Here and Now...What's Happening?

[another bob]

Posted by ulli (here)
Thanks for those links, another bob. I do so love this kind of exploration. Baha'i doctrine recognizes all religions as coming from one source and so my conversion in 1983 meant that I had to study all sorts of religious texts outside the Judeo Christian traditions and reconcile differences that Christian theology had failed to address. So this debate is familiar as this very question came up again and again....

Hiya Ulli and All!

What I have found in the course of over a half century delving into these matters is that folks are using different terms to communicate what is essentially the same experience. However, those who have not had the experience, but rely on words, will create divisions out of ignorance, where no division actually exists. For example, Tibetan Buddhists speak of the "Clear Light", and the "Basis", which is actually the same thing pointed to by others who use the term "Source" or "Absolute", or "Supreme Self", or "Tathagatagharba". Two Zen Buddhist masters with whom I studied often spoke of God (Suzuki and Joshu Sasaki).
Once one has had the experience of reality, one does not need to rely on others' opinions about reality, in the same way that, once one has tasted water, they know for themselves if it is hot or cold, bitter or sweet. After having a near death experience, for example, you will find few (if any) atheists, or those who imagine that there is no afterlife. They no longer need to debate the issue. It is plain and clear.
Buddhists use terms such as Bodhicitta and Maitri, that communicate the same thing that others would mean by selfless, or unconditional, love. For them, it is a sign of awakening, when Bodhicitta or Maitri are present, and certainly not a sign of delusion or attachment. Moreover, in Buddhist history, some of the greatest realizers have been householders with family. Laymen Pang's story is an excellent one that come immediately to mind.
My point is that it is too easy to stop and be content with the conventional dogmas, but if we are truly committed to what's real, then we need to go beyond reliance on words and concepts and plunge directly into the heart of the matter ourselves. Only then can we be truly satisfied.

[Samsara]

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3JHLJwLdRc

Gray clouds move by

A rabbit runs

The trees are black

A woodsman calls

A woman cries

I see the moon

And still

I hear your name

And still

I hear your name

A garden wall

A misty rain

Cold stars look down

Dark shadows dance

The dragon moans

An endless sky

And still

I see your face

And still

I see your face

The night is still

Wind sinks and soars

The owl flies

The earth lies cold

A haunted room

Love's desperate hour

And still

I feel your touch

And still

I feel your touch

And still

I hear your name

And still

I see your face

And still

I feel your touch

[Jenci]

Posted by Flash (here)

Posted by Nora (here)
Checking in with the village from the road.

I need some help -a relative of mine needs help. My niece tried to commit suicide the other night 2 nights ago. She is still alive and going to pull through. Her name is Candace she's 20 yrs old and such a little dove. She really needs your prayers and is open.


Blessings everyone

Love

Nora

Hi, this is for Candace to read, if you do not mind. It is a word coming from my 15 years old daughter who accepted to write a word to Candace when she heard of her misfortune,

Hey dear little Dove I am sorry to hear that you are ready to end your life. I got to admit that we are pretty much in a tough cruel world. But think about it, if everyone like you left this world, nobody good would be left on this planet and this planet wont be saved.

I know that it`s hard to wake up everyday knowing that you might get hurt. I live the same thing and i got to admit that it`s hard to find motivation to live. But i find my motivation with music. Do you have any passion? If you dont, maybe you should try new things and get your mind off of what ever is going on in your life. And if you do have a passion, then use it to distract you and to especially get goals in life. Dreams and goals are what makes me want to keep living and going through the hard times.

Im only 15 so i dont really know how to completely help you. But i know that if you find love in your heart, everything will be ok... And maybe you think that no one loves you.. well i dont know who loves you, but i love you. Yes i don't know who you are, but you deserve to be loved and i am ready to give you love and sympathie. I'm sure i'm not the only one like that out there. So there are certainly a few people who just simply love you (starting with your aunt).

Even if i'm 15, i went through many thoughs times. But love, my passion and ALOT of crying always helped me get through. I wish i could help you more. But i tried the best i can. Anyways, remember that your aunt loves you and a random canadian 15 year old cares about you. Dont give up! God put you on this earth for a reason. And maybe someday i will write a song for you

Well hasn't your young lady grown up through her experiences, Flash.

