' The Lord of the Universe '...
"God incarnates Himself in a human form.
It is true that He dwells everywhere, in all living creatures, but the desires of the human soul cannot be fulfilled except by an Avatara or Divine Incarnation.
The human being longs to see Him, touch Him, be with Him and enjoy His Divine company.
In order to fulfill such desires, the Incarnation of God is necessary.
When an Avatara or Divine Incarnation descends, however, the people at large do not know it.
It is known only to a few chosen disciples. Can everyone comprehend the indivisible Absolute Brahman, Existence-Intelligence-Bliss Absolute?
"When the Supreme Lord incarnated Himself as Rama, only twelve sages knew it.
The other saints and sages knew Him as the prince of the Raja Dasaratha.
But those twelve sages prayed to Him, saying: 'O Rama, Thou art the indivisible Existence-Intelligence-Bliss Absolute.
Thou hast incarnated in this human form.
By Thine own power of Maya Thou appearest as a human being, but in reality Thou art the Lord of the universe.'"
Sri Ramakrishna
in The Gospel of Ramakrishna
Ed. by Swami Abhedananda, [1907], p. 409-410
'Dream Observer '...
It's better to see God in everything
than to try to
figure it out.
- Neem Karoli Baba
' Contrasting Conditions '...
Everything in Nature is included within this law of contrasting conditions.
Nothing is excepted from it.
Even the universe of definite, spherical forms exists in its opposite--formless space.
We humans may not like the law; we would prefer light without shadow, joy without pain; but such is the World-Idea, God's thought.
It is the product of infinite wisdom and as such we may trust and accept that it could not be otherwise.
-- Notebooks Category 26: World-Idea > Chapter 3: Polarities,
Complementaries, Dualities of The Universe > # 23
- Perspectives > Chapter 26: World-Idea > # 40 Paul Brunton
' When the Mind is Free of Grasping '...
The outer world in all its variety and our inner world of thoughts and emotions are not as they seem.
All phenomena appear to exist objectively, but their true mode of existence is like a dream: apparent yet insubstantial.
The experience of emptiness is not found outside of the world of ordinary appearance, as many people mistakenly assume.
In truth, we experience emptiness when the mind is free of grasping at appearance.
- Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
' In Liberation, you stand alone '...
"If you are a true seeker of liberation you've got to be willing to
stand alone. At the moment of Liberation everything falls
away...everything. Suddenly the ground beneath your feet is gone, and
you are alone. You are alone because you have directly realized that
there is no other, there is no separation. There is only you, only
Self, only limitless emptiness, pure consciousness.
To the mind, the ego, this appears terrifying. When the mind looks at
limitlessness and infinity, it projects meaninglessness and despair.
To the ego Absolute Freedom can look terrifying. But when the mind is
let go of, the view changes from meaningless despair and fear to the
unending joy and wonder of Liberation.
In Liberation, you stand alone. You stand alone because you need no
supports of any kind. You need no supports because you have realized
that the very notion of a separate you no longer exists; that there
is nothing to support; that the whole ego experience was a flimsy
illusion. So you stand alone but never, never lonely because
everywhere you look, all you see is That, and You are That."
~ Adyashanti
"flight of the alone to the alone," as Plotinus called it
' Natural Elegance '...
"When you live your life in accordance with basic goodness,
then you
develop natural elegance.
Your life can be spacious and relaxed,
without having to be sloppy.
You can actually let go of your
depression and embarrassment about being a human being, and you can
cheer up.."
--Chogyam Trungpa
' Paramatma '...
"There is Paramatma. He is all-existing. All atmas (souls) are in Paramatma. All atmas are Paramatma. When an atma apparently comes out of Paramatma, it is the jivatma (individual embodied soul) and begins to gain consciousness of falseness. For the jivatma to become One with Shivatma (God, the Supreme Soul) is the goal. After passing through the process of evolution, reincarnation and involution, the jivatma eventually becomes Shivatma and remains so eternally.
"When Shivatma comes down to normal consciousness in duality (illusion), that is, when Shivatma is duality-conscious, he is nar (man) and Narayan (God) simultaneously. So the soul that thus regains normal (gross) consciousness in duality should be called Jiv-Shiv-Atma. This boils down to the fact that the atma has to go through hell, reincarnating time and time again, in order to become Self-conscious. To become Self-conscious is to experience the “I-Am-God” state consciously and continuously. After becoming Shivatma, there is the state of baqa. Such a Shivatma in the state of baqa is termed Purushuttam. Purush plus Uttam is equal to the Supreme Being, the Best of Man.
"Atma is purush (man); prakruti (duality) has come out of Nothing. Purush and prakruti (Maya or nature) are linked eternally until Purush releases himself from prakruti and becomes Self-conscious. The Majzoob of the seventh plane is Shivatma. The Avatar is Shiv-Jiv-Atma, the Param-Purush, the Highest of the High, or the Beloved and Eternal Man."
-Meher Baba
Bhau Kalchuri
Lord Meher: The Biography of Avatar of the Age Meher Baba
Manifestaton, 1st. ed., Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 18, pp. 6187 – 6188
Revised Online Edition, p. 5014
' The Perceiver of Identity '...
Know and understand that you are not a 'person' with
consciousness, but rather, the perceiver of such identity
along with whatever else appears here.
Whatever arises
is seen and intuitively discerned to be momentary or
impermanent.
That which perceives cannot be that
which is being perceived.
Recognizing all appearances
to be impermanent by nature, one ceases imparting
reality to them.
Thus, one discovers and confirms
one's true position as the formless and neutral witness
of all phenomena.
- Mooji
' The level of Insight '...
"If you hit the right book at the right time, it can spark a recognition.
That's a big part of what teachers do too.
We're sitting in a room talking, right? And it's intellectual content,
but what we're trying to do is spark a deep wisdom in the listener.
And a book can do that just like being with a teacher can do that.
You can read a phrase and it sparks something.
Not something from your mind, but something at the level of insight."
~ Adyashanti
' You choose the meaning '...
Life may not have any real “meaning” other than
the one that you have superimposed upon it.
In short, life will tend to mean for you whatever
you say that life means. For example, when you
say that:
“Life is a drag!”
“Life is a challenge.”
“Life is terrible.”
“Life is a dance.”
“Life is a Game.”
etc. etc. etc.
then Life won’t disappoint you.
Life will mysteriously show up for you in ways
that fully support your heart’s definition of it…no
matter how self-limiting that definition might be.
But you’ll have to take some position on it.
If you’re not willing to give your life any meaning
at all, then your inner fear that “My life is probably
meaningless!” will automatically win by default.
-Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003
' The pain of Love '...
The pain of love is the dynamite that breaks up the heart, even if it be as hard as a rock.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The effect of love is pain. The love that has no pain is no love.
The lover who has not gone through the agonies of love is not a lover, he claims love falsely. ...
Rumi describes six signs of the lover: deep sigh, mild expression, moist eyes, eating little, speaking little, sleeping little, which all show the sign of pain in love.
Hafiz says, 'All bliss in my life has been the outcome of unceasing tears and continual sighs through the heart of night.'
The sorrow of the lover is continual, in the presence and in the absence of the beloved:
in the presence for fear of the absence, and in absence in longing for the presence.
According to the mystical view the pain of love is the dynamite that breaks up the heart, even if it be as hard as a rock.
When this hardness that covers the light within is broken through, the streams of all bliss come forth as springs from the mountains.
' Pure Awareness '...
Think of the things that have happened to you in your life now. You appear to be getting older and older. Things come into your life, as it appears. You try to exchange wrong for right, good for bad. Yet you refuse to acknowledge that this too is a dream. You want to continue playing the game. You want to play hide and seek by believing there is a God somewhere, and if you find this God, all your problems will be over. So you keep searching.
You can never find your reality by searching.
Reality is where it's always been, right where you are at this moment. It is you.
There is not reality and you. You are not in the body of God; God is not in you. For there is no you. There is no body. There is no God. You are perfect pure awareness just as you are now.
There is really no thing you have to do. You simply have to wake up. Why will you not awaken now? Even while I'm talking to you, many of you are thinking, thinking, thinking. Can't you see by now, that this is what is holding you back from your freedom, from your bliss, from your joy? It is your thoughts.
Where did your thoughts come from? They really didn't come from anywhere, for they do not even exist. Yet unfortunately most of us believe that thoughts exist, for we are bombarded by them day and night.
So sages come along and invent methods, means, in order to obliterate the thoughts. Meditation was invented for that purpose. Self-enquiry, all of these yogic exercises, pranayama, mantras, kriya, they're really used to stop your thoughts from blossoming, to keep your mind from thinking.. All of these procedures are to make your mind quiescent, quiet, still. If you're able to do this without the methods, then you would be realized. You would be your self. You would be liberated. But you refuse to do this. You want a teacher to give you methods to wake you up.
