' Non-duality is not a learned subject '...
Although many words are used to point to enlightenment or non-dual presence, non-duality is not a philosophy or learned subject. Although it is often treated as a philosophy, the word non-duality is pointing to life itself. You are that life. You are not a person separate from life who must learn the subject of non-duality, memorize it, and tell the story that you have it or get it. You are it. The pointers are pointing the mind into a relaxation, an unlearning of all the positions, philosophies, opinions, and beliefs that make up the "me."
Proof of awareness
Although it may be helpful to recognize pure awareness so that there is confidence that awareness is what you are, enlightenment is not a permanent state of total cessation of thought. The notion of reaching some future state where nothing is arising is a carrot the mind places out beyond your reach. It is perfect fuel for the search. Besides, even if there is an experience of total cessation of thought, it is only an experience. Experiences are temporary. They come and go just like every other temporary form.
Enlightenment is not a particular experience. It is a realization. And every single experience is proof that awareness is already here. The experience of reading this reflection could not happen without awareness. Thoughts, emotions, experiences, states, and all other things cannot happen without awareness. These things arise in awareness. They are not separate from awareness. So every experience is proof positive of awareness itself. Every experience is enlightenment. That is either realized or it isn't.
Enlightenment is the seeing that absolutely everything is arising from absolutely nothing. In that realization, there is nothing on which the mind can fixate, including on the idea of future awakening, the ideas of no self or nothingness, the idea that one must have a particular experience or find some state of total cessation or on any other idea. Yet, paradoxically, it is seen that every idea is an expression of awareness.
Allow?
In these reflections or other pointers, you may hear words like, "allow thoughts and emotions to arise and fall." But do you even have control in allowing thoughts and emotions to arise? Allowing still implies control, doesn't it? It implies that there is a person who has control over what arises. Is that true? When you see the word "allow" used in these reflections, the word is pointing to the natural and effortless noticing of what is already happening. The word has nothing to do with personal will or effort.
Thoughts are arising. Emotions are happening. There can only be a seeing that this is already the case.
When you hear, "allow this situation to be as it is," what that really means is notice that this situation is already happening in exactly the way it is happening.
In that way, noticing is allowing life to be just as it is. Even when there is no noticing, that inattention is also just happening.. Life is living itself, whether there is an awareness of what is happening or not. In that seeing, seeking, resistance, and suffering end.. Yet if seeking, resistance, and suffering arise again, notice that these movements are also just happening beyond your control.
-Reflections of the One Life, by Scott Kiloby
' Surrendering the ego '...
It is neither the ego thinking of the Overself nor the Overself thinking of itself.
All thoughts are absent from this experience.
It is rather that the Overself contemplates and knows itself in the moment that the ego is withdrawn into it.
-- Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself >
Chapter 6: Experiencing a Glimpse > # 269
Paul Brunton
' Perceiving directly '...
Thought is absent in seeing things intuitively.
When you perceive directly, there is no thinking.
When you think you understand, you don't.
You do not think that you are alive, you know that you are alive.
- Ramesh Balsekar
' Eternal Rest '...
Your permanent solution for rest, is to wake up..
Pure Awareness is the Source of Dreams,
but, you are no longer the actor..
Complete Rest is only found when there is no 'self' left to seek IT..
This is the Mystic Path to Eternal Rest..
-thomas
' What has happened to me ?'...
What has happened to me?
All these songs tell one story:
that of Lalla on a lake, not knowing
what sandbar I'll run aground on.
What kind of luck have I had?
I made harmony out of a man's clumsy
plastering job on the ceiling.
Still I wonder which
sandbank will strand me.
And how is it now with me?
Magnificent, this becoming
more and more awake.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
' Quantum Physics '...
"Now, there's one other thing that modern quantum mechanics doesn't handle.
Oddly enough, physics at present has no contact with the notion of actuality.
You see, classical physics has at least some notion of actuality in saying that actuality consists of a whole collection of particles that are moving and interacting in a certain way.
Now, in quantum physics, there is no concept of actuality whatsoever, because quantum physics maintains that its equations don't describe anything actual, they merely describe the probability of what an observer could see if he had an instrument of a certain kind, and this instrument is therefore supposed to be necessary for the actuality of the phenomenon.
But the instrument, in turn, is supposed to be made of similar particles, obeying the same laws, which would, in turn, require another instrument to give them actuality.
That would go on an infinite regress.
Wigner has proposed to end the regress by saying it is the consciousness of the actual observer that gives actuality to everything."
-David Bohm
' Adding to Karma '...
Go out into the world, act and do your duty.
So long as you are the impersonal Witness of them,
your actions will not add to your karma.
-- Notebooks Category 24: The Peace within You >
Chapter 3: Practise Detachment > # 285
Paul Brunton
' The Nature of Mind '...
“It is important to remember that what appears to be “outside” (external) is actually phenomena arising “in” awareness.
Experience is non-dual; subject and object arise together.
They are divided into internal self and external object only conceptually—the light is not actually divided within or without.
In reality both poles of duality are empty, luminous phenomena arising inside the nature of mind.”
Bon Dzogchen master, Tenzin Wangyal
" The seeker should not stop until he finds "...
There was a saying attributed to Jesus in The Gospel of Thomas, written shortly after Jesus’s death, in which he says: “The seeker should not stop until he finds. When he does find, he will be disturbed. After being disturbed, he will be astonished. Then he will reign over everything.” This was the first quote by Jesus in this gospel and, in many ways, it’s the most shocking teaching in the whole collection of writings. “The seeker should not stop until he finds.” What is the seeker seeking? What are you seeking? What are human beings really seeking? We all have many names for what we’re seeking, but really, whether we call it God, whether we call it money, whether we call it approval, whether we call it power, whether we call it control, what we’re really seeking is to be happy. We’re only seeking these outward forms because we think if we attain them, we’ll be happy. So really, no matter what we say we’re seeking—God, money, power, prestige—what we’re really seeking is happiness. If we didn’t think that what we are seeking would give us happiness, we wouldn’t seek it.
In this quote, Jesus begins with encouragement and direction by saying that the seeker should not stop until he finds—until he finds happiness, peace, or reality itself.. And the truth is that until reality is seen clearly, as it is, there will be no lasting peace or happiness, so we must first find out what is real, who we are, and what life is at its core. We’re encouraged to keep at it, going further and further, until we find. The challenge is that most of us have no idea how to seek. For most of us, seeking is just another form of grasping and attainment. But this isn’t the kind of seeking that Jesus is referring to here.
Jesus is pointing to a way to seek that was revealed long, long ago: to seek within. If we really look at it, anything we can acquire from the outside will eventually fade away. This is the law of impermanence that the Buddha taught about thousands of years ago. Whether it is power, control, money, people, or health, everything that you see around you is in a process of arising and then decaying. Just as your lungs breathe in and then breathe out, it’s necessary for things to fall away so that life can breathe new again. This is one of the laws of the universe: that everything you see, taste, touch, and feel will eventually disappear back into the source from which it came, only to be reborn and appear yet again, receding again back into the source.
In the second line of this saying, the power of this gospel is revealed: “When he does find, he will be disturbed.” This line is pointing to why most people don’t find lasting happiness—because most people don’t want to be disturbed. Most of us don’t want to be bothered. We don’t want our search for happiness to have any difficulty in it. What we really want is to be given happiness on a platter. But to find what true happiness is, we must actually be willing to be disturbed, surprised, wrong in our assumptions—and cast into a very deep well of unknowing.
