Nice sunny morning for an introduction to the philosophy of Florian Schlosser. We watched a short video where he outlined his non-duality teaching. Florian from an early age had the burning desire to know what reality is and our place in it. With many interests that one after another he found empty until giving away his wealth he entered a monastery. He has now come back with a new way of laying the ego to rest by reassuring the body that it is safe by grounding oneself with three simple instructions.
After a break and a good conversation about many things including relationships with all the problems that go with it we the read Florian's articl:
From the perspective of normal consciousness we mostly experience ourselves as "somebody" – an identity however named – to whom time and reality happens. We experience the course of life as an
event which is separated from us and at the mercy of which we more or less are. Or we doing our best to take some influence on it.
To explore the essence of time and reality as it really is, we first have to turn to "the one" to whom time and reality seemingly occurs. The question is whether "the one" who experiences time and reality really exists? Does an experiencing person really exist? And is the one we call the experiencing person – the "I" which experiences – really separated from "his/her" experience?
But how can we explore what the "I" is and if it really exists? Let's start together:
Who is thinking? Is it you who is thinking or are there just thoughts, which emerge and leave again? Who is feeling? Is it you who is feeling or are there just feelings which emerge and leave again? Who has physical sensations? Is it you who has sensations in the body or are there just sensations which emerge and leave again?
If you want to check this, then just try to stop your thoughts. Simply like that -STOP. Does it work? If you are completely conscious and honest for a moment you will realize that it is not so easy to switch off the experience of thinking, feeling and sensing.What you recognize is a never ending stream of movement (experience) which just happens. Now, to whom does this movement occur? Who has always been conscious of this? What is it exactly that is conscious? Normally you will say: I am conscious. Check it briefly if you like: Are you conscious of the present experience, whatever it may be, just now? Of course you are. Now, what is this "I" that is conscious? It is consciousness itself. Therefore you are consciousness, aren't you? Time is movement in consciousness
As we find out by close investigation there is consciousness, in which the movement of thinking, feeling and sensing in the body emerges and leaves again. This movement in the consciousness feels like an occurrence (appearance) in time. But if you again allow a moment to be quiet and conscious you will notice that time itself is an illusion, which is created by the ever changing experiences in consciousness. Without the movement of thinking, feeling and physical sensations there is no independent time, which can be measured i.e. experienced. So time is not separated from experience but (an) included part of it, well, it IS experience itself. Time is movement in the consciousness. And also the "feeling of I" is included in the movement and therefore not separated from it.
Let us now stop for a while and strike an interim balance: We see that consciousness only comes into being by movement. That is all. There is no one who experiences anything. It is the experiencing which experiences itself as movement in consciousness – that WE ARE. What may confuse us sometimes is that the movement of attentiveness is mixed up with pure resting awareness. Let us make clear this difference also. The movement of attentiveness Attentiveness is the natural ability to focus energy on a certain object, to observe it. For example this can be an object "in the outside", but also an object "in the inside", like a thought or a feeling. So we can focus with attentiveness. If you inquire precisely now, you will see that by mere focussing the feeling of an 'I-observer' on the one hand and at the same time the observed object appears separated from you.Observing only creates the feeling of an "I" and an experience separated from "you". But both don`t exist like this.
Neither is there really an "I" nor the object separated from "I" e.g. an experience. Both of it only emerges seemingly as a dual reality when attentiveness focusses
Both of it only emerges seemingly as a dual reality when attentiveness focusses. If you look closely you will realize that attentiveness itself is part of the movement. It is moving permanently from one object to another. Similar to a monkey it jumps about. The faster and the more restless attentiveness moves, the more varying is the experience of time. Abrupt, erratic movement of attentiveness creates a rapid feeling of time. Slow and quiet movement creates a feeling of "having time" and slowness.
So not only time itself is an illusion but also the experienced speed (quality) of it. Now back to consciousness again, through which all of this is recognized. So you – consciousness itself – are conscious of the experiences including the movement of attentiveness. To make it clear once again: you are already conscious of this – now -in this moment. Experience comes into being by observation Where is the border between consciousness and the experience (including the observing) that emerges and leaves again? If you investigate further you will find no border. The border does not exist.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
18th November
Eleven of us today as Kathy joined us for the first time. Started off showing the TED video on current thinking about child development and it was impressive. The comparison was made of a butterfly and a Caterpillar but we are the caterpillars. It is the baby that has the wings of exploration into new ways of thinking. The frustration of the kiddie and the eventual joy shown when solving a light/music puzzle was a picture.
The discussion afterwards showed we all came to different conclusions but we were all impressed by their problem solving.
After a break we reviewed an article on various ideas of Eastern thought part of which is below.
There Is No Final Destination To Reach
In life, you will never reach an "end point" where you feel you have finally made it. Even death is not an end point because your energy will continue further into new experiences of the non-physical nature and may further manifest into a new physical form as a matter of movement. There is no "end" in life because this whole movement was never about fulfilling any fixed agendas – it's just energy experiencing itself. Life, as a movement, is all about experience – and one experience is not better than the other from an absolute perspective, even the most elevated experience is still just an experience, nothing more nothing less. Having this perspective keeps you grounded in reality and acts as a "leveler" each time you feel that you've reached "perfection" or have illusions of reaching such a place.
Every time you reach a certain stability with one experience you will want to move on to a new experience. Even awakening/enlightenment is an experience. Living consciously is an experience different from the experience of living unconsciously, aligning with your natural vibration is an experience different from the experience of disconnected living – but in the end its all just experience, to say one experience is better than the other is like saying that being an adult is better than being a child, because that's not really the case. Being a child is an experience of its own and being an adult is another experience having its own flavor – of course, it seems to be better to have more control and maturity in life, but that's just one perspective, and such a perception also constitutes an experience. There is never going to be final destination where you feel you've reached the "peak" perfection of life, there will always be the next thing.
The discussion afterwards showed we all came to different conclusions but we were all impressed by their problem solving.
After a break we reviewed an article on various ideas of Eastern thought part of which is below.