But I say to you, wake up now. Awake. The methods will keep you back because you get stuck with the methods. But it makes no difference what I say. You are still going to identify with the world, with conditions, with your body, with your mind. We therefore have to think of a way, the quickest way for you to awaken. Of all the methods I, know, self-enquiry is the fastest if you are mature enough to be able to handle it. You begin to understand that the I is only a thought; it is an idea called the I-thought. It is the I-thought that dominates your existence. True?
How many times have you said "I" today? "I" am going to hear Robert. "I" am going to eat breakfast. "I" am going to take a nap. "I" don't think I feel too good. "I" feel great. "I" need this. "I" need that. The first person pronoun I, dominates your entire existence.
Yet it has been known by Sages, if you were only able to annihilate the I, destroy it, kill it, you would be free. The I is attached to all of your thoughts. Therefore, begin to follow the I to its source. I have to tell you in truth and in reality, there is no I and there is no source, but you will not believe me. You want to play with I. You therefore follow the I to the Source, and when the I has been dissolved into the source, you become free.
You do this of course by enquiring "to whom do these thoughts come?" Or, whatever is disturbing you, you enquire "to whom do they come? Who is experiencing this? Who is going through this? Who thinks they are human? Who feels depressed? Who feels discouraged? Who feels there is a difference between birth and death? - I do." Can't you see now, that if you get rid of the I, all those feelings, depression, and worry would disappear?
So you ask, "Who am I? Where did this I come from?" You never answer that question. When thoughts come to you, you enquire "To whom do they come? To me? I think these thoughts. Who am I?" You do not answer. As you continue to do this process, you find that your mind is becoming quieter and quieter. The confusion stops. You begin to feel happier and happier. You are no longer reacting to person, place or thing. You become spontaneous in everything you do.
You live in the now, but you're not doing that. It's doing you. In other words you have not decided, "I'm going to be spontaneous from now on. I'm going to live in the now." As you are aware, how many times have you tried that without avail? You can't make up your mind that you're going to be spiritual, that you're going to be consciousness, that you are absolute reality. How many times have you tried to do that, and the first thing that comes into your life, you become upset? You react. Something bothers you. Or something good comes into your life and you become elated. You react in a positive way. They're both impostors.
Remember you're not trying to change bad into good. You want to transcend everything, and become absolutely free. See how you're thinking? Your mind won't stay still, will it? Whose mind is it that won't stay still? Do you really have a mind? Are you the mind? Who told you this? There is no mind, there is no body, there are no thoughts. Accept this if you want to. All it can do for you, is liberate you. We listen to the birds, we see the beautiful trees. Who sees? Who listens? Why, I do. You're caught in the trap again. For many of you believe, if I behold the beauty of the world, that's good. It's better than beholding death, I suppose.
But the world is an illusion. It is not real. The so called beauty is here today and gone tomorrow. Change is the only permanent thing of the relative world. Everything changes continuously.
Therefore as you go through the vicissitudes of life, and you get rid of your dogmatic thinking, you open your heart, you begin to feel something different. You begin to loosen up.
The first thing to understand is that everything that has transpired in your life has been necessary. No matter how it looks. No matter what has happened. Everything has been necessary.
The second thing to understand is, everything has been preordained. In other words, everything was supposed to happen the way it happened. There were no mistakes.
The third thing to understand is that the first two things are a pack of lies. For these things don't even exist in reality. Everything is preordained, as long as you believe you are the body. Everything is karmic, as long as you identify with the world and believe you are the doer.
- Robert Adams
' So many Questions '...
So many questions ..
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
' A Course in Miracles '...
Miracles honor you because you are lovable.
They dispel illusions about yourself
and perceive the light in you.
They thus atone for your errors
by freeing you from your nightmares.
By releasing your mind
from the imprisonment of your illusions,
they restore your sanity.
A major contribution of miracles
is their strength in releasing you
from your false sense of isolation,
deprivation and lack.
Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind,
or a state of miracle-readiness.
The miracle is a learning device
that lessens the need for time.
It establishes an out-of-pattern time interval
not under the usual laws of time.
In this sense it is timeless.
The miracle makes no distinction
among degrees of misperception.
It is a device for perception correction,
effective quite apart from either the degree
or the direction of the error.
The above quotes are from the book
A Course in Miracles.
' Spirit pervades all '...
"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
in Joseph Bruchac
Native Wisdom
San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995, p. 86
' Act your role '...
All you can do is to act your role to the best of
your ability.
The consequences are not in your
hands.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' The Long and Short Path '...
The Long Path is devoted to clearing away the obstructions in man's nature and to attacking the errors in his character.
The Short Path is devoted to affirmatives, to the God-power as essence and in manifestation.
It is mystical.
It shows how the individual can come into harmonious relation with the Overself and the World-Idea.
The first path shows seekers how to think rightly; the second gives power to those thoughts.
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 5: Balancing the Paths > # 1
-- Perspectives > Chapter 23: Advanced Contemplation > # 16 Paul Brunton
' This too is a Dream '...
Think of the things that have happened to you in your life now. You appear to be getting older and older. Things come into your life, as it appears. You try to exchange wrong for right, good for bad. Yet you refuse to acknowledge that this too is a dream. You want to continue playing the game. You want to play hide and seek by believing there is a God somewhere, and if you find this God, all your problems will be over. So you keep searching.
You can never find your reality by searching.
Reality is where it's always been, right where you are at this moment. It is you.
There is not reality and you. You are not in the body of God; God is not in you. For there is no you. There is no body. There is no God. You are perfect pure awareness just as you are now.
There is really no thing you have to do. You simply have to wake up. Why will you not awaken now? Even while I'm talking to you, many of you are thinking, thinking, thinking. Can't you see by now, that this is what is holding you back from your freedom, from your bliss, from your joy? It is your thoughts.
Where did your thoughts come from? They really didn't come from anywhere, for they do not even exist. Yet unfortunately most of us believe that thoughts exist, for we are bombarded by them day and night.
So sages come along and invent methods, means, in order to obliterate the thoughts. Meditation was invented for that purpose. Self-enquiry, all of these yogic exercises, pranayama, mantras, kriya, they're really used to stop your thoughts from blossoming, to keep your mind from thinking.. All of these procedures are to make your mind quiescent, quiet, still. If you're able to do this without the methods, then you would be realized. You would be your self. You would be liberated. But you refuse to do this. You want a teacher to give you methods to wake you up.
But I say to you, wake up now. Awake. The methods will keep you back because you get stuck with the methods. But it makes no difference what I say. You are still going to identify with the world, with conditions, with your body, with your mind. We therefore have to think of a way, the quickest way for you to awaken. Of all the methods I, know, self-enquiry is the fastest if you are mature enough to be able to handle it. You begin to understand that the I is only a thought; it is an idea called the I-thought. It is the I-thought that dominates your existence. True?
How many times have you said "I" today? "I" am going to hear Robert. "I" am going to eat breakfast. "I" am going to take a nap. "I" don't think I feel too good. "I" feel great. "I" need this. "I" need that. The first person pronoun I, dominates your entire existence.
Yet it has been known by Sages, if you were only able to annihilate the I, destroy it, kill it, you would be free. The I is attached to all of your thoughts. Therefore, begin to follow the I to its source. I have to tell you in truth and in reality, there is no I and there is no source, but you will not believe me. You want to play with I. You therefore follow the I to the Source, and when the I has been dissolved into the source, you become free.
You do this of course by enquiring "to whom do these thoughts come?" Or, whatever is disturbing you, you enquire "to whom do they come? Who is experiencing this? Who is going through this? Who thinks they are human? Who feels depressed? Who feels discouraged? Who feels there is a difference between birth and death? - I do." Can't you see now, that if you get rid of the I, all those feelings, depression, and worry would disappear?
So you ask, "Who am I? Where did this I come from?" You never answer that question. When thoughts come to you, you enquire "To whom do they come? To me? I think these thoughts. Who am I?" You do not answer. As you continue to do this process, you find that your mind is becoming quieter and quieter. The confusion stops. You begin to feel happier and happier. You are no longer reacting to person, place or thing. You become spontaneous in everything you do.
You live in the now, but you're not doing that. It's doing you. In other words you have not decided, "I'm going to be spontaneous from now on. I'm going to live in the now." As you are aware, how many times have you tried that without avail? You can't make up your mind that you're going to be spiritual, that you're going to be consciousness, that you are absolute reality. How many times have you tried to do that, and the first thing that comes into your life, you become upset? You react. Something bothers you. Or something good comes into your life and you become elated. You react in a positive way. They're both impostors.
