' Lost in the Illusion '...
Society and Family tell you from birth that you are separated from Source,, thus developing a false self called ego... Most religions teach this separation thus making a business in trying to reach closer to Source but always remaining separate.................... thomas
' Forgive Somebody '...
When you forgive somebody, when you are generous, when you withhold judgment, when you love and when you stand up to injustice, you are, in that moment, bringing heaven to earth.
....................................Rob Bell
' Short-lived Pleasures '...
If you can't see the sun you will be impressed with a street light. If you've never felt thunder and lightning you'll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures.
..................................John Piper
' Our Greatest Fear '...
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.
.................................Francis Chan
' Who You Are '...
The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
.................Joseph Campbell
' Your Character '...
There is nothing more beautiful than finding your course as you believe you bob aimlessly in the current. And wouldn't you know that your path was there all along, waiting for you to knock, waiting for you to become. This path does not belong to your parents, your teachers, your leaders, or your lovers. Your path is your character defining itself more and more every day.
.....................................Jodie Foster
' A Philosophy '...
My philosophy is: It's none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am, and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.
..................................Anthony Hopkins
' Be Brave '...
Be brave and upright that God may love thee; speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death; safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath.
...............................Balian of Ibelin
' War '...
I warn you against shedding blood, indulging in it and making a habit of it, for blood never sleeps.
......................................Saladin
' Home '...
Home is not where you were born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.
................................Naguib Mahfouz
' You Are Light '...
"If everything around you seems dark, look again, you may be the light." ............................ Rumi.
' Truth Itself '...
We should not be ashamed to acknowledge truth from whatever source it comes to us, even if it is brought to us by former generations and foreign peoples. For him who seeks the truth there is nothing of higher value than truth itself.
............................. Al-Kindi
' The Equation '...
Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to hate, and hate leads to violence. This is the equation.
................................ Averroes
' Losing the ego '...
Before you can find God, you must lose yourself.
............................ Baal Shem Tov
' Authentic '...
When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.
...................................... Martin Buber
' Find Meaning '...
Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning. The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her own life.
........................................... Viktor E. Frankl
' Returning Home '...
My experiences within the Light of Divine Consciousness have led me to this Reality of no separation from Source ,,, by the death of all ego delusion,, and fully embraced by the Love of True Reality................................ thomas
' Training the Ego '...
See your self from a level six feet above your body and watch the Thoughts of the mind {ego} flow through the mind ... From this level you can train the ego to disappear by just watching the thoughts without emotion....................... thomas
' Philosophy '...
the essence of philosophy is not the possession of the truth but the search for truth. ... Philosophy means to be on the way. Its questions are more essential than its answers, and every answer becomes a new question.
..................................Karl Jaspers
' Being Fooled '...
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.
.................................Soren Kierkegaard
' Spiritual Immune System '...
Fortunately, some are born with spiritual immune systems that sooner or later give rejection to the illusory worldview grafted upon then from birth through social conditioning. They begin sensing that something is amiss, and start looking for answers. Inner knowledge and anomalous outer experiences show them a side of reality others are oblivious to, and so begins the journey of awakening. Each step of the journey is made by following the heart instead of the crowd, and by choosing knowledge over veils of ignorance.
........................................Henri Bergson
' Reason '...
The majority of men... are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and... are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.
...................................Arthur Schopenhauer
' Commitment '...
The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, power and grace.
.......................................Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
' The Universe '...
The universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited. Everything has its own voice. Thunder and lightening and stars and planets, flowers, birds, animals, trees, ~~ all these have voices, and they constitute a community of existence that is profoundly related.
.........................................Thomas Berry
' A Nondual Experience '...
The kind of operation that is necessary to help us out of our dualistic thinking is a nondual experience. Then we begin to see things as one again.
...........................................Haridas Chaudhuri
' The Divine Presence '...
It is the Divine Presence that gives value to life. This Presence is the source of all peace, all joy, all security. Find this Presence in yourself and all your difficulties will disappear.
...................................Mirra Alfassa
' A Still Mind '...
When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence.
...............................Sri Aurobindo
' Be Sincere '...
Be sincere in your thoughts, Be pure in your feelings. You will not have to run after happiness. Happiness will run after you.
...........................Sri Chinmoy
' Source '...
There is a place to stand where you can see so many lights you forget you are one of them.
......................................Naomi Shihab Nye
' The First Gift '...
Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third.
........................Marge Piercy
' Schools '...
Schools serve the same social functions as prisons and mental institutions- to define, classify, control, and regulate people.
................................Michel Foucault
' Children '...
One of the unseen benefits of having children is that they deliver you from your own selfishness. There's no going back.
.................................Martin Amis
' Always a Student '...
You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.
..........................Conrad Hall
' You Are Never Alone '...
