' Am I the soul ?'...
I have seen writers that state that they are soul..
The soul is the sub-conscious mind..
The idea that you are the lower dimension of mind is closer to Truth than the belief in human..
The belief in human is merely a lark..
The Truth is already known..
You are 'Mind' without illusions..
The 'Holograms' keep you busy..
As Mind, you project your presence within Dreams..
When You tire of Dreaming,
Wake Up !...
-thomas
' Catch 22 '...
The 'Catch 22' is the incessant belief that there is a 'you'..
As long as this belief is present in sub-conscious mind,
'you' remain an actor on a stage..
The desireless state is that of non-ego..
The rest of desires are just distractions..
Once the ego is eliminated,
all of the desires, evaporate..
Because the 'you' is gone,
'Consciousness' floats on the river to the Ocean of Mind...
-thomas
' Buddha Quotes on Life, Peace and Love '...
The whole secret of existence is to have no fear.
You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.
If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.
There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
-Gautama the Buddha
' Equanimity '...
The sage lives in a sense of equanimity so
constant that he is impervious to pleasure
or pain, gain or loss, praise or criticism.
He is so vacant of volition that for him
there is nothing to be done or not to be
done.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' Winning and losing '...
”There's nothing from which the world could profit more than from giving up profit.
A man who's no longer thinking in terms of winning and losing is truly a non-violent man,
since he's above all conflicts."
-Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
' Desire '...
Right and wrong, up and down, in and out..
A world of Duality..
The Duality of body and spirit..
Desire are the 'Thoughts of Creation'..
As Divine Consciousness, You desire Creation..
As Desire grows, Creation grows..
Life appears and grows to the Sun..
To continue Dreaming,
keep desire for experience within sub-conscious mind..
To leave the Dream requires the surrender of Desire..
The 'Desire' of Reality ,
is the clock that Awakens...
-thomas
' Are humans flawed ?'...
Look at this world of hate and war and tell me that humans are not flawed ..
The problem lies in the belief that 'You' are human..
Staying in the consciousness of being the Observer of the human mind will introduce you to whom, You really are..
You are Divine Consciousness in the process of choosing Your 'character' within this play..
-thomas
' The gender of Source '...
Source has no gender and this idea of gender does not enter the flow of knowledge of Self, within Light..
Light is our natural state of existence as Self..
As the Nazarene said;
" I and the Father, are One "..
But, that which first thought of Light, awaits your decision to end the desire for existence of separate Self, be it 'First Reality' or the hologram called life..
-thomas
' Manifestation mirrors Source '...
How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels
as the eyes,
such enchanted musical instruments as the
ears,
and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain
can experience itself anything less than a god.
- Alan Watts
' Duality and Nonduality '...
One of the helpful notions which philosophy contributes to those who not only seek Truth through the intellect alone, but also seek to know how they are to live with that Truth in the active world itself, is the idea of the twofold view.
There is the immediate view and there is the ultimate viewpoint. The first offers us a convenient way of looking at our activities in the world and of dealing with them whilst yet holding firmly to the Truth.
The first tells us to act as if the world is real in the absolute sense.
The second viewpoint, the ultimate, tells us that there can be only one true way of looking at everything, because there is only one Reality.
Since it deals with the Absolute, where time and space disappear and there is no subject to view, no object to be viewed, there is no thought or complex of thoughts which can hold it; it transcends intellect.
Therefore it could be said that philosophy uses duality for its practical viewpoint, but it stays in nonduality for its basic one, thus reconciling both.
-Paul Brunton
' You '...
Have “you” ever looked at what this “you” really is? Isn’t the “you” merely a belief? Granted, it may be a very strongly-held belief. You may believe there is a “you” much more than you believe there is an Easter Bunny. But what is the difference between you and the Easter Bunny? Both are beliefs, aren’t they?
In directing your attention to this “you,” I am talking about the idea of you, the story of you that lives in time and that has a past and a future. Is that “you” anything more than an idea or set of ideas?
If you walk away after reading this reflection and totally drop the “I” thought as you are cleaning the bathroom, where did that “I” thought go? Where is this “you” during those moments when there is just presence? In presence, your entire past and future vanishes.
The realization of your own absence is the most liberating thing. It reveals that all your regrets, resentments, worries, complaints and anxieties are nothing more than little subplots to a movie called “you.” In total presence, the movie and all its little plots are seen to be unreal—merely thought. What is left is your true nature as love, compassion, peace, clarity, and joy.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' The manifestations of life '...
After full surrender of all desires, especially egoic,
if Grace has found you sincere and worthy,
you as ego is dissolved and the Awakening into Reality called Enlightenment occurs..
You find 'Self' as 'White Light" ..
This 'White Light' is "You" as Divine Consciousness, and the Creator of holograms called manifestations of life..
-thomas
' The Home of Nothingness '...
The 'First Reality' called Divine Consciousness is the Light, Love, Knowledge and Creative point of reference..
The Pure Awareness of the 'Final Reality' is that Mind that said;
"Let there be Light "..
That Awareness that Created Consciousness and Light..
That 'Home' that awaits the truly adventurous state of Nothingness...
-thomas
' Apperceive directly '...
All that we can truly say is,
'I am here in the absence of space and now in the absence of time',
and the one thing that matters is the instantaneous apperception of this fact.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The truest advice for anyone listening to the teaching of Truth is to apperceive directly and forget immediately.
-A Net of Jewels
Ramesh S. Balsekar
http://www.advaita.org
' The Unreal '...
"Christianity is one way of putting words together and Hinduism is another.
The real is, behind and beyond words, incommunicable, directly experienced, explosive in its effect on the mind.
It is easily had when nothing else is wanted.
The unreal is created by imagination and perpetuated by desire."
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
I Am That
' A consistent skeptic '...
One who doubts everything should also
doubt one’s own conclusions in order to be
a consistent skeptic.
- Swami Krishnananda
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Facets of Spirituality
Complied by S. Bhagyalakshmi
Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1986
' Ignorance '...
All beings are bitten by the serpent of ignorance.
But when ignorance combines with arrogance,
then we are really in a very bad state.
You have to come out of arrogance.
When arrogance goes, humility comes.
When humility comes, ignorance also will go.
When ignorance and arrogance are no more,
grace will be recognized and experienced as the pure presence of God.
- Mooji
' Roles in relationships '...
We often play roles for each other based on our conditioning including the role of mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband, lover, customer, salesman, convenience store clerk, doctor, policeman, politician, secretary, friend, preacher, teacher, spiritual seeker, Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu. The list is endless. We are conditioned to believe that we are whatever role we are playing. We are not roles. Roles are rigid patterns of thought. We are much more vibrantly alive than some pattern of thought.
When you are living life through a role, you are attached to the past, to some idea you learned or modeled from the past regarding how to act within a given situation or relationship. Actions are taken according to that conditioned image—that role.
The mind fears that if it does not conform to a certain pattern, role, or image, it will not know how to act or it will not be able to control a particular situation. But the truth is you do not have control. There is no “you” to have control. The “you” is a story of separation fueled by a contraction in the body and mind. The “you” is the role.
There is a presence here, right now, that is not playing any role. It simply is. In recognizing that your real identity is this presence, the playing of roles is seen to be unnecessary.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' The Overself '...
The Overself is not in time and consequently has no history.
It is, with no beginning and with no end.
The intellect which flits from past to future,
from one chronological event to another,
finds such ideas strange, hard to comprehend, and puzzling.
