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

[O Donna]

Love appears to move through form often mistaken for that very form.

Love is not the form it's held in or the hands that hold.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DkbsnmbU8AA2Q3e.jpg

https://www.askideas.com/media/57/For-to-be-free-is-not-merely-to-cast-off-ones-chains-but-to-live-in-a-way-that-respects-and-enhances-the-freedom-of-others.-Nelson-Mandela.jpg

[greybeard]

The Caterpillar and the Butterfly: the Law of Transformation
By Melody Larson

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." --Richard Bach

This quote, despite its simplicity, is my favorite quote of all time because in its simplicity it expresses the complex cycle of all existence. Everything that can be called life continually, willingly, destroys itself in order to renew itself.

We see this in physical terms when we observe the processes of nature: from the cycle of the seasons, to natural "disasters," to the evaporation of water. And yes, from the transformation of the caterpillar into the butterfly. We see it in our own bodies too as our cells willingly die in order to be replaced with new ones: we can scratch our heads and watch dead skin cells fall to the ground and though we can't see it, the cells within us die off too so that our organs are continuously regenerated.

Which leads me to pondering: since physical life is a mirror of nonphysical life, wouldn't physical law provide a hint into universal law? I believe it does. We see this Law of Transformation happening not only in nature and in our bodies, but in spiritual and psychological terms as well.

In spiritual terms the Soul destroys and renews its physical forms just as nature does. Those physical forms happen to be us. It continually, willingly, creates and destroys various physical selves in an eternal cycle in order to renew, expand, and grow.

As a human being we are born and we die much like the leaf of a tree is born and dies. But we are the tree too. The tree part of us is our inner being, the Soul. We are uncomfortable with this process when we do not understand that we are the tree and that we live on even as we "die." If we look upon death through the eyes of the caterpillar, we see the end of ourselves. But if we look through the eyes of the Master within, the Soul, we see death as a mere transition into more.

Psychologically the Law of Transformation is well under operation too. Old beliefs must die and be replaced with new ones if we want to grow--and if we don't replace them we remain stunted and lifeless in our being. Since belief is cause it determines the circumstances we attract into our lives and so it is natural and normal and healthy that circumstances also be destroyed and created fresh: a marriage ends, we become ill, we lose our job.

When we resist these little "deaths" we miss the opportunity they provide for personal transformation. If that is the case, we simply regenerate new circumstances that sadly mirror the old ones and nothing in our lives appears to change. However, when we understand that these "end of the world" moments are pivotal to our life purpose we can make the leap towards knowing and fulfilling that purpose.

A caterpillar event occurs and we have the choice to view it from the caterpillar's perspective (the limited view of the ego/personality) or from the Master's perspective (the eternal view of the Soul.) From the Master's perspective a disaster is not a disaster at all but the necessary and wonderful adventure into a bigger life--the butterfly life.

But in order for that adventure to take place we must develop such a deep level of trust and faith in the unknown that we leap into it willingly and enthusiastically and tell our confidence and courage to simply catch up with us later. That is the work we must do. It is rooted in alignment, not struggle.

I believe that the Law of Transformation is at work right now not only in the individual life, but in the collective life as well: in humanity's collective Soul. All around us we see a world breaking down--financial crisis, environmental crisis, political crisis, religious and ethnic crisis in the forms of war and terrorism. Could it be that this is not the end of the world, but the call to transition as a human race to the next level of our evolution? Are we simply collectively transforming from the caterpillar to the butterfly?

I believe we are. What a glorious time! To make this leap successful requires every individuated aspect of the collective Soul--every human being--to make a personal leap of faith in their own lives and to choose to commit to finding and fulfilling their individual purpose for being here. Instead of viewing the current circumstance of your life as disastrous, what if you chose to view them as the bugle call to greater happiness, freedom, and a more meaningful way of living?

Commit to get to know the Master within you. It is so powerfully and patiently waiting to share with you its wisdom, humor, and secrets. The Master, your own Soul, is a great magician who knows how to manifest your every need so that you may fulfill your purpose. When you agree to get on the path to purpose you will delightfully discover that freedom, prosperity, health, love, creativity, wisdom and joy are your natural state of being.

It is frightening to leave the safe ground where the caterpillar dwells and to enter a cocoon of unknowingness. But the reward, the sweet reward...is to discover your capability for flight.
Melody Larson is an inspiring author, teacher, presenter and Soul Purpose Guide whose mission is to awaken people to the spiritual potential that lies within them. She's the author of 2 books: the newly released Delighting the Soul and the highly popular The Beginner's Guide to Abundance. Melody also teaches affordable online webinars, with her husband Thomas, that help others live in the Now by applying the teachings of Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, and others.

https://trans4mind.com/counterpoint/index-spiritual/larson4.shtml

[ThePythonicCow]

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." --Richard Bach
...
I believe that the Law of Transformation is at work right now not only in the individual life, but in the collective life as well: in humanity's collective Soul. All around us we see a world breaking down--financial crisis, environmental crisis, political crisis, religious and ethnic crisis in the forms of war and terrorism. Could it be that this is not the end of the world, but the call to transition as a human race to the next level of our evolution? Are we simply collectively transforming from the caterpillar to the butterfly?
...

Hah - great minds think alike (and sometimes modest minds too, which might apply more in my case.)

On a thread of a quite different topic, I wrote of a similar thought and in a smaller way, of similar hopes: The seed is not the plant -- Discussion about Q Thread Temporary Closings -- Post #32 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104200-Discussion-about-Q-Thread-Temporary-Closings&p=1247548&viewfull=1#post1247548).

[O Donna]

Does the analogy stop at the adult butterfly?


When in the fourth and final stage of their lives, adult butterflies are constantly on the look out to reproduce and when a female lays their eggs on some leaves, the butterfly life cycle will start all over.


See the dog and butterfly
Up in the air he like to fly
Dog and butterfly below she had to try
She roll back down to the warm soft ground
Laughing to the sky, up to the sky


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5c/18/79/5c187915e1ace30290a4a848db9e2d78.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/67/61/48/676148ea3e25022f5ee7df63e9203294.jpg

[greybeard]

Illusions.. The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (Audio-book)
Written and Narrated by Richard Bach.

This is a "find" revisited.
The story brings tears to my eyes.
Can I suggest you download it and take your time to listen.

With love
Chris


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX8vp_nW0OU

The quote on caterpillars and butterflies comes from here.

Many shrewd sentences in Illusions.

It funny how things get linked.
The caterpillar came first into my house and then I noticed Richard Bach "Illusions" on u tub and when I did a search on how caterpillars change into butterflies the text above arrived.

The caterpillar is still there--not moving--metamorphosing? I do not know.

Free will --ha ha---things arrive and depart without my will being involve one little bit--for that I am grateful.

In wonderment

Chris

[Bo Atkinson]

The Caterpillar and the Butterfly: the Law of Transformation
By Melody Larson

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." --Richard Bach

This quote, despite its simplicity, is my favorite quote of all time because in its simplicity it expresses the complex cycle of all existence. Everything that can be called life continually, willingly, destroys itself in order to renew itself.
[/url]

More simplicity should indeed simplify the explanations of existence, where the irremediable seeker keeps digging:



1.31 The “Rebirth” of Everything

All material forms (atoms, molecules, aggregates, worlds, planets, solar systems, aggregates of solar systems, etc.) are subject to the law of transformation. They are being formed, changed, dissolved, and re-formed. This is inevitable, since in the long run no material forms tolerate the wear of the cosmic material energies.

The primordial atoms that form all these compositions of matter thereby have opportunities to have ever new experiences in new forms. All learn from everything.

When their form is renewed, all organisms (plants, animals, men) receive a form of life similar to the previous form, until their consciousness development requires a specifically different, higher form, a more expedient possibility to acquire increased experience.

Man is reborn as a man (never as an animal), until he has learnt everything he can learn in the human kingdom, and has acquired all the qualities and abilities necessary to enable him to continue his consciousness expansion in the fifth natural kingdom. Rebirth explains both the seeming injustices of life (since in new lives the individual has to reap what he has sown in previous lives) and the innate, latent understanding and the once self-acquired abilities existing as predispositions. It does more than that. It refutes 99 per cent of everything that mankind has accepted as truth. (https://laurency.com/KVe/kr1.pdf)

[greybeard]

wavydome good to see you.

My attempt at humour.
When you are in a hole stop digging---smiling
Been there.

Chris

[Bo Atkinson]

wavydome good to see you.

My attempt at humour.
When you are in a hole stop digging---smiling
Been there.

Chris

Thanks :thumbsup:
More truth in humor. :idea:

We work at the idea of wok, here on PA...
How do we develop consciousness as humans and as searching seekers?
Actions & Lights...
http://harmoniouspalette.com/DirtAndDualisticForces.jpg (http://harmoniouspalette.com/Blog2018.html)
By digging, I meant another dictionary meaning without problematic holes, beyond the dictionary copy-paste... (http://harmoniouspalette.com/Blog2018.html)


dig |diɡ|
verb (digs, digging; past and past participle dug |dəɡ| )
[…snip…]

• [with object] (dig something up/out) discover information after a search or investigation: have you dug up any information on the captain?
2 [with object] informal like, appreciate, or understand: I really dig heavy rock.

[Foxie Loxie]

We ARE consciousness....we don't "become" it! (IMHO) :flower:

[greybeard]

wavydome
We are formless consciousness that condensed into restricted consciousness, became what seems to be individual forms.
All the same essence, all consciousness.
So ancient teaching , Advaita (One without a second) recommended using the process Neity Neity (Not this not this) to remove all that is not Truth.
What is left--full realization of Self--one without a second, full consciousness.

Simple but not easy.

Chris


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va4bXUM1M8Q

[greybeard]

Look at what you are not.
These things come and go.
All ego based.
You are not the "story of me".
You are not your occupation
You are not your hobby
You are not your religion
You are not any gender.
You are not the body
The list is endless, all self identification labels.
What you are left with is the One Self One consciousness Eternal (not time based) no beginning no end.

An honest look at one self will show that what looks through the eyes has not changed--opinions, ideas. concepts have come and gone.
You are not an idea--a thought, you are real, constant
Happy digging
Chris

A Course in Miracles says "The moment you take up a position , know that you are identifying with an illusion"

[Bo Atkinson]

wavydome
We are formless consciousness that condensed into restricted consciousness, became what seems to be individual forms.
All the same essence, all consciousness.
So ancient teaching , Advaita (One without a second) recommended using the process Neity Neity (Not this not this) to remove all that is not Truth.
What is left--full realization of Self--one without a second, full consciousness.

Simple but not easy.

Chris

(video-youtube)

Chris,

I welcome a more comprehensive conversation, but am also appreciating the brief and friendly thoughts shared around enlightenment concepts. Where we may offer references, which are acceptably not studied. I focussed more on the western resources, including many varieties, successionally, for decades and almost missed the better history of eastern consciousness until i found hylozoics through Laurency. Hylozoics melds science with consciousness development.

With all due respect to personal preferences of others, in all such matters, i offer to share more of the Pythagorean writings of Laurency, concerning your post to me. I am happy to cease presenting excerpts on your thread, if specifically informed of your wish that i cease posting Pythagorean teachings on this particular thread.

Following is an excerpt critical of advaita. The term “selves” replaces terms like soul or spirit, for conscious beings. This is done to establish precise meanings within a very comprehensive and extensive system. I am new to this subject but absorbed in the books and common sense presentation.

The number prefix as in ”47-selves”mathematically represents the realm of evolution had by “a self”. (We, as a self, are said to evolve, if we indeed consecrate our self to evolve to successional realms, instead of incessantly reincarnating back on earth, by lack of such a aspiring commitment). Their uses for the word ‘atom’ applies to aspects of consciousness, which the learned of earth will naturally reject. So we may perhaps see that we are two humans, simply discussing diverse views, without suggesting a dispute. Excerpt follows my photo.

http://harmoniouspalette.com/Ringed_FC-07/1stWideDT.jpg (http://harmoniouspalette.com/Ringed_FC-07/DonuTruss.html)


The advaita philosophy makes the cardinal mistake of judging reality in one world from the perception of reality in another world, and therefore arrives at nothing but absurdities. The perception of reality in world 45, for example, is logically impossible to both 47- selves and 43- selves. The philosophers must learn to let “this be this” in every world.

The illusionist philosophy can be explained psychologically thus: when matter disintegrates, the atoms involved into lower atomic kinds turn into the next higher kind. When the 45-atom is “split” it disintegrates into 44-atoms.

Hylozoics maintains that every world is its own inevitable reality, just as real as is the reality of all other worlds to those who are in it. The three aspects of reality not only seem different, but are different, in the different worlds.

Vedanta was intended as a reaction against physicalism and involved emphasizing the consciousness aspect, but therefore in its original form did not discard the matter aspect. This was the mistake (with advaita) that was made by the Shankara who lived in the 9th century C.E. The first Shankara appeared shortly after Buddha.

Consciousness cannot exist without a material basis. The importance of the consciousness aspect increases in each higher material world and the importance of the matter aspect decreases. But it is a mistake to deny the absolute existence of the matter aspect and an even greater one to disregard its significance in the worlds of man. The illusionist philosophy of Shankara is a mental fiction in the world of emotional illusions.

Esoterics explains how Shankara could arrive at his idea, baroque at it seems.

There is only one consciousness: the cosmic total consciousness in which every primordial atom has a share it cannot lose, and all consciousness is both collective and individual….

[greybeard]

"There is only one consciousness: the cosmic total consciousness in which every primordial atom has a share it cannot lose, and all consciousness is both collective and individual…. "

Yes that is true wavydome.
Form formless both and neither.

Modern teachers like Mooji and Rupert Spira are full of love and in the last video posted Rupert goes into misunderstanding stemming from ancient teaching.
As said way back I am dyslexic and not so articulate therfore I cant engage in much discussion.

However this I disagree with
"Consciousness cannot exist without a material basis.".

The mystics say that consciousness is prior to all else and following their suggestions I found this to be true.

Material comes and goes consciousness does not.

I am happy for you to continue to post.
I hope that some one can discuss this subject with you.

Chris

[Bo Atkinson]

[...]
The mystics say that consciousness is prior to all else and following their suggestions I found this to be true.

Material comes and goes consciousness does not.

I am happy for you to continue to post.
I hope that some one can discuss this subject with you.

Chris

I uphold another's finding of their personal truth. I am grateful we found some aspects to agree on. If love can freely be summarized within it's own single word, that feels agreeable too.

There is plenty of discoverable space, for merging advancements, of thoughts and of explorations, to carry forth. While still supporting those of other beliefs, as fellow humans, through a simple expression of love.

~bo

[Bo Atkinson]

We ARE consciousness....we don't "become" it! (IMHO) :flower:

But may we "develop consciousness"? May we develop ourselves"? :idea:

[greybeard]

Restricted conscious evolves to know itself.
Enlightenment is the removal of ignorance--the ignorance being that we think we are totally separate.
When ego is removed then there is unconditional love--no agenda.
There is every reason for self improvement within this world.
All different energy levels.
Consciousness in its fullness is perfect, no change needed or possible--eternal is timeless.--No time, no improvement.
Many lifetimes spent evolving to find the Truth within.
The mystics say that seeking is almost a denial of what you truly are.
You are That which you seek.

Chris

[greybeard]

"Borrowed" from Wind's thread posted by justntiime2learn

“To develop a complete mind: Study the art of science; study the science of art. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else” – Leonardo Da Vinci

The complete post I cant copy but it is relevant to current discussion.
Chris

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?69588-Surfing-with-Wind&p=1248218&viewfull=1#post1248218





Leonardo DaVinci: “Everything Connects to Everything Else”


Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born April 15, 1452 at a small town called Vinci in Republic of Florence. Leonardo was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He died at the age of 67 on May 2, 1519.

He became famous mostly for his paintings. However, he had something only very few people in the world can enjoy and that’s an infinite imagination. His extremely logical perception of the world made him mysterious and his curiosity gave him the title of “The Renaissance Man”. The one thing, probably the essence of his genius, was his superhuman sense of connecting 2 opposites and creating a whole.

“To develop a complete mind: Study the art of science; study the science of art. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else” – Leonardo DaVinci

Art vs. ScienceThe brilliance of this quote is also separated in 2 parts. The first part, “To develop a complete mind: Study the art of science; study the science of art.” speaks of taking 2 opposites and entangling them together in order to create a complete vision of the whole.

When we step back and try to see the “bigger picture” we realize that everything is a game of opposites. We live in the world of duality.

However, the essence of each opposite lies at its opposite’s core. In other words, look at the Ying Yang symbol and see that the essence of light lies at its opposite’s core – that little white dot in the midst of darkness – and vice versa.

Only by using light to understand darkness and using darkness to understand light, we can get to know the essence of both opposites, the reason of their existence.

Only by knowing the wholeness of both sides we can realize that they are actually one “coin”. Only by knowing the wholeness of a thing, we can go beyond and use it with its true potential.

We live in a world of duality but our purpose is to find opposites, connect them and create oneness. Our passion should be using the illusion of separateness to create new wholes.

Everything ConnectsWe must “Learn how to see.”, as the second part of this quote says, “Realize that everything connects to everything else”.

Life is the art of The Universe. The entanglement of energies anchored by Matter, limited by time-space, interacting between certain forces and creating their own, unique colors with the illusion of separateness is like an image painting itself.

Art of LifeWe are all connected to everything else and everything else is connected to us. Our past, present and future are all merged into one dot we call now.

We are limited by forces and we experience separateness so we can understand The Whole from every angle and go beyond together, as unity.

The forces and laws we play with are in perfect harmony with each other. Their only rule is balance and Nature never tolerates misbalance.

“Nature never breaks her own laws” – Leonardo DaVinci

[justntime2learn]

"Borrowed" from Wind's thread posted by justntiime2learn

“To develop a complete mind: Study the art of science; study the science of art. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else” – Leonardo Da Vinci

The complete post I cant copy but it is relevant to current discussion.
Chris

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?69588-Surfing-with-Wind&p=1248218&viewfull=1#post1248218

Blessings and thank you, Chris :handshake:

[greybeard]

Intimate as and free from.......Rupert Spira


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHFR_kuk4JI

[O Donna]

A Course in Miracles says "The moment you take up a position , know that you are identifying with an illusion"

Is THAT your position? ;)

You don't have to answer that, I know your position ....errrrr....wait.....what was it again? :cantina:

[greybeard]

Self aware.
This is the only perception short of Enlightenment, where there is no subject nor object.
Awareness is aware of itself--it knows that it exists without any confirmation--label -definition.
Nothing external required.

The mind separates, creates duality--me as subject and the seeming other as an object.
Many waves on an ocean but all composed of water.
Self realization is not an idea --not a theory--too many over thousands of years have testified to this from "personal" experience.
You are not an idea nor a theory--you exist but not as a separate entity--the wave rises out of the ocean and sinks back into the ocean.

Chris

[O Donna]

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." --Richard Bach

** Rephrasing Richard Bach quote, employing creative license: "What the ego calls the end of itself the master (ego) calls an ego."


Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails

- Jagger/Richards

Just don't let 'ego' trip you up.

'Ego' is but a hint, a guess


Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

- Jagger/Richards


(How ironical the song was written by a duo)

** just as freely the post is offered, so it is freely reject-able

[Ba-ba-Ra]

The soul comes into the body - duality. We now are 2 things
Recognizing you are the soul and not the body - self awareness

Think of all the time we spend on the body: feeding it, clothing it, keeping it protected, entertaining it, etc. How much time do each of us spend nurturing the soul, even being aware it exists.

Most here recognize the body is only the vehicle to get the soul around in the material world. So it's important to keep the vehicle in good running condition. But often we forget we're the driver and not the vehicle. It's as if one day we got into the car to go shopping and somewhere between the house and the store, we began to think we were the car.

[greybeard]

Ba-ba-Ra Thanks for the post--clear, simple and True.
Good to see you here.
Chris

[Foxie Loxie]

"....we're the driver, not the vehicle....!! Love it, Ba-ba-Ra!! :highfive: A good, simple explanation!

