The Seer

Less than two weeks after I entered the halfway house, my life changed completely. What follows is a very approximate account.

One morning I woke up. I had been sleeping on the floor as usual. Nothing special had happened the night before; I just opened my eyes. But I was seeing without concepts, without thoughts or an internal story. There was no me. It was as if something else had woken up.

It opened its eyes. It was looking through Katie’s eyes. And it was crisp, it was clear, it was new, it had never been here before. Everything was unrecognizable. And it was so delighted! Laughter welled up from the depths and just poured out.

It breathed and was ecstasy. It was intoxicated with joy: totally greedy for everything. There was nothing separate, nothing unacceptable to it. Everything was its very own self. For the first time I — it — experienced the love of its own life. I — it —was amazed!

In trying to be as accurate as possible, I am using the word it for this delighted, loving awareness, in which there was no me or world, and in which everything was included. There just isn’t another way to say how completely new and fresh the awareness was.

There was no I observing the “it.” There was nothing but the “it.” And even the realization of an “it” came later….

Then it stood up, and that was amazing. There was no thinking, no plan. It just stood up and walked to the bathroom. It walked straight to a mirror, and it locked onto the eyes of its own reflection, and it understood.

And that was even deeper than the delight it had known before. It fell in love with that being in the mirror. It was as if the woman and the awareness of the woman had permanently merged.

There were only the eyes, and a sense of absolute vastness, with no knowledge in it. It was as if I — she — had been shot through with electricity.

It was like God giving itself life through the body of the woman — God so loving and bright, so vast — and yet she knew that it was herself. It made such a deep connection with her eyes.

There was no meaning to it, just a nameless recognition that consumed her. Love is the best word I can find for it. It had been split apart, and now it was joined.

There was it moving, and then it in the mirror, and then it joined as quickly as it had separated — it was all eyes. The eyes in the mirror were the eyes of it. And it gave itself back again , as it met again.

And that gave it its identity, which I call love. As it looked in the mirror, the eyes — the depth of them— were all that was real, all that existed — prior to that, nothing. No eyes, no anything; even standing there, there was nothing. And then the eyes come out to give it what it is.

People name things a wall, a ceiling, a foot, a hand. But it had no name for these things, because it’s indivisible. And it’s invisible. Until the eyes. Until the eyes. I remember tears of gratitude pouring down the cheeks as it looked at its own reflection. It stood there staring for I don’t know how long.

~ by Byron Katie http://www.thework.com/

If someone experiences Trust and Consciousness in the heart of the embrace,
they become a child of light.
If Someone does not receive these,
it is because they remain attached to what they know;
when they cease to be attached, they will be able to receive them.
Whoever receives this light in nakedness will no longer be recognizable;
none will be able to grasp them, none will be able to make them sad or miserable,
whether they are in this world, or have left it.
They already know the truth in images.
For them, this world has become another world,
and this Temple space (emptiness) is fullness,
They are who they are. They are one.
Neither shadow nor night can hide them.

~ The Gospel of Philip (V. 127), Trans. Joseph Rowe, Inner Traditions – Rochester, Vermont, USA.

The crucially important Christian mystic philosopher, translator, theologian and poet, John Scottus Eriugena (Johannes Scottus Eriugena or Scotus Erigena), lived from about 800 to perhaps 877 CE and has been praised as the “Greatest mind of the early western Medieval period—or last great mind of Antiquity.”

John “of Ireland” (Eriu means “of Ireland,” where the Scotti were an ancient and extensive tribe) is a major figure in the development of mystical spirituality in western European Christianity. He served as the primary translator-conduit for ideas from the great Greek Christian minds of the Middle-East and Near-East to come into Europe.

Richard Woods, expert on the history of Christian spirituality, observes: “It is largely through his efforts that the mystical Neoplatonism of the Eastern Church entered the Latin West.” Or as another writer puts it: “Eriugena was responsible for the meeting of Athens and Rome in Gaul.” (Deirdre Carabine)

Eriugena’s profound theology, later condemned as “pantheism,” actually emphasizes what today many of us would call a pure panentheist view of God’s nature and of the nature of the soul and world. Panen-theism, “all in God,” goes beyond mere pantheism (“all is God”) and mere theism (God is up there, beyond all things down here), to affirm that God is both immanently within and transcendentally beyond all beings.