-Paul Brunton
' Only a concept '...
Even the very idea of the wholeness of the Absolute can only be a concept in consciousness. When consciousness merges in the Absolute, who or what can there be left to know or experience anything?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Desire to capture Reality at the mind-level means trying to confine the unknown and unknowable within the parameters of the known -- it cannot be done!
-
A Net of Jewels
Ramesh S. Balsekar
http://www.advaita.org
' Master Hsu Yun '...
Master Hsu Yun (1840-1959)
My Zen teacher's (Yen Wai Shih) teacher in China, Master Hsu Yun wrote:
"Mind is self-nature, is awareness and is Buddha, having neither form nor location, and being undiscoverable. It is clean and pure by nature, penetrates everywhere in the Dharmadhatu, does not enter or leave, neither comes nor goes, and is fundamentally the self-evident pure Dharmakaya Buddha."
"Ch’an (Zen) Buddhists often came to inquire (about all this). As to the Dharma, fundamentally there is no such thing, because as soon as it is expressed in words, the meaning will not be true. Just see clearly that mind is Buddha and there will be no more ado. This is self-evident and all talks of practice and realization are the demon’s words. Bodhidharma, who came to the East to “directly point at man’s mind for the perception of self-nature leading to the attainment of Buddha hood”, clearly indicated that all living beings on earth were Buddhas.
The outright cognizance of this pure and clean self-nature together with complete harmony with it, without contamination from attachment (to anything) and without the least mental differentiation, while walking, standing, sitting and lying by day or night is nothing but the self-evident Buddha (hood). It does not require any application of mind or use of effort. Moreover, there is no place for either action or deed, and no use for words, speech and thought. For this reason, it is said that the attainment of Buddhahood is the most free and easy thing which relies only on oneself and does not depend on others."
-Jackson Peterson
' It is an explosion '...
Reality is not the result of a process; it is an explosion.
It is definitely beyond the mind, but all you can do is to know your mind well.
Not that the mind will help you, but by knowing your mind you may avoid your mind disabling you.
You have to be alert, or else your mind will play false with you.
It is like watching a thief - not that you expect anything from a thief, but you do not want to be robbed. In the same way, you give a lot of attention to the mind without expecting anything from it.
Watch your mind, how it comes into being, how it operates.
As you watch your mind, you discover your self as the watcher.
When you stand motionless, only watching, you discover your self as the light behind the watcher.
The source of light is dark, unknown is the source of knowledge.
That source alone is. Go back to that source and abide there.
-Nusargadatta Maharaj from I Am That
' What does God know ?'...
There is no illusion or truth that exists without the presence of this Mind called God..
This Mind that saw that It was alone without other..
This Mind did not have a name or personality..
It was and is pure awareness..
This state of Consciousness requires no identity for advancement..
This state of mind called Buddhahood or Christ is the entrance into Reality..
It is difficult to leave a traveling companion called self..
But, true Self is beyond Dreams..
It is Mind composed of compassion called Love...
-thomas
' Solitude '...
Solitude is in the mind of man.
One might
be in the thick of the world and maintain
serenity of mind.
Such a one is in solitude.
Another may stay in a forest, but still be unable
to control his mind.
Such a man cannot be said to
be in solitude.
Solitude is a function of the mind.
A man attached to desires cannot get solitude
wherever he may be, whereas a detached man is
always in solitude.
- Sri Ramana Maharshi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
edited by David Godman
Arkana, 1985
' Only Now '...
It [the dream] appears to be beginnigless, but in fact it is only now. From moment to moment you are renewing it. Once you have seen that you are dreaming, you shall wake up. But you do not see because you want the dream to continue. A day will come when you will long for the ending of the dream, with all your heart and mind, and be willing to pay the price; the price will be dispassion and detachment, the loss of interest in the dream itself. Wanting it to continue is not inevitable. See clearly your condition, your very clarity will release you.
There is no need of a way out [of the dream]! Don't you see that a way out is also a part of the dream? All you have to do is see the dream as dream. The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory. Why go anywhere? Just realize that you are dreaming a dream you call the world, and stop looking for ways out. The problem is not the dream. Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another. Love all, or none of it, and stop complaining. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that needs be done.
-Nisargadatta Maharaj from I Am That
' Pure, Clear , Stillness '...
It is a state of pure intelligence but without the working of the intellectual and ideational process.
Its product may be named intuition.
There are no automatically conceived ideas present in it,
no habitually followed ways of thinking.
It is pure, clear, stillness.
-Paul Brunton
' personal doership '...
What constitutes bondage or hindrance to Realization is not activity or even effort but the sense of personal doership.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Both ignorance and enlightenment are states of the mind, and the mind is not an entity but a mere notion inferred by the memory of experience.
A Net of Jewels
Ramesh S. Balsekar
http://www.advaita.org
' Widening the gap '...
Hidden behind every particular thought there exists the divine element which makes possible our consciousness of that thought.
If therefore we seek that element, we must seek it first by widening the gap between them and then dissolving all thoughts,
and second by contemplating that out of which they have arisen.
-Paul Brunton
' Enlightenment for no one '...
With respect to enlightenment, thought says, “I have it” or “I don’t have it.” Those are dualistic ideas. The mind can get lost not only in the search for enlightenment but also in the false idea that it has attained it. Enlightenment reveals that there is no separate self except as a dream of thought. A self can only consider itself enlightened if it sees others who are not. The idea that I am or am not enlightened is just more separation.
Enlightenment is for no one. It is absolute liberation that no time-bound, egoic self could ever know. No story of self reaches enlightenment. That self is just a story of time, which means a story of mind. That story is doing everything it can to avoid this moment (i.e., to avoid enlightenment). Its main goal is to stay in separation—to be someone in relation to, better than, less than, or more spiritual than the others. It accomplishes this by staying locked in thought, in time.
When that movement of self is seen to be nothing more than thought, something beyond thought recognizes itself. That which wakes up is what you really are. It knows no separation. In this seeing, there is no longer the belief in a separate self who needs to tell stories about being enlightened or not being enlightened.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenmen
' Let's take a walk into Reality '...
You, as the reader is also the Observer of the film..
Although, you consider your 'self' as manifestation of solidity,
Consciousness interrupts your illusion..
This 'little emotion' called Love, enters the stage..
If I exist as self, why is Love, desired ?...
Because Love Itself is all that does exist..
The rest of Knowledge are mathematics and physics..
This is why the Teachers came to speak to you..
You have never been separate..
Alone means, 'All-One'...
-thomas
' Emptiness '...
What is the ultimate realization that a Buddha has realized?
Only when this single realization penetrates and illuminates not only the conscious mind, but also the subconscious mind, will liberation be complete: Anuttara Samyak Sambhodi
This single realization is the realization of "emptiness"; the emptiness of ALL subjective and objective phenomena. There can be no exceptions. If there remains a single dharma or phenomena that is not seen to be empty, it is only that phenomena that blinds and binds.
"Seeing the emptiness" of phenomena is seeing how all mental and perceptual phenomena have no objective characteristics of their own, and that their seeming "existence" is the result of one's conceptual constructions, mental descriptions, names and labels.
All phenomena only exist in consciousness according to how they are conceived and described. Every aspect and characteristic is conceptually constructed so quickly that the mind tricks itself into not noticing its own active constructing. This way appearances seem to have pre-existing duration.
