Sin is the belief that We are
separate from God.. sin is called ego.. In Reality, We are Spirit and only
Spirit (Consciousness).. when Consciousness is Aware that It is Consciousness,
then It is Holy.. Holy means to be humble and Loving.. These Virtues are the
Reality of God and Us and is called non-ego................. namaste, thomas
Learn Love from the moth...
Saadi of Shiraz (1215 -1292 ce), a great poet of Persia, author of the Gulistan (Rose-Garden) and the Bostan (Orchard), who also wrote many odes and lyrics.
O bird of the morning, learn love from the moth
Because it burnt, lost its life, and found no voice.
These pretenders are ignorantly in search of Him,
Because he who obtained knowledge has not returned.
Sheikh Muslih-uddin Sa'di Shirazi - The Gulistan of Sa'di
O bird of the morning, learn love from the moth
Because it burnt, lost its life, and found no voice.
These pretenders are ignorantly in search of Him,
Because he who obtained knowledge has not returned.
Sheikh Muslih-uddin Sa'di Shirazi - The Gulistan of Sa'di
Reality...
There is a Reality which is Indivisible, One, Alone, the Source and Being of all; not a thing, nor even a mind, but pure Spirit or clear Consciousness; and we are That and nothing but That, for That is our true Nature; and the only way to find It is to look steadily within, where are to be found utmost peace, unfading joy, and eternal life itself.
- Douglas Harding
- Douglas Harding
Freedom from fear...
Learn to look without imagination, to listen
without distortion: that is all. Stop attributing
names and shapes to the essentially nameless
and formless, realize that every mode of perception
is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched
or smelt, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is
in the mind and not in reality, and you will
experience peace and freedom from fear.
-Nisargadatta Maharaj
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
without distortion: that is all. Stop attributing
names and shapes to the essentially nameless
and formless, realize that every mode of perception
is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched
or smelt, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is
in the mind and not in reality, and you will
experience peace and freedom from fear.
-Nisargadatta Maharaj
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
True Nature...
Awareness, or your true nature, is not a thing or an object to be grasped by the senses or the mind. For this reason, the mind is utterly unable to understand what is being pointed out. Yet if I ask you "Are you aware?" you immediately recognize the presence of awareness, or the fact of your own being.
True insight does not rely on the mind at all.
...........John Wheeler
True insight does not rely on the mind at all.
...........John Wheeler
Past, Present, and Future...
These are the times of our lives.. we exist mentally within the past and future.. both bring pain.. very few exist mentally within the Present.. This pinpoint of time which is not time at all, It is Eternity.. this is the mental state of happiness.. in this second, pain does not exist.. you do not exist.. Only You does exist.. Consciousness being Consciousness.. the place that you leap from to explore pain from the past and fear of the future.. Begin to exist within 'Now".. without desires, pains, and fears.. just observe the moment without deciding if it is good or bad.. stop having opinions.. just Be!.. This is Consciousness being Consciousness.......... namaste, thomas
Suffering...
Although it may sound surprising, I do not intend to help anyone get rid of their suffering. Suffering is not the problem. Rather than trying to get rid of suffering, it is more important to inquire into the suffering itself, to investigate the reality of the sufferer. Inquiry is the front door.
The inquiring mind is an open mind, willing to explore most deeply. In that openness, it can allow the presence of suffering with-out rejecting it or trying to escape it. This can be just as powerful, just as terrifying, and just as profound as facing your own death. When you inquire into suffering, you meet suffering, and when you meet suffering, it is possible to discover that suffering is not what you thought it was. In a direct meeting between subject and object, sufferer and suffering, both disappear. Both are discovered, in reality, to be nonexistent.
I will make an even more precise and outrageous statement. I recommend that you consciously suffer. What is wrong with suffering? What thought or voice in your head says suffering is wrong? Painful, yes, but not wrong.
Willingness to suffer fully, even for an instant, without trying to escape or be saved, means that suffering is no longer an obstacle to full surrender into the mystery of existence. Relief from suffering stops being the goal.
According to the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus said, "When you know how to suffer, you do not suffer." The "how to" of suffering is to suffer all the way. It is to suffer with full consciousness. To consciously suffer is to consciously recognize the impulse to escape and instead face directly whatever is appearing, be it grief, horror, extreme loss, or sadness.
Gangaji
The Diamond in Your Pocket
Sounds True, Inc
2005
Boulder, CO
The inquiring mind is an open mind, willing to explore most deeply. In that openness, it can allow the presence of suffering with-out rejecting it or trying to escape it. This can be just as powerful, just as terrifying, and just as profound as facing your own death. When you inquire into suffering, you meet suffering, and when you meet suffering, it is possible to discover that suffering is not what you thought it was. In a direct meeting between subject and object, sufferer and suffering, both disappear. Both are discovered, in reality, to be nonexistent.
I will make an even more precise and outrageous statement. I recommend that you consciously suffer. What is wrong with suffering? What thought or voice in your head says suffering is wrong? Painful, yes, but not wrong.
Willingness to suffer fully, even for an instant, without trying to escape or be saved, means that suffering is no longer an obstacle to full surrender into the mystery of existence. Relief from suffering stops being the goal.
According to the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus said, "When you know how to suffer, you do not suffer." The "how to" of suffering is to suffer all the way. It is to suffer with full consciousness. To consciously suffer is to consciously recognize the impulse to escape and instead face directly whatever is appearing, be it grief, horror, extreme loss, or sadness.
Gangaji
The Diamond in Your Pocket
Sounds True, Inc
2005
Boulder, CO
Questions...
Who would you be and how would you think if you did not have parents and books?.. What would you believe?.. This is the pure state of seeking.. Imagine if you were the first human to achieve Union with God.. What would you say to speak of this event?.. What words would you use?..Who would you tell?.. Could you trust others to accept your experience?..This is the quandry of the first Mystic and often the modern Mystic.. All Mystics exist within all religions.. They often keep their Knowledge hidden as the Sufis', for their own protection.. Jesus did not and as many Sufi Masters, was killed for his Knowledge and Experience.. We are fortunate because we live in a country and time when we can speak out as Mystics...........namaste, thomas
Basic Teachings by Adyashanti...
Ego is another word for you might call it "lower self." "Lower self" is really ego. Its where we're dealing with more of the base instincts of self. These are what we think of as egoic instincts; for control, for power, for dominance, for...all the traits that ego's tend to involve themselves in. The wanting for attention, the tendency to get stuck in a blaming energy, a condemning energy, the identification with being victim. I think of you really look at the nature of ego within yourself, you could come up with your own ideas, your own experience, and more important, of the way ego moves within you. Generally ego is that which is grasping and pushing away. So the underlying structure of ego is, is really a type of will, underlying ego is a type of will. I want and I don't want. So attachment and aversion, these are easy words to use, but what is attachment and aversion really like inside and inside its a movement of will. Its a movement towards or away. This constructs or is the foundation of ego in the context that I am using it in.
Spirituality is as I have said, all of the various teachings, are different means, are different approaches of surrendering self. There's a tremendous amount of confusion about what 'surrendering self' means. And this is something that is important to have some clarity about what does it mean to surrender self cause alot of people will engage in a sort of false surrender. A false surrender is a kind of surrender we do in order to not have to take responsibility for ourselves, for how we feel, for what we think, for our lives in general and its a false surrender. It's sort of like this way of copping out. Its a way of trying to let ourselves off the hook. But that's not a real surrender. That's a way of dealing with the problem of ego by denying it. A real surrender is really seeing each way that we hold on, that we grasp, that we try to control, that we try to dominate, in very overt ways and very, very subtle ways. And its the intention to let that go, to let go, to surrender. Now very few people can actually surrender, mostly we surrender when we are in a deep enough state of suffering. So the teachings are ways or tools to help engender surrender. The surrender of self. The surrender of self. That is what spirituality is all about. That's the whole orientation. And the reason I'm talking about this orientation sort of after I have presented some of the teachings is because its so important that I wanted to put it at the end rather than the beginning as in the beginning by the time you listen to the various aspects of the teaching you forget the orientation, you forget the atmosphere in which the whole teaching exists. My hope is that talking about this after I have presented the basics, the fundamentals of the teaching is that it won't be forgotten, is that what all the teachings are about are ways to surrender self.
Adyashanti
Basic Teachings 3
Spirituality is as I have said, all of the various teachings, are different means, are different approaches of surrendering self. There's a tremendous amount of confusion about what 'surrendering self' means. And this is something that is important to have some clarity about what does it mean to surrender self cause alot of people will engage in a sort of false surrender. A false surrender is a kind of surrender we do in order to not have to take responsibility for ourselves, for how we feel, for what we think, for our lives in general and its a false surrender. It's sort of like this way of copping out. Its a way of trying to let ourselves off the hook. But that's not a real surrender. That's a way of dealing with the problem of ego by denying it. A real surrender is really seeing each way that we hold on, that we grasp, that we try to control, that we try to dominate, in very overt ways and very, very subtle ways. And its the intention to let that go, to let go, to surrender. Now very few people can actually surrender, mostly we surrender when we are in a deep enough state of suffering. So the teachings are ways or tools to help engender surrender. The surrender of self. The surrender of self. That is what spirituality is all about. That's the whole orientation. And the reason I'm talking about this orientation sort of after I have presented some of the teachings is because its so important that I wanted to put it at the end rather than the beginning as in the beginning by the time you listen to the various aspects of the teaching you forget the orientation, you forget the atmosphere in which the whole teaching exists. My hope is that talking about this after I have presented the basics, the fundamentals of the teaching is that it won't be forgotten, is that what all the teachings are about are ways to surrender self.
Adyashanti
Basic Teachings 3
Healing...
There is a spiritual body which cannot deteriorate. This spiritual body is already within you. As much of it appears as is recognized. Spiritual perfection always responds to man's consciousness, but it can respond only in such a degree as he becomes aware. It is because this inward perfection is so insistent that you maintain a physical body; but because you are an individual with volition, you can, as it were, hang a curtain between your physical life and its spiritual cause.
Spiritual realization helps to withdraw this curtain. Every statement you make about your body, or the belief you hold about it with the deep feeling that is centered in God's Life, will heal it.
~ Ernest Holmes.
Spiritual realization helps to withdraw this curtain. Every statement you make about your body, or the belief you hold about it with the deep feeling that is centered in God's Life, will heal it.
~ Ernest Holmes.
' I Believe'...
These miracles are much easier that you believe.. They are the manipulation of vibrations called atoms.. the secret of this manipulation of matter is 'Complete Belief' in it happening.. This is the difficult part because we do not completely believe.. therefore, we believe that it is not possible.. this fuller belief is then manifested into this reality.. therefore, making miracles impossible except for the very few.. I have been cured of life dissolving illnesses at least four times because 'I Believe'..This is why Jesus said;" If you believe and say mountain be moved, It shall be".......... namaste, thomas
the ordinary man...
The ordinary man is aware of his surroundings, first, by naming and labelling them; second, by linking them with past memory of them; and third, by relating them to his own personal self. The illumined egoless man is simply aware of them, without any of these other added activities.
...... Paul Brunton
...... Paul Brunton
What are You?.. What am I?...
Ask those who know,
what's this soul within the flesh?
Reality's own power.
What blood fills these veins?
Thought is an errand boy,
fear a mine of worries.
These sighs are love's clothing.
Who is the Khan on the throne?
Give thanks for His unity.
He created when nothing existed.
And since we are actually nothing,
what are all of Solomon's riches?
Ask Yunus and Taptuk
what the world means to them..
The world won't last.
What are You? What am I?
Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
what's this soul within the flesh?
Reality's own power.
What blood fills these veins?
Thought is an errand boy,
fear a mine of worries.
These sighs are love's clothing.
Who is the Khan on the throne?
Give thanks for His unity.
He created when nothing existed.
And since we are actually nothing,
what are all of Solomon's riches?
Ask Yunus and Taptuk
what the world means to them..
The world won't last.
What are You? What am I?
Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
Are Angels Real?...
Angels are"thought forms" just as we.. In Reality, All is Consciousness and only
Consciousness.. all individualizations are illusions created to write a
"story".......... namaste, thomas
Consciousness.. all individualizations are illusions created to write a
"story".......... namaste, thomas
Desire...
Desire gives you suffering. Whenever any
desire arises, you want to go near it, you
want to achieve it and you do, then you are
happy. You may think that the object
made you happy, but really it is the absence
of desire, that moment of emptiness, that
makes you happy.
- Papaji
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
desire arises, you want to go near it, you
want to achieve it and you do, then you are
happy. You may think that the object
made you happy, but really it is the absence
of desire, that moment of emptiness, that
makes you happy.
- Papaji
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
Unhappiness...
you suffer because you believe that happiness is something that someone can give
you and take from you.. when you Realise that happiness is the state of mind in
which you have no desires and you live within the present moment, then you will
find happiness...Alan Watts once said that it is impossible to be unhappy in the
present moment......... namaste, thomas
you and take from you.. when you Realise that happiness is the state of mind in
which you have no desires and you live within the present moment, then you will
find happiness...Alan Watts once said that it is impossible to be unhappy in the
present moment......... namaste, thomas
Unconditional Love...
Unconditional Love is easier than you think.. It just means that you continue
to feel Love and show Love without any mental demand that Love be returned.. to
demand love be returned is a state of selfishness.. This is why, we are told to
"Love our enemies".. Unselfish Love is the only Real Love and is the essence of
God.......... namaste, thomas
to feel Love and show Love without any mental demand that Love be returned.. to
demand love be returned is a state of selfishness.. This is why, we are told to
"Love our enemies".. Unselfish Love is the only Real Love and is the essence of
God.......... namaste, thomas
Identity...
At the moment of realization the person ceases. Identity remains, but identity is not a person, it is inherent in the reality itself.
- Nisardagatta Maharaj
- Nisardagatta Maharaj
Suicide...
This feeling of hopelessness that prompts
suicide is misplaced Reality.. Suicide is required of the ego and is
misinterpreted by the ego as suicide of the body because the ego does not want
to die... This is why Knowledge is so important.. To Know that You are Divine
Consciousness and not the body or mind is necessary for happiness within this
life.. This feeling of Divine Consciousness is called Unconditional Love and is
Our Being.......... namaste, thomas
suicide is misplaced Reality.. Suicide is required of the ego and is
misinterpreted by the ego as suicide of the body because the ego does not want
to die... This is why Knowledge is so important.. To Know that You are Divine
Consciousness and not the body or mind is necessary for happiness within this
life.. This feeling of Divine Consciousness is called Unconditional Love and is
Our Being.......... namaste, thomas
" I Am"...
The only truth which is not a concept
is the sense of presence,
here and now.
'I am,' not 'I am Joe or Jane.'
This impersonal sense of presence
in the present moment
is the only truth....
Ramesh S. Balsekar
is the sense of presence,
here and now.
'I am,' not 'I am Joe or Jane.'
This impersonal sense of presence
in the present moment
is the only truth....
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Grief...
It
will sound harsh to state that grief is actually an action of selfishness.. we
grieve for ourselves because we will not be receiving the love and joy of that
which we grieve for.. If you grieve for another soul, remember that no soul
really dies.. also remember that in Reality, there is no separation of souls..
