Truth can't be figured out intellectually. It can't be reasoned or argued, only intuitively sensed. The reason is that the knower through his knowledge of objects divides the world. He misses the oneness. It is the "I" in "I know" and "I think" that misses the Truth. "I know that..." is in reality "I' knows that..." The knowledge belongs to "I" not to you. The opinions likewise belong to "I" not to you. Both the knowledge "I am enlightened," and the knowledge "I'm not enlightened," both the belief "all is one," and the belief, "all is many," belong to "I" All knowledge and beliefs belong to ego.
Strictly speaking, what is ordinarily called knowledge of oneness is not knowledge. It is Being. If you are like most spiritual seekers, you are waiting for this elusive knowledge of oneness to stick, but stick to what? to whom? You haven't inquired. You have just thought about it. This thinking says, "I can't rest unless I have some final experience." The problem is, experience will not yield realization. Experience is dualistic. Who's experience is it after all? It also belongs to I. We say my experience, or the experience I had. See, it's all in time. The only reality outside of time is awareness.
What is Eternal is here now, more knowledge is not. Truth is here now, more experience is not, What is awake is here now, more insight is not What, then are you waiting for? No amount of knowledge, experience or insight will satisfy the mind. "I" always imagines something better just around the corner, and there is plenty in store. Preoccupations are plentiful. Always, there is something that hasn't been experienced, something that hasn't been thought about, something that hasn't been seen. So, the mind suggests, "why allow this, experience or insight, to be the final one, to be the one that stops the search?
This is how it keeps itself going. It keeps imagining, keeps anticipating, keeps thinking. And you let it go on. It continues with your blessing. You entrust your enlightenment, your awakening, your self-realization to reason, as if reason was the big authority on Truth, But reason always says, "this is not what I imagined."
You cannot reason to oneness. The very method prevents it. No amount of thinking can provide any insight into where thinking comes from. No intellectual pursuit ever leads to realization, It leads only to more insights, then to more ideas, and eventually to more thinking. It is a ceaseless activity which brings you no closer to Truth. That's what seeking is.
Trying to reason to enlightenment is an exercise in futility. No ability of the mind, be it thinking, reflecting, remembering or imagining, can facilitate waking up, for the simple fact that the mind is only a thought; that's the awakening. You wake up when you see that the ego, which wants to come to a nice neat conclusion, which wants to resolve the paradoxes and tie up all the loose ends, isn't real. Reasoning to the Truth is like reasoning that you've got food. You've got food, but not for the reasons you think or don't think.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Confusion
To end confusion, it's good to look at how and when confusion arises. Clearly, confusion arises when you are thinking, when you are attempting to know, when you are trying to establish a personal position, when you are trying to establish a true belief. Truth will not allow it. Truth will not become the object of any belief. The Mystery will not be objectified. It will not include some things and exclude others. It extends the invitation to see that you are the whole of It not that you can know It.
Knowing takes two, a knower and some object being known. Hence, concern with knowledge, who's right and who's wrong, gives separateness a fighting chance by creating objectivity. The ego can only survive through objectivity, Objectivity means distance. It means separateness. The difference between the philosopher or scientist and the mystic is that the philosopher and scientist maintain thier objectivity, their ego. A mystic does not. Without knowledge of something separate, there is no objectivity, and without objectivity there is no knowledge of something separate.
Hence, ignorance is a confusion that arises through objectivity. The idea "my" knowledge arises and wham! You are caught in the trap of "I" "my" and "mine." You are in the trap of objectifyer. As a result, you feel apart from the whole instead of part of It. You have become distanced enough to judge It. By judging It, you exclude yourself from It. You objectify It. In your mind, the two are separate. Unity is missed.
Knowing takes two, but being is oneness. In other words: Truth does not allow for two. It does not allow for otherness. Seeing others requires a separate I. without that, all is one. All is one unified reality. This is very important because objectifying or judging will cause you also to feel separate. It will cause you to experience yourself as an outsider, as a separate entity. Being will not. Being is intimacy. Knowing is duality.
Although a distinction may be made between seer and seen, between emptiness and form, between manifested and unmanifested, realization is not objectivity. It does not create a separate observer. Rather, it disolves objectivity which creates the illusion of a separate obsever. What keeps the illusion in place is the ego's apparent ability "to know." But, the ego's knowledge is always knowledge of something other than itself. That is why Truth cannot be known by ego. How can an idea which insists on being separate know the truth of Oneness? That very idea must be seen for what it is.