There are no "objective" phenomena that exist with their own pre-existing set of inherent characteristics. This also applies to a personal "self", a self-identity, a soul, a spirit, an "other" person, or a true Self. There are actually no "objective phenomena" that exist outside of our consciousness.
All subjective and "objective" phenomena are "empty" of any inherently existing characteristics that are uniquely theirs, from their own side. ALL of their characteristics are assigned and are conceptually conceived by a mind; otherwise the phenomena remain without characteristics.
It's like a guest who comes to a party always "empty-handed" with no gift of flowers or a bottle of wine for the host. But at the last second just as the guest enters the door (empty handed), the host slyly and secretly hands him a bottle of wine to enter with as he first meets the other guests. They think he came with the wine as being his "own property".
Likewise the mind thinks that phenomena appear with their own inherently owned and pre-existing properties. Just at the vary last moment as an appearance arises, the mind secretly pretends the guest appearance came with its own inherent qualities, but the mind as host, slipped him "his characteristics" telepathically or so it seems. It then seems the appearance arrived in perception with already "pre-existing" characteristics and qualities.
Seeing that ALL phenomena are inherently absent of their own pre-existing, intrinsic characteristics, is to see the emptiness of ALL phenomena; including "you", "me", people, sentient beings, animals, gurus, paths, karma, karmic traces, ignorance, things, thoughts, events, emotions, causes of suffering, perceptions, universes and all experiences. They are ALL equally empty of owning their own defining characteristics. The conceptualizing mind is their single source and origin.
What appearances seemingly "are" is restricted and limited to only being the conceptual descriptions, labels and definitions as conceived by the mind of the "beholder". There are no underlying, self-existing objective realities beneath the conceptual constructions that define them.
This is exactly what's realized in the total and complete enlightenment of a Buddha. It IS total liberation from all "causes" of suffering becauseall possible past and present causes, or future potential causes, are always seen to be inherently empty of their own inherent causation and therefore, causative capacity.
This means all causes of confusion and suffering are created through one's own believed thoughts and convictions and have no causative source beyond one's own mental constructions.
One can get to the same insight through investigating the emptiness teachings according to Chandrakirti's Madhyamaka Prasangika dialectic.
Mipham Rinpoche composed a brief text called The Beacon of Certainty, in which he states:
"In order to have perfect certainty in Dzogchen kadag (primordial purity, emptiness), one must have perfect understanding of the view of the Madhyamaka Prasangika. Kadag, or original, primordial purity, is the view of Dzogchen, and in order to perfect that view, one must perfect one’s understanding of the Middle Way Prasangika view. What this implies is that the view of Dzogchen kadag (primordial purity, emptiness) and the view of the Prasangika school are the same."
Contented Mind: The Life of Gen Lamrimpa
The Venerable Jampal Tenzin, Gen Lamrimpa, teaches that a contented mind is within our grasp, no matter how difficult the conditions of our lives. Genla, as he is affectionately called by his students, is one of the small number of Tibetan monks who spend most of their time in solitary meditation. He makes his home in a forest hut in Sikkim, where he lives simply and engages in spiritual practices.
Quotes from Gen Lamrimpa:
"The entire universe and everything in it is conceptually designated."
"We say that phenomena are established by the power of conceptual designation."
"Since phenomena do not exist inherently, they must exist conventionally. And since phenomena are established by the power of convention, they exist in a dependent fashion. Phenomena are dependent upon something else; in particular, they are dependent upon conceptual designation."
"There are a number of Buddhist scriptures that make this point. For example, there are sutras that say phenomena are established by conception. Also, Nagarjuna’s writings say that phenomena are established by thought, and Aryadeva makes the same point. All these Buddhist writings say that phenomena are established by convention, and what they mean here is that they are conceptually designated."
"This is an assertion unique to the Prasangika Madhyamaka view. All four Buddhist philosophical systems affirm that phenomena are dependent upon the collection of their preceding causes and conditions. But apart from the Prasangika system, the other Buddhist philosophical systems do not assert that phenomena are established by conception. Advocates of those other systems are not able to comprehend this point."
"Nagarjuna comments that total emptiness, or universal emptiness, remains upon the complete cessation of all appearances of conventional reality. In the absence of all conventional appearances, that emptiness can be called “the clear light of the fourth occasion.” The Buddhist scholar Sangye Yeshe states that this mind of clear light pervades all of space. This indicates the essential nature, or the mode of being, of the awareness (rigpa)."
"We can ask this question in relation to the “I.” How does the “I” exist? First of all, the “I” does not exist except as a conceptual or verbal designation. Apart from that, the “I” has no other mode of existence."
(Translated from Tibetan by B. Allan Wallace)
Jackson Peterson
' Do not ask “how.” '...
If you ask “how,” that will only lead you deeper into concepts potentially skewing one’s understanding towards being partial.
Rather, ask “what?”
From what space am I going to meet life with all its demands, uncertainties, thoughts, and body responses?
Will it be a space of grasping the details, analysis, and manipulation towards your particular vision?
Or will it be a space of profound surrender, acceptance, and unwavering trust in the divine order of things?
-Atreya Thomas
' Higher-Ground '...
The idea of higher versus lower exists only within the mind as there is no location of Reality..
Mind has no address..
This 'Dreamer' that, we call God..
Fortunately, I have found this God called Love to be Truthful..
This word called Truth, is most important..
It is the difference between Freeedom and Slavery..
Why do you like the Truthful ?..
Because, it is the foundation of Love..
And, Love has always been the candy of choice..
But, Love is more important than that..
Love is all that You have..
Love is all that You Are...
-thomas
' The Sage '...
The sage has no mind of his own.
He is aware of the needs of others.
I am good to people who are good.
I am also good to people who are not good.
Because Virtue is goodness,
I have faith in people who are faithful.
I also have faith in people who are not faithful.
Because Virtue is faithfulness.
The sage is shy and humble - to the world he seems confusing.
Men look to him and listen.
He behaves like a little child.
- Lao-tzu
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Tao Te Ching
Translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English
Vintage Books Edition, September 1972
' Self realization '...
Self realization does not mean changing, coercing, and manipulating the mind and body to look a certain way.
It does not mean the absence of human nature including the spectrum of thought and emotion. Rather, it is the end of the obsession with the human condition and the experiences it offers.
Pain happens as well as pleasure.
When the mind is no longer caught in desiring certain experiences and expending all its energy in preserving and rejecting them, it naturally becomes still. It is in this stillness that one is made ripe for the flowering of awakening.
-Atreya Thomas
' God is chasing you '...
"I think many people who have deeply engaged in their spiritual journey have had moments where they wonder, 'Wow, what did I get involved in? What have I done?'
At the beginning of the journey, it feels like you are chasing God, and that's something you can comprehend.
And once God is chasing you, you realize the reins of your life are really no longer in your ego's hands.
Some other force is now commanding your spiritual journey, and your life has given way to a new, transforming force, the force of spirit and fire. And spirit and fire, as we've said, are not predictable, you cannot control them."
~ Adyashanti
' The seeker '...
If some Power has turned you into a seeker,
don't you think it is the responsibility of that
Power to take you where you are supposed
to be taken?
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' Consciousness '...
The teaching of nonduality is that all things are within one and the same element--Consciousness.
Hence there are no two or three or three million things and entities:
there is in reality only the One Consciousness.
-Paul Brunton
' Thou Art That ! '...
Lester Levinson: Q&A
"Discover who the thinker is ... When you discover who the one is that has the mind and has the body and does the thinking, you discover the real you, ~ an infinite being.