We are One Spirit pretending to be many.. Knowledge and Understanding of Reality
will end grief........... namaste, thomas
will sound harsh to state that grief is actually an action of selfishness.. we
grieve for ourselves because we will not be receiving the love and joy of that
which we grieve for.. If you grieve for another soul, remember that no soul
really dies.. also remember that in Reality, there is no separation of souls..
We are One Spirit pretending to be many.. Knowledge and Understanding of Reality
will end grief........... namaste, thomas
Poets...
We read the words of these mystical poets and our minds travel further than they are meant to.. We reach Consciousness.. We become Ourselves.. which words open the door that Jesus said "Knock upon"?.. the answers are already within You but you still believe that you are the body and name.. when is the time?.. or place.. when will we have enough courage to commit suicide of our desire for separate self?.. so many questions and only One answer......... namaste, thomas
Dream...
It is all like a gigantic dream, with every human inserting his own private dream inside the public one. A double spell has to be broken before reality can be glimpsed--the spell which the world lays upon us and that which self lays upon us. The man who has completely awakened from this spell is the man who has gained complete insight. This faculty is nothing other than such full wakefulness. It is immensely difficult to attain, which is why so few of the dreamers ever wake up at all and why so many will not even listen to the revelations of the awakened ones. However, Nature teaches us here as elsewhere not to let patience break down. There is plenty of time in her bag. Life is an evolutionary process. Men will begin to stir in their sleep erratically but increasingly.
... Paul Brunton
... Paul Brunton
Jaluddin Rumi...
The best selling poet of America in 2006 was not Whitman, Dickinson, Frost or Emerson but a Sufi mystic; Jaluddin Rumi, who was born in Afghanistan, on the borders of the Persian Empire (Iran). Rumi is one of the best known Sufi poets but digging deep into the realms of Persian literature we find a wealth of Sufi poetry which even today retains a universal and timeless appeal.
Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam. It has its roots in the Qu’ran and the Islamic tradition, but at the same times encompasses the universal mysticism that we see in other spiritual traditions. The essence of Sufism is the simple path of loving God. The Sufi Masters sing of the all pervading love which inundates their being when they become one with their “beloved”. If there is just one goal of Sufism; it is to overcome the attachment to the binding ego and attain liberation through realising one’s identity with God. And thus the Sufi poets speak of dying to be born again, a concept similar to other mystical traditions.
Often the great Sufi poets lived during times of religious fundamentalism. The authorities censored them, because they openly taught that man could have a direct contact with God. As a result poets such as Hafiz developed an increasing array of metaphors and synonyms to describe God. Frequently we come across references such as Friend, Beloved, Father, Mother, the Wine seller, the Problem giver, and the Problem solver. This ambiguity in describing God served a dual purpose. Firstly it made it difficult for his poetry to be censored for its unorthodox mystical ideas. It also illustrates the inherent difficulty a poet has in describing the nature of God. The infinite is beyond all name and form, how can the poet describe that which is beyond words?
In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
Speech is born out of longing,
True description from the real taste.
The one who tastes, knows;
the one who explains, lies.
How can you describe the true form of Something
In whose presence you are blotted out?
And in whose being you still exist?
And who lives as a sign for your journey?
- Rabia al Basri
However, despite the difficulties of describing their experiences, the words of the Sufi Seers still tease, cajole and inspire us to look beyond the page and into our own hearts. For those who love words, it is necessary to have poetry, which can take us beyond the domain of the intellect. Hafiz beautifully describes the purpose of a poet.
“A poet is someone who can pour light into a cup, then raise it to nourish your beautiful parched, holy heart.”
...... from poetseers.org
Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam. It has its roots in the Qu’ran and the Islamic tradition, but at the same times encompasses the universal mysticism that we see in other spiritual traditions. The essence of Sufism is the simple path of loving God. The Sufi Masters sing of the all pervading love which inundates their being when they become one with their “beloved”. If there is just one goal of Sufism; it is to overcome the attachment to the binding ego and attain liberation through realising one’s identity with God. And thus the Sufi poets speak of dying to be born again, a concept similar to other mystical traditions.
Often the great Sufi poets lived during times of religious fundamentalism. The authorities censored them, because they openly taught that man could have a direct contact with God. As a result poets such as Hafiz developed an increasing array of metaphors and synonyms to describe God. Frequently we come across references such as Friend, Beloved, Father, Mother, the Wine seller, the Problem giver, and the Problem solver. This ambiguity in describing God served a dual purpose. Firstly it made it difficult for his poetry to be censored for its unorthodox mystical ideas. It also illustrates the inherent difficulty a poet has in describing the nature of God. The infinite is beyond all name and form, how can the poet describe that which is beyond words?
In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
Speech is born out of longing,
True description from the real taste.
The one who tastes, knows;
the one who explains, lies.
How can you describe the true form of Something
In whose presence you are blotted out?
And in whose being you still exist?
And who lives as a sign for your journey?
- Rabia al Basri
However, despite the difficulties of describing their experiences, the words of the Sufi Seers still tease, cajole and inspire us to look beyond the page and into our own hearts. For those who love words, it is necessary to have poetry, which can take us beyond the domain of the intellect. Hafiz beautifully describes the purpose of a poet.
“A poet is someone who can pour light into a cup, then raise it to nourish your beautiful parched, holy heart.”
...... from poetseers.org
Remember...
I keep weeping for you, my soul,
good sir, gently trying to let you
see the nature of what you love.
Not even the shadow
of an iron anchor
will last from here.
Remember the truth
that you are.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
good sir, gently trying to let you
see the nature of what you love.
Not even the shadow
of an iron anchor
will last from here.
Remember the truth
that you are.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
The wisdom of Edgar Allan Poe...
A strong argument for the religion of Christ is this - that offences against Charity are about the only ones which men on their death-beds can be made - not to understand - but to feel - as crime.
All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry.
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that a vast, perhaps the larger portion of the truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant.
I am above the weakness of seeking to establish a sequence of cause and effect, between the disaster and the atrocity.
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.
I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it.
I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect - in terror.
I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.
All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry.
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that a vast, perhaps the larger portion of the truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant.
I am above the weakness of seeking to establish a sequence of cause and effect, between the disaster and the atrocity.
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.
I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it.
I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect - in terror.
I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.
Happiness...
People are so absorbed in chasing what
they consider to be happiness that they do
not have either the time or the inclination
to stop and wonder if the kind of happiness
they imagine is even worth having.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
they consider to be happiness that they do
not have either the time or the inclination
to stop and wonder if the kind of happiness
they imagine is even worth having.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
Awakening...
Awakening is really what this is all about.. we spend our lives learning wisdom and shrinking the illusion of separate ego, only to return to that which We have never left.. That is the universal joke of creation.. We believe that We travel through time and space, only to Wake up from this dream experience.. Creation is a Dream. A very clever experience of Thought.. A three dimensional dream in which the characters and stages are moved and replaced.. this, We call death... In Reality, there is no death as Thought Energy is a circle.. When We finally Awake from this dream, We find ourselves completely united as the Energies of Light and Love.. At this point, We Realise that the journey is not done.. only the dream is done.. The journey continues into Complete Surrender of identity.. This Nothingness is called Pure Awareness and is the Source......... namaste, thomas
Non-ego...
After this passing-over into the Overself's rule, does he carry a loss of identity? Is he no more aware that he is the named person of the past? Were this so he could not exist in human society or attend to his duties. No!--outwardly he is more or less the same, although his pattern of behaviour betrays recognizable signs of superiority over the past man which he was. Inwardly, there is total revolution.
.......... Paul Brunton
.......... Paul Brunton
I Am He!...
Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj known as al-Hallaj (the wool-carder), he was put to death in Baghdad for having uttered ana 'l haqq (I am the Truth):
I am He whom I love,
and He whom I love is I:
We are two spirits
dwelling in one body.
If thou seest me,
thou seest Him,
And if thou seest Him,
thou seest us both.
al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson
I am He whom I love,
and He whom I love is I:
We are two spirits
dwelling in one body.
If thou seest me,
thou seest Him,
And if thou seest Him,
thou seest us both.
al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson
The Greatest Secret on Earth...
No conflict exists between mysticism and the established religions any more than there is a disagreement among several lecturers who describe the same sunrise. Only their presentations are different. William James, the giant among American psychologists, harmonizes religion and mysticism like this:
…personal religious experience has its roots and centre in mystical states of consciousness…I think I shall at least succeed in convincing you of the reality of the states in question, and of the paramount importance of their function. (The Varieties of Religious Experience)
All religions have produced enlightened men and women. One such mystic of India, Sri Ramakrishma, experimented by living, in turn, with various religions. He was a Christian, then a Hindu, then a Buddhist. He discovered the same Truth in all.
Mysticism is not this or that particular cup on the table; it is the water poured into all of them.
It is enough to conclude that any man or woman who sincerely treads the Mystic Path in his own way will sooner or later meet that something else which is beyond definition.
What, then, is the miraculous message of mysticism?
Happiness is yours in the here and now. The painful states of anxiety and loneliness are abolished permanently. Financial affairs are not financial problems. You are at ease with yourself. You are not at the mercy of unfulfilled cravings. Confusion is replaced with clarity. There is a relieving answer to every tormenting question. You possess a True Self. Something can be done about every unhappy condition. While living in the world you can be inwardly detached from its sorrows to live with personal peace and sanity.
And this is what unknowing people call impractical mysticism!
This is the greatest secret on earth. Unfortunately, it is a secret hidden from the eyes of most men. But it is available to all. Anyone, who really wants it, can have it.
Never forget, you are following all this for your own sake. Your purpose along the Mystic Path is a very personal one. The objective of every seeker is to become an enlightened, happy, and pleasant human being.
..... Vernon Howard
…personal religious experience has its roots and centre in mystical states of consciousness…I think I shall at least succeed in convincing you of the reality of the states in question, and of the paramount importance of their function. (The Varieties of Religious Experience)
All religions have produced enlightened men and women. One such mystic of India, Sri Ramakrishma, experimented by living, in turn, with various religions. He was a Christian, then a Hindu, then a Buddhist. He discovered the same Truth in all.
Mysticism is not this or that particular cup on the table; it is the water poured into all of them.
It is enough to conclude that any man or woman who sincerely treads the Mystic Path in his own way will sooner or later meet that something else which is beyond definition.
What, then, is the miraculous message of mysticism?
Happiness is yours in the here and now. The painful states of anxiety and loneliness are abolished permanently. Financial affairs are not financial problems. You are at ease with yourself. You are not at the mercy of unfulfilled cravings. Confusion is replaced with clarity. There is a relieving answer to every tormenting question. You possess a True Self. Something can be done about every unhappy condition. While living in the world you can be inwardly detached from its sorrows to live with personal peace and sanity.
And this is what unknowing people call impractical mysticism!
This is the greatest secret on earth. Unfortunately, it is a secret hidden from the eyes of most men. But it is available to all. Anyone, who really wants it, can have it.
Never forget, you are following all this for your own sake. Your purpose along the Mystic Path is a very personal one. The objective of every seeker is to become an enlightened, happy, and pleasant human being.
..... Vernon Howard
Everything is Consciousness...
From: Douglas Mitchell .....Subject: Everything is Consciousness
As the Yoga Vashistha says, "Everything is Consciousness. No-thing exists
outside of Consciousness." How could it? Have you ever experienced anything
apart from experiencing? Sounds like a ridiculous question. But it gets to the
heart of the matter. You are always present in every experience as the
Consciousness/Awareness of the experience. Consciousness is the
empty background and every form in the experience including the sense of
knowing. It is always there as the all embracing presence which knows no
preference or judgment about the content of experience. Consciousness is not
like a supposed deity which judges, intervenes, creates, sustains, and
destroys. No such deity ever
existed. Only Consciousness contains and pervades everything. Consciousness is
all that is. Nisargadatta would add to the above statement that nothing exists
outside of Consciousness, "You are that no-thing upon which Consciousness
appears and disappears." Just as in sleep there is dream consciousness which
has a dream body with senses and perceptions of a world that appear as real as
the waking body and world. Then Consciousness disappears in deep sleep, only to
reappear as waking Consciousness. There is no difference between dream
Consciousness and waking Consciousness. Everything contained within is a
projection of Consciousness with a sense of knowing or presence. Similarly as
in deep sleep when there is no
Consciousness, so too is your absolute nature prior to and beyond
Consciousness. But this no-thing-ness, called the Absolute for namesake, is
prior to and beyond all experiencing. It is known only by Consciousness as the
absence of Consciousness. But even the knowing of absence is a knowing within
Consciousness. So the Absolute cannot be experienced as some-'thing'. So we
are back to "no-thing exists outside of Consciousness". One cannot prove the
Absolute. One can only be the Absolute as pure being with no subject-I and no
objective form, not even emptiness for that too is form. Remember the Buddhist
Heart Sutra? "Form is none other than emptiness. Emptiness is none other than
form." This is a very subtle understanding. It equates form and emptiness.
Emptiness is not the same as no-thing-ness. Emptiness is the background within
Consciousness. No-thing-ness is the 'nature' of the Absolute as well as
Consciousness which appears upon 'it'. Have you ever seen Consciousness apart
from its forms, including emptiness? Consciousness cannot be grasped, measured,
or observed apart from aware Consciousness. So what is Consciousness? It is the
awakeness of the Absolute. To use other words, the Absolute is undifferentiated
Consciousness and awakeness is
differentiated Consciousness with a bifurcation into subject and object within
a single awareness. So this brings us back to the Yoga Vashistha's statement
that Consciousness is all there is, whether as undifferentiated (no
subject/object) or differentiated (knowing subject and object-ive form). Know
yourself to be this Consciousness! This Consciousness is one. The same
Consciousness is peering through your eyes and mine and through the sensing of
all sentient beings. It pervades the apparent universe. I say apparent because
it is of the nature of an illusion, a dream. The universe does not exist
outside of your experiencing of it in Consciousness. And Consciousness is
no-thing-ness. And you are THAT!
As the Yoga Vashistha says, "Everything is Consciousness. No-thing exists
outside of Consciousness." How could it? Have you ever experienced anything
apart from experiencing? Sounds like a ridiculous question. But it gets to the
heart of the matter. You are always present in every experience as the
Consciousness/Awareness of the experience. Consciousness is the
empty background and every form in the experience including the sense of
knowing. It is always there as the all embracing presence which knows no
preference or judgment about the content of experience. Consciousness is not
like a supposed deity which judges, intervenes, creates, sustains, and
destroys. No such deity ever
existed. Only Consciousness contains and pervades everything. Consciousness is
all that is. Nisargadatta would add to the above statement that nothing exists
outside of Consciousness, "You are that no-thing upon which Consciousness
appears and disappears." Just as in sleep there is dream consciousness which
has a dream body with senses and perceptions of a world that appear as real as
the waking body and world. Then Consciousness disappears in deep sleep, only to
reappear as waking Consciousness. There is no difference between dream
Consciousness and waking Consciousness. Everything contained within is a
projection of Consciousness with a sense of knowing or presence. Similarly as
in deep sleep when there is no
Consciousness, so too is your absolute nature prior to and beyond
Consciousness. But this no-thing-ness, called the Absolute for namesake, is
prior to and beyond all experiencing. It is known only by Consciousness as the
absence of Consciousness. But even the knowing of absence is a knowing within
Consciousness. So the Absolute cannot be experienced as some-'thing'. So we
are back to "no-thing exists outside of Consciousness". One cannot prove the
Absolute. One can only be the Absolute as pure being with no subject-I and no
objective form, not even emptiness for that too is form. Remember the Buddhist
Heart Sutra? "Form is none other than emptiness. Emptiness is none other than
form." This is a very subtle understanding. It equates form and emptiness.