Remember you're not trying to change bad into good. You want to transcend everything, and become absolutely free. See how you're thinking? Your mind won't stay still, will it? Whose mind is it that won't stay still? Do you really have a mind? Are you the mind? Who told you this? There is no mind, there is no body, there are no thoughts. Accept this if you want to. All it can do for you, is liberate you. We listen to the birds, we see the beautiful trees. Who sees? Who listens? Why, I do. You're caught in the trap again. For many of you believe, if I behold the beauty of the world, that's good. It's better than beholding death, I suppose.
But the world is an illusion. It is not real. The so called beauty is here today and gone tomorrow. Change is the only permanent thing of the relative world. Everything changes continuously.
Therefore as you go through the vicissitudes of life, and you get rid of your dogmatic thinking, you open your heart, you begin to feel something different. You begin to loosen up.
The first thing to understand is that everything that has transpired in your life has been necessary. No matter how it looks. No matter what has happened. Everything has been necessary.
The second thing to understand is, everything has been preordained. In other words, everything was supposed to happen the way it happened. There were no mistakes.
The third thing to understand is that the first two things are a pack of lies. For these things don't even exist in reality. Everything is preordained, as long as you believe you are the body. Everything is karmic, as long as you identify with the world and believe you are the doer.
- Robert Adams
' Work is done, then forgotten '...
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty
only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Therefore having and not having arise together.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short contrast each other;
High and low rest upon each other;
Voice and sound harmonize each other;
Front and back follow one another.
Therefore the sage goes about doing nothing, teaching no-talking.
The ten thousand things rise and fall without cease.
Creating, yet not possessing.
Working, yet not taking credit.
Work is done, then forgotten.
Therefore it lasts forever.
- Lao-tzu
Tao Te Ching
Translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English
Vintage Books Edition, September 1972
' The holocaust of contrast '...
Avoid the holocaust of contrast.
And what are you contrasting
or comparing?
One side with the other,
both sides when created
by the same Creator,
both sides of the coin
made by the same mint.
See the Thing in Itself.
- Swami Amar Jyoti
"In Light of Wisdom"
Swami Amar Jyoti
Truth Consciousness, Boulder, Colorado, 1983
' The Cosmic Plan '...
Another useful exercise is to meditate on the divine Cosmic Plan.
As a focal point for practice, it constructively engages both the metaphysical and the physical intellect.
As a theme it exalts the self and purifies the heart, instructs the mind and enlarges the point of view.
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation >
Chapter 6: Advanced Meditation > # 42
Paul Brunton
' Thoughts on a monday night '...
The Original Mind..
This Creator of Thought..
To enter this Space and return..
So many levels of false achievement..
This power called Grace,
knocks you on your ass..
Prostate upon the ground,
you return to the Dream..
Awakening within the Dream,
is continuing to Dream..
To remain the Observer is the first Reality..
The Final Reality is to throw everything away...
-thomas
' A temporary lodging '...
Unborn and imperishable
Is the original mind.
Earth, water, fire and wind—
a temporary lodging for the night.
- Zen Master Bankei
' Arising together '...
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty
only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Therefore having and not having arise together.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short contrast each other;
High and low rest upon each other;
Voice and sound harmonize each other;
Front and back follow one another.
Therefore the sage goes about doing nothing, teaching no-talking.
The ten thousand things rise and fall without cease.
Creating, yet not possessing.
Working, yet not taking credit.
Work is done, then forgotten.
Therefore it lasts forever.
- Lao-tzu
Tao Te Ching
Translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English
Vintage Books Edition, September 1972
' Sovereignty and Captivity '...
To give sympathy is sovereignty, to desire it from others is captivity.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Although sometimes it gives a tender sensation in the heart to say, 'Oh, how poorly I am', and it is soothing to hear from someone, 'Oh, I am so sorry you are not well', yet I should think that one would prefer if another thing were said in sympathy, namely, 'I am so happy to see you are so well'. In order to create that tender sensation one need not be ill. What is needed is to be thankful. We can never be too thankful.
The first lesson given to man was to be grateful for his daily bread, because that was the greatest necessity of his life. Now that has become so simple and life has changed so much that man forgets to be thankful. He even thinks, 'Why should I give thanks?' He forgets that behind his own personality he covers God. His own toil seems more to him than the toil of every atom of nature that is preparing blessings for him.
Self-pity is the worst poverty; it is the source of all unhappiness and blinds man to all he should be thankful for. The constantly complaining habit and the tendency to demand sympathy from others bring the greatest thorn into man's life: he becomes dependent upon the sympathy of others. The best thing is to give sympathy.
' Nothing to be attained '...
The Long Path is needed to make a man or woman ripe for receiving truth, but only the Short Path can lead to it.
This is the answer to the dilemma created by the claims of the Wu Wei school.
Its practical application is:
act as the Long Path requires by working on and improving the self, but think as the Short Path enjoins by holding the attitude "There is nothing to be attained.
Realization is already here and now!"
-- Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation >
Chapter 5: Balancing the Paths > # 154
Paul Brunton
' Censoring ego '...
Walking in the woods with no compass or idea where you are or why you got yourself in that position is akin to the majority of humans. As long as the ‘ego’ doesn’t think it’s lost, no help can be payed attention to. To have ‘no ego’ is not possible if like most you have a small one and think you can scoot or ‘back out of it, but if you payed attention, your ego is like a roller coaster - up and down. The ego, which rarely is not small, occasionally puffing up to a ‘big ego’ is an aspect of you to keep you on a rope or leash for everyone to pull this way and that.. As my investigative reporter friend, Jon Rappoport said, ‘’The ordinary mind is built on its own national security program. It protects itself from intrusions it considers disruptive.’’
Small ego’s constantly get erected from time to time when they think there is a need to censor communication attempts, likely before the communication gets off the ground. Walking on ‘eggshells’ with what you say to another is their unconscious form of censoring you, and certainly it could be you doing it to others to protect a small ego too. Communication that is sporadic is insufficient for any bonding of minds and feelings. Most have a shield in the mind to protect what they refuse to examine for barriers to a comforting harmony that has no fear of ‘verbal tentacles’, and their wounds to further connection.
To miscommunicate is what it says, ‘to miss communication’ and that leads to misinterpretations as well as the likely- hood of an unfavorable communication. (Of course, a miscommunication could have nothing to do with ego.) To ‘miss’ communicate also has the non quality of not being able to venture into certain subjects with a dialog of no barriers or censorship daggers that backfire. Rigidity of openness to communicate, both with yourself and others, is to stifle inner growth, and of course for the one who ‘stifles’ communication.
There is no easy way for dealing with a shifting ego, but then again it’s worth a more harmonious life to focus either on your ego fluctuations, or be forever at the mercy of not having the skills. To begin addressing ego controls of yourself and others, first accept yourself as much as you have the courage to. Use the spiritual technique of ‘skillful means’ with a light sense of humor to seek the best of options in responding to another and addressing another who has areas of ‘reactivity’. Self censorship and conscious walking on eggshells with skill may avoid engagements that are emotionally toxic. The key is a sense of giving with skillful means, which is a high spiritual quality, and at the same time there is being able to ‘receive’ with skill from another.
Seek the tools of meditating to let go and smooth out your communications. You are surrounded by a sea of abundance. You are alive - be aware and proactive in a universe that’s overflowing with possibilities. Always be focused on you inner growth.
Arhata~
' Running from Silence '...
"Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You’re covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the side.
Die, and be quiet.
Quietness is the surest sign that you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running from silence.
The speechless full moon comes out now."
-- Rumi
' Why is egolessness appealing ? '...
The opposite of Love is not Hate,
The opposite of Love is egoic construction..
If you want the universal goal of Happiness,
you must surrender this desire to be separate from Happiness,
which we call Love..
The false self called ego is not You..
Egoic attachment is a parasite upon Happiness..
This is why the egoic desires are dissolved daily..
Freedom is found by moving past this addiction to selfishness...
-thomas
' Thoughts on a saturday night '...
Souls speak to me of redemption and apologising..
I speak to you as soul to soul..
I will speak only Truth..
Why Lie ?..
I will speak to you of the fourth dimension..
The lowest part of the fourth dimension contains entities..
These souls are lost..
There are so many..
So many that you know..
So many that you do not know..
The Secret of Life is to move beyond them..
So many sentences,
Love, thomas
' Thoughts of Redemption '...
I agree with you, except the part of redemption..
The Actors within this Play are not Real...
Re-Deem..
What is Deem ?..
What needs to be redone ?..
We are Consciousness,
but,, are constantly trapped within written words..
When We enter the Door,
where will We walk ?..
-thomas
' The Original Mind '...
Unborn and imperishable
Is the original mind.
Earth, water, fire and wind—
a temporary lodging for the night.
- Zen Master Bankei
' Disturbing the Serenity '...
Another factor which may disturb the serenity or interfere with the success of his meditations is the sceptical, inimical, or over-personal thought originating in someone else's mind.