[greybeard]

Immanent & transcendent.....Rupert Spira


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBCW8DUERGg

[Bo Atkinson]

Using metaphor for “soul” is very helpful for getting beyond the traditional understanding of life beyond the matrix or the veil (or to expand our knowledge of life). The word “car” interestingly imparts the modern idea of driving and parking, both experiences, had intermittently…

An intermittent use, of a variety of cars, within the same life, by a self, (the real us), would fit part of Pythagorean explanations concerning human life. (Although they have other ancient words). Nowadays, we actually ride in more than one car per life. Which also fits physicality or the automotive world of rides. In various ways, we trip, (heh, heh).

The love affair with cars, helps a human to expand the mind, perhaps just a little bit more easily. As the experience of multiple cars is very widespread. Calling upon favorite ideas about cars, lends more opportunity, to introduce what is happening beyond the matrix, or what is the purpose of life, (beyond automotive aspect, beyond physicality).


The Pythagorean point about “soul” is indicating that we are actually more than one, single entity! (Hmmm)

[greybeard]

Many cars one driver--many waves one ocean--one consciousness.
Many life times, one life.
Many times, only the present moment--eternal is without beginning or end-- or it would not be eternal.
One consciousness became all, without loosing it Self.
All seeming matter returns to source which is consciousness.
Nothing but energy, which becomes atoms in movement.

Ch

[O Donna]

i
Am
Here
For
The Duration
Of
The Trip


https://thefirstnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Space-Building-Blocks-of-life.jpg

Everything on the trip is a part of the trip.

[greybeard]

Alan Watts~ The Art of Meditation


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

Everything is a vibration of Myself....Rupert Spira


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

[Wind]

Leave everything aside for a moment,
this self-obsession with being someone special.
Leave aside all these shallow concerns,
projections, expectations that keep your mind floating
like a bubble on the surface of the ocean of being.
Just try to be this formless presence
in which this entire play is watched.
Be neutral. Empty.
Try to observe that which observes.
Keep quiet.
Your mind seems so afraid of this meeting
which is with your true Beloved.
Now is as good a time as any.
Once your heart accepts this invitation
the whole universe is with you.

~ Mooji

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/40467649_1343075712495657_7518880661613051904_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=065367fad3d761ebbcc44694d281a3e3&oe=5C172AD9

[greybeard]

Does Free Will Exist? Determinism vs Free Will! Eckhart Tolle

This will Shock Your Logical Mind Does Free Will Exist?




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJnge5EkfNc

[greybeard]

"We make plans and God laughs"
That's one of the most profound statements I have heard.

The video above by Eckhart is very clear.

I believe what he says--sometimes that belief makes life easier other times not.

We are greater than we realize --we are restricted in a condensed consciousness believing we are a separate entity and time being thats the way its supposed to be or the play of consciousness would not exist and we would not have the experiences and drama that we believe to be real.
Everything is as it is, the whole universe is involved in everything, brings it about and we are That.
Sages on becoming realized have said " I am the totality, all of it"

Ramesh Balsakar was fond of stating "You are not the doer as in, Events happen deeds are done you are not the doer there of"
Also-- "God gave you an ego, let Him remove it"
So ego will be there till Realization of the One Self happens--not down to the seeming individual.
The "person" is led to practices that will assist.
Some get it--some are not a all drawn to spiritual practices, some get it any way--some not in this lifetime.

So that's the thought of today----and --where did that thought come from!!!

Chris

[Wind]

Whatever it is that is arising inside of you,
whether it is in the form of thoughts
or sensations or feelings or imagination,
all of it is just like looking in the sky
and seeing clouds or rainbows or lightning or stars.
Everything is only traffic. Everything is passing.
Keep seeing and confirming that all that you perceive
are momentary in their appearances.
Notice how they appear and then disappear.
By not becoming involved
in any particular phenomenon,
you will spontaneously come to recognise
your real place of Being.
You are the presence that all of this is reporting to.
Experience the flowering of presence,
the power and the presence of presence.
This will be the most important discovery,
beginning today, and deepening as we go.
This is the gift of having a human body:
the consciousness in its human expression
has this capacity to contemplate itself,
to go back to its original completeness.

~ Mooji

[greybeard]

A Mirage Library
"You are a mirage, that doesn't know you are a mirage."
- Stephen H. Wolinsky, Ph.D.


The End of the Game: Deconstructing the Portals to the Absolute

Now Available on Amazon

In “The End of the Game: Deconstructing the Portals to the Absolute” Stephen Wolinsky (Narayan) both delineates and deconstructs the Portals to the Absolute which, in most Spiritual Traditions are considered the end point.

Portals are states which often times become stuck points that both spiritual practitioners and students, as well as "teachers" or Gurus can unknowingly habitually nest in.

Zen Saying: “You never want to nest in any state.”


The End of Game: Deconstructing the Portals to the Absolute dismantles not only the portal of light, sound and vibration but also emptiness, void, stillness-silence, witnessing, non-duality, energy (or shakti), but also consciousness and awareness.


This work demonstrates that although portals are pleasant, they are merely temporary appearances or states or stations or layers or coverings.

The Absolute Prior to the Word Absolute does not have, and knows nothing about the portals or states of light sound emptiness energy consciousness, light, sound, vibration, shakti, or awareness.

As Nisargadatta Maharaj might say… “The Absolute is Prior to Consciousness.”

This book is offered at the feet of my Guru and Mentor Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, whose meetings with him were truly the ultimate luck-out.

May Maharaj’s grace and clarity blanket your heart and mind.

Your Mirage brother,
Stephen (Narayan)

All that is heard (or that is about to be seen, read or heard) is non-existent"
- Shankara

Stephens latest book is now available on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/End-Game-Deconstructing-Portals-Absolute-ebook/dp/B07HGHGL68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537822198&sr=8-1&keywords=stephen+wolinsky+end+of+the+game

Ps Stephen takes understanding just that little bit further than most teachers.
He spent a lot of time with Nasargadatta
It would seem that there are levels--states of enlightenment which seem complete.
The late Dr David Hawkins stated that enlightenment would seem like kindergarten to those even further on.
However its as far as is possible to go on this heavy density planet.
The advice to be still, be quiet, is as good as it gets after some preparatory work is done.
You are complete, nothing to add, is, I suspect true

Ch

[O Donna]

I seek not to improve on the following posted video but to offer a glimpse on how it came about.
A thought, in a thread of thoughts, stood over me while in a thoughtful state that went like this:

“What knows does not say.
What says does not know.”

Coming to realize over the years that my thoughts are not mine alone, it was for this reason I set out on the ‘net to see if another had the same experience and the first thing that caught the eye was this video:


“The one who knows does not speak; the оne who speaks does not know.” – attributed to Lao Tzu


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0hffRUjcUA

Again another thought: the quote above, the idea, it too is of the nature of “Letters” as mentioned in the very same video. “Letters only express the gist of Buddha. We must not be bound by letters. At the same time, not to do away with letters”

Further the thoughts came: why “not do away with the letters (crumbs {an interpretation})”. The answer received: they are evidence of those that came before. Perhaps for encouragement. Perhaps as a friendly challenge in fellowship.

The crumbs are the way but do not be deceived. The path is a miraculous and temporal destination. How can one despair to that which brought us here. The circle/ spiral is perfect in and of itself.

Note to self: make an ouroboros out of letters, out of crumbs.

http://www.golfian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Nice-Letters-Circle-Style-Spiral-Tattoo-Design-Stencil.jpg

http://phillipspoetry.com/images/a_life_circle.jpg

Peace be with you.

[greybeard]

THE ONLY VIDEO YOU HAVE TO SEE: J. KRISHNAMURTI "Totally Absolutely Without Conflict" [2/4]

Excerpt: "Our consciousness has been programmed for thousands and thousands of years and we have been conditioned, programmed, wired...to be, to think as individuals. To think as separate entities struggling, struggling conflict -- from the moment you're born until you die. We are programmed to it. We have accepted that. We have never challenged it, we have never asked, if it possible to live a life totally, absolutely without conflict." "And the religious organizations throughout the world have maintained this individual salvation. And we are questioning very seriously whether there is an individual consciousness. Whether you as a human consciousness have a separate consciousness from the rest of mankind. You have to answer this. You can not just play with it. My consciousness and yours; if we've been brought up, programmed conditioned to the individual then my consciousness is all this activities of thought. Fear is thought..." The suffering, the anxiety, the uncertainty, the deep regrets, wounds, the burden of centuries of sorrow is part of thought. Thought is responsible for all this.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB1_1J6Jqvk

[Wind]

6PPZIjT_ZLY
O63BgxLDUQE

[Wind]

The sense ‘I am’ is universal.
All beings know themselves as I.
Nobody had to teach you this.
I is your name. I is consciousness.
I, consciousness, am.
It is also called the name of God—'I Am'.
It is a very high state.
The perfume of that state they call sat-chit-ananda,
which is the sense of existence,
the consciousness of the existence,
and the joy arising from the consciousness of the existence
—the bliss arising, the bliss of Being.
But there is one who perceives the bliss,
the witness and the things witnessed,
but is not confused by them. All this is only its play.
Even the voice that says Be and things become,
arises from the Absolute. It is One.

~ Mooji

[justntime2learn]

“What knows does not say.
What says does not know.”

Coming to realize over the years that my thoughts are not mine alone, it was for this reason I set out on the ‘net to see if another had the same experience and the first thing that caught the eye was this video:


“The one who knows does not speak; the оne who speaks does not know.” – attributed to Lao Tzu


Again another thought: the quote above, the idea, it too is of the nature of “Letters” as mentioned in the very same video. “Letters only express the gist of Buddha. We must not be bound by letters. At the same time, not to do away with letters”

Further the thoughts came: why “not do away with the letters (crumbs {an interpretation})”. The answer received: they are evidence of those that came before. Perhaps for encouragement. Perhaps as a friendly challenge in fellowship.

The crumbs are the way but do not be deceived. The path is a miraculous and temporal destination. How can one despair to that which brought us here. The circle/ spiral is perfect in and of itself.

Note to self: make an ouroboros out of letters, out of crumbs.

http://www.golfian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Nice-Letters-Circle-Style-Spiral-Tattoo-Design-Stencil.jpg

O Donna :heart:

Love It !

"I embrace my desire to...
I embrace my desire to...
Feel the rhythm
To feel connected
Enough to step aside and
Weep like a widow
To feel inspired
To fathom the power
To witness the beauty
To bathe in the fountain
To swing on the spiral
To swing on the spiral
To swing on the spiral
Of our divinity and
Still be a human" ~ Tool

Could it be a Fibonacci thing ?

wS7CZIJVxFY

[greybeard]

Its a process justntime2learn

The ego gets one started--it wants to be an enlightened ego--smiling

So the pointers from the ones who have crossed the river, so to speak, are extremely useful, encouraging etc.
Eventually there is the realization that its a pathless path and some things lead you away from Truth the Truth being that you are That here and now.
Just a question of removing all that is not Truth--hence neity neity --not this not this-- a process of elimination.
You cant make enlightenment happen but you can prepare the ground--make it more likely to happen.

Thanks for your post here.

Chris

[justntime2learn]

Blessings Chris,

Reaching out with an open mind allows me the opportunity to learn.

I really appreciate the time you took to help enlighten me.

I feel your words ring true in my heart.

Many blessings, and thank you so much, Chris .

Perhaps some are Peddler's of emotion?

I seek the truth and have found that here on PA.

Peace to you my brother for taking the time to break it down for me.

Much love, J

[greybeard]

When enlightenment happens the Truth comes through the persona
So if a nature was firey like Nasargadatta thats still there.
An emotional delivery the same.

There are a few who are not genuine but the Truth can come through them too---other t hings too unfortunately.
Truth is simple--not easy to get to but within all waiting to be uncovered.
Wishing you every success on your inward journey.

Chris

[greybeard]

Free will, the paradox.

The enlightened teachers more or less say the same thing.
One consciousness no subject nor object--just this eternal moment --just what is.
Therefore no free will--just life fulfilling its potential, just this.

However Ramesh after saying "You are not the doer" told this story which I have abbreviated.

Man about to be sentenced for murder said "I am not the doer so --please dont sentence me to death"

The judge said " Thats true and neither am I---you are to be executed."

So whilst in this world of duality, at the "normal" level of consciousness, we are very much subject to the natural laws of cause and effect.

You may commit a crime--you many not be found out --some one else may go to prison for some thing you have done--the possibilities are endless--you have no control over end result of anything that you appear to do.

The bottom line is you must act responsibly even if in fact it was not your choice to do so in reality.
So you act as if you have free will.
If you really look at your past history your genes everything concerning the apparent you--then you act according to all that--you are conditioned to do so.

Many hear about enlightenment, a small percentage studies it--many give up--some spend a lifetime studying this and taking appropriate action--going to hear a Self realized teacher.
You are drawn to that--you dont really have choice--its a burning desire.

A very small percentage are Self Realized but that is growing rapidly.

So that's the thought for today.

Ch

[greybeard]

Documentary on the great Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharshi. Released publicly on 25th May 2018.

If you enjoyed the film donations can be made via www.jnani.tv to fund future productions.

Sri Ramana Maharshi - JNANI 2018



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVYv9ktilQw

[greybeard]

Human nature is amazing
It accepts on the whole that on death spirit leaves the body yet strongly associates with the body/mind and "my" perspective on all things great and small.

Where/what were "you" before this body mind?
Nasargatta call Self "The unborn"

One teacher, Bernie Prior, I met. stated that on the way into the body spirit goes "shopping" for all the traits of human needed for this adventure--parents chosen--birth sign--personality--the works.
I am none of these things but the true identity has to be forgotten meantime.

If Im called to explore spiritual teaching that is not down to chris--just destiny.
I therefore don't have a challenge with "people who dont get it" that's their destiny here and now,

So thats the thought of the moment
With Love c

[greybeard]

Men and Women
Have a good laugh


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgsiTJ3ihgw

[Caliban]

Bored

by

Mooji

[Valerie Villars]

Chris, the story Mooji told in that video was priceless. Thanks for sharing that.

[greybeard]

Yes Valerie
He has some sense of humour--I have taken a "note" of the story.
Ive noticed that most of the Self realized teachers have.
Thanks for your post.
Chris

[Wind]

gXa0coMhBWc

[Guish]

Hi guys,

It has been a long time. I have missed you all a lot but I have done a really long journey.

Those who know don't tell.

Gassho,
Geerish.

[greybeard]

Great to see you after all this time Guish
Please keep posting

Love Chris

[greybeard]

Non-Duality/Advaita (loaded 12 October 2018)

» Susanne Marie - 'Living Beyond Unity' - Interview by Renate McNay

Susanne Marie is a Mystic, spiritual Mentor and Guide and currently writing her first book about her journey to Awakening. In this interview she talks about the 3 different major awakenings she had. 1. Emptiness of Mind - Mind waking up to itself 2. Unity Consciousness - the Heart understood the truth of form, the form itself is divine and I AM THAT not just I AM. 9 years of integration and embodiment followed when a realisation happened she wasn't anticipating - 3. Her Body released itself of identity, she was left with NO SELF The Body contains identity within its own structure, the sense of ME which is needed to help it function. When the ME fell away within the body nothing was ever the same. There is no landing place anymore. Self reflection came to a permanent End. There is only pure experience only NOW. She says: "Go directly to the experience and feeling of what is arising, drop deeper into the vastness of your Being, rest there, no need to interpret, let go without knowing."



http://conscious.tv/single.php?vid=5847718840001



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

[Guish]

Great to see you after all this time Guish
Please keep posting

Love Chris

Sure. When time allows. I have been trying to balance things out.

[Guish]

I made my students take these vows today.

I vow to save all living beings even though I can't save them all.
I vow to conquer all delusions even though they are numberless.
I vow to atttain enlightenment even if it's unattainable.
I vow to be fearless like a lion and unshakeable like a mountain.

Lots of love, Geerish.

[Wind]

It's good to see that you're back, Guish.

[greybeard]

Silent Sitting with Mooji ~ Papaji Jayanti

Papaji Jayanti — 13 October 2018

In honour of Papaji Jayanti, Moojiji joins the Monte Sahaja Sangha in this special sitting. This is the day we celebrate the birthday of Sri H.W.L. Poonja, lovingly called Papaji, the Master of our most beloved Moojibaba.

Through Moojibaba's direct pointing and guidance, we are led into the silence of Being, confirming that this is the only place we can never leave.

A very beautiful and powerful guidance highly recommended for all sincere seekers of Truth.

Happy Papaji Jayanti! May all beings be happy.

This and many other videos can be viewed on Mooji.TV:
http://bit.ly/moojitv
and
http://bit.ly/sahaja-express

#Mooji #satsang #spirituality #advaita #nonduality #awakening
Category
Non-profits & Activism



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

[O Donna]

Those who know don't tell.


Greetings!

Inspired by the above sentence may I offer a sentence of reply:

We do not know with humans thoughts.

You know.

[Guish]

Those who know don't tell.


Greetings!

Inspired by the above sentence may I offer a sentence of reply:

We do not know with humans thoughts.

You know.

Beautiful. Knowing and not knowing is the beautiful game of existence. Who am I? I don't know.

Hugs, Geerish.

¤=[Post Update]=¤


It's good to see that you're back, Guish.

Thanks bro. I have been busy teaching and working as a therapist during my free time together with my normal work.

[greybeard]

Surrender - Ramana Maharshi - Be As You Are - spoken by clay lomakayu


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2w9fbhMDW0

[greybeard]

Foxie if you happen to read this I hope your health improves, you are much missed

Wishing you well

Much love
Chris

[greybeard]

John Butler - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

Childhood accustomed me to nature, solitude - a sense of God which needed no explaining.

Stillness, beauty, depths of love called my heart back home where it belonged.
But life grew out into the world, became possessed and lost the way.
After a few unwilling years in business,
I went to South America 'To make the world a better place'.

It wasn't so easy. Alone on a mountainside one day, an inner voice said, 'To make whole, be whole'. I realised that, before being able to help others, I first had to work on myself.

Once back in England, I looked for and found a source of meditation, which opened up a whole new way of seeing.
How can I best help the world I love?
This question led me through organic farming, much travel and many
adventures to ever deeper understanding of the Work of Prayer

. I wouldn’t call myself a mystic though some say I am.
I’m not sure what it means besides “Not this – not that”.

Neither (in a conventional sense) am I very religious. “Mystic” conveys to me a wise unknowing of morning mist with only the promise of a day to come.

It’s not an intellectual approach defined by man but trusting, waiting, quietly still before each blade of grass, each little bird (Mat.6,26-28) reminding us of higher, nobler government than ours.
This required attending to the moment “Now”, reminding me how much we live not present, here, but absent, lost in past or future - thought, desires and fear.

But isn’t that reality? We need to look and see.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nYMDeW2ix8

[greybeard]

Predestination, control, free will and the illusion of time

Gary Weber and Rich Doyle discuss predestination, the illusion of control, free will and the illusion of time. The possibility of the Universal Field being the all-pervasive, matter-creating Higgs field is discussed as well as whether it might be "self-aware". Living "in the now" realizing that "everything is One" removes the sense of time, control, free will or predestination. A complete transcription of this dialogue is available in "Into the Stillness: Dialogues on Awakening Beyond Thought" available on amazon.com and non-dualitypress.org in hardcopy and kindle versions. An .mp3 of this dialogue is @ http://happiness-beyond-thought.com/d... The blogposts "i get "no free will" intellectually but can't make it real" @ http://preview.tinyurl.com/c7ax8ao, and "You say "we have no free will" and we're "not in control"...is that experience, science or philosophy?" @ http://preview.tinyurl.com/cym3hsk discuss this as well. The videos "Everything is predetermined: Einstein and Ramana Maharshi on free will", "You are not in control" and "Intelligent Choice is Impossible" also discuss these issues. The blogpost "The impossibility of 'free will'...scientifically and logically" @ http://happinessbeyondthought.blogspo... gives the latest science. Useful links for more information: Gary Weber Website: http://www.happiness-beyond-thought.com Blog: http://happinessbeyondthought.blogspo... YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/gudakesh... MP3 Downloads: http://happiness-beyond-thought.com/d... Soundcloud Channel: https://soundcloud.com/gary_weber



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYkf7L0oY84

[onawah]

This is from astrologer Ang Stoic, who also puts out messages from "Cosmic Dancer" on Facebook. This is the latest message:
The Cosmic Dancer
10/17/18
On Being Awake in a Sleeping World...