You are never alone! You are always in God’s Presence. However, because of your belief in the reality of the unreal dream or illusion with which you experience life through your physical forms, and because of your ongoing choice to accept your egos as your true identities, you very effectively distract yourselves with the world around you, thus blocking your awareness of your true divine nature, and deafening yourselves to the quiet voice of Reality within........................ Yeshua Ben Yosef
' Composers '...
If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.
....................................Gustav Mahler
' God Knows '...
Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it I know not. God knows.
...................................George Frideric Handel
' Heart and Soul '...
What I have in my heart and soul - must find a way out. That's the reason for music.
............................Ludwig van Beethoven
' Heart and Music '...
Where the heart does not enter; there can be no music.
............................Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
' Music '...
This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.
.....................................Leonard Bernstein
' The Nazarine Speaks '.................. by John Goodman
All that endures, is present and exists within the infinite vastness of LOVE, whichIS ALL. There is ONLY LOVE, and there is absolutely NO need or possibility for any other place, environment, supplementary, diverse, or alternate domain, because LOVE contains All that IS within Itself, which is a state of eternal and infinite Joy for all in every moment.Your true nature is Love, there is nothing else that it could be, and truly you are, in every moment of your eternal existence,in the Presence of Mother/Father/God, Source, LOVE without even the slightest possibility of even a nanosecond of separation. And in that eternal state your ongoing experience is Joy!..................................
However, in human form, as you are presently experiencing life, this is not the case. The world or environment that you are constantly reconstructing, the unreal or illusory environment in which you live as humans, seems absolutely real to you, and that, of course, was your intention in constructing it and then seemingly entering within it. Birth, life, death – the end! It is an unnatural and angst-ridden state, constantly being intensified as you hear about death from illness, disease, accidents, executions, and wars, and this hits you even harder when a loved one lays down their physical form, leaving you seemingly even more alone than you normally feel as individuals in an uncertain and often very threatening environment – the world.................................
Therefore it is absolutely essential that each one of you reminds yourselves at least daily that you are divine beings having an unreal experience of the impossible – separation. You never are and never can be alone or separated because you are now and eternally in the Presence of Mother/Father/God. There is no other place, environment, or state of existence possible because there is only God. This is not a limitation! This is a condition of utter and complete freedom, the state in which you were so lovingly created to experience the Oneness of Love for all eternity. Trust in God, and trust in yourselves as the brilliant and shining expressions of Mother/Father/God that you all are; always in Union with Her, in relationship with Her, and yet able to express yourselves as individuated or differentiated beings so that your personal creative expressions of yourselves can freely arise and delight both you and God constantly................................
God truly delights in each one of you, in each one of Her beloved children. How could She not when She created you in joy for her delight and yours. She is completely, wholly, and unconditionally accepting of each one you – She never judges She only Loves – because that is Her infinite and Divine Nature which She shares fully with each and every one of her children..................
Since Mother/Father/God loves and delights in each and everyone of you, it makes absolutely no sense for you not to do likewise. However, your human condition – apparently separate and individual – has caused you enormous fear because the environment in which you are experiencing that state appears vast in comparison with your human forms. Your egos are the seemingly individual beings or identities you invented to protect and guide you as you roam or wander – physically or in your minds – through the material world. They are fear-driven because for them death seems very real and can be inflicted upon them without warning through accident, illness, or conflict at any moment. This is why it is so necessary to take time out daily to be at peace with yourselves and to acknowledge the Presence of God within you in every moment..................................
You are never alone! You are always in God’s Presence. However, because of your belief in the reality of the unreal dream or illusion with which you experience life through your physical forms, and because of your ongoing choice to accept your egos as your true identities, you very effectively distract yourselves with the world around you, thus blocking your awareness of your true divine nature, and deafening yourselves to the quiet voice of Reality within..................
Many of you have heard of or read about mystics who have, for long enough periods of time, managed to silence the distracting voices of their egos and rest at peace in the knowing of God’s Presence. This has enabled them to let go of anything that is not in alignment with Love, and to then offer loving guidance to others who seek them out for their wisdom and knowledge. You all have the ability to quieten your egos and make direct contact with God’s Presence within you, but you – that is your egos – are smart and use many beguiling ways to distract you noisily when you choose to sit quietly to listen. It therefore appears to most of you, either from your own experience or from listening to others, that to sit quietly and become aware of God’s Presence within you is extremely difficult if not impossible.............................
And, of course, believing that to be the case makes it practically impossible for you to exercise the necessary patience to sit quietly and listen. And because there is so much that you need to do in the world around you to maintain and support yourselves and your loved ones by earning a living, that vast numbers choose constant involvement with the world rather than with their ever loving Source.The amnesia, that is a major aspect of the unreal or dream environment, is itself forgotten after you incarnate as a human, and so you generally have no memories of Reality to assist in your awakening process...........................
However, you do all have a life path that you planned in advance, and you will receive nudges throughout your lives – thoughts occurring to you that suggest that there must be more to life than your cultural environment can offer. When you respond favorably to these thoughts and start to investigate the possibility that they are valid, you have found your path. It may be only momentary initially, because you will again be distracted, but you will keep on receiving nudges, and if you do respond, then you will start to become aware that there is a much greater meaning to life than you had at first thought........................................
