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

[Wind]

One thing about the mind has always made me wonder. It can be extremely judgemental towards itself or the person, meaning you. That would have been the case with me and some other people I know, that we expect way too much from ourselves, because we aspire to be something greater than this and feel flawed. And that too is ego, isn't it ironic? How can one expect the person to be perfect? I wasn't like that as a child, I didn't "expect" my self to be anything other than I am. Self-doubt came in early teenage when the ego started to develop even more. In complete stillness there must be only bliss, acceptance and non-judgement.

"What are we to say of the many whose lives evince no purpose, whose years show no progress? This judgement is a surface one. All people respond to the power of God, and perform their role in the idea of God, however slight be the measure of their response or however hidden be their role."

~ Paul Brunton

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/t31.0-8/p843x403/11802793_677683112368257_4638386590708781171_o.jpg

[ZooLife]

One thing about the mind has been always made me wonder. It can be extremely judgemental towards itself or the person, meaning you. That would have been the case with me and some other people I know, that we expect way too much for ourselves, because we aspire to be something greater than this and feel flawed. And that too is ego, isn't it ironic? How can one expect the person to be perfect? I wasn't like that as a child, I didn't "expect" my self to be anything other than I am. Self-doubt came in early teenage when the ego started to develop even more. In complete stillness there must be only bliss, acceptance and non-judgement.


https://meetville.com/images/quotes/Quotation-Noel-Gallagher-music-perfection-Meetville-Quotes-260183.jpg


<3

[Guish]

One thing about the mind has been always made me wonder. It can be extremely judgemental towards itself or the person, meaning you. That would have been the case with me and some other people I know, that we expect way too much for ourselves, because we aspire to be something greater than this and feel flawed. And that too is ego, isn't it ironic? How can one expect the person to be perfect? I wasn't like that as a child, I didn't "expect" my self to be anything other than I am. Self-doubt came in early teenage when the ego started to develop even more. In complete stillness there must be only bliss, acceptance and non-judgement.

"What are we to say of the many whose lives evince no purpose, whose years show no progress? This judgement is a surface one. All people respond to the power of God, and perform their role in the idea of God, however slight be the measure of their response or however hidden be their role."

~ Paul Brunton

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/t31.0-8/p843x403/11802793_677683112368257_4638386590708781171_o.jpg

We've been taught to criticise so that we can be better and survive. Criticising causes harm and defies the purpose. Self reflection in an objective way is important and learning/growing is a natural process just like growth in nature. The human can evolve his awareness and that's different to animals. Perfection is doing anything with full attention. Doing this will bring success in anything one does.

[Innocent Warrior]

So true, what you say about perfection, the thoughts that come from not being who I think I should be have been a huge source of suffering for me.

According to my ego, my life's a write off, I was supposed to be somebody important and successful, and I've failed. Egos are pretty transparent really, not much more than individuals' versions of our social program, differing between individuals according to their life experience. We each get our own taylor made ego, but they all look the same.


https://drhurd.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/egotrip.jpeg

Thanks for the links. <3

[Grizz Griswold]

Here is a reading from a special little book, Illusions: The Reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach

And he said unto them,
“If a man told God that he
wanted most of all to help the
suffering world, no matter the
price to himself, and God
answered and told him what he
must do, should the man do
as he is told?”

“Of course, Master!” cried the
many. “It should be pleasure
for him to suffer the
tortures of hell itself, should
God ask for it!”

“No matter what those tortures,
nor how difficult the task?”
“Honor to be hanged, glory
to be nailed to a tree
and burned, if so be that
God has asked,” said they.

“And what would you do,”
the Master said unto the
multitude, “if God spoke directly
to your face and said,

‘I COMMAND THAT YOU BE
HAPPY IN THE WORLD, AS
LONG AS YOU LIVE.’ What
would you do then?”

And the multitude was silent,
not a voice, not a sound
was heard upon the hillsides,
across the valleys where
they stood.

And the Master said unto
the silence, “In the path
of our happiness shall we
find the learning for which
we have chosen this lifetime.

So it is that I have
learned this day, and choose to leave you now
to walk your own path,
as you please.”

Thanks to Ron Mauer Sr, for bringing this book back to remembrance.

Love
b

[greybeard]

Thanks for that Barry
Richard B wrote some great books, Jonathan Livingston Seagull being one of my all time favourites also the Reluctant Messiah
Good to see you posting here again.

Much love
Chris

[IChingUChing]

Today I was sitting by the river listening to a Paul Hedderman talk on my Ipod. Then some nice synchronisities happened. First a barge went past with the name "Grace de Dieu" (Grace of God), then another one with the name "Pura Vida" (pure life) and then another with the name "Silence"!!!:ROFL:

Made me smile as I've been taking myself way too seriously recently!

Love this thread (as Greybeard knows). Here's a quote from Wei Wu Wei I like:

From "Ask the Awakened"

58. Hoorah!

Yes, you are right. This is where we come in, and all our friends - the donkeys, the lions, the beetles, the lilies-of-the-field and the cabbages-of-the-garden.

This is where we have always been in- for we are the subjectivity of Mind and imagine ourselves to be its objects. If it is what we are, it is also what we are not, for it is void and there is no we therein.

And it is because it is void, because there is no we, that subjectivity is possible.

It is because we are not, that we appear to be.


Like everything else in the apparant universe.:flower:

[greybeard]

IChingUChing
Thanks for the post
Keep them coming.
At the back of my mind I seem to remember that Wei Wu Wei was Irish--could be wrong.

Love Chris

[Guish]

Thanks Barry. I think there are multiple lessons to be learned everyday but we all work on different things. I'm not materialistic but I had to deal with anger, being an introvert and poor communication skills. The main lesson stays having a settled mind. The whole picture changes with a tuned mind.

[greybeard]

Paul Hedderman@ NeverNotHere, October Retreat Session 6




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcMr6KdlvdE

[Grizz Griswold]

Thanks Barry. I think there are multiple lessons to be learned everyday but we all work on different things. I'm not materialistic but I had to deal with anger, being an introvert and poor communication skills. The main lesson stays having a settled mind. The whole picture changes with a tuned mind.

Whatever level, there is something to be learned as long as one remains in time and space.
However learning may not be the correct word, remembering may be closer to truth, as truth/knowing is
our natural state. Happiness seems to be a major ingredient in tuning the mind, almost like
tuning an old radio, with the knob, to get the station to come in better.

Thanks Geerish
With love
barry

[greybeard]

Gary Renard - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview


Gary Renard is the author of The Disappearance of the Universe trilogy of books. He speaks regularly all over the world, teaching the principles of A Course in Miracles, which is the fundamental focus of his books. In 1992, he began to be visited in person by two people in the flesh who identified themselves as Arten and Pursah, two Ascended Masters. They are the main teachers in the books and Gary is the student. The critically acclaimed books are now in 22 languages.

Books The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk about Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness Your Immortal Reality: How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death Love Has Forgotten No One: The Answer to Life Fearless Love - The Answer to the Problem of Human Existence Secrets of the Immortal - Advanced Teachings from "A Course in Miracles" The End of Reincarnation - Breaking the Cycle of Birth and Death




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClSr-0Gl4KQ

[IChingUChing]

Hey Chris,

yes that's right, he was from an Irish family although born in Felixstowe, England. I think the family was of aristocratic origins. Amongst other things he did a bit of Egyptology, worked in theatre, bred race horses for a while and then wrote several fantastic books on non-duality! What a life!

There's a great internet archive of his work here:

http://www.weiwuwei.8k.com/

Here's another great quote (sorry if already posted by someone!):

Why are you unhappy?
Because 99.9 per cent
Of everything you think,
And of everything you do,
Is for yourself —
And there isn't one.

[IChingUChing]

In a writing mood so here's something else I love. Although it's hot and sunny where I am, it must be winter somewhere in the world!


The Snow Man
By Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Audio version here:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174502

[Wind]

Don’t play ping-pong with your mind.
Simply stay as the detached witnessing presence.
When left alone, mind calms down by itself.
But don’t wait for this to happen.
Just remain as the unmixed presence.
Observe without interest or identity from a space of neutrality.
Confirm yourself as impersonal awareness.
Live above the mind.

~ Mooji

[joeecho]

...... Live above the mind.


The mind is flawed.

I don't mind.


https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xfa1/t51.2885-15/s306x306/e15/11098193_891891804216486_1158684356_n.jpg

http://assets.test.mytshirtsviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/flawed-flawless_tee-design.png

http://izquotes.com/quotes-pictures/quote-i-think-we-love-watching-people-that-are-flawed-because-we-re-all-flawed-brad-garrett-68710.jpg

[Guish]

Letting go can be practised anywhere and anytime and letting go quiets the mind.
Let go of your thoughts
Let go of emotions
Let go of events
Let go of people
Let go of identities
Give your best shot and let go of the result
Let go of the idea of letting go

[joeecho]

Letting go can be practised anywhere and anytime and letting go quiets the mind.
Let go of your thoughts
Let go of emotions
Let go of events
Let go of people
Let go of identities
Give your best shot and let go of the result
Let go of the idea of letting go

I know what you mean, I think.

One night recently I was sitting alone looking up at the sky and had all of these 'deep' questions swirly in my head without satisfactory answers coming forth to quiet the questions. So, what I did was send out in space a request to something greater then I to answer this storm of questions swirling in my head. Perhaps some kind of transcendent experience.

The next thing I did was quiet down and I guess I was expecting a thought voice would appear (or not) with some kind of reply. What I got was unexpected, what happened is I had a thought voice of 'okay', a relaxing exhale of my lungs and a feeling of peace with the questions in my mind ceasing.

Thus was different from the past where the only thing that would quiet my mind would be one of three things: 1) for an answer to come into me mind (regardless of whether it was ultimately right or wrong). 2) a distraction. 3) exhaustion and sleep.

This time it was none of those three things. My mind didn't even say "but what about...."

It was just quieted and at peace.

(This was a relatively new experience for me.)

[IChingUChing]

And now a reminder for the morning, and for the rest of the week, and this month, and months after this. Let it go, let it go, let it go, dammit.


let it go – e.e. cummings

let it go – the
smashed word broken
open vow or
the oath cracked length
wise – let it go it
was sworn to
go

let them go – the
truthful liars and
the false fair friends
and the boths and
neithers – you must let them go they
were born
to go

let all go – the
big small middling
tall bigger really
the biggest and all
things – let all go
dear

so comes love

[Guish]

Letting go can be practised anywhere and anytime and letting go quiets the mind.
Let go of your thoughts
Let go of emotions
Let go of events
Let go of people
Let go of identities
Give your best shot and let go of the result
Let go of the idea of letting go

I know what you mean, I think.

One night recently I was sitting alone looking up at the sky and had all of these 'deep' questions swirly in my head without satisfactory answers coming forth to quiet the questions. So, what I did was send out in space a request to something greater then I to answer this storm of questions swirling in my head. Perhaps some kind of transcendent experience.

The next thing I did was quiet down and I guess I was expecting a thought voice would appear (or not) with some kind of reply. What I got was unexpected, what happened is I had a thought voice of 'okay', a relaxing exhale of my lungs and a feeling of peace with the questions in my mind ceasing.

Thus was different from the past where the only thing that would quiet my mind would be one of three things: 1) for an answer to come into me mind (regardless of whether it was ultimately right or wrong). 2) a distraction. 3) exhaustion and sleep.

This time it was none of those three things. My mind didn't even say "but what about...."

It was just quieted and at peace.

(This was a relatively new experience for me.)

You got a glimpse of bliss, my friend.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

The First Principle

When one goes to Obaku temple in Kyoto he sees carved over the gate the words "The First Principle". The letters are unusually large, and those who appreciate calligraphy always admire them as being a mastepiece. They were drawn by Kosen two hundred years ago.

When the master drew them he did so on paper, from which the workmen made the large carving in wood. As Kosen sketched the letters a bold pupil was with him who had made several gallons of ink for the calligraphy and who never failed to criticise his master's work.

"That is not good," he told Kosen after his first effort.

"How is this one?"

"Poor. Worse than before," pronounced the pupil.

Kosen patiently wrote one sheet after another until eighty-four First Principles had accumulated, still without the approval of the pupil.

Then when the young man stepped outside for a few moments, Kosen thought: "Now this is my chance to escape his keen eye," and he wrote hurriedly, with a mind free from distraction: "The First Principle."

"A masterpiece," pronounced the pupil.

[joeecho]

You got a glimpse of bliss, my friend.



That didn't fully occur to me in the moment but it fits when I have read about.

If a person/ entity in my present awareness would have said 'okay' to my tempest of swirling questions demanding answers I would have been frustrated and annoyed. I would have said "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, OKAY??". But that did not happen. I was simply at peace and content. Rationally it did not make sense in retrospect but that is what happened. I can still place myself in that moment of bliss, as you say.

I recall a similar time many years ago though it did not appear wrapped up in the question/ answer storm but more as a general sense of being 'in love'. The part I remember is driving down a road I had driven many times before and everything took on this most vivid look with emanating light from all objects in my field of vision. It was breath taking....everything...I mean....everything was shimmering. I can still place myself exactly back in that moment as well.

[greybeard]

Ramesh S. Balsekar - The Cosmic Law
Conversations with Ramesh S. Balsekar that came out under the title: The Cosmic Law - Talks On A happening Called Life.
The world is perfect as it is.

Ramesh translated for Nasargaddata


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyaMHCAJm9Q

[bodhii71]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbhx4CyACzMAmZNHfmSAKEw?spfreload=10
Ananda Foundation, part of linage of Yogananda. A wealth of information to be discovered or remembered.
Here is a link to the YouTube Channel.

[greybeard]

Paul Hedderman Talk April 19 2013

Talks on Selfing, Mind, Alcholism and AICM briefly.

He tells it as it is.

C



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCGgigYAQL0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvby5iGIJFg

[IChingUChing]

Also wonderfully clearly written:

From

The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation
The Method of Realizing Nirvanna Through Knowing The Mind
by Padma Sambhava

Mind In Its True State

" When one seeks one's mind in its true state, it is found to be quite intelligible although invisible. In its true state, mind is naked, immaculate; not made of anything, being of the Voidances; clear, vacuous, without duality, transparent, timeless, uncompounded, unimpeded, colorless, not realizable as a separate thing, but as the unity of all things, yet not composed of them; of one taste, and transcendent over all differentiation."

The Yoga Of Introspection

"The One Mind being verily of the Voidness and without any foundation, one's mind is, likewise, as vacuous as the sky. To know whether this be so or not, look within thine own mind.

Being of the Voidness, and thus not to be conceived as having beginning or end, Self-Born Wisdom has in reality been shining forever, like the Sun's essentiality, itself unborn. To know whether this be so or not, look within thine own mind.

Divine Wisdom is undoubtedly indestructible, unbreakable, like the ever flowing current of a river. To know whether this be so or not look within thine own mind. Being merely a flux of instability like the air of the firmament, objective appearances are without power to fascinate and fetter. To know whether this be so or not, look within thine own mind.

All appearances are verily one's own concepts, self-conceived in the mind, like reflections seen in a mirror. To know whether this be so or not, look within thine own mind.

Arising of themselves and being naturally free like the clouds in the sky, all external appearances verily fade away into their own respective places. To known whether this be so or not look within thine own mind."

[ZooLife]

Imagine Being. (I am)
Now, imaging not being. (I am)
One cannot imagine being or not being without being.
Imagine that

[Wind]

Due to the light of your own Satsang,
mind may be bringing every demon from hell
to stop you from going through the gate to Nirvana.
Don't worry. Everyone who has attained freedom experienced this.
Remember and know that God is with you.
There is a passage in the Bible. In the psalms of David it says:
'Though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death,
I will fear no evil knowing you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.'
Your attitude should be to offer everything up to the heart of life,
to God, to the inmost being, and to hold firm in your resolve for Truth.
This is a mighty existence.
Your spirit is mighty.
It will transcend everything.
Rumi, a great saint, once said:
‘Whoever brought me here
must take me home.'
Trust this!

~ Mooji

[Shadowman]

Imagine Being. (I am)
Now, imaging not being. (I am)
One cannot imagine being or not being without being.
Imagine that

Great comment zoo, and love your sig, it cracked me up :ROFL:

You cannot wake a person who is pretending to be sleep. ~ Navajo Proverb

Reminded me of this, apologies if already posted;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMRrCYPxD0I

Much Love,
tim

[ZooLife]

Imagine Being. (I am)
Now, imaging not being. (I am)
One cannot imagine being or not being without being.
Imagine that

Great comment zoo, and love your sig, it cracked me up :ROFL:

You cannot wake a person who is pretending to be sleep. ~ Navajo Proverb

Reminded me of this, apologies if already posted;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMRrCYPxD0I

Much Love,
tim

Thanks, Tim. I always get something from Alan Watts and his words even if I have heard them before.


As for 'my' writings, I meditate and what comes out, comes out.

Sometimes, when I re-read something I wrote I get something new out of it as if I am reading it from someone else's writings. Weird huh?

It's like that when I re-read a certain book, watch a particular movie or listen to a song I have heard many times before. All of the sudden I get at insight from them I never had before. It happens with stuff I've wrote and gone back later to re-read and meditate on anew.


http://36.media.tumblr.com/49e23d44ac258fb8d3a7bc7cb980564c/tumblr_n28eslSeUx1qf6rpvo1_500.jpg

[Guish]

Due to the light of your own Satsang,
mind may be bringing every demon from hell
to stop you from going through the gate to Nirvana.
Don't worry. Everyone who has attained freedom experienced this.
Remember and know that God is with you.
There is a passage in the Bible. In the psalms of David it says:
'Though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death,
I will fear no evil knowing you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.'
Your attitude should be to offer everything up to the heart of life,
to God, to the inmost being, and to hold firm in your resolve for Truth.
This is a mighty existence.
Your spirit is mighty.
It will transcend everything.
Rumi, a great saint, once said:
‘Whoever brought me here
must take me home.'
Trust this!

