If all there is is Consciousness, if there is only Consciousness, then why or for what are you still seeking? If there is only Consciousness then right now you must be That and everything else that appears in and as awareness must also be That, including any sense of separate self. Any appearance of mundane, ordinary existence can be no less of Consciousness than any appearance of unconditional love, wholness, bliss, stillness, silence or anything else. Does anything really need to be transcended, found or let go of? - Nathan Gill
Monday, October 25, 2004
Give up mischief.
Be serene.
Leave everything behind you.
Do not take offense
And do not give it.
Want nothing from this world
And nothing from the next.
Be free as the bird who
Leaves no tracks in the sky.
Calmly
Let go of life,
Of home and pleasure and desire.
Let nothing of this world hold you.
Nothing of all creation hold you.
And with great gladness
Know that you are finished.
You have woken from your sleep.
Then in you there will be
No yesterday,
No tomorrow
No today.
Possessing nothing,
Wanting nothing
You will be free.
Without fear, go.
The Deathless is waiting for you."
~The Buddha
Be serene.
Leave everything behind you.
Do not take offense
And do not give it.
Want nothing from this world
And nothing from the next.
Be free as the bird who
Leaves no tracks in the sky.
Calmly
Let go of life,
Of home and pleasure and desire.
Let nothing of this world hold you.
Nothing of all creation hold you.
And with great gladness
Know that you are finished.
You have woken from your sleep.
Then in you there will be
No yesterday,
No tomorrow
No today.
Possessing nothing,
Wanting nothing
You will be free.
Without fear, go.
The Deathless is waiting for you."
~The Buddha
If the desire to be honest is greater than the desire to be "good" or "bad," then the terrific power of one's vices will become clear. And behind the vice the old forgotten fear will come up (the fear of being excluded from life) and behind the fear the pain (the pain of not being loved) and behind this pain of loneliness the deepest and most profound and most hidden of all human desires: the desire to love and to give oneself in love and to be part of the living stream we call brotherhood. And the moment love is discovered behind hatred all hatred disappears.
Fritz Kunkel, M. D., The Choice Is Always Ours
Fritz Kunkel, M. D., The Choice Is Always Ours
There Will Be a Great War
Mercedes de Acosta:
A Search in Secret India (Paul Brunton's book) had a profound influence on me. In it I learned for the first time about Ramana Maharshi, a great Indian saint and sage. It was as though some emanation of this saint was projected out of the book to me. For days and nights after reading about him I could not think of anything else. I became, as it were, possessed by him. I could not even talk of anything else. Nothing could distract me from the idea that I must go and meet this saint. From this time on, although I ceased to speak too much about it, the whole direction of my life turned toward India. I had very little money, far too little to risk going to India, but something pushed me towards it. I went to the steamship company and booked myself one of the cheapest cabins on an Indian ship, the S. S. Victoria, sailing from Genoa to Bombay toward the beginning of October.
In Madras I hired a car, and so anxious was I to arrive in Tiruvannamalai that I did not go to bed and traveled by night, arriving about seven o'clock in the morning after driving almost eleven hours. I was very tired as I got out of the car in a small square in front of the temple [Arunachaleswara Temple]. The driver explained he could take me no farther.
I turned toward the hill of Arunachala and hurried in the hot sun along the dust-covered road to the abode about two miles from town where the Sage dwelt. As I ran those two miles, deeply within myself I knew that I was running toward the greatest experience of my life. When, dazed and filled with emotion, I first entered the hall, I did not quite know what to do. Coming from strong sunlight into the somewhat darkened hall, it was, at first, difficult to see; nevertheless, I perceived Bhagavan at once, sitting in the Buddha posture on his couch in the corner. At the same moment I felt overcome by some strong power in the hall, as if an invisible wind was pushing violently against me. For a moment I felt dizzy. Then I recovered myself. I was able to look around the hall, but my gaze was drawn to Bhagavan, who was sitting absolutely straight in the Buddha posture looking directly in front of him. His eyes did not blink or in any way move. As he sat there he seemed like a statue, and yet something extraordinary emanated from him. I had a feeling that on some invisible level I was receiving spiritual shocks from him, although his gaze was not directed toward me. He did not seem to be looking at anything, and yet I felt he could see and was conscious of the whole world.