Even spiritual ideas and insights are not exempt. The "I" gets great joy and satisfaction by figuring it all out. "I've got it!" or "I see it!" is another trap. Thinking leads to "knowing" and "knowing" creates the illusion of knower and known. Seeing creates the illusion of observer and observed. Just being is the only surety, the only activity that doesn't create duality. You can be knowledgeable or you can be one, but you can't be both. A scientist can have knowledge of something. A mystic cannot. He gives up knowledge for Oneness. He loses his self and gains the Whole.
The scientist and the philosopher are endlessly involved with making judgments, making observations and coming to conclusions. It is endless because no end is in sight. The mind always keeps going. Always, there is something new to consider. Always, there is another aspect, another perspective. Every ology except Selfology depends on separateness. Once you realize that knowing takes two, and being requires one, all the rest falls in place.
Knowing takes two, a knower and some object being known. Hence, concern with knowledge, who's right and who's wrong, gives separateness a fighting chance by creating objectivity. The ego can only survive through objectivity, Objectivity means distance. It means separateness. The difference between the philosopher or scientist and the mystic is that the philosopher and scientist maintain thier objectivity, their ego. A mystic does not. Without knowledge of something separate, there is no objectivity, and without objectivity there is no knowledge of something separate.
Hence, ignorance is a confusion that arises through objectivity. The idea "my" knowledge arises and wham! You are caught in the trap of "I" "my" and "mine." You are in the trap of objectifyer. As a result, you feel apart from the whole instead of part of It. You have become distanced enough to judge It. By judging It, you exclude yourself from It. You objectify It. In your mind, the two are separate. Unity is missed.
Knowing takes two, but being is oneness. In other words: Truth does not allow for two. It does not allow for otherness. Seeing others requires a separate I. without that, all is one. All is one unified reality. This is very important because objectifying or judging will cause you also to feel separate. It will cause you to experience yourself as an outsider, as a separate entity. Being will not. Being is intimacy. Knowing is duality.
Although a distinction may be made between seer and seen, between emptiness and form, between manifested and unmanifested, realization is not objectivity. It does not create a separate observer. Rather, it disolves objectivity which creates the illusion of a separate obsever. What keeps the illusion in place is the ego's apparent ability "to know." But, the ego's knowledge is always knowledge of something other than itself. That is why Truth cannot be known by ego. How can an idea which insists on being separate know the truth of Oneness? That very idea must be seen for what it is.
Even spiritual ideas and insights are not exempt. The "I" gets great joy and satisfaction by figuring it all out. "I've got it!" or "I see it!" is another trap. Thinking leads to "knowing" and "knowing" creates the illusion of knower and known. Seeing creates the illusion of observer and observed. Just being is the only surety, the only activity that doesn't create duality. You can be knowledgeable or you can be one, but you can't be both. A scientist can have knowledge of something. A mystic cannot. He gives up knowledge for Oneness. He loses his self and gains the Whole.
The scientist and the philosopher are endlessly involved with making judgments, making observations and coming to conclusions. It is endless because no end is in sight. The mind always keeps going. Always, there is something new to consider. Always, there is another aspect, another perspective. Every ology except Selfology depends on separateness. Once you realize that knowing takes two, and being requires one, all the rest falls in place.
Naturalness
Everything you think is an idea. Without thinking, you are natural. Natural means that you have not added anything mental to the utter simplicity of Presence. Complexity is not natural to you. Confusion, likewise, is not natural. It is an addition. Even knowledge is not natural to you. It is accumulated. It is acquired. Acquired knowledge is what is known as conditioning. Conditioning is the past arising in the present. It is what forms the personal experience. Without it, there is no personal point of view, just Naturalness.
Naturalness is the only Truth. Everything else is just what arises at the time. In the asleep state, whatever arises is projected onto Truth. This is the story, "it is true because it corresponds with my personal point of view." Inevitably, this clashes with the personal point of view of another, and differences result. Which point of view is correct? The answer is neither. One is what arises for you. The other is what arises for the other.
If you are attached to a personal point of view, you are said to have strong beliefs, convictions, even values. This attachment or identification with what arises, this attachment with the personal "me" is what characterizes the asleep state.
Being natural is like being an infant. Not even a child is so natural, so pristine as an infant. Even a child is complex. The "I" the "me,' the "mine." already are begining to form. Naturalness is compromised. No longer are you "That" perfectly embodied. Instead, a center begins to develop. The "I am me" idea gets established.