~ Mooji

Even after years of meditation, I may get a tough mental battle during Zazen and experience fear. I guess it's a long journey.

[Joey]

This week I had my first satori, which i think it was. It was super simple, super natural and very sobering. It was a shift, subtle but very profound. There is no way to describe it but simplicity, clarity and truth. Everything just was how it was and I stood in complete clarity.

It lasted only seconds till the ego gripped itself and started to analyse.

I see now that there is just nothing I can do to make this shift happen, because when it happens, it happens. Every aspect of spirituality is just something different than this, because enlightment is not spirituality, I see now. Enlightment is just the revelation of what is.

You cannot force what is to reveal itself, it just has to reveal. The ego cannot make this shift because the shift is the dropping of the ego.

There is no need for studying the teachtings of the enlightened ones, because analysing what is said will only grip the ego and make it complex, mysterious and fascinating. Enlightment is non of that at all. Of course I can still read it, but i have to consider it as entertainment only, for i now realise that reading the teachings will bring me no further.

The only thing i can do is meditate and bring my mind to what is. The shift has to come by itself and is out of my control.

[greybeard]

Joey thank you very much for sharing.
I agree with what you say regarding study and how the spiritual ego takes all this on board and swells up with pride as the one who knows.
Yes enlightenment has nothing to do with being spiritual, it just is.

However there is an energy in the videos etc which I find "encouraging" it lifts me--gets me through the day.

Tony Parsons worth a look as he gave up the search/spirituality totally and some time later it just happened.
His website below

http://www.theopensecret.com/

Much Love

Chris

[Joey]

Yes, i know Tony Parsons! Though i choose not to read these kind of things anymore. I found the teachings confusing because i can't get my mind around it. I start to think about it and this only gets me further off.
The flash of real insight gives me more rest in not being involved in these things. Though I can completely understand that reading these things can give you rest and power, a sense of belonging and meaning.

I understand now that these teachings won't get me anywhere. Letting them go completely and being open for the shift to occur will suit me more. I don't even know if it works.

Meditating though seems a good thing, because that does give me rest in my being.

Thanks for the reply! I feel gratitude for being able to share this experience here.

[betoobig]

Thanks for your take Joey it resonates so much with me, i think now we are reciving so much light/knwolege that mastering yourself is achiveable, only requires an open heart. Perhaps in the old days of darkness a master was needed in order to focus on light/knwolege.
I think many of us desire enlightment so much that it prevent it from occuring, there is the real "let go" for me, perhaps for you too, Rachel. I feel so much related to your latest posts.
In a different form all i read here helps me find the way when i feel lost, but once in the way is not either up to me.
"don´t worry nothing is under control" don´t remember who said it.
Love...Evol
Juan

[Wind]

Tell your mind to come.
Be open. Do not be afraid. Stay as heart.
You simply be the space in which everything happens.
Nothing is a big deal.
Everything comes and goes in the stillness of your Peace.
This is your power. This is your strength.
Stay as the great space.
You may start off as a person but you end up as the presence.
As you keep watching with neutrality you find yourself as Presence.
And when the person is gone, the voice of the serpent will also be gone.
But don't wait.
Don't wait for Presence. Be presence.
You just be empty.
And stop thinking about the future.
Nothing is there for you.
Nobody has ever experienced the future.
You are only ever now.
Where do these words come from when they are not prepared for you in the kitchen of the mind?
They flow straight from the Source itself.
His timing is always perfect.
And He does not need to study anything.
He is never on the way to somewhere.
Is there something that wants to run now?
Be aware of this.
Is he, the runner, a representative for you?
Don't be confused by the one who wants to run.
If you run now, you are running away with the one you should be running away from.
You don't need to run.
Simply turn away from his company and be in the stillness of your own Heart.
Be in your God-space. Be one with that. It is your true space.
The Supreme Lord says, 'Be still and know I am God.'

~ Mooji

[Grizz Griswold]

A recent video by Paul Hedderman.

irPtfwXvRdg

Love
b

[Innocent Warrior]

Yes Juan, it has become most clear to me to just let go, at this point. I agree with what Joey is saying, but it's all relative to where we're at on our path.

I've been going through this cycle of letting go, getting distracted (Rach back in the ego), becoming aware I'm distracted (bring light to what's causing the contrast/conflict), and letting go again, for years now. It's like a birthing process, I experience it that way. With each cycle I get sucked back into ego; contraction, I then get back to centre, having achieved more disidentification with ego and clarity of who my true self is. Also, each contraction becomes more intense and I've come to the point where I'm simply turned off ego, kind of like when I got drunk on rum once (and very sick) and could never drink rum again. Ego is rum to me now.

It also took a lot for me to really see where the ego comes in, all that's left is me, the immutable core, this is where I must reside, to, as Joey said, allow the enlightenment to emerge/happen.

So, I think at this point, I'm less interested in reading spiritual material, but on the way here, it was inspirational and helped anchor me into my true self. I still read/listen to Tolle and Bashar, to help me through a contraction, kind of like a reminder and, as Chris mentioned, for their energy.

I feel I'm coming to the end of letting go, for this I am grateful. Birthing is hard work.

This is why I'm not posting as much, I don't have much left to say. Mostly just that I love you, my tribe. <3

[Wind]

"Personally" I might not have anything interesting to add to this thread, but I'll keep on posting Mooji's daily wisdoms since they give me some help and inspiration, besides Paul Brunton's daily thoughts. Of course sometimes I tend to watch videos too, but my attention span isn't the best so I prefer the short ones. It's interesting to know that we are the Self, but yet we are also experiencing things as persons who have our daily lives, troubles and joys. It's a process... Which unfolds constantly.


The person is noisy and seeks peace, but cannot find it.
Peace is not a gift one receives from outside.
Paradoxically, it arises from within when the 'person',
who appears to be seeking it, is seen to be unreal.
Trust. When there is true urge to find Truth, grace reveals what mind cannot.
Peace is here, behind the mind, awaiting recognition.
It is unmixed Presence—timelessly present.

It is synonymous with your true Self but not with your person.

You exist without the 'person' but the 'person' cannot exist without you,
for it is not sentient, whereas You are.

Turn your attention within and discern the Real from the unreal.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

You exist without the 'person' but the 'person' cannot exist without you,
for it is not sentient, whereas You are.



Good point. Discussing spirituality is important to me even if we end up talking about things we already know. I got a lot of insights from a lot of people on this forum. Truth becomes brighter when one expresses it in an infinite number of ways in all actions and thoughts. Buddha would be teaching the same thing over and over again to people because truth needs to express itself. Not in a egoistical way but as a service to mankind to alleviate pain...

[greybeard]

There is a process called triangulation--where in order to find ones position several points of view are noted. (landmarks for navigation)
I have found it invaluable to get input from contributors here and various teachers.
There is a commonality which tends to confirm that I am on course--so to speak.
Its also an online Satsang which is for me invaluable.

Thanks to all members of the "tribe"--- smiling.

Much love
Chris

[Innocent Warrior]

Just to be clear, I'm just saying why I don't have much to say (or desire to read as much), at this time. Probably should have used a better phrase than "outgrown" (changed it). I love and appreciate this thread.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Monarch_Butterfly_-_Danaus_plexippus_(5890526585).jpg

[Guish]

Not speaking is normal at a certain stage because truth doesn't need to be proven in spirituality. When one is in bliss, there's no need to prove it but one uses it to alleviate pain at a certain point. For example, a few months ago, I proposed some exercises to help a person cure back pain. The person ended up becoming spiritual and quit eating meat and meditate regularly. Opening and helping is an effect of increased awareness.

[ZooLife]

Very good points I, myself, would or could have brought up but they already have been brought up here so I will remain 'silent'............ ;)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv-CYpWjerY

"Old Mr. Webster could never define
What's being said between your heart and mine"


Even though this song touches on the power of silence it STILL sings about it. Hmmmmmmmm


Silence, unchanged by sound.

Sound, changed by silence.


P.s. True silence has it impostures......

http://cruelcrazybeautifulworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/opinion-duct-tape.jpg


:P

[Wind]

"Eckhart explores reactivity, karmic law, and the role that an individual’s level of consciousness plays in the collective awakening of humanity."

XfI8huo5jd4

[greybeard]

Eckhart in "The Power of Now" really got my attention with the "Pain Body" all of a sudden a lot of things fell into place.
I then found it easy to forgive the "me" and others, I could understand why people, including me, did what they did.
A few "thoughtless" words can take a life time to recover from.
The concept of pain body really made sense of old expressions like--" He wasn’t him self" or "She was out of sorts"
If people knew better they would do better.
At the moment the pain body has taken over, reactions and actions are often not sane, balanced, or appropriate.

I was thinking over what the spiritual "search" has done for me.
It may not have brought about the enlightened state or awareness that I and all are enlightened but the fringe benefits make it all well worth while.
The perception of life and what it is and does is radically different.
I no longer have a victim mentality---no one and nothing is doing anything to me.
Events are not taken personally any more.

"Events happen
Deeds are done
There is no doer there of"

This does no absolve me of responsibility for what I seem to do.

A story
"A man was up before the judge due to be sentenced for a heinous crime.
The prisoner claimed that God acting through him had done the deed, therefore he was not guilty
The Judges response was "Well God acting through the executioner will dispatch you home"

Seems I may not bring about or instigate events but limited free will says that I can say yes or no to my involvement.
The event may or may not happen anyway.
The important part is my "seeming" intention.
Truth is that I dont have that much control over my intention as that is greatly influenced by the context of the event.my belief system and conditioning.

Love Chris

[Wind]

Sometimes I slip into the "poor me" thinking due to suffering and conditioning, but it does not fully always capture me as it once used to, because I am aware of the ego and the pain body. These things happen to "me" and my will is not that free after all, but at least I can choose how and from where to react. From the mind or the heart. In a way I have noticed that I have surrendered a lot, but there is still also resistance and also the will to be healed and become a fully whole human being, which I have never really been. I think I have been someone who has been limited in many ways and that has lead me to this path.

"You must remember that everyone without exception stands in life just where the evolutionary flow has brought him and that his outward life is the result of all those previous experiences in many, many incarnations. His outlook and his beliefs, his attitude towards life are all part of his evolving growth. Therefore you will not try to convert him. If, however, doubts begin to arise in his mind and he asks you questions, then it is right for you to speak to him of a higher viewpoint. But say just what needs to be said to give him the light you see he needs, and no more. If you go too far you will confuse him. If you give him just enough to carry his mind a step onward you will help him. Until then every effort you make is wasted; it is throwing seed on to stony ground.

Therefore, unless you are asked in this way it is unnecessary and often unwise to advertise that you are following spiritual practices or believe in spiritual truths. If you live with others and make a fuss about these things you may arouse their hostility. If you really have something to give them they will come to you one day and ask for help. You must learn discretion in dealing with people. You must learn when to be silent and when to speak, and when you do speak how much to say."

~ Paul Brunton

http://i.imgur.com/IWJ2qwW.jpg

[Wind]

Sometimes I say to people, 'Keep quiet,' but once the egoic identity drops away,
you will come to see that even this advice to 'keep quiet' becomes meaningless.
There is nobody left to keep quiet.
When there is somebody there to keep quiet, there is noise.
When there is nobody left to keep quiet, there is unbroken Silence.

~ Mooji

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/t31.0-8/p180x540/11879151_10153270096038962_7853755838454577224_o.jpg

[joeecho]

Truth is that I dont have that much control over my intention as that is greatly influenced by the context of the event.my belief system and conditioning.


This is one of the things that has become more and more evident to me the more I meditate on this idea I highlighted in your post, Chris.

Old belief systems (the whole spectrum) and old conditioning are the hardest things to overcome, for me. Part of me understands that, in theory, and that it should be as easy as......"just do that". But the other part says "what is the point?" or other such ideas/ nonsense.

There is quite the exchange of ideas etc. that goes on in this theater of the mind up 'here' <points to the head as the assumed place thoughts take place>.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jDFapDmOk7U/maxresdefault.jpg

[Meggings]

What is the 'Mountain of Lies' but a collective agreement that you are not divine beings? The belief that one is higher than another, or more deserving, is foolishness. Do you hear this? It’s foolishness. How could God be identified in you and not the one beside you? “Well I am more enlightened,” you may say. If you believe you are more enlightened than anybody, you have great work ahead of you. That is the convenience of the ego who seeks specialness and there is no one special. You are all special so no one is.

Now here is the good news. If you know you are the one creating you can change. If you think she did it to you, or they did it to you, you claim an identity in victimhood and that’s what you create from. Do you understand this, yes?

You have the right, you see, to be in participation to great change, but you disavow your ability to be the one who creates anew because you are in adherence to all of these forms based in fear. “Well it’s not my job to care for that man down the street.” “I have mouths to feed at home.” “I have a job that pays me very little.” “I must sacrifice for my family.” We are not saying that this is not so, but we are saying you are your brother's keeper.

This above was given through someone I honour. Here's the link: http://paulselig.com/2014/05/channeling-mountain-lies/

[joeecho]

There is no morality of 'spirit' other then what one attempts to affix to 'it'.

As soon as one affixed morality to spirit, it is no longer that.

Morality, however, hints of the presence of spirit.


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dLiQCvrw4hQ/U7CTp5_R7GI/AAAAAAAAH1k/SPdCBI5yZrs/s1600/amo4.jpg

[Innocent Warrior]

What we perceive we make real and we perceive what we believe. We are life.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/imagenes_ciencia/conscious_universe303_01.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a6/f7/b0/a6f7b0e3a60c2f2f0ba8c9b4fea10d9d.jpg

http://www.hasanbanks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Believe-in-Yourself-hd-wallpapers.jpg

[joeecho]

I believe that believing leads to more believing and so on and so forth.

I believe that 'I am' and so much more yet so much less.

If I was asked to tell, in one word, who I am I would say.........

.
.
.
.
.

:)


http://www.georgemacdonaldquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/SeeingIsNotBelieving2.jpg

[Innocent Warrior]

http://www.georgemacdonaldquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/SeeingIsNotBelieving2.jpg

Precisely. Believing is seeing. We arrive with amnesia and inherit what we believe, according to what we experience. We then experience more of the same, perpetuating a world that no longer serves us, "seeing is believing". When we choose what we believe, despite all the programming, we choose what we experience. A new world requires new eyes, not a new scene, scenes unfold from consciousness, they do not create, we do.

[IChingUChing]

There is seeing
There is believing

I like what I once read from one of the original guys (can't remember his name now) from Liberty Unleased (check it out, it's good what they're doing) who had his "break through" pondering Descarte's "I think therefore I am". From the latin, he says he realised that what actually was being said was:

Thinking therefore Am-ness

As someone's has written on this thread before - it's all a verb, no nouns!!!!!

Or verbing as Paul Hedderman likes to say.

[joeecho]

There is seeing
There is believing

I like what I once read from one of the original guys (can't remember his name now) from Liberty Unleased (check it out, it's good what they're doing) who had his "break through" pondering Descarte's "I think therefore I am". From the latin, he says he realised that what actually was being said was:

Thinking therefore Am-ness

As someone's has written on this thread before - it's all a verb, no nouns!!!!!

Or verbing as Paul Hedderman likes to say.

In the spirit of one-ness or am-ness, (RE: "it's all a verb, no nouns").... it's all words.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JECTUQVrvzE

You think that I don't even mean
A single word I say
It's only words, and words are all
I have to take your heart away

.
.

http://image.slidesharecdn.com/words-of-wisdom-by-steven-wright-1234780865352523-3/95/words-of-wisdom-by-steven-wright-60-728.jpg?cb=1234759343

[joeecho]

http://www.georgemacdonaldquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/SeeingIsNotBelieving2.jpg

Precisely. Believing is seeing. We arrive with amnesia and inherit what we believe, according to what we experience. We then experience more of the same, perpetuating a world that no longer serves us, "seeing is believing". When we choose what we believe, despite all the programming, we choose what we experience. A new world requires new eyes, not a new scene, scenes unfold from consciousness, they do not create, we do.

What if that which has never been seen is what should be believed?

'Evidently' that is just crazy talk.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q29NwzscRic

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-78ZDfMLBmQE/VGbQoNFZdwI/AAAAAAAAPBA/cbQHeT-PjNo/s1600/Stewie-crazy.gif

[Guish]

Someone asked me: How can one exist without beliefs? How can one create without thoughts? How can one live without will? How can one survive without wants? How can one exist without achievements?

[Guish]

It is like the purification of muddy water stored in a clean container; left unshaken in complete calmness, the sand and mud will sink to the bottom. When the clear water appears, this is called the first suppression of the intruding element of passion. When the mud has been removed leaving behind only the clear water, this is called the permanent cutting off of basic ignorance.

[Joey]

What a wonderful realisation that enlightment is all there is!
Nowhere to go, nothing to attain and no-one to become.

To let that really sink in, to really grasp it: The outward conditions are irrelevant for enlightment, because god's kingdom is ALL there is.

What a relaxing sensation! :)

[greybeard]

What a wonderful realisation that enlightment is all there is!
Nowhere to go, nothing to attain and no-one to become.