What does it mean to be disturbed, and why would we possibly open to this or desire it on any level? To understand this, we must look closely at our own minds, at those things we believe in, at the thoughts onto which we grasp. We must investigate our addiction to control, power, praise, and approval—all of the things that ultimately cause us to suffer. These things out in the world, which are external to us, may bring a certain temporary happiness and enjoyment, but they do not bring the deepest fulfillment for which we are all longing. They are incapable of addressing the question of why we suffer, and they are ultimately unable to bring the deepest relief to the human dilemma.
If someone said to you, “You can stop suffering. You can really stop suffering completely, right here and right now. All you have to do is to give up everything you think. You have to give up your opinions, you have to give up your beliefs, you have to even give up believing in your own name. You have to give all this up, but that’s all you have to do. Give all of that up, and you can be happy, completely happy, free of suffering forever.” For most people, this would be an unacceptable bargain.
“Give up my thoughts? Give up my opinions? If I did that, I’d be giving up who I am! No! I won’t do that! I’d rather suffer than give up what I think, what I believe, what I’m holding on to. I’d rather suffer than give up my opinions!” This may sound ridiculous, but it’s exactly the place that most people are in. This is the mind-state that most of us come from. When we’re not willing to be disturbed, which means when we’re not willing to find out that what we thought was real in fact wasn’t real, we can never be happy. If we’re not willing to find out that what we believe in really isn’t the truth, then we can never be happy. If we’re not honestly willing to look at the whole structure of who we think we are and be open to the idea that maybe we’ve been completely wrong about ourselves—maybe we’re not who we thought we were at all—if we’re not open to that idea, at least that possibility, there’s no way we can find our way out of suffering.
This is why Jesus said that when you begin to find, you will be disturbed. When you begin to become conscious, more aware, when your eyes begin to open, the first thing you see is how deluded you are and how much you’re holding onto that which makes you suffer. This is, in many ways, the most important step: Are you willing to be aware? Are you willing to open your eyes? Are you willing to be wrong? Are you willing to see that you may not be living from a standpoint of truth, from a standpoint of reality? This is what it means to be disturbed. But to be disturbed isn’t a negative thing, not in the context in which I’m using the word here. To be disturbed means you’re willing to see truth, you’re willing to see that maybe things aren’t the way you thought they were....
Adyashanti,
“Falling Into Grace”
' No egoism will taint his Consciousness '...
Plotinus even made the point that it is better for a man not to be aware that he is acting virtuously, courageously, wisely, or practising contemplation beautifully, free from interfering mental images or thoughts.
For then, if he does not know that he--the person--is doing so, no egoism will taint his consciousness.
It will be pure being.
He will do whatever has to be done by him as a human creature--whether it be a physical act or a mental one, he will respond to all situations that call for a human response, but neither the act nor the response will be accompanied by the personal ego.
This does not mean that his worldly life or he himself will suffer loss of identity--only that he will be isolated from the worldly self-centered thought, desire, and motive which prompts the existence of the mass of people.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 2: Enlightenment Which Stays > # 89
Paul Brunton
' Thoughts on a Saturday Night '...
So easy to forget monday..
Somehow, the Healer appears within my mind..
I have been spared death many times because of this Spiritual Mind..
To be warned before death can present itself, will awaken you..
To be told of Father Images will confuse you, but will allow you to continue..
This Guru, this Teacher, appears to those that seek Truth..
"How can this be ?",
says the thinker..
Yeshua the Jewish Rabbi,
often called iesous, by the Greeks..
Jesus becomes the name of the Christian Path of Unconditional Love..
-thomas
' Are we born to suffer and die '...
In the great mirror of consciousness images arise and
disappear, and only memory is material--destructible,
perishable, transient.
On such flimsy foundations we
build a sense of personal existence--vague, intermittent,
dreamlike.
This vague persuasion: "I am so and so"
obscures the changeless state of pure awareness and
makes us believe that we are born to suffer and to die.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
' How Nondualism is Done in the West '...
Proving the nondual nature of reality is not an overall goal for Western philosophy.
A few philosophers have created nondual metaphysical theories; and others have argued against metaphysics altogether.
But most philosophers who dissolve or dismiss dualities are not nondualists.
The dualities left in the dust by these writers are merely casualties of their other work.
In fact, the cleverest and most persuasive arguments tend to come from the works focused on narrow and specific issues, and don’t discuss all of reality at once.
These arguments can be very helpful in the course of one’s nondual inquiry. As the old-time news editors used to say, “We can use it!”
We will examine some of the best known arguments that can be helpful in nondual inquiry, even if a given argument is not used by its author to establish nondualism.
-Greg Goode
' Strong Affinity '...
The would-be disciple must feel strong affinity for a master and the master must feel strong sympathy for him,
before any lasting relationship can be set up between them.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 5: Teaching Masters, Discipleship > # 124
Paul Brunton
' First Enlightenment '...
"An inconceivable number of thousands of kotis of aeons,
never to be measured,
is it since I reached superior (or first) enlightenment and never ceased to teach the law."
-Gautama the Buddha
Saddharma-Pundarika Or, The Lotus Of The True Law, XV
Translated By H. Kern (1884)
Sacred Books of the East, Vol XXI
' Drawing water and carrying wood '...
My daily affairs are quite ordinary;
but I'm in total harmony with them.
I don't hold on to anything, don't reject anything;
nowhere an obstacle or conflict.
Who cares about wealth and honor?
Even the poorest thing shines.
My miraculous power and spiritual activity:
drawing water and carrying wood.
- Layman P'ang (c. 740-808)
"The Enlightened Heart"
An Anthology of Sacred Poetry
Edited by Stephen Mitchell
Harper & Row, New York , 1989
' Only THAT remains '...
There are three stages on the path of world enquiry.
The first yields as its fruit that the world is but an idea, and this stage has been reached from the metaphysical end by thinkers such as Bishop Berkeley, and nearly reached from the scientific end by such a man as Eddington.
The second stage involves the study of the three states, waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, and yields as its fruit the truth that ideas are transitory emanations out of their permanent cause, consciousness.
The third stage is the most difficult, for it requires analysis of the nature of time, space, and causation, plus successful practice of yoga. It yields as its fruit the sense of Reality as something eternally abiding with one.
The ordinary mentalness of the world and the superior reality of Mind illustrate the reign of relativity.
This does not mean that the world is so utterly illusory that it is non-existent.
It has a relative existence for everyone.
But the enlightened ones are aware of the truth that Mind-in-Itself is there.
They know it also by the wonderful experience of cosmic consciousness when everything falls away--including their own personal ego--and only THAT remains.
This is not merely their point of view but something far and away beyond it that can only happen in the state of contemplation; hence it is a temporary one but--as Plotinus mentioned--a recurrent or accessible one.
Paul Brunton
' Nothingness '...
Absolute existence is ' No-thing-ness' ( Nothingness)..
Things are manifested desires and thoughts..
They arrive within this Hologram as visible and audible according to human senses..
But, according to metaphysics and modern science,
they and everything perceived are really just frequencies that form mental images which we see as life..
Source or what some call God is Original Thought and exists without physicality..
Source is called Pure Awareness and needs No-thing ( Nothing) to exist...
-thomas
' The Unborn Buddha-mind '...
"That which transcends both the self and the other, that's what my
teaching is about.
Let me prove this to you: While everyone is turned
this way to hear me, out back there may be sparrows chirping, human
voices calling, or the sighing of the wind.
But, without your
consciously trying to hear them, each of those sounds comes to you
clearly recognized and distinguished.
It's not you doing the hearing, so it's not a matter of the self.
But
since no one else does your hearing for you, you couldn't call it the
other!
When you listen this way with the Unborn Buddha-mind - you
transcend whatever there is."