"When you’re awake, you’re no longer numb.

You can no longer turn away from Truth.

You can no longer comfort yourself with the old fairy tales, stories of good and evil, positive thinking.

The light of awareness cannot be switched off. You can’t hide from yourself now. There’s nowhere to hide.

You live life in the raw. And you feel more than ever, not less. Your bandwidth is infinite. From the deepest despair to the most ecstatic joy, it all passes through. But the difference is, now, you are not at war with it all. You allow all feelings to surge through. You don’t judge them or try to get rid of them. You are their mother, their sanctuary. You don't blame anyone else anymore.

You no longer have a fixed identity. You don’t know who you are anymore, from the perspective of the mind. And yet, you know who you are more deeply than ever. You are alive. You are life itself, inseparable from the stars, the moon, the flowers and trees.

It is dizzying, sometimes, this freedom. Like being born again in every moment. Like dying every day to the old hopes.

Reality is groundless, you see, dripping with uncertainty. You live at the point of total insecurity, nothing to hold onto, no concept to bring comfort to a weary mind. And yet, you feel the deepest kind of security of all, a security deep within your bones, the security of Being itself. You know that your experience is always trustable, even if it hurts like hell.

You won’t call yourself an ‘awakened person’, you won’t think of yourself as better or worse than anyone, you won’t lie to yourself about having the answers.

You won’t make a big fuss about yourself at all, for the self is the biggest illusion.

It’s simple, being so fully awake, because it is the effortless embrace of the present moment. But it’s not easy at all, because your old reality has shattered into a billion pieces, and the old protection has gone, and you are a vessel for all the joy and the pain of the world, and you can’t kid yourself that you’re in control any longer. It’s not easy, to be so open to life. It’s not easy, to see all the pain of the world. It’s not easy, to sometimes feel like you’re a stranger in a strange land, knowing yourself as Love more clearly than ever, yet seeing others around you forgetting so much.

It’s not easy, no longer fitting into the systems that promised so much happiness and delivered so little.

And yet, this is the price you pay for absolute freedom. One cannot be fully awake without fully dying to the dreams of yesterday. One cannot live without leaving the known.

Those of you who are walking this exhilarating and terrifying path, I bow to your courage."

- Jeff Foster
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/44208408_2194609920784510_1504465780375289856_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&oh=525f4597dfd06c30abf0ef3af20dd3b0&oe=5C5401BC

I've had various kinds of awakening experiences, and it seems clear that seeing through the Illusion can come about in various ways. The awakening process that brought me to this forum has been just as profound, in it's own way, as the experiences that I've had that came through meditation.

[greybeard]

Thanks onawah
Good to see you here.
Jeff Foster who wrote this has some good books if I remember correctly.

Ch

[onawah]

See also: http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?91348-Ang-Stoic-Astrological-Reports&p=1254803&viewfull=1#post1254803

[Wind]

The Supreme is That,
in which even space and silence are perceived.
Therefore, the perceiver of them must be even subtler.
Is this perceiver other than your own Self?
Contemplate this.

~ Mooji

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/43006778_1363645630438665_3238809665110278144_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&oh=a990fe03387900e5f3093c9b7e89064f&oe=5C53D567

[greybeard]

The Truth is so simple and evident--yet Self realization is not easy to come by.
If all be came enlightened this chapter of the play would come to an end--time being subject and object are necessary for the "Cosmic Dance" to continue.
However there is no doubt that every person who becomes seriously interested in spirituality makes a difference to the collective consciousness.
The theory of the 100th monkey may become an actuality.

Meanwhile practices continue as usual tho they are few in number now.
The Gayatri Mantra, simple meditation and listening to several teachers via video being the main input

Chris

[greybeard]

The hidden blessings of depression

Spiritual Unfoldment with John Butler
Published on 14 Oct 2018
Depression afflicts many of us at some stage in our life. John is no exception. In this video he reflects on his own experience of depression and whether, in fact, depression can be our teacher. Being half-Russian also gives John a deeper insight into the nature of depression - not only at a personal level but maybe as part of a national psyche. He tells us how he unexpectedly started a degree in Russian Studies at Nottingham University aged 51 and, after graduation, spent 5 1/2 years in Russia - "One of the most fulfilling and interesting times of my life". As he explains, "Accustomed to being half-different, Russia showed me a world where the 'difference' belonged. It made me completely happy".

Note: we have used a new format for this recording without the interviewer so your comments are welcome.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjSdOQw0_KU

[greybeard]

Talks on Sri Ramana Maharshi: Narrated by David Godman - Self-Enquiry
David Godman
Published on 12 Sep 2015
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.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDVQC_uHRCI&t=17s

[greybeard]

Anita Moorjani
Published on 18 Oct 2018
A question that keeps coming up is people write to me or they write on Facebook and they say things like if you have a transformative event or if you have a life-changing experience, how do you hold on to that? How do you stay in that experience? It's a question that comes up for me even when I am doing interviews. When I get interviewed, people say, "Do you still remember that event? Does it fade into a memory after time has passed? Or how do you hold on to it?"

What I often try and explain to people is that if you truly understand what that event is, you can hold on to it for all your life, and you don't lose it over time. But a lot of people believe that it fades over time. Let me elaborate a little bit more.

Having an event happen to you, whether it's like an awakening, like a spiritual awakening, or something that happens to you through meditation or something like the near-death experience I had, what it does is it blows you open to who you truly are, because what I believe is that we are actually six sensory beings trying to be five sensory beings..........


https://anitamoorjani.com/youtube

https://anitamoorjani.com
https://anitamoorjani.com/newsletter
https://anitamoorjani.com/expgod
https://anitamoorjani.com/cruise
Category
People & Blogs
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution licence (reuse allowed)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW27HFjmHKY

[greybeard]

Leave All This Alone and Silence Will Come and Kiss You

Satsang with Mooji

Moojibaba reads a letter from someone who writes that they cannot observe their thoughts, but continue to get overwhelmed.
Mooji uses this opportunity for a powerful guidance to look and find out who this ‘me’ is, that gets overwhelmed by thoughts.
This mistaken identity must be recognised as the root of these states of confusion and delusion.

“This mistake humanity has not discovered. Otherwise you would not be so easily destabilised as a feeling, you could watch it, this also will pass.
It comes, it goes. If you were identical with it, when it goes you would also be gone.
Who are you who witnesses even this?

Where have you come from, where can you go?

This is a pointer you should not ignore, you will not have another question.
You must go and get in your sleeping bag and marinate in this.
You must see, you must see, you must see until you conquer this delusion.
Recognising this is worth a million points.

This is the very key of transcending.”



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L_UVFtGCvU

[greybeard]

Conscious TV Jez Alborough ‘My Personality Just Fell Apart…..’ Interview by Iain McNay
conscious tv
Published on 25 Oct 2018
Jez Alborough ‘My Personality Just Fell Apart…..’ Interview by Iain McNay
Author of ‘The Story Of You and ‘The Infinite Journey.’

Jez was a very successful children’s author having sold over 8 million books. He was always aware of two sides of his life; a creative, outgoing character who loved and enjoyed himself and also deep down a traumatised, damaged side which was mostly hidden away.
While cycling he would sometimes experience ‘the sensation of golden light in my spine which put my thinking process in neutral and released me into a state of bliss. I could observe my life but there was a distance to it, almost as if it was happening to someone else.’

Later when his career took off he would sometimes feel strange. ‘It was as if something in me had fused: my hands went cold and my heart started racing; I felt abnormally stressed.’ These episodes disturbed him.

At one point he took a holiday which he hoped would put right whatever was wrong with him.
But at one point, ‘my knees buckled beneath me, my whole Personality just fell apart - there was no coming back. It was what UG Krishnamurti calls “the calamity.” I couldn’t pull myself together.
The centre from which I‘d previously operated just wasn’t functioning, this was accompanied by tremendous anxiety.’

In this interview Jez tells us his fascinating story as well as the realisations that he came to through this process, and the world he now lives in.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iLI1jdsfXE

[greybeard]

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect is a model that does not accurately reflect reality.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwmsFubaoz4

[Bo Atkinson]

RE: “Cause and Effect” by Rupert Spira
Published on Oct 26, 2018

Cause and effect is a model that does not accurately reflect reality.



Word ambiguities allow for
missing real-self-consciousness.
Mesmerizing scripts deserve discussion.

Ambiguities are reaped like- avoiding responsibility,
underrating causes, ignoring effects?
Doubt the long term reaping of past life sowing?
Doubt the present time sowing of future reaping?

Suggesting we are just a blip & not whole selves?
Just an illusion, glib robots, in a virtual reality?
(Forget that slippery slope of the singularity ?)

Yet miss the opportunity for real selves anew…
To find that development of consciousness
is the infinite! The personal journey for selves
is not just that ego-trip. We can be free.

Evolving from a human status,
but only with personal works,
applying effective guidance.

Otherwise we idle, just admiring showmen
without disciplined consciousness development,
(eon after eon on primitive worlds).

Today it may be comprehended,
balanced with scientific hypothesese
through inner work processing…

To sort of wake up all the way,
without monetary costs,
without corporate dues, but
only with inner determination.

To develop freedom ourselves,
instead of endless bondage,
underneath a hidden overlord,
scripted in mysteries like “i am
that i am” (ahead of the pack),
in the emotional worlds beyond.

The mystics refuse to balance consciousness,
with the basics of ever advancing science.
Refuse to develop the causal self,
or discuss meanings comprehensively,
or go beyond gentle scripts,
or even measure real unity.

~ bo

RE: “Cause and Effect” Rupert Spira
Published on Oct 26, 2018
@~6~minutes- Saint Augustine is quoted:
“Love and do whatever you want?”
Like ignore self-disciplined development?


The Fathers of the Church had all originally been quasi-gnosticians. For some reason none but Clemens and Origenes had been initiated. Those who had been refused initiation showed by the way in which they avenged themselves that they were unripe for the doctrine of the initiates.

With touching unity they resolved that in the future there should be no reason to concern oneself with philosophy or any other “devilish delusions”. They took pains to purge their doctrine of everything rational that was still left in it. They succeeded beyond their expectations. The systematic destruction of all manuscripts was an unbelievably effective means. Augustine did all he could to separate theology from science for ever. His conception of divine love is informative: “Annihilate all resistance! Kill him who will not convert!” The Church proved ready to learn.

The Pythagoreans distinguished between three worlds; the mental, emotional, and physical worlds. The Fathers of the Church, who had heard of this tripartite division, but had no idea of what it stood for, invented “heaven, earth, and hell”, also in connection with the Elysian Fields and Hades of the Greeks.

Quote fromFrom:
The Philosopher’s Stone
Published in the 1950s
Under repression from TPTB
Now Online ~ Click here. (http://laurency.com)

[greybeard]

You are naturally entitled to your opinion.
I tend to go with the words of Jesus and others--"Of myself I do nothing--it is the Father within"
Spiritual teachings are full of Paradox.
Advaita which has been taught for thousands of years basically is "One without a second"
No subject no object--therefore no cause and affect.
All the same energy but different vibrations --the un enlightened human mind is not capable of understanding.
A read of Tim's post on the subject is helpful and that is direct experience.

You can ask him questions
I can not fully give justice to singularity.
God became all without diminishing it self--is as near as I can get.

Chris

[greybeard]

This thread is full of the direct accounts of Self realization
Not read in books not secondhand but direct experience.

Events happen deeds are done but there is no doer there of
All within the play of consciousness.

The proof that there is non-duality--singularity is here
The number of people awakening is accelerating

Interviews with ordinary spiritual awakening people

https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhaAtTheGasPump

[greybeard]

Enlightenment - A direct, succinct account of what occurs...

This is an account of the direct experience of awakening.

What can be said, or written, of itself cannot reveal the truth.

Words and language are themselves an illusory tool, an aspect of the relative dream, and can only indicate or hint towards the totality, or reality, or that which is.

Upon the moment of awakening not only does the illusion of the relative self or ego vanish like a shadow exposed to light, but all “other” egos, or relative selves, disappear. All separation disappears, and the absolute Self is realized. All is then enlightened and whole, for there never really were separate entities that could become individually enlightened. There then is no relative doer, nor even an absolute doer, for all doing implies separation. Or something to do, or somewhere to go. And not just other humans, but the entire creation is enlightened and whole.

Now nothing can be judged, or observed, or transcended, as there is no separate observer, nor separate objects observed, nor even separate observing.

Here even the concept of pure awareness, the witness, unidentified with that which is observed, has dissolved into the totality. Herein lies the meaning of samsara is nirvana. The slightest separation into observer, observed and observing and samsara appears. When observer, observed and observing is an undifferentiated whole, the Self is self evident, and far more evident, than the illusory ego self.

All that is, then is, as it really is, here descriptions do not apply.

Now, what is missing from the above description of the direct experience of enlightenment?

It is the pronoun, I, for in truth there is no I, either relatively or absolutely. I implies a separation from totality, as the first person singular. Whereas the adjective Self, implies being the same throughout, as the self evident united reality/totality/all that is, and is more appropriate at hinting towards the truth.

You are in reality this Self, all else is illusion.
Relatively, this is the end of suffering. This is the beginning of endless bliss.
Absolutely, all suffering is unreal. Only the blissful Self is real.
This is the eternal Truth.


Wavydome

This is pasted from Tim's thread.
He is willing to answer any questions.

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?43027-Enlightenment-A-direct-succinct-account-of-what-occurs...&p=456904&viewfull=1#post456904
I would not even attempt to verbalize this---a direct experience.
Chris

[Bo Atkinson]

A variety of comparable experiences are written,
sharing reaches,
out beyond the common human states.
Reaching for unity
may convey similar meanings
among given human teachings.
Esotericians say that human-experience
is riveted to the shared material world,
which does support life,
worlds grow for eons,
which evolve physical bodies,
which eventually support selves inside bodies,
which eventually share inspirations,
all in one humanity.
The energy involvements of sharing
are still material,
while the inspiration
may transcend
the ordinary experience.
As humans develop individual selves,
part of this beloved individuality is retained
and not all of this “first-self” is lost or trashed,
in the evolution towards unity.
Rather the first-self
becomes a second-self,
becomes a third-self and
successively graduates
through higher selves
(and far beyond human
comprehension or words,
indeed).

What are disposed of
from human life
are the (software) robots
used for ordinary, expected,
life-like interactions.
The shared material world
is the basis of our involvement
with humanity,
through organic experiences, (so to speak).
The emotional existence
drives most typical human energies,
whether heartfelt or not and …
Through misguided spirituality,
lower-emotionality,
(shackled chakras/centers
below the solar plexus),
have run apart
and built overwhelming realms
and captivating worlds.
Where countless emotional selves,
(as normal parts of first selves),
run astray,
for eons-passing
and thus the astral worlds have resulted.
Hijacked souls have devolved in such traps.
It is also in these worlds
where the spiritual rebellion foments
and many misguiding teachings have been sparked,
to probe or promote
countless hypnotic mysteries on earth.
Dreaded are the captive self states,
sucked into these varied emotional-astral realms,
thought by many to be a required at death.
Or apparitions interfere night time dreams.
Whereas properly developed emotionality
has an unadulterated progress,
which continues to higher existence,
in the graduation of a first-self,
while still in the live human state.

Unhappy shortcuts to higher states
are apparently many.
These are noted far and wide,
where learning of these
can inform an adventurous self,
as one who wants to load up
with informed-experiences
to aid self-mastery.
This is a fair game
in life, to live,
as we are but humans evolving.
Disparagement is not implied
with ordinary lives,
as such are workable nodes
for continued evolution.
“Take our time”, we have said,
but humans are noted to be over-due by several eons!
Birth pains are not absolutely essential.
May we live life to the full and thus become evolutionary!

Yes Rob, questions and considerations are welcoming on PA, humbly humanized.

Thanks for your consideration,

~Bo



Enlightenment - A direct, succinct account of what occurs...

This is an account of the direct experience of awakening.

What can be said, or written, of itself cannot reveal the truth.

Words and language are themselves an illusory tool, an aspect of the relative dream, and can only indicate or hint towards the totality, or reality, or that which is.

Upon the moment of awakening not only does the illusion of the relative self or ego vanish like a shadow exposed to light, but all “other” egos, or relative selves, disappear. All separation disappears, and the absolute Self is realized. All is then enlightened and whole, for there never really were separate entities that could become individually enlightened. There then is no relative doer, nor even an absolute doer, for all doing implies separation. Or something to do, or somewhere to go. And not just other humans, but the entire creation is enlightened and whole.

Now nothing can be judged, or observed, or transcended, as there is no separate observer, nor separate objects observed, nor even separate observing.

Here even the concept of pure awareness, the witness, unidentified with that which is observed, has dissolved into the totality. Herein lies the meaning of samsara is nirvana. The slightest separation into observer, observed and observing and samsara appears. When observer, observed and observing is an undifferentiated whole, the Self is self evident, and far more evident, than the illusory ego self.

All that is, then is, as it really is, here descriptions do not apply.

Now, what is missing from the above description of the direct experience of enlightenment?

It is the pronoun, I, for in truth there is no I, either relatively or absolutely. I implies a separation from totality, as the first person singular. Whereas the adjective Self, implies being the same throughout, as the self evident united reality/totality/all that is, and is more appropriate at hinting towards the truth.

You are in reality this Self, all else is illusion.
Relatively, this is the end of suffering. This is the beginning of endless bliss.
Absolutely, all suffering is unreal. Only the blissful Self is real.
This is the eternal Truth.


Wavydome

This is pasted from Tim's thread.
He is willing to answer any questions.

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?43027-Enlightenment-A-direct-succinct-account-of-what-occurs...&p=456904&viewfull=1#post456904
I would not even attempt to verbalize this---a direct experience.
Chris

[greybeard]

Wavydome there is no short cut because you cant make enlightenment happen--it is down to Divine grace as in spontaneous awakening as per the silent sage video posted a while back.
In all fairness that may be at least partly the result of many life times of spiritual work.
The bottom line is if enlightenment does not occur in this life time then there will be another life time.

I had a Kundalini awakening without even knowing what it was--ability to heal came with that and states of bliss--I could not make these happen. They still do from time to time.
I have enough personal experience to validate, for me, the teachings of the Self realized.

Krishnamurti was a large part of the Theosophical Movement --he gave up on that and became enlightened.
I went for years--and enjoyed the teaching.

What you are is thoughtless awareness.

Chris


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7aLnJtZgyY&t=264s

[Bo Atkinson]

Wavydome there is no short cut because [....]
What you are is thoughtless awareness.


Ah yes, Rob, there are different takes
on same phrases, as for 1 example:
I too had the Kundalini experience
in 1968, while still inexperienced
with all life, so young and uncoached,
never having complete explanations,
nor academic labels,
of just what it was
in that experience.

Today i place it squarely
in the lower emotional realm,
(beneath the solar plexus center,
where the Kundalini spirals
upward, bypassing circuitry.
So it may be interpreted,
from works of esotericians,
who resound my cognitions.)

I do not demand compliance,
do not push agreements,
nor debate insistently.
Instead just share how it is,
how we differ clearly,
on so many interpretations.

Bo

[greybeard]

We can agree to differ.
Chris

“...and led me to finally recognise that I was but an automaton devoid of free will in thought and action and merely responsible to the forces of the environment.” Nikola Tesla

"The human being is a self-propelled automaton entirely under the control of external influences. Willful and predetermined though they appear, his actions are governed not from within, but from without. He is like a float tossed about by the waves of a turbulent sea". Nikola Tesla.

