Posts Tagged ‘Soul Power’
Platos Cave
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
This is a truly magical movie. It sums up the essence of everything we are experiencing…
How to Shift Consciousness
Thursday, August 6th, 2009What happens when we meditate? Everyone has their own unique experience based on a number of factors, including level of consciousness, amount of practice and ability to shift consciousness states.
We may begin by using the mind to convince ourselves that we are peaceful and have ‘positive thoughts’ or affirmations. This does have some effect but is often tedious and is inherently limited. The mind, in general, is the product of the ego. Thoughts emerge from an original ‘I thought’ or, in other words, ‘I am so and so, I am a limited being, I live in…, I am a teacher…’ etc. This is the backdrop consciousness from which all thoughts arise.
To have positive thoughts about this ‘limited (false) self’ to empty affirmations ’I am happy,’ ‘I am peace,’ etc. is utterly fruitless as long as the ‘I’, the inner self image, is based on identification with the body or anything limited, external and perishable. There is no real power until this false assumption that I am a body/person is transcended.
A person, a character in a play, cannot be an Ocean of Peace, unlimited consciousness or the embodiment of endless bliss, complete and perfect, free of all karmic bandages, eternal and constantly Divine.
The sense of ‘I am a human being’ traps us in a glass box where the ceiling is based on the limitations of human beings.
We are NOT limited human beings. We are eternal spiritual beings having an experience that includes the awareness of a human being. It includes the body, the role, but the one who is consciousness, from which the body arises, is beyond all limitations of the person perceived.
We simply need to drop this ‘human’ identity and allow the vastness of eternity to reveal itself in all its power. This is not something a human being can attain. It is what already exists eternally regardless of any external situations. It is not the ego mind thinking positive thoughts that brings this into existence. It is the nature of the eternal self.
Nothing need be done to make this happen. It is more a matter of moving the attention of the self away from the limiting lie that ‘I am a person’ to the underlying reality that the consciousness that I AM is eternal bliss already, constantly, eternally and is here now. That is as permanent and omnipresent as my true identity. Nothing except that remains throughout eternity. There is nothing to do – just release yourself from the one who is trying to meditate and open to what exists beyond the thoughts, beyond the constant shifting events of life. Life will happen by itself, so relax, let go and experience the full depth that is eternally present as yourself.
The true you has never done anything wrong and is constantly an embodiment of pure love.
The Heart Of The Ribhu Gita
Monday, January 26th, 2009
This is an extremely deep description of the ‘Real Self’. For use of a better description, a state that is free from the ego. Enjoy…
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I shall now expound to you the method of inhering in the All-Inclusive and undifferentiated Reality. This teaching is secret and difficult to understand, even with the help of the various Scriptures. Even celestial beings and practitioners of spiritual discipline who hold it dear acquire it only with great difficulty. Follow what I say and, inhering in Reality, be happy.
My son! Realized sages say that absolute inherence in Reality means becoming one with the immutable, tranquil, non-dual Absolute Supreme Being which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss and the Self of all, and making the wandering mind one with it like the proverbial milk and water, absolutely free from all concepts.
When one scrutinizes this variety of manifestation one realizes that it does not really exist and that everything is the undifferentiated Absolute Supreme Being, which is not different from the Self and oneself. Let this knowledge become firm with you by constant practice. Then, discarding everything, become one with the Supreme Absolute Reality and, remaining as that, be happy.
Abide as That which does not, when scrutinized, show any duality in the form of these various objects or the least trace of cause and effect, That in which, when the mind is absorbed in It, there is not fear of duality at all – and be always happy, unshakable and free the fear arising from duality.
Abide as That in which there are neither thoughts nor fancies, neither peace nor self-control, neither the mind nor the intellect, neither confusion nor certainty, neither being nor non-being, and no perception of duality – and be always happy, unshakable and absolutely free from the fear arising from duality.