Emptiness is not the same as no-thing-ness. Emptiness is the background within
Consciousness. No-thing-ness is the 'nature' of the Absolute as well as
Consciousness which appears upon 'it'. Have you ever seen Consciousness apart
from its forms, including emptiness? Consciousness cannot be grasped, measured,
or observed apart from aware Consciousness. So what is Consciousness? It is the
awakeness of the Absolute. To use other words, the Absolute is undifferentiated
Consciousness and awakeness is
differentiated Consciousness with a bifurcation into subject and object within
a single awareness. So this brings us back to the Yoga Vashistha's statement
that Consciousness is all there is, whether as undifferentiated (no
subject/object) or differentiated (knowing subject and object-ive form). Know
yourself to be this Consciousness! This Consciousness is one. The same
Consciousness is peering through your eyes and mine and through the sensing of
all sentient beings. It pervades the apparent universe. I say apparent because
it is of the nature of an illusion, a dream. The universe does not exist
outside of your experiencing of it in Consciousness. And Consciousness is
no-thing-ness. And you are THAT!
self-will...
Those who try to grasp Tao, lose it, declared Lao Tzu. Why? Because they are using willpower, personal willpower, instead of becoming passive and letting the Tao use them, their minds and bodies, as if they were its instruments. This elimination of the self-will is what Jesus meant when he counselled his followers to lose their life in order to find life.
............ Paul Brunton
............ Paul Brunton
Realization of Reality...
The true joy of every soul is in the realization of the divine Spirit, and the
absence of realization keeps the soul in despair.
Bowl of Saki, October 20, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The true joy of every soul is the realization of the divine Spirit. Absence of
realization keeps the soul in despair. In the life of every poet, thinker,
artist or scientist there come moments when ideas or words are given to him;
they are given at that moment and at no other. This is the moment when
unconsciously the soul has an opportunity to breathe. Man does not usually allow
his soul to breathe; the portal is closed up in the life of the earth. Man
closes it by ignorance, he is absorbed in things of much less importance. So
when the door opens and the soul is able to breathe even one breath, it becomes
alive in that one single moment, and what comes out is beauty and joy making man
express himself in song or dance. So heavenly beauty comes on earth.
The things that catch man's mind are always living things. The poems of Rumi
which are called Masnavi, have lived for eight hundred years, they are living,
they bring joy and ecstasy whenever they are sung or recited. They are
everliving life, expressing an everlasting beauty. It is the power of God, and
for man ever to presume it possible to produce that by study is a mistake. It is
impossible. It is the power of God above which brings out the perfection of
beauty. Man can never make the soul dance, but he can make himself a fit
instrument for the expression of his soul.
absence of realization keeps the soul in despair.
Bowl of Saki, October 20, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The true joy of every soul is the realization of the divine Spirit. Absence of
realization keeps the soul in despair. In the life of every poet, thinker,
artist or scientist there come moments when ideas or words are given to him;
they are given at that moment and at no other. This is the moment when
unconsciously the soul has an opportunity to breathe. Man does not usually allow
his soul to breathe; the portal is closed up in the life of the earth. Man
closes it by ignorance, he is absorbed in things of much less importance. So
when the door opens and the soul is able to breathe even one breath, it becomes
alive in that one single moment, and what comes out is beauty and joy making man
express himself in song or dance. So heavenly beauty comes on earth.
The things that catch man's mind are always living things. The poems of Rumi
which are called Masnavi, have lived for eight hundred years, they are living,
they bring joy and ecstasy whenever they are sung or recited. They are
everliving life, expressing an everlasting beauty. It is the power of God, and
for man ever to presume it possible to produce that by study is a mistake. It is
impossible. It is the power of God above which brings out the perfection of
beauty. Man can never make the soul dance, but he can make himself a fit
instrument for the expression of his soul.
Seek the Water!...
Know that the outward form passes away,
but the world of reality remains forever.
How long will you play at loving the shape of the jug?
Leave the jug; go, seek the water!
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
but the world of reality remains forever.
How long will you play at loving the shape of the jug?
Leave the jug; go, seek the water!
- Rumi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski
"Rumi: Daylight"
Threshold Books, 1994
Reincarnation...
The Long Path idea of reincarnation is illusory. The Short Path idea of it is that it is an undulatory wave, a ripple, a movement upward onward and downward. Since there is no ego in reality, there can be no rebirth of it. But we do have the appearance of a rebirth. Note that this applies to both the mind and body part of ego: they are like a bubble floating on a stream and then vanishing or like a knot which is untied and then vanishes too. We have to accept the presence of this pseudo-entity, the ego--this mental thing born of many many earth-lives--so long as we have to dwell in that other mental thing, the body. But we do not have to accept its dominance; we do not have to perpetuate its rule, for all is in the Mind. Where then are the reincarnatory experiences? Appearances which were like cinema shows. They happened in a time and space which were in the mind. The individual who emerged, lost the individuality and merged in the timelessness of eternity. This is the unchanging indestructible Consciousness, the Overself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notebooks Category 9: From Birth to Rebirth > Chapter 2: Rebirth and Reincarnation > # 220...... Paul Brunton
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notebooks Category 9: From Birth to Rebirth > Chapter 2: Rebirth and Reincarnation > # 220...... Paul Brunton
Consciousness...
When Consciousness becomes self-conscious
of itself, it appears to show up in the world as a
personal ego.
But why does the ego go out looking for a
Consciousness that it already is? After all,
Consciousness isn't "lost" that it needs to be,
somehow, "found."
Although the ego is compelled to go out looking,
ironically, its only real hope of ever surviving is
in not finding.
- Chuck Hillig
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003
of itself, it appears to show up in the world as a
personal ego.
But why does the ego go out looking for a
Consciousness that it already is? After all,
Consciousness isn't "lost" that it needs to be,
somehow, "found."
Although the ego is compelled to go out looking,
ironically, its only real hope of ever surviving is
in not finding.
- Chuck Hillig
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003
Fear...
"Don't try to be unafraid. That is impossible. Rather, go ahead while being afraid. That is the entire secret for abolishing fear. The Supermind teaches us to have no self-concern at all. Whatever happens to you, act as though it happened to someone else.”
~ Vernon Howard
~ Vernon Howard
Already God...
You are already God.. There has never been a time when You were not God.. There is Nothing that is not God... all else is an illusion.. a creation by Divine Consciousness that we call God.. You are this Divine Consciousness but You have been trapped within the material worlds because You started to Believe that You were that which You inhabited.. This is the power of duality and the child of which.. called "ego" or separation.. Enlightenment means that You have Realised that You are not the illusion of separation and materiality, but, are actually That which has created this dream called life............namaste, thomas
Who am I?...
If this me is not I, then
who am I?
If I am not the one who speaks, then
who does?
If this me is only a robe then
who is
the one I am covering?
- Rumi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rumi: Hidden Music
Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001
who am I?
If I am not the one who speaks, then
who does?
If this me is only a robe then
who is
the one I am covering?
- Rumi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rumi: Hidden Music
Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001
Separation...
How can that which is forever separate become united?..
It is impossible..
Then why do you worship that which is separate?..
Worship is Love..
Love is Unification..
Love given and received is a treasure we seek..
Love given and not received is Real Love..
Divinity is the giver..
Ignorance is the grasper..
The world of Duality constantly tempts our mind..
Enter the Reality of One.........
namaste, thomas
It is impossible..
Then why do you worship that which is separate?..
Worship is Love..
Love is Unification..
Love given and received is a treasure we seek..
Love given and not received is Real Love..
Divinity is the giver..
Ignorance is the grasper..
The world of Duality constantly tempts our mind..
Enter the Reality of One.........
namaste, thomas
yourself...
Here is one of the quatrains of Awhadoddin Kermani:
O, friend! Nobody veils you, but yourself.
In your path there is no thorn or weed, but yourself.
You said: Shall I reach the Beloved or not?
Between you and the Beloved there is nobody, but yourself.
O, friend! Nobody veils you, but yourself.
In your path there is no thorn or weed, but yourself.
You said: Shall I reach the Beloved or not?
Between you and the Beloved there is nobody, but yourself.
" Love after Love"...
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life
~ Derek Walcott (Saint Lucian Poet)
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life
~ Derek Walcott (Saint Lucian Poet)
The Greatest Secret...
The Greatest
Secret of All is that "You Are Him" and yet we keep seeking "Him".. Jesus knew
this, when He said;" I and the Father are One".. Humility is the Key.. to be
humble is to be without ego.. to be without ego is to "Be Him"...........
namaste, thomas
Secret of All is that "You Are Him" and yet we keep seeking "Him".. Jesus knew
this, when He said;" I and the Father are One".. Humility is the Key.. to be
humble is to be without ego.. to be without ego is to "Be Him"...........
namaste, thomas
Open the gate...
After the four walls are torn down,
the four walls of intellect-mind-body-senses,
there is still the old gate remaining.
The old habit of "I" in the form "I am Free."
This gate is not needed
and will leave at the time of death if not before.
Both are the same.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
the four walls of intellect-mind-body-senses,
there is still the old gate remaining.
The old habit of "I" in the form "I am Free."
This gate is not needed
and will leave at the time of death if not before.
Both are the same.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
Freedom...
And this myth that I can rest in some assuredness. That I will never again feel
insecure or feel fear, or feel doubt, or feel those emotions we don’t want to
feel. If I'm truly enlightened I will never feel those emotions. Forget it. That’s
not it. That's the pipe dream. That is the opium that is sold to the masses.
And they eat it up and they never get there and they end up disillusioned.
Freedom is never freedom "from." If it's freedom "from" anything, it's not
freedom at all. It's freedom "to." Are you free enough to be afraid? Are you
free enough to feel insecure? Are you free enough not to know? Are you free
enough to know that you can't know? Are you free enough to be totally
comfortable, to know that you can't know what's around the next corner?
How you will feel about it? How you will respond to it? That you literally can't
know? Are you free enough to be totally at ease and comfort with the way
things actually are? That's freedom.
~Adyashanti
insecure or feel fear, or feel doubt, or feel those emotions we don’t want to
feel. If I'm truly enlightened I will never feel those emotions. Forget it. That’s
not it. That's the pipe dream. That is the opium that is sold to the masses.
And they eat it up and they never get there and they end up disillusioned.
Freedom is never freedom "from." If it's freedom "from" anything, it's not
freedom at all. It's freedom "to." Are you free enough to be afraid? Are you
free enough to feel insecure? Are you free enough not to know? Are you free
enough to know that you can't know? Are you free enough to be totally
comfortable, to know that you can't know what's around the next corner?
How you will feel about it? How you will respond to it? That you literally can't
know? Are you free enough to be totally at ease and comfort with the way
things actually are? That's freedom.
~Adyashanti
Source of knowledge...
From: Douglas Mitchell ...Subject: Source of my knowledge
I have recieved emails from several of you wondering what is the inspiration for
my thoughts. I must share the secret. It is Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. His
spiritual classic "I Am That" is a must read along with his last two books,
"Prior to Consciousness", and "Consciousness and the Absolute. Nisargadatta,
a great Advaita Master of the late 20th century, advised one to take dispassion
( a lack of passion for this mirage called life) and convert it into passion for
inquiring about one's true nature. The first step is tracing the self back to
its primary belief or concept. Go back the way you came,as Ramana
Maharshi said. After peeling away all the labels you have acquired, male,
female, parent, child, student, seeker, worker,etc., you are left with the basic
knowledge of your existence. Nisragadatta called this the nonverbal I am Not of being something, just pure being. This is the primary
belief or concept of Consciousness. The next step is to realize that this "I
am" is one with universal Consciousness known as Brahman. Brahman is the mind of
"God" to use a term I don't prefer because of the anthropomorphic baggage. The
creative energy and manifestation of Brahman is Shakti. Together these comprise
the Self Aware Universe. The Universe is conscious all the way down to its
constituent parts. Each piece is a unit of consciousness, self aware and able to
function in its determined role. So for instance an atom is a unit of
consciousness. It has a very limited quality of self awareness, and it
instinctually knows its function. The human brain is the most complex unit of
consciousness on Earth. It is composed of smaller units of consciousness, that
together form a highly evolved unit of consciousness. It is highly self aware
and extremely capable of understanding complex, abstract concepts about itself
and
its environment. The brain/mind can realize its oneness with the universal
mind/consciousness known as Brahman. It is also one with the universal energy
known as Shakti. Brahman/Shakti are an apparent duality as is everything
in the universe of manifestation. In reality all is One. Oneness is the meaning
of Advaita. You are That. Once you are established in the nature of
Brahman/Shakti which is satchitananda (beingness/consciousness/bliss) you
continue to inquire as to the source of Brahman/Shakti which is Parabrahman, a
metaphor for That which transcends all apparent duality and categories of
human thought, including being and non-being. Parabrahman is without a subject-I
and an objective form. It transcends even awareness. It is "unawareness." It
only becomes aware of itself through the manifestation of the universe with its
Brahman/Shakti. Ultimately you are Parabrahman. Tatvamasi. You are That, which
is imperceivable and
inconceivable; empty, yet full of infinite potential. Bhakti
(devotion/praise/worship) and meditation on the knowledge/wisdom imparted by
Nisargadatta is the easiest way to realize your true nature as no-thing-ness, or
Nirvana (which means extinction of the subject-I and hence all awareness). I
sing to/chant to/praise That which I am, daily. This brings great joy. I
meditate by stilling the mind and "staying put in my no-thing-ness as a portal
to the Absolute" called Parabrahman. This is the teaching of Nisargadatta and my
own experience. Know that everything is Consciousness. No-thing exists outside
of Consciousness. You are That No-thing. As Nisargadatta also said, My
emptiness is full. My silence sings. And Love says, ˜I am everything.. Wisdom says,˜I am no-thing.. I hope this inspires you in your search!