This mystical panentheism allows God to be truly God, utterly free of all limiting human notions of space-time, distinct entities, finite relationships and other constraints which have more to do with ignorant human conceptions than the actual Divine nature.

Expanding richly on the idea of the apokatastasis or “universal salvation” of all souls in God’s all-saving Divine Love (an idea found among great theologians of early Christianity like Origen and Clement of Alexandria and Gregory of Nyssa), Eriugena also wrote of the conscious return (reditus) and merging of all beings into God.

No souls (including the souls of animals) would be left out of this grand return, no one would be damned to suffer forever in hell or wither away into oblivion, as too many Christian theologians and ministers have taught then and now. Eriugena’s enlightened and surprisingly progressive view reveals an astonishingly positive scenario of a triumphantly compassionate, ever-loving God.

This view is also radically nondual. As scholar Deirdre Carabine notes in her book-length treatment of Eriugena, a frequently repeated formula in his monumental work, the Periphyseon, is that “God is the beginning, middle, and end of the created universe. God is that from which all things originate, that in which all things participate, and that to which all things eventually return. (Periphyseon III.621a-622a).

Eriugena illustrates this conception of God as the source of all division and the end of all resolution using the example of the monad (the number one) as the source of all numbers…. The apparent duality of all natura [nature, in the broadest sense of God, souls, world] is the result of deficient human understanding…. In God, there can be no duality; beginning and end have no temporal reality but are simultaneous and can, therefore, be reduced to a unity. (P. II.527b)…

Eriugena makes one further bold step…: ’suppose you join the creature to the creator so as to understand that there is nothing in the former save Him who alone truly is… will you deny that Creator and creature are one?’ (P. II.528b) [The answer, of course, is 'No.']… According to Eriugena’s mind, the rationale for this assertion is that nothing apart from God truly is, for all things participate in God, indeed do not have being apart from God. The whole of reality, then, is God since God is source, sustainer, and end….

To read the complete article: >>>Click Here

~ by Dr Timothy Conway.

What is this awesome mystery
that is taking place within me?
I can find no words to express it;
my poor hand is unable to capture it
in describing the praise and glory that belong
to the One who is above all praise,
and who transcends every word…
My intellect sees what has happened,
but it cannot explain it.
It can see, and wishes to explain,
but can find no word that will suffice;
for what it sees is invisible and entirely formless,
simple, completely uncompounded,
unbounded in its awesome greatness.
What I have seen is the totality recapitulated as one,
received not in essence but by participation.
Just as if you lit a flame from a flame,
it is the whole flame you receive.

~ Symeon the New Theologian (949 – 1032), from The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on the Soul’s Ascent: from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian Contemplatives, Trans. John Anthony McGuckin.

Did you know that there are many sincere Christian people who believe, that at any time, while going about their day-to-day (or nightly) activities, Jesus will appear in the sky and they will be suddenly uplifted to meet him? This long-awaited event is called by these faith-filled religionists as The Second Coming or, The Rapture.

Many will have heard of the Rev. Harold Camping, the California-based Christian radio broadcaster, who recently gained notoriety due to his incorrect prediction that the Rapture would take place on May 21, 2011 at 6 p.m. local time everywhere. Followers of Camping claimed that around 200 million people (approximately 3% of the world’s population) would be raptured.

A source revealed that some of his followers blew all their money on luxury cars and vacations. One man apparently spent all of his savings to buy an ad campaign for the May 21 Doomsday message. There were other reports that some parents persuaded by Camping who used up money put aside for their childrens’ education.

Despite such false predictions (and there have been quite a few over the past two centuries), most fundamentalist Christians who interpret the Bible literally believe that the Rapture could occur at any time. Unfortunately, they believe that it’s just the people chosen by ‘God’ that will be taken up to heaven and so, amongst those left behind, will be their once-loved, and still devoted pets.

