cherubinic Wanderer
Translated by J. E. Crawford Flitch
London, 1932
' The Spirit '...
The spirit distinguishes everything except itself, just as the eyes cannot see themselves.
If it is the very same spirit that we breathe from space that makes man capable of thinking and feeling, the same spirit that gives him the power of perception and conception and develops in him that feeling that one calls ego, if this is the phenomenon that the spirit shows by being absorbed by the material body, how much more capable of perception and conception, of thought and feeling, must the spirit be in itself.
From The Teachings Of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Selected & Arranged By
HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN
' We have forgotten '...
We depend on nature not
only for our physical
survival.
We also need
nature to show us the way
home, the way out of the
prison of our minds.
We got
lost in doing, thinking,
remembering, anticipating –
lost in a maze of complexity
and a world of problems.
We have forgotten what
rocks, plants and animals
still know.
We have
forgotten how to be – to be
still, to be ourselves, to be
where life is: here and now.
-Eckhart Tolle
' Existing as the Hologram '...
In Truth, You do not exist within the Hologram,
the Hologram exists within You..
For the Hologram to stay intact,
the egoic-desire must remain..
The Nazarene has told you,
" You must be within this world, but not of it "..
Remain the Observer of the Hologram and help the ego to see Truth..
Although the ego desires eternal existence,
it also knows that it must die..
Therefore, the decision to remain within the wheel of Reincarnation or return to Reality..
Are you strong enough to die to self ?..
If you are,
then walk with me,
as we are on the same path...
-thomas
' God is Being '...
God is in your very being.
To know him as something apart or far-away in time and distance or as an object outside yourself, separate from you--that is not the Way--impossible.
Jesus gave away the secret: He is within you.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 1: Their Meeting and Interchange > # 50
Paul Brunton
' Aware of silence '...
When you become aware of silence,
immediately there is that state of inner still alertness.
You are present.
You have stepped out of thousands of years
of collective human conditioning.
~ Eckhart Tolle
immediately there is that state of inner still alertness.
You are present.
You have stepped out of thousands of years
of collective human conditioning.
~ Eckhart Tolle
' Be still '...
Be still.
It takes no effort to be still , it is utterly simple.
When your mind is still, you have no name, you have no past, you have no relationships, you have no country, you have no spiritual attainment, you have no lack of spiritual attainment.
There is just the presence of beingness with itself.
~ Gangaji
' Light and Darkness '...
The First Reality of Consciousness is composed of Light, Love, and Consciousness..
All elements of Energy..
You as Consciousness Awaken from the Dream of egoic-desire and return to Creator..
You soon Realise that You and Creator exist within the same form..
" I and the Father are One", said a young Rabbi..
You lounge within the flowing energy of Love and Wisdom..
But, when a question is presented to Father and no answer was given,
thought sought more..
Thus began the Awakening into Final Reality..
This is the Supreme Mind of Thought..
Within Darkness, this Mind thinks of the mirror of opposite,
to Learn about existence..
" Let there be Light", said this Mind..
This is the Final stop within Reality..
This is the existence of Love,
without ego or personality..
This is called God because,
being bound within personality,
we demand a name...
-thomas
' Stopping the mind '...
"Mystic understanding of truth is not perception or cognition.
That is why it is said that you arrive at the original source by stopping the mind,
so it is called the enlightened state of being as is,
the ultimately independent free individual."
Non-ch'uan (748-834)
in Teachings of Zen
Translated by Thomas Cleary
NY: Barnes & Noble, 1998, p. 21
" God is Love "...
"God is love" - three words which open up an unending realm for the thinker who desires to probe the depths of the secret of life.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Every kind of power lies in this one thing which we call by the simple name: love. Charity, generosity, kindness, affection, endurance, tolerance, and patience -- all these words are different aspects of one; they are different names of only one thing: love. Whether it is said, 'God is love,' or whatever name is given to it, all the names are the names of God; and yet every form of love, every name for love, has its own peculiar scope, has a peculiarity of its own. Love as kindness is one thing, love as tolerance is another, love as generosity is another, love as patience another; and yet from beginning to end it is just love.
Mystics of all ages have not been known for their miraculous powers or for the doctrines they have taught, but for the devotion they have shown throughout their lives. The Sufi in the East says to himself, 'Ishq Allah Ma'bud Allah, which means 'God is Love, God is the Beloved', in other words it is God who is love, lover, and beloved. When we hear the stories of the miraculous powers of mystics, of their great insight into the hidden laws of nature, of the qualities which they manifested through their beautiful personalities, we realize that these have all come from one and the same source, whether one calls it devotion or whether one calls it love.