So look away from the body! look away from the mind! and look toward the beingness that you are and never stop until you fully discover that Thou Art That!"
~ Lester Levenson
~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~
"... meditation is used for quieting the mind. You use the mind to quiet the mind. When the mind is quiet enough this infinite being that you are becomes obvious.
That is the whole purpose of meditation. If anyone gets his mind quiet enough, he cannot help but see this infinite being that he is because it's only the thoughts that cover It. And the mind is nothing but thoughts. So, meditation is used to get the mind quieter, until you get it so quiet that you see your Self, your real Self." ~ Lester Levenson
' Deceased '...
De-ceased..
'De' means 'not'..
Ceased , means 'to end'..
De-ceased,
means, 'Not to end'..
It is simple semantics and logic..
-thomas
' Contradiction '...
There is no scripture in which contradiction
does not exist.
It is the contradiction which
makes the music of the message.
- Hazrat Inayat Khan
' Simplicity '...
Have you noticed how simple life actually is when you are not living it completely through the veil of thought? It is so simple, so effortless. It is doing the laundry, pouring detergent into the washing machine. It is hearing the sound of the door to the machine slamming shut and the cycle starting. It is footsteps to the kitchen, pouring a glass of water, and the feel of cool water flowing down the throat, soothing the body. It is walking to the bathroom, using the toilet and washing the hands. It is the feel of water rushing over the fingers. It is drying off the hands.
It is breathing, smiling, frowning, driving, walking, talking, being. It is noticing thought and then not noticing thought. ‘This’ is life just living itself spontaneously. No one is bringing any of it about. It is simply happening now. The self that would try to understand this is also just a thought happening now. You do not bring the story of “you” about. It merely pops into your head spontaneously. When this is seen, all sense of being in control is seen to be illusory. In noticing this, the possibility of an awakening into simplicity arises.
Life is so simple, so effortless, so natural. The person trying to live it, trying to control it, and trying to understand it will never see and experience that simplicity.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' Misery needs your help '...
Misery needs your conspiracy; it needs your help. Without your resistance misery cannot survive.
The Truth doesn't answer anything.
The Truth IS everything!
When you rest in quietness and your image of yourself fades, and your image of the world fades, and your ideas of others fade, what's left?
A brightness, a radiant emptiness that is simply what you are.
- Adyashanti
' Chasing happiness '...
Man's continuous attempt to freeze time in fixed moments out of the purposeless swirling of its dance is the cause of his frustration, fear and insecurity.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
People are so absorbed in chasing what they consider to be happiness that they do not have either the time or the inclination to stop and wonder if the kind of happiness they imagine is even worth having.
-A Net of Jewels
Ramesh S. Balsekar
http://www.advaita.org
' Wakefulness '...
If we could, we would probably all sink completely into this dream that passes for our waking life, but something keeps rousing us from our sleep.
No matter how dazed and confused it gets, our drowsy self is always linked to complete wakefulness.
That wakefulness has a sharp and penetrating quality.
It's our own intelligence and clear awareness that have the ability to see through whatever blocks our view of our true self - the true nature of our mind.
- Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, from Rebel Buddha:On the Road to Freedom
' We are Formlessness '...
No one has actually ever gotten entangled in phenomena, bodies, minds,
experiences, relationships, etc.
We are always already none other than the One
that is also Many;
our real Nature is the undefined, unstructured, infinite
Openness-Emptiness of Pure Awareness that is also simultaneously appearing as
all phenomena.
We are Formlessness associated with and permeating forms, but
never born or caught up as these forms.
~ Bankei Yotaku
' Becoming the All '...
In the beginning this (universe) was Brahman alone, and he truly knew (him) self (atman), saying: I am Brahman.
And so he became the all.
Whichever of the gods became aware of this, also became the (all); so too with seers and men. . .
This is true even now.
Who thus knows that he is Brahman becomes this whole (universe).
Even the gods have not the power to cause him to un-be,
for he becomes their own self...
(Brhad. Up. 1,4,10).
" In the world, but not of it "...
To become cold from the coldness of the world is weakness, to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above it is like walking on the water.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The spiritual path is easiest if there is not something pulling one from behind; and that force is the life in the world, one's friends, surroundings, acquaintances, and one's foes. Remain, therefore, in the world as a traveler making a station on his way. Do all the good you can to serve and succor humanity, but escape attachment. By this in no way will you prove to be loveless. On the contrary, it is attachment which divides love, and love raised above attachment is like a rain from above nourishing all the plants upon the earth.
There is only one thing that helps us to rise above conditions, and that is a change of outlook on life. This change is made practicable by a change of attitude. .. For a Sufi, therefore, not only patience to bear all things is necessary, but to see all things from a certain point of view that can relieve him for that moment from difficulty and pain. Very often it is one's outlook which changes a person's whole life. It can turn hell into heaven, it can turn sorrow into joy. When a person looks from a certain point of view, every little pin-prick feels like the point of a sword piercing his heart. If he looks at the same thing from a different point of view, the heart becomes sting-proof. Nothing can touch it. All things which are sent forth at that person as bullets drop down without ever having touched him.
What is the meaning of walking upon the water? Life is symbolized as water. There is one person who drowns in the water, there is another who swims in the water, but there is still another who walks upon it. The one who is so sensitive that, after one little pin prick he is unhappy throughout the day and night is the man of the first category. The one who takes and gives back and makes a game of life is the swimmer. He does not mind if he receives one knock, for he derives satisfaction from being able to give two knocks in return. But the one whom nothing can touch is in the world and yet is above the world. He is the one who walks upon the water; life is under his feet, both its joy an its sorrow.
Verily, independence and indifference are the two wings which enable the soul to fly.
To become cold with the coldness of the world is weakness, and to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above the world is like walking on the water. There are two essential duties for the man of wisdom and love; that is to keep the love in our nature ever increasing and expanding, and to strengthen the will so that the heart may not be easily broken. Balance is ideal in life; one must be fine and yet strong, one must be loving and yet powerful.
' All half-truths '...
Just as many rivers are one in the ocean
All half-truths are swallowed by the one truth;
The effulgence of the sun illuminates all dark corners.
Clouds draw water from the ocean to fall as rain on the earth
And there is neither increase nor decrease;
Just so, reality remains unaltered like the pure sky.
Replete with the Buddha's perfections
Sahaja is the one essential nature;
Beings are born into it and pass into it,
Yet there is neither existence nor non-existence in it.
~ Saraha, from Dohakosa
' The True Sage '...
The true sage seeks to lead men into a life that is noble, beautiful, and intelligent, and to save them from their sins of self-exhaustion through febrile and foolish conflicts.
The sage has lifted his thinking above the level of both free will and fate, matters which concern the ego.
He lives in the Witness Self.
The practical result is that he does not feel the caress of pleasure or the sting of pain so keenly as others.
He exemplifies the truth of Nature's dictate,
"To him who asks nothing everything is given."
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 3: The Sage > # 259 Paul Brunton
' Satsang '...
Satsang is a tongueless teacher and headless
students.
So shut your head, let your heart open,
and truth will reveal itself to you in silence.
Only
pay attention to That with your open heart.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
' Do nothing, just be '...
Do nothing, just be. In being all happens naturally.
Be nothing, know nothing, have nothing. This is the only life worth living, the only happiness worth having.