That's a beautiful letter that she has written. Our suffering gives us the ability to empathise with others who suffer and that means that we have the ability to reach out and comfort them.

You must be very proud of her
Jeanette

[another bob]

Posted by Samsara (here)

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3JHLJwLdRc

Gray clouds move by

A rabbit runs

The trees are black

A woodsman calls

A woman cries

I see the moon

And still

I hear your name

And still

I hear your name

A garden wall

A misty rain

Cold stars look down

Dark shadows dance

The dragon moans

An endless sky

And still

I see your face

And still

I see your face

The night is still

Wind sinks and soars

The owl flies

The earth lies cold

A haunted room

Love's desperate hour

And still

I feel your touch

And still

I feel your touch

And still

I hear your name

And still

I see your face

And still

I feel your touch

Being calls to itself. Love answers.

Unafraid, we wander into the innermost chorus of this love call, answering with our whole being, and lose ourselves so completely in this touch our presence becomes transfigured.

The diamond radiance of this transformation is the boon of exquisite remembrance transmitted in our every touch, in the way we weave the love we are into the robes we wear at our homecoming in light.

It is the utter simplicity of touch itself, of being touched, without subject, without object –
only this touching, touching.

This is for everyone, all are beautiful lovers.

Whether in mind, body, heart, or soul – every being feels this touch.

Everybody is this touching, this perfect satisfaction of Heart’s outstretched fingers, caressing itself from the silence of its own source into life, gratitude, Godhood.

Anything other than the most humble submission to this touch is merely a lingering selfishness.

Now, spiraling out to us in primal urge to feel its own pulse, to circle its own zero and know itself as the touch that grants galaxies light, this Love, irresistible, shifts us fearlessly into each other like blended echoes, vanishing in a singing transparency of air.

What remains — these fingers splaying out in shimmering motion along your spine, stretched before me in the spoon of exquisite remembrance, light wound around this vertebrae bliss, cupping the fragrance of our union in the mudra of happiness itself — not anything with name or form, not a memory of, not a wished for thing, not even a whisper, a touch . . .

[Jenci]

Posted by another bob (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
Thanks for those links, another bob. I do so love this kind of exploration. Baha'i doctrine recognizes all religions as coming from one source and so my conversion in 1983 meant that I had to study all sorts of religious texts outside the Judeo Christian traditions and reconcile differences that Christian theology had failed to address. So this debate is familiar as this very question came up again and again....

Hiya Ulli and All!

What I have found in the course of over a half century delving into these matters is that folks are using different terms to communicate what is essentially the same experience. However, those who have not had the experience, but rely on words, will create divisions out of ignorance, where no division actually exists. For example, Tibetan Buddhists speak of the "Clear Light", and the "Basis", which is actually the same thing pointed to by others who use the term "Source" or "Absolute", or "Supreme Self", or "Tathagatagharba". Two Zen Buddhist masters with whom I studied often spoke of God (Suzuki and Joshu Sasaki).
Once one has had the experience of reality, one does not need to rely on others' opinions about reality, in the same way that, once one has tasted water, they know for themselves if it is hot or cold, bitter or sweet. After having a near death experience, for example, you will find few (if any) atheists, or those who imagine that there is no afterlife. They no longer need to debate the issue. It is plain and clear.
Buddhists use terms such as Bodhicitta and Maitri, that communicate the same thing that others would mean by selfless, or unconditional, love. For them, it is a sign of awakening, when Bodhicitta or Maitri are present, and certainly not a sign of delusion or attachment. Moreover, in Buddhist history, some of the greatest realizers have been householders with family. Laymen Pang's story is an excellent one that come immediately to mind.
My point is that it is too easy to stop and be content with the conventional dogmas, but if we are truly committed to what's real, then we need to go beyond reliance on words and concepts and plunge directly into the heart of the matter ourselves. Only then can we be truly satisfied.

Hi Bob
I have an Adyashanti talk and he is talking about consciousness/awareness/God/source and he says 'I don't care what you call it, call it Coca-cola if you want'

What he was saying was that the word was unimportant and doesn't define what it actually is.

He says he will often switch and change the words he uses to describe things deliberately in his teachings so that people don't grasp onto an idea as soon as they hear a word and say "that's what he is talking about" because this is only be a concept, nothing at all like the direct experience of what he is talking about.