Thanks to Bubu
here http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104884-Does-Mankind-Have-Free-Will&p=1257265&viewfull=1#post1257265

[greybeard]

The Laying Bare of Our Essential Self



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhbNN5whyOM

[greybeard]

Scott Kiloby - 'The End Of The Spiritual Search' - Interview by Iain McNay



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU0KkuLZstE

[greybeard]

Alien Warning Message Live on TV in UK - "We Come to Warn you About your Race and your Planet"

Southern Television was the first known victim of television hijacking. On the 26th of November 1977 at around 5:10 pm, an "alien" managed to interrupt the broadcast of the local ITV station Southern Television via the Hannington transmitter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souther... The voice overrode the UHF audio signal of the early-evening news being read by the late Ivor Mills from ITN. A speaker interrupted transmissions for six minutes and claimed to be a representative of an "Intergalactic Association". Reports of the incident vary, some calling the speaker "Gramaha" or "Vrillon" or "Gillon", others "Asteron". The voice, which was disguised and accompanied by a deep buzzing, broke into the broadcast of the local ITV station Southern Television, overriding the UHF audio signal of the early-evening news being read by Ivor Mills from ITN to warn viewers that "All your weapons of evil must be removed" and "You have but a short time to learn to live together in peace." The interruption ceased shortly after the statement had been delivered, transmissions returning to normal shortly before the end of a Looney Tunes cartoon. Later in the evening, Southern Television apologised for what it described as "a breakthrough in sound" for some viewers. ITN also reported on the incident in its own late-evening Saturday bulletin. The broadcast took over the sound only, leaving the video signal unaltered, aside from some picture distortion. Wikipedia Southern Television broadcast interruption https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souther...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P48LEpiSdf0

Well who ever it came from overall the message is spiritual, which is why I posted it here

Chris

[Smell the Roses]

Alien Warning Message Live on TV in UK - "We Come to Warn you About your Race and your Planet"

...Well who ever it came from overall the message is spiritual, which is why I posted it here

Chris
Thanks for posting that! I had never heard about that happening. These days everything is so much more controlled. I mean they really have the media mind control down to a science. Messages rarely break through like that, whatever the source. Even though in theory everyone can have a platform on the World Wide Web, it's not the same as commandeering the living rooms of Brits in the seventies. Great message.

[greybeard]

A single, indivisible reality.....Rupert Spira


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jNlIC63nLs

[greybeard]

Linda Clair 'Enlightenment is in the Body ' Interview By Renate McNayLinda is a Meditation Teacher based on ZEN practice. She is the Author of the book 'What do you want - Conversations about Enlightenment.' In this interview which is the second conscious.tv one with her Linda says that enlightenment is the beginning of a whole new way of living and although its the end of suffering and fear, there is no end to the practice as long as one is in the body. To be fully free you need to go through being grounded, so grounded that you’re able to let go of everything—even enlightenment. Stay in your body. The silence is in your body. Its not out there. Stay in your body and you’ll be surprised what happens. To really become immersed in the silence, you need to free your body - purify your body of the past. Only then will there be silence and that silence is overwhelming. www.simplemeditation.net



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIVtMXDsRl0

[greybeard]

Dr David Hawkins

Contemplation

Q. What spiritual practices are practical to pursue in a busy world? Most people have jobs, families and many distractions.

A. The conscious pursuit of spiritual goals is the result of a choice and a decision. It actually requires only willingness and the capacity to follow through. Even a simple spiritual concept is a deceptively powerful tool. The simple decision to be kind, forgiving, and compassionate to all life in all its expressions, including one's own self, is a scalpel that is capable of removing the major impediments to spiritual progress.
With humility, one can see that the mind is limited and incapable of seeing all the circumstances surrounding any event. Out of this arises the willingness to let go of condemnation and judgment. This process results in a willingness to surrender one's experience of the world to God. It becomes apparent that the world does not really need one's personal opinions about anything at all. If one decides to take a charitable view of life's events, then alternate ways of interpreting circumstances, appearances, and other options open up. The Eye of the I, ch. 11, pg. 218-2

[greybeard]

Wakefulness is what we are....Rupert Spira


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

[greybeard]

Rupert Sheldrake - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

Rupert Sheldrake, PhD is a biologist and author of more than 85 scientific papers and 12 books, including Science Set Free and Science and Spiritual Practices. He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge University, a Frank Know Fellow at Harvard, and a Research Fellow of the Royal Society. From 2005-2010 the Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project for research on unexplained human and animal abilities, funded by Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Petaluma, California, and of Schumacher College in Devon, England.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fzkMXoC8hQ

[greybeard]

Anita Moorjani In conversation with Michael Neill about Experiencing God


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

[greybeard]

Eckhart Tolle (on Larry King) **FULL** interview (2018)




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvtg4ruNVqQ

[greybeard]

Its got a little quiet here, not so many visiting.
Like many I don't need any more information --I know all I need to know.
So why keep watching the videos?
It comes down to what Ramana said about transference.
The enlightened have an energy that lifts.
So whatever sees you through the day.

With love for all who visit and contribute
Chris

[Ba-ba-Ra]

Its got a little quiet here, not so many visiting.
Like many I don't need any more information --I know all I need to know.
So why keep watching the videos?
It comes down to what Ramana said about transference.
The enlightened have an energy that lifts.
So whatever sees you through the day.

With love for all who visit and contribute
Chris


I hear you. In the past I went to the workshops, read the books, watched the videos, and at some point I said: I know all I need to know, now I just have to internalize and live the knowledge. But, I quickly found out that when I stopped reading, watching, etc, I lost something.

So now when I watch or read, it's not to gain knowledge it's more to bask in the light of those conveying and for reminders for myself.

So keep posting what you do. Your efforts are much appreciated - and I love to look at your picture, you always look so joyful that in itself always makes me smile.

Happy Holidays Chris.

[greybeard]

Ba-ba-Ra
You made my day.
Everyone needs encouragement from time to time.

Another reason that I listen to the enlightened teachers is that they are clear that the moment one commits to finding the Truth--the ego, that once thought it was going to be an enlightened separate person, now does everything to prevent this coming about.
So every trick in the book is used too divert one from finding out that its an imposter, pretending to be a separate self
Therefore its not all sunshine and roses.

The energy and simplicity of the teaching keeps this one and many others dedicated to the Truth.

Much love to you--smiling
Chris

[Wind]

There is a lot to digest and a lot too I have digested. It never ends.

7rkZSJvi7PQ
"All this is so that love can have a stage to act itself out, so that wisdom can flourish and express its divine power. Everyone must taste some identity at first and we are either going to be pulled towards upgrading identity, or discovering the source of identity.

That is the power of this, that we are not moving from book to book, but that you recognise the main point. Just recognise that even the movement of attention is perceivable. That’s a significant thing, If you understand this, you are in the unshakeable place.

Once you’ve found that which is yielding good fruit, stay there, merge your identity there. Don’t take any sabbatical from the truth, finish up. Let the rest of this life be lived in freedom."

[greybeard]

Thanks wind
Mooji is so clear and you can feel the energy of love emanating from him.
He is well aware of the distractions and pitfalls on the "path"
He thought his guru Papaji was talking a load of rubbish--then it hit him--enlightenment happened.

Chris

[greybeard]

Tibetan practice of TRUL KHOR | Awakening your CHAKRA'S
The way of Chi
Published on 11 Dec 2016
Dzogchen Yoga or Trul-Khor is the system which came down unbroken through oral transmission from Zhang-Zhung Nyen Gyu lineages. The core of the transmission engages the body, mind and spirit of the practitioner in a series of breath, sound and movement exercises, each relating to a specific element. The five elements of fire, wind, space, water and earth, are the foundation fiber of Tibetan medicine and healing; their core theory being everything that exists in this universe is made of the five elements and therefore responsible for the formation of each tissue cell. In practicing Trul khor, one will be able to identify and alleviate physical discomfort or pain, emotional and mental disturbances. These easy to perform yet powerful healing exercises can be used as a support to other meditation practices or practiced alone to clear obstacles caused by disease or strong negative emotions, and to clear, balance and harmonize one’s energy field.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPgsxFoq2cE

[greybeard]

Tina Turner - Sarvesham Svastir Bhavatu (Peace Mantra)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XP-f7wPM0A

[greybeard]

Free will and thought......Rupert Spira. Music by bensound


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRRnOdc55Uo&t=484s

[greybeard]

Sean Webb - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

A face to face interview--not skype.
Chris


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

[O Donna]

Beautiful


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfU6Yv9V8kY

[greybeard]

‘Breatharian’ pizza delivery man claims he gets his nutrients from the air and doesn’t need food to live

Yahoo News UK Ross McGuinness,Yahoo News UK

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/breatharian-pizza-delivery-man-claims-gets-nutrients-air-doesnt-need-food-live-145211987.html

(There is a short video on the link--chris)

A pizza delivery man who calls himself a “breatharian” says he gets his nutrients from the air and the sun and doesn’t need food to survive.

Khai Ho, 38, from Birkenhead, Liverpool, claims he can live on just 100 calories a week and that mediation helps him stay healthy.

He says he would often refuse his mother’s meals as a child, and claims he has never felt hunger and food has never appealed to him.

Mr Ho, who weighs 13 stone, has adopted the Hindu belief of inedia – or breatharianism – which states that it is possible to survive without consuming food.

He says the meditation has helped him in the past four years to give up food for three months at a time, only eating mints to get rid of the “bitter taste” in his mouth.
When he got there, the cupboard was bare… Khai Ho says he doesn’t need food to survive (Picture: Caters)

Mr Ho said he is never tempted to tuck into the pizzas he delivers.

“I felt that this was something that I should have done my whole life,” he said.

“I have never really felt hunger and never took much interest in food as a child.

“My mum was always worried about me and still is, she often cooks for me and I have to tell her not to bother as I won’t touch it.

“I could never really embrace that state of consciousness that I was after until about four years ago when it became more serious.

MORE: Woman feeling ‘Claus-trophobic’ after falling through ceiling getting Christmas decorations
MORE: Shocking images show horrific injuries suffered by woman, 50, robbed in her own home

“Before that I was maybe eating every three or four days but now I can go months without food or
water and even then only have a mint or so to take away any bitter taste in my mouth.

“It’s an amazing feeling, I’m fully conscious of my mind and I’ve never felt so great. I’m fully aware of my surroundings.

“People think I’m crazy but incredible at the same time.”

Mr Ho only eats small amounts of food and little water while mainly surviving on mints or chewing gum for a fresh taste.
Social eating occasions can be awkward for “breatharian” Khai Ho, right (Picture: Caters)
Khai Ho, 38, says he survives only on mints (Picture: Caters)

Breatharians claim that food, and in some cases water, are not necessary for survival, and that humans can be sustained solely by prana, the vital life force in Hindu religion.

“It made me very aware of my surroundings and so awake that I often struggle to sleep,” said Mr Ho.

“I suffered from pain with a liver problem and that has now gone thanks to mediation and fasting.

“I now know how to heal the human body internally and naturally from many major diseases.

“The advice is that men need 2,500 calories a day to survive but I have proven the experts wrong.”

He admitted that social eating occasions can be a little awkward for him.
Pizza delivery man Khai Ho says he gets all his nutrients from the air and the sun (Picture: Caters)

“When I meet up with friends I normally arrange to do something else like shopping or going for walks as when we go for food I sit there while everyone else tucks in.

“I would never try and stop people eating around me because everyone is free to do as they want.

“If I were to go for a romantic meal I would have to at least give it a try and that would be very fair on my date.

“I do save a lot of money though as I never have to do any food shopping.

“It’s a miracle that you can live this way but I’m living proof.”

[greybeard]

Alan Watts ~ The Power Of Trusting The Universe


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CVCT1laC0o

[greybeard]

Female Teacher.

A questioner feels women have been accepted as devotees or mystics but asks Mooji if a woman would ever be accepted as a spiritual master. Mooji's answers that reality is beyond names and forms, it is neither male nor female. He says to forget any intention to be a teacher - 'just be yourself' he says, 'let the Universe teach through your form if it so pleases, you stay as awareness alone.'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udb9mIdaG-4

[Wind]

V4BwQ5Jm_LE

[greybeard]

Spirituality & Depression - Russell Brand & Marianne Williamson

Today's video is a clip from the Under The Skin podcast with Russell Brand & Marianne Williamson This was a live podcast filmed at Wellspring Festival in Palm Springs. Listen to the entire conversation here:
https://www.russellbrand.com/podcast/...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5vAbrLYJGk

[greybeard]

Alan Watts ~ Don't Force Anything **Wu Wei**



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf3ka6mzEX8

[greybeard]

Wishing all who visit here everything you could wish yourself in this festive season and beyond
An exciting 2019 ahead no doubt.
Much love
Chris

[greybeard]

Many Beings Will Awaken, Will You Be Amongst Them?
Satsang of the Week — 16 December 2018 In this powerful excerpt from the September Zmar retreat, Moojibaba addresses the feeling of ‘not getting it’ and guides us into the direct recognition of our true nature. An excerpt from the Satsang, Many Beings Will Awaken, Will You Be Amongst Them? https://mooji.tv/online-retreat/septe...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFHKMxap2cE

[bodhii71]

Been forever? since i posted anything, or even visited this wonderful place. Hope all is well and wisely put, as they say. Seems i've been under some amount of negativity/attacks for the past year too.

Homeless, unable to work, physical deterioration, separated from family, physically attacked, raped, falsely accused of harassment, fined, bouncing around trying to find a foothold, only to slip and whirl around all over again. Betrayed by loved ones...Goddamn, yeah, it's been difficult.

Came very close to ending it, yet cannot.

Work isn't done yet. In fact, i know there are those here who might offer some protection? I could use some, me thinks.
This post is in direct correlation with my absence...all that has occurred ...i would say most of this is solely concerned with "spiritual development". Severe grace? Or otherwise? IDK.
Siddhis have long ago been abandoned.

With all that said, i humbly offer this to all and the Only. If i have any powers left dormant or otherwise, is to recognize a self realized being. Sharing of videos are great and definitely good, yet it pales in comparison to sitting in a Sangha/ Satsang.

Even though there is an energy imprint from such a person in video, it wasn't until this life dream person joined this Satsang that did the value truly become apparent.

http://www.nirgunjohn.com

Every Saturday, one can join in, free of charge to Nirgun John's zoom meetings. Moved to share this. Perhaps it will find whoever needs it. With love, peace profound. bodhii71

[greybeard]

bodhii71
Having been to the point of suicidal despair I understand too well what you are saying.
Eventually all came right for me, through surrender to " A Power Greater than my self"
This too shall pass is an expression I found helpful.
May your "God" be with you.

Love Chris

[greybeard]

THE NECTAR OF IMMORTALITY - PART TWO - Nisargadatta Maharaj - lomakayu


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH6a4PMJrA8

[bodhii71]

Thank you Chris. It is pleasing to see you still posting, it is good work. Honor to you sir.

[Smell the Roses]

Been forever? since i posted anything, or even visited this wonderful place. Hope all is well and wisely put, as they say. Seems i've been under some amount of negativity/attacks for the past year too.

Homeless, unable to work, physical deterioration, separated from family, physically attacked, raped, falsely accused of harassment, fined, bouncing around trying to find a foothold, only to slip and whirl around all over again. Betrayed by loved ones...Goddamn, yeah, it's been difficult.

Came very close to ending it, yet cannot.

Work isn't done yet. In fact, i know there are those here who might offer some protection? I could use some, me thinks.
This post is in direct correlation with my absence...all that has occurred ...i would say most of this is solely concerned with "spiritual development". Severe grace? Or otherwise? IDK.
Siddhis have long ago been abandoned.

With all that said, i humbly offer this to all and the Only. If i have any powers left dormant or otherwise, is to recognize a self realized being. Sharing of videos are great and definitely good, yet it pales in comparison to sitting in a Sangha/ Satsang.

bodhii71, I am sad to hear that you have suffered so many attacks. I am glad to see you are back here among friends. Did you find a home? Keep in touch.

[greybeard]

Paramahamsa Yogananda Meeting with Ramana Maharshi - Maharshi's Answers To Yogananda's Questions


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7qu0nUYfK8

Paramahamsa Yogananda Meeting with Ramana Maharshi - Maharshi's Answers To Yogananda's Questions Source of the Content: Talks with Ramana Maharshi (3 Volumes in One Extract Version) Talk No. 106 (29th November, 1935) Also, please note that here, Paramahamsa Yogananda asks these questions on behalf of all of us. This has been in our culture that whenever Jnanis or Bhaktas or Yogis meet one another, they ask questions to show others the path of light (out of compassion for us) and never for themselves. If everyone is silent in their own bliss by meditation or devotion, then there won't be any teachings for humanity to come out of sufferings (Bhava Rog). So, please understand that in this context, it doesn't mean that one has less knowledge/experience than the other or vice versa. Hope this clears your queries. #keerthinavin #SwamiVivekanandaTheInspirationalLeader #SwamiVivekananda

[greybeard]

Know Who You Are! Eckhart Tolle


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyeWB-aDGmo

[greybeard]

Experiment! This will Shock Your Logical Mind - Eckhart Tolle


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I8fWLxJUcM

[greybeard]

Paramahamsa Yogananda explains Kundalini Force - Purpose of Life is To Awaken Kundalini


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_nj3NNBDzE

[greybeard]

Can you "do nothing" and awaken?

Published on 6 Jul 2013
Dialogue between Gary Weber and Rich Doyle on the need for practice in awakening. The importance of reaching a non-dual state during practice. Great rewards as your practice matures. Naive, disingenuous statements on "there's nothing you need to do to awaken". 10,000 hrs for "mastery" of any skill in Gladwell's and Ericsson's work, whether it's violin, chess, rock climbing, surgery or awakening.

Additional information @ blogspot "Are 10,000 hrs needed for awakening? NO. How to practice better..." @ http://happinessbeyondthought.blogspo....

A complete transcription of this dialogue is available in "Into the Stillness: Dialogues on Awakening Beyond Thought" available on amazon.com and non-dualitypress.org in hardcopy and kindle versions.

An .mp3 of this dialogue is @ http://happiness-beyond-thought.com/d...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JC9oVjd8-8

[greybeard]

If it is all illusion, where is the fun? Eckhart Tolle


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3i3H4rah_o

[greybeard]

This is a Message We Can Only Ignore it at Our Peril

This is about crop circles and that famous message that interrupted a BBC program .
This is about spiritual growth and consciousness.

A may be so
Chris


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHFKXqxeSWk&t=43s

[greybeard]

Silent Sitting with Mooji ~ Christmas 2018

We are very happy to bring you this silent sitting with Moojibaba recorded on Christmas morning in Monte Sahaja.
Silent sittings bring the opportunity to sit in an intimate setting with Moojibaba and receive his unwavering guidance to our pure and formless nature.

May these pointers detonate inside your heart and set you free! With all love and wishing you a very merry Christmas, Mooji Team


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CET_K1sB3RY

[greybeard]

"The peace that passes all understanding"
To my mind what Jesus taught is no different from non-duality.
The Truth is at the core of most religions
The ego of man has taken simple teaching and expended this to the degree that Truth is buried in dogma.
Analysis of what Jesus said and meant has lead to many different Christian Churches all proclaiming " We got it right--you got it wrong"
"Be still and know that I am God" is pointing to meditation--the quiet mind--the peace of God.
Nothing else is needed.
Its silent awareness--seeing what is without label--no comment necessary.
Seeing as a baby sees--before language gets a hold.
The wonder at everything, fresh and new

Chris

[greybeard]

Alan Watts ~ There Are No Mistakes In This Universe

In this video Alan Watts explains how everything that happens in life is because it is meant to happen, Interested in this lecture please follow the link below. https://www.betterlisten.com/products...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5wJK9kcK_g

[greybeard]

Alan Watts ~ Love ~ A Dangerous Game We Must Play



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl00SQdakx4

[greybeard]

Wishing all a a Happy New Year.
Much Love
Chris

[greybeard]

Kundalini awakening--Everything you need to know


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D2xq-6GuNs&t=63s

[greybeard]

Edgar Cayce on ET's, Anunaki, Aliens & Life on Other Planets- John Van Auken

Earth-Keeper 2017: Presents John Van Auken, Prolific Author & Exec Director of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. This amazing articulate & well researched presentation offers readings from prolific seer, Edgar Cayce verifying Alien Visitations & Life on Other Planets. John Van Auken also speaks about the Anunaki, Zecharia Sitchin , Genetic Engineering, LeMuria, Atlantis, the Starseed Origin of Humanity, Timelines of the earth, Cosmos , the Nature of God & the future Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce. Absolutely mesmerizing from start to finish, John also does a Q & A at the end of his lecture that you dont want to miss. Enjoy ! Copyrights Duly Resrved to Earth-Keeper Star-Gate Video Productions 2017 www.Earth-Keeper.com www.JohnVanAuken.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-aaKR1E8sY

Guess this comes under related matters.
I dont normally go anywhere other than Non-duality

However we are all things.
"Form--formless--both and neither"
I think that quote fits what Edgar is saying about our beginnings as the "in-dweller" of the human body.
May be so!!!
Chris

[greybeard]

Well that video is worth some discussion.
It covers all bases.
May well be so.