After I had been sitting several hours in the hall listening to the mantras of the Indians and the incessant droning of flies, and lost in a sort of inner world, (a devotee) suggested that I go and sit near the Maharshi.
I moved near Bhagavan, sitting at his feet and facing him. Not long after this Bhagavan opened his eyes. He moved his head and looked directly down at me, his eyes looking into mine. It would be impossible to describe this moment and I am not going to attempt it. I can only say that at this second I felt my inner being raised to a new level - as if, suddenly, my state of consciousness was lifted to a much higher degree. Perhaps in this split second I was no longer my human self but THE Self. Then Bhagavan smiled at me. It seemed to me that I had never before known what a smile was. I said, "I have come a long way to see you."
There was silence. I had stupidly brought a piece of paper on which I had written a number of questions I wanted to ask him. I fumbled for it in my pocket, but the questions were already answered by merely being in his presence. There was no need for questions or answers. Nevertheless, my dull intellect expressed one.
"Tell me, whom shall I follow - what shall I follow? I have been trying to find this out for years by seeking in religions, in philosophies, in teachings." Again there was silence.
After a few minutes, which seemed to me a long time, he spoke. "You are not telling the truth. You are just using words - just talking. You know perfectly well whom to follow. Why do you need me to confirm it?" "You mean I should follow my inner self?" I asked. "I don't know anything about your inner self. You should follow THE Self. There is nothing or no one else to follow."
I asked again, "What about religions, teachers, gurus?"
"Yes, if they can help in the quest of the Self. But can they help? Can religion, which teaches you to look outside yourself, which promises a heaven and a reward outside yourself, can this help you? It is only by diving deep into the spiritual Heart that one can find the Self." He placed his right hand on his right breast and continued, "Here lies the Heart, the dynamic, spiritual Heart. It is called Hridaya and is located on the right side of the chest and is clearly visible to the inner eye of an adept on the spiritual path. Through meditation you can learn to find the Self in the cave of this Heart."
It is a strange thing but when I was very young, Ignacio Zuloaga said to me, "All great people function with the heart." He placed his hand over my physical heart and continued, "See, here lies the heart. Always remember to think with it, to feel with it, and above all, to judge with it." But the Enlightened One raised the counsel to a higher level. He said, "Find the Self in the real Heart." Both, just at the right moment in my life, showed me the way.
I definitely saw life differently after I had been in his presence, a presence that just by merely "being" was sufficient spiritual nourishment for a lifetime. There was a change - a transformation of my entire consciousness. And how could it have been otherwise? I had been in the atmosphere of an egoless, world-detached, and completely pure being. I sat in the hall with Bhagavan three days and three nights. Sometimes he spoke to me; other times he was silent and I did not interrupt his silence. Often he was in samadhi. I wanted to stay on there with him but finally he told me that I should go back to America. He said, "There will be what will be called a 'war', but which, in reality, will be a great world revolution. Every country and every person will be touched by it. You must return to America. Your destiny is not in India at this time."
Before leaving the ashram, Bhagavan gave me some verses he had selected from the Yoga Vasishta. He said they contained the essence for the path of a pure life.
"Steady in the state of fullness,which shines when all desires are given up,and peaceful in the state of freedom in life,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
"Inwardly free from all desires,dispassionate and detached, but outwardly active in all directions,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
"Free from egoism, with mind detached as in sleep,pure like the sky, ever untainted,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
"Conducting yourself nobly with kindly tenderness,outwardly conforming to conventions, but inwardly renouncing all,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
"Quite unattached at heart but for all appearance acting as with attachment,inwardly cool but outwardly full of fervour,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
I sorrowfully said farewell to Bhagavan. As I was leaving he said, "You will return here again." I wonder. Since his physical presence has gone I wonder if I shall. Yet often I feel the pull of Arunachala as though it were drawing me back. I feel the pull of that sacred hill of which he was so much a part and where his mortal body lies buried.