To let that really sink in, to really grasp it: The outward conditions are irrelevant for enlightment, because god's kingdom is ALL there is.

What a relaxing sensation! :)

Welcome to the thread Joey.
Your post sums it up nicely.

Much Love
Chris

[joeecho]

What a wonderful realisation that enlightment is all there is!
Nowhere to go, nothing to attain and no-one to become.

To let that really sink in, to really grasp it: The outward conditions are irrelevant for enlightment, because god's kingdom is ALL there is.

What a relaxing sensation! :)

I sense some sarcasm in your post but if there wasn't, there should be.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/draculeen/hamylet.jpg

If you're asking the question, you're already on the wheel.

[Joey]

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/draculeen/hamylet.jpg



I am sincere, though not serious. In recent years I strived for my better selve. My spiritual practices would always involve some aspect of becoming. I would read things form Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle or Tony Parsons. They would always confuse me highly and overload my mental activity.

I had some minor glimpses recently, which are really minor. But that changed the whole show for me.

I really saw at that point there is but one-doing and that the enlightenment is all there is. Ofcourse I started analyzing and then these words came out. But when I now read things from say Alan Watts, it is a deeply comforting experience, because now I can see truth in it. Truth I couldn't perceive before.

[Wind]

Don't take the world upon your shoulders.
You don't have such a responsibility.
Your responsibility is to find and be your Self.
Nobody can save this world. Leave all to God.
Also it is good to know and have this attitude
that nothing in this world belongs to you—not even 'you'.
Everything is Him alone.
When you know this, all suffering and sorrows will go.
The space that remains is your true Self—who is He.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

What a relaxing sensation! :)


It's a state beyond senses.

[Joey]

I am sharing my joy of discovering and I dont wish to be (linguistically) correct.

[greybeard]

Anything I post is from the level Im at, at that moment.
Its an honest attempt to convey/share something which might be useful.
Some times it comes from mind--mostly heart.
Ultimately none of it is true as it is talking about rather than it.
Silent awareness is here at times--that's as close as I can get with written words.
Bliss comes and goes unannounced.

This thread is great as it accommodates all levels of "experience", knowledge coming from different countries, cultures and spiritual practices.
Always with respect in the sharing.

Much love
Chris

[Joey]

Thank you Chris for your heartfelt message.

[Guish]

I am sharing my joy of discovering and I dont wish to be (linguistically) correct.

Bliss is a trap too as it's a mental state. Accepting any state without clinging to any is what we converge towards in the long run.

[greybeard]

I am sharing my joy of discovering and I dont wish to be (linguistically) correct.

Bliss is a trap too as it's a mental state. Accepting any state without clinging to any is what we converge towards in the long run.

I think that is true up to a point Guish.
In that looking for it to happen, then as you say attempting to cling on to it, as if you can, is not helpful as the ego gets in there as in "I am spiritually advanced, because I get these states"

True neither attraction nor aversion would apply.

Im not convinced that is a mental state as it seem to happen to those who have gone beyond mind like Ramana Maharshi.

He spent years not speaking and would have died if he had not been fed.
The bliss was so all encompassing, there was no person left to be interested in food or even staying alive.
The state was so complete nothing else was required, needed or even thought of.

Yogananda described it as "Ever new bliss"

Eckhart Tolle spent two years sitting on a park bench in a state of bliss.
Dr Hawkins spent about six years in a similar state just existing on an apple,water and some cheese.

With me it just comes and goes--im not looking for it--im not meditating at the time--it may only last a few minutes or an hour.

Any way that's my thought on it.

Much Love
Chris

[Joey]

Bliss is a trap too as it's a mental state. Accepting any state without clinging to any is what we converge towards in the long run.

Thank for your sidenote and I do take heed on it. I aknowledge that the mental state can be quite sticky and glue-like.
I am not in anyway 'thinking' myself enlightened altough I can see that this is a possible trap.

I know I am 'not there' in anyway.

In the end, all this discussing and sharing is futile, because final realisation is something which probably won't arise when someone shares their story. But it can be fun in the meantime!

[Grizz Griswold]

I am sharing my joy of discovering and I dont wish to be (linguistically) correct.

Bliss is a trap too as it's a mental state. Accepting any state without clinging to any is what we converge towards in the long run.

I think that is true up to a point Guish.
In that looking for it to happen, then as you say attempting to cling on to it, as if you can, is not helpful as the ego gets in there as in "I am spiritually advanced, because I get these states"

True neither attraction nor aversion would apply.

Im not convinced that is a mental state as it seem to happen to those who have gone beyond mind like Ramana Maharshi.

He spent years not speaking and would have died if he had not been fed.
The bliss was so all encompassing, there was no person left to be interested in food or even staying alive.
The state was so complete nothing else was required, needed or even thought of.

Yogananda described it as "Ever new bliss"

Eckhart Tolle spent two years sitting on a park bench in a state of bliss.
Dr Hawkins spent about six years in a similar state just existing on an apple,water and some cheese.

With me it just comes and goes--im not looking for it--im not meditating at the time--it may only last a few minutes or an hour.

Any way that's my thought on it.

Much Love
Chris

A Course in Miracles describes a constant state of joy. This state being enjoyed along
with our mind being joined with the Mind of God. It also says that in reality there is only
one mind, that of God. What passes for thinking, when not thinking with the Mind of God
is actually Sleep/dreaming.

It goes on to describe the way to tell your'e not thinking with the Mind of God, There is
a loss of Peace or even the slightest irritation, are indicators one is in sleep or dreaming.

Kinda sounds like a tall order doesn't It? LOL

We've gone to great lengths to be an individual, I/Me/My independent of God.
What we perceive as being hard or almost possible to do (Think with the Mind of God)
is actually the easiest...but then We can believe whatever We want!

Enjoyed Your post Chris

With Love
barry

[joeecho]

I am sharing my joy of discovering and I dont wish to be (linguistically) correct.

Bliss is a trap too as it's a mental state. Accepting any state without clinging to any is what we converge towards in the long run.

I see this in regards to identity meaning no matter what we experience or how often, that is not our identity even if it became an eternal habit. Any 'habit' can potentially be a trap within the backdrop of eternity.

http://www.swisswatermassage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sweety-girl-floating-over-water_19001.jpg

[Wind]

"In the earlier stage, the Ego was the agent for all his spiritual activities, whilst it provided the motives which impelled him into these activities. But the Ego can never be really sincere in desiring its own destruction, nor can it ever draw from its own resources the power to rise above itself. So it must reach this point where it ceases self-effort and surrenders itself to the higher power which may be variously named God or the Higher Self, and relies on that power for further progress…"

~ Paul Brunton

[joeecho]

"In the earlier stage, the Ego was the agent for all his spiritual activities, whilst it provided the motives which impelled him into these activities. But the Ego can never be really sincere in desiring its own destruction, nor can it ever draw from its own resources the power to rise above itself. So it must reach this point where it ceases self-effort and surrenders itself to the higher power which may be variously named God or the Higher Self, and relies on that power for further progress…"

~ Paul Brunton


The ego is the ultimate trickster. It can appear to utterly destroy itself only to reappear somewhere 'else' in the same form or another completely different one.

One can only marvel at it's ingenuity. No?

http://www.kellymoore.net/images/tricksterparade_001.jpg

http://www.terrebritton.com/studio1/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/naive-trickster-terre-britton-jan2014-7-nosig-575px.jpg

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120519145900/powerlisting/images/1/13/Raven_tricster.jpg

http://orig04.deviantart.net/aa54/f/2012/056/8/1/fox_by_skia-d4qxdro.jpg

[Wind]

We keep God as 'other' and like this we keep our 'I' as separate from Him.
But neither you, the Self, nor God are 'other'.
Better still, let all else be 'other' and you be nothing.
The awakened one says: I feel you in me as me whenever I, as ego, am no more.
Then ego is 'other'. In fact, it cannot even be found.

Therefore, let your prayer be,
‘Let me effortlessly forget myself personally and remember and be united in You alone, timelessly.’

~ Mooji

[Wind]

It is a great miracle that a human being,
confronted with so many challenges,
can rise like the lotus flower above the murky waters of the mind.
Though the lotus grows in muddy places,
its flower remains immaculate throughout its life.
Even in heavy rainfall when the waters rise,
the lotus will always be found above the surface.
Beloved one, in the same way, live above the worldly mind.

~ Mooji

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/p180x540/11057519_10153287011873962_2894924045069346607_o.jpg

[Guish]

The lotus has a powerful image and message. The lotus is beautiful and is undisturbed by its environment. In the same way, we have the potential to be undisturbed when the mind moves. We can't prevent the mind to move but we can stay unmoved while it moves because we are not the mind.

[Guish]

https://scontent-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlp1/v/t1.0-9/11951175_745697382205972_8301985313708953067_n.jpg?oh=ca0c526d6c4e8ea171c3c33982e6e450&oe=566FF594

[Wind]

Why, in general, don't employers give more than 4 weeks holiday in one run? Because perhaps, after a good break, it is likely you won't want to go back to work... [laughs]

If you don't maintain your relationship with your personal identity or ego for some time, you also won't want to go back to it. You will forget about it and be free of it.

We often don't realise that it takes memory, practice and effort to continue being an ego, whereas it takes no effort to be one's true Self.

Ego is full-time high maintenance. Its wages are low and its taxes are sky high.

The true Self is natural, harmonious and effortlessly content.

True wisdom is to use one's life to discover and be This.

~ Mooji

[Wind]

So what has to happen is that we have to come back to a saying, view of our own life, which is the way we really are: an organism functioning in terms of the whole environment, with the whole environment, instead of this funny little separate personality. You can’t change human nature over night.

You’re asking us to give up the ego, and that’s the most difficult of all things to do. Actually, it isn't, because the ego doesn’t exist. But of course if you try to give up your ego with your ego, then it will take you to the end of time. Because this is the point: you can’t transform yourself. You can’t make yourself sane, you can’t make yourself loving, you can’t make yourself unselfish. And yet it’s absolutely necessary that we be that way. It’s absolutely necessary if we are going to hand over the direction of nature to nature, which is what it comes to.

It’s absolutely necessary that we let go of ourselves, and it can’t be done. Not by anything that we call doing it, acting it, willing, or even just accepting things. You can’t do it. Why? Because you don’t really exist as that separate ego or personality. It’s just an idea, based on a phony feeling."

~ Alan Watts

Fx3ZBQDT4OA

[Guish]

Good Dharmas arise and evil karmas too,
Yet both are but illusions.
The body is like foam,
Like wind the mind;
Illusion has no base and no reality.

- Sikhin Buddha

[joeecho]

Why, in general, don't employers give more than 4 weeks holiday in one run? Because perhaps, after a good break, it is likely you won't want to go back to work... [laughs]

If you don't maintain your relationship with your personal identity or ego for some time, you also won't want to go back to it. You will forget about it and be free of it.

We often don't realise that it takes memory, practice and effort to continue being an ego, whereas it takes no effort to be one's true Self.

Ego is full-time high maintenance. Its wages are low and its taxes are sky high.

The true Self is natural, harmonious and effortlessly content.

True wisdom is to use one's life to discover and be This.

~ Mooji

WOW! I can REALLY identify with this experience.....BIG TIME!

http://www.ewednewz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Back-to-work-300x300.jpg

http://invisiblebread.com/comics/2013-02-19-back-to-work.png

I would like to draw one of these cards from the game of life we are playing.

https://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/get-out-of-work-free.png?w=300&h=171

[Innocent Warrior]

p8ak9ulXktk

[Guish]

Work is actually a wonderful platform for spiritual progress. It's too easy to be on a retreat and be in the moment. Being in the moment while raising kids, working and be selfless and calm at the same time really tests one's real inner kingdom.

[Wind]

The Self is not to be found as a prize at the end of a long journey.
It is not produced or created. It is, in fact, a discovery, a recognition.
There can seem to be obstacles that block you from this revelation,
but these are only what you give attention and importance to.
It is only a shadow, for these obstacles do not really exist
other than through belief.
You have all the power to discard them and keep your peace.
So to begin, start where you want to finish.
Start at the finishing line, at what is naturally present,
what is already here, at the place where you do not need
to maintain or sustain anything.
There you will discover that what you are searching for
is your own inseparable Self.

~ Mooji

[IChingUChing]

I decided to add what for me is a very good U.G. video after looking at the one in the I'm having a very difficult time after watching this video, please help!! thread.

Sometimes in U.G.'s talks he answers directly about politics, environment or whatever and it can be harder to discern what he is pointing to on a meta-level. Here I think he is very clear. Enjoy! .... if one can say such a thing with U.G.!!!!!

The talk starts at 3:09 and there's blip somewhere in the middle but that's 90's amateur video for you.


LCfz-VbM5eI

[Wind]

All problems have to be personal. There are no impersonal problems.
Reflect. You can only suffer when you imagine yourself to be a person.
In the state of personhood, you feel you are or can become a unique entity with unique qualities:
that you can be loved or not loved, worthy or unworthy, a success or a failure.
'You are on my team,' or, 'I don't want you!'
Such words can only be uttered in duality and impact on the 'person'.
The state of ego identity is fundamentally insecure.
And it is good it is this way, because if it were not,
your chance to be free would be almost impossible.

In this life, you have the greatest opportunity to move beyond this limited identity of personhood.
Those who suffer from the ego's attacks are in some way fortunate, for they are nearer to discovering the distanceless Truth. Why?
Because at a certain point, their egos become so unbearable that they run out of moves and then everything has to collapse back into the Source.
If your ego was so wonderful and everything was going great and all your projections were fulfilled, there would be no attraction to the real Self.

The Self will not allow this.
It always gives you, the 'presence', the advantage.
Even if you were in hell, you would have the advantage,
because the seed of being in you is the eternal seed of the Real.

~ Mooji

[Innocent Warrior]

Adam Scott Miller

http://solpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Spirit-of-Place-By-Adam-Scott-Miller.jpg

Excerpt from an interview with featured artist, Adam Scott Miller (solpurpose.com).

When I was fifteen years old, I suffered an impact to my head resulting in a concussion and damage to my optic nerves. Obvious to me afterwards, my memory and vision was affected. Mysteriously, I began seeing subtle forms throughout all space, within my immediate vicinity. One aspect of logical evidence, giving these ghostly forms a proof of objective reality is that they moved in spacial accordance to physical reality. Examples of this being: wispy strands that transfer between my fingers when held palm facing palm; snakelike currents of tendrils moving along floors, up walls and around corners; and perceiving things within a person’s “auric” field that move in immediate accord to that person’s movement. This experiential proof has catalyzed my gnostic faculty to recognize occult dimensions of presence that are normally hidden from view by the perceptual mechanisms, biological and psychic. This “shamanic wound” marked my life as a formative causal factor in how and what I see. It was the way in which I healed also, that opened this latent gift. There has been many documented cases of people accurately hearing the radio after a brain injury, when it is not on. This implies that everyone has the potential to hear the radio when it’s turned off since it is already there inside everyone’s brain, we just don’t access it. This is an example of extreme perception that can happen after a head injury, and the brain is rewiring itself. I had already consciously begun my spiritual search, artistic self-styling, and the occasional phenomena of recognizing etheric forms… so it seems my intention directed this rewiring.

I was then at a point of no turning back, as my determined wish was to use my gifts to create and in so doing, evolve myself and help others attain the healing understanding I’d find in medicinal visions. I chose to be an artist because I couldn’t think of a more sensible and important role to play (in consideration of my talent and philosophical bias for it). The image is the most powerful tool we have in the sense of forging and communicating new ideas.

Source (http://solpurpose.com/featured-visionary-adam-scott-miller/).


http://www.energyartmovement.org/art/competition2011/Adam%20Scott%20Miller%20-%20The%20Epiphany%20of%20Sophia.jpg

[Zampano]

Every moment is perfect-every moment is the Absolute.
Every moment is now. Surrender.
In the moment, there is no attachement to anything.
Do not expect something to happen.
So simple. Just being

[betoobig]

I love seeing more Avalonians coming to this thread as i think everything and anything bring us here.
@ Guish ..."Being in the moment while raising kids, working and be selfless and calm at the same time really tests one's real inner kingdom." you just describe my now...and my real inner kingdom is starting to overflow outside, i can feel it, great now. Just breath. Thanks everyone.
Love...Evol

[greybeard]

I love seeing more Avalonians coming to this thread as i think everything and anything bring us here.
@ Guish ..."Being in the moment while raising kids, working and be selfless and calm at the same time really tests one's real inner kingdom." you just describe my now...and my real inner kingdom is starting to overflow outside, i can feel it, great now. Just breath. Thanks everyone.
Love...Evol

We love to have you visit.
Chris

[betoobig]

Unconditionally here and now dear Greybeard.
Much love

[Michelle Marie]

The ego disappears naturally as True Self is realized. It was a false identity dissolved by Truth and True Self Love. Whole, rather than part. Connected rather than separate.

Still stretching after initial awakening...yawning...pinching myself at this new glorious reality! Shaking off residual effluvia...

Sensing an empowered Divine Authority emerging.

Happy RebirthDay everybody!
:heart:MM:heart:

[greybeard]

The ego disappears naturally as True Self is realized. It was a false identity dissolved by Truth and True Self Love. Whole, rather than part. Connected rather than separate.

Still stretching after initial awakening...yawning...pinching myself at this new glorious reality! Shaking off residual effluvia...

Sensing an empowered Divine Authority emerging.

