Enlightenment: The Ego, what is it? How to transcend it.

[Guish]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=u6zzSYbmt50

[Meggings]

Thank you for the Alan Watts video above, Guish.
It took me back to the 1960's when I discovered, bought, was thrilled by, his small book on the taboo against knowing who you are.
I had never heard his voice before, nor seen his face, but in this short 4-minute video above he speaks of things contemplated during quiet moments.
It is excellent, and viewing your video has lifted my spirits.
It has reminded me of "I am a verb. I am not a noun."
Much obliged.

[Guish]

Posted by Meggings (here)
Thank you for the Alan Watts video above, Guish.
It took me back to the 1960's when I discovered, bought, was thrilled by, his small book on the taboo against knowing who you are.
I had never heard his voice before, nor seen his face, but in this short 4-minute video above he speaks of things contemplated during quiet moments.
It is excellent, and viewing your video has lifted my spirits.
It has reminded me of "I am a verb. I am not a noun."
Much obliged.

Very happy for you. Watts continues to be influential. I have 18-19 year old students who still discuss about him with me. I need a lift myself right now. I have a 40 degrees fever and very painful body.

Love,
Cheers,
Guish

[greybeard]

Wishing you a speedy recovery to good health Guish
Much love
c

[Guish]

Posted by greybeard (here)
Wishing you a speedy recovery to good health Guish
Much love
c

Much better Chris. Sid, my son, seems to have got the fever now.

Cheers,
Geerish.

[Guish]

No attachment

Kitano Gempo, abbot of Eihei temple, was ninety-two years old when he passed away in the year 1933. He endeavored his whole life not to be attached to anything. As a wandering mendicant when he was twenty he happened to meet a traveler who smoked tobacco. As they walked together down a mountain road, they stopped under a tree to rest. The traveler offered Kitano a smoke, which he accepted, as he was very hungry at the time.

“How pleasant this smoking is,” he commented. The other gave him an extra pipe and tobacco and they parted.

Kitano felt: “Such pleasant things may disturb meditation. Before this goes too far, I will stop now.” So he threw the smoking outfit away.

When he was twenty-three years old he studied I-King, the profoundest doctrine of the universe. It was winter at the time and he needed some heavy clothes. He wrote his teacher, who lived a hundred miles away, telling him of his need, and gave the letter to a traveler to deliver. Almost the whole winter passed and neither answer nor clothes arrived. So Kitano resorted to the prescience of I-King, which also teaches the art of divination, to determine whether or not his letter had miscarried. He found that this had been the case. A letter afterwards from his teacher made no mention of clothes.

“If I perform such accurate determinative work with I-King, I may neglect my meditation,” felt Kitano. So he gave up this marvelous teaching and never resorted to its powers again.

When he was twenty-eight he studied Chinese calligraphy and poetry. He grew so skillful in these arts that his teacher praised him. Kitano mused: “If I don’t stop now, I’ll be a poet, not a Zen teacher.” So he never wrote another poem.

[Philaletheian]

I am currently reading the aforementioned book of Alan Watts, really amazing stuff, and the equally good video of the same posted by Guish, prompted me to search for more of his videos and found some amazing lectures!
Thanx All

[Wind]

"It will not be until a late stage that he will wake up to the realization that the real giver of Grace, the real helper along this path, the real master is not the incarnated master outside but the Overself inside his own heart. What the living master does for him is only to arouse his sleeping intuition and awaken his latent aspiration, to give him the initial impetus and starting guidance on the new quest, to point out the obstructions to advancement in his individual character and to help him deal with them."

~ Paul Brunton

[Guish]

Posted by Wind (here)
"It will not be until a late stage that he will wake up to the realization that the real giver of Grace, the real helper along this path, the real master is not the incarnated master outside but the Overself inside his own heart. What the living master does for him is only to arouse his sleeping intuition and awaken his latent aspiration, to give him the initial impetus and starting guidance on the new quest, to point out the obstructions to advancement in his individual character and to help him deal with them."

~ Paul Brunton

Didn't Buddha always say not to agree with me if what I say doesn't make sense to you. He wasn't forcing opinions on others. He explained concepts and let others explore the concepts through practice. When I personally decided to let go of my ego, things changed suddenly. Those who had relationship problems with me became gentle, those who backstabbed me in the past, came close and seeked help. The past never existed. I couldn't even recall what happened. I can say that people operate at different spiritual levels. When one inflicts pain, it's out of ignorance of the spiritual side of beings. People are fed with rules, identity, religious norms and so on. Frustrated people do themselves more harm than the people they are insulting. Can someone really insult you if it doesn't shatter your inner peace? Mountains don't move when the wind blows.

[greybeard]

Nassim Haramein interviewed by Dr. Paul Drouin on the principles of unified field theory, quantum gravity, consciousness studies, energy, and their far-reaching implications that unify the fields of both biology and physics.

During this two-hour event with Nassim Haramein, we will explore questions such as: What is the construction of the universe? What is mind-consciousness? What are the mechanics in which self-awareness occurs? What new energy source can we explore? What is the new unified field theory."

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1zjppOA7FiU

[Wind]

You can be the poorest man in terms of material wealth
and yet be a champion of the spirit in this life.
In ancient times, it is said, even kings and emperors
would bow down at the feet of an illiterate sage.
Illiterate means unlearned, uneducated.
Now, a king doesn't bow down to anybody except God,
so he must be at least wise enough to know whose feet he is bowing down to,
or be compelled by some power to put his head at the sage's feet.
Human beings search for greatness based upon human concepts, conditioning and achievements.