Abide as That in which there is neither any defect nor good quality, neither pleasure nor pain, neither thought nor silence, neither misery nor austerities practiced for getting rid of misery, no “I-am-the-body” idea, no objects of perception whatsoever – and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there is no work, physical, mental, verbal or of any other kind, neither sin nor virtue, neither attachment nor its consequences – and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there are neither thoughts nor a thinker, neither the arising nor the preservation nor the dissolution of the world, nothing whatsoever at any time – and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there is neither the Self-limiting Power of Illusion nor its effects, neither knowledge nor ignorance, neither separate soul nor Lord of Creation, neither being nor non-being, neither world nor God – and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there are no gods and their worship, none of the three Divine aspects of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer or meditation on them, no Supreme Formless God nor meditation on Him – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That in which there is neither maturing bondage to the way of good works nor searching devotion to the Divine nor self-knowing wisdom, no fruit of action to be enjoyed, no supreme state separate from it, no means of attainment or object to be attained and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there is neither body nor senses nor vital forces, neither mind nor intellect nor fancy, neither ego nor ignorance, nor anyone who identifies himself with them, neither the macrocosm nor the microcosm and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there is neither desire nor anger, neither greed nor delusion, neither ill-will nor pride, no impurities of mind and no false notions of bondage and liberation – and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there is no beginning or end, no top or bottom or middle, no holy place or god, no gifts or pious acts, no time or space, no objects of perception – and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there is no discrimination between the real and the unreal, no absence of desire, no possession of virtues, or yearning for liberation, no competent Master or disciple, no steady knowledge, no realized stage, no liberation while alive or after death, nothing whatsoever at any time – and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
Abide as That in which there are no Holy Scriptures or sacred books, no one who thinks, no objection or answer to it, no theory to be established, no theory to be rejected, nothing other than one Self – and be always happy, free from the least trace of thought.
Abide as That in which there is no debate, no success or failure, no word or its meaning, no speech, no difference between the soul and the Supreme Being, none of the manifold causes and consequences – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That in which there is no need for listening, reflecting and practicing, no meditation to be practiced, no differences or sameness, otherness or internal contradictions, no words or their meanings – and be always happy, free from the least trace of thought.
Abide as That in which there are no fears of hell, no joys of heaven, no worlds of the Creator God or the other Gods, nor any object to be gained from them, no other world, no universe of any kind – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That in which there is nothing of the elements nor even an iota of their derivatives, no sense of “I” or “mind”, no fantasies of the mind, no blemish of attachment, no concept whatsoever – and be always happy, without the least trace of the thought.
Abide as That in which there are none of the three kinds of bodies (gross physical, subtle internal, or formless and most subtle), dreaming and sleeping), none of the three kinds of souls (those who are fully prepared to advance spiritually, those who are not fully prepared, and those who are not prepared at all), none of the three kinds of afflictions (those of the body, those caused by the elements, and those caused by subtle beings and powers), none of the five functional layers of being (gross physical, vital, emotional-psychic, mental, and that of formless bliss), no one to identify himself with them – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That in which there is no sentient object, no power to hide Reality, no difference of any kind, no power of projecting unreal objects, no power of any other kind, no false notion about the world – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That in which there are no sense organs or anyone to use them, That in which transcendent bliss is experienced, That which is absolutely immediate, That by realizing and attaining which one becomes immortal, That by becoming which one does not return to this cycle of births and deaths – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That, on realizing and experiencing the bliss of which, all joys appear to be the joys of That, That which, when clearly known to be oneself, shows there is nothing apart from oneself, and, knowing which, all kinds of separate souls become liberated – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That, on realizing which to be oneself, there is nothing else to be known, everything becomes already known and every purpose accomplished – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That which is attained easily when one is convinced that one is not different from the Supreme Absolute, That which results, when that conviction becomes firm, in the experience of the Supreme Bliss of the Real, That which produces a sense of incomparable and complete satisfaction when the mind is absorbed in It – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That which leads to the complete cessation of misery when the mind is absorbed in It, and the extinction of all ideas of “I”, “you” and “another,” and the disappearance of all differences – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That in which, when the mind is absorbed in It, one remains without a second, nothing other than oneself is seen to exist and incomparable bliss is experienced – and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