With the addition of knowledge, with the addition of "I," confusion enters. This confusion we call mind. Mind exists when there is an identification with conditioning. From here, it is easy to see where inferiority and superiority come in. and when they do, Naturalness is missed.
The invitation that comes to us through spiritual masters and my invitation to you is just this: stay in your Naturalness. It wasn't long after birth that separateness became your world view. The body was the first conditioning. This idea called "I" or mind was the second. As a result, a wrong association developed. The invitation, therefore, is to stay natural.
So simple. Why all the confusion? The confusion comes because of the belief in a personal self. The Truth, what is called "original nature" is prior to all such disturbance, distinction and differentiation. It is sameness. Sameness is Naturalness, and Naturalness is sameness.
Hence, returning to Naturalness is returning to sameness. It is returning to the ground of being, to primordial peace, to rest. It is not an achievement or an advancement, but a retreat. It is a retreat to the peace, purity and perfection which existed prior to striving, prior to becoming, prior to thought or the arising of any wave. The seeing of "That" as the real truth of you, instead of looking to the pretense, is what is known as awakening. Being that, which is "original," is what is meant by being natural, by being simple, by being one.
In reality, there is not even being "one with." This is an idea. There is no "one" who is separate. There is just undivided Naturalness. This is the Truth, and you are That. Everything, whether awake or unawake, whether aware or unaware, is the same Naturalness that you are.
Naturalness is the only Truth. Everything else is just what arises at the time. In the asleep state, whatever arises is projected onto Truth. This is the story, "it is true because it corresponds with my personal point of view." Inevitably, this clashes with the personal point of view of another, and differences result. Which point of view is correct? The answer is neither. One is what arises for you. The other is what arises for the other.
If you are attached to a personal point of view, you are said to have strong beliefs, convictions, even values. This attachment or identification with what arises, this attachment with the personal "me" is what characterizes the asleep state.
Being natural is like being an infant. Not even a child is so natural, so pristine as an infant. Even a child is complex. The "I" the "me,' the "mine." already are begining to form. Naturalness is compromised. No longer are you "That" perfectly embodied. Instead, a center begins to develop. The "I am me" idea gets established.
With the addition of knowledge, with the addition of "I," confusion enters. This confusion we call mind. Mind exists when there is an identification with conditioning. From here, it is easy to see where inferiority and superiority come in. and when they do, Naturalness is missed.
The invitation that comes to us through spiritual masters and my invitation to you is just this: stay in your Naturalness. It wasn't long after birth that separateness became your world view. The body was the first conditioning. This idea called "I" or mind was the second. As a result, a wrong association developed. The invitation, therefore, is to stay natural.
So simple. Why all the confusion? The confusion comes because of the belief in a personal self. The Truth, what is called "original nature" is prior to all such disturbance, distinction and differentiation. It is sameness. Sameness is Naturalness, and Naturalness is sameness.
Hence, returning to Naturalness is returning to sameness. It is returning to the ground of being, to primordial peace, to rest. It is not an achievement or an advancement, but a retreat. It is a retreat to the peace, purity and perfection which existed prior to striving, prior to becoming, prior to thought or the arising of any wave. The seeing of "That" as the real truth of you, instead of looking to the pretense, is what is known as awakening. Being that, which is "original," is what is meant by being natural, by being simple, by being one.
In reality, there is not even being "one with." This is an idea. There is no "one" who is separate. There is just undivided Naturalness. This is the Truth, and you are That. Everything, whether awake or unawake, whether aware or unaware, is the same Naturalness that you are.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Reality of Ego
Do you deny your own existence? Even if you did, you would have to exist to do so. So that is not what the Master's are pointing to. They are pointing to the reality of ego. The point they are making is that there is no separate existence, that the ego is also That. To know this, Self inquiry is described. Self inquiry is seeing what the ego is when it is not knowledgeable. The ego is only knowledge. But in the end, all turns out to be That and That alone. You are That. I am That, and That is all there is.
When one finds a teacher, one finds a treasure, because who can lead through all of these misunderstandings. The ultimate realization is Silence. It is not however Silence that the ego creates through effort. It is a Silence that is eternal, or always here, which is the source of thoughts, words, actions etc. Statements such as you are not the body, you are not the mind etc. point to two realities. One, that you are not limited, that you are formless and as Presence, always here, and two, that the body, the mind, the world are not as they appear. They appear to be on their own, but they are not. Reality is one unified whole. The statement: there is nothing to realize and no one to realize it is true because everything is the absolute. But this has to be seen.