Douglas Mitchell
I have recieved emails from several of you wondering what is the inspiration for
my thoughts. I must share the secret. It is Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. His
spiritual classic "I Am That" is a must read along with his last two books,
"Prior to Consciousness", and "Consciousness and the Absolute. Nisargadatta,
a great Advaita Master of the late 20th century, advised one to take dispassion
( a lack of passion for this mirage called life) and convert it into passion for
inquiring about one's true nature. The first step is tracing the self back to
its primary belief or concept. Go back the way you came,as Ramana
Maharshi said. After peeling away all the labels you have acquired, male,
female, parent, child, student, seeker, worker,etc., you are left with the basic
knowledge of your existence. Nisragadatta called this the nonverbal I am Not of being something, just pure being. This is the primary
belief or concept of Consciousness. The next step is to realize that this "I
am" is one with universal Consciousness known as Brahman. Brahman is the mind of
"God" to use a term I don't prefer because of the anthropomorphic baggage. The
creative energy and manifestation of Brahman is Shakti. Together these comprise
the Self Aware Universe. The Universe is conscious all the way down to its
constituent parts. Each piece is a unit of consciousness, self aware and able to
function in its determined role. So for instance an atom is a unit of
consciousness. It has a very limited quality of self awareness, and it
instinctually knows its function. The human brain is the most complex unit of
consciousness on Earth. It is composed of smaller units of consciousness, that
together form a highly evolved unit of consciousness. It is highly self aware
and extremely capable of understanding complex, abstract concepts about itself
and
its environment. The brain/mind can realize its oneness with the universal
mind/consciousness known as Brahman. It is also one with the universal energy
known as Shakti. Brahman/Shakti are an apparent duality as is everything
in the universe of manifestation. In reality all is One. Oneness is the meaning
of Advaita. You are That. Once you are established in the nature of
Brahman/Shakti which is satchitananda (beingness/consciousness/bliss) you
continue to inquire as to the source of Brahman/Shakti which is Parabrahman, a
metaphor for That which transcends all apparent duality and categories of
human thought, including being and non-being. Parabrahman is without a subject-I
and an objective form. It transcends even awareness. It is "unawareness." It
only becomes aware of itself through the manifestation of the universe with its
Brahman/Shakti. Ultimately you are Parabrahman. Tatvamasi. You are That, which
is imperceivable and
inconceivable; empty, yet full of infinite potential. Bhakti
(devotion/praise/worship) and meditation on the knowledge/wisdom imparted by
Nisargadatta is the easiest way to realize your true nature as no-thing-ness, or
Nirvana (which means extinction of the subject-I and hence all awareness). I
sing to/chant to/praise That which I am, daily. This brings great joy. I
meditate by stilling the mind and "staying put in my no-thing-ness as a portal
to the Absolute" called Parabrahman. This is the teaching of Nisargadatta and my
own experience. Know that everything is Consciousness. No-thing exists outside
of Consciousness. You are That No-thing. As Nisargadatta also said, My
emptiness is full. My silence sings. And Love says, ˜I am everything.. Wisdom says,˜I am no-thing.. I hope this inspires you in your search!
Douglas Mitchell
Opposites...
"If you call one thing good, you must call its opposite bad. If you think it wonderful to make a big profit in your business, you will also think it terrible if you incur a large loss. The idea is to live above the opposites.”
~ Vernon Howard from The Power of Your Supermind
~ Vernon Howard from The Power of Your Supermind
Law of causation...
Like everything mental, the so-called law of causation contradicts itself. No thing
in existence has a particular cause; the entire universe contributes to the
existence of even the smallest thing; nothing could be as it is without the
universe being what it is. When the source and the ground of everything is the
only cause of everything, to speak of causality as a universal law is wrong. The
universe is not bound by its content, because its potentialities are infinite;
besides it is a manifestation, or expression of a principle fundamentally and
totally free.
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
from "I Am That"
in existence has a particular cause; the entire universe contributes to the
existence of even the smallest thing; nothing could be as it is without the
universe being what it is. When the source and the ground of everything is the
only cause of everything, to speak of causality as a universal law is wrong. The
universe is not bound by its content, because its potentialities are infinite;
besides it is a manifestation, or expression of a principle fundamentally and
totally free.
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
from "I Am That"
Unicity...
Love, not as an expression of separateness
based on emotion, but as compassion, is
that which holds the world together in
Unicity. In Unicity we do not love others,
we ARE them.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
based on emotion, but as compassion, is
that which holds the world together in
Unicity. In Unicity we do not love others,
we ARE them.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
Samadhi...
Much of the writing of Plotinus is descriptive of the state Hindus
call Nirvikalpa Samadhi. It is the total dispersal of the world from
the field of awareness, a complete flight from sensations, thoughts,
mental images, the physical body, and, above all, from any and every
kind of activity. To an outside observer, it may seem to be a trance
state, but he would not be correct in his observation, nor altogether
wrong. It is as deep as contemplation can possibly go. It is
Consciousness freed from any kind of personal admixture, staying only
with itself. All these other things being removed, what is left is
then true self-knowledge, even if it is unconscious to the ego.
— Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 8: The
Void As Contemplative Experience > # 75...... Paul Brunton
call Nirvikalpa Samadhi. It is the total dispersal of the world from
the field of awareness, a complete flight from sensations, thoughts,
mental images, the physical body, and, above all, from any and every
kind of activity. To an outside observer, it may seem to be a trance
state, but he would not be correct in his observation, nor altogether
wrong. It is as deep as contemplation can possibly go. It is
Consciousness freed from any kind of personal admixture, staying only
with itself. All these other things being removed, what is left is
then true self-knowledge, even if it is unconscious to the ego.
— Notebooks Category 23: Advanced Contemplation > Chapter 8: The
Void As Contemplative Experience > # 75...... Paul Brunton
Somewhere...
Somewhere
in you
you know (the Truth)
and when you
stubbornly
insist that
you don't know
then you
go up
and down.
- Swami Amar Jyoti
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"In Light of Wisdom"
Swami Amar Jyoti
Truth Consciousness, Boulder, Colorado, 1983
in you
you know (the Truth)
and when you
stubbornly
insist that
you don't know
then you
go up
and down.
- Swami Amar Jyoti
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"In Light of Wisdom"
Swami Amar Jyoti
Truth Consciousness, Boulder, Colorado, 1983
Truth is our only Salvation...
Truth is our only salvation, the final truth that in essence as Mind nobody is really disconnected from God, that the delusion of being alone and separate from the infinite life creates all our weaknesses, which in turn lead to most of our troubles, and that we are here to learn by experience what sort of stuff we are made really of.
Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? > Chapter 5: The Philosopher > # 204
...... Paul Brunton
Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? > Chapter 5: The Philosopher > # 204
...... Paul Brunton
The wine of Love...
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each a mystic silence Love demands.
What do all seek so earnestly? 'Tis Love.
What do they whisper to each other? Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts.
In Love no longer 'thou' and 'I' exist,
For Self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul,
Behold the Friend; Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds,
Will find the secret of them both, is Love.
Farid ud Din Attar - translation Margaret Smith -The Jawhar Al-Dhat
From each a mystic silence Love demands.
What do all seek so earnestly? 'Tis Love.
What do they whisper to each other? Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts.
In Love no longer 'thou' and 'I' exist,
For Self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul,
Behold the Friend; Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds,
Will find the secret of them both, is Love.
Farid ud Din Attar - translation Margaret Smith -The Jawhar Al-Dhat
"Love, and do as You will"..... st. augustine
"Love" is Divine Consciousness and the state of non-ego...
"You" is Divine Consciousness and the state of non-ego while within the state of
Unconditional Love...Therefore, sin cannot be created while within the Reality
of Unconditional Love...Unconditional Love is the Energy called
God........namaste, thomas
"You" is Divine Consciousness and the state of non-ego while within the state of
Unconditional Love...Therefore, sin cannot be created while within the Reality
of Unconditional Love...Unconditional Love is the Energy called
God........namaste, thomas
What is sin?...
Sin is actually an ancient hebrew archery term that means that you
have missed the "bulls eye" of the target.. but, you always have more arrows
to try again to hit the mark called "Love".. Love and ego are opposites..
just as God and Satan are opposites.. this is the world of duality and
opposites.. When We Realise that We are not separate from God or what is
called Reality.. then We are free from duality and sin.. and this state of
existence is called Unconditional Love..............namaste, thomas
have missed the "bulls eye" of the target.. but, you always have more arrows
to try again to hit the mark called "Love".. Love and ego are opposites..
just as God and Satan are opposites.. this is the world of duality and
opposites.. When We Realise that We are not separate from God or what is
called Reality.. then We are free from duality and sin.. and this state of
existence is called Unconditional Love..............namaste, thomas
I do not know myself...
I do not know myself,
nor you, my Lord.
I mistook the body
for my identity.
I didn't know
that you are
me, and I you,
yet still I keep wondering
who you and I are.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
nor you, my Lord.
I mistook the body
for my identity.
I didn't know
that you are
me, and I you,
yet still I keep wondering
who you and I are.
- Lalla
14th Century North Indian mystic
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
Maypop 1992
Swept away...
"At first, the way of your love
seemed easy.
I thought I'd reach
your union
with speed.
After taking a few steps,
I found
the way
is an ocean.
When I stepped in,
a wave swept me away."
Hamid al-Din Kirmani (? - 1238)
from _Love's Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition_
Translated by David & Sabrineh Fideler
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/K/KirmaniHamid/SweptAway.htm
seemed easy.
I thought I'd reach
your union
with speed.
After taking a few steps,
I found
the way
is an ocean.
When I stepped in,
a wave swept me away."
Hamid al-Din Kirmani (? - 1238)
from _Love's Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition_
Translated by David & Sabrineh Fideler
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/K/KirmaniHamid/SweptAway.htm
The Quest...
The Quest follows a double line of development: mind-stilling plus mind-stimulating, each in its proper place. And the ultimate goal is to discover that there is but one reality, of which all are but a part, that the separateness of the personal ego is but superficial, and that Truth is evidenced by the consciousness of unity. The first fruit of such discovery is necessarily the dedication of life to the service of all creatures, to incessant service for universal welfare. Hence, in this light, the yogi who has withdrawn into cave or forest is on a lower plane--good for him as a phase of his personal development but useless to those who must live truth, the truth of unity.
Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 5: Self-Development > # 92
...........Paul Brunton
Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 5: Self-Development > # 92
...........Paul Brunton
Meet the new as the new...
When you finish an experience, complete it, there is no memory of that
experience in the sense of a psychological residue. There is a residue
only when an experience is not fully understood, and there is no
understanding of experience because we look at each experience through
past memories, and therefore we never meet the new as the new, but
always through the screen of the old. Therefore, it is clear that our
response to experience is conditioned, always limited.
Krishnamurti
experience in the sense of a psychological residue. There is a residue
only when an experience is not fully understood, and there is no
understanding of experience because we look at each experience through
past memories, and therefore we never meet the new as the new, but
always through the screen of the old. Therefore, it is clear that our
response to experience is conditioned, always limited.
Krishnamurti
Drunk with Truth...
The colors of tulips and roses are not the same,
Yet in each we assent to the single Spring.
We turn our hands to the sketchbook only for Love:
Needing some pretext for meeting.
What sorry man drinks for pleasure?
Night and day, I raise oblivion's glass.
In the hour of forgetfulness, the head lies by the wine-jar;
In the hour of prayer, the face turns to the Call.
Let me be clear: however the world's goblet turns,
Those who know are always drunk on the wine of the Self.
- Ghalib
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Enlightened Heart"
An Anthology of Sacred Poetry
Edited by Stephen Mitchell
Harper & Row, New York , 1989
Yet in each we assent to the single Spring.
We turn our hands to the sketchbook only for Love:
Needing some pretext for meeting.
What sorry man drinks for pleasure?
Night and day, I raise oblivion's glass.
In the hour of forgetfulness, the head lies by the wine-jar;
In the hour of prayer, the face turns to the Call.
Let me be clear: however the world's goblet turns,
Those who know are always drunk on the wine of the Self.
- Ghalib
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Enlightened Heart"
An Anthology of Sacred Poetry
Edited by Stephen Mitchell
Harper & Row, New York , 1989
"Love, and do as you will"...
(Dilige, et quod vis fac) I've often heard this quotation from St. Augustine, “Love and do what you like.” Some even know it in Latin: Dilige, et quod vis fac. However, I have met few who quote it in
context. This Seventh Homily on the Letter of John by Augustine contains the famous
quotation.
Here is the quote “in context” : “The deeds of men are only discerned by the root of charity. For many things may be done
that have a good appearance, and yet proceed not from the root of charity. For thorns also
have flowers: some actions truly seem rough, seem savage; howbeit they are done for
discipline at the bidding of charity. Once for all, then, a short precept is given thee: Love,
and do what thou wilt: whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou
spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing
spring but what is good.” (Homily VII, paragraph 8)
...... from scribd.com
context. This Seventh Homily on the Letter of John by Augustine contains the famous
quotation.
Here is the quote “in context” : “The deeds of men are only discerned by the root of charity. For many things may be done
that have a good appearance, and yet proceed not from the root of charity. For thorns also
have flowers: some actions truly seem rough, seem savage; howbeit they are done for
discipline at the bidding of charity. Once for all, then, a short precept is given thee: Love,
and do what thou wilt: whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou
spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing
spring but what is good.” (Homily VII, paragraph 8)
...... from scribd.com
self-pity...
Sometimes we find satisfaction in self-pity.
The reason is that it is our nature to find
satisfaction in love; and when we are confined
to ourselves we begin to love ourselves, and
then self-pity arises because we feel our
limitation. But the love of self always brings
dissatisfaction, for the self is not made to be
loved; the self is made to love. The first
condition to love is to forget oneself.
-Hazrat Inayat Khan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
Omega Press, 1978
The reason is that it is our nature to find
satisfaction in love; and when we are confined
to ourselves we begin to love ourselves, and
then self-pity arises because we feel our
limitation. But the love of self always brings
dissatisfaction, for the self is not made to be
loved; the self is made to love. The first
condition to love is to forget oneself.
-Hazrat Inayat Khan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
Omega Press, 1978
Anger...
“To be angry about trifles is mean and childish; to rage and be furious is brutish; and to maintain perpetual wrath is akin to the practice and temper of devils; but to prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.”
Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Prayer...
“Prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”.........
St. Teresa of Avila
St. Teresa of Avila
Training the ego...
Some believe that you can train the ego but are you really training the ego or are you dropping the ego, but believing that it is being trained.. Why would you train an illusion to represent yourself?.. Why not just "Be" yourself?.. you don't need an ego to survive.. You survive as "You", Divine Consciousness..called Christhood.. The small amount of ego left within the mind is called identity.. You carry this within life and after the death of the body..But, the Truth remains that You are not ego, You are Consciousness pretending to be ego.. The step beyond identity is mostly found within Divine Consciousness and is the surrender of identity and the Freedom of non-existence called "Pure Awareness"........... namaste, thomas
Desire and fear...
Whatever may be the desire or fear, don't
dwell upon it. Try and see for yourself.
Here and there you may forget, it does not
matter. Go back to your attempts till the
brushing away of every desire and fear, of
every reaction becomes automatic.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
dwell upon it. Try and see for yourself.
Here and there you may forget, it does not
matter. Go back to your attempts till the
brushing away of every desire and fear, of
every reaction becomes automatic.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Acorn Press, 1973
The sublime Truth...
The most sublime truth of all
has never been stated or written or sung.
Not because it is far away and can not be reached,
but because it is so intimately close,
closer than anything that can be spoken.
It is alive as the stillness in the core of your being
too close to be described, too close to be objectified,
too close to be known in the usual way of knowledge.
The truth of who you are is yours already.
It is already present...
gangaji
Source: www.gangaji.org
has never been stated or written or sung.
Not because it is far away and can not be reached,
but because it is so intimately close,
closer than anything that can be spoken.
It is alive as the stillness in the core of your being
too close to be described, too close to be objectified,
too close to be known in the usual way of knowledge.
The truth of who you are is yours already.
It is already present...
gangaji
Source: www.gangaji.org
The Knowledge of One...