There Is No Final Destination To Reach
In life, you will never reach an "end point" where you feel you have finally made it. Even death is not an end point because your energy will continue further into new experiences of the non-physical nature and may further manifest into a new physical form as a matter of movement. There is no "end" in life because this whole movement was never about fulfilling any fixed agendas – it's just energy experiencing itself. Life, as a movement, is all about experience – and one experience is not better than the other from an absolute perspective, even the most elevated experience is still just an experience, nothing more nothing less. Having this perspective keeps you grounded in reality and acts as a "leveler" each time you feel that you've reached "perfection" or have illusions of reaching such a place.
Every time you reach a certain stability with one experience you will want to move on to a new experience. Even awakening/enlightenment is an experience. Living consciously is an experience different from the experience of living unconsciously, aligning with your natural vibration is an experience different from the experience of disconnected living – but in the end its all just experience, to say one experience is better than the other is like saying that being an adult is better than being a child, because that's not really the case. Being a child is an experience of its own and being an adult is another experience having its own flavor – of course, it seems to be better to have more control and maturity in life, but that's just one perspective, and such a perception also constitutes an experience. There is never going to be final destination where you feel you've reached the "peak" perfection of life, there will always be the next thing.
Friday, October 21, 2011
21 October
Well attended meeting all seemingly happy with the world which was a happy coincidence as the two short videos we saw in the beginning were all about happiness. To sum up the way to be happy is to accept that you are perfect just the way you are, to be more loving, have faith or a spiritual outlook and be positive. Although things can help you find happiness really it is within yourself where you will truly find it. Nothing new but nice to get reminded of the eternal truths.
After a break we read the following tract which I find is the clearest explanation of what enlightenment is.
Extract
We will examines how we create a persistent alienation from ourselves, from others, and from the world by fracturing out present experience into different parts, separated by boundaries. We artificially split our awareness into compartments such as subject vs. object, life vs. death, mind vs. body, inside vs.. outside, reason vs. instinct ...
The result of such violence, although known by many other names, is simply unhappiness. Life becomes suffering, full of battles. But all our battles in our experience - our conflicts, anxieties, sufferings, and despairs - are created by the boundaries we misguidingly throw around our experience.
Who am I? The query has probably tormented mankind since the dawn of civilization, and remains today one of the most vexing of all human questions, ..When you are describing or explaining or even just inwardly feeling your "self" what you are actually doing, whether you know it or not, is drawing a mental line or boundary across the whole field of you experience, and everything on the inside of that boundary you are feeling or calling you "self" while everything outside that boundary you feel to be "not self"...So when you say "my self" you draw a boundary line between what is you and what is not you.
Have you ever wondered why life comes in opposites? Why everything you value is one of a pair of opposites? Why all decisions are between opposites? Why all desires are based on opposites?
Notice that all spatial and directional dimensions are opposites: up vs. down, inside vs. outside, high vs., low, long vs. short, North vs. South, big vs. small, here vs. there, top vs. bottom, left vs.. right. And notice that all things we consider serious and important are one pole of a pair of opposites: good vs. evil, life vs. death, pleasure vs. pain, God vs. Satan, freedom vs. bondage.
So, also, our social and esthetic values are always put in terms of opposites: success vs. failure, beautiful vs. ugly, strong vs. weak, intelligent vs. stupid. Even our highest abstractions rest on opposites. Logic, for instance, is concerned with the true vs. the false, epistemology, with appearance vs. reality, ontology, with being vs. non-being. Our world seems to be a massive collection of opposites.
This fact is so commonplace as to hardly need mentioning. But the more one ponders it the more it is strikingly peculiar. Adam was the first to delineate nature, to mentally divide it up, mark it off, diagram it. Adam was the first great mapmaker, Adam drew boundaries.
So successful was this mapping of nature that , to this day, our lives are largely spent in drawing boundaries. Every decision we make, our every action, our every word is based on the construction, conscious of unconscious, of boundaries,
The peculiar thing about a boundary is that, however complex and rarefied it might me, it actually marks off nothing but an inside and an outside., For example, we can draw the very simplest form of a boundary line as a circle, and see that it discloses an inside versus an outside. But notice that the opposites on inside vs.. outside didn't exist in themselves until we drew the boundary on the circle. It is the if boundary line in other words, which creates pairs of opposites,, in short, to draw boundaries is to manufacture opposites...And the world of opposites is world of conflict. So instead of handling and manipulating real objects, Adam could manipulate in his head these magic, names which stood for the objects themselves.
Now our habitual way of trying to solve these problems is to attempt to eradicate one of the opposites. We handle the problem of good vs. evil by trying to exterminate evil. We handle the problem of life vs.. death by trying to hide death under symbolic immortalities. In philosophy we handle conceptual opposites by dismissing one of the poles or trying to reduce it to the other.
The point is that we always tend to treat the boundary as real and then manipulate the opposites created by the boundary.
The goal of separating the opposites and then clinging to or pursuing the positive halves seems to be a distinguishing characteristic of progressive Western civilization - its religion, science, medicine and industry.
The opposites might indeed be as different as night and day, but the essential point is that without night we would not even be able to recognize something called day. To destroy the negative is, at the same time, to destroy all possibilities of enjoying the positive. Thus, the more we succeed in this adventure of progress, the more we actually fail, and hence the more acute becomes our sense of total frustration.
The root of the whole difficulty is our tendency to view the opposites as irreconcilable, as totally set apart and divorced from one another. Even the simplest of opposites, such as buying versus selling, are viewed as two different and separate events. Now it is true that buying and selling are in some sense different, but they are also - and this is the point- completely inseparable.
The inner unity of opposites is hardly an idea confined to mystics, Eastern or Western. If we look to modern say physics, the field in which Western intellect had made its greatest advances, what we find is another version of reality as a union of opposites. In relativity theory, for example, the old opposites of rest vs. motion have become totally indistinguishable, that is, "each is both". An object which is in motion for one observer is, at the same time, at rest for a different observer. Likewise, the split between wave and particle vanishes into "wavicles. and the contrast between structure vs. function evaporates. Even the age-old separation of mass from energy had fallen to Einstein's E=mc2, and these ancient "opposites" are now viewed as merely two aspects of one reality.