A sage may have nothing. He is empty,
but the force of his mere presence alone will draw those to him who have even a spark of attraction to the Supreme.
The sage doesn't point you to university
—he pulls you into the Universal Heart.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

We are like an onion with layers. Spiritual practice peels out the layers. A point is reached where one realizes that there are no layers to peel off. Vast emptiness which is undefined is experienced. In this state, no thinking is needed. One flows like the river, breathes together with the wind.

[Grizz Griswold]

Here is one of my favorite quotes.


"Once you realize universal emptiness, all objects are spontaneously penetrated: integrating the world and beyond, it contains all states of being within. If you lose the essence, there is nothing after all; if you attain the function, there is spiritual effect. The genuine path of unminding is not a religion for the immature".
-Fen yang

Namaste
b

[Wind]

"We are living in wonderfully momentous times and it is the task of those on the Path to become bearers of the light in a dark age. But first, before that can be, each one must purify, ennoble, and instruct himself. He must fit himself for the divine grace because nothing can be done by his own personal power."

"It will not be until a late stage that he will wake up to the realization that the real giver of Grace, the real helper along this path, the real master is not the incarnated master outside but the Overself inside his own heart. What the living master does for him is only to arouse his sleeping intuition and awaken his latent aspiration, to give him the initial impetus and starting guidance on the new quest, to point out the obstructions to advancement in his individual character and to help him deal with them."

"Fascinated by the utter beauty of a fiery sunset, held and hypnotized by it, the turning away merely to continue a piece of work, to eat a meal or to go out on some business seems reprehensible sacrilege. And perhaps it is. It is in such moments that a glimpse of God's presence becomes possible. For the consciousness is carried outside the ego, desire is diverted to savouring the mysterious stillness, and thought's constant labour is subdued or, if good luck prevails, even suspended."

... Grace is the final, glorious, and authentic proof that it is not only man that is seeking God, but also God that is ever waiting for man…

- Paul Brunton

[Wind]

You say you cannot find the Truth,
but who are you, who can't find it?
The you who cannot find it, is not the true you.
When this you is lost, you find you are the Truth you seek.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

Posted by Wind (here)
You say you cannot find the Truth,
but who are you, who can't find it?
The you who cannot find it, is not the true you.
When this you is lost, you find you are the Truth you seek.

~ Mooji

I love this.

Once you realised that you're nothing and everything at the same time, thinking stops, being starts.

Love,
Guish.

[Meggings]

"Once you realised that you're nothing and everything at the same time, thinking stops, being starts." - Guish

Glancing at the above sentence as I was passing through Avalon, I suddenly realized I've never arrived at "no thought" THROUGH thought.
Moments or minutes or hours of "stopped thinking" arise from the rising up pause when divine currents reach down and touch me.

Now I see why I was never drawn to the question "Who am I?", despite enjoying Ramana Maharshi, for that requires thinking and I'd far rather not think. I like "falling upward" and touching on what I call "the Father". Often I find divinity flowing through my arms into the action - walking across the floor, making coffee, doing household tasks. Sometimes it seems this is Christ becoming me.

[Guish]

Quite true, Meg. In zazen, the breath slows down and bliss lies between the two breaths (between inhalation and exhalation). I do get moments of complete bliss like you described. They are very random. I guess Buddha was in that state completely when he reached enlightenment.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=9gj2pylJ_w0

Hugs and love,
Guish.

[Meggings]

Thanks for the nice video above, Guish. It has arresting thoughts in it:

If you put your mind on the enemy movement, your mind will be taken by the enemy movement.
If you put your mind on the enemy sword, your mind will be taken by the enemy sword.
If you put your mind on trying to cut the enemy, your mind will be taken by trying to cut.
If you put your mind on trying not to be cut, your mind will be taken by trying not to be cut.

...

There is no place to put your mind on.
Keep your mind not taken by anything.
The unperturbed mind, even in case of being in mud, that is “no mind”.

Do we assume "mind" here equates to "thought"?
I've never tried to define MIND, CONSCIOUSNESS, and AWARENESS, yet see it might have value.

Has anyone here given thought to how these three conditions might be defined, and thus used with clarity?

[Guish]

Posted by Meggings (here)
Do we assume "mind" here equates to "thought"?
I've never tried to define MIND, CONSCIOUSNESS, and AWARENESS, yet see it might have value.

Has anyone here given thought to how these three conditions might be defined, and thus used with clarity?

Yes. Mind is the process of thinking or mental confusion in some cases. In the Vedas, it's mentioned that as the mind is made still, just like water in a pond becomes still, one can see the depth of water. In our case, one can see our true self which is in fact empty, yet beautiful.

In this state, one helps a person without feeling good. One eats just to survive. One no longer thinks of one's self as one has understood it's the ego which differentiates oneself from others. So my dear Meg, you can see that no- mind leads to an awareness that we are not the ego, an awareness that caring for others and being selfless is the way. One simply doesn't think of doing good for karmic reasons. It's just the way it is. It's as if one is guided by something divine as the mind is not directing the actions. Such a state is described as a shift in consciousness in spirituality.

Hugs and love,
G