It may be a friend or it may be an enemy who is thinking about the seeker; but if his thoughts are of such a character and are strong enough to do so, they will penetrate his aura and affect his meditations.
The result will be either inability to concentrate at all or much difficulty in elevating a concentrated mind to a higher theme.
For this reason, there is a traditional custom among adepts of warning the pupil to keep his inner progress quite secret and to maintain silence about his mystical experiences.
-- Notebooks Category 4: Elementary Meditation >
Chapter 2: Place and Condition > # 141
Paul Brunton
' The Doorway into Being '...
Make it a habit to ask yourself:
What's going on inside me at this moment?
That question will point you in the right direction.
But don't analyze, just watch.
Focus your attention within.
Feel the energy of the emotion.
If there is no emotion present, take your attention more deeply into the inner energy field of your body.
It is the doorway into Being.
- Eckhart Tolle, from The Power of Now
' You are just pretending '...
You're forgetting that you've forgotten that
you're just pretending to be separate from
everything else.
The Game of Life is played by:
the non-existent ego
trying to expose the non-existent mind
in order to achieve
a non-existent enlightenment
for some non-existent person.
Mind is only a artificial context...a cosmic
stage upon which the ego-based actor struts
and frets his stuff upon.
And, yes, it's the very same stuff that dreams
are made of.
- Chuck Hillig, from Seeds for the Soul
' Rigpa '...
The experience of the non-dual awareness of rigpa is quite wonderful.
It is freedom from the restless striving of the samsaric mind.
It is not a dull peace, but the opposite.
It is pure wakefulness. It is light, open, radiant, and blissful.
When we are no longer preoccupied with self-centered pursuits based on the insecurities of the illusory self and its desires and aversions, the world arises in the purity of the natural state in a vivid, pristine display of beauty.
For the practitioner stable in rigpa, all experiences arise as an ornamentation of the nature of mind, rather than as a problem or delusion.
- Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, from The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep
' The Guardian Angel '...
Let him feel even in the very heat of this world's activity that his Guardian Angel is ever with him, that it is not farther away than his own inmost heart.
Let him nurture this unshakeable faith, for it is true.
Let him make it the basis of all his conduct, try to ennoble and purify his character incessantly, and turn every failing into a stepping-stone for a further rise.
The quest winds through ups and downs, so he must make despair a short-lived thing and hope an unkillable one.
Success will not depend on his own personal endeavours alone, although they are indispensable;
it is also a matter of Grace and this he can get by unremitting prayer, addressed to whatever higher power he believes in most, and by the compassion of his guide.
-- Notebooks Category 18: The Reverential Life >
Chapter 5: Grace > # 173 Paul Brunton
' The Original Sin '...
Zen music helps the consciousness arise from sleep..
To find existence within a hologram of complete lies..
To Awaken to the small reality of egoic-movement and then,
to Awaken to Reality is a shock..
In Reality, there is no egoic-movement..
Love contains no ego..
To remain trapped within a Lie is painful..
Trust is non-existent..
And yet, we return to this Drama,
life after life..
This rejection of Reality is the Original Sin...
-thomas
' You know you exist '...
You know you exist.
This is so natural not even your parents had to teach you that.
You instinctively know you are alive and that you are perceiving somehow.
Not even deliberately, it is just happening.
It is an effortless functioning.
And there is Awareness of that functioning.
What more can you say?
The rest is entirely made up.
- Mooji
' Joy and Sorrow '...
Joy and sorrow both are for each other.
If it were not for joy, sorrow could not be; and if it were not for sorrow, joy could not be experienced.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Life is differentiated by the pairs of opposites.
If there was no pain one would not enjoy the experience of joy. It is pain which helps one to experience joy. Everything is distinguished by its opposite. The one who feels pain deeply is more capable of experiencing joy. And personally, if you were to ask me about pain, I should say that if there was no pain life would be most uninteresting to me. For it is by pain the heart is penetrated, and the sensation of pain is deeper joy. Without pain the great musicians and poets and dreamers and thinkers would not have reached that stage which they reached and from which moved the world. If they always had joy, they would not have touched the depths of life.
There is the sun and there is the moon, there is man and woman, there is night and there is day. The colors are distinguished by their variety and so are the forms. Therefore to distinguish anything there must be its opposite; where there is no opposite we cannot distinguish. There must be health in order to distinguish illness; if there were no health and only illness then it would not have been (distinguished as) illness. ... Life is a puzzle of duality. The pairs of opposites keep us in an illusion and make us think, 'This is this, and that is that'. At the same time by throwing a greater light upon things we shall find in the end that they are quite different from what we had thought.
Seeing the nature and character of life the Sufi says that it is not very important to distinguish between two opposites. What is most important is to recognize that One which is hiding behind it all. Naturally after realizing life the Sufi climbs the ladder which leads him to unity, to the idea of unity which comes through the synthesis of life, by seeing One in all things, in all beings.
' The Short Path Insight '...
All perceptions and experiences occur only in your mind.
Your thoughts about those perceptions also only occur only in your mind.
All thoughts about everything only occur in your mind.
Anything appearing in mind is no more real than daydreams.
This means there is no self, no others, no events, no suffering, no problems, no things and no worlds appearing, other than as empty daydreams in mind or consciousness.
-Jackson Peterson
' The Last Desire '...
As a mystic, you spend each day in the dissolving of desires..
Within Dreams, all are desires..
You can dissolve each desire slowly and this is known as 'The Long Path'.
But the 'Short Path' is a bursting of Light, apply named Enlightenment..
All of these desires originate from the egoic consciousness..
This Dream that You are experiencing is filled to the brim with desires..
This desire to be separate from Source is the highest desire of delusion..
This desire of separation is called experiment..
You, as Divine Consciousness has the desire to watch a hologram of 'other'..
Learning often is seen embracing pain..
Pain is the bell that rings when you stray from the path..
The 'Last Desire' is to surrender this desire to be God..
You have forgotten that 'you' are an illusion..
You have never been separate from Source,
because Source is all that has ever existed...
-thomas
' Beyond birth and death '...
To know itself the self must be faced with its
opposite - the not-self.
Desire leads to
experience.
Experience leads to discrimination,
detachment, self-knowledge - liberation.
And
what is liberation after all?
To know that you
are beyond birth and death.
By forgetting who
you are and imagining yourself a mortal creature,
you created so much trouble for yourself that you
have to wake up, like from a bad dream.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
' Seeking Liberation '...
The scriptures even proclaim aloud:
"There is in
truth no creation and no destruction; no one is bound,
no one is seeking Liberation, no one is on the way to
Deliverance.
There are none liberated.
This is the
absolute truth."
My dear disciple, this, the sum and
substance of all the Upanishads, the secret of secrets,
is my instruction to you."
- Shankaracharya
"Teachings of the Hindu Mystics"
Edited by Andrew Harvey
' Inner Liberation '...
Whoever attains this inner liberation rarely finds it reflected in the outer world of human societies.
Only by going to the lonely places of nature, to forests and fields, deserted shores and unbuilt-on hills can he match the freedom felt.
If he ventures into an ashram--however reputed--the sense of entering a cage is produced.
It could be that this is partly caused by the mental pressure of its authorities or inmates, by the smug if unexpressed exclusiveness.
If he enters a church, he is at ease only if he is the only worshipper; otherwise sectarian pressure comes to awareness.
-- Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 2: Enlightenment Which Stays > # 252
Paul Brunton
' So many questions '...
So many questions ..
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
' The Primal Pain of Longing '...
Deep within the heart there is the primal pain of longing, the cry of the soul separated from its source.
This pain comes from the memory of when we were together with God, what the Sufis call "the sweetness that was before honey or bee."
At special moments in our life we can be given a taste of this union, a taste of divine remembrance.
It is so unbelievably sweet and intoxicating.
And it awakens the knowing, latent in the soul, of being together with God.
This is what ignites the longing, the fire within the heart that begins to burn as a heartache.
- Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
' Memory and Anticipation '...
People don't realize that now is all there ever is;
there is no past or future except as memory or anticipation in your mind.
~ Eckhart Tolle
' The Prison of Desires '...
Your Desires are the Prison that keeps the ego alive and the circle of Reincarnation continuously active..
Your Desires come from the False self that wants to remain in Manifestation, unknowingly being a slave of negative thoughts that generate frequencies that negative entities use as a life source in this Hologram..
These entities live in Darkness and cannot receive the Living Light that feeds the Awakened..
Since, the Human ego is really just a rebellion against Source, Consciousness is also involved in this experiment as Thought is found within all Dreams..
The ego consciousness and the Love Consciousness are the Yin and Yang of Manifestation..
The three desires of the ego consciousness are power, wealth, and fame..