In the beginning, one thinks the ego is everything. In the middle, one thinks the Absolute is everything. In the end everything is the Absolute. God is all there is, but you have to dissolve the ego to know it. The ego dissolves by seeing its true nature, that is - who the ego is without knowledge.
When one finds a teacher, one finds a treasure, because who can lead through all of these misunderstandings. The ultimate realization is Silence. It is not however Silence that the ego creates through effort. It is a Silence that is eternal, or always here, which is the source of thoughts, words, actions etc. Statements such as you are not the body, you are not the mind etc. point to two realities. One, that you are not limited, that you are formless and as Presence, always here, and two, that the body, the mind, the world are not as they appear. They appear to be on their own, but they are not. Reality is one unified whole. The statement: there is nothing to realize and no one to realize it is true because everything is the absolute. But this has to be seen.
In the beginning, one thinks the ego is everything. In the middle, one thinks the Absolute is everything. In the end everything is the Absolute. God is all there is, but you have to dissolve the ego to know it. The ego dissolves by seeing its true nature, that is - who the ego is without knowledge.
The Philosopher the Theist and the Gnani
The Philosopher, the Theist and the Gnani
Medieval Philosophy maintained that God created ex-nihilo, literally- out of nothing. It is also held that from nothing, nothing comes. We are in the realm of philosophy, mind you. What is held is that God had nothing separate from which to create. God was all there was, and somehow, out of Nothing, God created all of this. That’s the philosophical belief. "How did it happen?" The answer comes. "God did it. Nothing is impossible for God." Here, philosophical belief jumps to faith.
The existential discovery is different. The gnani’s discovery is not philosophical. He does not begin with God, but with himself. He looks to his own separate existence and asks, "Who am I?" "Am I the body?" Thus, the inquiry begins. The first obvious question is who is asking the question? The body, of course, is not. Thus, the gnani sees, he is not the body. The one who asked the question, "Am I the body?" is who he is. So who that is, he endeavors to find out.
"Perhaps, I am the mind? What is the mind?" He sees a connection between himself and the mind. He notices a connection between the ego, the sense of a separate me, and thought. But who notices this connection? "It is I," but what is I? Here the mind stops and he enters into Mystery. The inquiry of the mind can go no further. He cannot know what That is. It is unknowable. The Truth is unknowable, and for him, it is enough. The mind surrenders to That in awe and homage.
For faith, belief that God created is very important. For the gnani, God is just a concept, similar to that of creation. It is theory. He is not satisfied with the imposition of beliefs and theories. Not beginning with anything borrowed, he wants to know his own self. This question arises as, "Who am I?" His discovery is I is just a thought, from which all other thoughts come, but I itself comes from nowhere. The difference between the gnani and the philosopher or believer is that the gnani doesn’t jump from his direct experience into knowledge based on beliefs or additional thinking. He doesn't reflect, he dissolves. He remains with the realization that I is a thought and that thoughts come out of nowhere, and that nowhere cannot be described.
Upon this discovery, he surrenders to That. He does not jump back into the idea of separation and intellectualize some more. The mind has gone as far as it can go and there is a seeing that - That is beyond anything which can be conceived. It is clear that the source of separation is I and I came from nothing knowable. The ego, or cause of separation, now endlessly adores the Mystery. It bows and is speechless. Anything else would be less.
Medieval Philosophy maintained that God created ex-nihilo, literally- out of nothing. It is also held that from nothing, nothing comes. We are in the realm of philosophy, mind you. What is held is that God had nothing separate from which to create. God was all there was, and somehow, out of Nothing, God created all of this. That’s the philosophical belief. "How did it happen?" The answer comes. "God did it. Nothing is impossible for God." Here, philosophical belief jumps to faith.
The existential discovery is different. The gnani’s discovery is not philosophical. He does not begin with God, but with himself. He looks to his own separate existence and asks, "Who am I?" "Am I the body?" Thus, the inquiry begins. The first obvious question is who is asking the question? The body, of course, is not. Thus, the gnani sees, he is not the body. The one who asked the question, "Am I the body?" is who he is. So who that is, he endeavors to find out.
"Perhaps, I am the mind? What is the mind?" He sees a connection between himself and the mind. He notices a connection between the ego, the sense of a separate me, and thought. But who notices this connection? "It is I," but what is I? Here the mind stops and he enters into Mystery. The inquiry of the mind can go no further. He cannot know what That is. It is unknowable. The Truth is unknowable, and for him, it is enough. The mind surrenders to That in awe and homage.