All across the world now many are responding to their nudges, and coming to the realization that, as your history demonstrates very clearly, conflict will never resolve issues that divide you. The only way towards resolution is via open and honest discussion where all present are listened to and their points of view respected even if not agreed with, thus making it possible to move ahead and uncover areas where a satisfactory compromise can be reached and agreed on..................................
The present state of the world, even in its unreality, is causing enormous pain to vast numbers, and the only way forward is to heal the pain through loving acceptance of one another, instead of trying to prove your own rightness through judgment and punishment of others. As I have said many times, only Love is real – and each of you are Love –and to engage only lovingly with life and with others weakens the illusion or dream by dissolving all that is unloving, much like the sun clearing the early morning mist. Therefore, when you take time out each day to be quiet and listen to Mother/Father/God, reset your intent to be only loving so that the mists of fear and all that it represents are dissolved, allowing the Light of God’s Love to shine through you at all times, mightily assisting in your collective awakening process......................................................
Your loving brother, Jesus.
' SELF-INQUIRY: A GUIDE IN THE SPIRIT OF RAMANA MAHARSHI '...
Begin by finding a quiet space, free from distractions. Seat yourself comfortably.
Observe Your Beingness: Feel your existence. Not the thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations, but the basic awareness that's aware of them. This is the 'I' sense, the feeling of 'I am.'
Dive Deeper: Look beyond the changes of body and mind. Can you sense something within you that remains unchanged, irrespective of the shifting tides of life? That's your true self, always present.
Disentangle from Attributes: Try not to get caught in the stories or personal data your mind presents. Instead, focus on the pure feeling of existence, the underlying 'I am.'
Let Go: As you delve into this practice, release any beliefs, thoughts, or aspirations. They can be barriers, keeping you from diving deep.
Detachment: Gradually let go of personal details, attributes, and identifiers.
Observation: Feel the aliveness within, that unchanging essence amidst life's changes.
Stay Present: Remain rooted in this sense of presence. There’s no need to chase experiences or insights. 'Just be'.
Transcend the Mind: Understand this isn’t about intellectual understanding. You're looking to move beyond the mind's chatter, to experience the self directly.
Rest in Silence: Let silence be your guide. Sometimes, the deepest understandings come when the mind is quiet.
Consistency: Practice this regularly, allowing the depth of your focus to grow.
Remember, this isn't about achieving anything. It's about realizing what has always been there.
"You are not your mind. The purpose of self inquiry is to dive beneath its layers and realize the self. To know the self, one must be the self." ..................................... Ramana Maharshi.
' We Are Not Humans '...
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
................................Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
' Fall in Love '...
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what gets you out if bed in the mornings, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.
.............................................Pedro Arrupe
' The Most Alive '...
Whatever you are doing, that which makes you feel the most alive...that is where God is.
..................................... Saint Ignatius of Loyola
' The Life of the Soul '...
The life of the body is the soul; the life of the soul is God.
............................. Saint Anthony of Padua
' Living Within Love '...
I shall spend every moment loving. One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them. I shall do everything for Heaven, my true home. There I shall find my Mother in all the splendor of her glory. I shall delight with her in the joy of Jesus himself in perfect safety.
...................... Saint Bernadette Soubirous
' Divine Grace '...
If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men.
......................... Saint Rose of Lima
' The Real Secret of Life '...
This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.
..................................Alan Watts
' The World '...
The world will ask you who you are, and if you don't know, the world will tell you.
.............................Carl Jung
' Freedom from Attachment '...
It is useful to study different traditions in order to be free of attachment to any one way of expressing what is beyond expression. (x)
...........................Ravi Ravindra
' Already Dead '...
A considerable percentage of the people we meet on the street are people who are empty inside, that is, they are actually already dead. It is fortunate for us that we do not see and do not know it. If we knew what a number of people are actually dead and what a number of these dead people govern our lives, we should go mad with horror.
............................G. I. Gurdjieff
' Aways Walk with Adventure '...
Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn, and you will.
..........................Vernon Howard
' Good Actions '...
Good actions are a guard against the blows of adversity.
......................Abu Bakr
' God remains an Illusion '...
God remains an illusion until you Realize Source,, and once you Realize God, the World becomes an illusion............... Eckhart Tolle
' The Highest Education '...
The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence.
.........................................Rabindranath Tagore
' Oppressors '...
Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace...........................
President James Madison
' The Name of my God '...
The Name of my God is "Truth",, Everytime that I speak Truth,, I Worship my God................thomas
' The Purpose of Yoga '...
"The purpose of Yoga is to unify the scattered structure of life. Now, the beauty is that even the scattered nature of life has underneath it the Unity of existence. Yoga discovers it. And when that unifying layer of life is located then the disturbed structure, manifold structure, multiplicity, diversity of Creation, becomes anchored to Unity. When the diversity becomes anchored to Unity, then the activity gains stability.