Each soul's attainment is according to its evolution.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Opinion is an outcome of mind. It is an outburst of its reasoning and
judging faculty. And so, according to the evolution of a particular
mind, its opinion is. Opinions clash when two people of different
stages of evolution express themselves. Therefore the wise are more
reluctant to express their opinion, whereas for the unwise it is
easy. A simpleton is only too glad to express his opinion uninvited.
Everyone, consciously or unconsciously, is striving after spiritual
attainment. Sometimes he does not take the same way as we do,
sometimes his point of view and his method differ, and sometimes one
person attains to spiritual realization much sooner than another. It
may be reached in a day, and another person may have striven for it
all his life and yet not have attained to it. What determines it? It
is the evolution of a particular soul.
Every step one takes in evolution changes one's ideal. In your stage,
if you love a jasmine today, it is possible that in your next step in
evolution you may have grown above it and you love a rose. And it is
not necessary that you should keep to the jasmine when your evolution
brings you to the love for the rose -- thus one is kept from
progressing.
To the question, "Are you a Christian?", "Are you a Muslim?", "Are
you a Jew?", the Sufi's answer would be 'yes' rather than 'no', for
the Sufi opposes no religion but sympathizes with all. In fact Sufism
cannot be called a religion, for it does not impose either belief or
principle upon anyone, considering that each individual soul has its
own principles best suited for it, and a belief which changes with
each grade of evolution. ... A Sufi does not dispute on spiritual
subjects with everyone, for this reason: the spiritual evolution of
each one differs from that of the other, the knowledge of one cannot
be the knowledge of the other, nor is the understanding of one the
understanding of the other. ... at every step in spiritual evolution
a person's belief changes until one arrives at a final belief which
words cannot explain.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
Opinion is an outcome of mind. It is an outburst of its reasoning and
judging faculty. And so, according to the evolution of a particular
mind, its opinion is. Opinions clash when two people of different
stages of evolution express themselves. Therefore the wise are more
reluctant to express their opinion, whereas for the unwise it is
easy. A simpleton is only too glad to express his opinion uninvited.
Everyone, consciously or unconsciously, is striving after spiritual
attainment. Sometimes he does not take the same way as we do,
sometimes his point of view and his method differ, and sometimes one
person attains to spiritual realization much sooner than another. It
may be reached in a day, and another person may have striven for it
all his life and yet not have attained to it. What determines it? It
is the evolution of a particular soul.
Every step one takes in evolution changes one's ideal. In your stage,
if you love a jasmine today, it is possible that in your next step in
evolution you may have grown above it and you love a rose. And it is
not necessary that you should keep to the jasmine when your evolution
brings you to the love for the rose -- thus one is kept from
progressing.
To the question, "Are you a Christian?", "Are you a Muslim?", "Are
you a Jew?", the Sufi's answer would be 'yes' rather than 'no', for
the Sufi opposes no religion but sympathizes with all. In fact Sufism
cannot be called a religion, for it does not impose either belief or
principle upon anyone, considering that each individual soul has its
own principles best suited for it, and a belief which changes with
each grade of evolution. ... A Sufi does not dispute on spiritual
subjects with everyone, for this reason: the spiritual evolution of
each one differs from that of the other, the knowledge of one cannot
be the knowledge of the other, nor is the understanding of one the
understanding of the other. ... at every step in spiritual evolution
a person's belief changes until one arrives at a final belief which
words cannot explain.
The seeker...
There is something that draws your attention to higher knowledge and a search
for Truth.. What is True?.. you or You.. who are you?.. will Truth lead you to
Know Yourself?.. or is Knowing Yourself already Truth........... namaste, thomas
for Truth.. What is True?.. you or You.. who are you?.. will Truth lead you to
Know Yourself?.. or is Knowing Yourself already Truth........... namaste, thomas
The Ultimate...
When you open up to the ultimate, immediately it pours into you. You are no longer an ordinary human being - you have transcended. Your insight has become the insight of the whole existence. Now you are no longer separate - you have found your roots. Otherwise, ordinarily, everybody is moving without roots, not knowing from where their heart goes on receiving energy, not knowing who goes on breathing in them, not knowing the life juice that is running inside them. It is not the body, it is not the mind - it is something transcendental to all duality, that is called bhagavat - the bhagavat in the ten directions .... Your inner being, when it opens, first experiences two directions: the height, the depth. And then slowly, slowly, as this becomes your established situation, you start looking around, spreading into all other eight directions. And once you have attained to the point where your height and your depth meet, then you can look around to the very circumference of the universe. Then your consciousness starts unfolding in all ten directions, but the road has been one....
Osho
Osho
Mind...
Where there is mind there is two-ness and past.
Where there is no mind there is Freedom.
Mind is strong in other-ness because
mind is mind only when it touches an object.
Mind is the worst pollution because
it is the concept of time which steals you from Love.
Mind is samsara, the cycle of hitchhiking through wombs.
Mind is description so see what cannot be described by thought.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
This quotation is from:
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
Where there is no mind there is Freedom.
Mind is strong in other-ness because
mind is mind only when it touches an object.
Mind is the worst pollution because
it is the concept of time which steals you from Love.
Mind is samsara, the cycle of hitchhiking through wombs.
Mind is description so see what cannot be described by thought.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
This quotation is from:
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
Abu-Said Abil-Kheir / Beg For Love...
"Beg for Love.
Consider this burning, and those who
burn, as gifts from the Friend.
Nothing to learn.
Too much has already been said.
When you read a single page from
the silent book of your heart,
you will laugh at all this chattering,
all this pretentious learning."
Abu-Said Abil-Kheir (967 - 1049)
from _Nobody, Son of Nobody: Poems of Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir_
Translated by Vraje Abramian
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/A/AbilKheirAbu/BegforLove.htm
Consider this burning, and those who
burn, as gifts from the Friend.
Nothing to learn.
Too much has already been said.
When you read a single page from
the silent book of your heart,
you will laugh at all this chattering,
all this pretentious learning."
Abu-Said Abil-Kheir (967 - 1049)
from _Nobody, Son of Nobody: Poems of Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir_
Translated by Vraje Abramian
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/A/AbilKheirAbu/BegforLove.htm
Behave like that...
How would you feel if you had no fear? Feel like that. How would you behave toward other people if you realized their powerlessness to hurt you? Behave like that. How would you react to so-called misfortune if you saw its inability to bother you? React like that. How would you think toward yourself if you knew you were really all right? Think like that.”
~ Vernon Howard from The Power of Your Supermind
~ Vernon Howard from The Power of Your Supermind
The Game...
The game is "Hide and seek".. We have been playing this game for eons.. We pretend to be a tree or an animal or even a human.. We play because We find pleasure in movement and creation.. We play until we become tired.. Then We return Home to rest in Love.. How can We Know Love until We live as ego?.. We Know One by Knowing the Other.. This is the essence of the dream of duality.. Duality is the Mirror of Knowledge.. Duality is "The Game"...You win by not playing....... namaste, thomas
Be It...
When thought, discipline and experience have
done their utmost and finally accept utter defeat,
they then cease to function altogether. That
state is beyond both words and silence. It is
neither one thing nor another. The Absolute
noumemon cannot be experienced. To know
it is to BE it.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
done their utmost and finally accept utter defeat,
they then cease to function altogether. That
state is beyond both words and silence. It is
neither one thing nor another. The Absolute
noumemon cannot be experienced. To know
it is to BE it.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
Man and God...
A Buddhist statue in India is a Indian, in China it is Chinese, and in Japan it
is Japanese. This is natural. When man pictures angels he draws them like human
beings; he only adds wings to them. Man cannot imagine God's personality as
being different from man's personal- ity; that is why he attaches to God his
ideal of the perfect man.
From The Teachings Of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Selected & Arranged By
HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN
is Japanese. This is natural. When man pictures angels he draws them like human
beings; he only adds wings to them. Man cannot imagine God's personality as
being different from man's personal- ity; that is why he attaches to God his
ideal of the perfect man.
From The Teachings Of
HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN
Selected & Arranged By
HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN
Gone to the Unseen...
At last you have departed and gone to the Unseen.
What marvelous route did you take from this world?
Beating your wings and feathers,
you broke free from this cage.
Rising up to the sky
you attained the world of the soul.
You were a prized falcon trapped by an Old Woman.
Then you heard the drummer's call
and flew beyond space and time.
As a lovesick nightingale, you flew among the owls.
Then came the scent of the rosegarden
and you flew off to meet the Rose.
The wine of this fleeting world
caused your head to ache.
Finally you joined the tavern of Eternity.
Like an arrow, you sped from the bow
and went straight for the bull's eye of bliss.
This phantom world gave you false signs
But you turned from the illusion
and journeyed to the land of truth.
You are now the Sun -
what need have you for a crown?
You have vanished from this world -
what need have you to tie your robe?
I've heard that you can barely see your soul.
But why look at all? -
yours is now the Soul of Souls!
O heart, what a wonderful bird you are.
Seeking divine heights,
Flapping your wings,
you smashed the pointed spears of your enemy.
The flowers flee from Autumn, but not you -
You are the fearless rose
that grows amidst the freezing wind.
Pouring down like the rain of heaven
you fell upon the rooftop of this world.
Then you ran in every direction
and escaped through the drain spout . . .
Now the words are over
and the pain they bring is gone.
Now you have gone to rest
in the arms of the Beloved.
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved", Jonathan Star
New York 1997
What marvelous route did you take from this world?
Beating your wings and feathers,
you broke free from this cage.
Rising up to the sky
you attained the world of the soul.
You were a prized falcon trapped by an Old Woman.
Then you heard the drummer's call
and flew beyond space and time.
As a lovesick nightingale, you flew among the owls.
Then came the scent of the rosegarden
and you flew off to meet the Rose.
The wine of this fleeting world
caused your head to ache.
Finally you joined the tavern of Eternity.
Like an arrow, you sped from the bow
and went straight for the bull's eye of bliss.
This phantom world gave you false signs
But you turned from the illusion
and journeyed to the land of truth.
You are now the Sun -
what need have you for a crown?
You have vanished from this world -
what need have you to tie your robe?
I've heard that you can barely see your soul.
But why look at all? -
yours is now the Soul of Souls!
O heart, what a wonderful bird you are.
Seeking divine heights,
Flapping your wings,
you smashed the pointed spears of your enemy.
The flowers flee from Autumn, but not you -
You are the fearless rose
that grows amidst the freezing wind.
Pouring down like the rain of heaven
you fell upon the rooftop of this world.
Then you ran in every direction
and escaped through the drain spout . . .
Now the words are over
and the pain they bring is gone.
Now you have gone to rest
in the arms of the Beloved.
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved", Jonathan Star
New York 1997
Truth cannot be defined...
Truth cannot be defined, although it can certainly be experienced. But experience is not a definition. A definition is made by the mind, experience comes through participating. If somebody asks, "What is a dance?" how can you define it? But you can dance and you can know the inner feel of it. God is the ultimate dance...... Osho
Detachment...
All this implies that matter is also a myth, unreal. Still more it implies that the ego is a myth, illusory. Here, then, is the first practice of the ultimate path: think constantly of that Mind which is producing the ego, all the other egos around, and all the world, in fact. Keep this up until it becomes habitual. The consequence is that one tends in time to regard his own ego with complete detachment, as though he were regarding somebody else. Furthermore, it forces him to take the standpoint of the all, and to see unity as fundamental being.
.......... Paul Brunton
.......... Paul Brunton
The One...
Simply put, you are The One.
But - - you're pretending to be "two."
So then you start to desperately seek for a
reunion with "The One."
The incredible irony is that it's a One which
you already are – and have never stopped
being.
A dog chasing its own tail will only get
dizzy and an occasional mouthful of hair.
But in Enlightenment, there's really no
further chasing of anything.
Only, perhaps, a deepening.
Enlightenment is simply being willing
to dance joyously – and with total
gratitude – to whatever music that's
being played for you – moment to
moment.
After all, it's all for your benefit
Just don't sit out the Dance!
- Chuck Hillig
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003
But - - you're pretending to be "two."
So then you start to desperately seek for a
reunion with "The One."
The incredible irony is that it's a One which
you already are – and have never stopped
being.
A dog chasing its own tail will only get
dizzy and an occasional mouthful of hair.
But in Enlightenment, there's really no
further chasing of anything.
Only, perhaps, a deepening.
Enlightenment is simply being willing
to dance joyously – and with total
gratitude – to whatever music that's
being played for you – moment to
moment.
After all, it's all for your benefit
Just don't sit out the Dance!
- Chuck Hillig
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Seeds for the Soul
Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003
Wisdom of C.S. Lewis...
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride.
A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.
Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason.
Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.
Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities.
Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.
Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.
A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride.
A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.
Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason.
Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.
Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities.
Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.
Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.
Christ Consciousness...
Are any of us equal to a Master
Mystic?... I know that even though I have Realised Reality, I am still a student
of Unconditional Love that Yeshua spoke of.. The only thing that we can do is
point in the direction of Truth.. we cannot give you Truth.. Only you can be
absorbed within Truth.. This is why I write and post.. to point the way to
Freedom by way of extinction of ego.. don't worry, You will still exist!, but,
in a much happier and friendlier manner........ namaste, thomas
Mystic?... I know that even though I have Realised Reality, I am still a student
of Unconditional Love that Yeshua spoke of.. The only thing that we can do is
point in the direction of Truth.. we cannot give you Truth.. Only you can be
absorbed within Truth.. This is why I write and post.. to point the way to
Freedom by way of extinction of ego.. don't worry, You will still exist!, but,
in a much happier and friendlier manner........ namaste, thomas
Violence...
Nature is built upon the foundation of violence..animals killing each other for food or entertainment.. cancer cells seeking life by killing its' host..Why is violence and its' twin called fear, a major experience within the worlds of matter?... since cain and able, humans have killed each other for personal survival.. What is Divine Consciousness attempting to teach us, through these illusions of horror?... The answer is actually quite simple.. To Know God is first to Know what God is not...This is our journey.. to Know that self(ego) is not of God and therefore a state of pain and violence.......... namaste, thomas
The Infinite...
All things - all beings and all activities, no matter how ordinary - are equal expressions of the Infinite. There is no more or less Infinite, no higher or lower Infinite. Therefore, all attempts to either find or hold onto the Infinite are based in illusion. And illusion itself is none other than the Infinite.
The Infinite uses all measures in order to awaken in all the various forms in existence. It uses birth, life, death, happiness, sorrow, clarity, and delusion in order to awaken. All of your seeking is in reality the activity of the Infinite as well. No matter how far astray or deluded you become, you can never get a single step away from the Infinite's embrace. If you could all at once stop believing your dreaming mind and be completely still right in the midst of your present state, the Infinite would effortlessly present itself.
- Adyashanti
The Infinite uses all measures in order to awaken in all the various forms in existence. It uses birth, life, death, happiness, sorrow, clarity, and delusion in order to awaken. All of your seeking is in reality the activity of the Infinite as well. No matter how far astray or deluded you become, you can never get a single step away from the Infinite's embrace. If you could all at once stop believing your dreaming mind and be completely still right in the midst of your present state, the Infinite would effortlessly present itself.
- Adyashanti
Who is God?...