Jeanette

[another bob]

Posted by Jenci (here)
Hi Bob
I have an Adyashanti talk and he is talking about consciousness/awareness/God/source and he says 'I don't care what you call it, call it Coca-cola if you want'

What he was saying was that the word was unimportant and doesn't define what it actually is.

He says he will often switch and change the words he uses to describe things deliberately in his teachings so that people don't grasp onto an idea as soon as they hear a word and say "that's what he is talking about" because this is only be a concept, nothing at all like the direct experience of what he is talking about.

Jeanette

Thanks, Sister!

Adya is an excellent example of someone who has transcended the traditional belief system and actually awoken to the reality behind the concepts, doctrines, and dogmas. Moreover, as he points out, it is nothing special to do so, since reality is actually who and what we are. The true challenge is to embody this recognition or insight into our original, or prior, nature, in the way we live and relate with each other.

Blessings!

[another bob]

A revelatory little book I recently was turned on to:


Greaves, Helen: TESTIMONY OF LIGHT


This wonderful message was telepathically transmitted to Helen Greaves by a close friend who had recently died. It has the power to lift us up into the peace of the soul, the peace that comes when we recognize that the Spirit we seek is, and has always been, there for us in its totality. The only thing that limits it, is our own capacity to receive.


The peace which passes all understanding

I am finding peace. I am at peace. I am absorbed into the atmosphere of peace. I have found tranquillity to the measure in which I can accept and appreciate it. I no longer need to strive and struggle, as I did in the earth life. Always there I worked too hard. I strove. I battled forward. I followed every channel, every path which seemed to lead to that 'break-through' of the Spirit for which my soul yearned so deeply. I obeyed the precepts, followed the doctrines, studied and examined all theories which could 'explain' the Spirit; drove myself with the whip of an iron will, read, marked, digested the sciences (so called) of the human mind and its reactions to stimuli, as well as the human psyche and its reaching forward into revelation. All this with a great purpose, as I supposed, of Illumination. I strove always for the 'break-through' to Spirit, union with the soul, contact with the Great Forces, and always, driving my mind and my personal will was the hope, the glory, the bliss of a 'break-through' to Spirit. And now as I look back over my earth life, I realise that so much was illusion.
I sought the Spirit and the Spirit was there all the time.


'He came unto His own and His own received Him not.'

As I rest now in this Reality I see, with sadness, the truth of those words. I knew Him not. I struggled, fasted, sought for what was already present, perfect and everlasting within me. Like most of us in the body life I was in illusion; lost in glamour. I looked for the Spirit to reveal itself to me, when all that was necessary was 'relaxation unto God'. The Spirit was always with me, veiled because physical sight could not view it. The great secret of finding that Spirit was the 'letting go' of self. I, who longed so much for the touch of the divine, who dedicated my life to religious work, who read lives of the saints for their examples, who delved into the sciences of psychology, extra-sensory perception and all psychic phenomena, as well as into the occult sciences, who denied myself the usual sensual and reproductive life of a human being; who truly tried to obey the precepts of the Master, as related in the New Testament, I had not accepted the simple Reality of those words: 'Behold, I am with you even unto the end'. I had not been able to let go, and let the Spirit absorb me. As I now see my thoughts, actions, aspirations from this angle, I am realising that the very tenseness of my striving was my undoing and it barred the way to that very union for which my soul longed. I battered at the Veil which hid the Face of Divinity, trying by my mind and will to tear it away; the more intense my thought, the more real did I create the illusion. For the Veil was, as I now realise, the Veil of my own setting.



Relax and allow

Light, Divinity, Reality ... all-pervading consciousness ... were there for my acceptance. Much greater progress would have been made by 'letting go' of all these human images and by allowing the Spirit to absorb me. Relax and allow the Spirit to stream through you. Swim with the tide of the Spirit. That is the great lesson I am learning here as I review my mistakes. Now I am 'in the Spirit' ... There was no 'break-through' to Spirit, of which I once, so glibly, talked. There is only a gradual absorption of that amount, or degree, of Spirit which the openness of the soul can accept. This degree, as I appreciate now, must be governed by the Law of Progress, for the Spirit is never limited, only ourselves, as receptacles, govern the degree of its entrance. This is indeed a salutary lesson.