When we look at this subject from a mystic's point of view, we see that love has two aspects. Love in itself, and the shadow of love fallen on the earth. The former is heavenly the latter is earthly. The former develops self-abnegation in a person; the latter makes him more selfish than he was before. Virtues such as tolerance, mercy, forgiveness and compassion rise of themselves in the heart which is awakened to love.
How beautiful are the words of the Prophet: 'The shrine of God is the heart of man.' How true that is! Is God to be found in a mosque, or temple, or church, or in any place where people sing hymns and offer their prayers? Can He be found where there is no love? He is not to be found in the houses that men have built for worship. These are only schools for children, and their playgrounds. Children like playing with toys, and yet they are preparing themselves for something else. When man has come to know the real beauty of God, he will find that it dwells only in one place: in the heart of man. God is love, and He is found in the heart of man.
Love, whether it is human or divine is considered to be sacred, in the view of the mystics, philosophers, and thinkers. That it is possible to regard it thus is shown by the fact that in its root it is beyond both the human and the divine. As it is written in the Bible, 'God is Love', three words which open up an unending realm for the thinker who desires to probe the depth of the secret of love. In ordinary life, we make this word mean affection for our surroundings, for our relatives or our beloved, but when we think deeply about it, we see that from start to finish it represents the power underlying the power of all activities and all intelligences.
' Happiness '...
Happiness is when what you think,
what you say,
and what you do are in harmony.
-Mahatma Gandhi
' Surrendering the egoic-desire '...
When a man consciously asks for union with the Overself, he unconsciously accepts the condition that goes along with it, and that is to give himself wholly up to the Overself.
He should not complain therefore when, looking forward to living happily ever after with a desired object, that object is suddenly removed from him and his desire frustrated.
He has been taken at his word. Because another love stood between him and the Overself, the obstruction had to be removed if the union were to be perfected; he had to sacrifice the one in order to possess the other.
The degree of his attachment to the lesser love was shown by the measure of his suffering at its being taken away; but if he accepts this suffering as an educator and does not resent it, it will lead the way to true joy.
- Paul Brunton
' Biteing the forbidden apple'...
In the First Reality called Divine Consciousness, there is no duality called right and wrong..
There is only the existence of Light , Love , and Consciousness..
Without the existence of wrong, there is no duality called right..
You no longer see opposites..
You remain the Creator of Dreams until You seek Complete Love..
Your Father, Pure Awareness has prepared a feast for the 'Prodigal Son'..
-thomas
' Adam and Eve '...
You are thinking of 'Duality', this story of two humans existing within a Dream of Consciousness..
You judge 'Source' and therefore, you judge self..
This game of Division and Pain must end..
The pain and non-understanding that you feel is just a game of Knowledge..
You must Know Lies, before you Know Truth..
You cannot study 'Light' until You Know 'Darkness'..
This is why You Dream..
But, eighty years of Dream is enough for any Thought-form..
Light draws us to Reality...
-thomas
' The unchanging Consciousness '...
Turn your attention away from the dream right now. Just for right now, you don't need it. Let the thoughts and worries of the dream character continue as they will, but just step back for a moment and watch it happen, watch the dream character involved in its dream.
And while the dream character is going about its business, turn your attention to the one thing right now that is shining and clear, peaceful and unassuming, steady and solid: the consciousness with which the dream character is being observed.
Just rest here, in the unchanging consciousness which reflects but is not changed by what it reflects. This is reality. Nothing else is.
Rest your attention here. Get to know it. Let the reality of consciousness be known to you, as you. Nothing needs to be done here. No thought affects it, and so thought is not needed. No action affects it, and so action is not needed.
It's not possible to do anything with this consciousness because this consciousness is everything already. Pay attention to it for a moment right now and it is easily noticed that consciousness is complete. And since consciousness is complete, you are complete. The only thing that ever makes you feel like you are not complete, not whole, and that you need to "return" somewhere to find wholeness, is that you have put your attention into the dream life, and forgotten that wholeness is all that you really are.
So observe the dream character as it desires enlightenment, and as it desires love, reassurance, respect. Watch the dream character as its life plays out. It is not who you are. You are this consciousness, which has no mortality, no vulnerability, and no limits. Beyond all imagination, the nothingness within which resides the seed of all existence, the shining creation of infinite universes - this is you.
Put your attention here, and allow your sense of this to grow. If you are looking for Wholeness, here it is. If you are looking for True Love, here it is, in the One Unlimited Self that is Reality. No other love is possible. And this Love is already here, as You.
