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Sunday, August 20, 2023

THE HEART OF VEDANTA

 

Consciousness is the light of God. It is not a thing. It does not act. But it shines through us as the source of the Real. Through consciousness one can see without judgement and without loss of the Absolute Self of Divine Being. Consciousness as "self," i.e., as the purity of Self-consciousness, sees without ego. But consciousness "seeing" is not a perceptual act that focuses upon delimited objects. Consciousness "seeing" is the unlimited reception and embrace of what is in the illumination of divine light. Just as one may listen and not hear, so also one may look and not see.

Monday, February 15, 2021

BEYOND WAR AND PEACE

 After every great war, the peace is greeted with joy, elation, happiness, love and love-making.  The images of warm embrace and the anticipation of normal everydayness appear in their beauty.  The simple life of work and play could never be more welcome.

In like manner when the wars we fight everyday in our minds, with our bodies, politically, with loved ones, friends and family, come to an end in awakening, the same peace arrives.

There are the hot wars of the great military powers and there are the 'hot' wars of ego, idea, desire and possessiveness.  Which is worse may not be as obvious as it may look.  It may well be that the hot wars of armies arises out of and are fueled by the hot wars of ego, identity, fear and anger.

So just as we see the peace at the end of the bloody wars of empires so also we see the peace at the end of the battle of ego, within each ego and and between egos and beyond ego.  

But in the end we need not fight wars nor fight for peace.  Letting being be in its nature allows the shining of the light of lights, the Life beyond all living, here and now, within and without.

Meditation is the perfection beyond war and peace.

Everyday Eternality

 Life lived in meditation is the eternal ritual.

Friday, January 8, 2021

The Stranger Who Always Loved You

 

The absolute autonomy of the subject can be seen in its spiritual sovereignty through reflection in which one thinks or imagines its autonomy as Self.  But in that experience it is not necessarily being itself. That is, it is aware in a moment of remembrance that there is That which could have done otherwise than it did. In short, it sees that it is free; it is freedom itself.  It sees itself as the source of action and agency.

However, in this moment of the external here/now,  the subject is always at one with the object.  It always attends intentionally to the object, whether internal or external object, physical or psychological object.  Only in the moment of epiphany when the subject transcends objects toward the spiritual Self which knows itself as the only Real does the Self know itself without external object or mediation.  That is, without external mediation it knows itself as itself as consciousness.  Consciousness directly and immediately knows itself as consciousness.  The Self sees itself as consciousness through consciousness.  This is the absolute paradox.

To "awaken" is to become aware of the True Self, the Absolute in a moment of ecstatic experience.  To be "enlightened" is to know this Self as one's self even in the face of all external distraction, distortion and absorption, that is, in the face of the dream life.  

Even though the self is realized, the momentum of the external, the prior and the other forces of existence may well continue to exert themselves.  We can think of this in terms of unconscious desire or karmic momentum.  These latter are the other within.  Yet the enlightened self knows these to be "unreal" and other than Self. 

To know itself as itself, is, of course, only half the realization.  In relation to all objects and the world, the totality of objects, the 'Self' can as one object among others, or even lost to itself as an object in the relative world.  However, the Realization of True Self becomes complete when it sees that this consciousness which is, and knows itself as such, is infinite.  The Self exists without limits, conditions, personal agendas, location or desires.  It is the Eternal, Eternality itself.  That is, all that exists in time, space, causality and materiality exists within Consciousness.  Consciousness does not exist within it or as a function of it.

When one sees one's Self, one's Soul, in its purity and clarity, in its comprehensiveness and inclusiveness, silent, still, serene, simple solace, then at that moment one experience the Love of Self which is one's own and always has been.  This embrace is that of a kind of "stranger" who has always loved you that you finally come to know.  In Enlightenment one can feel this love and it embraces not only the purity of Self as Consciousness but also the suffering 'self'' that spent its life seeking such love in others when really it always was that love, a stranger living so close one could not see or feel it.  

The true Self of Freedom and Love is also that of Peace and Happiness.  To have these experiences is to confirm in experience the true nature of consciousness itself.  These qualities are not phenomena of the empirical world.  They are the essential experiences of true Self, lying and living as Life itself at the Heart of Consciousness.  It is all given as a gift but not always gotten.