After a break we read the following tract which I find is the clearest explanation of what enlightenment is.
Extract
We will examines how we create a persistent alienation from ourselves, from others, and from the world by fracturing out present experience into different parts, separated by boundaries. We artificially split our awareness into compartments such as subject vs. object, life vs. death, mind vs. body, inside vs.. outside, reason vs. instinct ...
The result of such violence, although known by many other names, is simply unhappiness. Life becomes suffering, full of battles. But all our battles in our experience - our conflicts, anxieties, sufferings, and despairs - are created by the boundaries we misguidingly throw around our experience.
Who am I? The query has probably tormented mankind since the dawn of civilization, and remains today one of the most vexing of all human questions, ..When you are describing or explaining or even just inwardly feeling your "self" what you are actually doing, whether you know it or not, is drawing a mental line or boundary across the whole field of you experience, and everything on the inside of that boundary you are feeling or calling you "self" while everything outside that boundary you feel to be "not self"...So when you say "my self" you draw a boundary line between what is you and what is not you.
Have you ever wondered why life comes in opposites? Why everything you value is one of a pair of opposites? Why all decisions are between opposites? Why all desires are based on opposites?
Notice that all spatial and directional dimensions are opposites: up vs. down, inside vs. outside, high vs., low, long vs. short, North vs. South, big vs. small, here vs. there, top vs. bottom, left vs.. right. And notice that all things we consider serious and important are one pole of a pair of opposites: good vs. evil, life vs. death, pleasure vs. pain, God vs. Satan, freedom vs. bondage.
So, also, our social and esthetic values are always put in terms of opposites: success vs. failure, beautiful vs. ugly, strong vs. weak, intelligent vs. stupid. Even our highest abstractions rest on opposites. Logic, for instance, is concerned with the true vs. the false, epistemology, with appearance vs. reality, ontology, with being vs. non-being. Our world seems to be a massive collection of opposites.
This fact is so commonplace as to hardly need mentioning. But the more one ponders it the more it is strikingly peculiar. Adam was the first to delineate nature, to mentally divide it up, mark it off, diagram it. Adam was the first great mapmaker, Adam drew boundaries.
So successful was this mapping of nature that , to this day, our lives are largely spent in drawing boundaries. Every decision we make, our every action, our every word is based on the construction, conscious of unconscious, of boundaries,
The peculiar thing about a boundary is that, however complex and rarefied it might me, it actually marks off nothing but an inside and an outside., For example, we can draw the very simplest form of a boundary line as a circle, and see that it discloses an inside versus an outside. But notice that the opposites on inside vs.. outside didn't exist in themselves until we drew the boundary on the circle. It is the if boundary line in other words, which creates pairs of opposites,, in short, to draw boundaries is to manufacture opposites...And the world of opposites is world of conflict. So instead of handling and manipulating real objects, Adam could manipulate in his head these magic, names which stood for the objects themselves.
Now our habitual way of trying to solve these problems is to attempt to eradicate one of the opposites. We handle the problem of good vs. evil by trying to exterminate evil. We handle the problem of life vs.. death by trying to hide death under symbolic immortalities. In philosophy we handle conceptual opposites by dismissing one of the poles or trying to reduce it to the other.
The point is that we always tend to treat the boundary as real and then manipulate the opposites created by the boundary.
The goal of separating the opposites and then clinging to or pursuing the positive halves seems to be a distinguishing characteristic of progressive Western civilization - its religion, science, medicine and industry.
The opposites might indeed be as different as night and day, but the essential point is that without night we would not even be able to recognize something called day. To destroy the negative is, at the same time, to destroy all possibilities of enjoying the positive. Thus, the more we succeed in this adventure of progress, the more we actually fail, and hence the more acute becomes our sense of total frustration.
The root of the whole difficulty is our tendency to view the opposites as irreconcilable, as totally set apart and divorced from one another. Even the simplest of opposites, such as buying versus selling, are viewed as two different and separate events. Now it is true that buying and selling are in some sense different, but they are also - and this is the point- completely inseparable.
The inner unity of opposites is hardly an idea confined to mystics, Eastern or Western. If we look to modern say physics, the field in which Western intellect had made its greatest advances, what we find is another version of reality as a union of opposites. In relativity theory, for example, the old opposites of rest vs. motion have become totally indistinguishable, that is, "each is both". An object which is in motion for one observer is, at the same time, at rest for a different observer. Likewise, the split between wave and particle vanishes into "wavicles. and the contrast between structure vs. function evaporates. Even the age-old separation of mass from energy had fallen to Einstein's E=mc2, and these ancient "opposites" are now viewed as merely two aspects of one reality.
Friday, September 16, 2011
16th September 2011
Nine of us gathered around for today's session of deep thinking. We listened to the second part of The Science of Near Death Experience. Dr. van Lommel, lead investigator for the prospective NDE study published in 2001 in The Lancet, now devotes himself full time to research on the NDE and the mind-brain relationship. During the 2006 IANDS Conference, he presented "On the Continuity of Consciousness."
Dr. van Lommel graduated in 1971 from the University of Utrecht and finished his specialization in cardiology in 1976. He worked from 1977-2003 as a cardiologist in The Netherlands' Hospital Rijnstate, an 800-bed teaching hospital.
After that we had a break although the subject never changed. then we read and discussed the:
What Is Your Relationship With This Moment?
A "moment" is of course an idea of the mind where it looks at reality in a "time based" manner, but it's useful to use this idea to understand your relationship with your life. Your moment to moment relationship with life is what accumulates into your life experience. If you sense that you are in a state of conflict, with the present moment, during most of your waking state, it's a given that your experience of life presently is one of lack, frustration, struggle and strain. When you start shifting your relationship with each moment, into one of peace/joy/love, you will see your reality shifting towards one of well-being, abundance and ease automatically. The truth is evident, but the mind finds it difficult to put into practice.
How to change your relationship with this moment?