- Annette Nibley
' The essential Self '...
It is objected, why search at all if one really is the Overself?
Yes, there comes a time when the deliberate purposeful search for the Overself has to be abandoned for this reason. Paradoxically, it is given up many times, whenever he has a Glimpse, for at such moments he knows that he always was, is, and will be the Real, that there is nothing new to be gained or searched for.
Who should search for what?
But the fact remains that past tendencies of thought rise up after every Glimpse and overpower the mind, causing it to lose this insight and putting it back on the quest again. While this happens he must continue the search, with this difference, that he no longer searches blindly, as in earlier days, believing that he is an ego trying to transform itself into the Overself, trying to reach a new attainment in time by evolutionary stages.
No! through the understanding of the Short Path he searches knowingly, not wanting another experience since both wanting and experiencing put him out of the essential Self. He thinks and acts as if he is that Self, which puts him back into It. It is a liberation from time-bound thinking, a realization of timeless fact.
- Paul Brunton
' Non-objective meditation '...
In non-objective meditation, our attention is drawn towards the non-objective, the ultimate subject, consciousness. This is accomplished as a result of understanding. At the first stage, the truth-seeker is asked to notice that the happiness he is really looking for is non-objective, which means "not contained in any object, gross or subtle". When this is understood, he is then asked to realize that the mind, which can only grasp mentations (thoughts and sense-perceptions), cannot have access to the non-objective realm. It follows that any attempt to secure the happiness he is looking for through the mind is bound to failure. When this is understood, the mind soon finds itself in a NATURAL state of stillness.
In this natural form of meditation, sensations or thoughts are neither sought nor avoided; they are simply welcomed and seen off. It could be described as a total openness, in which we are totally open to our sense perceptions, our bodily sensations, our emotions, our feelings and our thoughts. We could compare these mentations with the various characters of a play. As long as we find the play interesting, our attention is completely drawn by the actors on the foreground, but, if there is a weak moment, our attention progressively relaxes until we become suddenly aware of the background, of the stage. In the same way, as our attention becomes global, unfocused, open, disinterested, (and this detachment follows from our understanding that these mentations have really nothing to offer in terms of real happiness), our attention relaxes, until we become suddenly aware of the background, consciousness, which reveals itself as the ultimate immortality, splendor and happiness we were looking for.
It is not necessary for the actors to leave the stage in order for us to be aware of the background of the stage; similarly, the absence of mentations is not a prerequisite for awareness of the Self. However, in the same way as, when the actors leave and our attention relaxes, we have an opportunity to become aware of the background, there is an opportunity to "visualize" our real nature when a mentation merges into consciousness.
- Francis Lucille
' Weapons '...
Good weapons are instruments of fear; all creatures hate them.
Therefore followers of Tao never use them.
The wise man prefers the left.
The man of war prefers the right.
Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools.
He uses them only when he has no choice.
Peace and quiet are dear to his heart,
And victory no cause for rejoicing.
If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing;
If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself.
On happy occasions precedence is given to the left.
On sad occasions to the right.
In the army the general stands on the left.
The commander-in-chief on the right.
This means that war is conducted like a funeral.
When many people are being killed,
They should be mourned in heartfelt sorrow.
That is why a victory must be observed like a funeral.
- Lao-tzu
' The silent ones '...
To say something meaningful,
Get in the circle of silent ones
And be silent.
-Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
' The Pilgrimage '...
I felt in need of a great pilgrimage
so I sat still for three days
and God came to me.
~ Kabir
' Sublimity of the Self '...
Once we become conscious of this truth the scales fall from our eyes. We give up our bondage to the erroneous belief in limitation.
We refuse to entertain this false thought that there is some lofty condition to be attained in the far future.
We are resolute that the Self shall recognize itself now. For what shall we wait?
Let us stack all our thoughts upon the Reality, and hold them there as with a spike;
it will not elude us, and the thoughts will dissolve and vanish into air, leaving us alone with the beauty and sublimity of the Self.
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation >
Chapter 5: Balancing the Paths > # 204
Paul Brunton
' Mental pain '...
There are many souls that suffer from mental pain, a main aspect being manic depression now called bi-polar disorder.
The pain of mind is therefore transferred into the solution of self destruction..
Forget this solution, return to Observer..
You are the Observer and not the mind..
The mind contains the desire for separation.
Return to non-separation called Divine Consciousness..
Look upon the pain but do not feel it..
It belongs to a Dream of self and not Self..
You are the Observer of pain and not the participant..
Become who You Are...
-thomas
" He who has ears to hear "...