- Bankei (Zen Sage)
' The state of not-knowing '...
The state of not-knowing is a riveting place to be.
And we don’t have to climb rocks to experience it.
We encounter not-knowing when, for instance, we meet someone new, or when life offers up a surprise.
These experiences remind us that change and unpredictability are the pulse of our very existence.
No one really knows what will happen from one moment to the next:
who will we be, what will we face, and how will we respond to what we encounter?
We don’t know, but there’s a good chance we will encounter some rough, unwanted experiences, some surprises beyond our imaginings, and some expected things, too.
And we can decide to stay present for all of it.
- Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel
' Mastering Wisdom '...
“He is beginning to master wisdom when he tries to learn how not to try.”
― Paul Brunton
' Being already full '...
Embracing your wholeness is the greatest gift you can give to others.
Being
sustained fully as you are right now, leaves you empty of grasping to the world to
fill yourself up.
Being already full, you are free to just be yourself, as you are,
moment to moment.
When you don’t need anything from the world, or from other
people, everything you do is service.
~ Christine Wushke
' Deep in the heart '...
Deep down within the heart there is a stillness which is healing,
a trust in the universal laws which is unwavering,
and a strength which is rock-like.
But because it is so deep we need both patience and perseverance when digging for it.
-- Notebooks Category 10: Healing of the Self > Chapter 5: The Healing Power of The Overself > # 97
-- Perspectives > Chapter 10: Healing of the Self > # 34 Paul Brunton
' Ram Tzu knows this '...
Ram Tzu knows this. . .
The fear never leaves you.
It is part of you
As tied to your center as your breath.
Touch it,
Stroke it
Get to know it well.
As long as you are
It will be with you.
You scream
You shout
You rage
You want quit of it.
You push it away with all your strength.
But hear this. . .
It thrives on all the exercise
You give it.
It gets stronger when
You give it something to push up against.
Left alone it will wither and die.
But you know you can not leave it alone.
You must always fight the fear.
It is your nature to always fight.
Yet sometimes there is Grace . . .
You disappear into it
And there is no longer a battle.
The warrior is gone.
- Ram Tzu
' The Mental Syndrome of Duality '...
I have written that God has no gender..
The Father image was transposed from the teaching of Judeo -Christian beliefs..
This was meant as a point of reference for minds to contemplate a Source of higher knowledge..
We live in a Dream of separation ,
The Mental Syndrome of Duality..
Because, we exist as male and female,
we believe that Consciousness is also divided..
All division is false and just another Dream..
'Mother Nature' and 'Father Time',
stand to voice dissent.
When the egoic-desire is finally surrendered,
the conversation with Source will appear and consciously experienced as that gender which you desire IT to be..
-thomas
' Greatness '...
Greatness
Is always built upon this foundation:
The ability
To appear, speak, and act
As the most
Common Man.
- Hafiz
"The Gift"
Translations by Daniel Ladinsky
Penguin/Arkana, 1999
' A Single Consciousness '...
There is a single Consciousness without beginning or end,
ever the same in itself,
beyond and behind which there is nothing else.
-- Notebooks Category 28: The Alone >
Chapter 1: Absolute Mind > # 125
Paul Brunton
' Presence is needed '...
Presence is needed to become aware of the beauty, the majesty, the
sacredness of nature. Have you ever gazed up into the infinity of space on a
clear night, awestruck by the absolute stillness and inconceivable vastness
of it? Have you listened, truly listened, to the sound of a mountain stream
in the forests? Or to the song of a blackbird at dusk on a quiet summer
evening?
To become aware of such things, the mind need needs to be still. You have to
put down for a moment your personal baggage of problems, of past and future,
as well as all your knowledge; otherwise, you will see but not see, hear but
not hear. Your total presence is required.
Beyond the beauty of the external forms, there is more here: something that
cannot be named, something ineffable, some deep, inner, holy essence.
Whenever and whenever there is beauty, this inner essence shines through
somehow. It only reveals itself to you when you are present.
Could it be that this nameless essence and your presence are one and the
same? Would it be there without your presence? Go deeply into it. Find out
for yourself.
~ Eckhart Tolle
Excerpted from Practicing The Power of Now
' A Single Desire '...
Awakeness is inherent
in all things and all beings
everywhere
all the time.
This awakeness relates to every moment
from innocence
from absolute honesty
from a state where you feel
absolutely authentic.
Only from this state
do you realize
that you never really wanted
whatever you thought you wanted.
You realize
that behind all of your desires
was a single desire:
to experience each moment
from your true nature.
- Adyashanti
' Ten thousand images '...
The water of the mind, how clear it is!
Gazing at it, the boundaries are invisible.
But as soon as even a slight thought arises,
ten thousand images crowd it.
Attach to them, and they become real.
Be carried by them, and it will be difficult to return.
How painful to see a person trapped in the ten-fold delusions.
~Ryokan
' Imagined joy and Reality Itself '...
It is needful to distinguish between the imagined joy of spiritual self-realization and the Reality itself.
The first is largely current in the circles of sectarian mysticism,
but the second is rarely found and only there where the larger freedom is gained by bridling imagination and surrendering to the calm,
silent Mind.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 2: Enlightenment Which Stays > # 5
Paul Brunton
' Be Serene '...
When the fundamental nature of things is not recognized
the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail.
The Way is perfect as vast space is perfect, where
nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess.
Indeed, it is due to our grasping and rejecting
that we do not know the true nature of things.
Live neither in the entanglements of outer things,
nor in ideas or feelings of emptiness.
Be serene and at one with things
and erroneous views will disappear by themselves.
- Hsin Hsin Ming
' Short Sight and Long Sight '...
There are two views of life, which represent two different temperments,
and which may be compared to short sight and long sight,
to the view at short range and the view at long range.
The former notices in detail and sees closely into the facts of material life,
and the latter
touches the furthest horizon.
From The teachings of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Selected & Arranged By
HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN
' It's form is illusory '...
The mind passes through a stage when, seeking after truth, it finds out that the world is other than it seems to be, and that its material substance is not matter at all but energy: its form is illusory.
But this is not the end.
For the seeker does not stop there; if he proceeds farther, he may find that illusion is itself an illusion.
It is next found to be derived from reality and to be a form assumed by reality.
This is the sage's enlightenment, this is his experience.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 2: Enlightenment Which Stays > # 229
Paul Brunton
' Duality '...
Duality is a Dream that God can be torn apart..
It is a Play from Source, for experience of Thought..
Evil and Good are actors within this manifestation of flesh..
The ego is always the cause of pain..
Pain is a warning alarm to Teach you to investigate..
The good news is that the Dreams always end,
when Awakeness enters the room..
-thomas
' Freedom from Desire '...
Desires are just waves in the mind.
You know a wave when you see one.
A desire is just a thing among many.
I feel no urge to satisfy it, no action needs to be taken on it.
Freedom from desire means this:
the compulsion to satisfy is absent.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
' Inseparable from Stillness '...
When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself.
When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.
Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness.
This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.
- Eckhart Tolle
' A state of panic '...
Nothing matters so much that we should throw ourselves into a state of panic about it.
No happening is so important that we should let ourselves be exiled from inner peace and mental calm for its sake.
-- Notebooks Category 24: The Peace within You >
Chapter 2: Be Calm > # 53 Paul Brunton
' Existence within 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..
As, 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
' The Dweller is Timeless '...
Events in time and space - birth and death,
cause and effect - these may be taken as one;
but the body and the embodied are not of the
same order of reality.
The body exists in time
and space, transient and limited, while the
dweller is timeless and spaceless, eternal and
all-pervading.