You can do nothing. What time has brought about, time will take away. This is the end of yoga, to realize independence. All that happens, happens in and to the mind, not to the source of the "I am". Once you realize that all happens by itself (call it destiny, or the will of God, or mere accident), you remain as witness only, understanding and enjoying, but not perturbed. You are responsible only for what you can change. All you can change is only your attitude. There lies your responsibility.
-Nisargadatta Maharaj
' The Glimpse '...
It must be remembered that the glimpse is not the goal of life.
It is a happening, something which begins and ends, but something which is of immense value in contributing to the philosophic life, its day-to-day consciousness, its ordinary stabilized nature.
Philosophic life is established continuously and permanently in the divine presence; the glimpse comes and goes within that presence.
The glimpse is exceptional and exciting; but sahaja, the established state, is ordinary, normal, every day.
The glimpse tends to withdraw us from activity, even if only for a few moments, whereas sahaja does not have to stop its outward activity.
-- Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself > Chapter 8: Glimpses and Permanent Illumination > # 23
-- Perspectives > Chapter 22: Inspiration and the Overself > # 92
Paul Brunton
' Looking at the sage '...
Below me, is a mystic that can speak all Truth in two sentences..
I have seen the mystic that can speak it in One, but that is rare..
By now, you have realized that all of these plays that you act within are just a dream..
The power of Creative Thought is without limit as the mind can bear..
It is strange that this 'White Light' that You peer from, requires no shade for the eyes of Consciousness..
Knowledge and Love flow through You and Heaven is found..
But, a Voice will not answer a question and you look further..
Re-entering the Dream is a difficult decision..
Perhaps, to learn more, you must suffer more...
-thomas
' The Sage '...
The sage is one who has offered as a sacrifice his own individuality, and this annihilation of identity is tantamount to merging with the Totality in complete love.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
What you appear to be is the outer body perceiving the outer world, but what you are is that Consciousness in which the body and the world appear.
-A Net of Jewels
Ramesh S. Balsekar
http://www.advaita.org
' The Eternal Identity '...
There seem to two kinds of searchers:
those who
seek to make their ego something other than it is,
i.e. holy, happy, unselfish (as though you could
make a fish unfish),
and those who understand
that all such attempts are just gesticulation and
play-acting, that there is only one thing that can
be done,
which is to disidentify themselves with
the ego, by realizing its unreality, and by becoming
aware of their eternal identity with pure being.
- Wei Wu Wei
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Fingers Pointing Towards the Moon
Reflections of a Pilgrim on the Way
Wei Wu Wei
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1958
' More on ideas about enlightenment '...
Yesterday’s reflection stated, “Enlightenment is the death of identification with everything the self loves to hang onto including spiritual ideas.” Spiritual ideas are merely stories pointing back to the timeless, empty, awake space in which everything and every story arise.
When it is realized that this moment is all there is, stories continue to arise. The story, “I am enlightened,” or “I am unenlightened” may arise. Words such as non-duality, Oneness, and enlightenment may arise to express what is essentially inexpressible. Recognize that whatever we say about ‘This’ is ‘This’ appearing as a story about it. The words are never the truth. They are pointers only.
Yet none of these stories should be suppressed or denied. Who would try to suppress or deny them? Only a self with an agenda to change what is would try to suppress or deny anything. Only a thought would seek to deny another thought.
If a movement to suppress or deny a story arises, see it. If a spiritual idea arises, see it. When this seeing happens, an awakeness beyond the stories realizes itself. That last sentence is also a story. It’s not the truth. Just see it. Look to where the words are pointing. See that what is seeing is not a story. What is seeing is prior to all stories. In this seeing, everything is allowed to be just as it is, without attaching or identifying with any of it.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' The Higher Self '...
It is a higher self not only in a moral sense but also in a cosmic sense.
For the lower one issued forth from it,
but under limitations of consciousness, form, space, and time which are not in the parent Self.
-- Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself >
Chapter 3: The Overself's Presence > # 344
Paul Brunton
' You must find your own way '...
”You must find your own way.
Unless you find it yourself, it will not be your own way and will take you nowhere.
Earnestly live your truth as you have found it, act on the little you have understood.
It is earnestness that will take you through, not cleverness - your own or another's."
-Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
' The still mind '...
"To a mind that is still,
the whole universe surrenders."
Chuang Tzu, XIII
in Albert Kirby Griffin
Religious Proverbs
Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 1991, p. 111
' The stillness of Overself '...
What we know is so little that it ought to make us intellectually humble.
But that little is nevertheless of the highest importance to us.
For we know that the Overself is, that the passage to its stillness from the ego's tumult is worthwhile, and that goodness and purity, prayer and meditation help us to find it.
-- Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself >
Chapter 4: Introduction To Mystical Glimpses > # 121
Paul Brunton
' It was always your imagination '...
There is a strong compulsion to live in our minds.
To pledge our allegiance to every thought and feeling that passes through our awareness.
All too often we are living in our imagination.
Entire worlds are created that engender fear, worthlessness, resentment, and hate.
Or we try and think positive and imagine a world of feeling good, endless forgiveness, ideas of future heavens and rewards.
If you investigate a bit further, you will see how flimsy these worlds truly are, and how quickly they vanish if we stop propping every thought and feeling.
Then, we can proceed with the question: Who am I in spite of thought and sensations?
Perhaps, with the perseverance to see the question all the way through; we may come in contact with the Reality that is not mind or sense based.
-Atreya Thomas
' The Absolute '...
It is impossible to describe the sense of magnificence that comes out of the true apperception of the nature of the individual in relation to the manifestation.
The loss of personal individuality is exchanged for the gain of Totality of the cosmos.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That which is beyond all interrelated opposites and relativity itself is Absolute and inexpressible in words.
-
A Net of Jewels
Ramesh S. Balsekar
http://www.advaita.org
' Realize that Freedom '...
Happiness depends on something or other and can be lost;
freedom from everything depends on nothing and cannot be
lost.
Freedom from sorrow has no cause and, therefore,
cannot be destroyed.
Realize that freedom.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
' This is why, you're asleep '...
Negative feelings are in you, not in reality. So stop trying to change reality. That's crazy!
Stop trying to change the other person.
We spend all our time and energy trying to change external circumstances, trying to change our spouses, our bosses, our friends, our enemies, and everybody else.
We don't have to change anything.
Negative feelings are in you. No person on earth has the power to make you unhappy.
There is no event, condition, situation, or person. Nobody told you this; they told you the opposite.
That's why you're in the mess that you're in right now. That is why you're asleep. They never told you this. But it's self-evident.
- Anthony de Mello
' We are from another world '...
Listen to Dylan speaking of another world and dreams..
You can believe that you are human or spirit..
Belief is the Creative Source,
you must Believe for manifestation to occur..
We are the 'Dreamers' , that he sings of..
If you could only Realize that You are the Seer..
You play the parts , sometimes with skill and sometimes with humor..
The skill of life is the education that you received..
You have been taught words that trigger responses within the brain..
You are now beyond indoctrination,
you have entered the mind of Truth...
-thomas
' Self inside self '...
Self inside self, You are nothing but me.
Self inside self, I am only You.
What we are together
will never die.
The why and how of this?
What does it matter?
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop, 1992
' Acceptance '...
Sit still for one moment and notice the timeless, empty, spacious, quiet presence that is here in the room. Even if there is noise in the room, notice that the quietness is surrounding and permeating that noise. Notice this presence within and without the body and mind.