Mercedes de Acosta, Here Lies the Heart
Mercedes de Acosta:
A Search in Secret India (Paul Brunton's book) had a profound influence on me. In it I learned for the first time about Ramana Maharshi, a great Indian saint and sage. It was as though some emanation of this saint was projected out of the book to me. For days and nights after reading about him I could not think of anything else. I became, as it were, possessed by him. I could not even talk of anything else. Nothing could distract me from the idea that I must go and meet this saint. From this time on, although I ceased to speak too much about it, the whole direction of my life turned toward India. I had very little money, far too little to risk going to India, but something pushed me towards it. I went to the steamship company and booked myself one of the cheapest cabins on an Indian ship, the S. S. Victoria, sailing from Genoa to Bombay toward the beginning of October.
In Madras I hired a car, and so anxious was I to arrive in Tiruvannamalai that I did not go to bed and traveled by night, arriving about seven o'clock in the morning after driving almost eleven hours. I was very tired as I got out of the car in a small square in front of the temple [Arunachaleswara Temple]. The driver explained he could take me no farther.
I turned toward the hill of Arunachala and hurried in the hot sun along the dust-covered road to the abode about two miles from town where the Sage dwelt. As I ran those two miles, deeply within myself I knew that I was running toward the greatest experience of my life. When, dazed and filled with emotion, I first entered the hall, I did not quite know what to do. Coming from strong sunlight into the somewhat darkened hall, it was, at first, difficult to see; nevertheless, I perceived Bhagavan at once, sitting in the Buddha posture on his couch in the corner. At the same moment I felt overcome by some strong power in the hall, as if an invisible wind was pushing violently against me. For a moment I felt dizzy. Then I recovered myself. I was able to look around the hall, but my gaze was drawn to Bhagavan, who was sitting absolutely straight in the Buddha posture looking directly in front of him. His eyes did not blink or in any way move. As he sat there he seemed like a statue, and yet something extraordinary emanated from him. I had a feeling that on some invisible level I was receiving spiritual shocks from him, although his gaze was not directed toward me. He did not seem to be looking at anything, and yet I felt he could see and was conscious of the whole world.
After I had been sitting several hours in the hall listening to the mantras of the Indians and the incessant droning of flies, and lost in a sort of inner world, (a devotee) suggested that I go and sit near the Maharshi.
I moved near Bhagavan, sitting at his feet and facing him. Not long after this Bhagavan opened his eyes. He moved his head and looked directly down at me, his eyes looking into mine. It would be impossible to describe this moment and I am not going to attempt it. I can only say that at this second I felt my inner being raised to a new level - as if, suddenly, my state of consciousness was lifted to a much higher degree. Perhaps in this split second I was no longer my human self but THE Self. Then Bhagavan smiled at me. It seemed to me that I had never before known what a smile was. I said, "I have come a long way to see you."
There was silence. I had stupidly brought a piece of paper on which I had written a number of questions I wanted to ask him. I fumbled for it in my pocket, but the questions were already answered by merely being in his presence. There was no need for questions or answers. Nevertheless, my dull intellect expressed one.
"Tell me, whom shall I follow - what shall I follow? I have been trying to find this out for years by seeking in religions, in philosophies, in teachings." Again there was silence.
After a few minutes, which seemed to me a long time, he spoke. "You are not telling the truth. You are just using words - just talking. You know perfectly well whom to follow. Why do you need me to confirm it?" "You mean I should follow my inner self?" I asked. "I don't know anything about your inner self. You should follow THE Self. There is nothing or no one else to follow."