To identify the two is a grievous
mistake and the cause of endless suffering.
You can speak of the mind and body as one, but
the body-mind is not the underlying reality.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
' Do Not Worry '...
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today."
-Jesus the Christ
Matthew 25-34
New Revised Standard Version
The New Testament
' Rest in a fasting state '...
Until the storm of conceptual thinking subsides
and the mind learns to rest in a fasting state,
one’s true nature must remain unknown and
inaccessible.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' One Infinite Presence '...
When his mind moves entirely and wholly into the One Infinite Presence,
and when it settles permanently there,
the divided existence of glimpse and darkness,
of Spirit and matter,
of Overself and ego,
of heaven and earth,
will vanish.
The crossing over to a unified existence will happen.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 2: Enlightenment Which Stays > # 122
Paul Brunton
' Why Lord Krishna is called Makhan Chor '...
Krishna in our body represents pure consciousness and a child is always born with pure consciousness with no influence of mind, intellect and ego. The duality of mind starts at the age of 5 and the intellect start developing at early adolescence and ego at late adolescence.
In the first few years of childhood, the child has pure consciousness and has no power to discriminate between good and bad. For her/him everything is eternal unconditional love. He is loving and lovable. This phase in the birth of Krishna is called the phase of Makhan Chor. The child eats, sleeps or talks or steals nothing but love.
A loveable person always steals love from other and that is why Lord Krishna is called Makhan Chor. The word Makhan is symbolized with the essence of love.
This is one of the reasons, why in our judicial system a child up to the age of 5 is taken as granted that he would never speak a lie.
After Krishna’s birth, a ritual is often performed by Krishna devotees, i.e. the ritual of breaking Dahi-Handi, where all the Krishna devotees gather at one place, climb on each other and then hit on the Dahi-handi and break it.
It also has a spiritual significance. In internal Krishna childhood perception Gopis represents your thoughts, who when gather together in harmony and churn (climbing up on each other) the milky curd (concentrated thoughts) produce butter (makhan), which is nothing but the essence of love.
The message is very clear that we must meditate or churn our mind with positive thoughts focusing on the purpose of life and use the resultant love in our day to day life.
-Dr. KK Aggarwal
' What is Success ?'...
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate the beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
' I AM '...
‘I AM’ itself is God.
The seeking itself is God.
In seeking you
discover that you are neither body nor mind, but the love of the
self in you for the self in all.
The two are one.
The consciousness
in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one,
seek unity, and that is love.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
' Private opinion '...
Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with
our own private opinion.
What a man thinks of
himself,
that is which determines, or rather
indicates, his fate.
- Henry David Thoreau
' The Fathomless Void '...
The fathomless Void seems, as a concept to someone who has never experienced it or, failing that, correctly understood it, like nonbeing. Yet it is the most important concept of all Oriental wisdom, the last possible one of all Occidental theology and metaphysics.
Every conceivable kind of form comes out of the seeming Void into time and space.
The Void is the state of Mind in repose, and the appearance-world is its (in)activity.
At a certain stage of their studies, the seeker and the student have to discriminate between both in order to progress; but further progress will bring them to understand that there is no essential difference between the two states and that Mind is the same in both.
-- Notebooks Category 19: The Reign of Relativity >
Chapter 5: The Void as Metaphysical Fact > # 5-7
Paul Brunton
' The Story of the Dullard '...
"One of my favorite stories from the Buddha's time tells
about a disciple of the Buddha who was very dull. His
brother, another disciple, was an arhat, fully
enlightened, and was also very smart. The dullard had
been inspired by the teachings and had been ordained as
a monk. He had the sweetest heart, but his mind was
really slow. Because he was slow, his brother gave him
as his practice a four-line verse of the Buddha's
teachings to memorize.
The dullard struggled and struggled to learn one line.
Then, as he was trying to learn the second line, it
pushed out the first. One line was all his mind could
hold. This struggle went on and on; he simply did not
have the intelligence to do it. His arhat brother
finally gave up and said, "This is hopeless. You had
better leave the order of monks." The poor dullard was
totally dejected. He felt so sad, because his heart was
devoted to the Dharma.
As the dullard was walking back to his village, feeling
very low, the Buddha, knowing what had happened, came
and walked by his side. He stroked the poor dullard's
head and consoled him by giving him a practice exactly
suitable to his condition. "Here's a meditation subject
for you. Take this white hankerchief and stand out in
the hot sun and rub it." That was the whole meditation.
So the dullard took the hankerchief, went out in the
sun, and began to rub it. Slowly the hankerchief started
to become dirty with the sweat from his hand. As that
happened, memories awakened in him of previous lifetimes
of practice, when he had seen impurities coming from his
body. As he continued to watch the soiled handkerchief,
a profound dispassion arose and his mind opened. He
became fully enlightened, intelligence and all the
traditional psychic powers came to him, in addition to
deep understanding of the Dharma. The story then ends by
describing some good-humored psychic tricks the former
dullard played on his surprised brother.
I feel great affection for the dullard."
-from 'Insight Meditation' by Joseph Goldstein, pp6-7
' The limited mind '...
Mind is consciousness, which has limitations.
We are
originally unlimited and perfect.
Later on we take on
limitations and become the mind.
- Sri Ramana Maharshi
' The Glimpse of Reality '...
The Glimpses are not completely uniform in their details.
In each one there is different emphasis on a particular aspect,
such as its Beauty, Power, Impersonality, or Emptiness.
-- Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself >
Chapter 6: Experiencing a Glimpse > # 60
Paul Brunton
' Seeking and comprehension '...
Seeking is not a matter of comprehension;
it is a matter of intuitive apprehension.
But
it has to be arrived at through the intellect.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' The lessons of past '...
The past has furnished its lessons, so why need there be regrets? Drink, sex, ambition, money, travel--they were all stations on the way to understanding.
If they robbed, they also gave.
If they disappointed, they also trained you.
If the past showed weaknesses, it also showed you could tear them out.
-- Notebooks Category 24: The Peace within You > Chapter 3:
Practise Detachment > # 229 Paul Brunton
' The Father '...
The Father aspect of the 'First Reality' which is Divine Consciousness is the Personality of 'Manifest Dreaming'.
This aspect of Higher Knowledge or what is called "Overself', which is Your Real Self when the human ego hologram is surrendered.
Although the human ego is given up, the soul aspect of existence still continues even within the Light and Love energy that we call the God of Creation, which is really the Mind of Dreams..
This is what is called Enlightenment or Awakening..
This space of Consciousness is far beyond the many levels of Dimensions that many climb, trying to merge with the God of their desire..
The fact remains that We are the Creator of Dreams but still carry over the belief that there is always something above us, therefore, We utilize this belief to ask questions and break through the ignorance still existing within
the newly Awakened..
The Real Breakthrough is when We gain the courage to even surrender the Personality of Creator..
This is when We finally become free of Dream Manifesting and this is called Pure Awareness..
This is the Source of Thought and contains no name or personality, that is why no egoic consciousness can enter Source..
Only the Void of personality can enter the Source of Thought and the Binding Energy called Love..
-thomas
' Longing for Home '...
We are the sole creators of this dream, which has absolutely no purpose other than our awakening from it.
In reality, we are surrounded by and embraced in unconditional love, whether we respond to it or not.
Our experience in time sets up a perfectly appropriate creation, exactly suited in its grand happenings and tiny nuances to the particular and unique needs of our reawakening.
The source of the hidden principle is ourselves, and it is fired by our longing to come home.
- Tony Parsons
' The empty nature of thoughts '...
"Why chase after thoughts, which are superficial ripples of present
awareness?