When the Rapture finally occurs, you can imagine the dire situation many of these abandoned cats and dogs etc, will be in — shut inside or left in a backyard with little food or water … waiting in vain for their owner who has gone for good!

This is where Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, USA can come to the rescue. They claim to be: “The next best thing to pet salvation in a Post Rapture World.”

EEBP is a group of dedicated animal lovers, and atheists. Atheists, along with Agnostics, non-fundamentalist Christians and adherants of other religions will definitely not be ‘Raptured’ so will be in an ideal position to rescue and care for pets left behind.

EEBP is currently active in 26 states of the US and employs 40 pet rescuers. Their representatives have been screened to ensure that they are atheists, animal lovers, are moral / ethical with no criminal background, have the ability and desire to rescue client’s pets and the means to retrieve them and ensure their care for the pet’s natural life.

This is a serious offer to the literalist Christian community who believe in the Second Coming and honestly care about the future of their pets after the Rapture occurs.

To allay any would-be client concerns, EEBP makes this strict promise: “Each of our representatives is a confirmed atheist, and as such will still be here on Earth after you’ve received your reward. Our network of animal activists are committed to step in when you step up to Jesus.”

Anyone who has ‘given their life to Jesus’ and is therefore looking forward to The Rapture, and who presently has a pet who will be left behind, can go to the Web site of Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, USA for more information on how to register your pet.

EEBP is also looking for atheist animal lovers in countries other than the USA to open similar rescue services around the world as literalist interpretations of the Bible have now become quite widespread. If you’re interested, contact EEBP for helpful advice. (But don’t give up your day job.)

A man bought a new hunting dog and, as soon as the season opened, he took it out on a trial hunt. It wasn’t long before he shot a duck that fell into the lake.

Immediately, the new dog ran over the water, picked up the duck and brought it back to his master.

The man was flabbergasted.

He shot another duck. Once again, while he rubbed his eyes in disbelief, the dog ran over the water and retrieved the duck.

Hardly daring to believe what he’d seen, he invited his neighbour for a shoot the following day.

Once again, each time he or his neighbour hit a bird, the dog would run over the water and bring the bird in.

The man said nothing. Neither did his neighbour.

Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he blurted out, “Did you notice anything strange about that dog?”

The neighbour rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Yes.” He finally said, “Come to think of it, I did! The son of a gun can’t swim!”

The metaphor of being spiritually “awake” is used a lot but not always with deep reflection. The actual experience of sudden opening is very much like waking up .

It’s as if you’ve been drifting through life in a dream state and just not known it. The dream-like barrier of mental filters and projections that has stifled your perception for so long falls away like a heavy blanket.

Nothing around you has changed, but you finally, truly see things as they are. You blink, look around yourself, and are surprised to realize you’ve been in a sort of half-seeing trance all your life… and now you’re awake.

Today I Awoke

Today I awoke, finally I see the Self has re-turned to the Self.
The Self is none other than the Self.
I am deathless. I am endless. I am free.
The birds outside sing…
The birds outside sing and there am I.
The seeing of leaves on the trees, that seeing am I.
The body breathes, breathing am I.
I am awake and I know that I am awake.
Seen from the old eyes, everything is asleep, a game, a delusion.
But now I am awake. I am the play. I am the game. I am the delusion.
I am the enlightenment I sought, looking everywhere.
Nothing is separate, nothing is alone.
I am all that I see. All that I smell, taste, touch, feel, think and know.
I am awake and this awakeness is the same as Shyakyamuni Buddha’s.
Today the leaf has returned to the root.
I am all name and form and beyond all name and form.
I am Spirit, no longer trapped in a body.
I am free. I am free because I am awake.
So ordinary. Who would have thought ? Who could have guessed?
I am home. I am really home. Ten thousand life times.
Ten thousand life times but today I am home.
Ten thousand life times but today I am home.
This is not an experience. This is me.
I am awake. Finally, I am awake.
Nothing has changed, but I am awake.
Before I tasted the root many times and felt, how delicious.
Today I became the root. How ordinary.

~ by Adyashanti. From: My Secret is Silence: Poems & Sayings ….