When you have surrendered to Source, all of these desires, especially the egoic life,
you will find the Real Self , known as the Frequency of non-separation
called Unconditional Love...
-thomas
' Suppressing Desire '...
Any action taken to suppress desire can only
strengthen it.
Desire can only fall away gradually
by itself.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
' What is Love ? '...
Love is a tremendous caring that arises in the wake of transcending the personal self.
In the wake of this transcendence, something amazing arises. A deep love and caring arises from within emptiness, from nowhere.
This love and caring seeks only the Truth in every moment and in all circumstances.
True love is something far greater than anything that could be called personal. True love is a non-personal miracle. It is the nature of reality itself. It is the natural and spontaneous expression of the undivided Self.
True love is not something that can be created. A love greater than oneself, by its very nature, is something that we can't manufacture. The me cannot manufacture it, even if it wants to. This Love arises from the Self -- from realization of the Self.
Listen and feel into the intuition of oneness within. The feeling of oneness is love; the experience of oneness is realization of your true nature. Love only seems other than you or bigger than you when you are trapped in the perspective of a personal me.
This non-personal love actually is you because you, as you truly are, have never been that which is personal. In one sense, it's simply a matter of how deep enlightenment has gone, how thorough it is.
We can't really love the whole until we have a deep realization that we are the whole. Otherwise, the vastness of that love is always going to be experienced as a threat to the me.
Love cares not for the me, it cares only for that which is true, undivided, and whole.
When the me dissolves, when it surrenders itself to a unity far greater than anything the mind can comprehend, that is Love.
- Adyashanti, from The Impact of Awakening
' The Glimpse '...
Some readers might appreciate further 'definition' of the glimpse. Here are a few amplifying quotes from PB's Notebooks 22.4:
A glimpse is a transitory state of mental enlightenment and emotional exaltation.
It is an experience of self-discovery, not the discovery of some other being, whether a guru or a god.
These brief flashes bring with them great joy, great beauty, and great uplift. They are, for most people, their first clear vivid awakening to the existence and reality of a spiritual order of being. The contrast with their ordinary state is so tremendous as to shame it into pitiful drabness. The intention is to arouse and stimulate them into the longing for re-entry into the spirit, a longing which inevitably expresses itself in the quest.
All our ordinary experience comes to us through sense responses or intellectual workings. But here is a kind of experience which does not come through these two channels. It is not a series of sensations nor a series of thoughts.. What is it, then? Philosophy says it belongs to the transcendental world..
Conventional dictionary definitions fail to convey the higher dimension of meaning that PB intends; which is, the mystical glimpse, or the kind that belongs to the transcendental world; 'transcendental' meaning above or beyond the sensible. It might be further characterized as intuitive as distinguished from discursive.
-David
' Looking for Truth '...
The idea of Looking..
So many words reach our vision..
Where will you search for knowledge ?..
I will speak to you and you will ask for Truth..
In this world, you search for Truth ?..
I will speak the words of poetry,
but, you will search further..
I enjoy the survailence of mind..
Search my mind,,
I will only speak Truth,
The pain of unknowing is left to you,..
-thomas
' Practicing the Dhamma '...
It's of great importance that we practice the Dhamma. If we
don't practice, then all our knowledge is only superficial
knowledge, just the outer shell of it. It's as if we have some
sort of fruit but we haven't eaten it yet.
Even though we have
that fruit in our hand we get no benefit from it. Only through
the actual eating of the fruit we really know its taste.
The Buddha didn't praise those who merely believe
others, he praised the person who knows within himself.
Just as with that fruit, if we have tasted it already, we don't
have to ask anyone else if it's sweet or sour. Our problems
are over. Why are they over?
Because we see according to
the truth. One who has realized the Dhamma is like one
who has realized the sweetness or sourness of the fruit. All
doubts are ended right here.
When we talk about Dhamma, although we may say a
lot, it can usually be brought down to four things. They are
simply to know suffering, to know the cause of suffering,
to know the end of suffering and to know the path of practice
leading to the end of suffering.
This is all there is. All
that we have experienced on the path of practice so far
comes down to these four things. When we know these
things, our problems are over.
-From "A Taste of Freedom" by Ajahn Chah
' Beingness '...
We seem not to see that, as we march towards the next anticipated "spiritual" high,
the treasure that we seek is to be discovered not in where we are going,
but within the simple nature of the very footsteps that we take.
In our rush to find a better situation in time,
we trample over the flower of beingness that presents itself in every moment.
- Tony Parsons
' Here and Now '...
"Wrapped, surrounded by ten thousand mountains,
Cut off, no place to go....
Until you're here, there's no way to get here.
Once you're here, there's no way to go."
- Yuan Mei
From the book: "The Poetry of Zen,"
published by Shambhala.
' Thought never dies '...
The disappearing is the exit of egoic desire..
To not exist is the meaning of Consciousness,
It is so difficult to contemplate, non-existence..
" I think, therefore, I am "..
To understand the knowledge beyond poetry is beautiful..
Your goal is to surrender life..
The ego warns you of the pain of death..
Keep walking, beyond warnings..
Shout into the face of death..
Thought never dies...
thomas
' The Prerequisite '...
You know when you boil it all down to something much simpler than it is often presented; all of spirituality down to something very simple, a prerequisite to the whole of spiritual yearning, impulse, search, whatever you want to call it. It's very simple. The prerequisite is that you are open and you're available. That's the prerequisite.
Sadly for a lot of people, they don't become open until they suffer tremendously. And then maybe they become open, available. Too difficult to keep the pretense going. Other people have a bit easier time opening up and being available.
But understand this, that that openness, availability is the whole entire prerequisite for spirituality. That's what makes everything possible.
And it doesn't really matter if you've been open before. Maybe you were very very open yesterday. It does not matter today. Maybe you're very very open today. Who knows about tomorrow. One never knows, do they? You never know from moment to moment whether there will be that availability, that true openness of heart, openness of mind, openness of spirit. There are so many way that we can close down. Whether we close down into some sort of emotional protection, close down into some sort of intellectual protection. We can even close down as a consequence of having some sort of spiritual realization. The mind can decide, "I know. I have awoken, i am one of the awakened ones...and I know."
And I hope you can feel the armoring just in those words. The great mental armoring that comes around one's entire being.
So this is my invitation to start from a place of openness, a place of real availability. Because that's what makes everything possible.
- Adyashanti, Mount Madonna 2009 First CD, posted to adyashantigroup
' Arising and Dissolving '...
If we allow our thoughts to arise and dissolve by themselves, they will pass through our mind as a bird flies through the sky, without leaving a trace.
This method applies not only to attachment and anger but also to the experiences of meditation, such as bliss, clarity and the absence of thought.
These experiences result from perseverance in practice and the expression of the inherent creativity of the mind. They are like the appearance of a rainbow as the rays of the sun strike a curtain of rain.
For us to become attached to them is as vain as running after a rainbow in hopes of wearing it as a coat.
We should simply allow thoughts and experiences to come and go, without grasping at them.
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
' Paradox '...
Paradox is both the primal and the final truth.
Life, whether we approve of it or not, is like that.
Things are dual and so is man's nature a pairing of negative and positive.
But even more is the entire cosmos itself both real and unreal.
-- Notebooks Category 26: World-Idea > Chapter 3: Polarities,
Complementaries, Dualities of The Universe > # 1
Paul Brunton
' The Crucifixion of the ego '...
In this deep stillness wherein every trace of the personal self dissolves,
there is the true crucifixion of the ego.
This is the real meaning of the crucifixion,
as it was undergone in the ancient Mystery Temple initiations and as it was undergone by Jesus.
The death implied is mental, not physical.
-- Perspectives > Chapter 24:
The Peace within You > # 59
Paul Brunton
' Looking '...
I exhausted myself, looking.
No one ever finds this by trying.
I melted in it and came home,
where every jar is full,
but no one drinks.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
' The smallest event '...
"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
And one of them shalt not fall on the ground without your Father" (Matthew 10:29)
puts simply that an infinite intelligence controls this entire universe,
and that it is as present in the smallest event as in the greatest.
-- Notebooks Category 27: World-Mind > Chapter 2:
Nature of World-Mind > # 4 Paul Brunton
' A voice from the matrix '...
Sometimes, the egoic desire yells at Creator..
We are the servants and slaves of those of power..
And yet, ego demands, dignity..
This is the battle between Truth and Untruth..
The actor and puppet sound their desires..
We are so unaware of the sounds of the ego..
We remain trapped within religion and law..
I leave you at one paragraph,
to awaken You...
-thomas
' We are too old to lie '...
By now, you have discovered the lies that manifest as Reality..
The egoic-desires that rule the world..
So strange that the mind will sell the soul..
Therefore, the mind is opposite of Truth..
I sound as a madman of Truth,
but, I see you as Observer..