There is no "He", there is only "Us".. there is no separation.. all separation is only an illusion of thought.. There is only Consciousness that seeks to know Itself by creating a mirror to look at Itself.. this mirror is called Duality.. Duality is not Real, It is only a learning device.. The Purpose of Creation is to learn what the Power of Non-Duality is.. This Power is called Love.. Love is non-separation and non-ego and is Reality.. Dissolve the selfishness called ego and you have done all that needs to be done.. Once ego is dissolved, Reality called Love, appears naturally............ namaste, thomas
Thinking...
Thinking cannot get rid of thinking, but it can go to the limit of thinking. Seeking cannot get rid of seeking, but it can go to the end of seeking. If seeking is not denied or frustrated, if it is allowed to run its full course, it will come to its natural limit. However, it is Consciousness that dissolves the seeking thought, just as water dissolves the sugar cube. Seeking should be allowed to run its course for it is in the dissolution of thinking, not in the frustration of thinking, that Consciousness is revealed, that Consciousness tastes itself. Seeking never finds what it is looking for. It is dissolved in it. From the mind’s point of view, it is the end of seeking, rather than its fulfilment, that brings about the revelation of Presence. From the point of view of Reality, it is the experience of Consciousness recognising itself, that brings about the end of seeking.
..... Paul Brunton
..... Paul Brunton
Are you worried?...
Are you worried? Do you have many "what if" thoughts?
You are identified with your mind, which is projecting
itself into an imaginary future situation and creating fear.
There is no way that you can cope with such a situation,
because it doesn't exist. It's a mental phantom.
- Eckhart Tolle
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Power of Now"
Eckhart Tolle
New World Library, 1999
You are identified with your mind, which is projecting
itself into an imaginary future situation and creating fear.
There is no way that you can cope with such a situation,
because it doesn't exist. It's a mental phantom.
- Eckhart Tolle
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Power of Now"
Eckhart Tolle
New World Library, 1999
The dream world...
The dream world contains all the relevant
features of the "actual" world. But the
continued appearance of a thing is not
proof of its reality, regardless of whether
it appears to the dreaming mind or the
waking senses. Only with the dissolution
of all appearance does one awaken to the
ultimate Reality of the Self.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
features of the "actual" world. But the
continued appearance of a thing is not
proof of its reality, regardless of whether
it appears to the dreaming mind or the
waking senses. Only with the dissolution
of all appearance does one awaken to the
ultimate Reality of the Self.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"A Net of Jewels"
Ramesh S. Balsekar
Advaita Press, 1996
Osho on Perfection...
In life, only mad people ask for perfection. The perfectionist is another name for someone who is getting ready to become mad.
Change your basic philosophy of that of an achiever. Relax into your being. Don’t have any ideals, don’t try to make something out of yourself, don’t try to improve upon God. You are perfect as you are. With all your imperfections you are perfect. If you are imperfect, you are perfectly imperfect — but perfection is there. Once this is understood, where is the hurry? Where is the worry? You have already slowed down. And then it is a morning walk with no destination, going nowhere. You can enjoy each tree and each sunray and each bird and each person that passes by.
Perfectionism is a neurosis. It is an illness. And the more you try to become perfect, the more frustrated you will become. The goal of perfection has led the whole of humanity towards madness; the earth has almost become a madhouse. I don’t teach perfection. What do I teach? I teach wholeness, not perfection. Be whole; be total; but don’t think about perfection.
A person remains incomplete unless he becomes enlightened. You cannot expect perfection from a person before enlightenment, but you can expect perfection in a skill. You cannot expect perfection in the being, but in the doing it can be expected, there is no problem about it. An archer can hit the target without ever missing it — and may not be in it. He has learned the technique, he has become a mechanism, a robot. It is simply done by the head and the hand.
Meditation has nothing to do with perfectionism, but perfection comes as a by-product. As you become silent it follows you, wherever you go it is there — and it is not something dead, hanging around you. It is growing. That is the most miraculous thing about it, because we always think of perfection as the dead end.
Why this obsession with perfection? Then you will be tense, anxious, nervous, always uneasy, troubled, in conflict. The English word ‘agony’ comes from a root which means: to be in conflict. To be constantly wrestling with oneself — that is the meaning of agony. You will be in agony if you are not at ease with yourself. Don’t demand the impossible, be natural, at ease, loving yourself, loving others. And remember, a person who cannot love himself because he goes on condemning, cannot love anybody else either. A perfectionist is not only a perfectionist about himself, he is about others also. A man who is hard on himself is bound to be hard on others. His demands are impossible.
If you love the woman, you love the woman with all her limitations, with all her imperfections; she loves you with all your imperfections and limitations. But this is what — particularly to the Indian mind — is very significant: perfection. And to demand perfection is a kind of neurosis. It will drive the other neurotic, and as far as you are concerned, you are already neurotic. If you ask perfection in any human being you will create trouble for yourself and for the other, and your life will be nothing but misery. The real man of understanding and intelligence accepts the imperfections of the other and still loves. Love is great enough; it can even love people who have no character, people who are not pure according to your ideas, people who sometimes go astray, people who sometimes commit small sins. Love is big enough to accept all this and to transform it too.
A perfectionist is neurotic. And not only is he neurotic, he creates neurotic trends around him. So don’t be a perfectionist, and if somebody is a perfectionist around you escape away from him as fast as you can before he pollutes your mind. All perfectionism is a sort of deep ego trip. Just to think of yourself in terms of ideals and perfection is nothing but to decorate your ego to its uttermost. A humble person accepts that life is not perfect. A humble person, a really religious person, accepts that we are limited, that there are limitations.
Ego wants to be the first, ego wants to put everybody below itself; hence it takes itself seriously. Hence it is perfectionist: it demands perfection, which is impossible. Nobody is perfect; nobody can exist for a single moment if he is perfect. Imperfection is the way of life, because it is possible to grow only if you are imperfect. If you are perfect there is no more growth, no more evolution. If you are perfect you are stuck. Perfection means death; imperfection means flow, growth, movement, dynamism. The ego demands perfection of oneself and of others too. It asks for the impossible, and because the impossible cannot be achieved it can go on living. It is not happy with the ordinary; it wants the extraordinary, and life consists only of the ordinary. But the ordinary is beautiful, the ordinary is exquisite. There is no need of anything extraordinary. The ordinary life is sacred, but the ego condemns it as mundane. It demands extraordinary life. Hence all the religions go on inventing stories about their founders which are all untrue: Moses separating the sea, Jesus walking on the water… all these stories are inventions, lies, created by the followers just to prove that their master is extraordinary; he is not an ordinary human being.
Buddha says: Meditation is enough to solve your problems, but something is missing in it — compassion. If compassion is also there, then you can help others solve their problems. He says: Meditation is pure gold; it has a perfection of its own. But if there is compassion then the gold has a fragrance too — then a higher perfection, then a new kind of perfection, gold with fragrance. Gold is enough unto itself — very valuable — but with compassion, meditation has a fragrance.
Meditation makes one perfect — not a perfectionist, remember. A perfectionist is a neurotic. Meditation makes you perfect, but not a perfectionist. Perfection comes just like a shadow to meditation: you need not bother about it, you need not care about it. it is simply there, it will follow you. The perfectionist has an idea of a goal ahead of him and the meditator has no idea of perfection; perfection follows him from the beyond like a shadow. That is the difference between a perfectionist and a perfect man. Perfection is behind the perfect man and ahead of the perfectionist. Because it is ahead it drives him nuts. he is trying to become it, he is sacrificing his present for the future and once you become accustomed of sacrificing your present for the future your whole life will be ruined; not only this but your future lives will be ruined.
Meditation is not a static thing. It is a balance. You will have to attain it again and again and again. You will become more and more capable of attaining it, but it is not going to remain forever, like a possession in your hands. It has to be claimed each moment — only then is it yours. You cannot rest, you cannot say, ‘I have meditated and I have realised that now there is no need for me to do anything more. I can rest.’ Life does not believe in rest; it is a constant movement from perfection to more perfection. Listen to me: from perfection to more perfection. It is never imperfect, it is always perfect, but always more perfection is possible.
Perfection is a goal somewhere in the future, totality is an experience herenow. Totality is not a goal, it is a style of life. If you can get into any act with your whole heart, you are total. Totality brings wholeness and totality brings health and totality brings sanity. The perfectionist completely forgets about totality. He has some idea how he should be, and obviously time will be needed to reach that idea. It can’t happen now — tomorrow, day after tomorrow, this life, maybe next life… so life has to be postponed.
The ego remains imperfect and goes on demanding perfection. My whole message is to see the truth, to see the hell that ego creates in the name: of perfection, uniqueness — and to let it drop. Then there is a tremendous beauty — no ego, no self, just a deep emptiness. And out of deep emptiness is creativity, out of that nothingness arises bliss, SATCHITANANDA, truth. Being, bliss, all arise out of that absolute purity. When the ego is not, you are a virgin. Christ was born out of a virgin; your nothingness is that Mother Virgin, Mother Mary.
The moment you desire something you are saying that “I am wiser than the whole.” You are saying that “You don’t know what has to be done and I have come to advise you.” You are telling the whole that “The way things are is not right: they should be according to me.” Prayer is just the opposite of desire. Prayer means, “The way things are is absolutely perfect, they are as they should be. Hence, I have nothing except a deep gratitude.” Real prayer is bowing to existence in tremendous thankfulness because whatsoever is, the way it is, is the most perfect way it can ever be. A prayerful heart knows that the universe is perfect each moment; it is moving from perfection to more perfection. The world is not moving from imperfection to perfection, remember: it is moving from perfection to more perfection. That’s the understanding of the prayerful heart. But we are full of desires.
You are human, in a certain time, in a certain space, with certain limitations. Accept those limitations. Perfectionists are always on the brink of madness. They are obsessed people — whatsoever they do is not good enough. And there is no way to do something perfectly — perfection is not humanly possible. In fact, imperfect is the only way to be. So what do I teach you here? I don’t teach you perfection, I teach you wholeness. That is a totally different thing. Be whole. Don’t bother about perfection. When I say be whole, I mean be real, be here; whatsoever you do, do it totally. You will be imperfect but your imperfection will be full of beauty, it will be full of your totality. Never try to be perfect otherwise you will create much anxiety. So many troubles are there already; don’t create more troubles for yourself.
I don’t teach perfection. Perfection simply creates neurosis in people. Perfectionists are neurotics; they drive themselves crazy in trying to be perfect, because they are trying to do the impossible. I teach totality; I teach wholeness, not perfection. Be total in whatsoever you are doing. Be total. If you are angry, then be totally angry. If you are in love, then be totally in love. If you are sad, then be totally sad. Don’t be halfhearted in anything. That is a totally different approach towards life.
The path of Buddha is of total surrender: total surrender to the dhamma, to tao, to the universal law, to God. These are different names for the same phenomenon. We are living in a cosmos, not in a chaos. Everything is as perfect as it can be; nothing can be improved upon. The very idea of trying to improve upon things is sheer stupidity. Those who have known, they have known the absolute perfection of existence. Then what is left? To dissolve in the whole and celebrate!
Change your basic philosophy of that of an achiever. Relax into your being. Don’t have any ideals, don’t try to make something out of yourself, don’t try to improve upon God. You are perfect as you are. With all your imperfections you are perfect. If you are imperfect, you are perfectly imperfect — but perfection is there. Once this is understood, where is the hurry? Where is the worry? You have already slowed down. And then it is a morning walk with no destination, going nowhere. You can enjoy each tree and each sunray and each bird and each person that passes by.
Perfectionism is a neurosis. It is an illness. And the more you try to become perfect, the more frustrated you will become. The goal of perfection has led the whole of humanity towards madness; the earth has almost become a madhouse. I don’t teach perfection. What do I teach? I teach wholeness, not perfection. Be whole; be total; but don’t think about perfection.
A person remains incomplete unless he becomes enlightened. You cannot expect perfection from a person before enlightenment, but you can expect perfection in a skill. You cannot expect perfection in the being, but in the doing it can be expected, there is no problem about it. An archer can hit the target without ever missing it — and may not be in it. He has learned the technique, he has become a mechanism, a robot. It is simply done by the head and the hand.
Meditation has nothing to do with perfectionism, but perfection comes as a by-product. As you become silent it follows you, wherever you go it is there — and it is not something dead, hanging around you. It is growing. That is the most miraculous thing about it, because we always think of perfection as the dead end.
Why this obsession with perfection? Then you will be tense, anxious, nervous, always uneasy, troubled, in conflict. The English word ‘agony’ comes from a root which means: to be in conflict. To be constantly wrestling with oneself — that is the meaning of agony. You will be in agony if you are not at ease with yourself. Don’t demand the impossible, be natural, at ease, loving yourself, loving others. And remember, a person who cannot love himself because he goes on condemning, cannot love anybody else either. A perfectionist is not only a perfectionist about himself, he is about others also. A man who is hard on himself is bound to be hard on others. His demands are impossible.
If you love the woman, you love the woman with all her limitations, with all her imperfections; she loves you with all your imperfections and limitations. But this is what — particularly to the Indian mind — is very significant: perfection. And to demand perfection is a kind of neurosis. It will drive the other neurotic, and as far as you are concerned, you are already neurotic. If you ask perfection in any human being you will create trouble for yourself and for the other, and your life will be nothing but misery. The real man of understanding and intelligence accepts the imperfections of the other and still loves. Love is great enough; it can even love people who have no character, people who are not pure according to your ideas, people who sometimes go astray, people who sometimes commit small sins. Love is big enough to accept all this and to transform it too.
A perfectionist is neurotic. And not only is he neurotic, he creates neurotic trends around him. So don’t be a perfectionist, and if somebody is a perfectionist around you escape away from him as fast as you can before he pollutes your mind. All perfectionism is a sort of deep ego trip. Just to think of yourself in terms of ideals and perfection is nothing but to decorate your ego to its uttermost. A humble person accepts that life is not perfect. A humble person, a really religious person, accepts that we are limited, that there are limitations.
Ego wants to be the first, ego wants to put everybody below itself; hence it takes itself seriously. Hence it is perfectionist: it demands perfection, which is impossible. Nobody is perfect; nobody can exist for a single moment if he is perfect. Imperfection is the way of life, because it is possible to grow only if you are imperfect. If you are perfect there is no more growth, no more evolution. If you are perfect you are stuck. Perfection means death; imperfection means flow, growth, movement, dynamism. The ego demands perfection of oneself and of others too. It asks for the impossible, and because the impossible cannot be achieved it can go on living. It is not happy with the ordinary; it wants the extraordinary, and life consists only of the ordinary. But the ordinary is beautiful, the ordinary is exquisite. There is no need of anything extraordinary. The ordinary life is sacred, but the ego condemns it as mundane. It demands extraordinary life. Hence all the religions go on inventing stories about their founders which are all untrue: Moses separating the sea, Jesus walking on the water… all these stories are inventions, lies, created by the followers just to prove that their master is extraordinary; he is not an ordinary human being.
Buddha says: Meditation is enough to solve your problems, but something is missing in it — compassion. If compassion is also there, then you can help others solve their problems. He says: Meditation is pure gold; it has a perfection of its own. But if there is compassion then the gold has a fragrance too — then a higher perfection, then a new kind of perfection, gold with fragrance. Gold is enough unto itself — very valuable — but with compassion, meditation has a fragrance.