Love Chris

[greybeard]

I Am That! ~ A MUST SEE FOR AWAKENING from Sri Mooji Baba

Moojiji
Published on 22 Jun 2016
"I am going to bring you the message of Ramana Maharshi, I’m going to bring you the message of Shankara, which is not only just a message, I AM their message right now. And I’m not afraid to say that, that is not pride, I don’t say it as pride, but someone has to have the courage to say. I have the courage to say what I AM, so I have to say this on your behalf, because you’re afraid to say it!

I have to say I AM THAT on behalf of you, it is not arrogance, it is not blasphemy to say.

Take courage, and listen with your heart when I tell you, follow my pointings. Because what I say now with such conviction, you yourself will be able to speak with the authority of your own experience.

Look, follow and see!"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgjIM4rK_-w

[Flash]

Edgar Cayce on ET's, Anunaki, Aliens & Life on Other Planets- John Van Auken

Earth-Keeper 2017: Presents John Van Auken, Prolific Author & Exec Director of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. This amazing articulate & well researched presentation offers readings from prolific seer, Edgar Cayce verifying Alien Visitations & Life on Other Planets. John Van Auken also speaks about the Anunaki, Zecharia Sitchin , Genetic Engineering, LeMuria, Atlantis, the Starseed Origin of Humanity, Timelines of the earth, Cosmos , the Nature of God & the future Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce. Absolutely mesmerizing from start to finish, John also does a Q & A at the end of his lecture that you dont want to miss. Enjoy ! Copyrights Duly Resrved to Earth-Keeper Star-Gate Video Productions 2017 www.Earth-Keeper.com www.JohnVanAuken.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-aaKR1E8sY

Guess this comes under related matters.
I dont normally go anywhere other than Non-duality

However we are all things.
"Form--formless--both and neither"
I think that quote fits what Edgar is saying about our beginnings as the "in-dweller" of the human body.
May be so!!!
Chris

really really good video Chris, thanks, worth a careful listening

[greybeard]

The Story of the Soul - John Van Auken - Releasing Self Condemnation



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bi9IWDhkzQ

[greybeard]

Im not at all sure that the future is written in stone.
Again an interesting talk but "May be so"

Chris

"Earth-Keeper: 2038 - The Next 2012 - John Van Auken

This is perhaps the most amazing lecture to date on the relatively uncirculated Cayce readings concerning the 'New Age' from 1998, 2012 to 2038.
John discusses the Pyramid Timeline that chronicles the progression of humanity from the beginning to the year of 2038. He brilliantly interprets Ancient Egyptian Mysticism & pictoglyphs along with the Mayan calendar & Cayce's specific detailed readings of what is coming.
He discusses the reformation & requisite harmonization of the .Abrahamic' religions (Judaism, Islam & Christianity).
John Van Auken is a walking master, a renaissance human of vast knowledge that covers far more than one viewpoint, and brilliantly deciphers and interprets the prophesy, truths, misconceptions, & dogma of many religions and discusses the common truths.

It all leads to 2038, the next major step in the Ascension of Humanity. He quotes documented readings from the Edgar Cayce archives (1940's) that accurately predict & discuss shifting solar cycles & solar radiation that will change the DNA and 'lighter' body form for humanity and allow for a '3rd-Eye' reopening into full consciousness. as once existed on the Earth-Plane within the Atlantean 'Law of One' soul group.
This is a masterpiece and absolutely worth your time.
The amazing readings are discussed in the 2nd half. www. Earth-Keeper.com www.JohnVanAuken,com www.EdgarCayce.org"



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oinjRFiTZ4E&t=43s

[onawah]

Much more on this youtube page re the Cayce info:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnyct2HCC6Q-brUcs6_iO-A

[neutronstar]

Im not at all sure that the future is written in stone.


No, I think it is written on paper with a pencil that has a big eraser on it.:bigsmile:

[greybeard]

John Van Auken - Visions of Our Soul -- Live @ Arklantis - Brilliant !!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCkeCnFPpHA&t=10s

Chris observations
This video joins a lot of dots
Chakras, Kundalini, Serpents, Shiva the destroyer of illusion.
Chants--vibrations. Third eye.
All portrayed as being fully explained on the hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt
and by the readings of Edgar Cayce.

Anyway its worth a viewing.

[onawah]

Something that struck me this morning out of the blue for some reason is the similarities between what Cayce said about how higher dimensional souls were originally gradually induced to take on material bodies in order to become slaves, and how the current transhumanist trend seems to have something to do with entrapping human consciousness within machines.

[greybeard]

Sadhguru - There is no such thing as your soul.
The process of reincarnation.
-is there re-birth -body as five dimensions or five sheathes. - Annamayakosha -food body -Manomayakosha- mental body -Pranamayakosha- energy body -Physical body is very gross, mental body is subtler, energy body is even subtler but all these three are physical. -all these three dimensions carries the imprints of karma; - karmic structure, is what holds it together. Karma is the cement which holds you to the physical body. -Karma is the bondage at the same time, it’s only because of karmic stuff you can hold on to the body and be here. -Vignanamaya kosha -non-physical ,but related to the physical. -Anandamaya kosha -completely non-physical. it’s the bliss body -If the karmic structure is completely dismantled there is no soul; everything merges into everything else. -if you dismantle the karmic structure hundred percent, now you merge with the existence. This is what is referred to as mukti,or Mahasamadhi, or Mahaparinirvana, or liberation -Liberation means becoming free from the basic structures of body and mind and for all this, the karmic structure is the strings which hold these things together. - ghosts all around you -the ultimate goal for every spiritual seeker is he wants to break this whole process. -The process of reincarnation -there is no such thing as your soul


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlzXhiQa4mk

[Eva2]

Interesting video although I am confused. Where do the astral realities fit into this equation, where do people "go" after life and during NDE's. ie, what was Jurgen Ziewe and Robert Monroe experiencing during their OBEs. How/where does all that fit into the karmic structure. Certainly gives one another perspective on the big picture.

[greybeard]

Hi Jill
its a mater of perspective.
Sadguru is coming from non-duality and does not give an inch on that.
His take is that there is no individual soul to go anywhere.
The seeming individual is part of the illusion.
Enlightenment means the realization that there is only One and you are That.

It could bee seen as different levels --different vibration.
So the UN-enlightened are not at a high enough vibration yet to escape Maya.
There is then the appearance of an individual soul having NDE --going to heaven on death of the body all the other things mentioned in between incarnations.
The enlightened teachers say that as long as you believe you are seperate from "God/Creator" you will be.

This just my understanding of the moment--a maybe so.

Chris

[Eva2]

Hi Jill
its a mater of perspective.
Sadguru is coming from non-duality and does not give an inch on that.
His take is that there is no individual soul to go anywhere.
The seeming individual is part of the illusion.
Enlightenment means the realization that there is only One and you are That.

It could bee seen as different levels --different vibration.
So the UN-enlightened are not at a high enough vibration yet to escape Maya.
There is then the appearance of an individual soul having NDE --going to heaven on death of the body all the other things mentioned in between incarnations.
The enlightened teachers say that as long as you believe you are seperate from "God/Creator" you will be.

This just my understanding of the moment--a maybe so.

Chris

Thank you - that clears up some confusion. I think the mind tends to jump in and analyze something that can never be interpreted at that level of consciousness.

[petra]

Edgar Cayce on ET's, Anunaki, Aliens & Life on Other Planets- John Van Auken

Earth-Keeper 2017: Presents John Van Auken, Prolific Author & Exec Director of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. This amazing articulate & well researched presentation offers readings from prolific seer, Edgar Cayce verifying Alien Visitations & Life on Other Planets. John Van Auken also speaks about the Anunaki, Zecharia Sitchin , Genetic Engineering, LeMuria, Atlantis, the Starseed Origin of Humanity, Timelines of the earth, Cosmos , the Nature of God & the future Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce. Absolutely mesmerizing from start to finish, John also does a Q & A at the end of his lecture that you dont want to miss. Enjoy ! Copyrights Duly Resrved to Earth-Keeper Star-Gate Video Productions 2017 www.Earth-Keeper.com www.JohnVanAuken.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-aaKR1E8sY

Guess this comes under related matters.
I dont normally go anywhere other than Non-duality

However we are all things.
"Form--formless--both and neither"
I think that quote fits what Edgar is saying about our beginnings as the "in-dweller" of the human body.
May be so!!!
Chris

really really good video Chris, thanks, worth a careful listening

I chuckled at this. Good to know I can listen, without having to watch
He pointed me over here because I am very interested in Cayce, I just need someone to translate from "Cayce Language" into simple english :)

[greybeard]

Diving Deeper in to the Near Death Experience | Anita Moorjani - Speaker & Best Selling Author

This week I share more details about my near death experience, including an analogy for what it's like when we are dealing with what seems to be endless problems in life. I speak about the importance of always choosing from a place of LOVE rather than fear. I also answer questions such as: Has the memory of your NDE started to fade since so many years have passed, or is it still vivid? Since you only had one NDE, how are you able to continue talking and writing about it, and continue sharing new insights? How can I totally change my life, even while I'm in so much pain? Tell us something that you haven't shared before from your NDE? What can we do to improve our perception of life force energy? How did your marriage change after your NDE? Did your husband come along with the new you? Can you still access that NDE space any time you want? I end the video with exciting news about a new Meditation CD that I have created with my friend Barry Goldstein that actually helps take you through a life changing NDE! (More news about that coming shortly). If you find something which you think will benefit somebody you know, please send them this video or a link to this video. Please remember to Subscribe to my channel if you haven't already done so. If you want to watch the show live, you can find it on https://anitamoorjani.com/facebook every Sunday at 12 noon Pacific / 3pm Eastern / 8pm GMT With love Anita ❤️❤️


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hQnKGi8pmk

[justntime2learn]

I found this fascinating and was curious as to what others thought.

I thought this would be right up your alley, Chris .

CHNFmKFBBtw

[greybeard]

God is a mathematician.
The Golden Ratio---comes up time and time again
Thanks justntime2learn.

Chris

[Agape]

God is a mathematician.
The Golden Ratio---comes up time and time again


Chris

...His equations too long to solve...

:)

[Eva2]

I really enjoyed the following from John Milton and thought this was the right thread to share it on:

'When push comes to shove,
When the intellectual lights go out,
When the flashy experiences fade (and they will),
When the highs and lows level out,
When the senses can no longer generate or get puffed up by the “feel good stuff”,
When the supposed “I” feels like a fragile, leaky amniotic sac due to the blows inflicted upon by clear seeing,
When not even God can be perceived in the usual ways...what will you do?
Will you be able to stay put, to endure the darkness, the unknowing, or will you find a new dream catcher to reflect back to you all that you are not willing to let go of yet?
When there is nothing left but the crucible of innocent intent, what will you do?
To stand still in this place is no easy task. All you can do is trust that which you set out to gain but which has somehow escaped you, because the way you knew That, has vanished.
When you can sense no progress from all your efforts, and cannot see any way forward, what will you do?
Stand still, in Innocence and trust. You have reached the end of your efforts. Something else must take over now.
Wait~Wait~Wait
This is how you serve God now.
“They also serve who only stand and wait.” John Milton'

[Clear Light]

I really enjoyed the following from John Milton and thought this was the right thread to share it on:

'When push comes to shove,
When the intellectual lights go out,
When the flashy experiences fade (and they will),
When the highs and lows level out,
When the senses can no longer generate or get puffed up by the “feel good stuff”,
When the supposed “I” feels like a fragile, leaky amniotic sac due to the blows inflicted upon by clear seeing,
When not even God can be perceived in the usual ways...what will you do?
Will you be able to stay put, to endure the darkness, the unknowing, or will you find a new dream catcher to reflect back to you all that you are not willing to let go of yet?
When there is nothing left but the crucible of innocent intent, what will you do?
To stand still in this place is no easy task. All you can do is trust that which you set out to gain but which has somehow escaped you, because the way you knew That, has vanished.
When you can sense no progress from all your efforts, and cannot see any way forward, what will you do?
Stand still, in Innocence and trust. You have reached the end of your efforts. Something else must take over now.
Wait~Wait~Wait
This is how you serve God now.
“They also serve who only stand and wait.” John Milton'

Ah, or in other words, if 'I' may be so presumptive : "Who (or what) are 'you' ? And how can there be any separation between 'you' and your definition of 'God' ? :heart:

Surely, I'd suggest, it's only an experiential answer (beyond the Conceptual) that is going to Assuage / Satisfy the grasping of the Dualistic mind and its Belief System eh ? ;)

[greybeard]

Sometimes people have to be met where they stand in order to direct them to Truth.
Sometime there is tough love needed--to shake one out of long held beliefs.

Ramesh Balsekar said "God gave you an ego , let Him remove it"
He also had a very non duality attitude.
Saying "You are not the doer", often quoting this
"Events happen
Deeds are done
There is no individual doer there of."

Chris

Ps its great to see "others" posting here.
It gets lonely --smiling.
There is always something new to be discovered--uncovered.
Just a different perspective to the same ancient Truth can lead to an awakening.
Just when you thought it safe to go out in duality--smiling
Or rather the ego did.

Chris

[greybeard]

Exploring Sacred Sites-at Monroe Institute 2018
John Van Auken Keynote

In his keynote address at the TMI 2018 Professional Seminar, John Van Auken, PhD, leads a mystical, metaphysical tour of ancient spiritual sites around the world. John recounts curious tales concerning the inhabitants of these sites and their reasons for building them and how our own souls were involved with these sites prior to this incarnation.
The tour includes temples, pyramids, and legends from sites worldwide.
John Van Auken is an internationally renowned speaker, a long-time A.R.E. staff member, a current director at A.R.E., and a popular leader of A.R.E.’s tours to sacred sites around the world.
He is the author of numerous bestselling books including Edgar Cayce on the Spiritual Forces Within You and Angels, Fairies, Demons, & the Elementals, and is co-author of his most recent, Edgar Cayce on the Mysterious Essenes: Lessons from Our Sacred Past.
His extensive knowledge of the Edgar Cayce readings, the Bible, ancient Egypt mysticism, world religions, and Christ Consciousness make him a popular and authoritative teacher.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN_qxJ-vmuk

[Guish]

Hi Jill
its a mater of perspective.
Sadguru is coming from non-duality and does not give an inch on that.
His take is that there is no individual soul to go anywhere.
The seeming individual is part of the illusion.
Enlightenment means the realization that there is only One and you are That.

It could bee seen as different levels --different vibration.
So the UN-enlightened are not at a high enough vibration yet to escape Maya.
There is then the appearance of an individual soul having NDE --going to heaven on death of the body all the other things mentioned in between incarnations.
The enlightened teachers say that as long as you believe you are seperate from "God/Creator" you will be.

This just my understanding of the moment--a maybe so.

Chris

From a zen perspective, trying to understand after death makes one stray away from the present moment. It doesn't matter.

[Guish]

~ Become a Lake ~

An aging master grew tired of his apprentice’s complaints. One morning, he sent him to get some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it.

“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” said the apprentice.

The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”

“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.

“No,” said the young man. At this the master sat beside this serious young man, and explained softly:

“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

[Eva2]

'Ah, or in other words, if 'I' may be so presumptive : "Who (or what) are 'you' ? And how can there be any separation between 'you' and your definition of 'God' ?

Surely, I'd suggest, it's only an experiential answer (beyond the Conceptual) that is going to Assuage / Satisfy the grasping of the Dualistic mind and its Belief System eh ? '
"
I agree with your point but I also take in the "verse" as a whole. Perhaps there is a whole lot more around those two phrases than what we perceive with our mind and it actually does fit in with the non-dualistic viewpoint. I tend to be a very analytical person and my mind wants to have a clear, logical understanding of everything it sees and hears. I have been trying for some time to get away from this and just take in something as a "whole". I try to stay away from the need to intellectually analyze and define everything individually within that whole. Anyway, since my mind is always interfering, that is just how I am "trying" to perceive things now. :)

[lake]

~ Become a Lake ~

An aging master grew tired of his apprentice’s complaints. One morning, he sent him to get some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it.

“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” said the apprentice.

The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”

“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.

“No,” said the young man. At this the master sat beside this serious young man, and explained softly:

“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

Hey Guish in the last year you have posted 7 times....and in all of this thread you posted this, above, once before!

If I may ask....Why did you post the above, exactly at the time you did today?

[greybeard]

Lake you may not get an answer or some time--Guish is a busy person.
If there is one mind--that may be a thought for the moment.
Im off for a while Saturday night TV and The Voice calls to me.

Much love
Chris

[lake]

No sod it....currently Guish is on line here and I wish to know.......why?

To me it is important!

[lake]

Dont try to tell me that we are all 'one'.....post within this realm when 'other' actions have occurred which you shouldn't have knowledge....and then just stroll away!

F%*k you if you do that Guish!

¤=[Post Update]=¤

A.....N....D ...........................Guish has left the building!

Sod your all one....utter crap.

[Clear Light]

'Ah, or in other words, if 'I' may be so presumptive : "Who (or what) are 'you' ? And how can there be any separation between 'you' and your definition of 'God' ?

Surely, I'd suggest, it's only an experiential answer (beyond the Conceptual) that is going to Assuage / Satisfy the grasping of the Dualistic mind and its Belief System eh ? '
"
I agree with your point but I also take in the "verse" as a whole. Perhaps there is a whole lot more around those two phrases than what we perceive with our mind and it actually does fit in with the non-dualistic viewpoint. I tend to be a very analytical person and my mind wants to have a clear, logical understanding of everything it sees and hears. I have been trying for some time to get away from this and just take in something as a "whole". I try to stay away from the need to intellectually analyze and define everything individually within that whole. Anyway, since my mind is always interfering, that is just how I am "trying" to perceive things now. :)

Um, this may or may not help, but perhaps one way of illustrating the apparent difference between "seeing" from a wholistic viewpoint to that of our ordinary Discursive mind is as follows :


39728

Consider the Egoic mind to be like a whirling whirlpool ... you've probably heard of the phrase "Monkey Mind" where it leaps from subject to subject, randomly and uncontrollably right ?

But rather than trying to "still the mind" what happens if the whirling simply ceases ? What remains in its absence, in a thought-free state what is knowing that absence of thoughts ?

I suppose you could call it "Awareness" but it's like the difference between being seemingly "lost" in the mind's Content to being the Container within which all the thoughts and images appear ...

So what can potentially trigger such a Shift ? Well, it's where the Attention is withdrawn from its fascination at the Content to looking at itself (in a manner of speaking). But this isn't for Egoic or self-ish "gain", in fact this may give rise to a sense of Discomfort because you're sort of pointing the Ego to look at its own illusory Nature !!!


:peace:

[lake]

OK....lets get this actually correct.

Everything, from now, which is posted within this thread as regards us all being 'one', will be refereed back to this link:

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?860-Enlightenment-and-related-matters.&p=1270476&viewfull=1#post1270476

Literally you have zero information regarding the concept of BEINGS NOW.

You are just waving hands around and shouting...."We are all one"

The only evidence you provide is corrupted historical considerations of potential higher awareness!

You are indoctrinated to servile existence.

Now where is the 'coward' called Guish?

To add:


Dont try to tell me that we are all 'one'.....post within this realm when 'other' actions have occurred which you shouldn't have knowledge....and then just stroll away!

F%*k you if you do that Guish!

