Friday, February 21, 2014

February meeting

Only seven of us today to view a video about two worlds the one where we are the creator and the one that is the creation. To live in one world is a recipe for disaster. Becoming and being is another way to express it.
Then we discussed the following a mixture of wisdom from the internet.

Few people realize it, but there really are great spiritual secrets. They exist. In fact, your whole life has been a journey to find them. Once you do find them, you'll hold the key to a life unimaginable
The first point is to know how to be here and now. Second point is that when I dream, I don’t have control over my dreams. You have no conscious control over your dreams, over that part of mind which dreams. You have no control over that part of mind which sleeps. The vast part of mind remains buried, remains unknown. Only a small part of mind is being cultivated by you and you are puffed up with pride that, “I have a Ph.D., a D.Litt., I have education, I have money, I have a car, I have all this.” What is my point of view? Human beings are members of a fools’ paradise. I go around the world and I see many, many intellectuals. But I find none of them practical and I cry. I don’t say that you should accept whatever I tell you. I’m just making you aware that a vast part of the mind remains unknown to you. Now there is a third point. That which you consider peace, happiness, and bliss, where does it live? Where does it exist? If it was anywhere in the world, Americans would have found it first. They have even gone to the moon. Where is it? If mind is within, peace should be in the mind, or known by the mind, or known by understanding the mind. What is mind? Now let me tell you something. All of the body is in the mind, but all of the mind is not in the body. How will you know that part of mind which is not in the body? Therefore, to know mind is very important, not to know God because He is already there. You don’t have to know Him. Body is already there, you don’t have to know much about it. But you have to know the mind. By understanding the mind you can be free from all bondage.
Freud likens the unconscious mind to a bag. You do not know, you are carrying a bag all the time. It is like your shadow. Wherever you go, your shadow follows and will not leave you. You are always carrying that huge bag with you. Anything that you think goes into that bag. You do not know that part of the mind. You are trying to understand your mind, only a small part of the mind. You don’t know the totality of your mind, both conscious and unconscious. If you know how to train the vast part of mind, the totality of the mind, you can do wonders on the earth. Anybody who has done wonders on this earth, anybody who was considered to be a great man, was great because he knew his mind. You do not have to know the soul because it’s already there. In all conditions, the soul is there. What you have to know is your mind, and that’s why you are called hu-man, your own mind. And the moment you know the mind, you can go beyond the mire of delusion created by your mind.
We have to find out the secret of polishing, taming, or learning to have perfect control over the mind which is the finest of all instruments. But only a small part of the mind can be grabbed. The totality of the mind doesn’t come under our control because a vast part of the mind remains unknown to us. Many Easterners, those who have not studied Western psychology and philosophy, say, “Oh! Western philosophy is nothing, Western psychology is nothing.” They are stupid. Freud says something very definite. Freud says that if the unknown part of mind is known, then you know all of the mind. Adler, James, all these psychologists tried to understand the mind. Whatever they understood, in a scientific way, is remarkable. What I learned from both, the interaction of East and West, is that the unconscious mind is like that iceberg which is hidden beneath the water, not known to us. The tip of the iceberg that is seen floating above the water is called the conscious mind, that which is hidden is called the unconscious mind. When we get closer we find that it is not actually the mind, it’s a vast reservoir.
You say the mind is roaming, let it roam. Why are you bothered? It will never go anywhere. It will come back to you. Let it go, don’t follow the mind. I once asked my Master, “How to practice?” He replied, “Mind tells you to go there, but you don’t go. Tell mind, ‘O mind, if you want to go, you’re free to go. What can I do? But I am not going there.’ ” Fighting with the mind is never considered to be control. Therefore learn to lead the mind, make a certain route for the mind to travel and that is called learning to have control over the mind and it’s modifications.
Now I’ll tell you something about the kinds of problems that arise when you try to know the mind. A friend of mine once told me, “On this trail there is a ghost.” It was at night but I did not believe him and I said, “I don’t care. I’ve not seen it and I’m not curious to see it.” We forgot all about this. After one or two months, I passed that way and it was a dark night. Suddenly I remembered that my friend had said that a ghost lived here. Even though I did not believe, why did I remember? Because anything that comes into my conscious mind finally filters down to the unconscious mind which is vast. The totality of mind should be understood, not only a small part of mind, the conscious mind, that we cultivate in our daily life.
The human body has potential to cure its own ailments provided you know about your body. I don’t discuss religion, No matter from which religious background you come from, I want to give you something which you need in your daily life. All the great bibles of the world say one and the same thing—be still, be still. For a few minutes in the morning and the evening, every human being should learn to be still. Why, because you will meet God? No, that’s not necessary. You will be healthy. For your mental health it’s important for you to understand quietness, stillness. During that time, those muscles which do not get rest even in sleep get rested. The voluntary system you can control. You can exercise and develop all of your gross muscles, but you don’t have control over your involuntary system, the subtle set of muscles.
Please remember, all of the body is in the mind, but all of the mind is not in the body. This is accepted fact. The Upanishads, the final and best part of the Vedas do talk about it, do discuss it, do explain this. Confucius, Buddhists, Zen, Zazen, they all explain it. Everyone found the same problem created by the mind. My mind does not create a problem for you. Your mind doesn’t create a problem for me. Your mind creates a problem for yourself.

The Secret Place of Peace

Within each of us, in our hearts and in our minds, there lives a special kind of light. In truth, it is everywhere. We can look at our thoughts as particles suspended in this silent, illuminated space. But, instead of seeing the beautiful stillness -- the source of that which reveals the movement of these passing thoughts and feelings -- we grab onto each thought that passes through it. Why would we do this?



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