At this moment, just take the time to sense your inner space. What exactly is going on within you? What are the thoughts your mind is occupied with, what are the feelings passing through your body? Your thoughts are indicative of your relationship with life (which is always this moment) and your feelings are just an "indication" of how this relationship shows up in experience. When your relationship with life is one of alignment you feel good in your body, and when you are in conflict with life it feels bad in your body. The feelings in your body work as a "truth meter" to tell you what your relationship with the present moment is.
When you bring Awareness into your inner space, you now have the choice to make a shift in your relationship with this moment. Only through awareness/self-observation can you detect the negative thought patterns that operate in your mind, some of them so deeply embedded that you take them to be the truth. Remember that negativity/negative thinking is always in conflict with the movement of life (life is pure positive energy), and hence will always create suffering in you. Awareness of negativity is enough to bring forth a transformation, because awareness by itself is a transformative agent.
Whenever you sense that you are in a state of conflict (indicated by negative feelings), bring awareness to the thoughts in your mind. Just bringing in this awareness is enough to cause a "dis-identification" with the negative thought movement, and it creates an invitation for the intelligence of life to take over. Staying in this state of awareness will bring in a space of silence/peace, and it prevents your attention from being dragged into believing the negative thought cycle of your mind. This shifts your relationship with the present moment from one of conflict to one of peace/alignment. Awareness always brings you in harmony with the present moment.
Dr. van Lommel graduated in 1971 from the University of Utrecht and finished his specialization in cardiology in 1976. He worked from 1977-2003 as a cardiologist in The Netherlands' Hospital Rijnstate, an 800-bed teaching hospital.
After that we had a break although the subject never changed. then we read and discussed the:
What Is Your Relationship With This Moment?
A "moment" is of course an idea of the mind where it looks at reality in a "time based" manner, but it's useful to use this idea to understand your relationship with your life. Your moment to moment relationship with life is what accumulates into your life experience. If you sense that you are in a state of conflict, with the present moment, during most of your waking state, it's a given that your experience of life presently is one of lack, frustration, struggle and strain. When you start shifting your relationship with each moment, into one of peace/joy/love, you will see your reality shifting towards one of well-being, abundance and ease automatically. The truth is evident, but the mind finds it difficult to put into practice.
How to change your relationship with this moment?
At this moment, just take the time to sense your inner space. What exactly is going on within you? What are the thoughts your mind is occupied with, what are the feelings passing through your body? Your thoughts are indicative of your relationship with life (which is always this moment) and your feelings are just an "indication" of how this relationship shows up in experience. When your relationship with life is one of alignment you feel good in your body, and when you are in conflict with life it feels bad in your body. The feelings in your body work as a "truth meter" to tell you what your relationship with the present moment is.
When you bring Awareness into your inner space, you now have the choice to make a shift in your relationship with this moment. Only through awareness/self-observation can you detect the negative thought patterns that operate in your mind, some of them so deeply embedded that you take them to be the truth. Remember that negativity/negative thinking is always in conflict with the movement of life (life is pure positive energy), and hence will always create suffering in you. Awareness of negativity is enough to bring forth a transformation, because awareness by itself is a transformative agent.
Whenever you sense that you are in a state of conflict (indicated by negative feelings), bring awareness to the thoughts in your mind. Just bringing in this awareness is enough to cause a "dis-identification" with the negative thought movement, and it creates an invitation for the intelligence of life to take over. Staying in this state of awareness will bring in a space of silence/peace, and it prevents your attention from being dragged into believing the negative thought cycle of your mind. This shifts your relationship with the present moment from one of conflict to one of peace/alignment. Awareness always brings you in harmony with the present moment.
Friday, August 19, 2011
19th August
Nine of us today. We viewed a video showing a surgeon being interviewed about his finding of shared experience told by survivors whose heart stopped where their brain activity had flat lined. Many had after death experiences when conventional thinking would say it was impossible.
After a beak we read about sitting in the centre.
Your Centre of Being
You've probably heard of the phrase "being centred". Generally it refers to being focused, aware and totally present. If you play a sport you might prepare yourself by closing your eyes and taking a breath. If you are about to do something that requires concentration you might first draw yourself inward. Even if you are about to relax, you might look at your surroundings, make yourself comfortable and tap into a sense of contentment and steadiness within.
The ancient yogis called the state of being centred, "in your seat" or the Sanskrit term, asana, posture or seat. The universe holds your unique asana, or seat, no matter where you are physically, mentally or spiritually. The challenge is how well you sit in it.
To explore the experience of this, you might want to take a moment to notice how you are seated in yourself right now. Are you comfortable? Perhaps you feel settled, connected and in harmony. Being centred often carries a sense of strength and clarity. Or are you uncomfortable? Perhaps thrown off for any number of reasons—longstanding issues or everyday challenges. Self-criticism is a clever adversary to feeling centred.
Naturally you are more well-seated when you are pleased with the way your life is flowing. But can you maintain your centre in a storm? Outside circumstances act upon us to un-seat us. Sometimes you can feel shocked or knocked about. You can be engaged in external or internal battles.
But, even when you are experiencing big challenges and intense emotions you can be centred. Actually, sitting in intense emotion is a method of working through it. Consider, for example, the difference of taking the time to sit and experience anger rather than flinging it. Or feeling sadness rather than pushing it away. Here you can be firmly seated and acknowledge it. "I am sitting in confusion. I am sitting in frustration. I am sitting in a feeling of lack." You remain totally connected to your seat while fully experiencing heightened emotion at the same time.
Your Own Sacred Space
At a deeper level, your seat is an inner sacred space. This centre of being is your connection to your divine nature and is you as your spiritual Self. It is the posture of expansion and wisdom.
How do you build upon and maintain your centre of being? Through effort and awareness. The practice of observing yourself gives you the opportunity to notice how you are seated—when you are centred and when you have wobbled. Even noticing you are off your seat allows you to become more steady. The practice of meditation allows you to investigate the nature of the mind and over time gives you the ability to redirect the negative thinking that unseats you. And, the more you recognise the times you feel centred, the easier it is to get back to it when you are un-seated.
Being centred gives you a sense of scale, a power to see beyond the flux of everyday life. You expand your sense of being and you experience your life with awareness, wonder, understanding and acceptance.
