That Am I!

The End.

2006-11-21T08:44:00.000+08:00

Having two bloggs and separating my experiences and thoughts into the secular and sacred did not work and was a little stifling. Blogger's new tagging system, where-in I can name types of posts, will enable me to separate them in the future, if I so choose.

I have transferred my post from the other two bloggs back to this one.

Understanding vs Innerstanding

2006-11-07T13:09:00.000+08:00

If I try to understand something, I separate myself from that which I am trying to understand and analyze it. This thinking about that which I am trying to understand is endless and the number of things I can try to understand is infinite. My mind continues in a maelstrom of thought trying to get to the bottom of things.

If I innerstand, there is no something, there just is. Experiencer Experiencing Experience without separation. Beauty experiences the reflection of its own beauty in that being experienced. An innerstanding of wonder and joy resounds and echoes around the cosmos.

And somehow, "I" understand!

Very confusing....

Bhakta or Jnana

2006-11-07T10:27:00.000+08:00

Ananda has done it again!

Instead of lifting his quote regarding surrender and enguiry from Ramana's "Be as you are", I ask you to check out his site; as I have another quote to lift. Also see the excellent resource of advaitic scripture here.

At the coffee temple this morning, I read from Brent Haskell's latest and again felt that mystery of Truth touch my heart.

"...What if you look upon a circumstance in your life,
And something inside you says,
"That is wrong. That is not OK?"
Then what do I suggest you do this day?
I suggest that you pause, and be still.
And in your stillness,
Listen for the Voice of the Holy Spirit.
Listen for the Voice of God.
Listen for the Voice of your real Self.

For when you do that , in your stillness,
There will truly come a vision.
There will come a new way to see the circumstance
That somehow you thought was not good.
And you will see, through the eyes of the Holy Spirit,
The presence of love, the presence of freedom,
And ultimately, the presence of joy - and therefore peace.

...So what do you have to offer your brother,
Who sits in error, who sits in his fear,
Who sits in the darkness,
And who desires for it not to be there?
Can you take away his fear?
No, indeed. For then he would no longer be free.

All you can offer to him is your vision of what he is.
All you can offer is your vision of his freedom.
All you can offer is your vision of his perfection.
All you can offer is your vision and your awareness
That everything in his life is Love,
And can never be otherwise.
For that is the nature of God, and of the universe.
All you can offer is your awareness
That Love is literally, truly, all that exists.
For that is what the Holy Spirit offers you.

And how do you gain the vision of the Holy Spirit?
By being so still that you can hear
The whisper of a Love that is so great
That never would it impose upon you anything at all,
Even the infinity of its own Love.
And do you understand now why we say Love is freedom?

...What if that is what you offer to your brother

...YOU WILL SEE YOURSELF EXACTLTY THE SAME WAY."

The Other Voice

Like Indra's Net in Hinduism:- the Luminous Diamond of myself, reflects the Luminous Diamond of yourself, reflects the Luminous Diamond of Everyone, all reflecting the Glorious Luminescence of God Itself.

That is Compassion
That is Awareness
That is Wisdom
That is Salvation
That is Heaven
That is Bhakta
That is Jnana
That is Me
That is You
That is Us
That is Self

Joy, joy, joy....

The End to Suffering!

2006-11-06T13:39:00.000+08:00

I can't help myself!

Here is another quote I have lifted from one of my favorite blogs - Ananda's

(Excerted from Be As You Are - The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p264)

Q: What is the purpose of creation?

A: It is to give rise to this question.

Investigate the answer to this question, and finally abide in the supreme or rather the primal source of all, the Self.

The investigation will resolve itself into a quest for the Self and it will cease only after the non-Self is sifted away and the Self realized in its purity and glory.

There may be any number of theories of creation. All of them extend outwardly. There will be no limit to them because time and space are unlimited. They are however only in the mind. If you see the mind, time and space are transcended and the Self is realized.