For faith, belief that God created is very important. For the gnani, God is just a concept, similar to that of creation. It is theory. He is not satisfied with the imposition of beliefs and theories. Not beginning with anything borrowed, he wants to know his own self. This question arises as, "Who am I?" His discovery is I is just a thought, from which all other thoughts come, but I itself comes from nowhere. The difference between the gnani and the philosopher or believer is that the gnani doesn’t jump from his direct experience into knowledge based on beliefs or additional thinking. He doesn't reflect, he dissolves. He remains with the realization that I is a thought and that thoughts come out of nowhere, and that nowhere cannot be described.
Upon this discovery, he surrenders to That. He does not jump back into the idea of separation and intellectualize some more. The mind has gone as far as it can go and there is a seeing that - That is beyond anything which can be conceived. It is clear that the source of separation is I and I came from nothing knowable. The ego, or cause of separation, now endlessly adores the Mystery. It bows and is speechless. Anything else would be less.
Discovering the Being in Human Being
Waking up to who you are is realizing what being human really is. It is discovering the "being" part in human being, the truth that you have no reference point. You are beyond time, beyond anything perceivable or conceivable. Realizing this, you discover who you actually are. You see what is actually here, what is actually occurring. Choicelessly, you are every reference point, exploring yourself: as the mind, the body, the world, as others, as life and as the Mystery. This is enlightenment.
In the beginning, you recognize your presence in thought. The mind becomes a focal point, then, the body. If you are fortunate to meet one who has awakened and to have awakened yourself, you now have a third reference point. This is the beginning of the spiritual ego, an almost undetectable form of arrogance. You’ve seen what you are, but you haven’t understood what you saw. It was not a third reference point, but no reference point. The fact that there is no reference point allows you to enjoy all reference points, simultaneously.
The previous preoccupation with the mind was because, to know yourself, you had no other reference point. Realizing you are That, you now know yourself as That. Knowing yourself as That, as the Disembodied, allows you to meet yourself in all bodies. That’s the trade off. You lose your fixed identity and become fluid. Not just the body and mind, you are now the neighbor, the world, and all of creation. Having no reference point, you are nothing, everything and beyond everything.
This happens, not by effort but by insight. The ego is dethroned, not by effort but by insight. You realize you are not the ego, and your identity becomes the Disembodied. If the identity is not firmly rooted in That, there will be confusion and suffering in the form of doubt. If the identity is fixed, having a reference point, and not fluid, with no reference point, one gets stuck, either in object- consciousness or Emptiness. If it is Emptiness, one misses the point of human life.
Even before birth, we begin to innocently explore ourselves in other reference points. If prevented from doing so, fixation develops. This fixation is the Divine’s determination to know Itself. That’s all that’s ever happening. The innocent attempts of the Mystery to know Itself are judged, condemned and prevented. If we are not natural, or naturally enlightened, this is the reason why. We have not been allowed to explore our totality. Having no other reference points, we were limited to the mind.
Even the body was left unexplored. The body and what connects it to every body was left unexplored. As a result, we identified with the person instead of the Presence and with the ego instead of with God.
The Timeless has no reference point. You are That! The relative is none other than the Absolute in time.
In the beginning, you recognize your presence in thought. The mind becomes a focal point, then, the body. If you are fortunate to meet one who has awakened and to have awakened yourself, you now have a third reference point. This is the beginning of the spiritual ego, an almost undetectable form of arrogance. You’ve seen what you are, but you haven’t understood what you saw. It was not a third reference point, but no reference point. The fact that there is no reference point allows you to enjoy all reference points, simultaneously.
The previous preoccupation with the mind was because, to know yourself, you had no other reference point. Realizing you are That, you now know yourself as That. Knowing yourself as That, as the Disembodied, allows you to meet yourself in all bodies. That’s the trade off. You lose your fixed identity and become fluid. Not just the body and mind, you are now the neighbor, the world, and all of creation. Having no reference point, you are nothing, everything and beyond everything.
This happens, not by effort but by insight. The ego is dethroned, not by effort but by insight. You realize you are not the ego, and your identity becomes the Disembodied. If the identity is not firmly rooted in That, there will be confusion and suffering in the form of doubt. If the identity is fixed, having a reference point, and not fluid, with no reference point, one gets stuck, either in object- consciousness or Emptiness. If it is Emptiness, one misses the point of human life.