The purpose of life on earth

I am aware too that in the last life experience I but repeated old struggles. None of it was new. No adventure into matter, into the exterior, is ever entirely fresh or untried. It has all been worked to its end perhaps hundreds of times before, though under different circumstances, perhaps in different worlds. I can not be sure of that yet; and it will be worked again and again until we, as souls, learn to 'carry the Light' with us, through our personalities.
Free will, the development of the logical mind, the illusions of the senses, all these tend to extinguish, or at least, to dim, the Light of Divinity. Now I perceive more clearly, for I am no longer cluttered by illusions, that the great purpose of life in matter is to illumine matter with Spirit.
Even here, in my new life, I have been rushing hither and thither in search of adventure, of experience, of progress and such as I have discovered I have tried to relate in my account.
But now, I let go. I seek for nothing. I absorb and am absorbed by the Spirit of Light, Love, Beauty. I know that I am being remade. Consciousness is expanding to acknowledge and accept the fact of being a Child of the Living Light, of already having, in consciousness, all that is needed and reflecting as much of the Spirit as my awareness will permit.


Just concentrate on giving

Life still goes on about me. The work of helping others who may be also bogged down in their illusions of separativeness still occupies me and is a joy. I no longer crave to pass on to the next stage, that of being allowed to be a student in the outer courts of the Universities here. Such glorious adventure will be mine when my consciousness is ready for it. Until such awareness is alive and active in me and I have achieved the maintenance of the deep tranquillity of this knowledge, I am content to remain here, and to benefit by the loving atmosphere.
Until this new peace has become an integrated part of me, until all old regrets have been dissolved in love and service, until I have learned to rest completely in this new consciousness of the Spirit, I shall remain where I am. Time, as we reckoned it, does not exist here. Consciousness has taken its place. By the degree of consciousness of the Spirit can we measure the extent of, the habitation of, varying states in our onward progress. To you still in the concept of time, this could be months, years, centuries. For me now the state of consciousness of living Spirit and the serenity such consciousness works in my soul, is my present and my future in this Life Everlasting.


From Testimony of Light, 1969 by Helen Greaves, published in the UK in 2005 by Rider Books.

[Jenci]

Posted by another bob (here)

Posted by Jenci (here)
Hi Bob
I have an Adyashanti talk and he is talking about consciousness/awareness/God/source and he says 'I don't care what you call it, call it Coca-cola if you want'

What he was saying was that the word was unimportant and doesn't define what it actually is.

He says he will often switch and change the words he uses to describe things deliberately in his teachings so that people don't grasp onto an idea as soon as they hear a word and say "that's what he is talking about" because this is only be a concept, nothing at all like the direct experience of what he is talking about.

Jeanette

Thanks, Sister!

Adya is an excellent example of someone who has transcended the traditional belief system and actually awoken to the reality behind the concepts, doctrines, and dogmas. Moreover, as he points out, it is nothing special to do so, since reality is actually who and what we are. The true challenge is to embody this recognition or insight into our original, or prior, nature, in the way we live and relate with each other.

Blessings!

I agree Bob


From End of your World by Adyshanti p217 About the author

Adyashanti (whose name means "primordial peace") dares all seekers of peace and freedom to take the possibility of liberation in this life seriously. He began teaching in 1996, at the request of his Zen teacher with whom he had been studying for fourteen years. Since then many spiritual seekers have awakened to their true nature while spending time with Adyashanti.....

Adya says, "If you filter my words through any tradition or 'ism', you will miss altogether what I am saying. The liberating truth is not static; it is alive. It cannot be put into concepts or be understood by the mind. The truth lies beyond all forms of conceptual fundamentalism. What you are is the beyond -- awake and present, here and now already. I am simply helping you to realize that."

[Belle]

The quotes from Helen Greaves book, "Testimony of Light" reminds me of the only passage I can remember from the book "God Calling" by the Two Listeners iirc read many, many years ago.

In reference to the scripture from Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect", the passage in the book said something like "Do not be too ready to do, just be. I said, "Be ye therefore perfect" not "do" perfect things."

That phrase of 'just be, not do perfect things' has shaped my life experiences and outlook more than I had realized.

[REILLY]

In case any Here and Nowers have missed it, another post of this crazy guy:

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgBr1pt9r44

[Paula]

Posted by Jenci (here)
Hi Bob
I have an Adyashanti talk and he is talking about consciousness/awareness/God/source and he says 'I don't care what you call it, call it Coca-cola if you want'

What he was saying was that the word was unimportant and doesn't define what it actually is.