Friday, October 16, 2020

MERCY

God gave us time because we can't deal with eternality.
God gave us minds because we can't think for ourselves.
God made things appear real because we are ignorant of our own creativity.
God gave us evil people because otherwise we wouldn't know what to do with our hatred.
God gave us egos because we are terrified to think we are one with God.
God gave us past and future to worry about because the peace of pure presence is shattering.
God gave us desire because love is overwhelming.

 

Monday, September 14, 2020

THE EDEN OF ETERNALITY

 Who am I beyond my problems, concerns, interests and desires?  When my problem is solved, what is present in that sense of relief or peace that arises?  Might it not be the case that this Presence of peace is there all the time?  

I must be Present in order to be "present to" whatever it is that concerns me at the moment.  There is a difference between the Presence and what I am 'present to' in the moment.  If there were no difference or distinction between the "thing experienced" and the "experiencer", then there would be no experience as such. "I" would not be there at all; "I" would not be.  There would only be an 'experiencing' not known by anyone or anything.  

But when I can distinguish what I am as Presence that makes it possible for a thing to be experienced and therefore for me to have an experience, then I am closer to knowing myself as my true Self.  But when what I am as Presence is lost to experience as in a dream, then I have lost my true Self.  

In a dream, let us say a bad dream, my true Self which can choose and move itself in and out of an experience, is lost to the events of the dream.  Even though obviously I am the dreamer I am not aware of myself as dreamer being "present."  Even if I am a character in the dream, I do not notice that it is also my "self" which is dreaming about my self as a character in the dream.  I appear as the character at the mercy of the momentum of the dream.  There is only an "experiencing" in the dream without a real "thing experienced" or a real "experiencer."  In the dream, I in my true being am not really present.  That is, the Presence which enables the dream is lost to the "presence" of the dream.  I become the thing dreamed without reality or dreamer being present in their being.  

The dream takes place in my mind but I don't know that it's a function of my mind or at least that part of my mind which is not conscious.  So without a conscious Presence the "real" becomes a 'thing' of my mind collapsing things and thinker to the mental flux of the dream world.  Whether the dream is painful or pleasant, reality and the knower are still absent.  Only when I "wake up" can the unreality and the loss of self be realized and reflected upon.  

One might argue that still the pleasant dream is to be preferred over the painful dream.  There is some truth to this if in fact we want to live in a "dream world" in which we not only prefer the pleasant but in which we must either hope the pleasant remains or that we can continue to create a pleasant world. But good luck with that and how is that working out for you?  Is it not the case that in both the painful and pleasant dream, both the real and the Self are not there in their Presence.  I am not there in my Presence as experiencer but only as a pleasant object.

The latter, of course, is the basis of addiction.  I lose sight of my pure presence and become identified with pleasant experiences and the apparent things that "cause" them. I think that what I am and what I want or should want is a life of pleasure of one form or another.  And I live a life of pursuing it.  So both pleasure and pain are dreamlike.  In both I do not know myself as "experiencer." I am lost to experience and the reality of the thing experienced.

But just as the unconscious mind takes over in the dream, is it not the case that the unconscious mind has unbeknownst to us, taken over in the wakeful state of mind.  We believe we are 'awake' because we are not sleeping or dreaming.  But is not the wakeful, mind-created experience one which also works to leave out the real and the knower of the real.  Do I not in fact lose my Presence to 'being present to' what the mind has come to believe is real.  Do I in fact not lose my Presence to a mind-mediated reality in which the real and the self (the knower, the thinker) become lost in the momentum of "unconsciously" produced experience.  We may continue to think we are in the present of the real; we may think that we in our own reality are present.  But are we?

Could it not be the case that "wakefulness" is a higher order of "dream" only in that it is now "ordered" by the rational mind, giving names and forms, past and future to something which is not necessarily of the nature of that order. Whether pleasant or painful, wakefulness is not the "real" or the "realizer," the knower/thinker/creator.  Wakefulness is being lost to the rationalized or irrational momentum of mental order?

But is there any more freedom in the wakefulness than there is in the dream?  Is the chaotic order of the dream any more essentially real than the logically rational order of wakefulness?  Is there not a possible Presence of Self which transcends both "orders" and is the locus of living freedom, of true and real Self, of the peace that passeth all understanding?