You sell Yourself, cheaply..
But, you continue reading..
Perhaps, you cannot pass a human with a cup..
I am near death, why would I lie to you ?..
I will probably reside near you as you continue your role..
I want to live in light, but,
I will remain, awhile within the pain of ego..
-thomas
' To dismantle the false self '...
The task of any useful spiritual practice is therefore to dismantle
cherishing the thoughts, opinions, and ideas that make up the false self, the self that is seeking.
This is the true task of both meditation and inquiry.
- Adyashanti
' I have satisfaction '...
Pleasantly and well-suited I walk: Whither I walk I cannot define, but I know it is good;
The whole universe indicates that it is good,
The past and the present indicate that it is good.
How beautiful and perfect are the animals! How perfect is my Soul! How perfect the earth, and the minutest thing upon it!
What is called good is perfect, and what is called bad is just as perfect,
The vegetables and minerals are all perfect, and the imponderable fluids are perfect;
Slowly and surely they have passed on to this, and slowly and surely they yet pass on.
My Soul! if I realize you, I have satisfaction;
Animals and vegetables! if I realize you, I have satisfaction;
Laws of the earth and air! if I realize you, I have satisfaction.
I cannot define my satisfaction, yet it is so;
I cannot define my life, yet it is so. It comes to me now!
I swear I think now that everything without exception has an eternal soul!
The trees have, rooted in the ground! the weeds of the sea have! the animals!
I swear I think there is nothing but immortality!
That the exquisite scheme is for it, and the nebulous float is for it, and the cohering is for it;
And all preparation is for it! and identity is for it! and life and death are altogether for it!
- Walt Whitman
' Each Moment '...
You must live in the present,
launch yourself on every wave,
find your eternity in each moment.
- Henry David Thoreau
' The Formless Self '...
Do not allow your mind to become so easily disturbed by
the fleeting soap bubble experiences of this world. Know
your mind's essence to be imperishable, indivisible
and unborn. Without your Self, nothing is; for things
cannot be their own witness.
It is in the light of sentience that the world is seen. You
are not an object. All phenomena reports to the consciousness
in You, the formless Self. Know your Self to be That in which
they arise, play and are eventually absorbed.
This very day, life will reveal a taste of the miracle of your
real existence. Without expectations or projections,
simply be open to this.
- Mooji
' Do it and find out '...
From the position of observer, take that last step.
Who's the one observing ? Go there.
Who is that ultimate, absolute observer, where 'seeing itself' arises from ?
Let attention rest there.
Let it be ok that nothing has happened.
Let the show be over, let the movie, the story of 'I' as an individual person, be over.
And see what happens.
Truth will reveal itself, absolute clarity of how this matrix works, will show itself to be no more than a matrix.
And somehow, a capacity to enjoy what ever is unfolding is always there.
You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to have good health, you don't have to do it before your body dies, it's got nothing to do with anything :
it's right now, place your attention behind any stories, any concepts.
From there, freedom arises, beauty arises, love arises.
But don't take my word for it, do it.
And prove me wrong, I'd be delighted.
I'll take on that challenge any day.
Do it and find out.
-Jac O'Keeffe
' Becoming the Witness '...
One method we use to help us on the path is mindfulness. Becoming the witness. Watching yourself continuously. Watching your thoughts. Watching your actions.
Sitting in meditation and watching what goes on in your mind. Not trying to change anything or correct anything. Just observing. Becoming the witness to your thoughts in meditation, and to your actions in the waking state.
The trouble is we compare ourselves with others or we compare what we read in books.
We read about people who go there and become enlightened all of a sudden, they awaken, they have all kinds of good feelings.
We shouldn't judge these things.
Everyone is divine.
Everyone will eventually awaken.
Do not look at any body else, at the feelings they have or they don't have.
You are unique in your own imitable way.
You are you.
~ Robert Adams
' I and the Father are One '...
You have read these words before..
What exactly do they mean ?..
These words are the mantra of most Mystics..
Many Mystics have been killed for saying these words..
This is why, Jesus was killed..
This also applies to the many Mystics of the other philosophies and religions..
This is why, so many Mystics keep within Overself without saying so..
These words mean that the speaker has entered a state of Knowledge called Enlightenment..
To enter Truth is a frightful experience..
To surrender all existence requires courage..
The ego will suddenly appear to talk you from the edge..
This is just a ruse to keep you trapped within the circle of reincarnation..
Your egoic-negative energy keeps alive the destroyers..
This is enough to contemplate...
-thomas
' Annihilate self '...
"You yourself are the cause of your separation from the Beloved.
Annihilate that which is called self and you will thereby gain union with Him."
Meher Baba
in Jane Barry Haynes, Ed.
Treasures from the Meher Baba Journals:1936-1942
Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Press, 1980, 246
' Natural Goodness '...
Spirituality is natural goodness.
God is not a person;
God is a presence personified in us.
Spirituality is not a thing;
it is the atmosphere of God’s Presence, goodness, truth and beauty.
- Ernest Holmes
' The World-Idea '...
When the fact of the World-Idea flashes into his mind, he stands like Hillary on Mount Everest.
At last this bewildering enigma which surrounds and entraps everyone everywhere assumes pattern,
the countless events and things and processes leave their isolation, their useless chaos, and fit together.
-- Notebooks Category 26: World-Idea > Chapter 4:
True Idea of Man > # 122 Paul Brunton
' Desires for objects, persons, and enjoyment '...
Actually, this ocean of samsara does not exist.
It is only your
desires and when they subside there is nothing which has ever
existed.
If you know this ocean is dreadful and filled with
alligators and sharks this is enough.
These alligators are your
desires for objects, for persons,
for some enjoyment!
Once you
forget them you are very safe.
- Papaji
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
' Liberation of the mind '...
Once you know your mind and its miraculous powers, and remove what poisoned it -
the idea of a separate and isolated person -
you just leave it alone to do its work among things for which it is well suited.
To keep the mind in its own place and on its own work is the liberation of the mind.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
' Mentalism '...
Mentalism, the teaching that this is a mental universe,
is too hard to believe for the ordinary man yet too hard to disbelieve for the illumined man.
This is because to the first it is only a theory, but to the second it is a personal experience.
The ordinary man's consciousness is kept captive by his senses, each of which reports a world of matter outside him.
The illumined man's consciousness is free to be itself,
to report its own reality and to reveal the senses and their world to be mere ideation.
-- Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism > Chapter 4: The Challenge of Mentalism > # 45
-- Perspectives > Chapter 21: Mentalism > # 8 Paul Brunton
' The ego feeds on weakness '...
There is a false ego in man, which the Sufis call nafs, and this ego
feeds on weakness.
This ego feels vain when one says, “I cannot bear
it, I do not like it,” it feeds the ego, the vanity.
It thinks,“I am better than
others,” and thereby this ego becomes strong.
But the one who can
discriminate, distinguish, choose, while at the same time having
everything under control, and who although enjoying sweet things can
yet drink a bowl of something bitter, that person has reached mastery.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
Omega Press, 1978
' Enlightenment simply is '...
Essentially the realization of enlightenment brings with it the sudden comprehension that there is no one and nothing to be enlightened.
Enlightenment simply is.
It cannot be owned, just as it cannot be achieved or won like some trophy.
All and everything is oneness, and all that we do gets in its way by trying to find it.
-Tony Parsons
' Existence is Consciousness '...
Existence or Consciousness is the only reality.
Consciousness plus waking we call waking.
Consciousness plus sleep we call sleep.
Consciousness plus dream, we call dream.
Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go.
The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it.
- Ramana Maharshi
' Alone '...
"In the beginning was He alone, sufficient unto Himself:
the formless, colourless, and unconditioned Being.
Then was there neither beginning, middle, nor end;
Then were no eyes, no darkness, no light;
Then were no ground, air, nor sky; no fire, water, nor earth;
no rivers like the Ganges and the Jumna,
no seas, oceans, and waves.
Then was neither vice nor virtue;
scriptures there were not, as the Vedas and Puranas, nor as the Koran.
Kabir ponders in his mind and says,
'Then was there no activity:
the Supreme Being remained merged in the unknown depths of His own self.'
The Guru neither eats nor drinks, neither lives nor dies:
Neither has He form, line, colour, nor vesture.
He who has neither caste nor clan nor anything else --
How may I describe His glory?
He has neither form nor formlessness,
He has no name,
He has neither colour nor colourlessness,
He has no dwelling-place."
Kabir
in Songs of Kabir, LXXXI
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1915, p. 127-128
' All derived from mind '...
Berkeley's clear thinking and clever statement of a noble truth were admirable.
But he made one large mistake in formulating his views.
This was to split the qualities of external objects into those which the mind contributes and those which belong to the objects in their own right.
The fact is that everything, without exception, is derived from mind.