He says he will often switch and change the words he uses to describe things deliberately in his teachings so that people don't grasp onto an idea as soon as they hear a word and say "that's what he is talking about" because this is only be a concept, nothing at all like the direct experience of what he is talking about.

Jeanette

Thanks, Jeanette. I've just downloaded, Adyashanti's "Falling into Grace".

Peace,
Paula

[Paula]

Posted by ulli (here)
Ok, back to sleep now...I have a long and busy day ahead of me. Please send protection and energy.
Love, Love, Love.

Done, Ulli ...

[Lisab]

Posted by PurpleLama (here)
In case any Here and Nowers have missed it, another post of this crazy guy:

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgBr1pt9r44

Adinkadinkadinka the joy I feel insiiiide!!! Awesome!

[Rahkyt]

Posted by another bob (here)

Posted by Rahkyt (here)
Buddha did not teach of the existence of God. Or of a soul.

Brother, I also once thought that way, due to insufficient research (as it so turned out), and so do a lot of Buddhists in the West. However, that belief is incorrect. My own direct experience, as well as that of many whom I hold in high esteem, has shown me otherwise. It took me some time to reconcile the view of Buddhism, as it was commonly presented in the West, with that of say, Ramana Maharshi, as well as with what I had been directly shown. Only after several decades of practice did I come upon a text that revealed what I had long suspected.
Please refer to the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Buddha's final summation of the Dharma, to clarify your understanding. There is much more to all this than meets the eye. Don't be misled by terms and religious provincialism. Direct experience is best, where the truth becomes plain and obvious, but short of that, check out this magnificent document, which places the Prajna Paramita literature in its true context, as intermediate teaching expedients, while revealing the ultimate Dharma of Tathagatagharba.

Well, I just wanted to reply quickly - and shortly - to Ulli, not debate the existence of God. LOL But since you want to go deeper, I understand Buddhism inherited much of the understanding of Hinduism with the 6 classes of Beings, including Gods. Which, according to tradition, the Buddha surpasses - as even they remain subject to karma and reincarnation - and also teaches.

I also fully understand the concepts that webpage explains. I understand it as being the same "God Within" argument that the Gnostics use, which is quite valid, imho. It is the Self as realized One, which is All, which is "God". This understanding holds space for those who wish to discard the Western understanding of God as represented by the universalizing religions, by concentrating upon their own development and process of becoming realized and, eventually, a Bodhisattva, and then, a Buddha. It is equally valid, for those so choosing, to state their is no God, as it is to state that God is within, or God is the Self.

I, personally, also have experienced this. Multiple times. All-pervasive love, Ultimate Consciousness, Being, Presence. Spiritual Awakening. Spontaneously and also as a transmission. A shift in consciousness following, leading to, Now. Always.

But such things can't be expressed simply, a conversation must evolve and deepen to get to the crux of the matter. Thank you for the link, though. Some great quotes:

'The Dharma which the Buddhas have taught is most excellent and superlative ...

This authentic Dharma alone has no time or season. If it is only seen with the

Dharma-eye and not with the physical eye, no simile can serve as an analogy

for it. It is unborn, unarisen, unabiding, not perishing, without beginning,

without end, unconditioned [asamskrta] and immeasurable. It provides a

dwelling for those who are homeless, a refuge for those without a refuge,

light for those without light ... it is unimpeded fragrance for places without

fragrance, it displays what cannot be seen, it is unwavering/ imperturbable,

it does not change ... it is tranquillity, the pinnacle of all dharmas. It can

utterly eradicate all the kleshas [mental and moral afflictions]; it is totally pure;

it is devoid of perceptual attributes [animitta], and it is liberated from perceptual

attributes. It is the ultimate dwelling-place of countless beings, it extinguishes

all the fires of samsara. It is the abode where the Buddhas disport themselves.

It is eternal and unchanging [aviparinama].' (translation by Stephen Hodge).

[Rahkyt]

Posted by Jenci (here)
Adyashanti (whose name means "primordial peace") dares all seekers of peace and freedom to take the possibility of liberation in this life seriously. He began teaching in 1996, at the request of his Zen teacher with whom he had been studying for fourteen years. Since then many spiritual seekers have awakened to their true nature while spending time with Adyashanti.....