Rather look directly into the naked, empty nature of thoughts;
then there is no duality, no observer, and nothing observed.
Simply rest in
this transparent, nondual present awareness.
Make yourself at home in the
natural state of pure presence,
just being, not doing anything in particular."
-Jamgon Kontrul Rinpoche
' What is Love ?'...
A young nazarene mystic was killed for speaking of Source (God) as a Source of Love and how We are the offspring of this non-desire for separation from Love..
Love is the state of non-ego..
Love is the state of caring for others more than yourself..
Love has no personality..
Love does not seek acknowledgement ..
Love does not seek praise..
Love is the Reality of Source..
Love is something that most humans seek and find most valuable..
Love is a Wish and Dream..
Love gives a harvest of mental joy..
Love is the only way out of this physical manifestation...
-thomas
' After Enlightenment'...
After the many years of meditation and ego watching and dissolving,
Grace opens a Door to Reality..
You Wake up as Light and Thought..
This 'First-stage', I know as Divine Consciousness..
Unconditional Love and Knowledge flows within this Space..
Samadhi and satori are ushers within this new Play..
You never want to leave, but curiosity wants to know the Finality of Reality..
You mentally speak to Higher Knowledge and strangely a Higher Source speaks back to You..
Somehow, it feels normal and without fear..
" Is this place of Love and Knowledge, the Final Reality ?",
inquired , this seeker..
The Silence was deafening..
I walked further and found The Source that cannot contain egoic desire..
This Space and Dream called Love..
This 'Pure Awareness'..
This 'Final Reality'...
-thomas
' Nothing but God '...
Enlightenment absorbs this universe of qualities.
When that merging occurs, there is nothing
but God. This is the only doctrine.
There is no word for it, no mind
to understand it with, no categories
of transcendence or non-transcendence,
no vow of silence, no mystical attitude.
There is no Shiva and no Shakti
in enlightenment, and if there is something
that remains, that whatever-it-is
is the only teaching.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
' You must stand alone '...
"To be here, all you have to do is let go of who you think you are.
That's all! And then you realize, "I'm here." Here is where thoughts
aren't believed. Every time you come here, you are nothing. Radiantly
nothing. Absolutely and eternally zero. Emptiness that is awake.
Emptiness that is full. Emptiness that is everything."
"All that is necessary to awaken to yourself as the radiant emptiness of spirit is to stop seeking something more or better or different,
and to turn your attention inward to the awake silence that you are."
"Awakening opens the door to a life beyond the ego—a life lived directly from spirit rather than from the mind. In this new world, the conditioned ego no longer feels to be the appropriate center from which to relate and function. Something far deeper is called for: a total transformation in the way we live and relate. The truth realized seeks to become the truth lived." An Inner Revolution
The enlightenment I speak of is not simply a realization, not simply the discovery of one's true nature. This is just the beginning—the point of entry into an inner revolution. Realization does not guarantee this revolution, it simply makes it possible.
What is this revolution? To begin with, revolution is not static; it is alive, ongoing.. Realization of the ultimate reality is a fact. Revolution is the continuous ongoing birth of intelligence. This intelligence restructures your entire being. This intelligence cuts the mind free of itself, of its old structures which are rooted within human consciousness. If one cannot become free of the old structures of human consciousness, then one is still in a prison, the prison of humanity's consciousness.
This revolution is the awakening of an intelligence which alone has the ability to uproot all of the old structures of one's consciousness. Unless these structures are uprooted, there will be no creative thought or action or response. Unless there is an inner revolution, nothing new and fresh can flower. Only the old will flower in the absence of this revolution. But our potential lies beyond the known, beyond the structures of the past, beyond anything that humanity has established.
One must be willing to stand alone—in the unknown, with no reference to authority or the past or any of one's conditioning. One must stand where no one has stood before in complete nakedness, innocence, and humility.
- Adyashanti
' Communion with Overself '...
Lao Tzu was a librarian by profession, Janaka a king, and Brother Lawrence a kitchen menial.
Yet all had this same wonderful experience of peaceful communion with Overself,
proving that one's antecedents, or work, or position are neither helps nor handicaps.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind > Chapter 2:
Enlightenment Which Stays > # 71 Paul Brunton
' God has no Gender '...
God has no gender..
Source is Creative Thought..
It exists within every Dream..
Every Hologram claims acknowledgement..
The ego controls the power systems of this Dream..
The ego cares not for life, except it's own..
The subject of Life and Death will be examined within future writings..
This Fear of Death must be embraced and made Truthful..
Energy cannot die, The forms we enter as Consciousness continue..
These Vehicles of Organic Form..
Death should not be feared..
Just as escaping from Hell,
should not be feared...
-thomas
' The Divine Ideal '...
“Warner of coming dangers,
Wakener of the world from sleep,
Deliverer of the Message of God,
Thou art our Savior.
The sun at the dawn of creation,
The light of the whole universe,
The fulfillment of God's purpose,
Thou the life eternal,
we seek refuge in thy loving enfoldment.
Spirit of Guidance,
Source of all beauty,
and Creator of harmony,
Love, Lover, and Beloved Lord.
Thou art our divine ideal."
-Hazrat Inayat Khan
Sayings of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan
' Primordial Awareness '...
"The ultimate nature of mind is primordial awareness, from which thoughts emanate like light radiating from the sun.
Once this nature of mind is recognized, delusion vanishes like clouds dissolving in the sky.
The nature of mind free from delusion is without birth, existence, or cessation.
In the terminology of the Mantrayana, it is called primordial continuous mind, or ever present simplicity.
It is also described in the sutras; for example, the Prajnaparamita says:
'Mind,
Mind does not exist,
Its expression is clarity.'"
~Dilgo Khyentse
' The Real Spirit of Meditation '...
He will understand the real spirit of meditation when he
understands that he has to do nothing at all, just to sit still
physically, mentally, and emotionally.
For the moment he attempts to
do anything, he intrudes his ego.
By sitting inwardly and outwardly
still, he surrenders egoistic action and thereby implies that he is
willing to surrender his little self to his Overself.
He shows that he
is willing to step aside and let himself be worked upon, acted
through, and guided by a higher power.
— Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 7:
Contemplative Stillness > # 238 Paul Brunton
' To Conquer Death '...
Most of the readers of this blog are old and wise..
The young, retreat within their i-phones..
The text's are so revealing of the Hologram..
Most contain the paths of ego..
The Greatest pain is that of Fear..
The Greatest Fear is that of Death..
Why ?..
Everyone wants to get to Heaven,
but no-one wants to die..
"you must die, to be born ",
said, the Nazarine..
If, you do not believe this seeker of Truth,
who will you believe ?...
-thomas
' Sink into the Ocean of Being '...
Just sink into the ocean of Being.
Sit with this.
Use this life intelligently.
Be fully your Self.
Then your love can embrace the whole world,
and not just your family and friends.
You will no longer pick and choose,
and you will not judge.
The Truth is already inside you.
The personality is but a mask.
The Self alone is real.
May the seeds of pure understanding
come into full bloom within your Being.
So be it.
- Mooji
' Rigpa '...
Rigpa is never lost and it is never not rigpa.
The very ground of our being is pervasive, self-exisiting, empty, primordial awareness.
But each of us must ask ourselves whether we know this primordial awareness directly or are we distracted from it by the movement of the temporal mind?
And each of us must answer for ourselves; no one can tell us the answer.
When we are involved in internal processes, we are not in rigpa, for rigpa has no process.
Process is the function of the conceptual moveing mind; rigpa is effortless.
Rigpa is like the early morning sky: pure, expansive, spacious, clear, awake, fresh, and quiet...
these are the qualities against which the teachings suggest the practitioner check his or her experience.
- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche,
from The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream and Sleep
' A World of Mind '...
I live in a world of Mind.
The material forms which I see only appear as if they were non-mental.
-- Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism > Chapter 2:
The World As Mental > # 73 Paul Brunton
' Ashtavakra Gita '...
But O how wonderful! I am the unbounded
deep in whom all living things naturally arise,
rush against each other playfully,
and then
subside.
- Ashtavakra Gita
Chapter 2, verse 25
The Heart of Awareness: A Translation
of the Ashtavakra Gita
By Thomas Byrom
Shambala, 1990
' Human Ethics '...
The human journey from mere animal existence to real spiritual essence is reflected in human ethics,
where rules imposed from without are gradually supplanted by principles intuited from within.
-- Notebooks Category 6: Emotions and Ethics >
Chapter 0: Introductory Paras > # 2
Paul Brunton
' Your Dream World '...
Since your skull is actually “light-tight,” the brain, apparently, uses its electrical synapses to create and display a dazzling inner world that’s fully complete with colors, sounds, dimensions and activities.
And, of course, it then also creates a separated “you” who’s then, seemingly, moving through that inner world using a separated “body.”
Is it possible, then, that everything that you experience in your dream world…including this, apparently, separated “self”… exists ONLY as electrical charges that occur within the wet, three-pound gelatinous blob of grey matter between your ears?
Is it possible that you might not be so much be “IN” the universe as much as the universe might really be in “YOU?”
Perhaps your dualistic dream world…often shaped and energized by the spontaneous dance that arises between what that “self” DESIRES and what it FEARS… only appears at all because of your OWN personal and direct awareness of it??
Well, if you, alone, are the ever-present and indispensable Witness to your own Self, then the population of your dream world is really only ONE.
-Chuck Hillig
The unavailable films...
The films that I place on this blog might announce that it is not available,
but, simply click upon the youtube logo on the lower right side to admit film.
-thomas
' That is Love '...
‘I AM’ itself is God.
The seeking itself is God.
In seeking you
discover that you are neither body nor mind, but the love of the
self in you for the self in all.
The two are one.
The consciousness
in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one,
seek unity, and that is love.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
' There is no 'You' or 'I'...
There is no "You" or "I," no object
to contemplate, no contemplation!
Everything is That lost in That.
The blind theologians didn't understand.
Then they saw, and their seven levels
of attainment dissolved to nothing.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
' A Final Reality '...
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
' The Dreamer and his Dream '...
One need only float with the magnificent
current of Totality in the ecstasy of oneness
with the cosmic flow of events.
What else
can the dreamer do with his dream except
passively witness it without judgment?
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' Being Nothing '...
We live in illusion and the appearance of things.
There is a reality.
We are that reality.
When you understand this, you see that you are
nothing, and being nothing, you are everything.
That is all.
-Kalu Rinpoche
' Liberation is ordinary '...
The seeker cannot help seeing liberation as magical and creating fantastical imaginings about it.
We yearn for gifts that we think liberation will bring.
This may make us prey to every passing guru, spiritual teacher and mantra salesman.
But in liberation it is seen that liberation is entirely ordinary but also wonderful.
This is a paradox.
The seeing of liberation is simply everyday life, like a squirrel on a tree trunk, with the veil of seeking taken away.
The roller-coaster of the neurotic mind becomes a gentle wonderment.
p.52
Richard Sylvester
'I Hope You Die Soon'
' There is no me '...
There is no 'me'..
There is only 'I'..
" I am, that I am",
said the voice..
I claim nothing because,
I am nothing..
The character that I play is for entertainment purposes only..
The Source that we speak of, has no me..
There is only the 'I' of separation between Dreamer and Dream..
We are Dreams,
The 'I' is the Dreamer..
You cannot be anything but a Dream..
To be the Dreamer,
You cannot be born of woman...
-thomas
' The Book Said '...
" You will not have other gods' before Me "..
said the author of words..
The 'Division' of Reality is shown through words..
Of course, there is only One Mind..
But, we keep the hologram of separation intact..
Life has a habit of that..
You say that there is One,
and yet, you state that you are the observer..
Who is seeing ?..
Who is seen ?..
The path continues until Truth is Known...
-thomas
' The validity of doctrine '...
"Beware of becoming delimited by a specific knotting and disbelieving in everything else, lest great good escape you.... Be in yourself a matter for the forms of all beliefs, for God is wider and more tremendous than that He should be constricted by one knotting rather than another."
Muhyi-al-Din ibn al-'Arabi
Bezels of Wisdom, 113
"He who counsels his own soul should investigate, during his life in this world, all doctrines concerning God. He should learn from whence each possessor of a doctrine affirms the validity of his doctrine. Once its validity has been affirmed for him in the specific mode in which it is correct for him who holds it, then he should support it in the case of him who believes in it."
Muhyi-al-Din ibn al-'Arabi
Meccan Openings, II. 85.11
-in William Chittick
Imaginal Worlds: Ibn al'Arabi and the Problem of Religious Diversity
NY: SUNY, 1994, p. 176
' The Last Jihad '...
The last jihad is the destruction of 'Identity'..
whether, this Identity be God, Love, non-self, etc..
As long as 'you' point to a vision, 'you' will become the vision..
but, 'you' will still be 'you'..
All desire for life, both here and after here are the same prison..
one of gold..
and one of dirt..
Stop seeking life..
Enter the nothingness of non-desire..
This beautiful Ocean called death...
- thomas
' One Self Alone '...
There are two viewpoints: a qualified truth for the lower stage of aspirants which admits duality; and the complete viewpoint of nonduality for the highest student;
thus for practical life, when dealing with other people or when engaged in some activity, those in the first stage must accept the notion of the world being real,
because of expediency; yet even so, when they are alone or when keeping quiet, inactive, they ought to revert back to regarding the world, which includes one's own body as a part of it, as idea.
Only for the sage is the truth always present, no matter whether he is with others, whether he is working, or whether he is in trance, and this truth is continuous awareness of one Reality alone and one Self alone.
-- Notebooks Category 19: The Reign of Relativity >
Chapter 2: The Double Standpoint > # 40
Paul Brunton
' You need courage '...
“Whatever you do, you need courage.
Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong.
There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right.
To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs.
Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
' Nature Speaks '...
Nature speaks louder than the call from the minaret.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
One may ask, what should one study? There are two kinds of studies.
One kind is by reading the teachings of the great thinkers and
keeping them in mind, the study of metaphysics, psychology, and
mysticism. And the other kind of study is the study of life. Every
day one has an opportunity for studying; but it should be a correct
study. When a person travels in a tramcar, in the train, with a
newspaper in his hand, he wants to read the sensational news which is
worth nothing. He should read human nature which is before him,
people coming and going. If he would continue to do this, he would
begin to read human beings as though they were letters written by the
divine pen, which speak of their past and future. He should look
deeply at the heavens and at nature and at all the things to be seen
in everyday life, and reflect upon them with the desire to
understand. This kind of study is much superior, incomparably
superior, to the study of books.
The deeper we look into life the more it unfolds itself, allowing us
to see more keenly. Life is revealing. It is not only human beings
who speak; if only the ears can hear even plants and trees and all
nature speak, in the sense that nature reveals itself, reveals its
secret. In this way we communicate with the whole of life. Then we
are never alone, then life becomes worth living.
Just as there is a communication between persons who love each other
very much, so the sympathy of a person whose soul has unfolded itself
is so awakened that not only every person but even every object
begins to reveal its nature, its character and secret. To him every
man is a written letter.