Inquiry: At Your Deepest Core
Clear away any physical or mental agitation by taking a deep breath or focusing on the emotional centre of your heart. Gently inquire: "Who am I at my deepest core?" "What is the experience of my highest spiritual centre?" "How can I merge into the peace of being centred?" Allow the inquiry to resonate and investigate how you feel.
Meditation: Centre of the Universe
Take the point of view that you are the centre of the universe. Become acutely aware of how your life unfolds from within. Just as you can move your arm, consider how every word you say and every action you take comes from within. Close your eyes and meditate on the universe unfolding from within.
Contemplation: Perspective
When you shift into the perspective that you are the centre, the experience changes.
Contemplation: The Present
The present moment carries the most vitality. It is filled with vibrant awareness. At any moment, you can sit quietly and scan the impressions of your senses—sounds, fragrance, tactile experience. You can notice the chattering of the mind and go beyond it to focus on your own consciousness. Go deeper, past the knowledge of I am. Allow that experience to enter and expand into a sense of total connectedness in the present moment. Sit in this awareness now . . . and now . . . and now . . .
See your own reality. Throw off the outside coverings and see the inside substance. Observe that until now you have made a box around yourself. Now you want to know what is really inside. If you don't go to your reality, your whole life will be nothing but pretense and fantasy. Living in make-believe, you will not be able to take the last step of evolution. So if you want to go further, be genuine. Go beyond words and come to the truth of experience.
See that although "I" appears to change with the change, in reality it is changeless. When people depart from you or you depart from them, see with the knowledge that something in you both will stay, something in you will meet again. As understanding deepens, relationships become profound. They are not only of the body, but they are perfumed with essence.
Otherwise, life is filled with so much fear and anxiety that it is unbearable. But if you know that essence is never lost, though you feel sadness at a dear one's departure, still you can come back to your work, continue your routine, and experience living fully. Though there is seeming disappearance, this disappearance is in order to appear somewhere else. In order to go there, you have to leave here. In pure relationship one companion goes ahead of the other. The other follows later. The parting is temporary. They meet again. The changeless indicates that which cannot die, for it was never born; it is the very life of life.
After a beak we read about sitting in the centre.
Your Centre of Being
You've probably heard of the phrase "being centred". Generally it refers to being focused, aware and totally present. If you play a sport you might prepare yourself by closing your eyes and taking a breath. If you are about to do something that requires concentration you might first draw yourself inward. Even if you are about to relax, you might look at your surroundings, make yourself comfortable and tap into a sense of contentment and steadiness within.
The ancient yogis called the state of being centred, "in your seat" or the Sanskrit term, asana, posture or seat. The universe holds your unique asana, or seat, no matter where you are physically, mentally or spiritually. The challenge is how well you sit in it.
To explore the experience of this, you might want to take a moment to notice how you are seated in yourself right now. Are you comfortable? Perhaps you feel settled, connected and in harmony. Being centred often carries a sense of strength and clarity. Or are you uncomfortable? Perhaps thrown off for any number of reasons—longstanding issues or everyday challenges. Self-criticism is a clever adversary to feeling centred.
Naturally you are more well-seated when you are pleased with the way your life is flowing. But can you maintain your centre in a storm? Outside circumstances act upon us to un-seat us. Sometimes you can feel shocked or knocked about. You can be engaged in external or internal battles.
But, even when you are experiencing big challenges and intense emotions you can be centred. Actually, sitting in intense emotion is a method of working through it. Consider, for example, the difference of taking the time to sit and experience anger rather than flinging it. Or feeling sadness rather than pushing it away. Here you can be firmly seated and acknowledge it. "I am sitting in confusion. I am sitting in frustration. I am sitting in a feeling of lack." You remain totally connected to your seat while fully experiencing heightened emotion at the same time.
Your Own Sacred Space
At a deeper level, your seat is an inner sacred space. This centre of being is your connection to your divine nature and is you as your spiritual Self. It is the posture of expansion and wisdom.
How do you build upon and maintain your centre of being? Through effort and awareness. The practice of observing yourself gives you the opportunity to notice how you are seated—when you are centred and when you have wobbled. Even noticing you are off your seat allows you to become more steady. The practice of meditation allows you to investigate the nature of the mind and over time gives you the ability to redirect the negative thinking that unseats you. And, the more you recognise the times you feel centred, the easier it is to get back to it when you are un-seated.
Being centred gives you a sense of scale, a power to see beyond the flux of everyday life. You expand your sense of being and you experience your life with awareness, wonder, understanding and acceptance.
Inquiry: At Your Deepest Core
Clear away any physical or mental agitation by taking a deep breath or focusing on the emotional centre of your heart. Gently inquire: "Who am I at my deepest core?" "What is the experience of my highest spiritual centre?" "How can I merge into the peace of being centred?" Allow the inquiry to resonate and investigate how you feel.
Meditation: Centre of the Universe
Take the point of view that you are the centre of the universe. Become acutely aware of how your life unfolds from within. Just as you can move your arm, consider how every word you say and every action you take comes from within. Close your eyes and meditate on the universe unfolding from within.
Contemplation: Perspective
When you shift into the perspective that you are the centre, the experience changes.
Contemplation: The Present
The present moment carries the most vitality. It is filled with vibrant awareness. At any moment, you can sit quietly and scan the impressions of your senses—sounds, fragrance, tactile experience. You can notice the chattering of the mind and go beyond it to focus on your own consciousness. Go deeper, past the knowledge of I am. Allow that experience to enter and expand into a sense of total connectedness in the present moment. Sit in this awareness now . . . and now . . . and now . . .
See your own reality. Throw off the outside coverings and see the inside substance. Observe that until now you have made a box around yourself. Now you want to know what is really inside. If you don't go to your reality, your whole life will be nothing but pretense and fantasy. Living in make-believe, you will not be able to take the last step of evolution. So if you want to go further, be genuine. Go beyond words and come to the truth of experience.
See that although "I" appears to change with the change, in reality it is changeless. When people depart from you or you depart from them, see with the knowledge that something in you both will stay, something in you will meet again. As understanding deepens, relationships become profound. They are not only of the body, but they are perfumed with essence.