Happy RebirthDay everybody!
:heart:MM:heart:

Welcome to the thread MM and thank you for sharing your on going "experience"

Much love
Chris

[Innocent Warrior]

The Holy Grail


In the microcosm, in the human being, the Grail symbolizes the Ru- ach, the Higher Self or immortal spirit, called, in some traditions, the holy Guardian Angel. This individuated aspect of the One Life gives rise to our sense of "I-ness," our individuality, the useful illusion of separateness. Un- til we gain conscious awareness of this aspect of ourselves, it also gives rise to the illusion of separateness from the All. Our spirit is the grail for the Divine Self of the Self, that which alone is truly real, truly eternal.


In most of us, these higher aspects of human unfoldment, subsist as latent potential, like a seed that has yet to come into growth, flower, and fruitage. This is what the alchemical student, Thomas Aquinas, called latens Deitas and what the Western mysteries term the "God-Withinn or Adonai Interna. The purpose of the Great Work is to spiritualize the physical body so that the Higher Self may fully manifest on Earth. This is the awakening of a Buddha or a Christed One.

~ David Goddard (The Tower of Alchemy)


https://higherdensity.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/consciousness-1.jpg

[Guish]

To see the body as unreal
Is to see the Body of the Buddha.
To know the mind as an illusion
Is to know the Illusion of the Buddha.
If a person sees clearly
That mind and body are not real
How does he differ from the Buddha?

¤=[Post Update]=¤


I love seeing more Avalonians coming to this thread as i think everything and anything bring us here.
@ Guish ..."Being in the moment while raising kids, working and be selfless and calm at the same time really tests one's real inner kingdom." you just describe my now...and my real inner kingdom is starting to overflow outside, i can feel it, great now. Just breath. Thanks everyone.
Love...Evol

Very happy for you Juan. My two year old really pushes me to the extremes and he shows me where I need to work on.

[bodhii71]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUVwY4D1IPk

[greybeard]

The wisest knows nothing.
There is a lot that is helpful in this video, particularly near the end.
I play this regularly to let the immenseness of it sink in.

With love c



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaWzi16xrl4

[greybeard]

Conscious TV - Transformations (loaded 13 September 2015)

» Ravi Ravindra - 'A Voice Without A Form' - Interview by Iain McNay

Ravi Ravindra � 'A Voice Without A Form' - Interview by Iain McNay Author of many books including 'Science and the Sacred,' 'Krishnamurti - Two Birds On One Three' and 'Heart Without Measure. - Gurdjieff work with Madam de Salzmann.' Ravi was born in India in 1939. As a teenager he found himself reading the works of Swami Vivekananda and being 'pulled by a longing to understand the mystery and significance of life. He was struck by one particular statement: 'I am a voice without a form.' It opened a door to a new dimension for him. He talks about his time with Krishnamurti, 'Silence was a special delight to both of us, it was easy to understand each other's thoughts and feelings.' And then his 10 years with Madame De Salzmann who was head of the Gurdjieff work since the latter's death in 1949. She stressed, 'attention is all that we have, that is to say, attention is all that we can bring. The rest is out of our control. A higher energy is there. The purpose of man's existence on Earth is to allow the exchange of energy between the earth and higher levels of existence.'



http://conscious.tv/consciousness.html?bcpid=2439355001&bclid=18673093001&bctid=4477923450001

[Guish]

ook at the mountainside over there!
When the weather changes in a moment,
There’s a yellow alpine meadow
Below the clouds and mist.

Look at your own body! Look!
If you just look at your own body,
When the years, months,
And days have passed,
A lifetime has vanished in a flash.

Look at the truth
Of the way things really are!
It’s the primordial,
Naturally radiant, buddha body of reality.
Leave the mind in that unfabricated state!

[joeecho]

I once had this gnawing feeling that I had misplaced 'something' incredibly valuable though what it was, exactly, I could not be sure.
I did, however, have this sense that when I found 'it' I would know it when I did.

I looked every possible place inside ...... no where to be found.
I looked every possible place outside ...... no where to be found.

What I discovered is that the looking for 'it' kept me from finding 'it'.

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/53089251.jpg

(So why do I still look?)

[Philaletheian]

I've been thinking a lot about balance or how to balance the Yin and Yang, but it seems almost impossible because everyone always teels me to stay positive to all being and always carry love in my heart. After practising this for a couple of days, i felt empty the both the positivity and love seemed shallow, after sitting down and pondering on the topic for a while i realized that without some negative or hateful incident, i cannot feel the true power of positivity.

How do i let my negative aspect come out healthily or in a way that can be balanced out by the positivity, this was the question, but given how i was shallow about my feelings, due to the practice, i couldn't come up with an answer or somehow i felt disconnected from the source, hours of meditation with intention brings nothing forth, except silence. Many wise people told me to go back into my heart-cave, but anytime i do i feel I'm in the void. I believe in a God with no form, therefore i do not pray, even though im told to do so.

I feel like I'm on an desert island now, please help me by suggesting what do or what i've overlooked to get back to the source.

[greybeard]

I've been thinking a lot about balance or how to balance the Yin and Yang, but it seems almost impossible because everyone always teels me to stay positive to all being and always carry love in my heart. After practising this for a couple of days, i felt empty the both the positivity and love seemed shallow, after sitting down and pondering on the topic for a while i realized that without some negative or hateful incident, i cannot feel the true power of positivity.

How do i let my negative aspect come out healthily or in a way that can be balanced out by the positivity, this was the question, but given how i was shallow about my feelings, due to the practice, i couldn't come up with an answer or somehow i felt disconnected from the source, hours of meditation with intention brings nothing forth, except silence. Many wise people told me to go back into my heart-cave, but anytime i do i feel I'm in the void. I believe in a God with no form, therefore i do not pray, even though im told to do so.

I feel like I'm on an desert island now, please help me by suggesting what do or what i've overlooked to get back to the source.

Welcome to the thread Phillaletheian
From time to time all "seekers " feel the way you do.
First you can not be separated from Source--though it might feel like you are.
I would suggest that you listen to the Mooji video several posts back.
The enlightened are ok with praying, as in Truth they know there is only One and they are That, you are praying to that One Self which you are.
God is formless, as you are in your essence.
I would suggest letting go of judging what is good or bad and just observe--be aware.
Everything has its place and you are right--compassion etc can only arise when there is a need for it---nothing is ignored.
Just trust your self to do what is right--nothing is suppressed--neither attraction or aversion.
Best not to have any intention when meditating just let whatever comes to come all by itself--it will also go by itself--you remain.
Best to "surrender" without trying to.
Everything will happen naturally without forcing---that's exerting, my will not Thy will.

Hope this helps
Much love
Chris


http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?860-Enlightenment-and-related-matters.&p=998561&viewfull=1#post998561

[greybeard]

The Power of True Prayer

Mooji

The highest form of prayer becomes a praise and a contemplation—a unifying, a communion,
declaring and singing from the harmony with the Supreme.
True prayer has never been so much about attaining personal desires or acquiring spiritual techniques.
It is not soaked in duality.
If duality has any meaning here, it is to venerate the Supreme, which in the highest sense is the Supreme in praise of itself.

Ultimately, there are no dialogues in the world; it is a divine monologue, for in reality there are not two, but only the single reality in its appearance as many.

From the mind of a mystic and from that place of pure being, prayers and hymns to the Supremeare no different from non-dual contemplation.
What I call a mystic is one whose behaviour defiesthe personal mind’s understanding because they are functioning in the higher altitude of divine
harmony.

The personal mind does not understand the workings of the Self-mind; it cannot grasp it because it is steeped in duality.

A Self-realised being never feels apart from God, and therefore his prayers are spontaneous utterings arising inside the Boundless.
The surrendered heart never feels abandoned.

One has to become a separate ‘I’ or person to feel abandoned. But the true sense of ‘I’ is not separate, you see.
It is the first-born, the son of God, the dynamic consciousness that is experiencing existence and the world but is at the same time totally absorbed in its source.
It is like one facet of a divine gem,but the facet is not separate from the full gem. They are one.

In a way, it is a challenge to put aside our projections and fantasies about prayer.
However, the sincere seeker must leave them aside and come empty, thereby invoking these prayers to arise in the heart and just sing themselves inside one’s being.

If there is within you the urge to discover the Truth, and the sense of intimacy or belief in God grips you, prayer arises spontaneously and
you may find yourself saying, ‘All that I conceive myself to be I leave here at Your Feet. Absorb me in You.’

This is where inquiry and prayer meet, and the power of such a request is undeniable.
You will spontaneously come to understand and thus be transported into the presence of God.
When the intellect is present, then we speak of ‘I’ and God.
But when the intellect is itself seen, the seeing itself arises from the place of the Unborn.
Here, there is no you and there is no God in any way that the mind can truly fathom.
There is not even any mind as such. Nothing is there at all and yet there is a total completeness.
This is the place where nothing lives and nothing dies.
Only the one who has met God in the heart has the recognition, the confidence, freedom and joy to be nothing.
God imparts this freedom and joy to be nothing—empty of identity—the natural state.

We talk about God while we still have this touch, this taste of duality.
The feeling of ‘I creates the feeling of a separate God. But beyond that, when you have sieved yourself to nothing,
‘I’ shines as the seedless Truth. Meaning it is not a product, not secondary; but rather synonymous with the Absolute.
Thus there remains no duality of you and God, only the perfect Harmony, the Unspeakable—the immaculate, unborn Awareness God-Self.

The highest prayer is like a mantra. These are not things that can be easily explained in a way that makes complete sense to the mind.
It is like when you are dreaming, an alarm clock will wake you and so bring you out of the dream state.
Both the clock and the ringing are inside the dream state itself, but they will still awaken you from sleep.
Similarly, the true prayer has the power to wake you up from the phenomenal waking state into timeless Awareness, a space where seeing,
being and the ultimate are one.
This, the natural state, is the unmoving inside the moving, but it is also the moving.
It is the moving and the unmoving. This is what I call the God-Self.
It is the unmixed consciousness and alone is the face of the Real.
It is the one who is called Allah and the one who is called Jehovah and the one who is called Ishvara and the one who is called Siva.
It is all of these, and beyond these also.
It is unborn, limitless and timeless Awareness.
This is the ultimate Truth.


Chris says
This is very profound and explains a lot.
Many thanks to Mooji
C

[Innocent Warrior]

Lose the "my". Good tip.


"Those thoughts belong to the field, they're not yours. So don't claim ownership over which you have no ownership."

krWqgINJNWg

[Guish]

Me, I’m happy with the everyday way
Like the mist and vines in these
Rock-strewn ravine
This wilderness is so free and vast
My old friends, the white clouds
Drift idly off
There is a road, but it doesn’t reach the world
Mindless, who can be disturbed by thoughts
At night I sit alone on a stone bed
While the round moon climbs the face of
Cold Mountain

[Meggings]

Adam Scott Miller

http://solpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Spirit-of-Place-By-Adam-Scott-Miller.jpg

Excerpt from an interview with featured artist, Adam Scott Miller (solpurpose.com).

When I was fifteen years old, I suffered an impact to my head resulting in a concussion and damage to my optic nerves. Obvious to me afterwards, my memory and vision was affected. Mysteriously, I began seeing subtle forms throughout all space, within my immediate vicinity. One aspect of logical evidence, giving these ghostly forms a proof of objective reality is that they moved in spacial accordance to physical reality. Examples of this being: wispy strands that transfer between my fingers when held palm facing palm; snakelike currents of tendrils moving along floors, up walls and around corners; and perceiving things within a person’s “auric” field that move in immediate accord to that person’s movement. This experiential proof has catalyzed my gnostic faculty to recognize occult dimensions of presence that are normally hidden from view by the perceptual mechanisms, biological and psychic. This “shamanic wound” marked my life as a formative causal factor in how and what I see. It was the way in which I healed also, that opened this latent gift. There has been many documented cases of people accurately hearing the radio after a brain injury, when it is not on. This implies that everyone has the potential to hear the radio when it’s turned off since it is already there inside everyone’s brain, we just don’t access it. This is an example of extreme perception that can happen after a head injury, and the brain is rewiring itself. I had already consciously begun my spiritual search, artistic self-styling, and the occasional phenomena of recognizing etheric forms… so it seems my intention directed this rewiring.

I was then at a point of no turning back, as my determined wish was to use my gifts to create and in so doing, evolve myself and help others attain the healing understanding I’d find in medicinal visions. I chose to be an artist because I couldn’t think of a more sensible and important role to play (in consideration of my talent and philosophical bias for it). The image is the most powerful tool we have in the sense of forging and communicating new ideas.



Rachel, I am "blown away" by reading this post of yours. When I saw the opening art work I thought, my gosh, he can see portals! Then I read of him seeing "...wispy strands that transfer between my fingers when held palm facing palm; snakelike currents of tendrils moving along floors, up walls and around corners; and perceiving things within a person’s “auric” field that move in immediate accord to that person’s movement. ...to recognize occult dimensions of presence that are normally hidden from view by the perceptual mechanisms..." and I wanted to say, "Right on!"

I have seen thought enlivened with emotional intent erupt from a lounging teenager who suddenly got an impulse to do something. This erupted from him and he immediately left off lounging and went to do whatever it was that his thought was about.

I have seen a person speak confusion and watched it come out of his mouth and hang in the air around his head as a medium-light grey energy blob.

I have seen anger in another as BLACK - once an angry person came at me and I saw a wall of black come at me and I fell down physically and got a concussion. The person in question said he'd "only lightly touched me", but the energy of his intent was active.

I have seen myself standing with open heart and hands outstretched, with intent to soothe an angry person, and watched as his energy approached me and PARTED to stream around me when he walked past without acknowledging me.

I have seen the "Silver Cord" that connects people to their higher energies, and have been amazed to see it coming out of everyone's head - and every car that passed me on the highway. And I looked way up in the sky until that silver cord disappeared, a little disappointed that I could not see what it was attached to.

Thank you, Rachel, for posting about this amazing fellow. There are so few who "see", but all of us feel the energy. When someone yells at me, I feel "dirty". Sometimes it feels like brown sludge/mud has been thrown at me. Sometimes it feels like I've been slimed with greyness...

I've watched people in a movie theatre leaving in the low light, and all their energies are mingling with swirls and strands and you realize none of us is separate from the other.

We live in a sea of moving energies, and what we feel and think affects the other for weal or woe.

[Meggings]

..and what we feel and think affects the other for weal or woe... And I stand guilty of being so depressed and unhappy that my energies drag the world down.

[Guish]

https://fbcdn-photos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xal1/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/11986505_749420211833689_9023328031170210274_n.jpg?oh=a4b5d3b8024f10d7d0c626ad458347c1&oe=56A624FC&__gda__=1453051279_a49223b69c8a748801452052ca47808b

[Zampano]

Yes Rachel...loose the mine/me!
During my Self Inquiry I also had the insight, that nothing is mine.
I cannot say...."This is mine" It was always here, my house, my plants, my money in my purse, my dog, my parents
It was here all the time, just in another shape or form.
The piece of paper I am writing on...it was a tree and some time ago seeds fell down and made another tree.
My dog is not my dog, it is just a dog. It is a good method to get away from the "my" "mine" thoughts-it helped me a lot.

Do not stop investigating...sooner or later you cannot say: thats mine

[greybeard]

..and what we feel and think affects the other for weal or woe... And I stand guilty of being so depressed and unhappy that my energies drag the world down.

Dr David Hawkins in" Power vs Force/The hidden determinates of human behaviour" describes very well the contribution our energy makes to the collective consciousness. However it is a two way street and hidden energies can uplift or otherwise. At every point we are either uplifting or depressing --giving or taking away.
If you are not up at the moment Meggings--then ---"This too shall pass."
It would seem that periods of depression are part of the spiritual process.

I had to stop visiting some types of threads on Avalon way back, as they were having an adverse affect on my serenity.

Wishing you well with love
Chris

[ZooLife]

Negative and positive is a dance that alternates. Sometimes negative is positive and sometimes positive is negative. Negative and positive is often thought of as two distinct entities when really it is one appearing as two.

This electrical storm is the threshold 'we' all pass through. It is quite a ride and not for the faint of heart (that is why 'you' are here) but make no mistake, it is a ride.

Ride fearlessly!

http://pre02.deviantart.net/7333/th/pre/i/2005/031/8/2/electrical_storm_by_tokenart.jpg

<3

[Wind]

The following was written by James Shwarz (Ram) on his website, http://www.shiningworld.com, in the section entitled “Satsangs”:

"It is a common misconception that you can just ‘get it’ once and for all and from that point on life is just endless bliss. I don’t know if you are familiar with the story of Ramana Maharshi, but if you are, ask yourself why, if after his death experience and the awakening it caused, he spent twenty years sitting alone in caves? If he was the Self as he had experienced, then what is the point of sitting in caves? Isn’t it rather stupid to say the reality only shines in caves, that it does not shine in the world? Why not just go back home and live like a normal person? The answer is that he had experienced the Self and he could not forget it and his mind was turned inward, ‘’by a powerful fascination’ to use his own words. But this was just the beginning of his spiritual life. There was still somebody there that was fascinated, inspired, by the Self.

Ramana’s greatness was that he understood that the best way to get rid of Ramana, his sense of duality, was to keep his mind fixed on the Self (he called it Self inquiry) and just burn out all those old dualistic notions. The best way to do it for him was to follow the tradition and go sit in a cave where he would not be distracted. At some point the small Ramana that he thought he was, the one who had had the experience, disappeared and from that point on the name Ramana referred to the Self, not to a person who had realized the Self. A person did not disappear because there was no person there in the first place. All that disappeared was his notion of himself as an incomplete being.