Say the word “acceptance” out loud. Notice that the sound of the word “acceptance” arises and falls back into the quiet presence that you are. The word is virtually useless when you realize that presence itself is acceptance. This presence that is simply here is already fully accepting of what presently is. It does not have to do anything to come to acceptance including utter a word.
Thought does not accept. It measures, judges, blames, complains, analyzes, categorizes, labels, and thinks about life. It is not in the business of acceptance. It is in the business of thinking and talking about acceptance. That is not acceptance.
That is thinking and talking. This is not a prescription to not think or not talk. This is an invitation to notice what is totally untouched by thought. All thoughts about acceptance merely arise and fall within this presence. True acceptance is this presence that is always and already naturally and effortlessly accepting of what is including accepting of thoughts about presence.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' When the outside becomes the inside '...
In one of those apocryphal books which was rejected by those men who formed the canonical collection called the New Testament--a rejection in which they were sometimes wrong, and certainly in this instance--there occurred a saying of Jesus which runs,
"When the outside becomes the inside, then the kingdom of heaven is come."
Can we expand this mystical phrase into non-mystical language?
Yes, here it is: "When the outside world is known and felt to be what it really is--an idea--it becomes a part of the inside world of thought and feeling.
When its joys and griefs are known to be nothing more than states of mind, and when all thoughts and feelings and desires are brought from the false ego into the true Self at their centre, they automatically dissolve--and the kingdom of heaven is come."
-- Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism > Chapter 5: The Key To the Spiritual World > # 93
-- Perspectives > Chapter 21: Mentalism > # 57
Paul Brunton
' The mind '...
The soul is either raised or cast down by the power of its own thought, speech and action.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
One should say to the mind, 'Look here, you are my mind, you are my instrument. You are my slave and servant. You are here to help me, to work for me in this world. You have to listen to me. You will do whatever I wish. You will think whatever I wish. You will feel whatever I wish. You will not think or feel differently from my wishes, for you are my mind and you must prove in the end to be mine.' By doing this we begin to analyze our mind. We begin to see where it is wrong and where it is right. What is wrong in it and what is right in it; whether it is clouded, whether it is rusted, whether it has become too cool or whether it has become over-heated. We can train it ourselves, in accordance with its condition, and it is we who are the best trainers of our mind, better than anybody else in the world.
Each individual composes the music of his own life. If he injures another, he brings disharmony. When his sphere is disturbed, he is disturbed himself, and there is a discord in the melody of his life. If he can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life; he becomes himself by that much more alive. Whether conscious of it or not, his thought is affected for the better by the joy or gratitude of another, and his power and vitality increase thereby, and the music of his life grows more in harmony.
The heart must be tuned to the stage and the pitch where one feels at-one-ment with persons, objects, and conditions. For instance, when one cannot bear the climate, it only means that one is not in harmony with the climate; when one cannot get on with persons, that one is not in harmony with them; when one cannot get on with certain affairs, that one is not in harmony with those affairs. If conditions seem hard, it shows that one is not in harmony with the conditions.
The most important subject to study in this whole life is ourselves. What we generally do is to criticize others, speak ill of them, or dislike them; but we always excuse ourselves. The right idea is to watch our own attitude, our own thought and speech and action, and to examine ourselves to see how we react upon all things in our favor and in our disfavor, to see whether we show wisdom and control in our reactions or whether we are without control and thought. Then we should also study our body, for by this we should learn that the body is not only a means of experiencing life by eating and drinking and making ourselves comfortable, but that it is the sacred temple of God.
' A path with heart '...
If we are living a path with heart, our hearts will open up unconditionally and be aflame with LOVE!. It will be quite obvious that this has happened from the energy we put out into the world, AND by the energy the world gives back to us.
You can't fake that.
And if we are NOT living a path with heart, that also becomes quite obvious.......no matter how eloquent, articulate,interesting or spiritual our words may seem.
-Francis Bennett
' The personal consciousness '...
The personal consciousness has no more reality than that of a reflection in a glass mirror,
for it is Mind which illuminates it.
The personal life may be as transient as foam.
-- Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism > Chapter 5:
The Key To the Spiritual World > # 186
Paul Brunton
' Pawns '...
While we think it is we ourselves who are
making the decisions,
events are actually
happening on a vastly magnificent scale
in which we are merely pawns on a chess-
board.
Free will has, in fact, no bearing at
all.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' Radiant Heart '...
Sometimes people ask me, "If I realize that I as a separate identity don't really exist as I thought I did, then who is going to live this life?"
Once you touch upon this radiant heart of emptiness, then you know what is living this life, what has always lived it, and what is going to live it from this moment on.
You realize that you are not living this life; this radiant heart is what is actually living this life—along with this radiant, empty mind. When you give up being who you thought you were and let yourself be who you really are, then this radiant heart lives your life.
Then no-thingness becomes your reality, and non-dual awareness is what you are.
- Adyashanti, Emptiness Dancing
' Inner body awareness '...
Inner body awareness is a spiritual method. As with all methods, it must be taken in the proper perspective. Methods imply that it takes time to recognize timeless presence. It does not take time. Time is a dream of thought. Spiritual realization is timeless. Any method that makes you believe that you must practice the method for a period of time in order to be free obscures the natural freedom that is here in this moment.
Inner body awareness is not about time. It is about noticing what is already here in this moment. Inner body awareness is an end in and of itself. It is a timeless seeing. Right now, there is a vast space within the body and mind. This is the same space that permeates the entire universe. Turning awareness in on itself within the body and mind allows the vast timeless space to be realized.
Through inner body awareness, there is a direct experiencing of aliveness. Aliveness is felt in each of your limbs and in your stomach and chest as a subtle tingling feeling. As the space in the mind is aware of itself, an inner quietness is found. Thought is realized to be nothing more than form temporarily arising and falling within that spacious quietness.
Inner body awareness is just a tool to reveal that your true nature is empty awareness. Use the tool until it is no longer helpful.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' Visitors '...
Thirty countries a day visit this page..
These humans of education that speak many languages..
I am speaking to you..
You, as awakened within this dimension are aware of circumstances of existence..
You already have heard the words of Buddha and Christ..
These 'titles' barely describe these 'Hearts'..
This is who 'You Are'..
So difficult to believe that,
" The Father and I are One "..
This is why, you are here..
Walk upon these rocks,
they will not hurt you..
-thomas
' Why does the ego talk so much ? '...
As you have noticed in your dealing within society that those of egoic desire speak too much..
The desire of ego to be noticed and admired is the script of ego..
This reason to be noticed is the necessity for energy to be given from dream egoic desire to egoic desire..
This energy of recognition is the energy source for the continuation of egoic desire..
Power, Wealth, and Fame are the golden trinkets of desire..
You worry about elections and yet, you still live in fear and illusions..
Fear is the opposite of Love..
You mystics, pay attention..
I am allowed to speak only in paragraphs,
you, who have ears to hear, hear!..
-thomas
' Everything is Divinity '...
Nothing in the world is meaningless.
Everything has a reason or a meaning to it.
Therefore, be happy and smile.
Everything
is divinity charged with the Divine Absolute.
- Swami Krishnananda
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Facets of Spirituality
Complied by S. Bhagyalakshmi
Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1986
' The realization of no self '...
The realization of no self is not a position. It is not a philosophy or belief. To speak about it, however, one must enter into the dualistic realm of language.
The moment you begin talking about “no self,” it sounds like a position. But the realization of no self is the actual seeing that you are only emptiness (i.e., not the mental position or belief that you are emptiness, but rather the actual realization).