Can we not wake up from the "dream" of wakefulness and become aware of the Presence in which living Consciousness abides as real, permanent and the embodiment of the I am that I am in Truth, beyiond names and forms?

After all, what is it that never changes and provides the background against which all changes may be known whether as mere psychological memory or even as history or science.  Is not the field of knowledge and the knower of the field always distinguishable while the knower yet remains unchanged.  If, however, the knower is defined or objectified as part of the field itself, then the Presence of the Freedom of Knowledge is reduced to the "dream" of objective knowledge.  

We may continue to "believe in" and thereby use objective knowledge; we may continue to be a player in the field and one may choose to characterize oneself as one of the objective forms.  Yet will I be Present to this created self or will I lose this Presence, this true Self, to this character that I choose and create in the field of play.  Can I be "realized" in the game; or can I only play the game, consciously, freely, knowing it is only a game.  The rules and players of the game may change.  But the being that I am need not ever change.  I am that I am which is the Presence making all things present to me whether in things in the world or things in my mind.  They are mine.  But whether they are mine in the dream or in the reality of the Presence of Self make all the difference between Truth and Illusion.

The world is a beautiful and horrific illusion whose power holds sway at all times.  The question becomes whether I remain enamored and/or horrified?  Or whether I see the Presence beyond beings and even beyond the being of beings?  Will I become a being or "thing" among other things?  Or, will I wake up from the dream of sleep and the dream of wakefulness to experience the Presence of True Self?

If I do awaken, will I then have the Peace I mentioned at the beginning of this writing as when we solve a problem or achieve a desire?  When  we are relieved of our burden?  Is there a Peace which passeth all understanding and within and as which we may abide, free from the suffered things of the mind and the dominating created world.  

There is such a peace but it is not one that we have.  It is the peace that we are when the dreamed and desired Self is transcended and we awaken to the absolute Presence, the permanent silent stillness of the Eternality of the Life source itself.  This is Satsangh, the living communion with Truth and Reality and the Bliss of Divine, Sacred Meditation.

Join me in Satsangh and be welcome to that place beyond judgement and condemnation.  Come home to your true Self, the Eden of Eternality.

Friday, July 31, 2020

REVELATION'S REVOLUTION

The spiritual path moves from belief to faith to experience to awakening to realization.  The realization happens on two levels the awakening of the Self to Eternal Life; and the awakening of one’s relation to the world as Sacrifice or being at play in the fields of the Lord as the Light of his Word.

The sacredness of Self is realized within as one’s own.  A sacred relation to the world is realized in the sacrifice of actionless action, or, the Love that brings the peace beyond reason and disruptive, violent action.

But the spiritual life today must recognize that “faith” must be taken back from belief and allowed to open to the experience of awakening to God within, to the reality of one’s divinity.  In doing so we can then truly “render unto Caesar” that which is his and to God that which is God’s.  We must show Caesar he belongs to God.

The question today is whether the effort to preserve, gratify, if not deify the body has enabled the loss of the flesh of the spirit and the eternal life of the self.  The attempt to ‘eternalize’ the body if not the world itself loses touch with the meaning of Sacrifice and the Love of the World.

The question today is whether the materialization of life has led to idolatry of body and nature and the loss of touch with the flesh of Life and the spirit of communion in the community.

There is here, now a calling of body and world back to the spirit and experiencing the body/world as spirit rather than the spirit as material body or factual belief.  What is in me as the Light of lights and the Life of living is Consciousness of Spirit knowing itself, seeing itself as reality here and now.  The Eternality of the Spirit transcends time and space and eternity itself.  No time remains when that which belongs to Caesar is understood as really belonging to God.  Space is without borders and wall, no within or without, but only the Kingdom of Heaven shining infinitely as one’s own true Self, one’s own true divinity.

Believing in God and the Avatars of God is not enough.  To become one of  them is our task in these times.  The world has peculiarly become conscious of itself as One but has not yet realized itself as One in that Consciousness, that Light of Lights and the Eternal Life of Peace, Joy and Freedom.  The Truth of God’s Spirit is speaking to us now to be brought into the world in order to sacralize the profane and end the reign of violence and hatred, greed and deceit. 

Why not Now?  Eternality of the Kingdom, of Heaven, is here and now, both as pure Presence as Eternality but also as a “present” from God, a gift given without cost or effort.  It need only be realized within and without.