Awakening [causes] you to understand what the Self is but the next step is to understand that you are the Self. Getting this understanding is hard work. Every time you find the mind thinking as a limited ‘I’ you correct it. You put it to work asserting your wholeness and completeness, not denying it. And slowly the mind changes. You can keep up this work because you know that you are the Self, not [xyz]. This is why it is not brainwashing or a kind of religious belief. You can actually see what the Self is and that you are it. One day, the mind gives up arguing with you. It surrenders. It accepts you as are you are and no longer tries to convince you that you are a limited little worm, a beggar in need of inspiration or anything else. It sees you as you are. This is the end of it....

If there is only one Self and this Self always knows who it is, i.e. that it is limitless and whole and therefore does not need any particular experience to erase its sense of limitation and make it whole, how can it forget who it is? Vedanta says that it can't forget but that it can forget. Or to put it another way it says that there is only one Self, pure Awareness, and that this Self is capable of both knowledge and ignorance. It would not be limitless if it were unable to be ignorant. This capability of being two opposite things at once is called Maya. The definition of Maya is: that which is not. You can see the problem in the definition. How can something that is not, be? Well, strangely, it can.

There is a strange notion that when one permanently experiences the Self the intellect is switched off for good and you just remain forever as the Self in some kind of no thought state. The fact is that the intellect keeps right on thinking from womb to tomb. God gave it to us for a good reason. Clear logical practical thinking is absolutely necessary if you are going to crack the identity code. It is called inquiry. You want to think before realization, during realization and after realization. Realization is nothing more than a hard and fast conclusion that you come to about your identity based on direct experience of the Self. Only understanding will solve the riddle....No experience will eradicate vasanas born in ignorance and reinforced with many years of negative behavior.”

Question: Is self-realization a discrete occurrence in time...or is the removal of self ignorance a gradual process over time?

Ram: It can be either or both. Usually one realizes who one is, falls again under the sway of ignorance, applies the knowledge again, realizes again and so on. It goes on over and over until one day there is absolutely no doubt and the process of enlightenment/ endarkenment stops for sure. Ignorance is persistent and aggressive and one needs to practice the knowledge until the last vestige is rooted out. I have a friend, a self realized person, who said, “I realized the Self five hundred times before my seeking stopped” to illustrate that point.”

[betoobig]

In this process the law of rhythm (hermetic law) can be seen in action. The pendulum starts from one state (the sense of union with source) to the other ( the sense of disconection with source) in a wide movement and little by little or fast the pendulum reduces the amplitud of its movement untill the pendulum rest in balance, untill the next spiritual shake.
SO how do we acomplish this balance... accepting we don´t do it, it is not up to us, so i guess we should imprint "relax, nothing is under control" way deep within.
Love...Evol

[ZooLife]

There was this author that wrote a story and now said author is living in the story.

The irony is that the author is also part of the story!

http://cdn.lineshapespace.com/2013/04/whats-your-story1.jpg

http://forwardevermedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/whats-your-story.jpg

[Wind]

You don't have to fight.
You only have to keep choosing Truth. Only choose.
Let Grace fight for you, if needed.
You just keep choosing, 'Yes, I choose the true.'
And when the exposing power comes,
be completely naked in front of it.
This much courage you must have.
When the impulse arises to look deeply into a thing, be fearless,
because the power is with you in this moment.

Be empty. That's it.
When you are empty, you are most powerful,
because you are present.
You're awake. You're alive.
And you're nothing.

~ Mooji

[Zampano]

A new video from David Godman (gotta love his name ;-) on Self-Enquiry from Ramana Maharshi
Always a good reminder


Here are some of my musings on the nature and practice of self-enquiry, as taught by Ramana Maharshi. In the first segment, filmed in Annamalai Swami's Ashram, I explain how Bhagavan's text 'Who am I?' came into existence, and give a brief summary of its contents. In the second, longer segment, I give my own explanations of Bhagavan's practical teachings on enquiry.

UDVQC_uHRCI

[Wind]

The great sources of wisdom and truth, of virtue and serenity, are still within ourselves as they ever have been. Mysticism is simply the art of turning inwards in order to find them. Will, thought, and feeling are withdrawn from their habitual extroverted activities and directed inwards in this subtle search.

To the extent that they stop looking outside themselves for the help and support and guidance they correctly feel they need, they will start looking inside and doing the needful inner work to come into conscious awareness of the power waiting there, the divine Overself. They themselves are inlets to it, never disconnected from it.

~ Paul Brunton

http://oi61.tinypic.com/2j3no8p.jpg

[ZooLife]

http://www.dkotomanova.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/149106329_640.jpg

http://onboardly.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015_03_17-Storytelling-For-Startups.jpg

http://www.c-r-l.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/shutterstock_167797508-1024x8191.jpg


All a story ever knows is its story.
Within that story there may be written a theory that it is not the only story.
Alas it cannot prove it because it is bound by its story.
Any attempt to expand beyond the story, still remains the story.

Being aware of this can be just like what is experienced within the story, warmth and/ or gloom, seem familiar?

<3

[Guish]

September 17th, 2015

The non-action of the wise person
Is not inaction.
It is not studied.
It is not shaken by anything.
The sage is quiet
Because she is not moved,
Not because she wills to be quiet.
Her quietness is the mirror
Of heaven and earth
The glass of everything.
Emptiness, stillness, tranquility,
Traceless,
Silence, non-action:
This is the level of
Heaven and earth.
This is the perfect Tao.
- Chuang Tzu

[ZooLife]

http://www.crunchybetty.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/want.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BtvLG9nCYAAhNLK.jpg

[Guish]

http://www.crunchybetty.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/want.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BtvLG9nCYAAhNLK.jpg

You are complete without anything.

[ZooLife]

You are complete without anything.

I am complete without anything...... but there is nothing like 'accessories' for dress up!

http://g02.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB16gOxJXXXXXcRXXXXq6xXFXXXb/Dog-Hat-Limited-2015-Leopard-Cute-Little-Ears-Pet-Products-Hat-Caps-Dog-Funny-Costume-Accessories.jpg

:)

[Wind]

The psychological laws governing the inner development of spiritual seekers often seem to operate in most mysterious ways. The very power whose presence he may think has been denied him--Grace--is taking care of him even when he is not conscious of this fact. The more the anguish, at such a time, the more the Higher Self is squeezing the ego. The more he seems to be alone and forsaken, the closer the Higher Self may be drawing him to Itself.

~ Paul Brunton

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/p843x403/11930771_689540937849141_2635854225833120311_o.jpg

[Guish]

https://scontent-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12039505_751853231590387_1529993537549406795_n.jpg?oh=95e8288258fb054e1104fd0769a9c64e&oe=56601F15

[Wind]

Grace is everything.
Grace is another name for what we are.
Grace is indefinable, ever perfect and timeless.
It is that in which time and breath play as names and forms
in their brief dance called life.
We are the experiencing and simultaneously the witness of all this.
Grace is that which calls you away from the chaos,
away from the noise of the world.
Grace is the same as peace,
but here there is no peacekeeper
nor anyone being a doer.
Grace is the breath of the Self.

~ Mooji

[Meggings]

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11221509_10153463041662731_5373685260726320143_n.jpg?oh=0e4fe3827ad7c530360151cbb30abe4a&oe=56684F2A

[Innocent Warrior]

Ridding Yourself of Attachments

“Having attachments” refers to the relentless, excessive pursuit of a particular object or goal by those practitioners who aren’t able to liberate themselves or are too stubborn to heed any advice. Some people pursue supernatural abilities in this world, and that will certainly impact their cultivating to high levels. The stronger the feelings, the more difficult to abandon. Their minds will become ever more unsettled and frustrated. Later on these people will think that they’ve gained nothing, and they will even start to doubt the things that they have been learning. Attachments stem from human desires. The characteristics of attachments are that their targets or goals are obviously limited, fairly clear and particular, and often the person might be unaware of the attachments. An everyday person has many attachments. He might use any means necessary in order to pursue something and get it. A cultivator’s attachments manifest differently, such as in his pursuing a particular ability, his indulging a certain vision, his obsessing over a certain phenomenon, and so on. No matter what you, a practitioner, pursue, it is not right—pursuit has to be abandoned. The Daoist system teaches nothingness, while the Buddhist system teaches emptiness and how to enter the gate of emptiness. We ultimately want to achieve the state of nothingness and emptiness, and be rid of every attachment. Anything that you can’t let go must be let go. The pursuit of supernatural abilities is an example: If you pursue them it means you want to use them. In reality, that is going against the nature of our universe. It’s actually still an issue of character. You want to have them, and you want to flaunt them and show them off in front of others. But those abilities aren’t something to showcase for others. Even if the goal of your using them were innocent and you just wanted to use them to do some good deeds, the good deeds that you did could turn out to be not so good. It’s not necessarily a good idea to handle ordinary affairs using supernormal means. After some people hear me remark that seventy percent of the class has had the Third Eye opened, they start to wonder, “Why can’t I sense anything?” Their attention focuses on the Third Eye when they return home and do the exercises—even to the point of getting a headache. They still can’t see anything in the end. That is an attachment. Individuals differ in physical state of being and underlying base. It’s not possible that all of them come to see through the Third Eye at the same time, and neither can each person’s Third Eye be at the same level. Some people might be able to see and some might not. Whatever the case, it’s normal.

Attachments can cause the development of a cultivator’s gong potency to come to a standstill or to fluctuate. In more serious cases they might even result in practitioners taking a crooked path. To be specific, certain supernatural abilities might be used by people with an inferior character to do bad things. There have been cases in which a person’s unreliable character has resulted in abilities being used to commit bad deeds. Somewhere there was a male college student who developed the ability of mind control. With it he could use his own thoughts to manipulate the thoughts and conduct of others, and he used his ability to do bad things. Some people might witness visions appearing when they do the exercises. They always want to have a clear look and full understanding. That’s also a form of attachment. A certain hobby might become an addiction for some, and they aren’t able to shake it. That, too, is a form of attachment. Because of differences in underlying base and intentions, some people cultivate in order to reach the highest level while some cultivate just to gain certain things. The latter mentality surely limits the goal of one’s cultivation. If a person doesn’t eliminate that kind of attachment, his or her gong won’t develop even through practicing. So practitioners should take all material gain lightly, pursue nothing, and let everything unfold naturally, thus avoiding the emergence of new attachments. Whether that can be done depends on a practitioner’s character. You can’t succeed in cultivation if your character is not fundamentally changed or if any attachments remain.

L Hongzhi (Falun Gong)

[ZooLife]

The greatest actor/ actress the world will ever know is the one that is so deeply immersed in their role that they have no clue they are acting.

How immersed are 'you'?


http://static.themetapicture.com/media/funny-tired-acting-dog-carrying.jpg

<3

[Wind]

You are the peace in silence.
You are the silence in peace.
You are the light of consciousness revealing all.
You are the perceiving love, devoid of personal identity.
You are the wisdom and love
that shines from the source of existence.
You are Unborn Awareness Self.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

September 19th, 2015

Beneath the mountain
A stream flows
On and on without end.
If one’s Zen mind is like this
Seeing into one’s nature
Cannot be far off.
- Hakuin (1686-1768)

[Wind]

As mind merges in the heart.
True understanding awakens.
You are the invisible inside the visible,
the unmoving inside all movements.
Like space moving in space,
glowing inside a thin skin called a human being.

~ Mooji

[Wind]

When you are sufficiently empty,
you become a perfect vessel for the
manifestation and embodiment of His grace.
But while you are still nurturing your identity,
the light has little chance.
You tell me, ‘Until I get there, show me what to do now.’
I say, No, because then I am colluding with you
to cheat you out of your timelessness.
And this I cannot do.
I don’t want you to cheat yourself.
The solution to all sorrows is ever present within you,
but something is turning away from this chance.
Don’t trust that.
A single liberated being sheds enough light
to raise the consciousness of countless beings.
Who is that one?
Could it not be you?

~ Mooji

[idiit]

^ right on. nature hates a void.

a glass full of itself has no room.

remove the ego to make room for you and all that you can be.

^^ trite but true.

[greybeard]

Welcome to the thread idiit
Thanks for the post
Chris

[ZooLife]

http://image.slidesharecdn.com/20quotesrumi-130803114306-phpapp01/95/20-timeless-quotes-from-rumi-7-638.jpg?cb=1375530247

[joeecho]

^ right on. nature hates a void.


Valleys and mountains are the landmarks of an ever shifting landscape. The ego utilizes both.

[Meggings]

Dr. David Hawkins:

Approximately fifty percent of the time, when this level of consciousness [600] is realized, the body will be relinquished. If not, then physical continuation is in accord with the response of the world, which may urge the necessity of eating or drinking. From within, there is no inclination one way or the other, nor is there a need to communicate or speak.

The Presence is self-fulfilling and complete, uniquely exquisitely soft and simultaneously powerful. Its essence pervades all manifestation as the Source of Existence. All is seen to arise from the Unmanifest’s becoming Manifest as Creation from a source that is innate, All Present, and beyond volition.

In Unity and Oneness, everything is simultaneously intrinsic to everything else, but not by virtue of being either the ‘same’ or ‘else’. Within the infinite context of Allness, potentiality is activated by Divine Ordinance, commonly known as God’s Will. The term ‘Will’ is, however, somewhat misleading in that it implies volition. Creation is witnessed as the unfolding and revelation of the emergence of infinite potentiality as Creation. Thus, there is no duality of a ‘this’ (Creator) creating a ‘that’ (Creation) for Creator and Creation are one and the same, and Creation is self-effulgent.

Everything that exists is perfect and complete. Creation does not move from imperfection to perfection, as is witnessed by the ego, but instead moves from perfection to perfection. The illusion of moving from imperfection to perfection is a mentalization. For example, a rosebud is not an imperfect rose but is a perfect rosebud. When half open, it is a perfect unfolding flower, and when completely opened, it is a perfect open flower. As it fades, it is a perfect faded flower and then becomes a perfect withered plant, which then becomes perfectly dormant. Each is therefore perfect at each expansion of its expression as the emergence and unfoldment of the evolution of Creation. Thus, the illusion of ‘change’ is replaced by the witnessing of the process of the manifestation of actuality from potentiality (transition, emergence, unfoldment, metamorphosis).

Without interference by mental interpretation, the perfection of All that Exists is evidenced by its intrinsic beauty, which is the transformed physical appearance of its perfection. Without the editing and classification that emanates solely from the linear mind, everything is seen to be equally exquisite. What the world ignores as a weed is of beauty equal to that of the flower. The living-sculpture design of all nature is equal, without classification, and everything is realized to be of the same merit or worth. All is an expression of Divinity as Creation—all is equally sacred and holy. Equal to anything else, the body is also autonomous and moves about on its own. In the level of the 600s, there is no volitional causal locus, such as a personal self, a ‘me’, or an ‘I’ that is imagined to be a causal agent or a ‘decider’ of action.

From: “Transcending the Levels of Consciousness: The Stairway to Enlightenment” (2006), Chapter 16: Peace, Bliss, and Illumination, p. 278

I wanna go back to that.
Can't imagine how much guilt I've heaped upon myself for falling out of that state.
Can't imagine how much pain.
There's too much crap I'm carrying to maintain it
but I was there for months on end during some years, on and off.
Wanna go back to seeing the world perfect instead of controlled by evil.
Wanna go back to my perfection

[Guish]

I wanna go back to that.
Can't imagine how much guilt I've heaped upon myself for falling out of that state.
Can't imagine how much pain.
There's too much crap I'm carrying to maintain it
but I was there for months on end during some years, on and off.
Wanna go back to seeing the world perfect instead of controlled by evil.
Wanna go back to my perfection

Hi Meg,

I think the challenge is to be in bliss and in the mud at the same time. I've been over there too and I have to deal with a lot of crap now like you say.

[Selkie]

Dr. David Hawkins:

Approximately fifty percent of the time, when this level of consciousness [600] is realized, the body will be relinquished. If not, then physical continuation is in accord with the response of the world, which may urge the necessity of eating or drinking. From within, there is no inclination one way or the other, nor is there a need to communicate or speak.

The Presence is self-fulfilling and complete, uniquely exquisitely soft and simultaneously powerful. Its essence pervades all manifestation as the Source of Existence. All is seen to arise from the Unmanifest’s becoming Manifest as Creation from a source that is innate, All Present, and beyond volition.

In Unity and Oneness, everything is simultaneously intrinsic to everything else, but not by virtue of being either the ‘same’ or ‘else’. Within the infinite context of Allness, potentiality is activated by Divine Ordinance, commonly known as God’s Will. The term ‘Will’ is, however, somewhat misleading in that it implies volition. Creation is witnessed as the unfolding and revelation of the emergence of infinite potentiality as Creation. Thus, there is no duality of a ‘this’ (Creator) creating a ‘that’ (Creation) for Creator and Creation are one and the same, and Creation is self-effulgent.

Everything that exists is perfect and complete. Creation does not move from imperfection to perfection, as is witnessed by the ego, but instead moves from perfection to perfection. The illusion of moving from imperfection to perfection is a mentalization. For example, a rosebud is not an imperfect rose but is a perfect rosebud. When half open, it is a perfect unfolding flower, and when completely opened, it is a perfect open flower. As it fades, it is a perfect faded flower and then becomes a perfect withered plant, which then becomes perfectly dormant. Each is therefore perfect at each expansion of its expression as the emergence and unfoldment of the evolution of Creation. Thus, the illusion of ‘change’ is replaced by the witnessing of the process of the manifestation of actuality from potentiality (transition, emergence, unfoldment, metamorphosis).