Abide as That which is undifferentiated Existence, undifferentiated Consciousness, undifferentiated Bliss, absolutely non-dual, the undifferentiated Absolute Reality – and with the firm conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That which is “I” as well as “you” as well as everyone else, is the basis of all, is one without anything else whatsoever, is extremely pure, the undifferentiated Whole – and with the firm conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That in which there are no concepts or anything else whatsoever, the ego ceases to exist, all desires disappear, the mind becomes extinct and all confusions come to an end – and with the firm conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That in which there is no awareness of the body, or the various functions of manifest existence, no perception of objects, That in which the mind is dead, the soul becomes one with the Reality, thoughts dissolve and even one’s convictions no longer hold – and with the firm conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That in which there is no longer any meditative spiritual practice or ignorance or knowledge or activities of any kind, that which is the Supreme Reality – and with the firm conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That in which, when one is completely merged with It, one experiences pure bliss, never experiences misery, sees nothing, does not take birth again, never thinks oneself to be a separate individual, becomes the Supreme Being and with the conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That which is truly the Supreme Absolute Reality, the Supreme Formless God, the absolutely pure Being, the Supreme State, Absolute Consciousness, the Supreme Truth – and with the conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That which is the absolutely pure Supreme Being, absolute Bliss, the supremely subtle Being, the Self-Effulgent, non-dual and undifferentiated One – and with the conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That which is absolute Truth, supreme Tranquility, eternal Being, absolutely attributeless, the Self, the absolutely undifferentiated Supreme Being – and with the conviction that you are That, be always happy.
Abide as That which is everything from the experiential point of view and nothing from the absolute point of view, Existence – Consciousness-Bliss, always tranquil, with nothing separate from It, the self-existent Being –and with the conviction that you are That, be always happy.
I have thus, O Nidagha, clearly explained to you the state of being one with the Supreme Being. By constantly thinking that you are the undifferentiated Supreme Being you can attain that state and enjoy constant bliss. There after, having become the Supreme Absolute Reality, you will never experience the misery that comes from identification with birth and death.
“Everything is the Supreme Being, which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, and I am That” By constantly cultivating this pure thought, get rid of impure thoughts. Then, my son, discarding even that thought and always inhering in the State of Fullness, you will become the non-dual and undifferentiated Supreme Being and attain liberation.
Pure and impure thoughts are a feature of the mind. There are no wandering thoughts in the Supreme Being. Therefore, abide as That and, free from the pure and impure thoughts of the mind, remain still like a stone or a log of wood. You will then be always happy.
By constantly thinking of the undifferentiated Supreme Being and forgetting thereby all thoughts, including the thought of the Supreme Being, you will become the all-comprehensive Supreme Being. Even a great sinner who hears and understands this teaching will get rid of all his sins and become the undifferentiated Supreme Being.
The endless textbooks of spiritual instruction have already prescribed meditation for attaining purity of mind. In order that those who have become pure in mind may easily attain liberation and, realizing that they are absolute and boundless Bliss, remain still like a stone in the undifferentiated and all-comprehensive Supreme Formless God, the nature of this immaculate state has been expounded by me.
Therefore, attaining purity of mind by constantly thinking that everything that is known is the Supreme Being and that Supreme Being is oneself, and thereafter abiding in the state of complete identity with the Absolute Reality, liberation can be attained here and now. I have spoken the truth. In this manner, Sage Ribhu expounded the true and full state of being to Nidagha.
When one is convinced that one is always That which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss and abides as That in a state of complete identity, one casts off the unreal bondage of identification with birth and death and attains liberation. This is the significance of the highly blissful mood and dance of our Supreme and undifferentiated God.
Be free of the ego…
Monday, January 26th, 2009What is the ‘ego’? How does it operate in our lives? How can we transcend the ego? These are all very important questions that deserve in-depth consideration because, as most on the spiritual path know, the whole game is the game of the ego.
However, I don’t want to bore you with yet another theoretical discourse on the ego – but rather take this subject head on as an experiential reality. Those on a conscious spiritual journey will inevitably take up this topic again and again and shed more light on this fascinating, profound and cunning illusion that constantly effects our lives and even our dreams.