¤=[Post Update]=¤

A.....N....D ...........................Guish has left the building!

Sod your all one....utter crap.

[Eva2]

'Ah, or in other words, if 'I' may be so presumptive : "Who (or what) are 'you' ? And how can there be any separation between 'you' and your definition of 'God' ?

Surely, I'd suggest, it's only an experiential answer (beyond the Conceptual) that is going to Assuage / Satisfy the grasping of the Dualistic mind and its Belief System eh ? '
"
I agree with your point but I also take in the "verse" as a whole. Perhaps there is a whole lot more around those two phrases than what we perceive with our mind and it actually does fit in with the non-dualistic viewpoint. I tend to be a very analytical person and my mind wants to have a clear, logical understanding of everything it sees and hears. I have been trying for some time to get away from this and just take in something as a "whole". I try to stay away from the need to intellectually analyze and define everything individually within that whole. Anyway, since my mind is always interfering, that is just how I am "trying" to perceive things now. :)

Um, this may or may not help, but perhaps one way of illustrating the apparent difference between "seeing" from a wholistic viewpoint to that of our ordinary Discursive mind is as follows :


39728

Consider the Egoic mind to be like a whirling whirlpool ... you've probably heard of the phrase "Monkey Mind" where it leaps from subject to subject, randomly and uncontrollably right ?

But rather than trying to "still the mind" what happens if the whirling simply ceases ? What remains in its absence, in a thought-free state what is knowing that absence of thoughts ?

I suppose you could call it "Awareness" but it's like the difference between being seemingly "lost" in the mind's Content to being the Container within which all the thoughts and images appear ...

So what can potentially trigger such a Shift ? Well, it's where the Attention is withdrawn from its fascination at the Content to looking at itself (in a manner of speaking). But this isn't for Egoic or self-ish "gain", in fact this may give rise to a sense of Discomfort because you're sort of pointing the Ego to look at its own illusory Nature !!!


:peace:

Thank you Clear Blue for your response. I was framing my response specifically around John Milton's "poem" and in particular the referenced lines. I do get the mind/ego aspect and the nature of awareness as a non experience. However, until I personally "shift" to this state I remain open to all "points of view" although I do recognize the mind has absolutely nothing to do with these states. You are probably speaking from a more personal elevated state and "see" concepts and ideologies from that "place". I'm not there yet. :)

[samildamach]

Lake you need to calm down,stop and think please

[Clear Light]

Lake you may not get an answer or some time--Guish is a busy person.
If there is one mind--that may be a thought for the moment.
Im off for a while Saturday night TV and The Voice calls to me.

Much love
Chris

Oh, you know how sometimes you read some text on the screen and there's an "Aha" moment, the proverbial light bulb lights up, like you "see" an image in your "mind's eye" right ?

Well I'm not so sure that there is just "one mind" and I was reminded of this (short) video in which Alan Wallace suggests how rather than there being one single Universe, that instead, we each are "entangled" with each other (so-to-speak) ...


xhaY0WuzROo

Description : "B Alan Wallace on the implications of considering that the whole Universe is a quantum system"

[lake]

Lake you need to calm down,stop and think please

:) I love you and no :)

[Bill Ryan]

Lake you need to calm down,stop and think please

:) I love you and no :)

[Mod note from Bill]

@lake, you're no longer permitted to post on this thread. You can read freely here, and also post freely anywhere else.

But just because you think you're a smart contrarian, that doesn't mean you can sabotage others' respectful conversations.

And no, you're not any grain of sand in any oyster.

This is all about your ego.

:focus:

[johnf]

So this is a tidbit from roger Castillo. He was a student of Ramesh Balsekar.



THE WORKING MIND AND THE THINKING MIND.
The underestimation of the working mind in the process of liberation is a result of an undeveloped working mind.
The suggestion of some teachings to put all thinking aside is wisdom which doesn't underestimated the tenacity of some thinking minds.
Peace of mind is the absence or dissolution of the thinking mind with the aid of the working mind.
The working mind understands the beauty of inner silence and is more than happy to STOP when it's not needed.


I was wondering if anyone else has run into references to these two levels of mind.



John

[greybeard]

No amount of intellectual debate would convince anyone of enlightenment or so called "oneness"
It has to be experiential.
One well used metaphor is the Ocean
On the surface the individual waves.
Below is still unaffected by storm.
All is water--the waves subside at some point..

It could said that having posted for years videos of those that are enlightened then I have fallen for that propaganda.
However as Ernie said elsewhere--they all say the same thing "I am That"
Science is proving what the sages have said since time began--the cobweb.
Spreading out from the big bang is that network (spiders web}which resembles the working of the human brain.
Anita Moorjani, in her recent video, says much the same.

Chris

[greybeard]

So this is a tidbit from roger Castillo. He was a student of Ramesh Balsekar.



THE WORKING MIND AND THE THINKING MIND.
The underestimation of the working mind in the process of liberation is a result of an undeveloped working mind.
The suggestion of some teachings to put all thinking aside is wisdom which doesn't underestimated the tenacity of some thinking minds.
Peace of mind is the absence or dissolution of the thinking mind with the aid of the working mind.
The working mind understands the beauty of inner silence and is more than happy to STOP when it's not needed.


I was wondering if anyone else has run into references to these two levels of mind.



John

Yes John
Ramesh used this quite a lot.
I was fortunate to spend a fortnight at his last intensive seminar in Kavolum India.
A relatively small group--which made it all the more intimate.
I nearly drowned --waves came from nowhere in a calm sea and dragged me down to the bottom three times.
I relaxed said a prayer and was ok
The lifeguards came out and got me.
I would not have been the first to get into similar trouble there.
Anyway the fortnight was a memorable experience for the right reasons.

Chris

[Clear Light]

Wow, what a lucky guy to have been able to do what he did and travel around the world experiencing several different Spiritual Traditions while exploring his own "feeling" that there's a kind of common underlying truth to them all !


-E9sRbafmy4


Description : What is our relationship with nature? Joseph Kaufman, author and founder of Conscious Collective, posed this question to spiritual masters from around the world. "Oneness" was the resounding answer. Nature and ourselves are two parts of a greater whole

Published 4 Mar 2018 (18 minutes)

[greybeard]

Do we have any choice Clear Light?
Destiny calls.
Chris

[Wind]

asbk_WhQ3Jg

[greybeard]

Lake you need to calm down,stop and think please

:) I love you and no :)

[Mod note from Bill]

@lake, you're no longer permitted to post on this thread. You can read freely here, and also post freely anywhere else.

But just because you think you're a smart contrarian, that doesn't mean you can sabotage others' respectful conversations.

And no, you're not any grain of sand in any oyster.

This is all about your ego.

:focus:

I would like to thank Bill for his response to lake's posts and his comments about respectful conversations.

I would point out that lake has always been courteous to me and I think.he had an "allergic reaction" --misunderstanding Guish post about a Lake.

Chris

[Clear Light]

Do we have any choice Clear Light?
Destiny calls.
Chris

Oh, at the risk of sounding like a complete nutcase I think perhaps that anybody reading this post who wants a deeper answer should be prepared to "suspend their disbelief" for the time being eh ? ;)

Here's a favourite go-to-clip which shows how our surface-consciousness really isn't "in control" as it likes to believe ...


https://vimeo.com/90101368

Note : The above clip is taken from the BBC Horizon program "The Secret You" (from around 2008 / 2009) which can be downloaded here (https://we.tl/t-zlgDgBmdGT) in its entirety (until 26th January)

You see, I'm coming at this from a Buddhist / Dzogchen perspective which has a somewhat different (distinct) "world view" to what are termed (with no disrespect intended) "Worldly People" !

There really is no enduring "separate self" (with some kind of intrinsic existence), but, I feel making claims like this doesn't help move the discussion along eh ?

As I see it, you are only going to see some "proof" if you are willing to turn the arrow of your attention around and have a look at what's within (so-to-speak) ... look at what it is that "perceives", examine the transience of thoughts, just merely observe them ...

The idea is that the "mind", at some point, whether suddenly or not, is going to re-cognise its "natural state" (Rigpa), like a sudden clearing of the clouds (thoughts) when the sun shines through unobstructedly in a moment of "clarity" perhaps ?

It's incredibly "freeing" because no longer are you "trapped" by the belief that "you" are a "thinker" that has their own thoughts, they just come and go like the clouds come and go across the sky ...

So as for being an "entity" that has freewill or choice, perhaps it may help to consider that one of the principles of Buddhist thought is that it leads to the end of suffering ... with Liberation not being "for the self" but "FROM the self" !!!

But in short, the answer to the question is an emphatic "No !" ;)

[greybeard]

No self no problem--kind of sums it up.
There have been "brain wired" tests that seem to prove that action is taking place before the me claims authorship.

Stephen Wolisnsky a devotee of Sri Nasargaddata also said this
It may be on this video or a later one.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHKzNmx-IB8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugK51abLMtI&t=958s.

Chris

[greybeard]

If you have time I really would suggest listening to Stephen Wolinsky "Waking up from trance"
He gives fresh insight into "spirituality"
Chris

[johnf]

Yes John
Ramesh used this quite a lot.
I was fortunate to spend a fortnight at his last intensive seminar in Kavolum India.
A relatively small group--which made it all the more intimate.
I nearly drowned --waves came from nowhere in a calm sea and dragged me down to the bottom three times.
I relaxed said a prayer and was ok
The lifeguards came out and got me.
I would not have been the first to get into similar trouble there.
Anyway the fortnight was a memorable experience for the right reasons.

Chris


Thank you Chris, I read this soon after getting up and I am struggling with a strong brain fog this morning, and perhaps some sort of backlash from my interaction with Roger. When he answers questions about his posts they tend to be fairly long, and I suspect tailored to the person he is addressing. Somewhere between reading his original post and finishing his response to mine I had some sort of contact with my "working mind" and an accompanying awareness of what seems to be my brain stem and a sensation of soreness, and swelling there. This is not the first time this has happened and when it does I feel really strongly like there is a stronger current opening up from my spinal cord, trying to cascade up out of my crown and fall back towards my feet. On a more feeling level I feel like the the thinking mind has been frightened by being confronted with it's immediate master. So I read your response and got confused about whether the drowning story was some sort of metaphor of drowning in the sea of awareness( Laughing a bit at this now), then I went on to the video posted by Clear Light and I really identified with the mans shock after his experiment. I actually freaked out a bit when they said there was a six second gap between the brain activity and the conscious decision. I need no convincing, or suspension of disbelief when watching that video because I have run into this feeling of who I think I am, being confronted by an apparent larger self, as well as having that experience fold into the awareness that the dualities are not real that all these things are perfectly contiguous. It still makes little sense to the thinking mind, but I am ok with that.(also the coffee is kicking in and I feel less foggy) Another part of my experience was watching another member react so strongly to this material and I agree with you idea Chris that it was some sort of allergic reaction, I have had my share of those myself. I wish them well, Anyway on with my day.


John

[johnf]

I have had a long term interest in finding a practical way to have a long term discussion of pointers.
This post is more of an offering up of this idea rather than an attempt to change this thread into something it is not.
I think that the zen koan is something that is not really different than advaita pointers as given by various teachers, many of which are posted in this thread. However the practice of a master giving a koan to a student seems to me to be a more rigorous practice than a teacher dropping various pointers in a satsang. However if the person is receptive enough, I think that can trigger a complete acceptance of the greater reality, and the apparent dissolution of the apparent separate self into the "Self".


So here is the definition of koan from wikipedia: A kōan (公案) (/ˈkoʊæn, -ɑːn/ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English);[1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dan#cite_note-1) Chinese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language): 公案; pinyin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin): gōng'àn, [kʊ́ŋ ân] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Mandarin); Korean (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_language): 공안 gong-an; Vietnamese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language): công án) is a story (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative), dialogue (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogue), question, or statement which is used in Zen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen) practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen.


The great doubt in that definition I take to be receptiveness, openess, and or willingness, and perhaps suddenly, or over a period of years even there is a profound change in the student where a greater understanding of the Self is incorporated into the human life, and people have called this awakening, or enlightenment.


I saw an Adyashanti video where he said Accept everything exactly as it is. That is my best memory of it anyway. And my reaction to it was kind of, are you kidding me? Isn't that a bit much to be asking of us tiny humans? That was a few years ago, and this morning I revisited that experience a bit more open to the possibility that that amount of acceptance could show up in my life. So that is my example of a bit of the great doubt being sparked by a pointer. Perhaps my use of the word, pointer is looser than others might agree with.
So now let me bring up the phrase that has been a a bone of contention in this thread and in the larger spiritual community, and that is the idea that "we are all one".

I don't believe this statement to be true , I do feel it has some value as a pointer though. I prefer to use more words to get the idea across. My preferred phrase is: What appears to be the separate self is a transitory arising within the greater reality. I guess I don't really like the use of the word Self as it is used by teachers. I can't for the life of me get that word to fit everything that the absolute contains in my experience of what the absolute is. The word we means to me that there are a bunch of separate selves there, so are somehow mashed together into one larger one. But an apparent separate self is kind of like what you would see if you would look through a complex glass sculpture that was made by folding a sheet of glass back and for on itself before it cooled, without realizing that what you were seeing was just a smaller appearance within a larger appearance.


I mentioned Roger Castillo earlier, I followed another one of his fellow students of Ramesh Balsekar, Lisa Cairns, and she like to point out how the separate self found this type of teaching brutal, and at times I have felt traumatized by some of the experiences I have had along the way. So the strong reactions I see others have to these type of discussions make a lot of sense to me, and the long term result of dealing with those had led to some amount of compassion for myself and others, hopefully this will grow stronger in the future.


John.

[Clear Light]

So now let me bring up the phrase that has been a a bone of contention in this thread and in the larger spiritual community, and that is the idea that "we are all one"

Ah, as far as I am concerned, that statement is new-age non-sense, it's nothing more than a Metaphysical assertion and as such is open to Interpretation from all kinds of viewpoints right ?

I'd say it's a type of groupthink Concept, a way of aligning the minds of all the group's members to feel a sense of belonging or perhaps togetherness eh ?

It's implicitly encouraging the illusory sense-of-self to "believe" in the ones who say such things ... and is leading AWAY from an awakening experience, in the WRONG direction !!!

At best you'll find no consensus on the statement "we are all one" and at worst it may discourage inquisitive minds into digging a little deeper into their own minds first ...

Just my two-cents LOL ;)

[greybeard]

We are all one is a misnomer.
There is no we.
No subject no object.
One without a second is a very clear definition.
New age has no deep understanding of non-duality--nor enlightenment.
There is no individual left to claim self realization.
We came from One and return.
ACIM says
"There .is no place, no state where God is absent.
There is nothing to be feared"
No need to be concerned about labels, language pointing, to that which can not be described.

Chris

[greybeard]

An easier way of looking at it is we are all of one material--one consciousness--its in the video I recommended.
Chris

[onawah]

"Spiritual Materialism" is a term coined by the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, which I think is descriptive of what typically happens to people when they become very serious about their spiritual path.
(Being very serious about it is probably the first sign you have misstepped, imho.)
It's like we become collectors of spiritual teachings and experiences which we think validate our understanding and spiritual genuineness.

So what to do when in a discussion about spirituality without just adding more to the "collection"?
We can try showing how spiritual materialism is actually leading us further astray.
This is a pretty good article which describes how that works:

From: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/enlightened-living/200812/cutting-through-spiritual-materialism

"A reader asked me to expand on the notion of spiritual materialism.

Spiritual materialism is a phrase originally coined by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche that he used to describe the grasping after material accomplishment within the context of spiritual pursuit. His characterization is not novel; rather, it echoes a sentiment that has been addressed by spiritual teachers and the wisdom teachings for centuries.

One of the shortcomings of modern psychology, in its migration from a study of the spirit to a pseudoscientific study of the mind (1, 2), is that it focuses on the development of identity, as well as the self as an object. Even Carl Jung -- the mystic, where Freud was the scientist, Adler the humanist, and James the philosopher -- spoke of individuation as a key component of human development; a notion that demands that the "I" be regarded as a thing. This perspective is also evident even when discussing such highflown ideas as self-actualization, which, at its core, is simply a material characterization of Self-realization and/or God-realization.

Ego is what defines our roles in the material world; we are a mother, a daughter, a brother -- rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief. By defining our roles in the conscious realm, the ego is hell-bent on drawing us off our sense of the Self within the superconscious realm. The more we identify ourselves with the "I", the less we are able to identify with the Witness.

The Witness, the Dweller, Thoughts without a Thinker, the One Mind --- these are all descriptors for this superconscious state, that state which keeps us connected to the higher Self and, in this way, to our spiritual experience of whatever it is that we define as God. If we are atheistic, and do not believe in God as such, then we can consider this a description of our connection to our higher humanity, which includes our moral compass, our personal and social ethos and our altruistic investment in community.

The ego dwells in the material realm, the conscious realm. In doing so it identifies with the objects, items, relationships, trials, tribulations and triumphs of the material world. The more we are invested in This, the less we are invested in That. Here's the dilemma -- This Is That.

Spiritual materialism is that process by which the ego grasps at the accomplishments and progress of the self upon the spiritual path; an act by which its very nature denies the Self. As soon as you claim it, it is no longer yours. I had a conversation with a friend the other day who asked me,

"When you're meditating, do you ever just stop thinking?"

My initial response was, "No, we can never stop thinking."

She replied by saying, "I mean those moments when it all just stops --- that it's all just empty -- have you ever had that happen?"

And I replied, "I misspoke. Yes, those moments do happen, and that is satori or samadhi or nirvana...and that is an experience of the enlightened state."

She then said, "I get so excited when that happens."

And I responded, "Ego."

My point was not to "one down" or denigrate her taste of satori or samadhi in those moments, but rather to point out that, while this is a clear milestone toward a state of enlightenment, if you own it you lose it.

The whole conversation of material spiritualism very much hinges on what is written in the first line of the Tao Te Ch'ing --- "the Tao is that which is Nameless..." or "the Tao is that which cannot be named...". Enlightenment is like a wisp of smoke. Spiritual materialism is the ego trying to clutch at that smoke.

As soon as we cast something into a role, as soon as we put a label on it, as soon as we name it and give it life by virtue of our investment (read: ego), we take away all its power and it is nothing more than an event -- it is no longer a spiritual revelation, but simply a material experience. That is spiritual materialism at its peak."

© 2008 Michael J. Formica, All Rights Reserved

Zen eliminates those steps that actually lead away from the goal (although of course, having a goal is also actually antithetical ), such as when in the year 866, Master Linji Yixuan said "If you meet the Buddha, kill him."

https://www.thoughtco.com/kill-the-buddha-449940

What you have to ask yourself is: "Do I want to have the mastery of Yixuan, or do I want to be a collector of teachings and experiences?

[greybeard]

This thread has had over 865.000 visits.
Quite a few times I have tried to stop posting, lets face it after all these years--intellectually I get it and its very simple.

So the reason I continue is "seva" the videos are posted as a resource for busy interested people who dont have the
time to look for these kind of talks.

Most of the videos are saying the same thing in different ways.
You are "That."
Techniques, including meditation, if done looking for a result will lead one further away from the Truth.
Done out of love is different.
Jesus said "Be still and know that I am God"

Some speak of the pathless path.

The talks contain the energy of the enlightened so are uplifting for those who visit.
Many point out the futility of searching---you are already "That" which you look for.
The recommended tools are "Self inquiry" and discarding all that is not "Self" Neity Neity.
Not this Not This.

The Edgar Case talks speak of many interesting things but point out-- literally--"Love they neighbour as thyself"
When people annoy or frustrate you its an aspect of yourself, that is reacting to an element within you.
Those that get you to look at this aspect are your friends.

However your true nature is eternal, complete and perfect--it is "That" which you seek.

Chris

[greybeard]

Do we have any choice Clear Light?
Destiny calls.
Chris


So as for being an "entity" that has freewill or choice, perhaps it may help to consider that one of the principles of Buddhist thought is that it leads to the end of suffering ... with Liberation not being "for the self" but "FROM the self" !!!

But in short, the answer to the question is an emphatic "No !" ;)

So from your perspective, what remains when liberation from the self comes about?
Im always interested in how different persuasions express Truth.