Without interference by mental interpretation, the perfection of All that Exists is evidenced by its intrinsic beauty, which is the transformed physical appearance of its perfection. Without the editing and classification that emanates solely from the linear mind, everything is seen to be equally exquisite. What the world ignores as a weed is of beauty equal to that of the flower. The living-sculpture design of all nature is equal, without classification, and everything is realized to be of the same merit or worth. All is an expression of Divinity as Creation—all is equally sacred and holy. Equal to anything else, the body is also autonomous and moves about on its own. In the level of the 600s, there is no volitional causal locus, such as a personal self, a ‘me’, or an ‘I’ that is imagined to be a causal agent or a ‘decider’ of action.

From: “Transcending the Levels of Consciousness: The Stairway to Enlightenment” (2006), Chapter 16: Peace, Bliss, and Illumination, p. 278

I wanna go back to that.
Can't imagine how much guilt I've heaped upon myself for falling out of that state.
Can't imagine how much pain.
There's too much crap I'm carrying to maintain it
but I was there for months on end during some years, on and off.
Wanna go back to seeing the world perfect instead of controlled by evil.
Wanna go back to my perfection

I am going to get that book. Thank you, Meggings.

[Innocent Warrior]

Wow, I just saw the coolest thing! I was outside and this light thingy appeared, flew straight over my head and then disappeared. It looked like a big golden sparkler and it was so close I could hear it, I can't describe what it sounded like, and I've never seen anything like that before! This enlightenment gig is starting to get much more fun. :)

Edit: Imagine this (without the stick) but perfectly round and the sparkles weren't random, they were orderly and evenly spaced.

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/t/golden-sparkler-566705.jpg

[Guish]

The person resolute in the Way must strive not to lose sight of it, whether in a place of calm or in a place of strife. Beware of clinging to quiet places and shunning those where there is disturbance. If you try to take refuge from trouble by running to some quiet place, you will fall into confusion.

- Daikaku (1213-1279)

[ZooLife]

Wow, I just saw the coolest thing! I was outside and this light thingy appeared, flew straight over my head and then disappeared. It looked like a big golden sparkler and it was so close I could hear it, I can't describe what it sounded like, and I've never seen anything like that before! This enlightenment gig is starting to get much more fun. :)

Edit: Imagine this (without the stick) but perfectly round and the sparkles weren't random, they were orderly and evenly spaced.

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/t/golden-sparkler-566705.jpg

Maybe it was your sparkling personality manifested externally? ;)

http://images.dpchallenge.com/images_challenge/0-999/180/1200/Copyrighted_Image_Reuse_Prohibited_57033.jpg

[Innocent Warrior]

Maybe it was your sparkling personality manifested externally? ;)

Ha! In that case, I expect to see fireworks when yours manifests...pink ones, of course.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y9ATMLc5KmE/TDFgRxL_97I/AAAAAAAAByg/rPEQSmmihKs/s1600/Picture+13.png

[greybeard]

This is from Transients and mirrors my own thoughts on ascension etc, though I do not necessarily believe in a "Council".
Well worth a look.
Chris


http://www.transients.info/2015/09/ron-head-expectations-council.html#more

[Wind]

What’s the Purpose of It All? (http://www.mindpodnetwork.com/whats-the-purpose-of-it-all/)

http://www.mindpodnetwork.com/mpn/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/David-Energy-Pic-300x300.jpg

It is the instinct of exploration, the love of the unknown, that brings me into existence. It is in the nature of being to seek adventure in becoming, as it is in the nature of becoming to seek peace in being. This alternation of being and becoming is inevitable; but my home is beyond.

The world is but a show, glittering and empty. It is, and yet it is not. It is there as long as I want to see it and take part in it. When I cease caring, it dissolves. It has no cause and serves no purpose. It just happens when we are absent-minded. It appears exactly as it looks, but there is no depth in it, nor meaning. Only the onlooker is real, call him Self or Atma. To the Self, the world is but a colorful show, which he enjoys as long as it lasts and forgets when it is over. Whatever happens on the stage makes him shudder in terror or roll with laughter, yet all the time he is aware that it is but a show. Without desire or fear, he enjoys it, as it happens.

The spirit is a sport and enjoys to overcome obstacles. The harder the task, the deeper and wider his self-realization.

The ultimate value of the body is that it serves to discover the cosmic body, which is the universe in its entirety. As you realize yourself in manifestation, you keep on discovering that you are ever more than what you have imagined.

All that lives, works for protecting, perpetuating and expanding consciousness. This is the world’s sole meaning and purpose.


~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

[Guish]

Keep your heart clear and transparent
and you will never be bound.
A single disturbed thought, though,
creates ten thousand distractions.
Let myriad things captivate you
and you'll go further and further astray.
How painful to see people
all wrapped up in themselves.

- Ryokan

[ZooLife]

Maybe it was your sparkling personality manifested externally? ;)

Ha! In that case, I expect to see fireworks when yours manifests...pink ones, of course.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y9ATMLc5KmE/TDFgRxL_97I/AAAAAAAAByg/rPEQSmmihKs/s1600/Picture+13.png

Well of course!

:)

Too much? LOL

http://g02.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1uPv_HVXXXXbBXpXXq6xXFXXXj/New-Fashion-Children-Princess-Summer-Pink-Red-Yellow-Dancing-Butterfly-Lovely-Angel-Children-Wings-Dress-Free.jpg

[ZooLife]

R U what you 'think' U R or ?

http://jonathanfoust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/YouAreNotWhatYouThink.jpg

http://fractal.fractalenlighten.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/dont-believe-everything-you-think.jpg

(Let me think about that) ;)

<3

[ZooLife]

http://jonathanfoust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/YouAreNotWhatYouThink.jpg

I am cheating and posting for a third straight time. :banplease: :bolt:

.................................................................................................... ....

I just could not get over how powerful the picture sentence is above and how it works on a number of levels.

I removed the ego based word 'you' from the sentence......

Are not what think(s).

To come up with the insight I had to 'think' about it...... so what is going on here?

Conclusion: Ego can only hint at what it is not. Everything/ Anything else is just ego describing itself in a different way.

http://www.pmslweb.com/the-blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/16-bursting-your-ego-funny.png

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey-41.gif

[Innocent Warrior]

Well of course!

:)

Too much? LOL

Just a touch. :nod:


Open Heart Chakra

http://didideva.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/heart-cakra.jpg

[Wind]

We have to confirm that whatever appears, disappears.
All that you have conceived, all that you perceive,
all that you cherish, imagine, experience, love—one day will be gone.
Except for that source from which they all spring, our eternal being.

While the body is warm find that which is imperishable.
Fall in love with it completely,
and you will never suffer loss
because the Truth cannot die, cannot pass away.
But all forms they change; all that arises, falls.
This need not be experienced as a great sadness.
In fact, it is just the way of things.
You are not a thing.

One day, hopefully today,
you will know that all things and their appearances
are only He, only That.
Then fear will go, sadness will go, suffering will go.
It has already started, this awakening.
It brought you here.
Trust it.

And happiness is our nature:
this joy, this peace, this great love, inexhaustible love.
But it can appear to be hidden by conditioning and false identity.
For this, satsang is also inside the great dream;
it is like an alarm clock inside the dream.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

https://fbcdn-photos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-0/s526x395/12032145_829150320537703_6825545291857160458_n.jpg?oh=5d995118416d800da020d24d6da36be1&oe=56A4F516&__gda__=1449452070_8955dac1fc6d9ad5459940dd358950e5

[Guish]

September 27th, 2015

When the mind is transparent and pure
As if reflected on the mirror-like surface of the water,
There is nothing in the world that you would dislike.
When it is serene as the light breeze in the sunshine,
There will be no one whom you would like to forget.
- Pa-ta Shan-jen (1626-1701)

[Innocent Warrior]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/2c/19/9f/2c199f457d37ad099c65f612774089c9.jpg

Those who sit with us in the sieges about the Round Table wear "thought-presences," imaginative forms to which our consciousness can relate. After all, in the early stages of practice, dealing with "glories of light" might be romantic, but it can also be rather disconcerting and distort our focus. These thought-presences are, at first, "clothings" projected from our own subconscious wardrobe of images. But the essences, the communicating intelligences, that wear the "clothes" are nonetheless real.

Intellectually, there arises the question: "Are they, in essence, objectively real, or are they actually sub-personalities from my unconscious?" And, as with most matters of higher and interior levels, the answer is of course, paradoxically, "Both!"

The macrocosm and microcosm are not actually separate. This is where the model of a microcosmic mirror reflecting a macrocosmic image, like all models, falls short. Macrocosm and microcosm simply appear to interact as if this were the case, which is not the same thing. And, although practitioners of the indirect path make use of this state of appearances, they should not become attached to it, or they remain like flies caught in the Web of Maya. The microcosm is a center of expression for all the forces of the universe, its very existence brought about by those forces converging at that point. In truth, everything is from Above; nothing originates below. So, the "reflection" in the microcosmic mirror is not a two-dimensional image, nor is the image separate from that which it reflects. The complete Hermetic axiom of wisdom is: "As Above so Below; as Within so Without."

~ David Goddard (The Tower of Alchemy)

[Wind]

Whenever your mind comes, just stay as the Awareness.
Sit in this as this itself.
He, mind, will come and do everything to get your attention and interest —
he will call you by name and play all his best cards,
but just stay as the Awareness.
Your heart begins thumping hard, a headache is coming,
but just stay as the Awareness. This is how I want to help you,
because this is what will actually help you to ultimate freedom.
Let’s not focus on your problems, because there is no end to them;
in fact, the problem-game just multiplies and keeps your false identity alive.
I want to go to the root of everything, not to merely trim the leaves of this tree.
Through habit, attention keeps connecting to some images in the mind to which you give importance
and so it seems difficult to come out from that.

But come out! How?
Seeing and confirming your position as the witness-awareness of all mind's play
and thus confirming through the direct experiencing
that you are the formless Seer—this is how you come out.
This is the final fruit of true Satsang.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

September 28th, 2015

Inscription over Taoist hermitage

The recluse’s heart is a
Placid lake
Unruffled by the winds
Of circumstance.
- Anonymous

[ZooLife]

When lost in the dark, do not be fooled by the senses, it's the heart that finds it's way home.


https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bc/44/48/bc4448bc20851a1df45f51172999dae0.jpg

[greybeard]

New Talk

By Dr. Hawkins!

"God is Hidden within the Beauty of the Music"


In this lecture, Dr. Hawkins speaks on the calibrated levels of consciousness of 500 and above, explaining the states and characteristics of these levels. He tells us how in the high 500s there is a progressive joy, and even ecstasy, everything is seen as beautiful and perfect and outside of time, moving in slow motion, and you may cry all the time. At the level of 600 and above, the Divinity of all that exists becomes apparent and there is an infinite silence that you recognize is not different from that which you are and is closer to your inner self than you ever thought possible. The Totality of Oneness is of such immense power it is beyond human imagination. As one goes into the enlightened state, the incredible energy of it is overwhelming. That which holds all Reality and the entire Universe together is the Presence of God expressed as existence.

He reveals that to comprehend the fact that all seeming opposites are an arbitrary positionality gives you a key to remove that positionality and collapse the illusion. When you couple this with devotion and a willingness, then enlightenment is a certainty. First there must be integrity, then a life devoted to willingness and a very simple tool is all that is needed. The process of a letting-go-ness brings an evolution of consciousness. It requires only surrender. A willingness to constantly surrender everything to God as it arises and let go of the outer layers until it reaches a great depth. Then there is the discovery that there is already within you that which loves God to the degree that it's willing to lay down its life for God, with joy!

And very interestingly, Dr. Hawkins speaks about a new branch of man that is forthcoming: Homo Spiritus. Homo sapiens may experience pain past the levels of 600, however this new hominid will have a more robust nervous system that will be able to handle the higher spiritual energies.

Dr. Hawkins closes with these words of gratitude: "To the evolution of your consciousness, I devote my love and my attention and I give my thanks to your presence this day."


This quote above is taken from an advert for a new cd priced $19.95 available from http://www.veritaspub.com/


"The presence of God as love is self-revealing since the duality of perception ceases as a consequence of surrendering positionalities .

Love is therefore the doorway between the linear and the nonlinear domains. It is the grand avenue to the discovery of God.

"I: Reality and Subjectivity" Chapter 19, page 336

[ZooLife]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8b/55/6b/8b556b6a3b24e20bffe0460fa2a67d7f.jpg

http://everythingfunny.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/95.jpg

http://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/similar-things-2-19__605.jpg

[Guish]

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=OIP.M7b74ccbae0f5196fff37cb76a5d4f420H0&pid=15.1

[Meggings]

Posts 4408 and 4409 above moved through my heart - I found this that speaks to what is higher in us and seems related to 4408/4409. It is reminiscent of another planet I visited in which people touched their foreheads together in greeting, and bursts of brilliant love-light were emitted from their connection.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12003324_733584166753325_4087738730775521677_n.jpg?oh=3979a0b76dd490981204da910d91a8fb&oe=569C624E

[Innocent Warrior]

http://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/s306x306/e15/11008359_842822149123373_1857364120_n.jpg

[Guish]

https://scontent-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12088163_757025371073173_8319622197667470198_n.jpg?oh=f4c58992b2ca6b423dc3e8020add323e&oe=56A7BD5A

[Wind]

To love God
with all one's mind
and all one's Heart
so there remains
nothing but radiant presence
emanating from Him
—unborn Awareness

To be so absorbed in Him
to die in Him while alive
is to be resurrected
in the immaculate presence
and glory of the living God

May our destiny be so
Amen

~ Mooji

[Matthew]

This sums up my point of view and encapsulates it nicely. From a different thread entirely. Cheers Ted




...

Everything but unconditional love is unnatural if you're looking from the standpoint of the Creator. Therefore, the nature of anyone who is not expressing this attribute 24/7 is an expression of something else.
The ego is what gets us into to trouble, and everyone on this planet has one. You don't have to be a psychopath to crave power, wealth and the subservience of others. We all have ability to become monsters or saints. Fear and guilt drive the ego in its myriad of expressions. Until we face our fears they will continue to be our masters. Fear and guilt are the real oppressors, not the external manifestations of these attributes. That's why I suggest we get in there and do some work with the shovel of self examination, before condemning others.
Gandhi is a good example of what I'm trying to say here. He did the inner work, and as a result was able to inspire people because he was what he preached. He liberated India out of the shear force of his convictions.
We also influence those around us by who we are, not by what we say. We change the world most effectively by becoming the change we want to see. Example is a very powerful tool.

[greybeard]

Welcome to the thread YoYoYo, thanks for the post and thanks to Ted for this too.
All true
Chris

[Matthew]

:thumbsup:
I feel like I've been here for a while but it's nice to arrive. Couldn't quite get words to say. I'm not shy. I could rabbit on for hours.

The avatar picture is heyoka character from Beanworld comics by Larry Marder. I'm not a heyoka in this community but I a bit in my local circles.

[Guish]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/12039699_757794880996222_9024780322388500001_n.jpg?oh=da6a59726b78cfc16fec51c928abe655&oe=5688C293&__gda__=1452590891_0b9b970ffca9ea97164dac5af171890b

[ZooLife]

Life is ironic.

Yeah, it's like a close friend playing devil's advocate.

Who's advocate?

"Depends on what side you're on" said the trickster.

[Wind]

All beings are bitten by the serpent of ignorance.
But when ignorance combines with arrogance,
Then we are really in a very bad state.
You have to come out of arrogance.
When arrogance goes, humility comes.
When humility comes, ignorance also will go.
When ignorance and arrogance are no more,
Grace will be recognised and experienced as the pure presence of God.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

http://www.socialeverythings.com/2015/10/a-buddhist-monk-shows-unheard-of-brain.html

It's all about training the mind.

[Clear Light]

http://www.socialeverythings.com/2015/10/a-buddhist-monk-shows-unheard-of-brain.html

It's all about training the mind.

Ah, along similar lines, I first came across Matthieu Ricard in the following film called "Mystical Brain" (2006) :


http://media1.nfb.ca/medias/nfb_tube/thumbs_large/2009/Mystical-brain_BIG.jpg

https://www.nfb.ca/film/mystical_brain

Synopsis : This documentary reveals the exploratory work of a team from the University of Montreal who seek to understand the states of grace experienced by mystics and those who meditate. Filmmaker Isabelle Raynauld offers up scientific research that suggests that mystical ecstasy is a transformative experience and could contribute to people's psychic and physical health, treat depression and speed up the healing process when combined with conventional medicine

[greybeard]

Welcome to the thread and thanks for the post Clear Blue Skies
Chris

[joeecho]

I once thought to really know a person (who they really are), it required knowing what they really thought (their deepest, truest thoughts). To experience their thoughts as my thoughts.

But now I realize I was only scratching the surface.

Going beyond that surface is like saying hi to someone for the first time. Someone you have known your entire life or even multiple lives.

Hi there! I am excited to meet you again for the first time! :)

http://quotes.lifehack.org/media/quotes/quote-Randolph-Bourne-few-people-even-scratch-the-surface-much-38892.png

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1sCTeliRtX0/VIok3tj5XdI/AAAAAAAABss/ibtiB18YujA/s1600/iceberg.jpg

[Wind]

Know this: When you say 'I',
the true meaning of 'I' is joy, is happiness, it is life,
and it is also the witnessing of life.
Enjoy what comes,
but don't worry about anything at all.
Just be happy, happy, happy.
Know that whatever happens in life,
the final point is that everything is fine.
All is fine.