Firstly, we need to clarify what is meant by ‘the ego,’ as there are innumerable interpretations of this word in different traditions. The definition of the ego being used for the purpose of this article is as follows: The ego is a mechanism that creates ‘personal identification with anything limited or external.’
What this definition means practically, is that, when we consider our sense of ‘Self’ or ‘Me’ as anything whatsoever to do with what we can see, feel, sense, hear etc. (including people, places, possessions or even ideas), then we are acting/operating from the point of view of the ego. The ego limits our experience of ourselves as unlimited beings, pure consciousness, into an experience of the false self, the limited ‘i’ (the little ‘i’). Its job is to make us very short sighted. It turns us into children who can’t see beyond limited pleasures of now into the future. Little children do not understand the length of an hour, the ego does not understand eternity.
If our sense of ‘I’ or ‘Me’ is based on anything limited and temporary, then we are in the grasp of the ego, the false self, the limited self, the non-self illusion. The basic and undeniable fact is the body you perceive to have now as you read, and all that is associated with it, will die and end one day. This is a fact of life.
The ego does not like us to think of this. It prefers we think we will always be young, that we will always have a certain job or status and does not accept the fact that there is an end to all that it is based upon. It is like a cancer that relies on the host to exist and grow, then destroys the host and, ironically, dies itself.
The ego is a mechanism that condenses the experience of an eternal, unlimited being that is innately free and boundless, into the personified experience of ‘i’ or ‘me’ as a set of limitations such as: ‘I am so and so, I live in Hawaii, I like oranges, I am a mediator, I am good at x, I don’t like y, This is ‘my’ work, ‘my’ ideas, ‘my’ blog, these are my clothes, my wife, my children, I had various problems as a child, I went to this school, etc. etc. etc… Every one of these statements is a statement from the ego. The ‘Real You’ is unlimited and cannot be defined by such things in space and time. The Self is eternal. How can the Self ever be any of the limited experiences that come and go like clouds in the eternal sky?
The witness of life’s events is not the events or the sum total of the events. The real Self is eternally stable and outlasts all events and changes – it goes on after the death of the body. Nothing can destroy the true Self. Like the screen that a movie is played on does not get burnt when there is an image of fire, nor does it get wet when an ocean is projected, in the same way, the witness, the constant Self, is separate from the projections of light and exists aside from all the day to day experiences of the character on the screen, the limited self, the experience.
When someone addresses You as a person, bodily image or a human being on the screen, they are not addressing You* (the eternal being of light, who is far more than the sum of the bits and pieces of the person), they are addressing a character in a play, the limited, non-self. The ego is the mechanism that claims what is essentially ‘just happening’ as ‘me’. It says ‘I did it, this is MINE, I am this’, like claiming a cloud to be ‘mine’ just because you have been watching it move across the skyline for a while. In Reality, everything simply happens.
Lets test this.
If you were to be fully aware of the clear distinction between the One who is eternally you (the Presence, the Spirit) and the body/ego/’i', then you would never take offense at anything anyone said, nor would you be upset by ‘failure’, or excited by ’success’. It is all just happening on the screen of consciousness and You remain eternally the same. Nothing is lost nor gained. Everything is perfect just as it is.
From a truly spiritual point of view, as an eternal being, everything that happens is seen as an entertainment, as no more than a cartoon show. From this state of freedom and non-attachment, you are living in Grace, in the lap of the Divine, you are seeing life as it really is… a divine play. Not good, not bad, it just is.
Ask yourself: How often do I have this experience? How often do I experience the Divine Flow, the Eternal Presence or Pure Grace? In this state, you feel that everything is happening by its own hand, where there is a clearly visible perfection that runs through everything, effortlessly and permanently…you are relaxed, you can let go and allow, you are an instrument, you need nothing and have attained everything. This state is to be free of the ego.