I enjoy your posts immensely.

With respect
Chris

[Clear Light]

Do we have any choice Clear Light?
Destiny calls.
Chris


So as for being an "entity" that has freewill or choice, perhaps it may help to consider that one of the principles of Buddhist thought is that it leads to the end of suffering ... with Liberation not being "for the self" but "FROM the self" !!!

But in short, the answer to the question is an emphatic "No !" ;)

So from your perspective, what remains when liberation from the self comes about?
Im always interested in how different persuasions express Truth.

I enjoy your posts immensely.

With respect
Chris

Oh, that Chris, is where it gets very tricky to talk about given the inherent Duality of Language !

You've surely heard the phrase "The Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao” ... because whatever I now assert as an answer for you, is immediately (in a way) "creating division" between the "whole" (that has no parts whatsoever) and the Concepts I verbalise about it eh ? :blah:

Truthfully, there is just "this", moment to moment, no Discursiveness, no thought required ... no hope, no fear, no self-concern. :pleasantry:

Eating happens, sleep happens, going to work happens, "being in the world" continues but from a place of Heart-felt natural Ease and Relaxation :heart:

[greybeard]

Clear Light
Yes I get this.
You are better at "explaining" than I.
Falling into the trap of concepts its a bit llike Christ saying
"Of myself I do nothing, it is the Father within"
or life just does what it does.
The ego has a hell of a job with "I am not the doer" and will fight fight fight fight.
Its all levels of energy--the same energy.

Stephen Wolinsky says "Nothing condenses in to form, form returns to nothing" a pulsation.
Form, formless, both and neither another description of the one substance.

Thanks
Chris

[Eva2]

'the talks contain the energy of the enlightened so are uplifting for those who visit.
Many point out the futility of searching---you are already "That" which you look for.
The recommended tools are "Self inquiry" and discarding all that is not "Self" Neity Neity.
Not this Not This.'

From Lucia and Lorn Hoff: 'Enlightenment is awakening to the reality that there has never been a separate individual person here to get enlightened in the first place. You have always been universal Consciousness; unbounded, cosmic and divine'

And from their personal experience: ""Awakening" is the direct experience of the true unbounded reality of the Self, beyond individual mind, body, perceptions, emotions and personality. It is the permanent shift to being Awareness itself

"Enlightenment" is the direct expeirience of the true reality of the objects of perception as being your own SELF, and permanently living that oneness of Consciousness and Its higher states of clarity and fullness.

"Pure Awareness" is the inner essence of Being, of simple existence. It is the unbounded source of and observer of the mind. It is That by virtue of which experience can happen. ​​​​​

And, there is no "doing" in any of this.

[greybeard]

Yes Jill you got it.
Much love
Chris

[greybeard]

The End of the Game: Deconstructing the Portals to the Absolute

“The End of the Game: Deconstructing the Portals to the Absolute” is what could be the final YouTube and Swan Song, of Stephen-Narayan Wolinsky. The "End of the Game" dismantles not only the portal of light, sound, and vibration, but also emptiness, void, stillness-silence witnessing, non-duality, vibration, energy or shakti, being(ness), the I Am, the deity, consciousness and awareness.

The End of the Game demonstrates that portals are pleasant states, however they are merely temporary stations or layers or covering which, if identified with can become traps.

The Absolute (Prior to the word Absolute), can also be referred to as "The Great Without" does not have and knows nothing about the portals or states of light, sound, emptiness, energy, vibration, the deity, consciousness or awareness, being(ness), the I Am and stillness.

The last part of the YouTube points to rarely mentioned temporary states that ultimately evaporate. In "The End of the Game” the state of the Witness, Aware-er Know-er etc. are shown to also be temporary states that come and go. Moreover, as long as the silent witness, aware-er, know-er etc, are present the game continues and the Absolute, (Prior to the word Absolute), will remain a distant conceptual goal.
The Absolute, a.k.a. "The Great Without", is without Portals as well as the Witness, the know-er the aware-er, the observer, or perceiver.

As Nisargadatta Maharaj would say, the Absolute is “Prior to Consciousness.”

Finally as you read or listen to the book or You Tube please keep tucked away somewhere,
“All that is heard, (or that is about to be read seen or heard is non-existent.” Shankara

One Love
Your Mirage brother,
Stephen-Narayan



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUfsfuVRC80


I would point out that the video is 4 hours long.

Chris
Ps This goes a lot further than most--not for the fainthearted.

Not every part of every video i post is a reflection of my current understanding.
However this is how I learn nothing discounted and everything discounted--not this not this, beyond definition.
Ch

[greybeard]

Consciousness And The Absolute / The Final Talks - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Audiobook - Part One

"Even toward the end of his life, when his body was very weak, Maharaj continued to hammer home his teachings. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his final words to us in Consciousness and the Absolute . . . All shadings of his singular wisdom are reflected during these last, poignant conversations with those who were privileged to be in his presence . . . . may you find in them blessings." Jean Dunn, Editor of Consciousness And The Absolute After completing I AM THAT, I was moved to record Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's Final Talks. I have been blessed by his words in a unique and living way. Clay Lomakayu


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

[Clear Light]

Oh, in the interests of some, how shall I say, playful "Spiritual Duelling", here's a nice short 3 minute video with J. Krishnamurti enquiring into the nature of so-called "Consciousness" ...

:fencing:

"The Observer is the Observed"

q9Ye6WbinMU


Am I different from the content of my consciousness ?

If I am different from the thing I observe in myself, then there is a division between 'me' and the thing which I enquire into.

We're going to go into a little more.

I observe in myself anger. I am angry. Or I am greedy, envious.

Is that envy different from me who is observing that reaction which I call 'envy' ?

Or that envy is me; I am not different from that envy.

So, when I observe, is there a division between the observer and the observed ? Then there is conflict.

Then I try to suppress it, control it, or run away from it, or try to wish to change it.

But if the observer is the observed, then a totally different action takes place.

Are we dissipating the mystery of it ?

Because this is very important, right from the beginning.

We are conditioned to the conflict of this division. We are conditioned to either suppress it, analyze it or run away from it. We are educated, to accept this division. But when one looks into it very, very deeply – not very deeply, it's fairly simple – one sees the observer is the observed, therefore, you eliminate all conflict.

In Dzogchen parlance, even the appearance of the ego / self is itself Rigpa (or God if you prefer) appearing as that at all times ... LOL ... the "cosmic joke" is on us, but until we cease to continually re-affirm this illusory separation our lives, I suggest, will always have its "ups and downs" so-to-speak ... You are God / Buddha but in disguise eh ? ;)

[greybeard]

Clear Light.
Agreed. As said "The End of the game" video takes "That" to its end conclusion.
Far beyond all concepts etc.
Worth a listen for the "hardy"
The ego will be bored or in denial or scared.

Chris

[Wind]

Can anything exist apart from
your perceiving of it directly?
Everything points back to you,
the root of all perceiving.
Now, with all the power there is in you,
you must solve this mystery.
Is the source, which is your own Self,
material or immaterial?
Does it have a form?
As long as you believe
that you are primarily flesh and blood,
that you are your body and your thoughts,
you will keep travelling from experience
to experience, state to state,
because who or what you believe yourself to be
will shape your experience.
This can go on and on
if you believe you are the mind.
But if you experience that the source,
which is your real Self
cannot be perceived phenomenally,
that it is not an object
—not even the most beautiful object,
or anything produced from imagination,
you stand a chance of solving
this powerful mystery
and being forever free.

~ Mooji

[greybeard]

On Individuality & Reincarnation

If individuality is an illusion created by the mind, then who or what reincarnates?
Eckhart suggests that the answer to reincarnation can be found through observation. For example, you can observe reincarnation in yourself many times during the day when you identify with a thought. After all, the moment you completely associate your identity with the thought, you have forgotten your essential nature as consciousness and have incarnated into a thought form. Subscribe to find greater fulfillment in life: https://www.youtube.com/c/eckharttoll...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVu6yU2plAo

[Clear Light]

On Individuality & Reincarnation

If individuality is an illusion created by the mind, then who or what reincarnates?
Eckhart suggests that the answer to reincarnation can be found through observation. For example, you can observe reincarnation in yourself many times during the day when you identify with a thought. After all, the moment you completely associate your identity with the thought, you have forgotten your essential nature as consciousness and have incarnated into a thought form. Subscribe to find greater fulfillment in life: https://www.youtube.com/c/eckharttoll...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVu6yU2plAo

Oh, I haven't watched the video you posted Chris, but where it says "the moment you completely associate your identity with the thought, you have forgotten your essential nature as consciousness and have incarnated into a thought form" perhaps an alternative way of describing it is to say : "your essential nature as consciousness is appearing AS having incarnated into a thought form" eh ?

What "I" mean is : this may just look like "semantics" (or word games) but IF there is no "separate self" then there is no-one to have associated with a thought ... it just seems that way ;)

[greybeard]

Clear Light
If you have time It will be appreciated if you post more on your understanding of enlightenment from the Buddhist perspective---my understanding is limited to what non-duality mystics point to.

Chris.

[greybeard]

Interview with Stephen Wolinsky from Science and Nonduality Anthology Vol.2

Non duality does not exist.

Stephen has a somewhat different way of looking at "spirituality"
He has studied in depth various ideology's.
His main topic is the teaching of Nasargadatta.
Definitely one of my favourite teachers

Chris



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

[Clear Light]

Clear Light
If you have time It will be appreciated if you post more on your understanding of enlightenment from the Buddhist perspective---my understanding is limited to what non-duality mystics point to.

Chris.

Oh, here is Adyashanti giving his answer to that very question Chris !

jLQD90Las5c


Many people think that enlightenment is an altered state of consciousness. Actually, what we perceive every day through the distorted lens of ego is the truly altered state -- we see things that don't exist, we believe things that aren't happening, and we live in a false world of our own creation. In this direct and practical satsang, Adyashanti opens the door into the clear seeing that is our natural state of enlightenment.

I'd say Enlightenment is already our natural Awareness that needs no alteration, no improvement, no seeking needed, nothing to attain, nothing to accomplish, nowhere to go ... it's the end of the search and the end of the illusory "separate self" too eh ? :wink:

[greybeard]

Edgar Cayce's New Age Prophecy Peter Woodbury

In this talk, Peter Woodbury will tease out Edgar Cayce’s prophecies for the New Age and what they might mean for each of us.
Peter Woodbury received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and his master’s degree in social work from Boston University.
He trained in hypnotherapy and past-life regression techniques with Dr. Brian Weiss, Dr. Allen Chips, and Dan Brown, PhD. A student of the Cayce readings for over 20 years, he is a popular presenter on key topics from the Cayce readings both at A.R.E. Headquarters and around the country
. Fluent in three languages, he is also known for his outstanding leadership of A.R.E. Tours to South America, India, and Egypt.
To see Peter in person, visit EdgarCayce.org/conferences.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw8_C0c4ARw

[Wind]

“The electrons in a carbon atom in the human brain are connected to the subatomic particles that comprise every salmon that swims, every heart that beats, and every star that shimmers in the sky. Everything interpenetrates everything, and although human nature may seek to categorize and pigeonhole and subdivide the various phenomena of the universe, all apportionments are of necessity artificial and all of nature is ultimately a seamless web.”

~ Michael Talbot, The Holographic Universe.

[greybeard]

The Holographic Universe is an excellent book.
It points out what the Mystics know expediently
Quote
" all apportionments are of necessity artificial and all of nature is ultimately a seamless web.”

Ultimately no subject nor object no individual person.

Nasargadatta says that what you are is prior to consciousness--prior to everything definable or imaginable.
He fluctuated between Love and not knowing that he is. Nothing definable
Human ego cant get this--mine included.
Chris

[Guish]

You get enlightened, you die.
You don't get enlightened, you die.

[Guish]

Uil7-JAdmWg

[Clear Light]

You get enlightened, you die.
You don't get enlightened, you die.

Or, may I suggest : "enlightenment" happens (for wont of a better word) and the "you" that was in search of "it" simply Vanishes ... thus "who" dies eh ?

Not being overly "attached" with the "body", I'd say the "dying process" happens (that word again lol) but as "you" were never the body in the first place so what eh ?

And perhaps related to this topic : "suffering" is, but no "sufferer" can ever be found (if one carefully looks *within*) ... except for "thoughts" ABOUT a "suffering self" !!!

It's not so much Attention on the appearance of "thoughts" (or their varied contents) but rather on the "nature of thought" that's "Key" :idea:

Just saying ... talking to no-one haha :bigsmile:

[greybeard]

The coming Golden Age

Earth-Keeper: 2038 - The Next 2012 - John Van Auken

This is perhaps the most amazing lecture to date on the relatively uncirculated Cayce readings concerning the 'New Age' from 1998, 2012 to 2038.
John discusses the Pyramid Timeline that chronicles the progression of humanity from the beginning to the year of 2038. He brilliantly interprets Ancient Egyptian Mysticism & pictoglyphs along with the Mayan calendar & Cayce's specific detailed readings of what is coming.
He discusses the reformation & requisite harmonization of the .Abrahamic' religions (Judaism, Islam & Christianity).
John Van Auken is a walking master, a renaissance human of vast knowledge that covers far more than one viewpoint, and brilliantly deciphers and interprets the prophesy, truths, misconceptions, & dogma of many religions and discusses the common truths.
It all leads to 2038, the next major step in the Ascension of Humanity.
He quotes documented readings from the Edgar Cayce archives (1940's) that accurately predict & discuss shifting solar cycles & solar radiation that will change the DNA and 'lighter' body form for humanity and allow for a '3rd-Eye' reopening into full consciousness. as once existed on the Earth-Plane within the Atlantean 'Law of One' soul group.

This is a masterpiece and absolutely worth your time. The amazing readings are discussed in the 2nd half.

www. Earth-Keeper.com www.JohnVanAuken,com www.EdgarCayce.org




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oinjRFiTZ4E&t=160s

[greybeard]

Kundalini .
The importance of the awakening of Kundalini is stressed in the above video.
Techniques are also given.
This is a form of Micro Cosmic Orbit taught in various ancient schools.
I find these videos by John Van Auken encouraging.
They are not contrary to the paintings of modern Self Realized mystics--parallel perhaps.
All point to Enlightenment One without a second--Oneness.

Chris

[bogdan9310]

How would you describe enlightenment? Is it an increased awareness of the world around us? Or it's something deeper than that? We only perceive the world with our senses, so it makes sense to link it with our senses.

[greybeard]

How would you describe enlightenment? Is it an increased awareness of the world around us? Or it's something deeper than that? We only perceive the world with our senses, so it makes sense to link it with our senses.

Its our natural state, that is without ego.
Unconditional love, compassion.
The One Self is realized there is no separation.
I am not enlightened so a look at Tim's thread might be an idea.
Chris
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?43027-Enlightenment-A-direct-succinct-account-of-what-occurs...&p=456904&viewfull=1#post456904

[greybeard]

I would suggest to anyone interested in spirituality--awakening, enlightenment to investigate deeply.
If I was interested in learning about golf I would go to some one who is sucessful at playing the game of golf.
with spirituality I would listen to one who is Self realized--well not one but many.
Conscious TV has many interviews.
https://www.youtube.com/user/conscioustv

Similarly
Buddha at the Gas Pump
https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhaAtTheGasPump

I cross check with an open mind.
You can open virtually any page on this thread and you will find videos of various "teachers" pointing to spiritual Truth at an experiential level.
Spend time, find out for yourself.

Chris

[bogdan9310]

How would you describe enlightenment? Is it an increased awareness of the world around us? Or it's something deeper than that? We only perceive the world with our senses, so it makes sense to link it with our senses.

Its our natural state, that is without ego.
Unconditional love, compassion.
The One Self is realized there is no separation.
I am not enlightened so a look at Tim's thread might be an idea.
Chris
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?43027-Enlightenment-A-direct-succinct-account-of-what-occurs...&p=456904&viewfull=1#post456904

You are being very vague, I'm looking for the roots of all this. My bet is that it's related to our sensory input, and how we perceive our senses.

[greybeard]

The roots are in the Cayce video above.
Its not possible to give an accurate picture in a few words.
Tim is enlightened, a look at his opening post may give you what you look for.
Best wishes
Chris

[bogdan9310]

The roots are in the Cayce video above.
Its not possible to give an accurate picture in a few words.
Tim is enlightened, a look at his opening post may give you what you look for.
Best wishes
Chris

I think that if you understand something well enough, you can explain it simply.

[greybeard]

Enlightenment is simple when you have spent tome studying it.
It has a language of its own.
Enlightenment is freedom from ignorance.
The ignorance being a thought that you are separate form the creator.
Why not follow the advice and look at Tims thread--thats not secondhand but from the "horses moth" so to speak.
Chris

[Clear Light]

How would you describe enlightenment? Is it an increased awareness of the world around us? Or it's something deeper than that? We only perceive the world with our senses, so it makes sense to link it with our senses.

Oh, with all due respect, I'd say you're asking a question that can be answered in innumerable ways, in different contexts that are appropriate at the time ... not to mention ALL the varying Traditions with their own specific Definitions and Meanings, you see, it's a question that is supposed to point "beyond the intellect" eh ?


There is no mind control, it should be renamed to mind influence. You are in charge of your brain, the only time someone has control over your mind, is when you let them. To be fair, most people live their lives on autopilot, and get trapped.

If you truly believe what I've highlighted in red, please watch this short (6 minutes) video ...


Here's a favourite go-to-clip which shows how our surface-consciousness really isn't "in control" as it likes to believe ...


https://vimeo.com/90101368

Note : The above clip is taken from the BBC Horizon program "The Secret You" (from around 2008 / 2009)


:sherlock:

[Guish]

You get enlightened, you die.
You don't get enlightened, you die.

Or, may I suggest : "enlightenment" happens (for wont of a better word) and the "you" that was in search of "it" simply Vanishes ... thus "who" dies eh ?

Not being overly "attached" with the "body", I'd say the "dying process" happens (that word again lol) but as "you" were never the body in the first place so what eh ?

And perhaps related to this topic : "suffering" is, but no "sufferer" can ever be found (if one carefully looks *within*) ... except for "thoughts" ABOUT a "suffering self" !!!

It's not so much Attention on the appearance of "thoughts" (or their varied contents) but rather on the "nature of thought" that's "Key" :idea:

Just saying ... talking to no-one haha :bigsmile:

Everyday, millions of cells die in the body and millions are born. Living and dying happens everyday. That's oneness in duality.
Everything is a game. Good point.
Even if we are not the body, it's a vehicle to express consciousness. Hence, it has some importance in this way.

[greybeard]

Not nothing, Not something......Rupert Spira



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fotaljDv8h4&t=127s

[Clear Light]

Not nothing, Not something......Rupert Spira



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fotaljDv8h4&t=127s

Hmmm ... just to "flesh out" what this video is about, I've made a few notes which may or may not help to "pique one's curiosity" with regards to the subject of Awareness eh ? ;)

Description : "A discussion of what Awareness is (and is not) via a series of Questions and Answers from his Audience"

Published on 1 Feb 2019


If there is a lingering belief it is I-the-Body that is Aware, then that belief will make it impossible to understand that Awareness is aware of itself in the absence of objects.

We have to realise first that it is now Awareness that is aware of experience, it is not the body that is aware of experience, the body is experienced, it doesn't do the experiencing

[SNIP]

This is the root of the issue, the belief and the feeling that Consciousness lives in and shares the limits of the Body, it's absolutely the crux of the matter. If this knot is untangled all the other knots get untangled very easily

[greybeard]

Thanks Clear Light for your input.

What you are requires no thing to confirm existence.
The Self realizes it self without subject or object--it just is.
"That" is prior to all that appears and disappears.
Rupert is very clear in explanations--I find.

Chris

[Guish]

We are trying to describe something beyond comprehension.

[Clear Light]

We are trying to describe something beyond comprehension.

