. ... Loving What Is!
Who says???Ralph wrote:just realize that in truth there is' no you'.
Hi Andy,Sighclone wrote:
And it currently appears that I've got this rather mundane little life to live, so I'm hanging in there, as "Andy-the regular-earth-plane guy, breadwinner and bike-rider," for now. Astral projection doesn't appear on my radar screen right now. Should that change, I'll let you know
I read part of the blog piece. Had a difficult time understanding it, but I think I understand their viewpoint (I could be wrong) and I don't agree with it at all. It comes back to the same notion in non-duality and Vedantic teachings where the human body/mind is seen as the only vehicle for Consciousness and therefore all viewpoints are taken from the direct experience of the limited body/mind as opposed to the wider perspective that all form is alive already with the same energy as these bodies and that everything is co-experiencing together with human bodies being merely one avenue of experience for this Source energy. If the world is only thoughts as the article claims, then how could the world possibly have existed prior to humans inhabiting it? I think they get part of it right by claiming the world is just perception. But, failing to take into account anything other than human perception. It's just another limited understanding, just like materialism. Both spiritual idealism and materialism are extremes and ultimately unnecessary and missing the point as I find it. The study of NDE's has so incredibly changed my outlook on this subject matter.Sighclone wrote:Thanks, guys. By the way, here is an interesting article clarifying what Ramana Maharshi said about the world and ego arising together:
http://happinessofbeing.blogspot.co.uk/ ... m-and.html
Andy
Right, totally agreeing on this ... moreover there is a danger in believing in those astral entities or so-called 'higher guides', many psychopaths report that they murdered other persons because they obeyed to 'a voice inside' who asked them to perpetrate their crimes ...Ralph wrote:No need to contact your astral entities, just realize that in truth there is' no you'. This is what the great sages such as Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi have been saying all along.
The idea that consciousness is primary, and matter is secondary has been presented by many. In the example of Schroedinger's cat, the cat is either dead or alive (both and neither) until somebody looks in the box. The "collapse of the wave form" happens only when we watch or record and then look at the record of an electron or photon stream exiting the double-slit. The extreme form is "What cannot be observed does not exist." More moderate interpretations are more popular today (see the big Wikipedia article, which has freshly morphed, itself, by the way.) My point here is that there is experimental support that some kind of consciousness/observer (maybe even another atom??) is needed to validate the existence of anything. Ramana suggests that the universe and its human observer arise together, as a dream, and that the original state is unmanifest Stillness. I'm just suggesting a correlation, not causality, and certainly not dogma.If the world is only thoughts as the article claims, then how could the world possibly have existed prior to humans inhabiting it? I think they get part of it right by claiming the world is just perception. But, failing to take into account anything other than human perception.
Phil - Thanks for the reminder!This article attempts to show how worship, even of images, which is so prevalent in Hinduism, leads to the same realization as correctly identifying oneself with the True Self – Pure Awareness, Consciousness at rest in which all (motion) arises, abides and subsides. The approach I have taken uses the word ‘image’ in its broadest sense to show why Hindus regard the whole of creation to be sacred, a divine manifestation; which ties in with the fact that all manifestation is composed of Cosmic Energy – Consciousness (the divine) in motion. This helps to explain the way they image/worship the divine in not only gods/goddesses but also in nature such as rivers, mountains, trees etc.
For this I shall use the great mystic, of the late 19th century, Sri Ramakrishna as my source. Here was a semi-literate man who approached the divine in many different ways through the worship of Kali the divine mother, Siva which denotes the Absolute (Brahman - Consciousness), Krishna and Rama (who are regarded as incarnations of Vishnu, the preserving aspect of Brahman), Tantra which uses the totality of human experience to approach the divine, and Advaita Vedanta which aims for divine union by negating all manifestation as Maya (illusion). In his own experience he found that all these sadhanas (spiritual practices) yielded the same experience of divine union although travelling on vastly different paths. He likened it to climbing a mountain by many different paths all of which eventually reached the summit.