~ For more poems about ‘Awakening’: >>>Click Here

The ‘path’ to the ultimate understanding of truth (a full and sustained realisation of What we really are) is a process in which we undergo progressive transformation. The aspirant progresses from their previous level of consciousness to a higher one until full conseiousness is reached.

Ironically, when the final stage is reached, there is no sense of one arriving, but rather there is simply an identification AS Consciousness Itself … presently living through the form of the aspirant.

The process of spiritual transformation involves becoming conscious of aspects of oneself of which one had been unconscious or in denial. This includes the lower as well as the higher. Spirituality deals with expanding awareness of the higher, and psycho-spirituality brings inhibitory subconscious material into the Light of Conscious, so that it can be dealt with intentionally. Both spirituality and psycho-spirituality are integral to the process of self-transformation.

According to timeless wisdom, spirituality brings about spiritual transformation through unfolding greater love for self and others, higher values expressed in action, and greater awareness of the potential inherent in human nature, which the wise testify is without limit. Spirituality leads to realization through increasing awareness of full consciousness as infinite.

Therefore, spirituality is essentially self-transcendence, or, seen from another perspective, Self-realization.

While spiritual transformation has higher levels of consciousness and then full consciousness as its end in view, it must also work with lower levels and what Eckhart Tolle has called, the pain-body, and eventually face and work through anything that limits the fullest expression of What we really are.

For example, spiritual transformation involves bringing to light one’s limitations and weaknesses in order to overcome them consciously and intentionally. When pain-body is brought into the Light of Consciousness and held there … it begins to dissolve and is less and less able to trouble us or those around us.

This process involves integrating one’s subconscious shadow, so to speak, that manifest cognitively as hidden assumptions, affectively as attachments and aversions, and behaviorally as habit. This is the province of psycho-spirituality.

Psycho-spirituality, also known as transpersonal counselling, is distinct from clinical psychology and psychotherapy. It does not involve the diagnosis or treatment of mental imbalance or emotional dysfunction, which are properly the province of licensed health
professionals.

I was once, for a time, part of an organisation for teaching humanity’s timeless nondual wisdom. What others did or did not do was not my concern. Whether others understood or not was not my concern. What the teacher or teachers did to hold the organisation together was not my problem.

When I finally understood the teaching and knew my essential Self, I was deeply grateful to the teachers, to the organisation and to the people within it, to my family and ultimately to God ‘himself’. When I walked out of the organisation, I walked away knowing the wisdom within and with a heart full of joy and thankfulness. Today what I received has manifested in my own teaching work which is known as the Foundation for Self-Knowledge.

Whether students stay with me or move away, they too should keep the wisdom they have gained with them and also, if possible, nurture gratitude in their heart. Then they will be a decent person and a blessing to themselves and therefore cannot help being a blessing to others. Wisdom should be present in our every role as the situation demands, never ever forgetting one’s own essential Self.

However, when spiritual seekers have a little knowledge without understanding, or a lot of knowledge without awakening to What they really are, and think that they have arrived at the truth, they often become a wolf hiding under a sheep’s fleece. There may be millions of such people in the world, but they don’t bother us until we meet one in real life. Let me tell you about one such person that I had dealings with.

He was a smiling seeker, not one with a genuine, compassionate smile or one that revealed wisdom, but a disposition that showed that he was at least not grumpy. At the time, I was looking for young men and women to come and study the scriptures with me so that they could later on devote their lives to the propagation of the timeless wisdom of Self-knowledge.

I wanted to help them make the great transition from apparent confinement to limitless freedom, from mere pleasurable sensations to uncaused joy — which is real happiness; from relative security to the unborn, undying life where limititations like time and space gently surrender to an Infinite embrace.

This vision makes me always an inspired and enthusiastic person who cannot accept any type of defeat or suffering in life. I notice that where there’s no such vision, people usually surrender helplessly to the miseries caused by ignorance.