He who wants to understand, will understand.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
In India it is considered a great sin to awaken anyone who is asleep. If a man is asleep, do not wake him; let him sleep; it is the time for him to sleep; it will not do to wake him before his time. Thus a mystic understands also that a person who is taking his time to wake up must not be awakened to give him the mystic's idea. It would be a sin, because he is not prepared to understand it, and his beliefs would be shaken. Let him go on thinking God is in Benares; let him think He is in the temple of Buddha; let him think He is in heaven; let him think He is in the seventh heaven above the sky. It is the beginning; he will evolve in time and arrive at the same stage. The rest he is having just now is good for him. The awakening comes, all in its good time.
This explains what is meant by saying that Sufism is a religious philosophy; the philosophy is clothed with religion, that it may not break the ideals and faiths and beliefs of those who are beginning their journey towards the goal. Externally: the religion, inwardly: the philosophy. The one who wants to understand will understand. 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'
In whatever form, life expresses its meaning, if only man is able to understand it. The one who does not understand this will not understand life's meaning. His inner sense is closed; it is just like being deaf. In the same way his sense of communication with things has become dull, he does not understand them. But if a person does not hear he may not say that life is not speaking. In the same way, if a person cannot sense the meaning of life, he may not say that life has no meaning. The word is everywhere, and the word is continually speaking.
A mystic removes the barrier that stands between himself and another person by trying to look at life not only from his own point of view, but also from the point of view of another. All disputes and disagreements arise from people's misunderstanding of each other. Mostly, people misunderstand each other because they have their fixed points of view and are not willing to move from them. ... If we are willing to understand, then understanding is within our reach. Very often, however, we are not willing to understand, and that is why we do not understand. Mankind suffers from a sort of stubbornness. A man goes against what he thinks is coming from another person. Yet, everything he has learned has come from others, he has not learned one word from himself. All the same, he calls it his argument, his idea, and his view, although it is no such thing. He has always taken it from somewhere. It is by accepting this fact that a mystic understands all, and it is this which makes him a friend of all.
' The Radiant Space '...
Clearly, awareness cannot know itself as a "thing apart". It is not an object to itself, any more than being is an object to itself. You ARE yourself.
That fact cannot be doubted at any time. That doubtless fact is the basis of all subsequent experiencing. Awareness is self-shining, self-radiant, self-existent.
Even before "knowing I am", I must be there as that to which that recognition happens. It is like the eye. It can never see itself. Yet one does not doubt having eyes.
Non-conceptual being-awareness is similar. It can never be known as an object. On the other hand, it cannot be unknown either, also because it is not object. Yet no one ever doubts himself or herself in the equation.
All the states and appearances, even sleep, the moments between thoughts, etc., happen in what you are. Even consciousness and unconsciousness are states rotating through the constancy of your undeniable existence.
It is the ever-present space or backdrop for everything. The "everything" has no substance or independent existence outside of this, so in essence the "everything" is this also. It is so obvious, simple and self-evident that we keep overlooking it. It is the radiant space in which all of life appears.
-John Wheeler
' In this moment '...
In this moment here and now, letting go of past and future, seeking the pure consciousness in itself, and not the identifications it gets mixed up with and eventually has to free itself from--
in this moment he may affirm his true being and ascertain his true enlightenment without referring it to some future date.
-- Notebooks Category 24: The Peace within You >
Chapter 3: Practise Detachment > # 256
Paul Brunton
' Pride is a pile of ashes '...
Your pride in yourself and your wanting,
these steal your energy along the road.
If you can kill these robbers
and become the servant of everyone,
you’ll meet the Lord in meditation
and see what you used to protect
as just a pile of ashes.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
Self-less Experience...
Self-less Experience.
Instead of "my" seeing, let there just be what's seen. Instead of "my" hearing", there are just sounds, and the same with all the senses.
Instead of thoughts being "mine", see thoughts as having no owner. Instead of memories being "yours", know them as strangers visiting no one at all.
Instead of feeling that there is a "me" as who you are, notice the feeling of "me" is known by no one and refers to no one at all.
All experiences appear, but with no one that they are happening to. The idea that experiences are "happening to me", is just another thought that belongs to no one and refers to no one at all.
-Jackson Peterson
' The Short Path of Overself '...
Most people who start the short path have usually had a glimpse of the Overself, because otherwise they find it too difficult to understand what the short path is about. The long path, through its studies and practices, is the period of preparation for the advanced quest. It is called the long path because there is much work to be done on it and much development of character and emotions to go through.