~ Mooji

[Wind]

Human beings should be the living embodiments of the Supreme.
Everything else we have tried. We have all the comforts.
We have invented them for our pleasure and we have tasted them all.
Still we are not happy.
Because only one thing can satisfy the heart,
and that is to be free of the delusion of egoic identity,
and to fall in love again with the Supreme.
Here you cannot stay apart as a lover,
for you are now so fully absorbed that there remains nothing but the Indivisible.

~ Mooji

[Wind]

You ask, 'What to do with vasanas, the latent tendencies in the mind?
They come so fast. There is no space to observe them.'
But in the pure state of Being,
everything is automatically being converted from negative to positive,
from ugly to beauty without the intention of the mind even.
Such is the Grace of the Self.
It does not have to keep up with the speed of negative reflexes and conditioning.
In fact, such negativity only relates to the one who is conditioned, the 'person'.
Awareness is not and cannot be conditioned.
If you are perceiving from the position or identity of the 'person',
you will always be late.
Even though you are Awareness essentially, experientially,
you are a 'person' because that is where your identity is virile.
And as a 'person' you have no power.
But if you are Awareness, you can never be late.
Nothing is so fast that it escapes Awareness.
Awareness does not have to respond to or react to anything.
There is nothing to compare it to.
It is the Supreme Consciousness!
It has no competitors because everything is
functioning inside its domain by its Grace.
It is your unchallengeable Being.
Recognise and be one with it.

~ Mooji

[Innocent Warrior]

Excerpt from They Walked with Jesus, by Dolores Cannon (part of a conversation with healer/teacher, taught by Jesus).

D: Do you have any fear of contracting this disease from these people?
A: No. I have been there before. I feel that if you do not live in fear then you will keep yourself healthy in mind, body and soul. Fear creates all diseases and ailments, whether one is aware of this or not.
D: That’s an interesting idea. Is this what he taught you, that fear creates diseases?
A: Yes. There were many times in my younger years in my father's village when I would sneak out to attend the
closed meetings. And 1 gained this knowledge. This is of his teaching.
D: Of course, we always think that some diseases can’t be avoided. He doesn’t believe this way?
A: No. I say, though, that one must be a believer in the Source within one's being. That is one's God-center, that is one's heart center. If one lives without fear, one has placed a great healing protection throughout one's physical being and other layers of protection around the human person. If you let fear or darkness enter your being, you open up a space that will allow ailments to
grow. One can control any disease of the mind or body.
D: Do you think this is one of the ways he is able to heal people?
A: Yes, for those people that have come to him and asked to be healed have created a healing path in their own hearts and minds. It is just connecting with his energy, because they have already set up their belief of trust. Then they have eliminated the fear and the darkness, which enables them to accept the healing. So even though the Nazarene has the power to heal, the person who is ailing has to have within himself his own power to release his fears and the disease of his flesh. Or if they are not meant to be healed or continue on with this life, they will find it a very easy transition to ascend in true peace and love, and they will go on to the next existence.


https://img0.etsystatic.com/006/0/5376867/il_570xN.365499098_srl2.jpg

[ZooLife]

http://eleesha.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/188_Your_Inner_Joy_AR_184_pg191_600x480_Eleesha_Inspiration_Quote_Affirmation.jpg

[Guish]

I’ve always loved friends of the Way
Always held them dear
Meeting a stranger with silent springs
Greeting a guest talking Zen
Talking about mysteries on a moonlit night
Searching for truth until dawn
When the tracks of our inventions disappear
And we see who we really are

[Meggings]

Might I place these words here, that just came my way from someone who transcribed a bit of this September 16/2015 gathering?
[A small note is that the WORD represents Christ in action/manifestation in this world.]
_________________________

Now the decree we know of ourselves as - "I know who I am, I know what I am, I know how I serve" - is the claim of the Divine Self, not the small self. And the witnessing of the Word as the Divine Self heralds the kingdom in manifestation and that is the fact.

You ask why you're here. To claim the kingdom as each man is. Now when you witness another and decide they're a fool, decide they're unworthy, could never enter the kingdom, you join them in the darkness that you have placed them in. And each one of you here has a legion of people you keep in a shadow. ...

...imagine for a moment that there is a field before you and everybody you hold recrimination against lives in this field. They chew their cuds, they glower at the ground, they say let me out, or they ignore you permanently, but they are there in your field as you have placed them. Some of these are known by you personally, but many are 'those kinds of people', the ones we incarcerate, the ones we don't vote for, the ones we would never allow in our house, the ones that should not be here because they tamper with your sense of worth, or well being.

What we would like you to do now, each one of you present, is to stand at the gate that you have erected on this field and open the gate wide, and as you do this you claim these words.: "I know who you are, I know what you are, I know how you serve." Understand again, friends, this is not a claim made in personality, but as the Divine Self who bears no grudges, cannot hold false witness. Because a false witness is a lie, and the Divine Self operating as you is completely incapable of that. The Divine as you sees each one here in her own purview, learning her own lessons; and beyond that, regardless of what you think as a personality self, is an aspect of God, an incarnation of God knowing Itself in form.

, on this night chose to liberate yourself from the cost of a grudge. On this night, chose to relinquish the need to punish others, or exclude them from the light. On this night, claim witness to the truth of all you have held in darkness, all you have known in shadow, and say these words to them again: "I know who you are. I know what you are. I know how you serve. You are here, you are here, you are here."

The claim 'you are here,' my friends, claims the one before you as her resurrected self. The Divine as them has come to be and may now be known.

_________________
[I]Paul Selig - The Class of Resurrection
A Channeled Live Stream - September 16, 2015

[Wind]

You are not who you believe yourself to be. Who you are cannot be devised. Who you are cannot be imagined. Who you are is before, during, and after all thoughts. Stop for a moment and realize who you are.

Growth, progress, and evolution are inventions of the ego. Being is our True state. Denial of our true state doesnʹt change it one iota.

There are many stories of difficulty. Be aware that they are stories to avoid the absolute ease of being. Nothing can be easier than being nothing.

This is an invitation to shift your allegiance from the activities of your mind to the eternal presence of your Being.

If you are willing to experience anything directly and immediately, whether good or bad, joyous or hateful, you will recognize that what you are running from does not exist, and what you are running toward is already here.

I promise you there is undreamed of support for true and lasting fulfillment. All that is waiting is the YES from your mind to your heart.

Any truth will be misused. All we have to do is look at history to see this. Every religion has been used so that the founders must be rolling over in their graves. The nature of mind is to take it, consume it, and own it. But we live in very interesting times, and it is critical that ordinary people wake up to their true nature, which is actually under that dark, ugly, evil creature that is kept hidden. The willingness to meet that, without indulging it, without following it, without worshiping it, welcomes all creatures home.

The path you’ve been directed to isnʹt the path―there is no path. Give it up and be that which you already are.

There is a great secret that beings throughout time have announced, the secret of an extraordinary treasure, the treasure of the nectar of eternal life. It is the nectar of pure beingness, recognizing itself as consciousness and overflowing in the love of that recognition. If you imagine yourself to be located in a body, then you will move that body from place to place, searching for this treasure of nectar. But, if you will stop all searching right now and tell the truth to yourself, you will know what is known in the core of your bones. You will know what these great beings knew and attempted to describe. You will know it with no image of it, no concept of it, no thought of it. You will know it as that which has eternally been here. And you will know it as yourself.

When I say ‘Be still,’ if you hear that as a teaching, then you get busy learning how to be still. It is an attempt to imitate how we learn the things that must be learned and can be learned. Words, most sublime, most profound, most simple can be easily co‐opted by the mind, by egoic thought.

~ Gangaji

[Clear Light]

Any truth will be misused. All we have to do is look at history to see this. Every religion has been used so that the founders must be rolling over in their graves. The nature of *Dualistic* Mind is to take it, consume it, and own it. But we live in very interesting times, and it is critical that ordinary people wake up to their true nature, which is actually under that dark, ugly, evil creature that is kept hidden. The willingness to meet that, without indulging it, without following it, without worshiping it, welcomes all creatures home

Thanks for the post Wind ... however I hope it's ok to suggest a small change to the Wording ? In Buddhist terminology, as I understand it, the "Nature of Mind" is far from wanting to *possess* anything :nod:

[Wind]

You say you are so happy to be Presence.
Yes, only Presence is really happy.
The ego is happy with presents.
Presents that you can open.
But you are happy with and as Presence,
which is always open.
It is so beautiful.

~ Mooji

[Zampano]

I was not looking for silence-it came to me.
I was not looking for peace-it came to me.
I was not looking for happiness-it came to me.
I was not looking for joy-it came to me.
I was not looking for compassion-it came to me.

Instead of looking for those things, we should find out what or who we really are.
Then our true nature will come to us.

[Zampano]

"A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive."

Albert Einstein 1954

"The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling is at the centre of true religiousness."
-Albert Einstein – "The Merging of Spirit and Science"

[Guish]

October 11th, 2015

Zen practice is not clarifying
conceptual distinctions,
but throwing away one’s
preconceived views
and notions
and the sacred texts
and all the rest,
and piercing through
all the layers of coverings
over the spring of self behind them.
- Daikaku (1213-1279)

[ZooLife]

We are alone in our shared experience.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4-xeJL37uZA/U6stoPSGlhI/AAAAAAAAA84/2jHPKIQzBD4/s1600/6-Beautiful-Nature-Black-and-White-HD-Wallpaper.jpg

[ZooLife]

All it took was just one glance..........

http://pre12.deviantart.net/e3f8/th/pre/i/2012/201/a/3/universe_at_the_closet_door_by_evilpirate-d57xiih.jpg

http://cache.desktopnexus.com/wallpapers/1568/1568033-3431x2151-Door-moon.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/54/fb/d2/54fbd2bffd163e0c801f2df4e74c0ec6.jpg

[ZooLife]

And in that glance one saw it's reflection, now looking back ever since.


http://www.getinspector.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/grtchnfx_lookingback.jpg

http://antranik.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/warrior-3.jpg

http://blogs.nd.edu/fullofgrace/files/2014/02/sea-reflection.jpg

[Wind]

"Do not praise the ego for having found God. It was Grace which brought about the discovery. It was not the ego. It is true that the beginner needs humility but it is even more true that the advanced man needs even more humility.

Follow the ”I” back to its holy source."

~ Paul Brunton

http://oi57.tinypic.com/64i2gy.jpg

[ZooLife]

God is not hiding, it is the senses that give that impression.


https://cathy4worldequality.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/hiding-in-plain-sight.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_G9MZYz8fxBA/TDvIHQLCY0I/AAAAAAAAAOs/hmdv5yZf20I/s1600/HIDING+IN+PLAIN+SIGHT.jpg

http://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2012/03/liu2_mini.jpg

[Guish]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12096137_836168373169231_4089862141607440315_n.jpg?oh=02731dabcea0bf18d0dcffc26dc96f46&oe=56CB12F2&__gda__=1451764526_a3eb3e1881f4f13240cbc948d9a78960

[Wind]

"Even while working in an office or factory or field, a man is not prevented from continuing his search for the inner mind. The notion that this quest requires aloofness from the commonplace utilitarian world is one which philosophy does not accept. Distraction and action are not so mutually inclusive as we may think. The student may train himself to maintain calm and serene poise even in the midst of strenuous activity, just as he also avails himself of the latest discoveries of scientific technique and yet keeps his mind capable of browsing through the oldest books of the Asiatic sages. He can discipline himself to returning from meditation to the turmoil, go anywhere, do anything, if truth is carried in the mind and poise in the heart. He may learn to live in reality at all times. The sense of its presence will need no constant renewal, no frequent slipping into trance, no intermittent escape from the world, if he follows the philosophic threefold path."

~ Paul Brunton

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/t31.0-8/12132542_699613876841847_9058425440157649542_o.jpg

[Guish]

The biggest challenge remains the ability to maintain the inner peace. We get flashes of our true nature/buddha nature during meditation or spiritual actions done from the heart. How to maintain this emptiness/infinite bliss which is within us?

1. Let go

Live each moment as it comes. Live it fully and give all your heart to it. The event could be waking up, brushing your teeth, washing dishes. Give your full attention to it. Use less judgement. Meditate regularly so that the left hand side of your brain which is the rational one doesn't predominate your actions. The right hand side of the brain is stimulated during meditation. Intuition comes from the right hand side.

2. The notorious one/Ego

Your name, caste. religion, status, wealth. None of it is you. Realise that you are nothing but can be anything. You can be Ravana or Rama. Be wise to choose what is real. But what the hell is real? Truth is nothing since everything changes. This gives rise to the notion that it's quite stupid to stand your ground or fight for a belief as you change constantly, everyday, every minute. Right now, I'm a different Guish.

3. What to believe in?

We are all connected. Look at the simplest things. We need the sun, the air produced by trees, water from rain. The body needs maintenance and the mind needs stability which can only be obtained if you are operating from Buddha nature. Sooner or later, the rat race will kick your ass and you'll have to do self inquiry and realize that only the true nature can bring true happiness, bliss.

[ZooLife]

Right now, I'm a different Guish.


Oh Great, you're leaving Guishes all over the place.

Cleanup on aisle Guish!

I'm on it!

http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/0/0/1/8/1/7/4/1/7/Cleanup-on-Aisle-9-20963521540.png

;)

;)

[ZooLife]

I am in I
I am in I in a boat
I am in I in a boat sailing into the mystic
Mystic am I

I am in I......
.....I am in I.........


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_KoZuoWwAAcjK0.jpg

[Guish]

Dqu6H7rhsHk

[Guish]

October 13th, 2015

Look at how our heads and feet
Are capped and shod without a second thought.
It is like the man who had a long beard,
But did not anguish at its length
Until one day someone asked him
How he arranged it when he went to bed.
Then he put it inside then outside the coverlet,
The whole night spent looking for the best position.
So he tossed and turned until the dawn of day,
And in the end wanted only to chop it off!
Although this fable is light and humorous,
Still it contains a much deeper meaning.
When I asked the dharma master about this,
He gave a smile and nodded his assent.
- Su Shih (1073)

[Wind]

Some feelings come. In themselves they have no power
but as soon as they arise some tendency to interpret them comes with them.
‘This means I am not ready, I am not good enough, I am not going to get it.'
If you stay merely in the space in which they arise
they will not leave any footprints in Consciousness at all.

AwH2IgOypBE

[Guish]

Thoughts.

All actions, all creations are basically thoughts.
Which ones to keep?
Once judgments happen, thoughts intensify
Thoughts multiply
Thoughts coming from a higher nature will leave speechless
Even thoughtless
Divinity is spontaneous, free from all.
Divine thoughts will fill one with joy
And one does not even need to think about it..

[Clear Light]

Some feelings come. In themselves they have no power
but as soon as they arise some tendency to interpret them comes with them.
‘This means I am not ready, I am not good enough, I am not going to get it.'
If you stay merely in the space in which they arise
they will not leave any footprints in Consciousness at all.

Hmmm ... I could be wrong but it seemed from her body language that the woman who asked the question was unsure of how to Release what she was feeling i.e. to Cry :cry:

"Don't be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts" (Hopi Native American proverb)

[Guish]

https://fbcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xta1/v/t1.0-0/s526x296/12088422_761779860597724_3901061670107294984_n.jpg?oh=72201acc285a0d2c61955bfdd0d0bb78&oe=56CA5BB4&__gda__=1456040385_3562d552b32a8c2a3f6aab1aadb0c012

[Wind]

To bring the mind to silence,
you must not work with the mind.
The suffering of the mind
occurs inside the consciousness,
but the pure consciousness itself does not suffer.
Every time you recognise the true place,
the agitations of the mind will not be there.
This is the pearl of non-dual wisdom.

~ Mooji

[Clear Light]

Paul Brunton :

[...]

He can discipline himself to returning from meditation to the turmoil, go anywhere, do anything, if truth is carried in the mind and poise in the heart. He may learn to live in reality at all times. The sense of its presence will need no constant renewal, no frequent slipping into trance, no intermittent escape from the world, if he follows the philosophic threefold path."


Mooji :

You say you are so happy to be Presence.
Yes, only Presence is really happy.
The ego is happy with presents.
Presents that you can open.
But you are happy with and as Presence,
which is always open.
It is so beautiful.



Gangaji :

You are not who you believe yourself to be. Who you are cannot be devised. Who you are cannot be imagined. Who you are is before, during, and after all thoughts. Stop for a moment and realize who you are.

Growth, progress, and evolution are inventions of the ego. Being is our True state. Denial of our true state doesnʹt change it one iota.

There are many stories of difficulty. Be aware that they are stories to avoid the absolute ease of being. Nothing can be easier than being nothing.

This is an invitation to shift your allegiance from the activities of your mind to the eternal presence of your Being.

If you are willing to experience anything directly and immediately, whether good or bad, joyous or hateful, you will recognize that what you are running from does not exist, and what you are running toward is already here.

I promise you there is undreamed of support for true and lasting fulfillment. All that is waiting is the YES from your mind to your heart

[...]


The following may or may not be of interest to anyone nevertheless I am posting this information as a possible alternative route to Enlightenment aka "Our Natural Mind" ... Now while there are many many books on the subject of Dzogchen, here I am simply sharing some choice statements from one who has gone the distance so-to-speak !

oh, it may prove useful to contrast differing approaches from different POV's re Presence ?