Recognising the limitations of finite thinking and the relative nature of worldliness, I was willing to drop these limited, and therefore, limiting notions. When the teaching opened up the potential of limitlessness, “I” happily surrendered to be one with the Absolute. That was the most effortless, sweetest and most blissful transition ever to take place! Nothing more remains to be done and the song of the Infinite lingers forever and ever.

That inspires me to fill every life with the same song, which is already the universal song that is shared by everybody — that of course includes you and me. Any human being can sing this song and that is what I have always felt.

~ to read the complete article: >>>Click Here

~ by Swami Suddhananda

Q: How does one be with the process of death in such a way that it can be celebrated?

ET: Death is a great opportunity because death is one way in which the formless dimension comes into this life. It’s precisely at the moment of the fading of the form, that the formless comes into this life. But if that is not accepted, and the fading of form is denied, then it’s a missed opportunity.

As people around you pass away, you become increasingly aware of your own mortality. The body will dissolve. Many people still, in our civilization, they deny death. They don’t want to think about it, don’t want to give it any attention. There is enormous potential there for spiritual flowering. Even in people who, up to the point of the beginning of the fading of the form, were completely identified with the form.

It’s your last chance in this incarnation, as your body begins to fade — or you are becoming aware of this limited lifespan. It’s your last chance to go beyond identification with form. This is true whether it’s to do with your body, or somebody else’s body. In the proximity of death, there is always that grace hiding underneath the seemingly negative event.

Death in our civilization is seen as entirely negative, as if it shouldn’t be happening. Because it’s denied, people are so shocked when somebody dies — as if it’s not possible. We don’t live with the familiarity of death, as some more ancient cultures still do. The familiarity of death isn’t there. Everything is hidden, the dead body is hidden.

In India you can see the dead bodies being carried through the streets, and being burned in public. To the Westerners, it’s terrible. As the consciousness is changing, I feel that more and more death will become an important part of the evolutionary process, the process of the arising consciousness on our planet.

At any age, the form can dissolve. Even if you’re very young, you may encounter death close to you. At any age, it is extremely helpful to become familiar with, or comfortable with, the impermanence of the physical form. I recommend to everybody, to occasionally visit the cemetery.

If it’s a nice cemetery, that makes it more pleasant. Some cemeteries are like beautiful parks, you can walk around and feel extremely peaceful. But even if it’s not nice, spiritually it is just as helpful to walk around the cemetery and contemplate the fact of death. I still do that, quite often, whenever I have a chance.

In Europe, in the villages and so on, you have a cemetery next to the church very often. I love walking around there. My favorite thing is reading the names on the gravestones. Sometimes if the gravestones are very old, you’ll see that the name is not there anymore — it got eroded by the weather.

It’s the contemplation of death and the acceptance of the impermanent nature of the human form that opens up, if you accept it. Don’t intellectualize it. Don’t come to some kind of conclusion about it. Just stay with the simple isness of the fact of the impermanence of the human form, and accept that for what it is without going any further.

If you go further, you get into comforting beliefs, that’s very nice too. But what I am driving at is something deeper than comforting beliefs — instead of going to some kind of conclusion, stay with the fact of the impermanence of the human form, and contemplate this fact.

With the contemplation of the impermanence of the human form, something very deep and peaceful opens up inside you. That’s why I enjoy going to cemeteries.

When you accept the impermanence, out of that comes an opening within, which is beyond form. That which is not touched by death, the formless, comes forward as you completely accept the impermanence of all forms. That’s why it is so deeply peaceful to contemplate death.

If someone close to you dies, then there is an added dimension. You may find there is deep sadness. The form also was precious, although what you loved in the form was the formless. And yet, you weep because of the fading form. There too, you come to an acceptance — especially if you are already familiar with death, you already know that everything dies — then you can accept it more easily when it happens to somebody close to you.

There is still deep sadness, but then you can have the two dimensions simultaneously — the outer you weeps, the inner and most essential is deeply at peace. It comes forward almost as if it were saying “there is no death.” It’s peace.

The supreme art of living is to embody simultaneously the relative and the absolute in yourself. That is why you’re here on this planet: to live this state of perfection where heaven and earth come together. To embody that is your practice.

~ Eckhart Tolle. www.tolleteachings.com