Otherwise, life is filled with so much fear and anxiety that it is unbearable. But if you know that essence is never lost, though you feel sadness at a dear one's departure, still you can come back to your work, continue your routine, and experience living fully. Though there is seeming disappearance, this disappearance is in order to appear somewhere else. In order to go there, you have to leave here. In pure relationship one companion goes ahead of the other. The other follows later. The parting is temporary. They meet again. The changeless indicates that which cannot die, for it was never born; it is the very life of life.
Friday, July 15, 2011
16th July 2011
Eight of us today, would now be 11 if they all turned up the maximum number for a small living room. We watched a TED video of the musician Evelyn Glennie who also happens to be very deaf. Despite the handicap Evelyn hasn't let it stop her and now motivates those attending her lectures to listen with all their senses. A remarkable woman. After a break we studied a paper part of which is below.
The essence of spirituality is the search to know our true selves, to discover the real nature of consciousness. This quest has been the foundation of all the great spiritual teachings, and the goal of all the great mystics.
Throughout the history of humanity it has been said that the self we know -- the individual ego -- is a very limited form of identity. Ignorant of our true selves we derive a false sense of identity from what we have, or what we do -- from our possessions, our role in the world, how others see us, etc. Because the world on which it is based is continually changing, this derived sense of identity is always under threat, and our attempts to maintain it are responsible for much of our "self-centered" behaviour.
Behind this identity is a deeper identity, what is often called the "true self". This can be thought of as the essence of consciousness. Although our thoughts, feelings and personality may vary considerably, the essence of mind remains the same. We are each very diffferent people than we were twenty years ago, but still we feel the same sense of "I". This sense of "I-ness" is the same for everyone, and in that respect is something universal that we all share.
When we discover this deeper sense of self we are freed from many of the fears that plague us unnecessarily. We discover a greater inner peace, an inner security that does not depend upon events or circumstances in the world around. As a result we become less self-centered, less needy of the other's approval or recognition, less needy of collecting possessions and social status, and become happier, healthier and more loving people. In many spiritual teachings this is called "self-liberation".
Most spiritual teachings also maintain that when one comes to know the true nature of consciousness, one also comes to know God. If God is the essence of the whole of creation, then God is the essence of every creature, and every person. This is why the search to discover the nature of one's own innermost essence is the search for God.
The essence of spirituality is the search to know our true selves, to discover the real nature of consciousness. This quest has been the foundation of all the great spiritual teachings, and the goal of all the great mystics.
Throughout the history of humanity it has been said that the self we know -- the individual ego -- is a very limited form of identity. Ignorant of our true selves we derive a false sense of identity from what we have, or what we do -- from our possessions, our role in the world, how others see us, etc. Because the world on which it is based is continually changing, this derived sense of identity is always under threat, and our attempts to maintain it are responsible for much of our "self-centered" behaviour.
Behind this identity is a deeper identity, what is often called the "true self". This can be thought of as the essence of consciousness. Although our thoughts, feelings and personality may vary considerably, the essence of mind remains the same. We are each very diffferent people than we were twenty years ago, but still we feel the same sense of "I". This sense of "I-ness" is the same for everyone, and in that respect is something universal that we all share.
When we discover this deeper sense of self we are freed from many of the fears that plague us unnecessarily. We discover a greater inner peace, an inner security that does not depend upon events or circumstances in the world around. As a result we become less self-centered, less needy of the other's approval or recognition, less needy of collecting possessions and social status, and become happier, healthier and more loving people. In many spiritual teachings this is called "self-liberation".
Most spiritual teachings also maintain that when one comes to know the true nature of consciousness, one also comes to know God. If God is the essence of the whole of creation, then God is the essence of every creature, and every person. This is why the search to discover the nature of one's own innermost essence is the search for God.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
17th June 2011
A record number today ten in all. John joined us for the morning. After current news and genial banter was over we reviewed the reason people of all ages asked the same questions who am I and what is reality and what purpose am I here for if there is one.
We touched upon the branching of philosophy into science where it made great strides in measuring and investigating what is this world we are in. This viewpoint leads to duality and a moving away from Eastern non-duality.
We reminded ourselves of the vastness of space when light from the distance stars take 15 billion years to reach us travelling 186,000 miles per second.
Do we believe it or is it some hypnotic dream and it is all in our minds?
We then watched a video on overcoming the bumps of life following the 3 "A"s.
Afterwards we read about three spiritual leaders opinion on the role of acceptance on the way to enlightenment. One suggested that if there is acceptance then there is still duality when in reality there is one One.
We touched upon the branching of philosophy into science where it made great strides in measuring and investigating what is this world we are in. This viewpoint leads to duality and a moving away from Eastern non-duality.
We reminded ourselves of the vastness of space when light from the distance stars take 15 billion years to reach us travelling 186,000 miles per second.
Do we believe it or is it some hypnotic dream and it is all in our minds?
We then watched a video on overcoming the bumps of life following the 3 "A"s.
Afterwards we read about three spiritual leaders opinion on the role of acceptance on the way to enlightenment. One suggested that if there is acceptance then there is still duality when in reality there is one One.
Friday, May 20, 2011
20th May 2011
Smaller numbers than last time but all seemed to enjoy the video of a researcher story teller who found that her philosophy of "if you can't measure it it doesn't exist" to be wrong although they noted the American way of running to a psychotherapist. We also reviewed several ideas from different viewpoints including this.
How to be a Wizard
A wizard knows the laws of creation, and how to work with them. A wizard allows synchronicity to manifest. A wizard follows three basic principles. The first principle is that of wholeness. The more rested I am, the more relaxed my mind and body, the more in touch I am with my self, the more free I feel, the easier my soul, the more whole I am. And the more whole I am, the more synchronicity seems to occur. Conversely, when I am out of balance, tired, stressed, frazzled, wrapped up in concern or in some other way off center, synchronicity does not manifest nearly so abundantly.
We cannot make synchronicities happen. It is in their very nature to occur "by coincidence". We cannot control or manipulate the world in order to create synchronicities -- their source is not of this world. Yet we can encourage their appearance; we can open ourselves to them. This we do by opening to ourselves, to our inner wholeness.