After some measure of this preparation the aspirants enter the short path to complete this work. This takes a comparatively much shorter time and, as it has the possibility of yielding the full self-enlightenment at any moment, it ends suddenly. What they are trying to do on the long path continues by itself once they have entered fully on the short path.
On the long path they are concerned with the personal ego and as a result give the negative thoughts their attention. On the short path they refuse to accept these negatives and instead look to the Overself. Thus the struggles will disappear. This change of attitude is called "voiding" them. The moment such negative ideas and feelings appear, then instead of using the long path method of concentrating on the opposite kind of thought, such as calmness instead of anger, the short path way simply drops the negative idea into the Void, the Nothingness, and forgets it.
Now such a change can only be brought about by doing it quickly and firmly and turning to the Overself. Constant remembrance of the Overself has to be done all the way through the short path. The long path works on the ego; but the short path uses the result of that work, which prepared them to come into communion with the Overself and become receptive to its presence, which includes its grace.
In order to understand the short path, it might be helpful to compare it to the long path which consists of a series of exercises and efforts which gradually develops concentration and character and knowledge. But the long path does not lead to the goal. On the long path you often measure your own progress. It is an endless path because there will always be new circumstances which bring new temptations and trials and confront the aspirant with new challenges.
No matter how spiritual the ego becomes it does not enter the whitest light, but remains in the greyish light. On the long path you must deal with the urges of interference arising from the lower self and the negativity which enters from the surrounding environment. But the efforts on the long path will at last invoke the grace, which opens the perspective of the short path.
- Paul Brunton
' It is tuesday night '..
Such a strange night to speak of Reality..
Your week has barely begun and still you seek Knowledge..
The days between monday and friday become images of imagination..
You find egos' of surrender and egos' of power..
You are existing within a Dream of division of self and Self..
You see Yourself as Observer and yet You continue to play the game..
The game continues within personalies of separation..
The Love that you seek has never left you..
You just forget to look within the mirror of Reality..
Look within the mirror, you will see Self..
Such a long walk Home...
-thomas
' Law of causation '...
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 the 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.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
' The Long Path '...
The Long Path creates anxiety, because one wants to make progress and finds it difficult.
The Short Path has to counterbalance it,
because one then realizes that there is nothing to be attained,
that one is already there.
-Paul Brunton
' Rigpa '...
The experience of the non-dual awareness of rigpa is quite wonderful. It is freedom from the restless striving of the samsaric mind. It is not a dull peace, but the opposite. It is pure wakefulness.
It is light, open, radiant, and blissful. When we are no longer preoccupied with self-centered pursuits based on the insecurities of the illusory self and its desires and aversions, the world arises in the purity of the natural state in a vivid, pristine display of beauty.
For the practitioner stable in rigpa, all experiences arise as an ornamentation of the nature of mind, rather than as a problem or delusion.
- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, from The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep,
' Range of vision '...
When a man looks at the ocean, he can only see that part of it which comes within his range of vision; so it is with the truth.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
As there is water in the depths of the earth, so there is truth at the bottom of all things, false or true. In some places, one has to dig deep; in other places, only a short distance; that is the only difference. But there is no place where there is no water. One may have to dig very, very deep in order to get it; but in the depths of the earth, there is water, and in the depths of all this falsehood that is on the surface, there is truth. If we are really seeking for the truth, we shall always find it.
Man with his learning becomes so proud that he thinks there is nothing else worthy of attention. He does not know that there is a perfection of wisdom before which he is not even like a drop in the ocean. Man looks at the surface of the ocean, yet he is so small that he cannot even be compared with one of its drops, limited as he is in intellect and knowledge. He seeks to find out about the whole of creation, whereas those who have touched it have bowed before God, forgetting their limited selves. After that God remained with them and spoke through them. These are the only beings who have been able to give any truth to the world.
When we consider the mystics and thinkers who look at life from a spiritual point of view, they all agree, be they Yogis, Sufis, Buddhists, or Christians -- it does not matter which. When they arrive at a certain stage of understanding they all agree, they all have the same experiences, they all have the same realization to which they come in spite of all differences of form: those who look at the surface see variations, but those who look below the surface see one and the same truth hidden beneath all religions, which have been given at different times by different masters. Naturally, therefore, the method of expression is different, but when one comes to the essence it is all one and the same, and those who are spiritually evolved come to the conclusion that they do not differ one from the other in their belief.
All beliefs are simply degrees of clearness of vision. All are part of one ocean of truth. The more this is realized the easier is it to see the true relationship between all beliefs, and the wider does the vision of the one great ocean become. Limitations and boundaries are inevitable in human life; forms and conventions are natural and necessary; but they none the less separate humanity. It is the wise who can meet one another beyond these boundaries.