Once that emptiness is realized, it is seen that emptiness arises as every mental position but that there is no self to attach to any of the positions.
This pointer is not suggesting that you should not take positions. That, in and of itself, is a position. It is simply an invitation to look within, to that which is prior to all positions. It is an invitation to see that there is no self there to attach to any position including the position that there is no self.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' Living in consciousness '...
You live in consciousness;
your body merely moves about;
but few persons will pause long enough to perceive who they really are and what they are really doing.
-- Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism >
Chapter 5: The Key To the Spiritual World > # 137
Paul Brunton
' Call it Tao '...
"Something mysteriously formed,
Born before heaven and earth.
In the silence and the void,
Standing alone and unchanging,
Ever present and in motion.
Perhaps it is the mother of ten thousand things.
I do not know its name.
Call it Tao.
For lack of a better word, I call it great."
Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching, 25
Translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English
NY: Random House Vintage, 1972,
' The whole story '...
Non-dual realization is often considered to be the recognition of emptiness (also called pure awareness, space, formlessness or nothingness). That emptiness is your true nature in the deepest sense. The recognition of it is vital to realization.
However, emptiness isn’t the whole story. Emptiness can easily turn into a denial of form. It’s a trap. As necessary as the recognition of emptiness is, emptiness is moving as, and not independent of, every thought, emotion, experience, and state. This is when the emptiness is seen as totally full. This is when form and formlessness collapse, when the boundary between them is seen as purely conceptual, and all that is left is life living itself simply, naturally, and compassionately through you. This is when enlightenment is not about escaping. It's about seeing that your true nature is “not of this world” which paradoxically allows you to be totally “in this world” in a new way.
Emptiness is the essence of all form. The experience of “nothing arising” is merely a passing, temporary state. Realization is not about fixating in the idea of emptiness, absence, or “no self” or about maintaining a space free of the happenings of everyday life.
Non-duality is everyday life. This book is an invitation first to the recognition of emptiness as the source and then to the seeing that this source is appearing as everything. This is life, vitally full, alive, loving, and free.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' The idea of Eternity '...
The idea of Eternity,
which is a prolongation of time,
is not the same as the idea of the Eternal Now,
which is a cancellation of time.
-- Notebooks Category 19: The Reign of Relativity >
Chapter 4: Time, Space, Causality > # 86
Paul Brunton
' The One Self '...
Sitting in the silence is magic.
This is when things begin to
happen, wonderful things. Peace comes to you.
Happiness
comes to you all by itself. Joy comes to you.
When you sit
in the silence you remember who you are.
We come to see
we are all one Self.
What does this mean?
It means we are
not separate, we are One Self.
Think of that. We are all the
One Self.
- Robert Adams
` ` ` ` ` `` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Silence of the Heart
Dialogues with Robert Adams
Edited by The Infinity Institute
Acropolis Books, 1999
' The flickering flame of Love '...
To reject any form completely is to reject the Source of All within that form inadvertently.
Therefore, never hate, strive to forgive; and always reach for the flickering flame of Love within all things.
-Atreya Thomas
' The emptiness is Tao '...
"In carrying water and chopping wood--there is the wonderful Tao."
This ancient Chinese sentence is a subtle, clever way of saying that not only in meditation is the glimpse to be sought, but also in the world's work and life it is to be found and kept.
Such is the ultimate state, this emptiness of mind amid activity of body.
It is possible only by knowledge, the unforgettable recognition and understanding that within this emptiness lies Tao.
-- Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself >
Chapter 8: Glimpses and Permanent Illumination > # 84
Paul Brunton
' This Home called Love '...
Your desires are for happiness..
Which path leads you to happiness ?..
You can choose the path of ego that leads you to loneliness,
or you can choose the path of love..
At this point of your entrance into mysticism,
you begin to understand..
Love is the forgiveness from the soul of manifestation..
Look deeply into this energy called Love..
It is your Home, but this green land of knowledge of dark and light will enter your mind..
While entering darkness as Truth,
you fall into Light..
This is the strangeness of Reality..
Let us walk together, to find this Home called Love...
-thomas
' Control the mind '...
To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind.
If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment,
and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
-Gautama the Buddha..
' Thought, desire, and fear '...
Thought, desire and fear are all based on time or duration through memory - they are not of the present moment. They disappear along with time itself when volition has been abandoned or surrendered.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Man frees himself from the world, its ills, its suffering, its chaos simply by seeing the absurdity of it all.
-A Net of Jewels
Ramesh S. Balsekar
http://www.advaita.org
' Following any religion '...
”By following any religion, cult or creed, one becomes inevitably conditioned, because one is obliged to conform and accept its disciplines, both physical and mental.
One may get a little peace for some time, but such a peace will not last long.
In your true nature, you are the knower of concepts and therefore prior to them."
- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
' Spirit pervades all creation '...
"We believe that the spirit pervades all creation and that every creature possesses a soul in some degree, through not necessarily a soul conscious of itself.
The tree, the waterfall, the grizzly bear, each is an embodied Force, and as such an object of reverence."
Ohiyesa (Dr. Charles A Eastman)
Santee Sioux, 1902
in Joseph Bruchac
Native Wisdom
San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995, p. 86
' The presence of Source '...
"Only in the degree that you live consciously in the realization of God and let this realization of God dwell within you does it become true that you do not live alone — that the place whereon you stand is holy ground, and God is with you and He will never leave you or forsake you.
"Every person who has known dissatisfaction, incompleteness, and frustration will some day learn that there is only one missing link in this entire chain of harmonious living.
That is the practice of the the presence of God -- consciously, daily, hourly, abiding in some great spiritual truth, and it makes no difference which scripture: Christian, Hebrew, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, or Moslem."
Joel S. Goldsmith
Practicing the Presence
HarperSanFrancisco, 1991 (1958), p. 11
' Give him your overcoat, also '...
He who has spent has used; he who has collected has lost; but he who has given has saved his treasure forever.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The tendency to doubt, to be depressed, the tendency towards fear, suspicion and confusion, the tendency to puzzle -- where does it all come from? It all comes from the thought of getting something in return: 'will another give me back what I have given him? Shall I get the just portion back, or less?' if that is the thought behind one's acts there will be fear, doubt, suspicion, puzzle and confusion. For what is doubt? Doubt is a cloud that stands before the sun, keeping it from shining its light. So is doubt: gathering around the soul it keeps its light from shining out, and man becomes confused and perplexed. Once selflessness is developed, it breaks through the cloud saying, 'What do I care whether anyone appreciates it; I only know to give my service, and that is all my satisfaction. I do not look forward to get it back. I have given and it is finished; this is where my duty ends.' That person is blessed, because he has conquered, he has won.
Then it is lack of knowledge of the divine justice when man doubts whether he will get his just portion, or whether the other will get the best of him. If he looked up and saw the perfect Judge, God Himself, whose justice is so great that in the end the portions are made equal and even -- there is only a question about the beginning, not about the end -- if only he saw the justice of God, he would become brave, he would trust and not trouble about a return. God is responsible for returning a thousandfold what man has ever given.
The mystic can see from the point of view of everyone else, as well as from his own, which may be quite the contrary. For instance, in his teachings, Christ says, 'If anyone asks you for your coat, give him your overcoat, also.' A worldly man will say, 'It is not practical; if someone asked this of me every day, I would be continually buying new coats!' Yet, at the same time, it is more than practical from the point of view of the Master. For, according to his view, we cannot give anything, in whatever form, without getting it back in some way or other. Pure thought, good will, our service, our time, whatever we give, is never lost. It comes back to us according to our willingness to give, it comes back to us a thousandfold. That is why one is never the loser by being generous; one only gains.