That Pure Consciousness is the anchor for the conscious mind. Conscious mind is always up and down, and thinking and thinking… and that consciousness is undisturbed even layer of life. So, when the activity becomes anchored to silence then the activity gains stability. And this is the purpose of Yoga. The purpose of Yoga is to bring stability to activity.
Now, when the attention is on two things then one gets lost to the Unity of life. Yoga locates that Unity which is common in both - seer and the seen, subject and the object… one thing is common. So, when that common is not on the conscious level, then the life is scattered - always two, two, three, four, five… diversity. And Yoga locates that Unity, and it not only locates intellectually but it, actually, brings it open to direct experience.”
.............................. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,,
India
1967
' Your Projection '...
Once you realize the world is your own projection, you'll be free of it. You don't need to get rid of a world that doesn't exist, except in your own imagination!
....................................Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
' Beyond the Mind '...
All the things that truly matter, beauty, love, creativity, joy and inner peace arise from beyond the mind.............................. Eckhart Tolle
' Transcend the Mind '...
After transcending the mind, you remain as the Self.
The present knowledge is only of limitation.
That Knowledge is unlimited.
Being so it cannot be comprehended by this knowledge.
Cease to be a knower, then there is perfection.'
....................Bhagavan.
- Talk 147.
' Surrendering the False self '...
If you surrender yourself to the Higher Power all is well. That Power sees your affairs through. Only so long as you think that you are the worker you are obliged to reap the fruits of your actions. If on the other hand, you surrender yourself and recognise your individual self as only a tool of the Higher Power, that Power will take over your affairs along with the fruits of actions. You are no longer affected by them and the work goes on unhampered.
Whether you recognise the Power or not the scheme of things does not alter. Only there is a change of outlook.
................................Sri Ramana Maharshi: Talk 503
' What Story is Yours ? '...
I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’
.............................Alasdair MacIntyre
' Sciences '...
The sciences of today are business enterprises run on business principles. Research in large institutes is not guided by Truth and Reason but by the most rewarding fashion, and the great minds of today increasingly turn to where the money is - which means military matters.
........................................Paul Feyerabend
' Ignorance '...
Ignorance is not a simple lack of knowledge but an active aversion to knowledge, the refusal to know, issuing from cowardice, pride, or laziness of mind.
....................Karl Popper
' Language '...
The limits of my language means the limits of my world.
......................Ludwig Wittgenstein
' Solitude '...
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.
........................................Arthur Schopenhauer
' Grow through Defeats '...
It is better to try something and fail than to try nothing and succeed. The result may be the same, but you won't be. We always grow more through defeats than victories.
.............................Soren Kierkegaard
' The Educated '...
He is educated who knows how to find out what he doesn't know.
...........................Georg Simmel
' The Power Elite '...
By the power elite, we refer to those political, economic, and military circles which as an intricate set of overlapping cliques share decisions having at least national consequences. In so far as national events are decided, the power elite are those who decide them.
.................................C. Wright Mills
' The Sacred Formula '...
The sacred formula of positivism: love as a principle, the order as a foundation, and progress as a goal.
..............................Auguste Comte
' Gravity '...
Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion.
.......................Isaac Newton
' Truth '...
Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.
...............................Blaise Pascal
' Love and Hate '...
There are forces in nature called Love and Hate. The force of Love causes elements to be attracted to each other and to be built up into some particular form or person, and the force of Hate causes the decomposition of things.
.................................Empedocles
' Fearing Death '...
Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?
..........................Epicurus
' A Free Thinker '...
Be a free thinker and don't accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in.
..........................Aristotle
' Everything I Am '...
Everything I'm not, makes me everything I am.
.....................Kanye West
' Happiness '...
Happiness is not about the trophy, or the finish line. It's the journey. If you enjoy your journey, you can enjoy your life
............................Pharrell Williams
' Forever Young '...
May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true. May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong. May you stay forever young.
....................................Bob Dylan
' Feel Good '...
The better we feel about ourselves, the fewer times we have to knock somebody else down to feel tall.
............................Odetta
' Love Yourself '...
It’s all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you, rather than looking for love to compensate for a self love deficit.
...............................Eartha Kitt
' Find Yourself '...
You never find yourself until you face the truth.
....................Pearl Bailey
' Capable '...
If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.
.............................Thomas A. Edison
' Time '...
"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity."
...............................Henry Van Dyke
' Inner Peace '...
The most evident sign of having found the Truth is the inner peace.
........................Amado Nervo
' Solitude '...
Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.
.........................Octavio Paz
' Governing '...
How will he who does not know how to govern himself know how to govern others?
..............................Miguel de Cervantes
' Your Hands '...
Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes with which Christ looks out his compassion to the world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now.
........................ Saint Teresa of Avila
' Have Patience '...
Have patience with all things - but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You are perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist. And no amount of triumphs or tribulations can ever change that.
.............................Saint Francis de Sales
' Awareness '...