Even before birth, we begin to innocently explore ourselves in other reference points. If prevented from doing so, fixation develops. This fixation is the Divine’s determination to know Itself. That’s all that’s ever happening. The innocent attempts of the Mystery to know Itself are judged, condemned and prevented. If we are not natural, or naturally enlightened, this is the reason why. We have not been allowed to explore our totality. Having no other reference points, we were limited to the mind.
Even the body was left unexplored. The body and what connects it to every body was left unexplored. As a result, we identified with the person instead of the Presence and with the ego instead of with God.
The Timeless has no reference point. You are That! The relative is none other than the Absolute in time.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A Full-Flowering
Since, I wrote The Little Book of Silence, all confusions have dissolved. There is a knowing what life is. Dare I say that understanding is in full-flowering, and the truth of what is happening and all that is ever happening, is being seen.
The paradoxes are resolving themselves and what the Masters have eluded to is being understood. Surprisingly, what was discovered is utterly simple. Nothing can take you all the way except dissolution of this idea that we were ever separated from God, or that there ever was an ego.
It has become clear that all we've ever been invited to drop is ignorance. As it turns out, knowledge, and this includes all that I learned in seminary, is ignorance. I always suspected it, but never had the courage to be free.
Now, I am. Now, I know the truth, and it is setting everything free. To this end, and for the purpose of sharing what I've seen, I have attached an article, entitled The Vocation of the Individual. It came as an answer to my one and only prayer, my one and only question. What is life, really?
As it turns out, life is not a riddle to be solved or a mystery to be lived. Life is God and God alone. God is the Mystery. The Mystery is God. There is no need to decrease, to get out of our own way, dissolve or empty ourselves, because we never were. Separate existence is only an idea. As one put it. "The unreal never lived, and the real never dies."
How wonderful of God to manifest as This!
Always,
Prakash
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The Vocation of the Individual
There is no detachment. Freedom from I and my is Self-realization, just as Self-realization is freedom from I and my. To discover you are That and That is all there is frees you from I and my, because it is seen and understood that there is no separate I at all. There is just the movement of Life separating from Itself and returning. This is what is meant by John of the Cross, who says, "O Life not living where you live." He is simply saying that all, being Oneness, has not returned to Oneness. Thus, there is no need to do anything about thoughts and feelings that are unredeemed, except to allow them their freedom, not freedom of expression, primarily, but their final freedom of re-inclusion and rest.
All is moving toward redemption and final freedom. As St. Paul says, All of creation groans inwardly awaiting our Self-realization. What this means is that the ego, which has been excluded, which isn't actually an ego, is returning home. This is the movement of birth and death, or creation. It is Life separating from Itself and returning. It is Oneness separating from Itself and returning. It is the Divine separating from Itself and returning. This is what life is.
By truly waking up, you end "ego involvement," which only deepened the delusion of separation. The truth, "I am That, and That is all there is," is the truth, which sets you and everything else free. Through Self-realization everything is set free from its limitations and confinements and is returned to it's natural state of Oneness, or union with God. This is what is happening. Deluding ourselves by saying "I am so and so." is what continues the Divine hypnosis. To continue in this state of hypnosis is to suffer. It is being a sheep without a shepherd. It is the blind leading the blind, and it is the cause of what is commonly referred to as "the problem of evil."
There is nothing here but God. That's the truth. But God forgetting God, acts foolish. The ego, or God believing to be separate, is folly, and, from it, much pain results. The image of the lion lying down with the lamb is an image of the harmony, or rest, brought about by de-hypnosis and re-inclusion. This is the purpose of Self-realization, of meditation, of yoga etc. It is not to collect so-called spiritual achievements. “Practice” strengthens the spiritual ego. Yoga is union. It is not staying entrenched in the belief, "I am me." The purpose of yoga is to re-include what has previously excluded itself from Oneness. A yoga or practice which strengthens the sense of I, me and mine is not yoga any more than spacing out or being aware of thoughts is meditation. Meditation is far more and far less. It is the active-passive process of allowing all that has been rejected to come home.