The mystic sees the law in all things, and this gives him an insight into life. He begins to see why this misery has come upon him, why that pleasure has come; why one person is prospering and another not, why one is progressing and not another. All these things become clear to him because he sees the law working in all things. The law of the mystic is not the law of the people. It is the law of nature; it is the real law.
' Enlightenment and The End of Your World '...
Rio Jeffrey to Adyashanti -
It is important when we consider the subject of relationship that we not limit our consideration only to relationship between human beings, but broaden it to include our relationship to the whole of life.
From the ego’s limited point of view, relationship is always between objects—between a personal “me” and something other than me.
It is from this limited point of view that most human beings begin their consideration of what enlightened relationship is.
However, in order to find out what enlightened relationship is, it is imperative that the ego’s reality as a separate entity be questioned. Because as long as we perceive our self to be a separate ego, enlightened relationship to others and to life as a whole will remain impossibilities.
If one is to be truly free, then one must truly want to be free of all attachments, aversions, and dependencies upon others to meet their emotional and psychological needs. This is challenging indeed to many seekers.
Relationship based on Truth, which means a relationship that is free of dependency and demands, is a relationship centered upon celebration. It’s a mutual coming together for no other reason than being together.
~ Adyashanti ~
The Impact Of Awakening
' The Principle of Being '...
There is an irreducible Principle of Being behind all other beings, an Unconditioned Power behind all lesser and limited powers, a final Reality which was never born or put together.
Call it what you will, you can neither define nor describe it adequately:
men do not perceive it because they do not have the necessary faculty for perceiving it, for that is a faculty which has nothing to do with the affairs of their little ego and its little world.
But they can awaken this insight, nurture it, develop it.
-- Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? >
Chapter 4: Its Realization Beyond Ecstasy > # 153
Paul Brunton
' STOP, BREATHE AND LISTEN '...
There is an immensity present, a profound silence within the noise that when looked at, absorbs every thought, every worry, every sensation and compulsion.
It can only be found here, now; in the very midst of your daily life.
It is the healing and balancing principle of the universe.
Therefore, every chance you get,.. stop, breathe, and listen.
It is calling for you, every moment of everyday.
-Atreya Thomas
' The Infinite Beauty '...
Do not go to the garden of flowers!
O Friend! go not there;
In your body is the garden of flowers.
Take your seat on the thousand petals
of the lotus, and there gaze on the
Infinite Beauty.
- Kabir
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"Songs of Kabir"
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1977
' The gnani '...
He [the gnani] is alone, but he is all. He is not even a being. He is the beingness of beings. Not even that. No words apply. He is what he is, the ground from which all grows. (181)
A gnani commands a mode of spontaneous, non-sensory perception, which makes him know things directly, without intermediary of the senses.
He is beyond the perceptual and the conceptual, beyond the categories of time and space, name and shape. He is neither the perceived nor the perceiver, but the simple and the universal factor that makes perceiving possible. (532)
His [the gnani's] state tastes of the pure, uncaused, undiluted bliss. He is happy and fully aware that happiness is his very nature and that he need not do anything, nor strive for anything to secure it. It follows him, more real than the body, nearer than the mind itself. To me, dependence on anything for happiness is utter misery. Pleasure and pain have causes, while my state is my own, totally uncaused, independent, unassailable. (179)
As he [the gnani] gets older, he grows more and more happy and peaceful. After all, he is going home. Like a traveller nearing his destination and collecting his luggage, he leaves the train without regret. The reel of destiny is coming to its end - the mind is happy. The mist of bodily existence is lifting - the burden of the body is growing less from day to day. (180)
-Nisargadatta Maharaj from 'I Am That'
' Gnana yoga '...
All the processes of creation and dissolution are true only from the scientific or practical standpoint but they disappear when the student inquires deeply into them.
It is a matter of getting right understanding and then he sees they are mere thoughts or imaginations.
A longtraining in right--that is, philosophic--thinking is required before the mind becomes habituated to such views.
This is gnana yoga.
After that he has to practise a still higher kind of yoga which goes on in the midst of activity and has nothing to do with meditation as ordinarily known.
That ultimate path gives realization.
He gets glimpses first, lightning-flashes, which through continued effort gradually become stabilized and finally merge into continuous knowledge of truth.
-- Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? >
Chapter 4: Its Realization Beyond Ecstasy > # 120
Paul Brunton
' The Angels reply '...
After, I wrote the visitation of angels, they demanded equal statement..
They tell me that they exist as entities of protection and higher thought..
They realise that they are perceptions of Thought..
They realise that they will dissolve upon this thought, called time..
These single and yet united entities of Thought will enter the state of courage..
Courage is necessary to enter Reality..
Smile, as you forsake yourself,
It will make the journey more pleasant...
-thomas
' Let's call upon Angels '...
These 'Beings' of Light are Thoughts from Source..
We, who consider ourselves to be human are also Thoughts from Source..
We are taught from youth that we are a self apart from others..
This 'self', this 'delusion' of importance..
How much pain do we desire ?..
Hell is the distance that you are from Source..
Love is a door that opens with the key of humility..
So, let us call upon these 'Thought Waves' of Consciousness,
called Angels..
-thomas
' Uncompromising expressions of non-duality? '...
Some non-duality teachings claim to be “uncompromising non-dual expressions” in some attempt to set themselves apart from the apparent “compromising non-dual expressions.” The mind just likes to pick a dualistic position. “Uncompromising” exists only in relation to “compromising.” Even the idea, “Oneness,” exists only in relation to the idea of “twoness” or the idea of “many.” As soon as thought arises, it takes a dualistic position in relation to some other position. Positions exist only in relation or opposition to one another.
The One is uncompromisingly expressing itself as everything from a bird flying through the air, to a toilet flushing, to a preacher preaching the Bible, to an “uncompromising non-dual expression,” to a “compromising non-dual expression.”
This does not mean that all ideas are equal, which would—itself—be an idea claiming to be truer than other ideas. It is only to point out that the dream self will attach to anything to maintain separateness including the idea that it “gets” non-duality and that the others “don’t get it.” Every single thing you see, touch, taste, hear, smell, do, and feel is an uncompromising expression of the One.
Only the illusory separate self attempting to set itself apart would be interested in convincing others that its particular expression of “Oneness” is more important than the bird, toilet, preacher, or some other teaching. When the energy of convincing falls away, there is only clarity, peace, and love.
-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' When darkness meets Light '...
Just stop for one second and look; while giving over all your senses and focus to the moment.
There is something here!
It’s a mystery of mysteries.
There is a living force; something in a constant state of flux and cannot be nailed down by thought.
It beckons us inward and invites the seeker on a journey.
Raise the anchor; set sail and leave the shores of the known.
For, spiritual accolades are acquired where the dark meets the light.
-Atreya Thomas
' The Flash of Reality '...
All metaphysical study and all mystical exercises are but preparations for this flash of reality across the sky of consciousness which is here termed insight.
The latter is therefore the most important experience which awaits a human being on this earth.
If metaphysics or mysticism is regarded as an end in itself and not as a preliminary, then its follower misses what lies at the core of one's life.
-- Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? >
Chapter 4: Its Realization Beyond Ecstasy > # 155
Paul Brunton
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