“Instead of being lost in your thinking, when you are awake you recognize yourself as the awareness behind it. Thinking then ceases to be a self-serving autonomous activity that takes possession of you and runs your life. Awareness takes over from thinking. Instead of being in charge of your life, thinking becomes the servant of awareness. Awareness is conscious connection with universal intelligence. Another word for it is Presence: consciousness without thought.
The initiation of the awakening process is an act of grace. You cannot make it happen nor can you prepare yourself for it or accumulate credits toward it. There isn’t a tidy sequence of logical steps that leads toward it, although the mind would love that. You don’t have to become worthy first. It may come to the sinner before it comes to the saint, but not necessarily. That’s why Jesus associated with all kinds of people, not just the respectable ones. There is nothing you can do about awakening. Whatever you do will be the ego trying to add awakening or enlightenment to itself as its most prized possession and thereby making itself more important and bigger.”.............................
Excerpt From: Tolle, Eckhart. “A New Earth.”
' Letting Go '...
Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free. ..........................Thich Nhat Hanh
' Raja Yoga '...
MIND HAS TO BE CLEANED EVERY DAY ,IS THE PURPOSE OF RAJA YOGA.
It is a question of letting go of the addiction ,attachment ,and ignorance.
To be with the mind which is matter, it's pain ,it's pleasure ,Birth ,and death ,the flux of change being aware all the time, you are the other the non-material encased in matter yet qualitatively different.
Awareness of the nature of reality purification of the material encasement, which gets dirty every minute. so the self education in keeping pure by itself.
it is matter.it has to be cleaned everyday. silence cleanses the mind. one soak it in the emptiness of silence and it comes out clean again.
fresh for the ordeal of the day.
Purpose of Raja yoga is the ending of psychological misery and suffering..................................Jossy Thomman
'Tea and Simplicity '...
Tea is an act complete in its simplicity.
When I drink tea, there is only me and the tea.
The rest of the world dissolves.
There are no worries about the future.
No dwelling on past mistakes.
Tea is simple: loose-leaf tea, hot pure water, a cup. I inhale the scent, tiny delicate pieces of the tea floating above the cup.
I drink the tea, the essence of the leaves becoming a part of me.
I am informed by the tea, changed.
This is the act of life, in one pure moment, and in this act the truth of the world suddenly becomes revealed: all the complexity, pain, drama of life is a pretense, invented in our minds for no good purpose.
There is only the tea, and me, converging.
....................................Thich Nhat Hanh
' · THE SELF CAN NEVER BE A WITNESS '...
The Self is not a witness at all, and it can never be a witness in Truth, but as long as we think we are a body-mind entity, and as long as we see a world outside of or apart from ourself, the Self is indicated or pointed out as being the Subject or the Witness merely for the purposes of the teaching.
When in Self-Enquiry we turn our attention away from the objects, which means the various gross and suble phenomena that are perceived, and towards the Subject or Self (‘Witness’), also known as the I AM or the 1st person, eventually the ego-mind which takes itself to be a body-mind entity dissolves or dies and all that is left is the Subject-Witness-Self.
This Self can no longer truly be said to be either a Subject (for there are no objects present), nor can it be said to be a Witness, as there is nothing to witness. It is All, it is the Sole Reality, ‘One without a second’, as it is often described as being in the Upanishads.
Hence Bhagavan Ramana is recorded as saying:
If you refrain from looking at this
Or that or any other object
Then by that overpowering look
Into absolute Being you become
Yourself the boundless space of pure
Awareness which alone is Real Being.
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Guru Vachaka Kovai, Verse 647
The ego/mind, when attending to objects, considers itself to be an object (the body-mind). However, when the ego attends or pays attention to itself (also known as the I-sense, or first person, or I am), and in so doing no longer pays attention to the objects it was previously attending or paying attention to, it discovers its true nature without objects, ie it's true formless nature, then it has actually discovered its actual or real nature which is Self.
This is why Sri Ramana states In Day by Day with Bhagavan:
‘The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world’
🙏
' Presence '...
Right now a moment of time is passing by!... We must become that moment.
....................Paul Cezanne
' Burying Truth '...
If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way.
............................Emile Zola
' Lies '...
A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and, in order to divert himself, having no love in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal. And it all comes from lying - lying to others and to yourself.
................................Fyodor Dostoevsky
' Within You '...
Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself
.............................Hermann Hesse
' Unwilling Mind '...
Truth never penetrates an unwilling mind.
...................Jorge Luis Borges
' Seek, and you shall Find '...
*So that is why it is worthwhile to seek God. All those who sincerely seek Him will surely find Him. Those who want to Love the Lord and yearn to enter His kingdom, and who sincerely wish in their hearts to know Him, will find Him. You must have an ever-increasing desire for Him, day and night. He will acknowledge your love by fulfilling His promise to you throughout eternity, and you shall know joy and happiness unending. All is right, all is joy, all is peace, all is love. He is all.*
.............SRI SRI PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA .......MANS ETERNAL QUEST .....Chapter 51 page 454🙏🏻
' Space and Time '...