Everything else is tainted by the limitations of the ego. To feel ‘I am doing this’, ‘Why is this happening?’, ‘This is my duty, this is my thing’, ‘I own this,’ etc. - all of this is the ego. It is the limited sense of self trying to take charge of life and pretending to exist as a temporary hologram – and nothing more. Things are happening and will continue to happen regardless of your claim that ‘I did it’.
Stop for a moment now.
Notice that your experience is constant. Try and see if you can stop doing anything. If you are really the one who is doing it, then you will also be able to stop doing it.
Try for yourself right now. Try to stop your doing, your thinking. If you are really the creator, then you will be able to stop your creation now at will…
Do you notice something inside of you is at work, planning, seeing, thinking…? That is the ego at work… It is on a mission to get things, to achieve, to feed itself. The one who watches silently is who you are. The stronger you identify with That, the more free you will be.
Know the ego by its incessant drive to get something ‘better’ in the never present future at the expense of the experience of the Now. Only Now can you experience who you are. Only Now in this moment can you open up to the Grace of God. Only Now can you be free.
To understand this more, here are some famous passages from the Ribhu Gita, taught by Sri Ramana Maharishi. Read them slowly and with enjoyment…
Soul Food
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
The drama, the play, the creation, the movie is not here to provide nourishment for a spiritual being. It is not and can not. The movie is entertainment, not soul food. There is a huge difference. For sustenance, the soul needs soul food. You can’t eat the food on a movie screen, can you? You can’t change a pre-written script, you can’t make what is unreal, real.
There is nothing to attain from this movie. Nothing to change.
As a soul, you need soul love, soul food. You need Divine Sustenance, eternal sustenance; pure peace and infinite abundance. You need to bathe in the Ocean of love, swim in the eternal waves of bliss and breathe in the sky of all eternity. This alone is capable of providing nourishment. The rest is no more than an empty puppet show for children.
Change Your Life: Free Meditation Timer
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
I have to say that to maintain a state of constant ease and grace, nothing compares to stopping and taking a step back into eternity on a regular basis.
After over 10 years of spiritual practice, I have come to realize that life is a moment to moment experience, a second by second awareness and nothing helps me maintain a high state of consciousness better than regular breaks where I can settle back into peace.
For this, the most effective thing I have found (since I spend a considerable amount of time on the computer) is to have a ‘meditation timer’ going off regularly – reminding me to stop and consider the deeper things in life…
I have included the links here for you to download this free software yourself. Personally, I found every 20 minutes is an ideal interval between bells, as I can see how much I am aware of the more unlimited aspects of life during that period and it also allows me to see how productive I have been.
A huge fan of the 80/20 principle I love to make sure my time is actually spent in a worthwhile way both in terms of feeling wonderful at every moment (main priority) and also getting tasks done with ease, grace and total efficiency.
By having a nice Tibetan bowl sound every 20 minutes, I am able to remain in the zone, have consistently wonderful days and produce high quality, powerful and enjoyable work.
When I forget to turn on the timer for whatever reason, I find my day is comparatively wasted and considerably less enjoyable. The difference is of day and night.
If you would like to try this practice for yourself, download some of this FREE software below. You can, of course, use it as an actual meditation timer – which is what it was originally designed for!
FOR MAC
http://philcastillo.gaia.com/blog/2006/12/free_meditation_timer_software
http://wcrawford.org/2006/11/09/meditation-timer-12/ This is what I use. It’s perfect.
FOR PC
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-meditation-timer-v2-2-0.html
http://wareseeker.com/download/buddhabell-meditation-timer-1.0.4.rar/1f7e17b11
You may find that every hour works better for you or whatever. Try it and find out for yourself.
Take it to the next level
Another powerful tool that takes this practice to the next level is to listen to some beautiful 60 second meditations every hour. This is a project I was involved with in 2006 and I can’t recommend it enough. There are 20 1-minute meditations that you can put on your ipod or computer and play them every hour.
If you have an ipod, you can create alarms so they play automatically. It’s a bit fiddly, but it’s worth it if you’re a bit tech savvy. It’s a beautiful experience to glide effortlessly into sweet meditation without doing anything…
You can download these powerful meditations below for free. Enjoy