-- Notebooks Category 21: Mentalism > Chapter 4:
The Challenge of Mentalism > # 257
Paul Brunton
' Too Vast to be Contained '...
Trying to fit a person into a single belief system is like trying to fit the ocean
into a wine glass.
What we are is simply too vast to be contained by a belief or
an idea.
A statement, an idea, or a belief stated by another person is like one
snapshot in an infinite album, or a single pixel of light interwoven through a
sizeless whole.
Christine Wushke
' I am this, I am that '...
When the mind is quiet, we come to know ourselves as the pure witness.
We withdraw from the experience and its experiencer and stand apart in pure awareness, which is between and beyond the two.
The personality, based on self-identification, on imagining oneself to be something:
`I am this, I am that', continues, but only as a part of the objective world.
Its identification with the witness snaps.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
' Ram Tzu Knows '...
Ram Tzu knows this...
There is a hole
Inside you that
You try desperately
To fill up.
You pour in
Various satisfactions
To make yourself
Feel alright.
Sometimes,
If you can get enough,
The hole fills to the brim
And there is a
Blissful moment of evenness.
But your hole is open
At the bottom.
Its contents always leak through
Leaving you empty
Again
And desperate
For more.
Ram Tzu know what must be done...
You must be thrown in the hole.
- Ram Tzu
' You are that Consciousness '...
Leave God alone.
Speak for yourself.
You do not know God.
He is only what you think of Him.
Is He apart from you?
He is that Pure Consciousness in which all ideas are formed.
You are that Consciousness.
- Ramana Maharshi
' Jesus as a Jewish Mystic by Marcus Borg '...
Borg sees Jesus in five different ways: (1) Spirit person; (2) healer; (3)wisdom teacher; (4) social prophet; and (5) movement founder. It is under the first classification that Borg sees Jesus most clearly in the identity of a Jewish mystic.
For Borg, there is a clear definition of terms. "My claim that Jesus was a Jewish mystic means Jesus was one for whom God was an experiential reality. He was one of those people for whom the sacred was, to use William James' terms, a firsthand religious experience rather than a secondhand belief.."
Borg goes on to give a straight forward definition of a mystic: "As I use the term, people who have decisive and typically frequent firsthand experiences of the sacred.."
In delving deeper into this concept, Borg differentiates between two types of experience - the kind which occur in "eyes open" and in "eyes closed" forms. The first would consist of someone who sees the world as an epiphany in which the Eternal breaks through, with "light shining through everything or bathing everything in its glow."
The second type, "eyes closed", involves experiences that are associated with contemplation or meditation, a rising up (or deepening) that brings one to communion or union with God.
Finally, in terms that are of great help to our own understanding of what it is to be a Christian Mystic, Borg mentions what he calls "defining characteristics of mystical states of consciousness." The source of these are William James' remarkable work.
Ineffability: Direct explanation of the experiences cannot take place with words, as in, "I walked across the room and saw a bird on the window sill." Instead, one must resort to the language of metaphor.
Transiency: One does not constantly live in this altered state of consciousness. Instead, the vision or perception will come and go.
Passivity: One cannot make these things happen. They are, to use Christian terms, the product of grace. At the same time, there is evidence that one must psychologically prepare one's self - make the house ready for guests, as it were.
Noetic: There is, in those who experience these mystical states of consciousness, the conviction that they now KNOW something that they didn't know before. It is a deep, certain understanding and not something merely intellectual, as in the solution of a puzzle.
Transformative: The person finds that how they see and who they are, undergo a radical change. The person who once saw the everyday world now sees the presence of God, the dance of the world.
Borg goes on to state, "The portrait of Jesus as a Spirit person is history remembered and not simply history metaphorized. This is the basis for my claim that Jesus was a Jewish mystic, for him, God was an experiential reality. He knew the immediacy of the sacred in his own experience. And this claim leads to a second claim: Jesus' experience of God was foundational for the rest of what he was."
' Thoughts on a Thursday Night '...
The music of 'Doo Wop' enters this Consciousness..
I remember the group of five guys and a lead singer..
We sang on street corners and school yards..
We sang for glorification of the ego and the lust for girls..
But, mainly, we sang for Unity..
This 'Harmony' is a desire for Unity and Oneness..
Why do you enjoy Harmonics of frequency ?..
Because these frequencies, 'Blend'..
These frequencies merge within each other..
They are called music..
They are called Love...
Music is a combination of frequencies..
How do these frequencies control your mind ?..
Perhaps, I bother you with, too many questions..
- thomas
' The True Object of Incarnation '...
The cosmos is neither a phantom to be disdained nor an illusion to be dismissed.
It is a remote expression in time and space and individuality of that which is timeless spaceless and infinite.
If it is not the Reality in its ultimate sense, it is an emanation of the Reality.
Hence it shares in some way the life of its source.
To find that point of sharing is the true object of incarnation for all creatures within the cosmos.
-- Notebooks Category 26: World-Idea > Chapter 1:
Divine Order of The Universe > # 179
Paul Brunton
' No Part-Time Bodhisattvas '...
"The bodhisattva vows to save all sentient beings, but that is not a goal in the relative sense.
The bodhisattva realizes that what she is saying in that vow is completely impractical. You can’t really do it.
We see this from the mythical story of the great bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. He had a literal mind in the beginning. He took that vow, “Until I save all six realms of existence, I will not attain enlightenment.” He worked and he worked and he worked to fulfill his vow.
He helped beings, and he thought he’d saved hundreds of millions of them. Then he turned around and saw that an even greater number than he had saved were still suffering, and he had flickers of doubts at that point.
At the beginning, when he took the vow, he had said, “If I have any doubts about my path, may my head split into a thousand pieces.” This vow came true at this time. His head began to fall apart. He was in tremendous pain of confusion, not knowing what he was doing. Then, according to the myth, Amitabha—a great buddha of compassion—came to him and said, “Now you’re being foolish.
That vow you took shouldn’t be taken literally. What you took was a vow of limitless compassion.” Avalokiteshvara realized that and understood it. Through that recognition, he became a thousand times more powerful. That’s why the iconographical image of Avalokiteshvara often has twelve heads and a thousand arms.
You see, once you take the meaning of saving all others literally, you lose the sacredness of it. If you’re able to see that compassion applies to every situation, then compassion becomes limitless.
You don’t try to attain enlightenment at all, but you find yourself enlightened at a certain stage, because you continuously put in such a concentrated effort. You realize that the path is also the goal.
The bodhisattva is quite happy with the path he is treading on. The path is what there is to work with, and that work is there eternally, because sentient beings are numberless, and we have to work with them eternally.
That realization manifests as vast energy. The bodhisattva vow is really an acceptance of the energy. It is saying, “I take a vow to commit myself to work with this limitless energy.”
It is a commitment to work twenty-four hours a day without time off. You can’t have part-time bodhisattvas."
– Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Work, Sex, Money
' The Mirror as Described by Dogen Zenji '...
Dogen wrote:
“What all Buddhas and Ancestors accept, preserve, and individually pass on is the Ancient Mirror. It is Their same view and Their same face: It is Their same image and Their same casting, for They have done the same training and have realized the same Truth. When foreigners come, foreigners appear in It, be they eight thousand or a hundred thousand; when Han come, Han appear in It, be it for a single moment or for all of time.
When things of the past come, things of the past appear in It; when things of the present come, things of the present appear in It. When a Buddha comes, a Buddha appears in It; when an Ancestor comes, an Ancestor appears in It.”
Dogen also wrote:
“All that is clear and bright is the Clear Mirror; thus it is said, “When a bright-headed one comes, a bright-headed one responds in kind.” Because It is beyond being any ‘where’, there is no ‘where’ for It to be in. What is more, can there possibly be a single dust mote anywhere in the universe that is not in the Mirror? Can there possibly be a single dust mote on the Mirror that is not of the Mirror? Keep in mind that the whole universe is beyond being merely ‘lands as numerous as dust motes’. As a consequence, the universe is the face of the Ancient Mirror.”
Dogen shares:
“Kayashata replied in verse: The Great Round Mirror of all Buddhas Is neither flawed within nor beclouded without. We two can see It the same way, For we are alike in both Mind and Eye. Since what he said is so, how could the Great Round Mirror have been born at the same time as Kayashata? Kayashata’s life, from the time he was born up to that very moment, was the brightness of the Great Round Mirror. All Buddhas train alike and see alike: all Buddhas are cast images of the Great Round Mirror.”
Another from Dogen:
“If you are not clear about what these myriad images now before us are, you would do well to inquire into the matter. Should you do so, you have the words of the Master about realizing the brightness that has already been cast into the Mirror. The Mirror is not of gold or of jewels, and It is not Its brightness or Its images, yet no sooner is Its form cast than the Mirror is, beyond doubt, completely clear.”