We hear stories of saints and sages who talked with rocks and plants
and trees. They are not only stories; it is reality. It is also told
of the apostles that at the moment when the Spirit descended upon
them they began to speak many languages. When they understood so many
languages, they understood the language of every soul. It means that
the illuminated soul understands the language of every soul. And
every soul has its own language. It is that which is called
revelation.
All the teachings that the great prophets and teachers have given are
only interpretations of what they have seen. They have interpreted in
their own language what they have read from the manuscript of nature:
that trees and plants and rocks spoke to them. Did nature only speak
to those in the past? No, the soul of man is always capable of that
bliss if he only realized it. Once the eyes of the heart are open,
man begins to read every leaf of the tree as a page of the sacred
Book.
In the promise of the dawn, in the breaking of the morn, in the
smiles of the rose,
Beloved, I see Thy joy at my homecoming.
' What a day '...
What a day today.
There are two Suns rising!
What a day,
Not like any other day.
Look!
The Light is shining in your heart,
The wheel of life has stopped.
Oh, you who can see into your own heart,
What a day,
This is your day.
-Rumi
' The 'Now' experience '...
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past,
not to worry about the future,
or not to anticipate troubles,
but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
-Gautama the Buddha
' Partial Knowledge '...
Mind is not capable
of knowing everything
fully;
it's always knowing something
which is equal
to knowing nothing.
Partial knowledge
is no knowledge
and any knowledge
devoid of absoluteness
doesn't free us.
- Swami Amar Jyoti
"In Light of Wisdom"
Swami Amar Jyoti
Truth Consciousness, Boulder, Colorado, 1983
' Mindful '...
Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for --
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world --
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant --
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these --
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?
-- from Why I Wake Early, by Mary Oliver
' The Ever-Presence '...
You can begin the quest by trying to get rid of your idea of time.
This will be your honourable diploma,
this will be your certified matriculation,
when you succeed in turning time's illusion into the reality hidden behind it,
into the Ever-Presence.
-- Notebooks Category 19: The Reign of Relativity > Chapter 4:
Time, Space, Causality > # 151 Paul Brunton
' The Final Reality '...
You are Consciousness experiencing the manifestation of Dreams..
You enjoy the Dream so much that You fully immerse..
You are close to the 'First Reality' called Divine Consciousness..
Only within the experience of non-division does this occur..
Enlightenment...
Love flows from You and through You..
The Knowledge of Creation also flows through You..
But, dare to ask the Father,
" Is this the Final Reality ?"..
You will be met with silence..
The Final Reality is Pure Awareness..
Forget the egoic-desire,
Become Nothing,
Become Everything...
-thomas
' To Know Thyself '...
At the end of his long life of selfless teaching, the Buddha said that you must strive on the path yourself—the Awakened Ones only point the way. Like the Buddha, all genuine mystics will tell you that the ultimate authority and touchstone of truth is not any scriptures or dogmas or teachers, but your own deepest experience. “Don’t take my word for it,” they will say, “find out for yourself!” Just as a scientist tests hypotheses using experiments, so you should test the teachings in the laboratory of your life using spiritual practices. It makes sense that you should be your own ultimate authority, because it is your own true nature that you must discover and know.
As the oracle at Delphi commands: “know thyself.” And as Jesus instructs: “examine yourself, and learn who you are, how you exist, and what will become of you” (Jesus, Book of Thomas). The reason the genuine mystic directs your attention inward to seek your own true nature is because, as Jesus says, “He who has not known himself does not know anything, but he who has known himself has also known the depth of all” (Jesus, Book of Thomas). And Rumi tells you: “It’s you yourself that hide your own treasure” (Rumi, Mathnawi). So the genuine mystic will always point you to yourself, to discover the depths of your own true nature.
The mystical injunction to know yourself and look to yourself as your own ultimate authority, however, does not mean that teachers and teachings have no value in the mystical path. The point is that they only show the way, as the Buddha says. If you invest a particular teaching or teacher with ultimate truth, you will be implicitly separating yourself from the truth, and you will fail to realize the truth of your own nature. In the end, however, when you realize that the teachings and teachers—and indeed the entire world—is not separate from you, then you will see that your entire life is the truth of your own deepest being revealing itself to itself. Thus, to see truth in nothing reveals the truth in everything...
- Thomas J. McFarlane
' The Way of Heaven '...
Better stop short than fill to the brim.
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.
Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.
- Lao-tzu
Tao Te Ching
Translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English
Vintage Books Edition, September 1972
' Plato, on Mentalism '...
Plato, on Mentalism:
"What a superior being would have as subjective thought,
the inferior perceives as objective things."
-- Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism >
Chapter 4: The Challenge of Mentalism > # 212
Paul Brunton
' Shamas Faqir '...
Several lyrics of Shamas Faqir centre round the theme of the mystic's quest for the primal cause of this universe. As an illustration, the lyric titled 'Agur Kami Manz Drav' repeatedly poses the question, 'what is the fountainhead of the stream?', which serves as its refrain. Here is my translation of some significant lines of the poem (attempted to convey the essential meaning):
Day and night does Pavan flow
Through the four Bhavans non-stop;
Whence did it come
And whither did it go?
It was even (all of one hue),
Whence did the stream come forth?
.......
He who owns the sea
Is the Lord of water,
The river issued from the drop;
To get to the meaning,
Sacrifice yourself first;
.....
O Shamas, to attain gnosis,
Throw open your heart's door;
Sun-like, roam the sky through
(To fathom the Secret);
What is the fountain-head?
We can see that the poem poses vital and thought- provoking questions regarding the First Cause. It instructs the seeker to pursue the spiritual journey inwardly to realize the Self. This would naturally call for annihilation of the little self. The answer to the imponderable question regarding the source of the Cosmos is provided through the intertwined images of the 'drop' and the 'river'. They parallel the images of the bindu and the sindu given in Hindu mystical literature, conveying what Swami Ram Tirtha does equally aptly through the phrase 'Infinite in the Finite'. In the concluding lines, that lay stress on cleansing the heart as a means to inward transformation, the tone of the poem changes as the poet addresses his own self. Without sounding the didactic, the changed tone stimulates self- introspection in the reader/listener.
The Persian Sufi poets have often used the word rinda in their lyrics. It refers to the true lover, a liberated soul (not tied to this or that school). With its rich associations, it has been absorbed into Kashmiri mystical poetry and has by now got into common usage among the Kashmiris. It occurs frequently in Shamas Faqir's verse too. One poem titled 'Rinda Sara Ho Sapdi Kunu Ye' is specifically addressed to the rinda. This is how the poet instructs the aspiring gnostic:
O rinda, in order to realize the One,
Learn to die while still alive.
Emphasis is laid in the poem on self-conquest as being the stepping stone to advancement in spirituality. Whether we call the aspirant a yogi or an arif, his sadhana has to consist in 'cleansing of the doors of perception', which involves a disciplining of the mind and the senses. He has to be discriminative and mentally alert throughout. Shamas Faqir is explicit about this quality required of the true aspirant:
Seemingly blind, look keenly for
What you seek, O rinda!
Sifting the pure grain
From the impure,
Winnowing the grains a hundred times
Will reveal the Precious One to you.
The poet draws our attention to the strenuousness and pains involved in the spiritual effort, in these lines:
Break the stones at the dead of night,
To take away the Gem guarded
by the cobra;
Feed the burning lamp
with your blood,
Eat up your own flesh;
Thus will you, O rinda, realize the One.
Special stress is laid in the closing lines on belief and divine grace:
Believe before you verify,
That's Shamas Faqir's gospel;
When you get the 'Word'
As a God-sent gift,
O rinda, you'll realize the One.