Oh, yes, but I do feel very certain that all of us "participating" in this thread, have at one time or another (though more likely oftentimes) read some passage / text / scripture / book that attempts to convey what is "beyond words" so-to-say ... whether by Metaphor, Poetry, Spontaneous Expression, Penetrating Insight etc etc ... and Why ? Because it's Real, not imaginary, not fantasy, not conceptual, not conjecture, not speculation and is explicitly non-Dualistic eh ? :highfive:

[Guish]

We are trying to describe something beyond comprehension.

Oh, yes, but I do feel very certain that all of us "participating" in this thread, have at one time or another (though more likely oftentimes) read some passage / text / scripture / book that attempts to convey what is "beyond words" so-to-say ... whether by Metaphor, Poetry, Spontaneous Expression, Penetrating Insight etc etc ... and Why ? Because it's Real, not imaginary, not fantasy, not conceptual, not conjecture, not speculation and is explicitly non-Dualistic eh ? :highfive:


Yes, brother. I am "teaching" this koan tomorrow.

A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”

“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

[greybeard]

Well we have to find nothing to talk about on this thread to pass non existent time.
At the convention of the Enlightened----no one turned up.
Nasargadatta said you must find out what it is not.
So its Neity neity --not this not this and through process of elimination what remains and its there, but not definable, is Self.

Chris

[Clear Light]

Well we have to find nothing to talk about on this thread to pass non existent time.
At the convention of the Enlightened----no one turned up.
Nasargadatta said you must find out what it is not.
So its Neity neity --not this not this and through process of elimination what remains and its there, but not definable, is Self.

Chris

Ah, it's inescapable really, lol, whether the "shift" is sudden or not, I feel as if you have to "commit" to the apparent process of Deconstruction ... of course "having shifted" you'll "see" that there never was anything "other" to begin with haha ;)

39818

[Clear Light]

Ah, not that "I" presume to speak for anyone else, but here is an Analogy you may find helps to get to the "heart of the matter" with regards to our true-nature ... it goes something like this :

39822

Our true-nature is like an Empty Mirror, in that whatever Reflections appear within it, it remains unaffected, unchanged. So whether something beautiful or ugly appears as a Reflection, the Mirror is untouched by any and all such Reflections. Just so, all thoughts and emotions, perceptions and images too, even self-identities and egoic-tendencies, all are mere Reflections that come and go !

Your nature is like empty aware space, an empty aware mirror ... the "key", I'd suggest, is in differentiating between that which naturally and effortlessly Reflects to that which is mere Reflection eh ?

:sherlock:

[greybeard]

Language/words is not it.

I can in silent awareness watch ducks on a pond but the moment I get into internal talk--ive lost the beauty, the natural scene.
Along the lines of --I wonder what kind of duck that is' I havent seen that kind here before--I wonder if they will be here tomorrow. Its a nice warm day for the ducks to play.
Im lost in my head--no longer here.
I am the screen of consciousness in which all appears and disappears.

Chris

[Clear Light]

Ah, in light of reading XelNaga's thread Is it our obligation to do something about this insanity in the world? (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?105912-Is-it-our-obligation-to-do-something-about-this-insanity-in-the-world) today, and not wanting to "derail" the conversation there, I feel it is better to put the following quotation here in this thread eh ? ;)


Change the World by Changing Me

The Sufi Bayazid says this about himself:

I was a revolutionary when I
was young and all my prayer to God was
"Lord, give me the energy to change
the world."

As I approached middle age and realized
that half my life was gone without my
changing a single soul, I changed my
prayer to "Lord, give me the grace to
change all those who come in contact
with me. Just my family and friends,
and I shall be satisfied."

Now that I am an old man and my days
are numbered, my one prayer
is, "Lord, give me the grace to change
myself." If I had prayed for this right
from the start I should not have
wasted my life.

Anthony de Mello

[greybeard]

Similar is the serenity prayer

"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
And wisdom to know the difference"

Truth be told the only thing I can change is persona and even that's a "may be so"

Of myself I do nothing.

Chris

[greybeard]

Your bringing back memories Clear Light.
I read Anthony de Mello some time back-a Jesuit Priest--nearly got ostracized/excumunixated by the church.
His books were banned in their shops.
He was not that very old when he departed if I remember correctly.

Padre Peo was another who was not quite in this world.
He had the "stigmata" which disappeared soon after death--the blood stained cloth remained.
I devoured every book I could lay my hands on and now the internet makes it so easy for people.

I remember a lot of "nothing" of consequence or not as the case might be.
Certainly helpful at the time.

Chris

[greybeard]

Jonathan Donahue ‘The Lamp Went On’ Interview by Iain McNay





http://www.conscious.tv/single.php?vid=5997751007001

[Guish]

Ah, in light of reading XelNaga's thread Is it our obligation to do something about this insanity in the world? (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?105912-Is-it-our-obligation-to-do-something-about-this-insanity-in-the-world) today, and not wanting to "derail" the conversation there, I feel it is better to put the following quotation here in this thread eh ? ;)


Change the World by Changing Me

The Sufi Bayazid says this about himself:

I was a revolutionary when I
was young and all my prayer to God was
"Lord, give me the energy to change
the world."

As I approached middle age and realized
that half my life was gone without my
changing a single soul, I changed my
prayer to "Lord, give me the grace to
change all those who come in contact
with me. Just my family and friends,
and I shall be satisfied."

Now that I am an old man and my days
are numbered, my one prayer
is, "Lord, give me the grace to change
myself." If I had prayed for this right
from the start I should not have
wasted my life.

Anthony de Mello

Very inspiring and true.
At the end of each meditation session, I usually tell students that the change starts with them. We choose how we want to react to things that happen to us.

[petra]

Language/words is not it.

I can in silent awareness watch ducks on a pond but the moment I get into internal talk--ive lost the beauty, the natural scene.
Along the lines of --I wonder what kind of duck that is' I havent seen that kind here before--I wonder if they will be here tomorrow. Its a nice warm day for the ducks to play.
Im lost in my head--no longer here.
I am the screen of consciousness in which all appears and disappears.


I compare this to driving along in my car, and getting caught up in my own thoughts so much that I passed right by the place I was trying to go. One time I turned around to go back and actually passed it a second time! :facepalm:

That's just annoying.

What gets upsetting is when the internal talk is SO MUCH that I'm unaware of everything else going on around me. "Lost in my head" is a good way to describe.
I'm not really sure how I end up snapping out of it, something probably triggers me to snap out I suppose. One time I ended up somewhere completely different than I wanted to be, and I remember being surprised that I am not dead, and feeling as if my car must have been "driving itself". When I eventually die, I really really hope it's not because I wasn't paying enough attention!




Ah, it's inescapable really, lol, whether the "shift" is sudden or not, I feel as if you have to "commit" to the apparent process of Deconstruction ... of course "having shifted" you'll "see" that there never was anything "other" to begin with haha ;)


The first big shift I had was so sudden that I felt like I should be calling 911 lol. I was concerned that if the same thing happened to many others, we're going to need an emergency hotline :)

The idea of deconstruction is interesting. How else are we to figure out how things work, if we don't deconstruct it? Evolution is a process too - I don't think it's too far of a stretch to say that humans are probably still evolving.

[greybeard]

Good to see you here petra.
Chris

[Guish]

Gray matter and meditation.

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/forever-young-meditation-might-slow-the-age-related-loss-of-gray-matter-in-the-brain-say-ucla-researchers

[Clear Light]

Oh, so I'm posting the following quote as it may be of interest for those that are curious about Dzogchen and one of its *techniques* for uncovering our "real condition" (so-to-say) eh ? :bigsmile:

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche says in his book "Present Fresh Wakefulness" :


Give up thinking of anything at all, about the past, the future or the present. Remain thought-free, like an infant.

Innate suchness is unobscured the moment you are not caught up in present thinking.

That which prevents us from being face to face with the real Buddha, the natural state of mind, is our own thinking. It seems to block the natural state.

Rigpa, the Natural State, is not cultivated in meditation. The awakened state is not an object of the intellect. Rigpa is beyond intellect, and concepts.

This is the real Buddhadharma, not to do a thing. Not to think of anything. Like Saraha said, "Having totally abandoned thinker and what is thought of, remain as a thought-free child."

Thinking is delusion.

When caught up in thinking we are deluded. To be free of thinking is to be free.

That freedom consists in how to be free from our thinking.

As long as the web of thinking has not dissolved, there will repeatedly be rebirth in and the experiences of the six realms (of suffering).

The method: But if you want to be totally free of conceptual thinking there is only one way: through training in thought-free wakefulness. (rigpa).

Strip awareness to its naked state.

If you want to attain liberation and omniscient enlightenment, you need to be free of conceptual thinking.

Being free of thought is liberation.

This is not some state that is far away from us: thought-free wakefulness actually exists together with every thought, inseparable from it... but the thinking obscures or hides this innate actuality. Thought free wakefulness (the natural state) is immediately present the very moment the thinking dissolves, the moment it vanishes, fades away, falls apart.

Simply suspend your thinking within the non-clinging state of wakefulness: that is the correct view.

Oh, so I'm re-posting this quote from Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche as it's a passage I've just read again this morning (GMT) but would like to comment on how it may seem utterly counter-intuitive to the Western Mind [1] eh ?

It does *not* mean a blank, dull, thought-less state that has lost the spark of Awareness, in fact it's quite the opposite : it's Bright, Clear and Vibrant with an innate sense of Knowingness, totally natural, uncultivated, ordinary, there's nothing special about it ;)

I'd say it's like a different mode of "being", similar to what I mentioned yesterday in the "Uncovering the Sense of our Always Perfect Beingness (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?106004-Uncovering-the-Sense-of-our-Always-Perfect-Beingness--)" thread where the "Default Network (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Default_mode_network)" has switched-off (so-to-say).

Your cognitive capacity (clarity) regains its original expansiveness, the cage of self-delusion has vanished, and with conceptual restrictions removed one's natural Spaciousness reappears as though "waking from a dream" !!!

I'd say it's not so much "mind over matter" but rather "Mind and Heart" functioning as an Inseparable Unity ! :heart:

https://inktank.fi/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Einsteinfacts.jpg

[1] With its emphasis on the value of the Intellect !

[greybeard]

The Egyptian book of the dead.

John Van Auken-Mysteries of Egypt Book of the Dead, Pyramids & Mayan Calendar

Earth-Keeper presents the amazing author, mystic & researcher John Van Auken, John is Executive Director of the A.R.E. and has written over 24 books on varied topics including Egypt, Pyramids, The Mayan ,Atlantis and Edgar Cayce.

This fascinating video was filmed live at the Earth-Keeper 12-12-12 Gathering hosted by James Tyberonn..
The video of Joihns brilliant lecture is well worth watching. James Tyberonn Bio: James Tyberonn worked as a professional engineer & geologist for 33 years.
He is a native of Arkansas, but has lived & worked abroad for 33 years, circumnavigating the globe many times & traveling to over 95 countries in his geology work. Tyb has always had a very deep love for the earth, and a driven interest in spirituality and metaphysics all of his life.

During his 33 years of working abroad, he devoted himself to intense metaphysical studies of varied disciplines.
He has focused on understanding the energy of the living Earth for over 38 years, from both a scientific and metaphysical perspective.
He is considered to be one of the worlds most knowledgeable experts on Earth Energies, Crystals & Healing Gems, Sacred Sites, Power-Nodes, Vortexes, Portals and the Planetary Grid System...having devoted over four decades to intense study on these topics .

He has recently been to the United Nations S.E.A.T as the featured speaker. A military veteran, Tyberonn served his
country as an officer in the US Army Signal Corps. In his geological work, he lived as an expatriate in Bolivia, Brazil, India, Venezuela, Gabon, Congo, Russia, United Arab Emirates and Scotland. He studied gemology while in Brazil, and speaks Spanish, Portuguese and French.
He has had a great interest in metaphysics, sacred sites, grids, leylines, portals, vortexes, healing gems, crystals, auric maintenance, Light Body, spiritual growth and music. A musician, he produced and recorded a music cd of blues and jazz.
All of the proceeds from the CD are donated to charity, the Foundation for the Cure of Cystic Fibrosis. Tyb is a member of the Sierra Club and a staunch environmentalist. He has a great love for the planet, and believes the Earth to be the living sentience of GAIA.
He has visited over 300 sacred sites across the globe over the past four decades.
He has been a guest speaker at the 'Elders Speak' Conference in Sedona, Arizona and the 2007 Eagle & Condor Elders Gathering in Peru, attended by over 100 Native Americans including Spiritual Head of the Mayan Nation, Don Alejandro Olax.
He has hosted many conferences and been a guest on numerous metaphysical radio programs including The New Earth, Voice America, Awakening Now, News for the Soul, VOA, BBC , Infinity Radio, Souls in Transition, and Mystical

World. He has mixed Euro & Native American heritage, and has completed seven 5-day prayer fast, vision quests in the Lakota modality, and several 3 1/2 day fasting dance ceremonies . He has had numerous shamanic journeys in Mexico and in South America.
. He has authored four books, co-written a fifth with Lee Carroll (Kryon) and Tom Kenyon (The Hathors) and is writing his sixth book on the metaphysical healing properties of gemstones.
He began channeling Archangel Metatron in 2007, and is featured each month in the 'Sedona Journal of Emergence Magazine.
He has recently retired from his geological work, and now writes and conducts seminars and sacred site travel throughout the World on a full time basis.
His extensive travels and time as an expatriate allowed him great opportunities to learn other languages and cultures. He is truly a "Citizen of the World", and dedicates his life to sharing the spiritual and sharing the spiritual and sacred scientific information received from Archangel Metatron.
The Earth-Keeper mission is to merge the scientific with the spiritual, forming the integral circle.
Tyberonn began channeling Archangel Metatron in 2007, and is featured each month in the 'Sedona Journal of Emergence Magazine. He has retired from his geological work, and now writes and conducts seminars and sacred site travel throughout the World on a full time basis. His extensive travels and time as an expatriate allowed him great opportunities to learn other languages and cultures. He is truly a "Citizen of the World", and dedicates his life to sharing the spiritual and sharing the spiritual and sacred scientific information received from Archangel Metatron. For more information visit : www.Earth-Keeper.com


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNfno7B-E-M

[greybeard]

Nirvana Means Extinction - Part I
That is extinction of the individual.
Chris



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW4uwLqesZA

[greybeard]

Dana Gillespie - there is only one (OM SHAKTI)

There's only one religion and that's the one of Love
There's only one creation below and above
And there is only one world and one reality
And there is only one heart that beats for humanity Om Shakti......
There's only one language that comes from the heart
There's only one director and we play our part
There's only one message left to tell
That there is only one God and He is Universal
Om Shakti....


The Gayatri Mantra at the end of the song
I chant every day."
Chris


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

[greybeard]

Kundalini Yoga -- as Envisioned by the Ancient Yogis
Feature-length film explores kundalini yoga's origins and documents the practice of a traditionally-trained Hindu monk who attempts to "follow in the footsteps" of the ancient yogis.
Written and produced by Swami Tadatmananda, a Sanskrit scholar, meditation practitioner, teacher of Advaita Vedanta, and founder of Arsha Bodha Center. For more information: www.arshabodha.org.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ODfwJBDgBs

[greybeard]

The Celestial Origin of Mankind

John Van Auken, live presentation at the 2014 Earth-Keeper Star-Gate Gathering. This brilliant presentation covers the origin of the human soul.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8X_WbgfwJg

[greybeard]

For the Intellectual....Rupert Spira


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4JcxmS2U8c

[Clear Light]

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Description : In this discourse, Swami Sarvapriyananda speaks at the University of Michigan on the nature of consciousness and self in Advaita Vedanta (Sept. 2018)

Oh, now this video I'm posting here has a very exceptional Speaker (Presenter) who is clearly very knowledgeable in Advaita Vedanta (AV) ... if you want to not only get some "clarity" as to what "it" is all about, but also be taken through some "mind exercises" to get the point across (so-to-say), then I heartily recommend it ! :heart:

Furthermore, his use of Analogies / Metaphors / Examples and Humour as well as comparing and contrasting AV with other world-views (including Dzogchen) demonstrates, I'd suggest, his deep and direct "experience" of (so-called) "Non-Duality" eh ? :clapping:

Please, if you have the time to spare, get comfortable and tune-in ... it's split roughly in half with the second half being a "Q and A" section :couch2:

PS: If you're a hardened Scientist / Materialist / Atheist or Theist, having watched it all, I can tell you that he's got something to say to "you" too !!! :idea:

[Rich]

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[greybeard]

Truth.
My definition.
That which is constant, unchanging, permanent, eternal.
In order to realize spiritual Self all that is not truth is seen for what it is and discarded.
This world is full of relative truth.
There is the body--night and day --many things in duality all subject to change.
The mystics of old were aware of both and coined the phrase
What we are is "Form --formless both and neither" which is possibly as close as language can get to it.

So as one progresses there is an increased awareness of Self, which is constant and that which is not.
Persona --mind, thoughts, all change, sometimes quite rapidly.
The body changes.
What are we left with--the constant alive awareness.
With some perception, this is not up for argument--it just undeniably is.
Nothing exterior to self is required to know I am.
I am not the function performed--there is playing an instrument--there are pastprofessions-- all partof everchanging game of form but they are not my essential nature and do not change or affect it in anyway.
Formless--is prior to form--awareness is prior to all and not dependent on any of it.

Chris

[Clear Light]

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/18/0c/78/180c78657ba42299938f1123bcae0d64--david-ho-crazy-art.jpg

The Unborn Nature ~ by Chandrakirti


Right from the beginning, in the unborn nature,
There is nothing to be refuted and nothing to be established.

At the level of the unborn, there is no distinction of
Attaining nirvana or not attaining nirvana.

The unborn nature itself is also not there,
Because there is no thing which is unborn.

There is no relative and no absolute.

There are no buddhas and no beings.

There is no view and nothing to meditate on.

There is no conduct and no result.

The mind is the meditation;
The mind free of concepts rests in its own place.

There is nothing that recognizes and nothing that is distracted.

There are no characteristics, and the meditation is very clear

[greybeard]

Entering the Temple Within - John Van Auken

This is a very early John Van Auken talk--slow to begin with but worth the time spent.

This thread is a fairly broad church.
I post that which I find interesting--not necessarily based on "my" current belief which is relatively simple--which is basically you are that which you seek--be still, be quiet is the"tool".
however there is an open mindedness.
All view point welcome
Chris





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umsx1MxcLLY

[greybeard]

There seems to be at least several ways to pursue enlightenment.
There is the no path path where you are not the doer--no technique required except meditation --self inquiry and neity neity. (not this not this).
The path outlined in the video above is complex but beautiful.
Quite a few techniques are fully explained--breathing, mantra--sound in great detail.

Whatever works is my motto.
I tend to fluctuate between just being still and quiet, to starting the meditation with a prayer--then mantra-then still and quiet.
I am not looking for a result
However.
The mode that you are in is important--devotional--acceptance-loving.

One way or another there has been improvement in my attitude and acceptance of what is, over the years.

I would suggest taking time to view the John Van Auken video above from--start to finish.
An enormous amount of helpful suggestions particularly after the first part.

Chris

[greybeard]

Eckhart Tolle talks about What Happens When We Die

Beautifully done--Eckart talks mainly about the loss of a dog.
Chris



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk14R4A_p9w

[greybeard]

John Van Auken - Visions of Our Soul -- Live @ Arklantis - Brilliant !!!

Published on 28 Jan 2018
Earth-Keeper Videos 2018 :
Presenting John Van Auken, Prolific Author, Speaker, Teacher & Director of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. John Van Auken's Presentation is mesmerizing, captivating & fascinating from start to finish.
His very interesting topic - 'Ancient Egyptian Visions of the Soul-Life', provides little known , amazing information from the Cayce readings on Ancient Egyptian Cosmological beliefs.... the interpretations & insights are as brilliant as they are astonishing.
John beautifully merges the ancient Egyptian Spiritual beliefs with the prolific readings of Edgar Cayce , as well as compelling correlations & alignments with Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism , Christianity. & Gnostic Spirituality.
www.Earth-Keeper.com
All Copyrights Reserved to Earth-Keeper 2018



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

[greybeard]

James Tyberonn Live @ Virginia Beach Ancient Mysteries Summit



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOg4fVbp2lg