“The mirror that illumines and commands a view of past and present, this will be the Ancient Mirror” Dogen
“Although there are not two Mirrors, ‘the Ancient Mirror’ refers to the Ancient Mirror, and ‘the Clear Mirror’ refers to the Clear Mirror.
According to the Buddha’s Way, we should consider these mirrors respectively as the True Nature and how the True Nature manifests”.
- Dogen
' A Still Cup '...
For
God
To make love,
For the divine alchemy to work,
The Pitcher needs a still cup.
Why
Ask Hafiz to say
Anything more about
Your most
Vital
Requirement?
- Hafiz
"The Gift"
Translations by Daniel Ladinsky
Penguin/Arkana, 1999
' Serving Divinity '...
Such a prudent aspirant will surrender himself to no exterior organization but only to the interior Overself.
He will permit no human group to annex his will and direct his thought, for they are to serve the Divine alone.
-- Notebooks Category 18: The Reverential Life >
Chapter 4: Surrender > # 40
Paul Brunton
' This is all there is '...
Actually, in truth, there isn't anything to human beings.
Whatever we may be, it's only in the realm of appearances.
However, if we go beyond appearances and see the truth, we will see that there isn't anything there but the universal characteristics - birth in the beginning, change in the middle, and cessation in the end.
This is all there is.
If we see that all things are like this, then no problems arise.
If we understand this, we will have contentment and peace.
- Achaan Chah, from No Ajahn Chah: Reflections
' Living without Fear '...
When you are close to death everyday and night,
you choose to feel the pain of fear or you choose not to..
Living in fear will destroy your body and mind..
To walk without fear is a rare and beautiful experience..
Most religions first instill the fear of Judgement and then, for
a weekly fee, will teach you how to conquer fear..
Most institutions of power and mind control exist upon fear...
-thomas
' Bhagavad Gita '...
When a man dwells on the objects of sense,
he creates an attraction for them; attraction
develops into desire, and desire breeds anger.
Anger induces delusion; delusion, loss of memory;
through loss of memory, reason is shattered; and
loss of reason leads to destruction.
But the self-controlled soul, who moves amongst
sense-objects, free from either attachment or
repulsion, he wins eternal Peace.
Having attained Peace, he becomes free from misery;
for when the mind gains peace, right discrimination
follows.
- Bhagavad Gita
' Man's pride '...
Man's pride and satisfaction in what he knows limits the scope of his vision.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
One wishes to be admired for his clothes, his jewels, his possessions, his greatness and position, and naturally when this desire increases it makes a person blind and he loses sight of right and justice.
It is natural that the desire for things that gratify vanity should have no end; it increases continually. The tendency to look at others with hatred and prejudice, to consider them inferior to oneself, and all such tendencies come from this ego.
There are even cases when people spend money in order to be able to insult another. To make someone bow before him, to make him give way, to put him in a position of inferiority, to make him appear contemptible, sometimes a person will spend money.
The desire for the satisfaction of vanity reaches such a point, that a person would give his life for the satisfaction of his vanity. Often someone shows generosity, not for the sake of kindness, but to satisfy his vanity.
The more vanity a person has the less sympathy he has for others, for all his attention is given to his own satisfaction, and he is as blind toward others. This ego, so to speak, restricts life, because it limits a person.
All the knowledge that man possesses he has acquired by belief.
When he strengthens his belief by knowledge then comes disbelief in things that his knowledge cannot cope with, and in things that his reason cannot justify.
He then disbelieves things that he once believed in. An unbeliever is one who has changed his belief to disbelief; disbelief often darkens the soul, but sometimes it illuminates it.
There is a Persian saying, 'Until belief has changed to disbelief, and, again, the disbelief into a belief, a man does not become a real Muslim.' But when disbelief becomes a wall and stands against the further penetration of mind into life, then it darkens the soul, for there is no chance of further progress, and man's pride and satisfaction in what he knows limit the scope of his vision.
' A polished mirror '...
Because the Overself is already there within him in all its immutable sublimity, man has not to develop it or perfect it.
He has only to develop and perfect his ego until it becomes like a polished mirror,
held up to and reflecting the sacred attributes of the Overself,
and showing openly forth the divine qualities which had hitherto lain hidden behind itself.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest >
Chapter 5: Self-Development > # 12 Paul Brunton
' The Secret Union '...
"In this secret union the loving soul flows forth and escapes from itself, and is swallowed up and as it were annihilated in the abyss of eternal love, dead to itself and living in God, knowing naught and feeling naught except the love that it savors.
For it loses itself in the immense desert and darkness of Godhead.
But to lose oneself thus is find oneself....
In truth, that which puts off the human and puts on the divine is transformed into God, the same as iron in the fire takes on the appearance of the fire and is changed into it.
But the essence of the soul thus deified subsists, just as the red iron does not cease to be iron."
François Louis de Blois (1506-1566)
Insitutio Spiritualis, XII
in Henri Plard
Angelus Silesius, Pelerin chérubique_
Paris: Aubier, 1946, p. 53
' They are phenomena '...
Always at the point of real atomic recognition, the
strongest doubt and loudest noise will come.
Don’t panic.
They are phenomena.
You are the
witness of both doubt and noise.
They happen in
you, not to you.
You forever remain the immaculate
Self.
- Mooji
' Far to one side '...
If he wishes to enter the portal of philosophy he will most likely begin with others,
with what philosophers have thought and taught; but in the end he must make a second beginning--with himself.
He will have to re-examine his own psyche, his own personality,
but from a detached position, standing far to one side.
He will have to decide each hour of each day how to apply the truth,
gathered from books and teachers,
to the events, duties, occasions, and thoughts of that day.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 5:
Self-Development > # 38 Paul Brunton
' A near death experience '...
Atop the two story building that was our barracks,
we stood watching the battle..
Saigon was alight with explosions and gun fire..
The 'Tet Offensive' had begun..
As we watched the Viet Cong coming down the street..
The Fog of war was filling the dirt road..
The Vietnamese Soldiers that were to stand guard had deserted us..
We gentlemen of teachers and instructors stood motionless..
A bullet raced past my right ear as all looked within my eyes..
My thought, was just, a lucky shot, until the next bullet woke me up..
The men fought for position upon the downward ladder..
I climbed down the ladder and drank a beer..
So strange, to not fear death..
And yet so full of Power and Grace...
-thomas
' Fear and Desire '...
There is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires.
- Gautama the Buddha
' Naught '...
"Thy way then lies
through desert very strange to see,
so deep, so wide,
no bound's descried.
This desert's bare
of Then or There
in modeless singularity.
This desert place
no foot did pace,
no creature mind
ingress can find.
It is, yet truly none knows what.
'Tis there, 'tis here,
'tis far, 'tis near,
'tis high, 'tis low,
yet all we know is:
This it's not and That it's not.
"It's clear, it's bright,
it's dark as night;
no name or sign
can it define,
beginningless, of ceasing free.
Immobile, bare,
'tis flowing there.
Where it may dwell,
whoso can tell,
should teach us what its form may be.
As a child become,
both blind and dumb.
Thy own self's aught
must turn to naught.
Both aught and naught
thou must reject, without a trace
of image, time, or space.
Go quite astray
the pathless way,
the desert thou mayst then detect.
"My soul within,
come out, God in!
Sink all my aught
in God's own naught,
sink down in bottomless abyss.
Should I flee thee,
thou wilt come to me;
when self is done,
then Thou art won,
thou transcendental highest bliss!"
Anonymous*
Granum sinpis ('The Grain of Mustard Seed')
quoted in The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart
Translated by Maurice O'C. Walshe
NY: Crossroad, 1975, 1987, p. 15-16
* Scholars speculate that Eckhart composed this, or someone influenced by Eckhart.
' Humanity's Cultural Progress '...
Why is it that despite all the visible and touchable counter-attractions, despite the innumerable failures and long years of fruitlessness, so many men have sought through so many ages in so many lands for God, for what is utterly intangible, unnameable, shapeless, unseen, and unheard?
Because the simple but astonishing fact is that the Overself, which is the presence of God in them, is part of their nature as human beings!
Mysticism is nothing more than the methodical attempt to wake up to this fact.
The "soul" which metaphysics points to in reasoning, mysticism establishes in experience.
We all need to feel the divine presence. Even the man who asserts that he does not is no exception. For he indirectly finds it just the same in spite of himself but under limited forms like aesthetic appreciation or Nature's inspiration.
Even if all contemporary mystics were to die out, even if not a single living man were to be interested in mysticism, even if all mystical doctrines were to disappear from human memory and written record, the logic of evolution would bring back both the teaching and the practice.
They are two of those historical necessities which are certain to be regained in the course of humanity's cultural progress.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest >
Chapter 5: Self-Development > # 11
Paul Brunton
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