The belief, I am me or I am set apart is what prevents coming home, or liberation. Liberation is liberation from this belief in I. It is the flip-side of faith. Liberation is freedom from ignorance. Faith is holding to the truth of God. It is the same thing. The only difference is that the ego, owing to a perceived separate identity, can do nothing but objectify. As a result, Truth, God, Love, Reality etc. become separate objects or concepts, setting the Infinite apart from Itself. This is the delusion. The main point is that without this belief, "I am me," Without this belief "I am finite," without excluding anything from Wholeness, when you have lost your life in order to save it, the truth of Oneness is no longer overshadowed. What is hidden since the foundation of the world, what is hidden from the knowledgeable is finally revealed.
Everything is God, not knowing it. There are no separate individuals. "The One became two. Two became three, and three became ten thousand things." Since this apparent separation has resulted, the shining Truth has been overshadowed by ignorance. What is called salvation consists in undoing this basic error. It is leading the ego out of bondage into the promised land, leading the soul from being lost to being saved.
Being lost is the very opposite of being saved. Whereas being saved is being saved from separation and ignorance, being lost is to continue in it. Continuing in ignorance is what creates enemies. There are no enemies. "Whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do to me." In other words, the mystical body of Christ is Christ, and Christ is God. How you treat "others" is how you treat God, because God is all there is, including what you call “you.” All that is happening is that God is making the journey home. Another way of saying this is everything is being redeemed or saved from separation.
In truth, nothing is actually separate. Holiness is anything but being “set apart.” That’s "the dream." The ego actually has it's being in God. Put another way, the ego is God. The ego isn't an ego at all. Nothing here is apart from anything else: not the body, not the mind, not the self, not others, not the world, nothing. There are no borders or boundaries, no inside or outside, no difference or distinction and no others. There is just one eternal reality. The relative is only the absolute in time.
The invitation is to recognize this through direct experience and re-include all that has been excluded. This is the vocation to which we are called. It is the vocation to Love. "To love your enemies, to do good to those who hate you, to bless those who curse you," because what is excluded is bound to distort. It is bound to become a problem. The invitation is one of re-inclusion. Ultimately, Love is not a verb, or a feeling, or a euphemism for sex. Love is a euphemism for God, and God is all there is.
As the Vedas say, “You are That.” There is no becoming That, and yet there is the continuous process of re-inclusion. There is realization and re-inclusion. The movement is toward re-inclusion. Whatever arises, pretending to be "unrealized," is meant to come home, so that there is peace throughout the system. "This is That" is the Truth, which underlies this process of everything returning to Oneness. Everything is Oneness, not knowing it. This is the final understanding.
Separating off, autonomy instead of Oneness has had drastic results. What isn't re-included, redeemed or reclaimed by Oneness is still “fallen." The mind, the content of the mind, actions, which flow from "fallen nature" are distorted and far from what is possible. The vocation of the individual is to wake up, realize who he or she is and re-include what has fallen from grace, by allowing what arises to come home.
The paradoxes are resolving themselves and what the Masters have eluded to is being understood. Surprisingly, what was discovered is utterly simple. Nothing can take you all the way except dissolution of this idea that we were ever separated from God, or that there ever was an ego.
It has become clear that all we've ever been invited to drop is ignorance. As it turns out, knowledge, and this includes all that I learned in seminary, is ignorance. I always suspected it, but never had the courage to be free.
Now, I am. Now, I know the truth, and it is setting everything free. To this end, and for the purpose of sharing what I've seen, I have attached an article, entitled The Vocation of the Individual. It came as an answer to my one and only prayer, my one and only question. What is life, really?
As it turns out, life is not a riddle to be solved or a mystery to be lived. Life is God and God alone. God is the Mystery. The Mystery is God. There is no need to decrease, to get out of our own way, dissolve or empty ourselves, because we never were. Separate existence is only an idea. As one put it. "The unreal never lived, and the real never dies."
How wonderful of God to manifest as This!
Always,
Prakash
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The Vocation of the Individual
There is no detachment. Freedom from I and my is Self-realization, just as Self-realization is freedom from I and my. To discover you are That and That is all there is frees you from I and my, because it is seen and understood that there is no separate I at all. There is just the movement of Life separating from Itself and returning. This is what is meant by John of the Cross, who says, "O Life not living where you live." He is simply saying that all, being Oneness, has not returned to Oneness. Thus, there is no need to do anything about thoughts and feelings that are unredeemed, except to allow them their freedom, not freedom of expression, primarily, but their final freedom of re-inclusion and rest.