I asked again, "What about religions, teachers, gurus?"
"Yes, if they can help in the quest of the Self. But can they help? Can religion, which teaches you to look outside yourself, which promises a heaven and a reward outside yourself, can this help you? It is only by diving deep into the spiritual Heart that one can find the Self." He placed his right hand on his right breast and continued, "Here lies the Heart, the dynamic, spiritual Heart. It is called Hridaya and is located on the right side of the chest and is clearly visible to the inner eye of an adept on the spiritual path. Through meditation you can learn to find the Self in the cave of this Heart."
It is a strange thing but when I was very young, Ignacio Zuloaga said to me, "All great people function with the heart." He placed his hand over my physical heart and continued, "See, here lies the heart. Always remember to think with it, to feel with it, and above all, to judge with it." But the Enlightened One raised the counsel to a higher level. He said, "Find the Self in the real Heart." Both, just at the right moment in my life, showed me the way.
I definitely saw life differently after I had been in his presence, a presence that just by merely "being" was sufficient spiritual nourishment for a lifetime. There was a change - a transformation of my entire consciousness. And how could it have been otherwise? I had been in the atmosphere of an egoless, world-detached, and completely pure being. I sat in the hall with Bhagavan three days and three nights. Sometimes he spoke to me; other times he was silent and I did not interrupt his silence. Often he was in samadhi. I wanted to stay on there with him but finally he told me that I should go back to America. He said, "There will be what will be called a 'war', but which, in reality, will be a great world revolution. Every country and every person will be touched by it. You must return to America. Your destiny is not in India at this time."
Before leaving the ashram, Bhagavan gave me some verses he had selected from the Yoga Vasishta. He said they contained the essence for the path of a pure life.
"Steady in the state of fullness,which shines when all desires are given up,and peaceful in the state of freedom in life,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
"Inwardly free from all desires,dispassionate and detached, but outwardly active in all directions,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
"Free from egoism, with mind detached as in sleep,pure like the sky, ever untainted,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
"Conducting yourself nobly with kindly tenderness,outwardly conforming to conventions, but inwardly renouncing all,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
"Quite unattached at heart but for all appearance acting as with attachment,inwardly cool but outwardly full of fervour,act playfully in the world, O Raghava!"
I sorrowfully said farewell to Bhagavan. As I was leaving he said, "You will return here again." I wonder. Since his physical presence has gone I wonder if I shall. Yet often I feel the pull of Arunachala as though it were drawing me back. I feel the pull of that sacred hill of which he was so much a part and where his mortal body lies buried.
Mercedes de Acosta, Here Lies the Heart
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Monday, September 27, 2004
Brute force crushes many plants. Yet the plants rise again. The Pyramids will not last a moment compared with the daisy. And before Buddha or Jesus spoke the nightingale sang, and long after the words of Jesus and Buddha are gone into oblivion the nightingale still will sing. Because it is neither preaching nor commanding nor urging. It is just singing. And in the beginning was not a Word, but a chirrup.
D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Having died I am here to tell you YES we CAN die and come back to "life" aaaaaaaaaaaand once that's REALLY happened you KNOW there is no such thing as what people think of as DEATH. And that's all, it's simply not an issue anymore. I like most actual NDE-ers had difficulty re-entering a world full of people living in fear of each other, the future, the pas���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI ON THE ESSENCE OF NON-DUALITY
Discern at every step that I am whatever is beginningless, conscious,unborn, primal, resident in the Heart-cavity, unsullied, and transcendingthe world, whatever is pure, peerless, desireless, beyond sight or otherperceptions or even mental apprehension. Because we think we are in the bodywe also believe that we are born. However, we do not think of the body, ofGod, or of methods of realization in our deep slumber. Yet in our wakingstate we hold onto the body and think we are in it. The Supreme Being isthat from which the body is born, in which it lives, and into which itresolves. We, however, think that we reside within the body. Henceinstruction is given. The instruction means: "look within." Consciousness isnot born at any time; it remains eternal. But ego is born; so also the otherthoughts. Associated with the absolute consciousness they shine forth; nototherwise. . . .Liberation is to know that you were not born. "Be still andknow that I am God."