Adya says, "If you filter my words through any tradition or 'ism', you will miss altogether what I am saying. The liberating truth is not static; it is alive. It cannot be put into concepts or be understood by the mind. The truth lies beyond all forms of conceptual fundamentalism. What you are is the beyond -- awake and present, here and now already. I am simply helping you to realize that."

I just found him about 3 months ago, downloaded his text, 'enlightenment beyond traditions'.

I find his teachings excellent, especially in his insistence that the "Me" remains important and the "ego" is the tool used in order to maintain the connection to that deeper, realized state of Being and the world of the everyday senses.

Great discussion!

[ulli]

Posted by another bob (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
Thanks for those links, another bob. I do so love this kind of exploration. Baha'i doctrine recognizes all religions as coming from one source and so my conversion in 1983 meant that I had to study all sorts of religious texts outside the Judeo Christian traditions and reconcile differences that Christian theology had failed to address. So this debate is familiar as this very question came up again and again....

Hiya Ulli and All!

What I have found in the course of over a half century delving into these matters is that folks are using different terms to communicate what is essentially the same experience. However, those who have not had the experience, but rely on words, will create divisions out of ignorance, where no division actually exists. For example, Tibetan Buddhists speak of the "Clear Light", and the "Basis", which is actually the same thing pointed to by others who use the term "Source" or "Absolute", or "Supreme Self", or "Tathagatagharba". Two Zen Buddhist masters with whom I studied often spoke of God (Suzuki and Joshu Sasaki).
Once one has had the experience of reality, one does not need to rely on others' opinions about reality, in the same way that, once one has tasted water, they know for themselves if it is hot or cold, bitter or sweet. After having a near death experience, for example, you will find few (if any) atheists, or those who imagine that there is no afterlife. They no longer need to debate the issue. It is plain and clear.
Buddhists use terms such as Bodhicitta and Maitri, that communicate the same thing that others would mean by selfless, or unconditional, love. For them, it is a sign of awakening, when Bodhicitta or Maitri are present, and certainly not a sign of delusion or attachment. Moreover, in Buddhist history, some of the greatest realizers have been householders with family. Laymen Pang's story is an excellent one that come immediately to mind.
My point is that it is too easy to stop and be content with the conventional dogmas, but if we are truly committed to what's real, then we need to go beyond reliance on words and concepts and plunge directly into the heart of the matter ourselves. Only then can we be truly satisfied.

Exactly, another bob. Still, it can help those who have not had the experience to know that such a vision is possible and that there are people who uphold it, so that they can contemplate it, or reject it, at least. Knowing that a choice exists can help the truth make itself known to someone who has signaled to the universe that they find the possibility attractive.

[another bob]

Posted by Rahkyt (here)
Well, I just wanted to reply quickly - and shortly - to Ulli, not debate the existence of God. LOL But since you want to go deeper, I understand Buddhism inherited much of the understanding of Hinduism with the 6 classes of Beings, including Gods. Which, according to tradition, the Buddha surpasses - as even they remain subject to karma and reincarnation - and also teaches.

Hiya Brother!

Here's a good link in that regard: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/a.../wheel414.html

These devas and gods, btw, I see in the same light as some might regard ET (or ED). The further up one goes in terms of levels of awareness, the more interesting critters one may encounter. When I refer to Source, I am not speaking about these various entities.

I also fully understand the concepts that webpage explains.

Great! I figured as much, so I was actually more addressing the general audience that may not be familiar with the concepts expressed in that text, which actually supersede much of the prior, provisional Buddhist teachings with which folks who only have a cursory exposure to Buddhism might be typically privy to. As I mentioned, it was only after that translation became available about 8 years ago that I was able to see implications that reconciled what had previously been regarded as two separate and distinct streams of realization.

It is equally valid, for those so choosing, to state their is no God, as it is to state that God is within, or God is the Self.

I respect Ramakrishna's pragmatic ecumemism in that regard, in which he stated that, depending on one's level of awareness, all spiritual statements are true.