All is moving toward redemption and final freedom. As St. Paul says, All of creation groans inwardly awaiting our Self-realization. What this means is that the ego, which has been excluded, which isn't actually an ego, is returning home. This is the movement of birth and death, or creation. It is Life separating from Itself and returning. It is Oneness separating from Itself and returning. It is the Divine separating from Itself and returning. This is what life is.
By truly waking up, you end "ego involvement," which only deepened the delusion of separation. The truth, "I am That, and That is all there is," is the truth, which sets you and everything else free. Through Self-realization everything is set free from its limitations and confinements and is returned to it's natural state of Oneness, or union with God. This is what is happening. Deluding ourselves by saying "I am so and so." is what continues the Divine hypnosis. To continue in this state of hypnosis is to suffer. It is being a sheep without a shepherd. It is the blind leading the blind, and it is the cause of what is commonly referred to as "the problem of evil."
There is nothing here but God. That's the truth. But God forgetting God, acts foolish. The ego, or God believing to be separate, is folly, and, from it, much pain results. The image of the lion lying down with the lamb is an image of the harmony, or rest, brought about by de-hypnosis and re-inclusion. This is the purpose of Self-realization, of meditation, of yoga etc. It is not to collect so-called spiritual achievements. “Practice” strengthens the spiritual ego. Yoga is union. It is not staying entrenched in the belief, "I am me." The purpose of yoga is to re-include what has previously excluded itself from Oneness. A yoga or practice which strengthens the sense of I, me and mine is not yoga any more than spacing out or being aware of thoughts is meditation. Meditation is far more and far less. It is the active-passive process of allowing all that has been rejected to come home.
The belief, I am me or I am set apart is what prevents coming home, or liberation. Liberation is liberation from this belief in I. It is the flip-side of faith. Liberation is freedom from ignorance. Faith is holding to the truth of God. It is the same thing. The only difference is that the ego, owing to a perceived separate identity, can do nothing but objectify. As a result, Truth, God, Love, Reality etc. become separate objects or concepts, setting the Infinite apart from Itself. This is the delusion. The main point is that without this belief, "I am me," Without this belief "I am finite," without excluding anything from Wholeness, when you have lost your life in order to save it, the truth of Oneness is no longer overshadowed. What is hidden since the foundation of the world, what is hidden from the knowledgeable is finally revealed.
Everything is God, not knowing it. There are no separate individuals. "The One became two. Two became three, and three became ten thousand things." Since this apparent separation has resulted, the shining Truth has been overshadowed by ignorance. What is called salvation consists in undoing this basic error. It is leading the ego out of bondage into the promised land, leading the soul from being lost to being saved.
Being lost is the very opposite of being saved. Whereas being saved is being saved from separation and ignorance, being lost is to continue in it. Continuing in ignorance is what creates enemies. There are no enemies. "Whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do to me." In other words, the mystical body of Christ is Christ, and Christ is God. How you treat "others" is how you treat God, because God is all there is, including what you call “you.” All that is happening is that God is making the journey home. Another way of saying this is everything is being redeemed or saved from separation.
In truth, nothing is actually separate. Holiness is anything but being “set apart.” That’s "the dream." The ego actually has it's being in God. Put another way, the ego is God. The ego isn't an ego at all. Nothing here is apart from anything else: not the body, not the mind, not the self, not others, not the world, nothing. There are no borders or boundaries, no inside or outside, no difference or distinction and no others. There is just one eternal reality. The relative is only the absolute in time.
The invitation is to recognize this through direct experience and re-include all that has been excluded. This is the vocation to which we are called. It is the vocation to Love. "To love your enemies, to do good to those who hate you, to bless those who curse you," because what is excluded is bound to distort. It is bound to become a problem. The invitation is one of re-inclusion. Ultimately, Love is not a verb, or a feeling, or a euphemism for sex. Love is a euphemism for God, and God is all there is.
As the Vedas say, “You are That.” There is no becoming That, and yet there is the continuous process of re-inclusion. There is realization and re-inclusion. The movement is toward re-inclusion. Whatever arises, pretending to be "unrealized," is meant to come home, so that there is peace throughout the system. "This is That" is the Truth, which underlies this process of everything returning to Oneness. Everything is Oneness, not knowing it. This is the final understanding.
Separating off, autonomy instead of Oneness has had drastic results. What isn't re-included, redeemed or reclaimed by Oneness is still “fallen." The mind, the content of the mind, actions, which flow from "fallen nature" are distorted and far from what is possible. The vocation of the individual is to wake up, realize who he or she is and re-include what has fallen from grace, by allowing what arises to come home.
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