A wizard allows inner wholeness to be a priority. A wizard keeps rested, relaxed, centered and clear.
A second characteristic of synchronicities is that they tend to support our needs. They seem to bring us just what we need, at just the right time. It is as if the Universe has my best interests at heart, and arranges for their fulfillment in ways which I could never have dreamt of. It is, to quote a renowned Indian teacher, "the support of nature". We support nature by centering ourselves, and nature supports us back, providing the opportunities to fulfill our needs. This is what makes them so magical and remarkable -- such a coincidence.
To allow the support of nature into our lives we need to follow the second principle of wizardry -- intuition. This can be hard, because it is often difficult to know what is true intuition and what is just "stuff" seeping up from our unconscious. For me, following my intuition means following my feelings, not my thoughts.
Another little coincidence. The word "wizard" is one of only six words in the English language that when put in reverse alphabet code (a becomes z, b becomes y, etc) is coded as the original word in reverse, i.e. as "draziw".
How to be a Wizard
A wizard knows the laws of creation, and how to work with them. A wizard allows synchronicity to manifest. A wizard follows three basic principles. The first principle is that of wholeness. The more rested I am, the more relaxed my mind and body, the more in touch I am with my self, the more free I feel, the easier my soul, the more whole I am. And the more whole I am, the more synchronicity seems to occur. Conversely, when I am out of balance, tired, stressed, frazzled, wrapped up in concern or in some other way off center, synchronicity does not manifest nearly so abundantly.
We cannot make synchronicities happen. It is in their very nature to occur "by coincidence". We cannot control or manipulate the world in order to create synchronicities -- their source is not of this world. Yet we can encourage their appearance; we can open ourselves to them. This we do by opening to ourselves, to our inner wholeness.
A wizard allows inner wholeness to be a priority. A wizard keeps rested, relaxed, centered and clear.
A second characteristic of synchronicities is that they tend to support our needs. They seem to bring us just what we need, at just the right time. It is as if the Universe has my best interests at heart, and arranges for their fulfillment in ways which I could never have dreamt of. It is, to quote a renowned Indian teacher, "the support of nature". We support nature by centering ourselves, and nature supports us back, providing the opportunities to fulfill our needs. This is what makes them so magical and remarkable -- such a coincidence.
To allow the support of nature into our lives we need to follow the second principle of wizardry -- intuition. This can be hard, because it is often difficult to know what is true intuition and what is just "stuff" seeping up from our unconscious. For me, following my intuition means following my feelings, not my thoughts.
Another little coincidence. The word "wizard" is one of only six words in the English language that when put in reverse alphabet code (a becomes z, b becomes y, etc) is coded as the original word in reverse, i.e. as "draziw".
Friday, April 15, 2011
15 th April
Eight of us assembled in an attempt to explore the mystery of life. We watched a TED video where the guest speaker told us of the later development a mere two million years for the frontal lobes of the brain to appear in humans. Giving us the ability to envisage the possible future and how it gets it wrong - it is never so good nor as bad as we imagine. He told us that through experiments synthetic happiness is as good as the realised happiness. How a convicted prisoner given a life sentence and released in his 70s due to DNA proving his innocence exclaimed it was a glorious experience.
We then read about simplicity of faith leaving the complicated bit to Nature/God.
Down the River of Life to the Ocean of Presence.My mind keeps returning to the status of the human heart in the midst of external and internal turmoil caused by the massive uncertainty of the times. It's the position all of us are in, differing only by the degree of intensity in most cases. Some of us are attended by financial concerns, some by health concerns, some by environmental concerns and all of us by spiritual concerns.
Our main concern is the degree of complexity we bring to the process. All of this complexity rests upon our belief that there's something we can do, based on our own insights and industry, which can change our lives for the better. This is the process that got us into whatever mess or state of mind we are presently in. It's our reliance on our own resources to meet each and every challenge that consistently shows us we're inconsistent in our efforts and our grasp of what's taking place.
We think we're in charge.Some of us believe this to a remarkable degree and circumstances bear it out, further convincing us that we are in charge. Our sense of immunity and hubris turn into an inner polarity of something like the Colossus of Rhodes. That's no longer standing, by the way. We're permitted to think we are in charge and we are encouraged to believe we are in charge, for one purpose. The purpose is a lesson. Now, if you like lessons of this sort, you're on the right planet. The purpose of everything you go through is a lesson, period. All of these lessons have to do with growth. You can even call it evolution...............
We then read about simplicity of faith leaving the complicated bit to Nature/God.
Down the River of Life to the Ocean of Presence.My mind keeps returning to the status of the human heart in the midst of external and internal turmoil caused by the massive uncertainty of the times. It's the position all of us are in, differing only by the degree of intensity in most cases. Some of us are attended by financial concerns, some by health concerns, some by environmental concerns and all of us by spiritual concerns.
Our main concern is the degree of complexity we bring to the process. All of this complexity rests upon our belief that there's something we can do, based on our own insights and industry, which can change our lives for the better. This is the process that got us into whatever mess or state of mind we are presently in. It's our reliance on our own resources to meet each and every challenge that consistently shows us we're inconsistent in our efforts and our grasp of what's taking place.
We think we're in charge.Some of us believe this to a remarkable degree and circumstances bear it out, further convincing us that we are in charge. Our sense of immunity and hubris turn into an inner polarity of something like the Colossus of Rhodes. That's no longer standing, by the way. We're permitted to think we are in charge and we are encouraged to believe we are in charge, for one purpose. The purpose is a lesson. Now, if you like lessons of this sort, you're on the right planet. The purpose of everything you go through is a lesson, period. All of these lessons have to do with growth. You can even call it evolution...............
Friday, March 18, 2011
17th March 2011
Nine of us today met up to explore the mystery of life. We first looked at a Eckhart Tolle video considering the question is thought coming from the ego. Eckhart believes that thoughts are entities in their own right and are in actual fact the ego. He advised creating space in the mind to observe this activity. Afterward we looked at this idea on it.