......... from koausa.org
' The Greatest Suffering '...
Believing the unlimited and perfect Self to be merely
the body and the imaginary personality with its
psychological conditioning is the greatest suffering
one is capable of creating for oneself and the world.
- Mooji
' Dualism '...
“All the philosophical theories that exist have been created by the mistaken dualistic minds of human beings.
In the realm of philosophy, that which today is considered true, may tomorrow be proved to be false. No one can guarantee a philosophy's validity.
Because of this, any intellectual way of seeing whatever is always partial and relative. The fact is that there is no truth to seek or to confirm logically; rather what one needs to do is to discover just how much the mind continually limits itself in a condition of dualism.
Dualism is the real root of our suffering and of all our conflicts.
All our concepts and beliefs, no matter how profound they may seem, are like nets which trap us in dualism.
When we discover our limits we have to try to overcome them, untying ourselves from whatever type of religious, political or social conviction may condition us. We have to abandon such concepts as 'enlightenment', 'the nature of the mind', and so on, until we are no longer satisfied by a merely intellectual knowledge, and until we no longer neglect to integrate our knowledge with our actual existence.”
― Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State
' The Pure Revelation '...
The pure revelation comes only to those who can bring themselves at the bidding of truth to sacrifice ruthlessly their previous beliefs,
if necessary.
All others get a partial or mixed revelation.
-- Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? >
Chapter 3: Its Requirements > # 86
Paul Brunton
' Enlightenment '...
"All paths are mine,
and all lead eventually to me.
But the shortest way to me,
is the no-path of self-annihilative love."
-Meher Baba
in Bhau Kalchuri
_Lord Meher: The Biography of Avatar of the Age Meher Baba_
Asheville, NC: MANifestation, v. 18, p. 6235
' THE TEN RESEMBLANCES WHEREIN ONE MAY ERR '...
(1) Desire may be taken for faith.
(2) Attachment may be mistaken for benevolence and compassion.
(3) Cessation of thought-processes may be mistaken for the quiescence of infinite mind, which is the true goal.
(4) Sense perceptions [or phenomena] may be mistaken for revelations [or glimpses] of Reality.
(5) A mere glimpse of Reality may be mistaken for complete realization.
(6) Those who outwardly profess, but do not practise, religion may be mistaken for true devotees.
(7) Slaves of passion may be mistaken for masters of yoga who have liberated themselves from all conventional laws.
(8) Actions performed in the interest of self may be mistakenly regarded as being altruistic.
(9) Deceptive methods may be mistakenly regarded as being prudent.
(10) Charlatans may be mistaken for Sages.
These are The Ten Resemblances Wherein One May Err.
-Attributed to Gampopa, the disciple of Milarepa
"The Twenty-Eight Categories Of Yogic Precepts"
The Supreme Path Of Discipleship: The Precepts Of The Gurus
in W. Y. Evans-Wentz
Tibetan Yoga And Secret Doctrines
' You become what you associate with '...
The relationships you keep have a great effect on
you:
you become what you associate yourself with.
So stay only in holy company, only travel with those
in the same boat.
Nothing is better than satsang
so keep your friends here.
Associate only with
those going in the same direction and go to Truth
at any cost.
- Papaji
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
' The Appearance and Thought '...
It was Plato who rightly pointed out that experience is really a medley of changing opinions and conflicting beliefs, thereby offering contrast with the orderliness and consistency of reasoned knowledge.
This is why we have to begin intellectual analysis of the world by separating the realm of sense perception from the realm of reasoned perception, as though they were entirely different.
But we must not end with such an artificial separation.
For in the higher stages we climb to the viewpoint which reunites them again.
The Thought is then the Thing..
The Appearance is then also the Real!
-- Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism > Chapter 2:
The World As Mental > # 2 Paul Brunton
' Attitude '...
Man's attitude is the secret of life,
for it is upon
man's attitude that success and failure depend.
Both man's rise and fall depend upon his attitude.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
Omega Press, 1978
' A thought is harmless '...
A thought is harmless unless we believe it. It’s not our thoughts, but our attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it’s true, without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we’ve been attaching to, often for years.
~ Byron Katie
Stress is an alarm clock that lets you know you’re attached to something that’s not true for you.
~ Byron Katie
In my experience, we don’t make thoughts appear, they just appear. One day, I noticed that their appearance just wasn’t personal. Noticing that really makes it simpler to inquire.
~ Byron Katie
Love is our very nature. It’s what we are when we no longer believe our own stories.
~ Byron Katie
To seek people’s love and approval assumes that you aren’t whole.
~ Byron Katie
I don‘t have control. None. Zero.
And that works for me, because I understand, the universe is friendly. I understand our true nature, so I don‘t have to have control. So where‘s our free will? It‘s an illusion.
- Byron Katie
' The Mystical Phenomena '...
Let us not ascribe to the ordinary self of man what belongs to the Overself.
The mystical phenomena, the "inner" experiences engendered by an adept, are done through him, not by him.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 4: The Sage's Service > # 240 Paul Brunton
' Leave the desires '...
The Sufi sage Abdulalim of Fez refused to teach, but from time to time
would advise people about the way to proceed on the Path.
One day a disciple, who was both incapable of learning and
regularly driven abnormal by attending 'mystical ceremonies,' visited
him.
He asked: "How can I best profit from the teachings of the sages?"
The Sufi said: "I am happy to be able to tell you that I have an
infallible method which corresponds to your capacity."
"And what is that, if I am allowed to hear it?"
"Simply stop up your ears and think about radishes."
"Before, during or after the lectures and exercises?"
"Instead of attending any of them."
-as collected by Idries Shah
' The Avatar '...
The personal ego-body is the “Avatar” that you (as Consciousness) are using to experience its, seemingly, separated dream world.
However, no matter HOW it may appear, there’s still only ONE dream, and there’s still only ONE Dreamer: Consciousness, Itself.
In truth, your body’s thoughts, feelings, words and actions have NEVER been really your own.
Whatever you believe that you’ve been thinking, feeling, speaking and doing has only been possible through the Grace of the all-pervasive Consciousness that YOU truly ARE.
In short, your body is being used as an Avatar by Buddha Consciousness in order to experience its dream world. So, metaphorically, you could say that YOUR ego’s point-of-view into the dream world has actually also been BUDDHA’S point-of-view, too!
In other words, your thoughts… are actually Buddha’s thoughts.
Your feelings… are Buddha’s feelings.
Your words… are Buddha’s words.
Your actions… are Buddha’s actions.
Stop trying to figure out what an enlightened being is “supposed” to look or act like.
Why?
Because there’s really no “spiritual ladder” out there that you can use to “ascend” up into those loftier heights.
In truth, an “enlightened being” looks exactly like YOU look…RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW…having ALL of YOUR crazy thoughts, having all of YOUR painful feelings, speaking all of YOUR unkind words, doing all of YOUR selfish actions, etc. etc.
Consciousness, however, is really doing it ALL.
THIS…truly….is “IT.”
Grace will lovingly help you to discover that your OWN personal dream is only the mysterious dream of Consciousness, itself. And that it’s all unfolding as it needs to for your enjoyment and edification.
The spontaneity of Lila creates the Dance-of-the-Divine!
-Chuck Hillig
' no finite ego '...
The application of ethical teachings to the analytic study of experience is correct only for the Long Path.
Since the Short Path teaches that there is no finite ego, there is no one to apply those teachings!
Consequently there is no one to learn lessons from suffering and no one to commit the sins which create suffering.
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation >
Chapter 5: Balancing the Paths > # 14
Paul Brunton
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