Meditation makes one perfect — not a perfectionist, remember. A perfectionist is a neurotic. Meditation makes you perfect, but not a perfectionist. Perfection comes just like a shadow to meditation: you need not bother about it, you need not care about it. it is simply there, it will follow you. The perfectionist has an idea of a goal ahead of him and the meditator has no idea of perfection; perfection follows him from the beyond like a shadow. That is the difference between a perfectionist and a perfect man. Perfection is behind the perfect man and ahead of the perfectionist. Because it is ahead it drives him nuts. he is trying to become it, he is sacrificing his present for the future and once you become accustomed of sacrificing your present for the future your whole life will be ruined; not only this but your future lives will be ruined.
Meditation is not a static thing. It is a balance. You will have to attain it again and again and again. You will become more and more capable of attaining it, but it is not going to remain forever, like a possession in your hands. It has to be claimed each moment — only then is it yours. You cannot rest, you cannot say, ‘I have meditated and I have realised that now there is no need for me to do anything more. I can rest.’ Life does not believe in rest; it is a constant movement from perfection to more perfection. Listen to me: from perfection to more perfection. It is never imperfect, it is always perfect, but always more perfection is possible.
Perfection is a goal somewhere in the future, totality is an experience herenow. Totality is not a goal, it is a style of life. If you can get into any act with your whole heart, you are total. Totality brings wholeness and totality brings health and totality brings sanity. The perfectionist completely forgets about totality. He has some idea how he should be, and obviously time will be needed to reach that idea. It can’t happen now — tomorrow, day after tomorrow, this life, maybe next life… so life has to be postponed.
The ego remains imperfect and goes on demanding perfection. My whole message is to see the truth, to see the hell that ego creates in the name: of perfection, uniqueness — and to let it drop. Then there is a tremendous beauty — no ego, no self, just a deep emptiness. And out of deep emptiness is creativity, out of that nothingness arises bliss, SATCHITANANDA, truth. Being, bliss, all arise out of that absolute purity. When the ego is not, you are a virgin. Christ was born out of a virgin; your nothingness is that Mother Virgin, Mother Mary.
The moment you desire something you are saying that “I am wiser than the whole.” You are saying that “You don’t know what has to be done and I have come to advise you.” You are telling the whole that “The way things are is not right: they should be according to me.” Prayer is just the opposite of desire. Prayer means, “The way things are is absolutely perfect, they are as they should be. Hence, I have nothing except a deep gratitude.” Real prayer is bowing to existence in tremendous thankfulness because whatsoever is, the way it is, is the most perfect way it can ever be. A prayerful heart knows that the universe is perfect each moment; it is moving from perfection to more perfection. The world is not moving from imperfection to perfection, remember: it is moving from perfection to more perfection. That’s the understanding of the prayerful heart. But we are full of desires.
You are human, in a certain time, in a certain space, with certain limitations. Accept those limitations. Perfectionists are always on the brink of madness. They are obsessed people — whatsoever they do is not good enough. And there is no way to do something perfectly — perfection is not humanly possible. In fact, imperfect is the only way to be. So what do I teach you here? I don’t teach you perfection, I teach you wholeness. That is a totally different thing. Be whole. Don’t bother about perfection. When I say be whole, I mean be real, be here; whatsoever you do, do it totally. You will be imperfect but your imperfection will be full of beauty, it will be full of your totality. Never try to be perfect otherwise you will create much anxiety. So many troubles are there already; don’t create more troubles for yourself.
I don’t teach perfection. Perfection simply creates neurosis in people. Perfectionists are neurotics; they drive themselves crazy in trying to be perfect, because they are trying to do the impossible. I teach totality; I teach wholeness, not perfection. Be total in whatsoever you are doing. Be total. If you are angry, then be totally angry. If you are in love, then be totally in love. If you are sad, then be totally sad. Don’t be halfhearted in anything. That is a totally different approach towards life.
The path of Buddha is of total surrender: total surrender to the dhamma, to tao, to the universal law, to God. These are different names for the same phenomenon. We are living in a cosmos, not in a chaos. Everything is as perfect as it can be; nothing can be improved upon. The very idea of trying to improve upon things is sheer stupidity. Those who have known, they have known the absolute perfection of existence. Then what is left? To dissolve in the whole and celebrate!
Heaven and Hell...
The creation of hells is the mind turned outward
saying "I am the body."
The creation of heavens is the mind turned inward
knowing "the kingdom of heaven is within."
Mind turned inward will see its Source and
then never return because you stay with what you love most.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
saying "I am the body."
The creation of heavens is the mind turned inward
knowing "the kingdom of heaven is within."
Mind turned inward will see its Source and
then never return because you stay with what you love most.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
Who are You?...
I have realised that while Awake
within Divine Consciousness, I had no name and no thoughts of a separation
called name was within Consciousness... Was there Identity?, yes,, the Identity
of Divine Consciousness, a State of Intense Love and Knowledge, but still far from the Final Reality of Nothingness
called Pure Awareness.......... namaste, thomas
within Divine Consciousness, I had no name and no thoughts of a separation
called name was within Consciousness... Was there Identity?, yes,, the Identity
of Divine Consciousness, a State of Intense Love and Knowledge, but still far from the Final Reality of Nothingness
called Pure Awareness.......... namaste, thomas
Christhood...
What I have found when I have surrendered the ego and life desire during meditation and Awakened within Reality as Light and Love is that I was given a choice to stay within Reality or return to the body.. I chose to return to the body for the sake of my friends and relatives.. The dropping of the ego while still within the body is called "Christhood".. You exist as Presence while still present within and without the body.. You exist as Your Real Self and not the false self of selfish illusion.. If you chose to stay Awake within Reality, another soul will be placed within the body to continue it's learning.. this soul will have all of your memories and will seem slightly different than the soul that vacated the body........... namaste, thomas
Zen...
“Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.”
....... Alan Watts
....... Alan Watts
Duality...
We are separate only in mind.. You are what you think about all
day.. You decide whether you will welcome separation from each other and
separation from Reality.. You have chosen to pretend to be separate, so that You
can learn what separation is.. separation is a non- real event and contains the
pain of ego.. pain is a major part of ego and is used as a teaching tool to lead You back to
non-pain called selflessness and Love.............namaste, thomas
day.. You decide whether you will welcome separation from each other and
separation from Reality.. You have chosen to pretend to be separate, so that You
can learn what separation is.. separation is a non- real event and contains the
pain of ego.. pain is a major part of ego and is used as a teaching tool to lead You back to
non-pain called selflessness and Love.............namaste, thomas
Return to Source...
Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
The way of nature is unchanging.
Knowing constancy is insight.
Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.
Knowing constancy, the mind is open.
With an open mind, you will be openhearted.
Being openhearted, you will act royally.
Being royal, you will attain the divine.
Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.
Being at one with the Tao is eternal.
And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.
- Lao-tzu
Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
The way of nature is unchanging.
Knowing constancy is insight.
Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.
Knowing constancy, the mind is open.
With an open mind, you will be openhearted.
Being openhearted, you will act royally.
Being royal, you will attain the divine.
Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.
Being at one with the Tao is eternal.
And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.
- Lao-tzu
Belief...
Belief has killed more people than non belief.. why must you believe anything?.. Forget belief and find personal experience.. In personal experience, there is no need for belief as belief is not needed when you have experienced Reality and Truth.. do you believe because your parents or teachers have trained your mind to believe in what they want you to believe?.. Go beyond belief and find Truth that cannot be spoken with human words.. belief is something that you have not yet found to be True, this is why you are forced to believe instead of KNOW.. It is time to Know.. It is Time to Know... IT IS TIME TO KNOW ........... namaste, thomas
Born again...
We need to know the truth, the wisdom-knowledge, but it is not enough.
We need to have the living mystic experience, the vital feeling of
what I am, but it is not enough. For we need to synthesize the two in
a full actual intuitive realization, conferred by the Overself. This
is Grace. This is to emerge finally--born again!
— Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind > Chapter
2: Enlightenment Which Stays > # 51....... Paul Brunton
We need to have the living mystic experience, the vital feeling of
what I am, but it is not enough. For we need to synthesize the two in
a full actual intuitive realization, conferred by the Overself. This
is Grace. This is to emerge finally--born again!
— Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind > Chapter
2: Enlightenment Which Stays > # 51....... Paul Brunton
" you must die, to be born again"...
The bible has been translated many times and usually translated by
someone that was not Enlightened.. especially during the leadership of Emperor
Constantine and the council of nicea in 325ad.. Constantine shaped the words and
contents to suit his own agenda of making Jesus into God and not just another
spiritual teacher.. therefore, the bible states that Jesus said;" you must be
born again".. but, any Mystic knows that you must let the ego die to enter
Reality.. entering Reality feels as though you were just born.. Therefore,
knowing that Jesus was a master mystic, I am certain that He was
misquoted.......... namaste, thomas
someone that was not Enlightened.. especially during the leadership of Emperor
Constantine and the council of nicea in 325ad.. Constantine shaped the words and
contents to suit his own agenda of making Jesus into God and not just another
spiritual teacher.. therefore, the bible states that Jesus said;" you must be
born again".. but, any Mystic knows that you must let the ego die to enter
Reality.. entering Reality feels as though you were just born.. Therefore,
knowing that Jesus was a master mystic, I am certain that He was
misquoted.......... namaste, thomas
The fear of extinction...
The concept of us being anything but a human body that
occasionally feels a bliss called Love is difficult.. The sub-conscious mind has
been trained to believe that we are a body with a soul that might arrive in a
good place called heaven, if we are good.. The most difficult idea to wrap our
minds around is that in Final Reality, we do not exist.. In daily life, to not
exist is called humility and is praised as good and loving.. but, to take this
Truth to the highest plane of humility and love is to not exist within Spirit..
Only Spirit Existing.. As Jesus said;" you must die, to be born".. giving your
greatest gift (life,self) is the greatest Love............ namaste, thomas
occasionally feels a bliss called Love is difficult.. The sub-conscious mind has
been trained to believe that we are a body with a soul that might arrive in a
good place called heaven, if we are good.. The most difficult idea to wrap our
minds around is that in Final Reality, we do not exist.. In daily life, to not
exist is called humility and is praised as good and loving.. but, to take this
Truth to the highest plane of humility and love is to not exist within Spirit..
Only Spirit Existing.. As Jesus said;" you must die, to be born".. giving your
greatest gift (life,self) is the greatest Love............ namaste, thomas
Rumi on False Ego...
by Sologak
Rumi teaches us that our worst enemy is hiding within ourselves, and that enemy is our Naafs or false ego(نفس). Rumi describes our heart as a mirror. Naturally, this mirror becomes dusty, and we have to wipe it to take the dust off. In a mystical way, Rumi is effectively instructing us the way of wiping this mirror so the reflection may fall more clearly, equaling wiping our hearts from the falseness and dualities that are surrounding us. Therefore, Nafs or False Ego(نفس) equals any inclination which springs from disregard of love, harmony, beauty, and being unconcerned with well being of all others.
Rumi also teaches that in Sufism, there are four stages of self purification:
1. Self becoming emptied
2. Self becoming illuminated
3. Self becoming adorned
4. Self-having-passed-away.
The Sufi, through these stages of purification, travels the inner way, the 'Spiritual Path'. Having traveled this path, the Sufi becomes a perfect being and arrives at the threshold of the 'Truth'. In this 'True Center' for higher education, there are no professors and his and her only guide will be the absolute 'Love'. Here, Sufi's only teacher is love, his and her books are love, and his and her being is love...
Who is in the house of my heart,
I cried in the middle of the night.
Love said,
"It is I, but what are all these images that fill your
house?"
I said, they are the reflection of your beautiful face.
Love asked,
"But what is this image full of pain?"
I said, it is me lost in the sorrows of life
and showed Love my soul full of wounds.
Love offered me one end of a thread and said:
"Take it so I can pull you back
but do not break the delicate string."
I reached towards it but Love struck my hand.
I asked, why the harshness?
Love said,
"To remind you that whoever comes to Love's holy space,
proud and full of himself
will be sent away.
Look at Love with eyes of your heart.
Who gets up early
to discover the moment
light begins?
Who finds us here,
circling bewildered like atoms?
Who comes to a spring thirsty,
and finds the moon reflected in it?
Who, like Jacob,
blind with grief and age
smells the shirt of his lost son
and can see again?
Who lets a bucket down and brings up
a flowing prophet?
Or like Moses,
goes for fire and finds
what burns inside the sunrise?
Jesus slips into a house to escape enemies,
and opens a door to the other world.
Solomon cuts open a fish,
and there's a gold ring.
An oyster opens his mouth
to swallow one drop
Now there's a pearl.
A Vagrant wanders empty ruins
Suddenly he's wealthy.
But don't be satisfied with poems
and stories of how things
have gone with others.
Unfold your own myth,
without complicated explanation,
so everyone will understand the passage:
Love has opened your heart
Start walking towards love.
Your legs will get heavy and tired.
Then comes a moment of
feeling the wings you've grown, lifting...
..... Rumi
Rumi teaches us that our worst enemy is hiding within ourselves, and that enemy is our Naafs or false ego(نفس). Rumi describes our heart as a mirror. Naturally, this mirror becomes dusty, and we have to wipe it to take the dust off. In a mystical way, Rumi is effectively instructing us the way of wiping this mirror so the reflection may fall more clearly, equaling wiping our hearts from the falseness and dualities that are surrounding us. Therefore, Nafs or False Ego(نفس) equals any inclination which springs from disregard of love, harmony, beauty, and being unconcerned with well being of all others.
Rumi also teaches that in Sufism, there are four stages of self purification:
1. Self becoming emptied
2. Self becoming illuminated
3. Self becoming adorned
4. Self-having-passed-away.
The Sufi, through these stages of purification, travels the inner way, the 'Spiritual Path'. Having traveled this path, the Sufi becomes a perfect being and arrives at the threshold of the 'Truth'. In this 'True Center' for higher education, there are no professors and his and her only guide will be the absolute 'Love'. Here, Sufi's only teacher is love, his and her books are love, and his and her being is love...
Who is in the house of my heart,
I cried in the middle of the night.
Love said,
"It is I, but what are all these images that fill your
house?"
I said, they are the reflection of your beautiful face.
Love asked,
"But what is this image full of pain?"
I said, it is me lost in the sorrows of life
and showed Love my soul full of wounds.
Love offered me one end of a thread and said:
"Take it so I can pull you back
but do not break the delicate string."
I reached towards it but Love struck my hand.
I asked, why the harshness?
Love said,
"To remind you that whoever comes to Love's holy space,
proud and full of himself
will be sent away.
Look at Love with eyes of your heart.
Who gets up early
to discover the moment
light begins?
Who finds us here,
circling bewildered like atoms?
Who comes to a spring thirsty,
and finds the moon reflected in it?
Who, like Jacob,
blind with grief and age
smells the shirt of his lost son
and can see again?
Who lets a bucket down and brings up
a flowing prophet?
Or like Moses,
goes for fire and finds
what burns inside the sunrise?
Jesus slips into a house to escape enemies,
and opens a door to the other world.
Solomon cuts open a fish,
and there's a gold ring.
An oyster opens his mouth
to swallow one drop
Now there's a pearl.
A Vagrant wanders empty ruins
Suddenly he's wealthy.
But don't be satisfied with poems
and stories of how things
have gone with others.