' Self-deception '...
The mind has an uncanny capacity for self-deception. It can hear a spiritual pointer and forget that it is merely a pointer. So when the pointer, “there is no one to reach enlightenment,” or “all there is, is Oneness” or “awareness is what you really are” is heard, it can easily be turned into a belief.
Each of the pointers above, when taken to be absolutely true, becomes an erroneous idea. The pointers in this book and every other non-duality or enlightenment teaching are merely signs pointing to a realization that can only be known through direct experience. Just as the word “pencil” is merely a sign pointing to the tool you use to write a letter, the words Oneness and awareness are pointing to the direct experience of life just as it is, without the filter of identification with concepts.
The moment any pointer is taken to be absolutely true, a new religion is born—a belief system. As with all belief systems, that pointer must be defended. Only a false self would defend a pointer or way of expressing ‘This’ because the false self is identification with thought.
See all these pointers as merely signs, arising and falling in awareness, and pointing to a realization that can never be known through thought. This realization can only be seen through the direct experience of now. In this direct experience, thoughts are not reality. They are appearing in reality.
-Scott Kiloby, Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment (
' The Short Path '...
The Short Path is the real way!
All else is mere preparation of the equipment for it.
For with it he is no longer to direct his meditation upon the shortcomings and struggles of the personal self but up to the Overself, its presence and strength.
For the consciousness of the Real, the True, the Beneficent and Peaceful comes by its Grace alone and by this practice he attracts the visitation.
-Paul Brunton
'Falling into Light '...
Once again, I dip my hand into the 'big old pot of Wisdom' to create a story of thoughts..
The world is being presented to your sub-conscious mind as Fear..
The energy of Fear is the opposite of Reality, which is Love..
This is the Luciferian influence within the media of mind-control..
Lucifer, being just a 'Thought Projection' became angry that Divine Consciousness was instilled within all Creation..
Thus, this war of egoic-rebelion against Source became a game of Power..
You are now existing within and being the Observer of the Dreams of Lucifer..
But, always a Teacher will appear to speak to you of Truth..
You are the 'Watcher' but still feel the pain of being within the manifestation of Dreams..
As you Awaken to your Real Self, Reality will appear..
To fall into the Darkness of egoic-surrender is often fearful,
but, fall past this fear of non-existence..
You will Awaken as Light...
-thomas
' A sharpened intellect '...
A sharpened intellect is necessary to perceive truth.
Those who lack mental acuteness will not be able to grasp the meaning of the relativity of the three states.
Such a dull intellect may, however, be perfectly adequate to handling the affairs of the world and a man might be clever, astute and a successful business man and yet remain incapable of grasping truth.
The sharpness which is required is the subtlety and ability to move amid abstract ideas.
Similarly the greatest scholar, however learned, may be unable to grasp it, because it requires real thinking and not mere memorizing.
V.S. Iyer from
Lights on Advaita:
Selected Teachings of V. Subrahmanya Iyer
' What is God ?'...
I use this name often as it has a connection to Reality..
This 'Generator of Diversity' is the chosen name of Awareness..
I more often use the name 'Source' as it combines Divine Consciousness and Pure Awareness..
Pure Awareness is Home and Divine Consciousness is the 'Dream state'..
So much, for the novice to understand..
So let us look deep into Reality..
You have always been Thought..
From the visions of mirrored duality to the unification of desire..
The only desire that have ever existed has been that of Love..
You seek Freedom and find the answer of Love..
So much seeking and so little finding..
-thomas
The words of Jesus through John Smallman...
The awakening of humanity is occurring right now, in this eternal moment.
by John Smallman
Humanity is precisely on schedule for its imminent awakening. God wills that humanity awaken, and humanity has made the collective decision to awaken, so nothing can prevent it. Do not be discouraged by the mainstream media reportage of bad news. Yes, of course people are suffering in wars and in dire poverty in many places on Earth, but this is nothing new, war and poverty have been endemic on Earth for eons. However, never before have so many cared compassionately about the suffering and poverty that those less fortunate than themselves are undergoing, and never before has so much been done to alleviate poverty and suffering, and to bring wars to an end.
The vast majority incarnate on Earth at this time are ready for enormous changes to occur to bring the way you live into line with the divine Will, which is, of course, utterly in agreement with each of your wills, even though many seem, as yet, to be unaware of this collective will. In fear, many, not seeing the true spiritual trend of human evolution, still cling to judgment and blame, while deep within themselves they are desperately hoping and praying for the change that is imminent.