Recognize the serenity of your own inner Being.
Let your attention be one with it.
Feel its vibration.
Do not create any image about this.
Allow the space and the sense of emptiness simply to be.
There is no better place to be than where you are right now.
In this instant, there is nothing to do or undo.
Nothing to change.
Nothing to fix.
Nothing to heal.
Nothing to become.
There is a natural sense of satisfaction or completeness.
Take full rest in your Self.
The world is not waiting for your next move.
You have space and time to be your Self.
........................ Mooji
' Speech '...
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Experience has taught us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession, and when the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
................... President George Washington
' Life '...
I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.
.................................William Penn
' Necessary Precautions '...
I may say that this is the greatest factor: the way in which the expedition is equipped, the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order, luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time, this is called bad luck.
..............................Roald Amundsen
' Someone '...
I have a feeling that inside you somewhere,there's somebody nobody knows about
..................Alfred Hitchcock
' 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
' A Thought-Tormented Age '...
But we are living in a sceptical and, if I may use the phrase, a thought-tormented age: and sometimes I fear that this new generation, educated or hyper-educated as it is, will lack those qualities of humanity, of hospitality, of kindly humour which belonged to an older day.
................................James Joyce
' New Horizons '...
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.
...........................William Faulkner
' Warmongers '...
We must all face the fact that our leaders are certifiably insane or worse
................................William S. Burroughs
' Eternity '...
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
......................William Blake
' Don't give Up '...
Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.
...............................Ella Fitzgerald
' Walls '...
Sometimes people put up walls, not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.
................................Banana Yoshimoto
' Worth Suffering '...
If she's amazing, she won't be easy. If she's easy, she won't be amazing. If she's worth it, you wont give up. If you give up, you're not worthy. ... Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.
......................................Bob Marley
' Life is Short '...
Life is short. Kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly
...................Paulo Coelho
' One must Observe '...
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.
..........................Marilyn vos Savant
' Nothing but Love, itself '...
When we stop fighting with ourselves, we aren't creating anymore conflict in our mind.
Then our mind can for the first time relax and be still.
Then for the first time our consciousness can become whole and unfragmented.
Then total attention can be given to all of our thoughts and feelings. And then there will be found a gentleness and a goodness in us that can embrace all that is been given in the world.
Then a deep love for everything will be the result of this deep attention.
For this total attention,
this soft and pure consciousness that we are,
is nothing but Love itself.
.............................Jiddu Krishnamurti
' When you Go '...
It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you. It's what you leave behind you when you go.
............................Randy Travis
' Unconditional Love '...
When you figure out love is all that matters after all, it sure makes everything else seem so small.
.....................................Carrie Underwood
' Success '...
Success is always temporary. When all is said and one, the only thing you'll have left is your character.
.............................Vince Gill
' Be Yourself '...
Be yourself. Because if people don't like you as you are, they're not going to like you as somebody you're trying to be.
...................................Jimmy Dean
' The Fairest Rules '...
The fairest rules are those to which everyone would agree if they did not know how much power they would have.
.........................John Rawls
' Worship '...
Worship does not consist in prayers and in external devotion, but in a life of kindness.
............................Emanuel Swedenborg
' You Are More '...
You are more than you think you are. There are dimensions of your being and a potential for realization and consciousness that are not included in your concept of yourself. Your life is much deeper and broader than you conceive it to be here. What you are living is but a fractional inkling of what is really within you, what gives you life, breadth, and depth.
...................................Joseph Campbell
' The World '...
The world will ask you who you are, and if you don't know, the world will tell you.
..........................Carl Jung
' Within You '...
Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself
................................Hermann Hesse
' Waking Up '...
You've got to go at the rate you can go.
You wake up at the rate you wake up.
You're finished with your desires at the rate you finish with your desires.
The disequalibrium comes into harmony at the rate it comes into harmony.
You can't rip the skin off the snake. The snake must molt the skin.
That¹s the rate it happens.
................... Ram Dass....
Be Here Now
' Harmony '...
If only the whole world could feel the power of harmony.
.................................Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
' Accept Truth '...
Let us accept truth, even when it surprises us and alters our views.
...........................George Sand
' Be Drunk '...
You have to be always drunk. That's all there is to it-it's the only way. So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk. But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk.
..............................Charles Baudelaire
' Life Worth Living '...
It is the lives we encounter that make life worth living.
.................................Guy de Maupassant
' Deeds '...
People are all alike in their promises. It is only in their deeds that they differ.
............................Moliere
' The Arrival of Enlightenment '...
Does enlightenment come all of a sudden? Or do we have to work slowly for it by degrees?
The answer varies with the case concerned. Most need time to fit and equip themselves for the glorious moment of insight, but a few receive it in a day.
It must be remembered that it does not actually happen in time but out of it, in the great Stillness.
The man does not know the absolute final truth a second before--and then it is all there.