Creation is explained scientifically or logically to one's own satisfaction. But is there any finality about it? Such explanations are called krama-srishti [gradual creation]. On the other hand, drishti-srishti [simultaneous creation] is yugapat-srishti.

Without the seer there are no objects seen. Find the seer and the creation is comprised in him. Why look outward and go on explaining the phenomena which are endless?

There is a Way out of Suffering!

2006-11-02T09:00:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I feel a little guilty about lifting someone else's words onto this blog, but I justify myself if I credit them and link to their site, and because some of the stuff is just too good not to share.

In this instance, I have lifted Beesucker's translation of Google's translation of a French quote from Lama Guendune Rinpoche. Beesucker's original post is here.

There is Nothing to Get from Looking for Happiness
by LAMA Guendune Rinpoche

Happiness is not found through great effort. It resides within, very close, in relaxation and abandonment.

If you worry, it can not be found

All that rises in the mind does not have any importance, because it has no reality.

Do not attach to the mind. Do not judge.

Let the play of mind be done alone, rising and ceasing, without anything to change;disappearingg, it starts again unceasingly.

Only searching for happiness prevents you from seeing it.

It is a rainbow, which one follows without ever catching up to it. Because it does not exist, it always was there and accompanies you at every moment.

Do not believe in the reality of the good or badjudgmentss; they are like rainbows.

To want to see that which is imperceptible, one becomes exhausted in vain. When one releases this grasping, space is there, open, hospitable and comfortable.

There is attainment. Happiness is with you, already. Do not seek any more.

Do not seek in the jungle the elephant which is quietly at the house.

Nothing to make.

Nothing to force.

Nothing to want.

And all is done all alone.

om mani padme hum

The beauty of this quote, for me is two fold. One is that it reflects what I understand within myself as "the way" and touches that understanding in a mysterious way. Secondly, speaking of mysterious, is that it reflects what all mystic traditions within the orthodox traditions, say. (ie. Sufism in Islam, Mahayana/Vajrayana in Buddhism, Gnosis in Christianity and Advaita in Hinduism et al.)

All Life is Suffering! or is it?

2006-10-31T09:02:00.000+08:00

This morning I was reading my Google Reader's list of favorite bloggs, after seeing an email from The Gangaji Foundation, and all of it was based on the "sufferings of wo/men".

Gangaji, who has been going through a bit herself, expounded eloquently on peace in war ; this link is to the transcript of that talk in Ashland, Oregon and this link to the audio (commended reading),

Brian, the self proclaimed preacher of The Church of the Churchless , spoke of the voice in his head and the inability to find it when looked at.

Chris spoke of how his head hurts,

and James of falling apart.

And I have spent the last twelve months writing about my disfunction!

As I was listening and reading, I could not help but remember something that Isaac Shapiro said to me some years ago:- "Suffering is an opportunity, it brings you back home".

I can only speak for myself here, but it appears to me, that if I accept what's going on, suffering stops, and a (subtle) joy arises. As Gangaji said, "there's nothing wrong with the story, but the story on the story is a problem". When I accept and be silent in the midst of suffering, its as if wisdom itself lessens the Vasana or tendency to suffer.

The Course instructs me that if I am not experiencing this joy then I am involved with the ego (suffering), and as I bring this to mind as a type of portal, I understand that this is just an experience and I am That which experiences... and somehow, all becomes OK; more than OK, Freedom itself.

Then of course, the next lot of suffering arises for me to look at.

Each and every experience that is seen in clarity, enhances that clarity to the extent of gratitude for all experiences, including the so called "bad".

There is a wonder happening on the internet, what with blogs, email and chat rooms. People from different approaches are communicating and sharing their life stories. It is as if it reflects the need for all of us to be connected. Reflecting our oneness!

And, it helps me to realize, on a more personal level, that I am not "The Lone Ranger".

High Ho Silver and Awaaay!