Humans want peace and abundance for all, it's just that many feel basically insignificant in the vast scheme of things, and therefore imagine that their prayers and intentions are all but ineffective in bringing it about. But, as you have so often been told, just making the personal intent daily to be loving in every situation, in every moment, is incredibly powerful because it aligns you with the divine Will, and the divine Will is always achieved, perfectly.
KNOW that awakening is imminent, remind yourselves every day that this is so, and intend to open to your inner or spiritual knowing that confirms this. Love is all that exists, and as you hold the intent to be loving you strengthen the collective intent that is bringing you all to awakening. The awakening of humanity is occurring right now, in this eternal moment, and is demonstrated worldwide by the massive energy field of compassion that grows daily as more and more humans decide that there has to be a better way to live together on Earth. And of course there is! Finally the collective has made the intention to be loving, accepting, compassionate, and forgiving. And that collective decision has limitless power to bring in the essential changes needed to establish peace among all of you.
All are One, as so many channeled messages from those of us inhabiting the spiritual realms have been informing you for a very long time. That message is finally being accepted and shared. Realizing that all are One is an enormous step forward on your spiritual evolutionary path. Unless you accept that divine truth and live in accordance with it, wars, unconscionable suffering and poverty will continue to destroy lives and livelihoods all across the world. The Good News is that this divine Truth has been realized and accepted by a large enough number of humans for it to be put into effect in every nation and every culture, and that is happening right now.
As you have been told so often, Humanity is waking up! The unconscionable preemptive attacks that have for eons been instigated by one arrogant and egoically driven group upon another are coming to an end, because those – the masses – who were instructed to carry them out have, due to a growing awareness of the futility of this kind of behavior, will no longer unquestioningly carry out the orders of their superiors.
Every human is a beloved child of God, One with each other and with God, and each one is coming into a realization of this Truth – the divine and eternal Truth – that you are, each individual one of you, utterly and personally responsible for your beliefs and behaviors. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT, blame your superiors or the orders that they give you for what you do! What you think, say, or do is your own personal responsibility – no one else's – just yours. And daily more and more humans are awakening into the realization of this holy Truth.
You have always had free will, but, within the illusion where you have taken form as individual humans, seemingly totally separated from one another, you have accepted the illusion as a real state comprised of levels of authority to which you have to submit. Most of you believe that where you are situated in that power structure is as a result of your family's place in that structure, modified by your own intellectual abilities and academic achievements. In other words you can progress upwards through that structure to places of power and influence, and the system encourages you to believe this and to do your best to rise through the ranks.
Initial successes or achievements can be extremely rewarding and addictive, encouraging you to attempt to climb ever higher in the organization and claim the further rewards that success offers you. You bend or modify your honesty and integrity in apparently small and unimportant ways to enable you to rise upwards to positions of increasing power, authority, and acclaim, only to discover that you are no longer free, and instead belong to the dogmatic authoritarian structure to which you have given away your power. It becomes apparent that however high you rise there is always someone above you to whom you answer and whose authority you have to accept even if you utterly disagree with the directions and orders that you have to follow. By then, because of your personal commitments – financial, family, and friends – and your small indiscretions where you have abandoned honesty and integrity to support your superiors, you find yourselves trapped in a web of deceit from which there seems to be no escape.
At the highest levels in all organizations people live in intense fear! Fear of discovery or fear of dismissal, and so they are encouraged and tempted to discard all their remaining integrity and honesty, the aspects of themselves that they were originally taught to believe were the most sacrosanct. To arrive at this level and realize that there is no way back is shocking and terrifying, because all personal power is now lost, given away, and for nothing!
But, of course, you always have free will. It can never be taken from you. However, to reclaim it demands honesty and integrity, and doing so demonstrates that you have been corrupted, so that your image is severely tarnished, and it is likely that you will never again be trusted. To come clean and apologize is both extremely painful and absolutely essential if you are to regain your self-esteem. In order to do so you have to acknowledge that the ordinary world of commerce and politics is illusory and utterly corrupt, and then move away from it. To do so is painful because those whom you considered your friends and associates for many years will disown and disparage you. It demands courage at a level that you have never had to call on before – it is terrifying, it is the edge of the abyss, and you have to jump.
The good news is that you will not fall. The person who jumps is your ego, and you need to release yourselves from your egos, because it is they, those unreal aspects of yourselves that led you into the confusion and chaos of the illusion in the first place.