Find Happiness 22: “Good Thoughts” and “Bad Thoughts”: Baloney!
by Lucky on August 1, 2010
Earlier in my life, I used to waste an inordinate amount of mental energy dealing with what I felt were “bad thoughts” (i.e. thoughts which I felt were “wrong” for me to think). If a “bad thought” happened to pass through my head, I would immediately attempt to get rid of it (to no avail, of course, since we cannot really control what we think). Try as I might, the thought would most often keep returning, almost as if to taunt me, and I would struggle to stop it. This occupied much time which I could have otherwise spent productively.
Also, since I was not successful in getting rid of “bad thoughts,” I decided that I was in a hopeless situation. This invoked worrying about how my life was going to be wasted because of “wrong” thinking, and anxiety about whether I would ever be able to fix the problem. More time frittered away.
To make things worse, my hopelessness created downstream effects of dejection and low self-esteem.
The acute mental distress I thus experienced forced me to look for a solution. After much searching and effort, I came across an enlightened person; the great thing was that he wanted to help me find happiness and was infinitely patient. He would not only solve my problem, he said, but would rebuild my psyche into something akin to a shimmering palace.
In time I learned from him that I am the silent being that is aware of my thoughts and am therefore in a way separate from them. Secondly, he taught me that there are no "good thoughts" and no "bad thoughts"; there are only thoughts. He explained that thoughts are like birds flying across the sky and that I should just watch them; I should not try to chase any of the birds away or capture any of them, just watch them fly by............
Find Happiness 22: “Good Thoughts” and “Bad Thoughts”: Baloney!
by Lucky on August 1, 2010
Earlier in my life, I used to waste an inordinate amount of mental energy dealing with what I felt were “bad thoughts” (i.e. thoughts which I felt were “wrong” for me to think). If a “bad thought” happened to pass through my head, I would immediately attempt to get rid of it (to no avail, of course, since we cannot really control what we think). Try as I might, the thought would most often keep returning, almost as if to taunt me, and I would struggle to stop it. This occupied much time which I could have otherwise spent productively.
Also, since I was not successful in getting rid of “bad thoughts,” I decided that I was in a hopeless situation. This invoked worrying about how my life was going to be wasted because of “wrong” thinking, and anxiety about whether I would ever be able to fix the problem. More time frittered away.
To make things worse, my hopelessness created downstream effects of dejection and low self-esteem.
The acute mental distress I thus experienced forced me to look for a solution. After much searching and effort, I came across an enlightened person; the great thing was that he wanted to help me find happiness and was infinitely patient. He would not only solve my problem, he said, but would rebuild my psyche into something akin to a shimmering palace.
In time I learned from him that I am the silent being that is aware of my thoughts and am therefore in a way separate from them. Secondly, he taught me that there are no "good thoughts" and no "bad thoughts"; there are only thoughts. He explained that thoughts are like birds flying across the sky and that I should just watch them; I should not try to chase any of the birds away or capture any of them, just watch them fly by............
Saturday, February 19, 2011
18 February 2011
We examined two philosophies today Gurdjieff's and being in the flow. Both have things of value but we all felt that in the flow was far more benefit.
Mr. Gurdjieff was an extraordinary man, a master in the truest sense. His teachings speak to our most essential questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of life, and of human life in particular? As a young man, Gurdjieff relentlessly pursued these questions and became convinced that practical answers lay within ancient traditions. Through many years of searching and practice he discovered answers and then set about putting what he had learned into a form understandable to the Western world. Gurdjieff maintained that, owing to the abnormal conditions of modern life, we no longer function in a harmonious way. He taught that in order to become harmonious, we must develop new faculties—or actualize latent potentialities—through “work on oneself.” He presented his teachings and ideas in three forms: writings, music, and movements which correspond to our intellect, emotions, and physical body
FLOW OF WALKING
In most activities,one side of the brain usually becomes dominant…however when walking casually without any particular destination,both sides of the brain have a chance to express themselves and this can lead to a more creative experience.
It is not talking but walking that will bring us to heaven. – Matthew Henry
Walking is close to the roots of our being. -Sid
All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. – Friedrich Nietzsche
Mr. Gurdjieff was an extraordinary man, a master in the truest sense. His teachings speak to our most essential questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of life, and of human life in particular? As a young man, Gurdjieff relentlessly pursued these questions and became convinced that practical answers lay within ancient traditions. Through many years of searching and practice he discovered answers and then set about putting what he had learned into a form understandable to the Western world. Gurdjieff maintained that, owing to the abnormal conditions of modern life, we no longer function in a harmonious way. He taught that in order to become harmonious, we must develop new faculties—or actualize latent potentialities—through “work on oneself.” He presented his teachings and ideas in three forms: writings, music, and movements which correspond to our intellect, emotions, and physical body
FLOW OF WALKING
In most activities,one side of the brain usually becomes dominant…however when walking casually without any particular destination,both sides of the brain have a chance to express themselves and this can lead to a more creative experience.
It is not talking but walking that will bring us to heaven. – Matthew Henry
Walking is close to the roots of our being. -Sid
All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. – Friedrich Nietzsche
Saturday, January 22, 2011
21st January
This week's Horizon programme was all about what was reality. Each expert had a different opinion one was convinced that as everything in the Universe obeyed the laws of mathematics the universe must be mathematics. One said we live in a multi-universe where each moment the universe divided so that there are many different versions of us and in some we did not exist. Another scientist for 20 years wrestled with the problem of black holes disappearing leaving no trace came to the conclusion the universe is a hologram. They are conducting experiments to find out if this is true. With all of these theories it involves thought and thought can not see the world as it just is.
We watched a short video of a Sufi mystic and poet telling of the change we need to make in the form of an analogy of a river ending in a desert. Having the faith to give itself to the wind to cross the desert and over the mountains to become once again a river.
We then studied a paper about the healing moment of just seeing and not doing but at the same time not seeing and not not doing. Too simple for words.
We watched a short video of a Sufi mystic and poet telling of the change we need to make in the form of an analogy of a river ending in a desert. Having the faith to give itself to the wind to cross the desert and over the mountains to become once again a river.
We then studied a paper about the healing moment of just seeing and not doing but at the same time not seeing and not not doing. Too simple for words.
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