How soon it can settle down in him will also vary with different persons--it was a few hours in one case but three years in another.
............................. Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind >
Chapter 2: Enlightenment Which Stays > # 53 Paul Brunton
' Sufi Mysticism '...
The original Sufi were basically mystics - people who followed a pious form of Islam and who believed that a direct, personal experience of God could be achieved through meditation.
Sufi mysticism endeavoured to produce a personal experience of the divine through mystic and ascetic discipline.
The term Sufi appears to be derived from the Arabic word "suf" meaning "wool" in the sense of "cloak", referring to the simple cloaks the original Sufis wore. Some initiates are given a specially designed, coloured wool vest which is symbolic of the woolen robes of poverty worn by ancient dervishes, and signifies the loving commitment of the dervish to serve humanity.
Sufism in now to be found in many parts of the Muslim world as, across the centuries, many people have felt drawn toward the more emotional and personal ways of knowing God promoted by Sufi mysticism. Today there are literally hundreds of mystic orders with millions of adherents. They are most prevalent in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Arabia.
Sufism has come to mean those who are interested in finding a way or practice toward inner awakening and enlightenment. This movement developed as a protest against corrupt rulers who did not embody Islam and against the legalism and formalism of worship which paid more attention to the form rather than content of the faith. Many of the sufis became ascetics, began to gather disciples around themselves and developed into religious orders, known as dervishers. Others forsook the orders and became mendicants, traveling around the country side, living off the charity of others. Many sufis were outstanding men of saintly stature.
Not all sufis were accepted by the more conservative elements of Islam due to their unorthodox habits and beliefs. Mainstream Islam has tended to regard Sufism with some suspicion because of a perceived extremism in beliefs which Sufi mysticism is prone to.
Jalaluddin Rumi was the author of The Masnavi, an immensely influential work, which is celebrated for its spiritual profundity by many across the Islamic world.
Rumi lived 1207 - 1273, (by the western calendar). A BBC "Culture" web page of April, 2014 said of him:-
The ecstatic poems of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a Persian poet and Sufi master born 807 years ago in 1207, have sold millions of copies in recent years, making him the most popular poet in the US. Globally, his fans are legion.
One of the many significant quotes attributable to Jalaluddin Rumi being:-
"Would he had been less full of borrowed knowledge! Then he would have accepted inspired knowledge from his father. When, with inspiration at hand, you seek book-learning, your heart, as if inspired, loads you with reproach. Traditional knowledge, when inspiration is available, is like making ablutions in sand when water is near. Make yourself ignorant, be submissive, and then you will obtain release from your ignorance."
A number of profound Sufi Mysticism / Rumi quotes from The Masnavi are to be found on ~ our page about Islamic Spirituality. This page is actually presented as one of a series which consider the Spiritual Truths recognised by ALL the major World Religions.
............................... From Age of the Sage
' State of Wholeness '...
Stand in your original state of wholeness,
the state before you were born when there
was no knowledge "I am" and therefore
no need or want of any kind. All suffering
will end as soon as you stand in pure
Awareness.
................... Ramesh S. Balsekar
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1966
' The Greatest Adventure '...
The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.
........................................J. R. R. Tolkien
' Wars '...
The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.
........................................Gene Roddenberry
' Because '...
Because I have known despair, I value hope. Because I have
tasted frustration, I value fulfillment. Because I have been lonely, I value love.
.....................Leonard Nimoy
' Church '...
Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car.
...............................Garrison Keillor
' Thanks in Solitude '...
To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do.
.............................Victor Hugo
' Did Jesus Die for Our Sins ?...
'When one studies the teachings of Christ, as recorded in the New Testament, he never claimed that he came to die for the sins of mankind or even that he came to save everyone at that time. In actuality, he purposely cloaked his teaching in parables to prevent the masses from understanding the true meaning of his teachings.
Matthew 13 10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” 11 He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. NIV
When he did discuss his death it was to show that by being dead exactly 3 days and nights would prove he was the Messiah.
Matthew 12:39-41
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. KJV
So what was Christ's Message if it wasn't "I have come to die for your sins?" His true message about who he was and who we are is more amazing than you can imagine. The message Christ preached was not new. It was a very old message about who Christ was and who we are....................... From "the Reluctant Messenger"..
' Peace '...
I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.
........................Alfred Nobel
' Be Skeptical '...
When an old and distinguished person speaks to you, listen to him carefully and with respect — but do not believe him. Never put your trust into anything but your own intellect. Your elder, no matter whether he has gray hair or has lost his hair, no matter whether he is a Nobel laureate — may be wrong. The world progresses, year by year, century by century, as the members of the younger generation find out what was wrong among the things that their elders said. So you must always be skeptical — always think for yourself.
.......................Linus Pauling
' Quantum Physics '...
After the conversations about Indian philosophy, some of the ideas of Quantum Physics that had seemed so crazy suddenly made much more sense.
............................Werner Heisenberg
' The Matrix '...
As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.