Russellism

2006-10-29T11:33:00.000+08:00

This morning I arose early, which is unusual for me on a Sunday morning, breakfasted, meditated and sat on the porch and pondered my navel, yet again.

As a part of this process of reflection, I read a chapter of Brent Haskell's latest book entitled "The Other Voice", and was struck by its beauty.

This book is a little different to his previous work "Journey Beyond Words". I would make the distinction between the two in yogic terms. "Journey" feels more Bhakti to me whilst the "Voice" has a Jnani touch.

Papaji used to say that there were two wings to the dove of liberation, that of surrender (bhakta) and that of knowledge (jnana). One without the other does not see the dove soar, but instead sees it slowly descend in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up its own ignorance {my analogy}.

What particularly struck me this morning was the following excerpt from the "Voice":-

God, in order to Be God, extends Himself.
Extension is simply the creation of experience, and of being,
Arising out of the fact that Love cannot be contained.

Not only did the beauty of this strike me, but I was also amazed that it reflected my insight, which I posted as my own theological interpretation of creation, on my other blog - not so long ago.

Serendipity, synchronicity or just plain coincidence?

Ramana Maharshi on Free Will and Surrender

2006-10-27T13:03:00.000+08:00

Here are excerpts from Ananda's post, that touched me.

Referring to Sri Krishna's telling Arjuna: "Deluded by Maya you refuse to fight, but your own nature will force you to fight;" a devotee asked Bhagavan whether we have no free will at all. Bhagavan replied: "You always have freedom not to identify yourself with the body and the pleasures and pains that come to it as its prarabdha."

..."Whatever this body is to do and whatever experiences it is to pass through was already decided when it came into existence."

..."The only freedom one has is to strive for and acquire the Jnana which will enable him not to identify himself with the body. The body will go through the actions rendered inevitable by prarabdha (destiny) based on the balance sheet of past lives, and a man is free either to identify himself with the body and be attached to the fruits of its actions or to be detached from it and be a mere witness of its activities."

...'There is a power which moves you and me and all others. Lay your ego at the feet of that Mother.' "

You can read the full post here.

Tat Twam Asi

2006-10-20T12:41:00.000+08:00

THAT THOU ART!

My previous blog was an exploration of what I have called "The Dweller on the Threshold"; the plight of a spiritual seeker who is neither here nor there and is trying to figure out where they stand in the scheme of things. Betwixt the "makings of men" and communion with the Divine.

As such, that blog has come to an end. The question "What Am I?, no longer arises. I am not saying that I am "enlightened" or "awakened", but I will say that I now sit comfortably with what I truly am - an indivisible Self, which is also You - the all that is/nt, the everything of no-thing. From my view point, there is no enlightenment or awakening in the traditional sense, as we have all been our true Self, always. Perhaps I might use the term "recognition". Ramana used the term Sahaja (natural) and Jesus, one in Christ. I know my terminology may sound confusing, but I can't think of any other way to put it at the moment. Maybe later after some settling.

This is not to say that the neurotic drunkard, Russellji, no longer exists as an individual! He is still here, warts and all...its just that it does not matter. The need for self ananlysis is gone - boy did the ego enjoy that trip. The beauty for me, is that once I accepted myself (atonement) and surrendered, so to speak, to the Holy Spirit, I accepted everything else. I am no longer, and can't be, a victim.

Some people recognize this in an instant. Some people have no outside influence. For me, it has been 16 years of devotion to an Ishtam Devata and surrender together with much reading, practice and suffering. But I am grateful for the lot of it, particularly, the teachings of Ramana, Jesus and Nisagadatta; together with the scriptures of "A Course in Miracles" and Brent Haskell's books. In hindsight, it was not needed, all I needed to do was recognize and accept.

As a result of this paradigm shift in my perception and awareness, I have now split my postings over two blogs. One is this, to share my deepening as it arises and the other is Russellji's day to day experiences as a disappearing ego!

THAT THOU ART

YOU ARE THAT!