This summit, or ground of being, is Brahman the Absolute, the Supreme Reality. About this he says “Nothing exists except the One. That One is the Supreme Brahman. So long as he keeps the I in us, He reveals to us that it is He who as the Primal Energy, creates, preserves and destroys the universe.” (The Gospel of Ramakrishna p 242)
Generally the name Brahman is used when the absolute is inactive (Pure Awareness – Consciousness at rest) and Sakti, or Kali is used for the Cosmic Energy- Consciousness in motion. Ramakrishna worshipped Kali as Sakti, this divine energy which creates preserves and destroys the universe. These aspects are also personified as Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Siva the destroyer. Note that Siva is also regarded as denoting the Absolute, in that once all manifestation has been destroyed only the Absolute remains. Ramakrishna states that:
Brahman and Sakti are identical. The Primordial Power is ever at play. When we think of it as inactive, that is to say not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation and destruction, the we call it Brahman. But when it engages in those activities we call it Kali or Sakti. The Reality is one and the same [Consciousness]; the difference is in name and form. (The Gospel of Ramakrishna p 134-135)
There are two schools of thought the Vedanta and the Purana. According to the Vedanta the world is illusory like a dream. But according to the Purana God himself has become the twenty four cosmic principles*. Worship God both within and without. As long as God keeps the awareness of ‘I’ in us so long do sense objects exist and we cannot very well speak of the world as a dream. (The Gospel of Ramakrishna p 243)
The implication is that as long as any sense of identification prevails (even as an instrument of Pure Awareness) one should see all things as manifestations of the divine. Once all identification has been transcended, by realizing that no separate self exists, the One (Consciousness) is revealed and every thing in manifestation can be regarded as ‘illusory’ – that is ephemeral and having no inherent existence as a separate object. All deities are aspects of the one Absolute Reality. About this Ramakrishna says: “In the same way some address the Reality as ‘Allah’ some as ‘God’ some as ‘Brahman’ some as ‘Kali’ and others by such names as Rama, Jesus, Durga, Hari.” (The Gospel of Ramakrishna p 135)
These statements are not just intellectual knowledge but were actual realizations of his many sadhanas which also include following Christianity and Islam. So the many different gods and goddesses in Hinduism represent different aspects of the absolute Brahman/Kali, Purusha/Prakriti, Rama/Sita, Krishna/Radha, call it what you will….. Generally the divine energy was considered to be feminine and the absolute masculine, in all of the previous cases the first name is that denoting the Absolute (Pure Awareness – Consciousness at rest) and the second the divine energy (motion in Consciousness or Consciousness in motion) which derives from, resides in and subsides back into the Absolute; for all motion arises from stillness, exists in a substratum of stillness and finally returns to stillness …
The point is that whichever sadhana you perform, or whichever god/goddess or natural phenomenon you worship, if you follow the practice with dedication, self-surrender, and perseverance until finally you completely lose yourself (losing all identification as a separate being) you will experience the same divine union with the Absolute. Or, more accurately, you will realise that you are, and have never been separate from, the Absolute – Consciousness.
* ‘The twenty four cosmic principles’ denotes all of creation.
Andy, thanks for clarifying your position. I'm not suggesting that Consciousness is not primary. If anything, I think the evidence is there that Aware Energy is the primary "stuff" of existence or basically IS existence itself, and there is really nothing else happening here at all other than Energy in motion, basically, a massive Cosmic dream of sorts for Source Awareness. I can't tell you that I know this for a fact, but I feel that this seems quite likely.Sighclone wrote: The idea that consciousness is primary, and matter is secondary has been presented by many. In the example of Schroedinger's cat, the cat is either dead or alive (both and neither) until somebody looks in the box. The "collapse of the wave form" happens only when we watch or record and then look at the record of an electron or photon stream exiting the double-slit. The extreme form is "What cannot be observed does not exist." More moderate interpretations are more popular today (see the big Wikipedia article, which has freshly morphed, itself, by the way.) My point here is that there is experimental support that some kind of consciousness/observer (maybe even another atom??) is needed to validate the existence of anything. Ramana suggests that the universe and its human observer arise together, as a dream, and that the original state is unmanifest Stillness. I'm just suggesting a correlation, not causality, and certainly not dogma.
I'd suggest that for those who are aware of being 'sensitive' to energies outside of their own experiencing (kind of second person 'stuff'), that they do open themselves to learning about it and - for me - that was joining a spiritual development circle and learning how to not have it overwhelm, and to qualify any information that might be offered.We fear that which we do not understand.
Pretty cool synchronicity. I'm glad you got to talk with him about the accident. Your practical, optimistic view of life is such an inspiration.Andy wrote: But synchronous events keep filling my days, messages from the greater universe in themselves. Today, for example I needed to inspect a farm to appraise it. The usual farm hand who drove me around last time suddenly had a medical problem and sent his friend. Later in discussion with the alternate driver, it turned out that, as an EMT, he was the first person to arrive at the nearby accident scene where my stepson was killed about three months ago, and I got excellent information from him. Daily, sometimes hourly synchronicities... it is All Good!