................................Max Planck
' Sound and Light Waves '...
We are slowed down sound and light waves, a walking bundle of frequencies tuned into the cosmos. We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music.
..............................Albert Einstein
' Out of Habit '...
Most human beings live like a bird in a cage whose door was blown away. Out of habit, too busy gold-plating the cage, they do not soar to the ultimate possibility.
.....................................Jaggi Vasudev
' The Roar of Freedom '...
The greatest fear in the world is of the opinions of others. And the moment you are unafraid of the crowd you are no longer a sheep, you become a lion. A great roar arises in your heart, the roar of freedom.
.........................................Rajneesh
' Two Paths '...
The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.
....................Xunzi
' The Golden Rule '...
Tsze-Kung asked, “Is there one word with which to act in accordance throughout a lifetime?” The Master said, “Is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
..........................................Confucius
' The Art of War '.... Sun Tzu
In all history, there is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close.
................................Sun Tzu
' Censorship '...
Let us be clear: censorship is cowardice. ... It masks corruption. It is a school of torture: it teaches, and accustoms one to the use of force against an idea, to submit thought to an alien "other." But worst still, censorship destroys criticism, which is the essential ingredient of culture.
......................................Pablo Antonio Cuadra
' We turn Outward '...
We turn outward, attracted by the beauty we see in created things without realizing that they are only a reflection of the real beauty. And the real beauty is within us.
..........................Ernesto Cardenal
' Saved from Life '...
If nothing saves us from death, at least love should save us from life
....................Pablo Neruda
' Half the World '...
Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.
.......................Robert Frost
' A Humans Life '...
That best portion of a man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
......................William Wordsworth
' Love is Happiness '...
To love is to find pleasure in the happiness of others.
........................Gottfried Leibniz
' Truth '...
Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.
..................................Isaac Newton
' A Fool '...
A fool is known by his
speech; and a wise man by
silence.
..............................Pythagoras
' Success '...
When you want success as badly as you want the air, then you will get it. There is no other secret of success.
.......................................Socrates
' The Bolsheviks '...
You must understand, the leading Bolsheviks who took over Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. It cannot be overstated. Bolshevism committed the greatest human slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant and uncaring about this enormous crime is proof that the global media is in the hands of the perpetrators.
.................................Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
' Life '...
Life does not begin nor end; immovable, it moves;
momentary, it lasts.
Light cannot be exhausted even if
innumerable pictures are projected by it.
So does Life fill every shape to the brim and return to its source when the shape breaks down.
.............................................................
You cannot be alive for you are Life itself.
☆ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
☆Nisarga Yoga: The Self Knowledge Teaching of Nisargadatta Maharaj
' The Most Dangerous '...
The most dangerous condition for a man or a nation is when his intellectual side is more developed than his spiritual. Is that not exactly the condition of the world today?
...................................Arthur Conan Doyle
' Do Good '...
Do all the good you can and make as little fuss about it as possible.
..............................Charles Dickens
' Eternal Present '...
There is not past, no future; everything flows in an eternal present.
............................James Joyce
' Three Things '...
Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
...........................Henry James
' Humanity '...
One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own.
...........................James A. Baldwin
' Love Yourself '...
Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.
............................Lucille Ball
' What is Samadhi ?'...
Q: What is samadhi?
A: The state in which the unbroken experience of existence-consciousness is attained by the still mind, alone is samadhi.
That still mind which is adorned with the attainment of the limitless supreme Self, alone is the reality of God.
When the mind is in communion with the Self in darkness, it is called nidra [sleep], that is, the immersion of the mind in
ignorance.
Immersion in a conscious or wakeful state is called samadhi.
Samadhi is continuous inherence in the Self in a waking state.
Nidra or sleep is also inherence in the Self but in an unconscious state.
In sahaja samadhi the communion is
continuous.
Q: What are kevala nirvikalpa samadhi and sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi?
A: The immersion of the mind in the Self, but without its destruction, is kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. In this state one is not
free from vasanas and so one does not therefore attain mukti. Only after the vasanas have been destroyed can one attain liberation.
............................................... BE AS YOU ARE. The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharishi edited by David Godman.
' The Day of Death '...
The day you die is just like any other, only shorter.
...........................Samuel Beckett
' Fearing no Insult '...
Fearing no insult, asking for no crown, receive with indifference both flattery and slander, and do not argue with a fool.
...................................Alexander Pushkin
' Right and Wrong '...
Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.
......................Leo Tolstoy
' Acceptable ? '...
Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.
.......................Franz Kafka
' A Peaceful Planet '...
What we're thinking about is a peaceful planet. We're not thinking about anything else. We're not thinking about any kind of power. We're not thinking about any kind of struggles. We're not thinking about revolution or war or any of that. That's not what we want. Nobody wants to get hurt. Nobody wants to hurt anybody. We would all like to be able to live an uncluttered life. A simple life, a good life. And think about moving the whole human race ahead a step, or a few steps.
....................................Jerry Garcia
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