Discern at every step that I am whatever is beginningless, conscious,unborn, primal, resident in the Heart-cavity, unsullied, and transcendingthe world, whatever is pure, peerless, desireless, beyond sight or otherperceptions or even mental apprehension. Because we think we are in the bodywe also believe that we are born. However, we do not think of the body, ofGod, or of methods of realization in our deep slumber. Yet in our wakingstate we hold onto the body and think we are in it. The Supreme Being isthat from which the body is born, in which it lives, and into which itresolves. We, however, think that we reside within the body. Henceinstruction is given. The instruction means: "look within." Consciousness isnot born at any time; it remains eternal. But ego is born; so also the otherthoughts. Associated with the absolute consciousness they shine forth; nototherwise. . . .Liberation is to know that you were not born. "Be still andknow that I am God."
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
“Only the hand that erases can write the true thing."
-Meister Eckhart
~
This is the basis of Dzogchen Trekcho: Chogzhag (let be):
1. Riwo Chogzhag: leave the position of the body as it happens to be.
2. Gyatso Chozhag: leave the eyes looking at whatever they happen to be looking at.
3. Rigpa Chogzhag: leave the Mind nakedly aware of whatever mental events occur.
4. Nangwa Chogzhag: Leave ALL external events as-is...as they arise from moment to moment.
This is most important.
-Meister Eckhart
~
This is the basis of Dzogchen Trekcho: Chogzhag (let be):
1. Riwo Chogzhag: leave the position of the body as it happens to be.
2. Gyatso Chozhag: leave the eyes looking at whatever they happen to be looking at.
3. Rigpa Chogzhag: leave the Mind nakedly aware of whatever mental events occur.
4. Nangwa Chogzhag: Leave ALL external events as-is...as they arise from moment to moment.
This is most important.
Friday, September 17, 2004
"Since boredom advances and boredom is the root of all evil, no wonder, then, that the
world goes backwards, that evil spreads. This can be traced back to the very beginning of
the world. The gods were bored; therefore they created human beings."
world goes backwards, that evil spreads. This can be traced back to the very beginning of
the world. The gods were bored; therefore they created human beings."
Soren Kierkegaard
~ ~ ~
"In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be
defined."
defined."
Thomas Szaz
Monday, September 13, 2004
Nasrudin went to a sufi master with a friend. The
Master, wanting to test their spiritual egg, gave each
of them a chicken and told them, "Go kill the chicken
where no one could see and then return."
The friend in 5 minutes came to the Master with a dead
chicken. The Master asked what did he do. He said, "I
went behind a fence where no could see."
The Master smiled.
Nasrudin meanwhile turned up missing...a day and then
a week. The Master sent a search party. Finally
Nasrudin was found still carrying his chicken with
him. He was taken back to the Master who questioned
Nasrudin. "Why did you not kill the chicken?" Nasrudin
replied, "Everywhere I went the chicken could see."
- posted to Nasrudin by Herbie King
Master, wanting to test their spiritual egg, gave each
of them a chicken and told them, "Go kill the chicken
where no one could see and then return."
The friend in 5 minutes came to the Master with a dead
chicken. The Master asked what did he do. He said, "I
went behind a fence where no could see."
The Master smiled.
Nasrudin meanwhile turned up missing...a day and then
a week. The Master sent a search party. Finally
Nasrudin was found still carrying his chicken with
him. He was taken back to the Master who questioned
Nasrudin. "Why did you not kill the chicken?" Nasrudin
replied, "Everywhere I went the chicken could see."