Unfold your own myth,
without complicated explanation,
so everyone will understand the passage:
Love has opened your heart
Start walking towards love.
Your legs will get heavy and tired.
Then comes a moment of
feeling the wings you've grown, lifting...
..... Rumi
The Divine Light...
The Divine Light is who We Are.. In Divine Consciousness, We
exist as Light and the binding Energy called Love.. We are in this very state of
existence now but are asleep within this dream.. Beyond this Light and Love is
the final Reality called Pure Awareness, which is Realised when We have
surrendered everything including Identity............... namaste, thomas
exist as Light and the binding Energy called Love.. We are in this very state of
existence now but are asleep within this dream.. Beyond this Light and Love is
the final Reality called Pure Awareness, which is Realised when We have
surrendered everything including Identity............... namaste, thomas
Desires...
Whatever comes, let it come, what stays
let stay, what goes let go, always keep
quiet, and always adore Self: This is
the essence of living skillfully in the world
appearance. During all activities of life
always know that you are the Self. The
way to live a happy beautiful life is to
accept whatever comes and not care
about what does not come.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
let stay, what goes let go, always keep
quiet, and always adore Self: This is
the essence of living skillfully in the world
appearance. During all activities of life
always know that you are the Self. The
way to live a happy beautiful life is to
accept whatever comes and not care
about what does not come.
- Papaji
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Yudhishtara, 1995
I Am That...
Quotes from I Am That, by Nisargadatta Maharaj
“All separation, every kind of estrangement and alienation is false. All is one—this is the ultimate solution of every conflict.”
“You are not in the body. The body is in you.”
“The way to truth lies through the destruction of the false. To destroy the false, you must question your most inveterate beliefs. Of these the idea that you are the body is the worst. ...Realize that what you are cannot be born nor die and with the fear gone all suffering ends.”
“You are so accustomed to think of yourselves as bodies having consciousness that you just cannot imagine consciousness as having bodies. Once you realize that bodily existence is but a state of mind, a movement in consciousness, that the ocean of consciousness is infinite and eternal, and that, when in touch with consciousness, you are the witness only, you will be able to withdraw beyond consciousness altogether.”
“You need not reach out for what is already with you. Your very reaching out makes you miss it. Give up the idea that you have not found it and just let it come into the focus of direct perception, here and now, by removing all that is of the mind.”
“See that you are not what you believe yourself to be. Fight with all the strength at your disposal against the idea that you are nameable and describable. You are not. Refuse to think of this or that. There is no other way out of misery, which you have created for yourself through blind acceptance without investigation. Suffering is a call for inquiry, all pain needs investigation. Don’t be lazy to think.”
“Believe me, there is no goal, nor a way to reach it. You are the way and the goal, there is nothing else to reach except yourself. All you need is to understand and the understanding is the flowering of the mind.”
“The yogi comes to know many wonders, but of the self he remains ignorant. The gnani may look and feel quite ordinary, but the self he knows well.”
“Nobody ever fails in yoga. It is all a matter of the rate of progress. It is slow in the beginning and rapid in the end. When one is fully matured, realization is explosive. It takes place spontaneously, or at the slightest hint. The quick is not better than the slow. Slow ripening and rapid flowering alternate. Both are natural and right.”
“You can only know your self by being yourself without any attempt at self-definition and self-description. Once you have understood that you are nothing perceivable or conceivable, that whatever appears in the field of consciousness cannot be your self, you will apply yourself to the eradication of all self identification, as the only way that can take you to a deeper realization of your self. You literally progress by rejection—a veritable rocket. To know that you are neither in the body nor in the mind, though aware of both, is already self-knowledge.”
“We dream that we are awake, we dream that we are asleep. The three states are only varieties of the dream state. Treating everything as a dream liberates. As long as you give reality to dreams, you are their slave. By imaging that you are born as so and so, you become a slave to the so-and-so. The essence of slavery is to imagine yourself to be a process, to have past and future, to have history.”
“There is no need of a way out! Don’t you see that a way out is also part of the dream? All you have to do is see the dream as dream. ...Wherever it leads you, it will be a dream. The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory. Why go anywhere? Just realize that you are dreaming a dream you call the world and stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your problem. Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another. Love all, or none of it, and stop complaining. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that needs be done.”
“You want something like round-the-clock ecstasies. Ecstasies come and go, necessarily, for the human brain cannot stand the tension for a long time. A prolonged ecstasy will burn out your brain, unless it is extremely pure and subtle.”
“Experience, however sublime, is not the real thing. By its very nature it comes and goes. Self-realization is not an acquisition. It is more of the nature of understanding. Once arrived at, it cannot be lost.”
“If you want to make real progress, you must give up all idea of personal attainment. The ambitions of the so called yogis are preposterous. A man’s desire for a woman is innocence itself compared to the lusting for an everlasting personal bliss..”
“Do not try to know the truth, for knowledge by the mind is not true knowledge. But you can know what is not true—which is enough to liberate you from the false. The idea that you know what is true is dangerous, for it keeps you imprisoned in the mind. It is when you do not know, that you are free to investigate. And there can be no salvation, without investigation, because non investigation is the main cause of bondage.”
“Awareness is ever there. It need not be realized. Open the shutter of the mind, and it will be flooded with light.”
“You merely dream that you roam about. In a few years your stay in India will appear as a dream to you. You will dream some other dream at that time. Do realize that it is not you who moves from dream to dream, but the dreams flow before you and you are the immutable witness. No happening affects your real being—that is the absolute truth.”
“What you need will come to you if you do not ask for what you do not need.”
“Why desire at all? Desiring a state of freedom from desire will not set you free, because you are free. See yourself with desireless clarity, that is all.”
“All separation, every kind of estrangement and alienation is false. All is one—this is the ultimate solution of every conflict.”
“You are not in the body. The body is in you.”
“The way to truth lies through the destruction of the false. To destroy the false, you must question your most inveterate beliefs. Of these the idea that you are the body is the worst. ...Realize that what you are cannot be born nor die and with the fear gone all suffering ends.”
“You are so accustomed to think of yourselves as bodies having consciousness that you just cannot imagine consciousness as having bodies. Once you realize that bodily existence is but a state of mind, a movement in consciousness, that the ocean of consciousness is infinite and eternal, and that, when in touch with consciousness, you are the witness only, you will be able to withdraw beyond consciousness altogether.”
“You need not reach out for what is already with you. Your very reaching out makes you miss it. Give up the idea that you have not found it and just let it come into the focus of direct perception, here and now, by removing all that is of the mind.”
“See that you are not what you believe yourself to be. Fight with all the strength at your disposal against the idea that you are nameable and describable. You are not. Refuse to think of this or that. There is no other way out of misery, which you have created for yourself through blind acceptance without investigation. Suffering is a call for inquiry, all pain needs investigation. Don’t be lazy to think.”
“Believe me, there is no goal, nor a way to reach it. You are the way and the goal, there is nothing else to reach except yourself. All you need is to understand and the understanding is the flowering of the mind.”
“The yogi comes to know many wonders, but of the self he remains ignorant. The gnani may look and feel quite ordinary, but the self he knows well.”
“Nobody ever fails in yoga. It is all a matter of the rate of progress. It is slow in the beginning and rapid in the end. When one is fully matured, realization is explosive. It takes place spontaneously, or at the slightest hint. The quick is not better than the slow. Slow ripening and rapid flowering alternate. Both are natural and right.”
“You can only know your self by being yourself without any attempt at self-definition and self-description. Once you have understood that you are nothing perceivable or conceivable, that whatever appears in the field of consciousness cannot be your self, you will apply yourself to the eradication of all self identification, as the only way that can take you to a deeper realization of your self. You literally progress by rejection—a veritable rocket. To know that you are neither in the body nor in the mind, though aware of both, is already self-knowledge.”
“We dream that we are awake, we dream that we are asleep. The three states are only varieties of the dream state. Treating everything as a dream liberates. As long as you give reality to dreams, you are their slave. By imaging that you are born as so and so, you become a slave to the so-and-so. The essence of slavery is to imagine yourself to be a process, to have past and future, to have history.”
“There is no need of a way out! Don’t you see that a way out is also part of the dream? All you have to do is see the dream as dream. ...Wherever it leads you, it will be a dream. The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory. Why go anywhere? Just realize that you are dreaming a dream you call the world and stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your problem. Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another. Love all, or none of it, and stop complaining. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that needs be done.”
“You want something like round-the-clock ecstasies. Ecstasies come and go, necessarily, for the human brain cannot stand the tension for a long time. A prolonged ecstasy will burn out your brain, unless it is extremely pure and subtle.”
“Experience, however sublime, is not the real thing. By its very nature it comes and goes. Self-realization is not an acquisition. It is more of the nature of understanding. Once arrived at, it cannot be lost.”
“If you want to make real progress, you must give up all idea of personal attainment. The ambitions of the so called yogis are preposterous. A man’s desire for a woman is innocence itself compared to the lusting for an everlasting personal bliss..”
“Do not try to know the truth, for knowledge by the mind is not true knowledge. But you can know what is not true—which is enough to liberate you from the false. The idea that you know what is true is dangerous, for it keeps you imprisoned in the mind. It is when you do not know, that you are free to investigate. And there can be no salvation, without investigation, because non investigation is the main cause of bondage.”
“Awareness is ever there. It need not be realized. Open the shutter of the mind, and it will be flooded with light.”
“You merely dream that you roam about. In a few years your stay in India will appear as a dream to you. You will dream some other dream at that time. Do realize that it is not you who moves from dream to dream, but the dreams flow before you and you are the immutable witness. No happening affects your real being—that is the absolute truth.”
“What you need will come to you if you do not ask for what you do not need.”
“Why desire at all? Desiring a state of freedom from desire will not set you free, because you are free. See yourself with desireless clarity, that is all.”
Emptiness...
What has the yoga practitioner been looking for for so many years?
To get to know the part of you which is not you. You can only say, "I am not the body, emotions and thoughts;" but before saying that you must know what the body, emotions and thoughts are. To know yourself calls for listening, being receptive, open. In this opening all refers to yourself. If you are completely open to the expressions of life, they refer to life, because they are only life and nothing else. So when you learn what you are not, you are learning what is an expression of yourself. And, pedagogically, it is better to go this way; to investigate first what you are not, to understand profoundly what it is that you are not. And it is important to do this in the moment itself. When fear and anxiety appear, when hate and all the feelings appear; see them on the field, in the moment they occur. You have to be alert and open, and at a certain moment the openness will refer to itself. Because what you are fundamentally is only openness. Openness is not an object, it is quite simply emptiness, empty of objects, a question mark. So you cannot affirm what you fundamentally are. If you do, you make it an object and it belongs to what you are not.
Jean Klein
Transmission of the Flame
Third Millennium Publications
Santa Barbara
1990
To get to know the part of you which is not you. You can only say, "I am not the body, emotions and thoughts;" but before saying that you must know what the body, emotions and thoughts are. To know yourself calls for listening, being receptive, open. In this opening all refers to yourself. If you are completely open to the expressions of life, they refer to life, because they are only life and nothing else. So when you learn what you are not, you are learning what is an expression of yourself. And, pedagogically, it is better to go this way; to investigate first what you are not, to understand profoundly what it is that you are not. And it is important to do this in the moment itself. When fear and anxiety appear, when hate and all the feelings appear; see them on the field, in the moment they occur. You have to be alert and open, and at a certain moment the openness will refer to itself. Because what you are fundamentally is only openness. Openness is not an object, it is quite simply emptiness, empty of objects, a question mark. So you cannot affirm what you fundamentally are. If you do, you make it an object and it belongs to what you are not.
Jean Klein
Transmission of the Flame
Third Millennium Publications
Santa Barbara
1990
Unconditional Love...
Unconditional Love is the feeling of Love for all humans without any
demand that Love be returned.. To expect others to show you Love just because
you have shown Love to them is acting from the state of self desire or ego.. Love is the energy of Real Self that flows from your mind and consciousness into the consciousness of that which You Perceive.. This Flow is a circuit or circle of Energy that is felt as bliss.. This feeling can only be experienced when the ego is not present.. when the ego is absent,the Self is Present.. This is Presence.. This is our natural state of existence within Divine Consciousness........ namaste, thomas
demand that Love be returned.. To expect others to show you Love just because
you have shown Love to them is acting from the state of self desire or ego.. Love is the energy of Real Self that flows from your mind and consciousness into the consciousness of that which You Perceive.. This Flow is a circuit or circle of Energy that is felt as bliss.. This feeling can only be experienced when the ego is not present.. when the ego is absent,the Self is Present.. This is Presence.. This is our natural state of existence within Divine Consciousness........ namaste, thomas
To forget oneself...
Our 'normal' living, based on nothing but mental image-forming, has become so abnormal, that we are rarely able to give any attention to anything natural.
It is only when one is able to be one with nature -- witness what happens in nature without any personal reaction -- that it is possible to step out of the bind of the thinking mind, and be connected with the Being in which everything exists as part of Nature.
This is not really difficult. All it means is to forget oneself for the moment, as an individual entity, and feel the same stillness within and without. And then you see nature not as something stationary but as life, as movement.
All things in nature are one with totality, that they do not claim a separate existence as me and the other. There is total acceptance in nature.
~ Ramesh Balsekar, from: Nuggets of Wisdom
It is only when one is able to be one with nature -- witness what happens in nature without any personal reaction -- that it is possible to step out of the bind of the thinking mind, and be connected with the Being in which everything exists as part of Nature.
This is not really difficult. All it means is to forget oneself for the moment, as an individual entity, and feel the same stillness within and without. And then you see nature not as something stationary but as life, as movement.
All things in nature are one with totality, that they do not claim a separate existence as me and the other. There is total acceptance in nature.
~ Ramesh Balsekar, from: Nuggets of Wisdom
It's sound is love...
The flute of the Infinite is played without
ceasing, and its sound is love:
When love renounces all limits, it reaches
truth.
How widely the fragrance spreads! It has
no end, nothing stands in its way.
The form of this melody is bright like a
million suns: incomparably sounds the
vina, the vina of the notes of truth.
- Kabir
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Songs of Kabir
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
Samuel Weisner, Inc.
York Beach, Maine, 1988
ceasing, and its sound is love:
When love renounces all limits, it reaches
truth.
How widely the fragrance spreads! It has
no end, nothing stands in its way.
The form of this melody is bright like a
million suns: incomparably sounds the
vina, the vina of the notes of truth.
- Kabir
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Songs of Kabir
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
Samuel Weisner, Inc.
York Beach, Maine, 1988
Good and Evil...
There is no good and no evil. In every
concrete situation there is only the
necessary and the unnecessary. The
needful is right, the needless is wrong.
The situation decides.
Every situation is a challenge which
demands the right response. When the
response is right, the challenge is met
and the problem ceases. If the response
is wrong, the challenge is not met and
the problem remains unsolved. Your
unsolved problems - that is what
constitutes your karma. Solve them
rightly and be free.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
concrete situation there is only the
necessary and the unnecessary. The
needful is right, the needless is wrong.
The situation decides.
Every situation is a challenge which
demands the right response. When the
response is right, the challenge is met
and the problem ceases. If the response
is wrong, the challenge is not met and
the problem remains unsolved. Your
unsolved problems - that is what
constitutes your karma. Solve them
rightly and be free.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
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