Monday, July 28, 2008

Don't make it a belief.

A friend used to say "Don't believe a single word I'm saying" - meaning don't make a belief out of it. Use what I'm saying here in this blog as a pointer to do your own investigation, to look for yourself, so you understand directly. Then you won't need a belief - it'll be your direct knowing. This is the aim of Advaita - to bring you to knowedge, not to make you a follower. Then you won't have to 'believe' any of this, then you will know and your journey will be over.

Actually your apparent journey, that never was, will apparently be over. It will be understood, as I think it was Ramana who said "nothing ever happened".

Thoughts and meditation.

When we sit to meditate, one of the most persistant and annoying distractions is the constant stream of thoughts, they just keep appearing unbidden even though we want to sit in silence. We want to sit in peace for a few minutes and just be. But, the mind will not switch off, thoughts will not leave us alone, we cannot stop them. And yet dispite this direct evidence we still maintain the belief that we are the source of our thoughts, that we are in control of them and that this is 'my' mind and is something that I can use at will.

If you haven't meditated may I suggest that you go and do it now. And watch that you re totally unable to stop a thought appearing.

The three Omnis as opposed to separation.

It is said that GOD is omnipotent, omniscient & omnipresent. That means that he is all powerful, all knowing & all present (everywhere), which means there is nothing or nowhere that is not him. Then since there is nothing that is not him there is no space for a separate a you or a me. This being the case then this whole life is part of his-story. Even 'our' story is actually his story.

If you claim to exist as a separate being with power, knowledge and presence then you are reducing God's being to less than totality; that there is you and God, in which case God is not omnipotent, omniscient & omnipresent and this is obsurd.

I, you & me are concepts only. They do not exist in reality, they are mental concepts. So, look deeply into yourself to find where the 'me' resides, where it starts and where it ends. If you look deeply and long enough you may notice that while you undertake this search for what you think is you that the real you is actually wittnessing all the various identifications and activities of the mind.
You are the wittnessing awareness. You are not the belief. You are not the thoughts and you are not the human.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

An email I recently received.

The New Religion of the 21st Century
(From a myspace.com bulletin)

On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark
But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening underground
An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a higher light
It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up

It is time for me to reveal myself
I am an embedded agent of an secret, undercover
Clandestine Global operation
A spiritual conspiracy
We have sleeper cells in every nation on the planet

You won't see us on the T.V.
You won't read about us in the newspaper
You won't hear about us on the radio

We don't seek any glory
We don't wear any uniform
We come in all shapes and sizes
Colors and styles

Most of us work anonymously
We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands

You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice
We go undercover
We remain behind the scenes
It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done

Occasionally we spot each other in the street
We give a quiet nod and continue on our way so no one will notice

During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs
But behind the false storefront at night is where the real work takes a place

Some call us the 'Conscious Army'
We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts
We follow, with passion and joy
Our orders from the Central Command
The Spiritual Intelligence Agency

We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no ones is looking
Poems
Hugs
Music
Photography
Movies
Kind words
Smiles
Meditation and prayer
Dance
Social activism
Websites
Blogs
Random acts of kindness

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents

'Be the change you want to see in the world'
That is the motto that fills our hearts
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place
We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined

Our work is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains
It is not even visible at first glance
And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come

Love is the new religion of the 21st century

You don't have to be a highly educated person
Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it

It comes from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings

Be the change you want to see in the world
Nobody else can do it for you

We are now recruiting
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have....
All are welcome...
The door is open

-Brian Piergrossi
(From the book 'The Big Glow')

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The sudden self realization.

This is an expression of the sudden insight (self realization) from Randall Friend (http://avastu0.blogspot.com/).

"Roy,

Another "revelation" to share:

So this present awareness is IT, it is what the big deal is all about.
The pure SEEING, before thoughts, identification, labeling, judgements
occur. Those occur IN TIME, AFTER the PURE SEEING. I AM that PURE
SEEING. Present awareness means pure unqualified awareness RIGHT NOW, in
this "moment". A "moment" is only a concept because thoughts and memories
of a previous "moment" must arise in order to feel a sense of continuity
of moments.

We identify with the thoughts, think they are what's doing things. But
how could they? A thought can't see, can't hear, can't lift an arm or
leg. The same intelligent energy that grows a tree from an acorn or
creates a living cell or organism is doing that. "I" am just the witness
of all these "happenings". Just pure present awareness. The suffering is
all in thought and the body's reaction to that thought. Pure present
awareness witnesses these "happenings", good or bad, without ever
changing, without ever being involved. The "good or bad" is added on
later, in thought.

I am JUST that pure awareness - the rest (body, thoughts, memories,
history, life situation) is all an appearance in this awareness. These
all change - the undifferentiated, unqualified PRESENT awareness does not
and has not EVER changed. Even TIME is a concept - the passing of time is
a sense that arises. This PRESENT moment in awareness is the unchanging
ground for all that arises and the appearance of time is in the mind.

Wow - seems many things have come together in some level of
understanding. There is not a dropping away of the separate-self sense,
in fact it's seen as not a problem. The present awareness is PRIOR to
that sense. This "revelation" seemingly came up after reading and the
entire body shook and the breath was short for a while, almost as if
excited or afraid.

It seems nothing more can be said at the moment without moving away from
THIS."

Cd by Bill East.

What I've wanted to say about Advaita is contained in the archives, if I add more I feel that I will be repeating myself - which isn't a bad thing, actually, since different people, at different times in their lives will hear a message differently but I don't like repeating myself so I haven't had much to say recently.

I have had the opportunity to listen to Bill East's new music CD (whatamireally.com). Bill is comfortable repeating his important message and indeed in the confines of a song repetition is needed. In songs he asks "Is there a separate independant I or me?" This is an important Advaitic pointer for anyone searching for meaning.

Other tracks like "Is everything, happening uncontrollably?" and "Am I the awareness, of, everything?" or "Do all things appear & disappear in awareness?" Classic stuff really and each song could open a discourse in itself.

Good luck with your music Bill.
'