- posted to Nasrudin by Herbie King
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Commentary from CC: The Coldness of Infinity
THE POWER OF SILENCE is an intellectual review of the thoughts ofthe shamans of ancient Mexico. In their most abstract guise. As Iworked alone on the book, I was contaminated by the mood of thosemen, by their desire to know more in a quasi-rational way. Florindaexplained that in the end, those shamans had become extremely coldand detached. Nothing warm existed for them anymore. They were setin their quest; their coldness as men was an effort to match thecoldness of infinity. They had succeeded in changing their humaneyes to match the cold eyes of the unknown.
Commentary on The Power of Silence(Inner Silence)THE WHEEL OF TIMECarlos Castaneda
THE POWER OF SILENCE is an intellectual review of the thoughts ofthe shamans of ancient Mexico. In their most abstract guise. As Iworked alone on the book, I was contaminated by the mood of thosemen, by their desire to know more in a quasi-rational way. Florindaexplained that in the end, those shamans had become extremely coldand detached. Nothing warm existed for them anymore. They were setin their quest; their coldness as men was an effort to match thecoldness of infinity. They had succeeded in changing their humaneyes to match the cold eyes of the unknown.
Commentary on The Power of Silence(Inner Silence)THE WHEEL OF TIMECarlos Castaneda
Nature of Projection
-- "The entity placed in the body is a projection designed as the carrier of projections. It inhabits the body-construct as a mind-entity that can know and do. It brings with it constructions of threats that would attack or negate its knowing and doing. The goal of projection is to protect an imagined entity taken as self by forming protections to ensure imagined continuity.
-- "The therapy of no-thingness can have no aim that involves a new state for a separable being called the client. ... Such a therapy is nothing other than the opening that is the present as is, which is an opening to and of potential, and the discovery that one's being is this ever-new potentiality as actuality. Problems drop here simply because there is no place for an assumption of a problem-carrying entity."
-- "The entity placed in the body is a projection designed as the carrier of projections. It inhabits the body-construct as a mind-entity that can know and do. It brings with it constructions of threats that would attack or negate its knowing and doing. The goal of projection is to protect an imagined entity taken as self by forming protections to ensure imagined continuity.
-- "The therapy of no-thingness can have no aim that involves a new state for a separable being called the client. ... Such a therapy is nothing other than the opening that is the present as is, which is an opening to and of potential, and the discovery that one's being is this ever-new potentiality as actuality. Problems drop here simply because there is no place for an assumption of a problem-carrying entity."
Monday, August 23, 2004
Your New Age
Is neither new
Nor will it last an age.
You ride a pendulum
On a clock wound
To run for eternity.
Your despair has
Today turned to hope.
Tomorrow it will
Turn back again.
The walls of oppression
You tear down here
Will be rebuilt
There.
The meek shall
Inherit the earth
Then the clever ones
Will take it back from them.
The torture chamber
Will empty
And refill.
A disease will
Be conquered
And a new one will
Appear to take its place.
This strikes you
As a bleak vision
But Ram Tzu knows this...
It is your hope for a better future
That keeps you in chains today.
- Ram Tzu
Is neither new
Nor will it last an age.
You ride a pendulum
On a clock wound
To run for eternity.
Your despair has
Today turned to hope.
Tomorrow it will
Turn back again.
The walls of oppression
You tear down here
Will be rebuilt
There.
The meek shall
Inherit the earth
Then the clever ones
Will take it back from them.
The torture chamber
Will empty
And refill.
A disease will
Be conquered
And a new one will
Appear to take its place.
This strikes you
As a bleak vision
But Ram Tzu knows this...
It is your hope for a better future
That keeps you in chains today.
- Ram Tzu
Friday, August 20, 2004
Tim Mulligan
Well, I've spent the last four months reading about nondualism (Advaita
Vedanta). I had determined that this was my last stop in a spiritual
journey that really started when I was only nine years old and reading
about the "occult" in the public library in Springfield, New Jersey.