Finding the courage to leap is the hardest part. However, once you have leapt, all the shame and self-judgment will dissolve and you will find yourselves free, free to be the Real You, the You that you have always been; and then peace and joy will abide with you. Your renewed awareness, your awakening to the Real You who has always been present within you, connecting you to Source, will show you very clearly that you have always been free, and that you will always be free, because that is God's Will for you, and also your own will. So, go within, acknowledge the true You, the eternal Light burning within you, the temple within where you meet with God, and know that separation never occurred, never could occur, and that you have awakened from a nasty dream, and what you did in that dream, no matter how unconscionable it may appear to you to have been, has been forgiven. In fact it never truly happened!
So, go within daily, go to your inner temple, that place of Light where you are eternally One with God, and open your hearts to receive the infinite abundance of Love that is your right and your divine inheritance and in which you have always been enveloped. Then send Love to all, make no exceptions, and know that you are awakening all of humanity into Reality, your eternal Home. Having done this you will find that instead of meeting conflict you will meet Love in your daily lives, as you do your essential part in bringing humanity to wakefulness.
Your loving brother, Jesus.
You are That...
Soul of all souls, life of all life
you are That.
Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving
you are That.
The road that leads to the City is endless;
Go without head or feet
and you’ll already be there.
What else could you be? --
you are that.
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
In the Arms of the Beloved
Translations by Jonathan Star
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1997
Hurried...
Nothing can be more useful to you than a determination not to be hurried.
-Henry David Thoreau
Wisdom of the Overself...
It will be shown, when these studies are sufficiently advanced, that the hidden meeting‑point of the World‑Mind with each conscious being has a special existence of its own and must therefore be given a special name of its own. The name which will henceforth be here used is the ‘Overself’.
It is consequently from its own Overself that every individual receives the world‑picture. We have pointed out in earlier books that the Overself has its human habitat within the heart. Although associated of course with the whole body it has its most intimate association with the heart.
Just as a king’s rule may extend over a whole country and yet it may also be said to be definitely centered in the palace where he resides, so the Overself permeates the entire body and yet is also definitely centered in the heart.
Hence the heart is the focal point where the World‑Mind through its intermediary the Overself affects the personality. The karmic forces become active within the heart therefore and there break into space‑time existence.
Like light‑photographs on a sensitive film, they develop into a tiny seed‑like thought‑form. This is the matrix of the world-to‑be. Were this to remain here, then the individual would experience it only in the form of a dream. Indeed, in an earlier period of cosmic evolution such was the strange way in which the immature human race did pass its existence.
-Wisdom of the Overself
Paul Brunton
Life bursts with miracles...
"Around us, life bursts with miracles - a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops.
If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere. Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles.
Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings.
When we are tired and feel discouraged by life’s daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there."
~Thich Nhat Han
' Singular and Plural '...
Why is 'you', used as both singular and plural ?...
It is the only word that is used as such..
I have been thinking that Wisdom simmers in a large bowl and all I have to do is reach within..
This is why I never fear the writing of story..
When You have sent the ego away to the baby-sitter,
You will begin to travel within thoughts and dreams..
But, I digress..
Returning to 'you', what can be said ?..
You declare Yourself to be both singular and plural..
Duality and Non-duality..
What will You do now ?..
After 'Playing',
And You want to return Home...
-thomas
' That is You '...
At the intellectual level there can be no end to questions.
Instead, hang on to the one who is asking. That is all you
need do. Indeed, there is nothing else really that you could
do.
If you can do this, never allowing the self to escape
your attention, you will ultimately find that the seeker is none
other than consciousness seeking its own source and that the
seeker himself is both the seeking and the sought –
and THAT IS YOU.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
Suffering and Seeking...
Suffering and seeking are intrinsically tied together.
Suffering is the past. Suffering happens through identification with thought and emotion. Identification means that you believe that you are the thought-based story of your past and the emotions that arise in conjunction with that story. That story feels necessarily incomplete because it is not reality. It is a story that exists in time. Time is thought. This story is just a set of mental images. Images are, by their nature, incomplete. They have meaning only in relation to other images. The past story of you is looking for meaning—for completion in other images. Those other images are the future.
Seeking is the future. When the past story is believed to be who you are, the mind believes that it must do something to make the story complete in the future. Therefore, it engages in self-help therapy, career movements, relationships, buying material items, seeking enlightenment and a host of other things in order to find that completion.
This story is not really interested in completion. It is interested in continuing to keep the story alive. It does this through seeking. Suffering leads to seeking. Seeking leads to more suffering because future completion is never reached. “Future” is just a thought. It cannot be reached.
Your true nature is the timeless awareness from which the thought-based, time-bound story of you appears and disappears. This seeing ends the cycle of suffering and seeking.
-Scott Kiloby, Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
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