From : An interview with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche 1985 for Vajradhatu Sun (http://www.rangjung.com/authors/tulku_urgyen_rinpoche-interview.htm)

Self-existing wakefulness is present within the mind-stream of all sentient beings since primordial time. This presence is something which should not be left as theory, but should be acknowledged through one's experience. One first recognizes it, then trains and attains stability in it.

Conceptual mind is merely intellect whereas experience to remain in the continuity of naked awareness; growing used to it [is] what is called "experiencing".

Awareness is present within all beings; whoever has mind has awareness since it is the mind's essence. The relationship between mind and awareness is mind being like the shadow of one's hand and awareness being the hand itself. In this way, there is not one single sentient being who does not have awareness. We might hear about awareness and then think "I understand, awareness is just such and such". This mental construct is totally useless - from the very first the absence of mental fabrication is crucial [to recognition].

Introducing awareness means to point out the absence of mental fabrication. Otherwise it becomes an introduction to mere discursive thought.

According to one's ability one can apply what one feels inclined towards - like gathering honey from many different flowers. Or, simply to cultivate and practice the recognition of awareness alone will be sufficient for attaining enlightenment within this body and lifetime.

Having recognized one's essence, one should sustain its continuity. There will be no benefit from simply leaving it with "I have recognized!" It is necessary to maintain the continuity of awareness until all confusion and conceptual thinking has been exhausted. That itself is the measure; when thoughts are exhausted then it is enough; there is no more need for meditation or for "sustaining the continuity".

[My Note : An appreciation of Buddhist Philosophy and Terminology will likely come in handy *if* reading the full interview as it is set in the context of Tibetan Buddhism]

[Meggings]

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11150851_997949823579209_6912663418203347782_n.jpg?oh=bea187265c6016d759b64caf5423a836&oe=56CD4393

[Wind]

You want trouble? Then you must go to the 'I-me' state of mind.
'I-me' is going to give you more trouble than any enemy on earth can give.
The ego-self always wants something.
It is always criticising, interpreting, exaggerating something or the other.
It is in the ego's nature to judge, complain and to divide.
It is prone to feelings of insecurity, fearing rejection and constantly craving attention.
It is a very needy state—exhausting.
This 'I-me' requires high maintenance.
Discover and be the story-less, history-less 'I-am’ presence.
That one is no trouble.
It is not different from God.
It blesses all who seek Truth.

~ Mooji

[transiten]

I totally agree that EGO can be a great obstacle to "enlightenment", but on the other hand one requires an EGO to be able to exist on this planet at all. The task is to develop a Healthy Ego not the one running your life. Trying to get rid of a weak ego diving into the spiritual request might lead you into very dark places, speaking from personal experience.

[greybeard]

Good to see you here transiten
All view points are welcomed

I agree that a healthy self respect is good and something to be aimed for.

However its perhaps a question of defining ego.

Eckhart Tolle and many before he "awakened" live effectively without ego in the state we call Self Realisation.
Its not a question of making an enemy of ego, rather transcending it.

All that being said, I would rather mix with people who have a well trained "ego" than otherwise.

Best wishes
Chris

[Guish]

The thread is going in circles now.

[Clear Light]

The thread is going in circles now.

Neale Donald Walsch : "Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now"

???

[Guish]

The thread is going in circles now.

Neale Donald Walsch : "Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now"

???
I'm not talking about this. We've been debating healthy ego and other things for years here. The same questions are coming making the thread redundant now. Everything has been answered if you search the thread.

[Clear Light]

The thread is going in circles now.

Neale Donald Walsch : "Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now"

???
I'm not talking about this. We've been debating healthy ego and other things for years here. The same questions are coming making the thread redundant now. Everything has been answered if you search the thread.

Ah, my bad ... but as a newcomer to the thread it's all new food for thought !

[greybeard]

The thread is going in circles now.

Neale Donald Walsch : "Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now"

???
I'm not talking about this. We've been debating healthy ego and other things for years here. The same questions are coming making the thread redundant now. Everything has been answered if you search the thread.

Yes that's true Guish.
However guests and new members are that conditioned to looking for "the latest" they are unlikely to go through the thread from the beginning.
A few times I have endeavoured to leave but something draws me back --it just might be the interaction with others.

With love
Chris

[ZooLife]

The thread is going in circles now.

What is so wrong with going around in circles?

http://i.imgur.com/3GSNqH2.gif

http://www.mnartists.org/sites/default/files/artwork/media/a7c58acc2569c357a0ebee46b467ffad.gif

http://i.imgur.com/Hc3mFsh.gif



Well, this might be wrong..... :P

http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgj7haNNmq1qzxdgfo1_500.gif

Sometimes oh so wrong can be oh so right. ;)

http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Merry+go+round+_46f8c5_2525.jpg

[Guish]

The thread is going in circles now.

Neale Donald Walsch : "Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now"

???
I'm not talking about this. We've been debating healthy ego and other things for years here. The same questions are coming making the thread redundant now. Everything has been answered if you search the thread.

Yes that's true Guish.
However guests and new members are that conditioned to looking for "the latest" they are unlikely to go through the thread from the beginning.
A few times I have endeavoured to leave but something draws me back --it just might be the interaction with others.

With love
Chris

Valid point.

¤=[Post Update]=¤





The thread is going in circles now.

Neale Donald Walsch : "Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now"

???
I'm not talking about this. We've been debating healthy ego and other things for years here. The same questions are coming making the thread redundant now. Everything has been answered if you search the thread.

Ah, my bad ... but as a newcomer to the thread it's all new food for thought !

BTW, welcome Neo!

[greybeard]

Well the truth tends to lie in the middle (of the circle) ---does it not? Smiling.

To be clear the thread came about for my learning process--I wanted to share spiritual information as a two way street.
There is an evolution of understanding from the first post to the latest page.
So there should something, somewhere, for every level of understanding.

While there may not be anything new under the Sun--- new posters and new questions trigger my memory and remind me of something perhaps I have forgotten and need to hear.

Also there are nearly three thousand visitors to this thread every week --they would not come if they were not getting something from the contributions.

With love for all posters and guests

Chris

[Guish]

The thread is going in circles now.

What is so wrong with going around in circles?

http://i.imgur.com/3GSNqH2.gif

http://www.mnartists.org/sites/default/files/artwork/media/a7c58acc2569c357a0ebee46b467ffad.gif

http://i.imgur.com/Hc3mFsh.gif

http://meowgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/anigif_enhanced-buzz-21573-1332427459-46.gif

http://meowgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/funny-gifs-cat-foot-ball.gif

Well, this might be wrong..... :P

http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgj7haNNmq1qzxdgfo1_500.gif

Sometimes oh so wrong can be oh so right. ;)

http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Merry+go+round+_46f8c5_2525.jpg

Such a crazy woman you are! I love it.

¤=[Post Update]=¤


Well the truth tends to lie in the middle (of the circle) ---does it not? Smiling.

To

Haha, the middle way, old friend.

[Guish]

There is no way to learn or to teach It.
It is different from the known,
Beyond the unknown.
In this all the ancient masters agree.

- Upanishads

[Valley]

Maybe no way to learn or teach "It"... but there are ways to 'reach It'... otherwise there'd be nothing to speak of It.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp9dc9im3-M

There is no way to learn or to teach It.
It is different from the known,
Beyond the unknown.
In this all the ancient masters agree.

- Upanishads

[Matthew]

The great thing about Yo-Yos is the spinning circle that's swung round in a looping circle

http://img0026.psstatic.com/135258137_-duncan-proyo-translucent-colors-with-trick-cd-rom---.jpg

[ZooLife]

Duality:

Standing side by side, neither is greater or less than the other (though separately they insistent differently). They cancel each other out.

But.....

Together they are magic. Together they animate the inanimate.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El_LAaweUvg

http://www.robertmills.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Picture3.jpg

https://i1.wp.com/www.robertmills.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/pleasantville-31.jpg

[greybeard]

Full Inter-dimensional Interview: Bashar and Alan Steinfeld

Thanks to my dear friend Heart2hearth for this.

Chris




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iRU-jLkcss&feature=em-share_video_user


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyNwxRMgJbY&feature=em-share_video_user

Darryl Anka (Bashar) - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zMDMtv5XwY&feature=em-share_video_user

[Wind]

You say, 'Mooji, I always doubt myself.
I always think I am not good enough.'
But what is this self you are so faithful to?
If it is the ego, then this one you must doubt.
Remember, you are consciousness, presence, Truth.
Why are you sustaining this delusion in yourself?
Why do you insult your God?
Your God is inside your Heart. Be one with Him.
How can you speak like this in the Presence of your own Heart,
which is the only thing that is true in yourself.
Self-doubt, self-hatred is the devil's food.
What I speak is holy food.
Angels eat my food.
But not the one who doubts himself.

~ Mooji

[Pam]

In response to everything having been covered before. Personally, I can review information, insights, or spiritual readings over and over. Every time they will have a new meaning for me. I look at that as growth of some sort. I am grateful to have evolved over the years. As long as the ego is unbridled I need to be reminded because I still fall back into states where the ego is running wild and I need to be reminded that this doe not have to be.

[greybeard]

In response to everything having been covered before. Personally, I can review information, insights, or spiritual readings over and over. Every time they will have a new meaning for me. I look at that as growth of some sort. I am grateful to have evolved over the years. As long as the ego is unbridled I need to be reminded because I still fall back into states where the ego is running wild and I need to be reminded that this doe not have to be.

Thanks for your input peterpam
I can but agree whole heartedly.

Love ch

[greybeard]

With Romanian subtitles
Bashar - Brick Walls Beliefs
Heart2hearth said This ..I find might be helpful for many people ...amazing explanation in my view .. 16 parts ..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p09yyPJAZbY&feature=em-share_video_user

[ZooLife]

I find it intriguing that physical acts mirror spiritual acts (as above, so below).

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b6/8e/21/b68e2193acbfd6a98dfc9692a083d30f.jpg

Speaking of circles....

http://www.soulseeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/got-up-yesterday.jpg

[Guish]

https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtl1/v/t1.0-9/12088283_1636423599929440_753687701135472004_n.jpg?oh=2628f1be6ac9d0738ac8010f736674d7&oe=56C0251F

[ZooLife]

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/glowing-lava-flow-peter-french.jpg

https://koshersamurai.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/lava-flowing-down-volcano.jpg

http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/15480245495_cc65c35a62_k.jpg

http://www.kalapanaculturaltours.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IMG_6279.jpg

https://everywhereonce.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/kilauea-lava-flow-at-night.jpg

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6CBnqZkascs/maxresdefault.jpg

[ZooLife]

https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtl1/v/t1.0-9/12088283_1636423599929440_753687701135472004_n.jpg?oh=2628f1be6ac9d0738ac8010f736674d7&oe=56C0251F

I think love and wisdom are saying the same thing here. They just need a translator. :)

The universal translators traverse the river Styx.


Nothing is everything in a constant dress rehearsal.

[betoobig]

Even though any movement seems to be circular, you have to add the forward intrinsecal movement.... so it results, always, in an spiral movement.
Much love

[Guish]

October 18th, 2015

Above all, don’t wish to become a future Buddha;
Your only concern should be,
As thought follows thought,
To avoid clinging to any of them.
- Dogen (1200 – 1253)

[Guish]

October 19th, 2015

Deep green needles glow
Against a cobalt sky;
They radiate something
Only a few can sense.
Snow white peaks,
Summits shrouded in clouds,
Shine and echo,
Shine and echo
Through both sides
Of the skin line.
Oh, in all this lies
Some deep implication,
Yet when I try to say more,
I become silent, mute.
- Ji Aoi Isshi

[Meggings]

Sometimes I wonder how to APPLY "enlightenment" to the nitty-gritty of everyday life. This from Dr. David Hawkins might be helpful:

"All forms of loss are a confrontation to the ego and its survival mechanisms. All aspects of human life are transient, so to cling to any aspect eventually brings grief and loss. Each incident, however, is an opportunity to search within for the source of life, which is ever present, unchanging, and not subject to loss or the ravages of time. "

From: “Transcending the Levels of Consciousness: The Stairway to Enlightenment” (2006), Chapter 4: Grief—Spiritual Orientation, pp. 95–96

[Wind]

Often, at the most auspicious moment of spiritual insight, the strongest doubts appear.
It is said that just after the baptism of Christ, he was led into the wilderness.
The spirit of God led him into the wilderness to meet who?
Mr Psychological Mind, the highest personification of ego, the tempter—Satan himself.
The voice of God says, 'This is my son in whom I am well pleased,'
and the next moment he is in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. Alone.
Here to withstand the temptations of the deceitful one.
A passage he must go through before his ministry can begin.
He is not with friends. No, this is not a social moment.
Rather, he will become tired, lonely and hungry.
Christ was compelled to invite or induce a state of weakness upon himself
—a mental, emotional and physical weakness.
He was preparing himself to meet the devil,
for he had to overcome Satan's powerful deceptions while in his own weakest state.
The Tempter would not be able to challenge him in his strength.
In man's weakest moment does he stand the chance to find his greatest strength.
Is such strength from man or from God?
Everyone has to go through his own version of '40 days and 40 nights' in the wilderness of personal identity.

This 'walk through the valley of the shadows of death and temptations' he must pass through at some time or another and in some place or another.
We are not different from Christ, except that most have not recognised their true Self and continue to believe they are merely their body-mind identity.
Know that the core of your Self is ever one with the Supreme Being.

~ Mooji

d1ycgPo-GPQ

[ZooLife]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1c/28/22/1c28223576e5b84a94a2c9d7c7d78e55.jpg

Here comes those boxes again.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/629708a035fc4d65dbb6b3da609cf929/tumblr_inline_nq4u1b9MX51s6125h_540.gif


What do you think?

[greybeard]

I think "You Sure Box Clever" ZooLife.
Next thing, you will be letting the cat out of the bag--smiling

Thinking in the box and then sharing alowed, may well be considered, in tell ect.

If you get that, you are as crazy as me.

Love c

[ZooLife]

I think "You Sure Box Clever" ZooLife.
Next thing, you will be letting the cat out of the bag--smiling

Thinking in the box and then sharing alowed, may well be considered, in tell ect.

If you get that, you are as crazy as me.

Love c

I am intrigued, my friend.

Could this be a hint?


The Formula has infinite depth in its efficacy and application.

Rule 1 : You can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent.

Rule 2 : The more sophisticated the game - the more sophisticated the opponent. If the opponent is very good, he will place his victim inside an environment he can control.
The bigger the trick and older the trick - the easier it is to pull. Based on two principles : They think it can't be that old, or they think it can't be that big for so many people to have fallen for it.

Rule 3 : You will always find a good opponent in the very last place you would ever look.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWj7oWlVtag

[greybeard]

No hint, I just like letting the mind out to play---it can make leaps and crate links where there are none---unless I say there are --smiling.
Why did Alice in wonderland and the queen spring into mind?
I had best go to bed in case I wake up.
I c nothing but boxes before me.

Love Chris

[ZooLife]

I c nothing but boxes before me.

Love Chris

Well Chris, I hope you don't get the hives. ;)

http://survivalofthehive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Bees-on-Honeycomb.gif

http://aetherforce.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/symm-bees.jpg

A be(e) has a buzz.

Speaking of buzz.


http://www.mouseinfo.com/gallery/files/4/1/2/7/buzz_2lowres.jpg

[ZooLife]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwEMOt2HTJc

https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/424750062_1280x720.jpg

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/T2SoI2jNFE0/maxresdefault.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CL4bwIeWsAAlA3m.jpg

[Wind]

Pure joy is not a state.
It’s not, 'Wow, I am having a really good time.'
Good time, bad time—such times make no difference to the Self.
You don't know what good time and bad time is.
You only know the joy of the Supreme.
You are always empty.
Inside, outside: empty.
You don't know how to measure anything.
This emptiness is not a measure.
It’s just your joy—the joy that was there from before the beginning of this world.
And it is here during the great play of the world.
And after the show of the world is over, it will still be here.
Here inside your Heart you find it.

~ Mooji

[Guish]

https://scontent-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12106964_763209270454783_5490724929018242509_n.jpg?oh=1b90d08136a3b84338941935bbee4cdb&oe=56D12C36

Buddha nature is inside.

[betoobig]

That´s ecxatly why chakras, being a conection to the outer world, aren´t needed to look inside. All we need is within.
Much love

[Innocent Warrior]

"The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing, it refuses nothing. It receives but does not keep. And if anything comes in front of the mirror it reflects it instantly, the mirror doesn't wait to reflect it."

http://i.imgur.com/bOnfESw.gif

mcq9X4ZZ5DI

[ZooLife]

The mind is a mirror and the Universe is a mirror to the mind. It's a mir-acle / Magic (as above, so below).

http://tobyjohnson.com/Images/mobius%20infinite%20ONE.jpg

https://robinheyden.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/mirror.jpg

http://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/users/3594/thm1024/day041.jpg

http://themindunleashed.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/healerrr.jpg

[Wind]

For one who is reborn in the Self,
everything exists in the Now.
Because you have swallowed all of time,
time becomes only the Now.
Past, present, future—everything becomes the Now.
Every place becomes Here.
Every zone of time becomes Now.

~ Mooji

[ZooLife]

I look at my watch and it reads "2:10"........ LIAR (my watch is a liar)!

It's NOW not .......2:10!


Remember TODAY is the day we went 'Back to the Future"!

http://www.cinema52.com/2013/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/20131119-093429.jpg

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6Tf8mPsvcOs/maxresdefault.jpg