Since then, I've gone from Roman Catholicism, to Schopenhauer, to
Buddhism, to Taoism, to Krishnamurti, to scientistic atheism, to the
Baha'i Faith, to the Gurdjieff work, to Jung, and then, finally, to
nondualism.
I've spent hours at nondual Web sites. I've read _Consciousness Speaks_
by Ramesh Balsekar, _No Way: for the Spiritually Advanced_ by Ram Tzu
(Wayne Liquorman), _Relaxing into Clear Seeing_ by Arjuna Nick Ardagh,
_Awareness_ by Fr. Anthony de Mello, _The Perennial Philosophy_ by
Aldous Huxley, _The Life and Teachings of Joe Miller_, a bunch of
Krishnamurti stuff (again), some Meister Eckhart, _Collision with the
Infinite_ by Suzanne Segal (see my scathing review at Amazon.com). I've
come to the following, tentative conclusions.
The "Source" is the supposedly the source of all manifestation. This
"Source" is the source of the torture/mutilation murders of children.
This "Source" is the source of spinal bifida. This "Source" is the
source of migraine headaches. This "Source" was the source of Hitler
and his holocaust, as well as every other episode of genocide through
history.
In short, this "Source" is supremely indifferent to what is harmful to
us and what is not-and yes, that's from our point of view. Petty, aren't we?
I no longer pine to "realize I am the Source," or however you might
characterize it: enlightenment, divine union, etc. I've decided to be
as profoundly indifferent to this "Source" as it is to us. I am totally
apathetic about this "Source". To me, it is as practically
consequential, although perhaps as necessary, as quarks or hydrogen.
Maybe it's there. Who cares. "It" certainly doesn't.
]
So I've come to rest as a non-scientistic, apathetic agnostic. And if
anyone tells me this means I'm ripe for enlightenment, I'll scream.
Tim Mulligan
Well, I've spent the last four months reading about nondualism (Advaita
Vedanta). I had determined that this was my last stop in a spiritual
journey that really started when I was only nine years old and reading
about the "occult" in the public library in Springfield, New Jersey.
Since then, I've gone from Roman Catholicism, to Schopenhauer, to
Buddhism, to Taoism, to Krishnamurti, to scientistic atheism, to the
Baha'i Faith, to the Gurdjieff work, to Jung, and then, finally, to
nondualism.
I've spent hours at nondual Web sites. I've read _Consciousness Speaks_
by Ramesh Balsekar, _No Way: for the Spiritually Advanced_ by Ram Tzu
(Wayne Liquorman), _Relaxing into Clear Seeing_ by Arjuna Nick Ardagh,
_Awareness_ by Fr. Anthony de Mello, _The Perennial Philosophy_ by
Aldous Huxley, _The Life and Teachings of Joe Miller_, a bunch of
Krishnamurti stuff (again), some Meister Eckhart, _Collision with the
Infinite_ by Suzanne Segal (see my scathing review at Amazon.com). I've
come to the following, tentative conclusions.
The "Source" is the supposedly the source of all manifestation. This
"Source" is the source of the torture/mutilation murders of children.
This "Source" is the source of spinal bifida. This "Source" is the
source of migraine headaches. This "Source" was the source of Hitler
and his holocaust, as well as every other episode of genocide through
history.
In short, this "Source" is supremely indifferent to what is harmful to
us and what is not-and yes, that's from our point of view. Petty, aren't we?
I no longer pine to "realize I am the Source," or however you might
characterize it: enlightenment, divine union, etc. I've decided to be
as profoundly indifferent to this "Source" as it is to us. I am totally
apathetic about this "Source". To me, it is as practically
consequential, although perhaps as necessary, as quarks or hydrogen.
Maybe it's there. Who cares. "It" certainly doesn't.
]
So I've come to rest as a non-scientistic, apathetic agnostic. And if
anyone tells me this means I'm ripe for enlightenment, I'll scream.
Tim Mulligan
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
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