I also sympathize with Nargarjuna's Tetralemma, which states that, with reference to any a logical proposition X, there are four possibilities:

(affirmation) (negation) (both) equiv. (neither)

I, personally, also have experienced this. Multiple times. All-pervasive love, Ultimate Consciousness, Being, Presence. Spiritual Awakening. Spontaneously and also as a transmission. A shift in consciousness following, leading to, Now. Always.

Wonderful!

But such things can't be expressed simply, a conversation must evolve and deepen to get to the crux of the matter.

Maybe with some time-outs for ice cream and beet jelly rolls. . .

[another bob]

Posted by ulli (here)
...it can help those who have not had the experience to know that such a vision is possible and that there are people who uphold it, so that they can contemplate it, or reject it, at least. Knowing that a choice exists can help the truth make itself known to someone who has signaled to the universe that they find the possibility attractive.

Yes, and hence the great legacy of realizers' testimonies down through the ages. Perhaps someday there will even be those who find and examine the ancient archives of a 21st century online discussion forum called "Avalon", and reading through one of the threads, called "Here and Now", come upon such a vision, along with people who upheld it, so that they can contemplate it, or reject it, or scratch their heads and have a good laugh at the naivete of people back in those dark ages. LOL!

[Eram]

Posted by another bob (here)
A revelatory little book I recently was turned on to:


Greaves, Helen: TESTIMONY OF LIGHT

As I now see my thoughts, actions, aspirations from this angle, I am realising that the very tenseness of my striving was my undoing and it barred the way to that very union for which my soul longed. I battered at the Veil which hid the Face of Divinity, trying by my mind and will to tear it away; the more intense my thought, the more real did I create the illusion. For the Veil was, as I now realise, the Veil of my own setting.

Relax and allow

Hi another bob,

What a beautiful transmission that was.

This is exactly what I am learning in this point in life, that letting go of self is indeed all about a 'relaxing and allowing'.
there are moments that I am trapped in the illusion of trying to storm the gates of heaven as you once put it so well and then I realise... ahhhh... no... just relax... and in my minds eye I see myself sitting down in a very comfortable beach chair . Then everything is as it should be and I can feel that it is all about 'giving into it' in stead of 'trying to grab' it.

But... There is something that fits into this analogy perfectly which I don't understand and I would very much like to understand it, or know how to deal with it.

All my life, when I wanted to develop myself in music, art, sport, intellect, school... whatever... when I put my mind to it... I hit a wall. BENG!!!
It's almost the same wall that one hits when trying to storm the gates of heaven... or it feels like it anyway.
There are psychological aspects to it that I don't fully understand yet and I wont bother to try and explain them now too much.
It has to do with control, fear of failing, self denial and a little kid that want it HIS way or NO way.

It has made me into a man that doesn't challenge himself in any way.
I have set up a bed and breakfast where I make a living, but besides that... there is not much more.
I have no scholar degree, no developed music skills (which I would very much have wanted)... nothing, because of that wall I hit every time when I put myself to it.
For the last 6 years I stayed away of challenging myself in anyway that I know will lead me to this road of frustration.

Now, when I finally thought that there was something that I could develop..... astral travel... I find myself in the same position. It's going in the same direction. The wall that I hit upsets me to the point that I almost cease to be able to do my daily affairs.

It makes me wonder about my path of life. Which is the road that I should take.
One could reason that every sign in my life is flashing vigorously to focus only on the path of letting go of self.
but is it? Is this what I should do? Never challenge myself or try to get myself to get a skill in something, other then this letting go?

It makes me sad... It makes me feel like I'm in some kind psychological wheel chair.


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anyway.......

Happy to see that there are also beautiful things in life, such as the almost magical description of purple Lama... acting as a night gardener in the garden of his neighbours. That was a mighty picture you painted there PL..... There must be a Universe where this picture has come to life. I even saw the whole picture in purple.

@Nora.... I hope Candace is doing a little better now. I'm not very used to giving love and energy in this way, but yesterday with Candace... I could feel a big flow of energy running through me when I focused on her. So to me that felt like she was very open to receiving.
Love, healing and peace to Candace!

[ulli]

That would indeed be cool. For now I'm impressed with the fact that we can discuss such maters while I'm in my seat on my plane. Triple security, today, so I asked why. Welcome to the fourth of July, was the reply. In three hours I'll be in Miami in my hotel.
Tomorrow on with my journey. Caribbean, here I come. There will be some reggae music from me next. Ulli the Rasta. Love to all.