Hi guys,
Just wanted to express my thanks and admiration. I've been following Avalon and Camelot since the early days,
but it was the quality of the posts I read on spirituality, particularly by Greybeard, Another Bob, Pie'n'eal and Jenci
that motivated me to join and share. You are a ripe bunch of mangoes, whose intelligence and compassion shine through,
(metaphorically speaking I suspect at least one of you has "dropped from the tree").
I look forward to sharing with you all. On topic, I wrote the following maxim shortly after awakening,
(lol, I realize claiming awakening/enlightenment is a faux pas, I trust you will allow me the paradox
of expressing as both the wave and the ocean, at least while I appear (to others) to inhabit this form.
It was Lao Tzu who wrote, those who speak do not know, those who know do not speak, then followed with the rest of
the Tao Te Ching!
Minimum awareness, maximum problems
Maximum awareness, minimum problems
Total awareness - no problem
In the "field" of eternal being, ego is a transient phenomena, like all other fleeting phenomena, which asserts it's
reality by virtue of it's subtlety. You might even say it is a matrix of identity within the dualistic mind, hence the
fall from grace when we metaphorically ate from the tree of knowledge.
As Reality, or Self, or Nirvana, or Heaven etc cannot be seen or heard or measured, or adequately described by the mind,
and only becomes apparent/undisguised with the dissolution of illusory identification ie ego,
the trick is to disassociate or detach from the thinking mind. Any effort to do so, is by the ego,
hence the concept of wei wu wei in Taoism and in zazen (just sitting), action through inaction.
In truth, you never have, and never can, stop being that which you truly are, which is good news, yes?
The question becomes, can a shadow, ie the ego, eliminate itself? It's like a dirty glass of water,
any effort you make to push the dirt down to clear the water only stirs it up. Just
relax and watch/be aware of your thoughts and the mind will settle naturally. Then the clouds
will clear and it will become apparent that there is only one sky, of undifferentiated pure awareness/being/bliss.
Hints are found in the essence of all paths, when interpreted correctly. I'll include the following quotes, not to
proselytize, but to give you guys an insight into my background by way of introduction;
If thine eye is single/simple, thy whole body will be full of light. - Jesus
I am that I am -Yahweh/Jehovah
Be still and know that I am God. - Psalm 46:10
Foxes have holes and birds have their nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head and rest. - Jesus
If anyone should say that the Tathagata comes or goes or sits or reclines, he does not understand my meaning. - Buddha
gone gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all hail! - Buddha
Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists. - A Course in Miracles
The real does not die, the unreal never lived. - Nisargadatta
Tat Tvam Asi, Thou Art That. - Chandogya Upanishad
Real happiness abides in Self-knowledge alone. All else is fleeting. - Ramana Maharshi
Where could I go? - Ramana on his deathbed
The goose is out! - zen koan
Namaste and Cheers
tim