Consciousness
Envisioning a Better World
~ With Imagination and Faith
“Imagination is everything.
It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand,
while imagination embraces the entire world,
and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
~ Albert Einstein
“You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one”
~ John Lennon, “Imagine”
“Is all that we see or seem
but a dream within a dream?”
~ Edgar Allen Poe
“Your thoughts create reality. The most pragmatic way to create world peace is to use your power of visualization. Think Peace, Act Peace, Spread Peace, Imagine Peace. Your thoughts will soon cover the planet. The most important thing is to believe in your power. It works.”
~ Yoko Ono
“Faith is a light of such supreme brilliance that it dazzles the mind and darkens all its visions of other realities;
but in the end when we become used to the new light,
we gain a new view of all reality transfigured and elevated in the light itself.”
~ Thomas Merton
“On a long journey of human life,
faith is the best of companions;
it is the best refreshment on the journey;
and it is the greatest property.”
~ Buddha
“Faith is the highest passion in a human being.
Many in every generation may not come that far,
but none comes further.”
~ Soren Kierkegaard
“Faith is different from proof;
the latter is human, the former is a gift from God.”
“The heart has its reasons that reason does not know.”
~ Blaise Pascal
“Faith—in life, in other people, and in oneself—is the attitude of allowing the spontaneous to be spontaneous, in its own way and in its own time.” . . .
“Faith is, above all, open-ness—an act of trust in the unknown.”
~ Alan Watts
John Lennon
October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980
Introduction
Dear Friends,
The above quotations about imagination and faith, and the following poetic sutra-essay and embedded videos, are posted as a tribute to departed hero John Lennon, on his recent October 9, 83rd birthday anniversary. John’s lasting legacy as a charismatic and visionary populist leader who imagined a peaceful planet fulfilling our common needs, is discussed in comments after the essay/poem.
Envisioning a Better World
~ With Imagination and Faith
Just as dreamers ‘create’ their dreams,
together we are a ‘dream-team’,
dreaming our world into being;
And, consciously or unconsciously creating a ‘common dream’.
Together, we are awakening to the greatest “secret of secrets”:
That we are not mere powerless perceivers of our “reality”,
but also its co-creators –
That we interdependently co-create our reality with our imagination, thoughts, words and deeds;
That everything we think, do or say changes our world in some way;
That our worldly “reality” depends upon the light of awareness with which we envision, experience and co-create it.
As we are awakening, we are discovering our true nature as Infinite Potentiality, and we are becoming infused with abiding faith in Nature and our Self, and in the impenetrable Mystery beyond every form or phenomenon.
As we are awakening, we are also discovering that our great gift of imagination can immeasurably help us live harmonious, creative, and loving lives.
We are learning – as Einstein taught us – that
what we imagine is “the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
So, as we awaken with abiding faith and love,
together let us “imagine” – like martyred hero John Lennon – that
“Someday …. the world will live as one”.
AND SO SHALL IT BE!
Ron Rattner
Just as dreamers ‘create’ their dreams,
together we are a ‘dream-team’,
dreaming our world into being;
And, consciously or unconsciously creating a ‘common dream’.
Together, we are awakening to the greatest “secret of secrets”:
That we are not mere powerless perceivers of our “reality”,
but also its co-creators –
That we interdependently co-create our reality with our imagination, thoughts, words and deeds;
That everything we think, do or say changes our world in some way;
That our worldly “reality” depends upon the light of awareness with which we envision, experience and co-create it.
As we are awakening, we are discovering our true nature as Infinite Potentiality, and we are becoming infused with abiding faith in Nature and our Self, and in the impenetrable Mystery beyond every form or phenomenon.
As we are awakening, we are also discovering that our great gift of imagination can immeasurably help us live harmonious, creative, and loving lives.
We are learning – as Einstein taught us – that
what we imagine is “the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
So, as we awaken with abiding faith and love,
together let us “imagine” – like martyred hero John Lennon – that
“Someday …. the world will live as one”.
AND SO SHALL IT BE!
Ron Rattner
Ron’s Recitation of “Envisioning a Better World
~ With Imagination and Faith”
Ron’s Comments on “Envisioning a Better World
~ With Imagination and Faith”:
Dear Friends,
The foregoing poetic sutra-essay is a tribute to departed hero John Lennon, on his recent 83rd birthday anniversary. Lennon – like Dr. King and Malcolm X – was martyred at age forty at the pinnacle of his powers, but he bequeathed to us a lasting legacy of unrelenting aspiration and inspiration for planetary peace and love.
Recent US presidential election politics have revealed that most Americans are justifiably dissatisfied with US empire policies and economics; that they especially object to extreme economic inequality, unjustly favoring the super-rich 1% at the expense of almost everyone else, caused by an ever warlike imperial government with much more hypocrisy than democracy.
John Lennon was and remains a charismatic and visionary populist leader who imagined a peaceful planet fulfilling our common needs and deepest desires for a radically new era when our “world will live as ONE.”
Lennon recognized that whatever our political, cultural, generational, or geographical labels or perspectives, we all share overriding common needs and aspirations. That as Humankind we share the same web of life, the same precious Earth ecology, the same aspirations for health and happiness and for just and loving societies serving basic needs of all life on a peaceful planet.
To honor John Lennon on his recent 83rd birthday, I’ve embedded below two live performances of John singing “Imagine”, plus written lyrics. As we listen to him projecting our heartfelt aspirations, let us join together with faith, to envision and co-create a wonderful new era when our “world will live as ONE.”
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
John Lennon singing “Imagine”
“Imagine”
Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
~ John Lennon
Awakening to Ever Present Synchronicity
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“There are no mistakes, no coincidences,
all events are blessings given to us to learn from.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful
for the evolution of your consciousness.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“As I look back upon my own life, I see how many events – which at the time appeared horribly painful or unnecessary – contained remarkable lessons which I sometimes did not understand until many years later. Now life appears to me – more and more – as a gorgeous Persian rug. Seen from underneath (that is, from the ordinary human viewpoint), it may be a mess of loose strands, knots, pieces of wool hanging in a disorderly manner; but seen from above – from another level of perspective – what perfect order, harmony and beauty!”
~ Pierre Pradervand
“Synchronicity is an ever present reality for those who have eyes to see.”
~ Carl Jung
“According to Vedanta, there are seven states of consciousness.
Each of the seven states of consciousness represents an increase in our experience of synchronicity, and each progressive state moves us closer to the ideal of enlightenment.”
~ Deepak Chopra, SynchroDestiny
“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control.
It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star.
Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”
~ Albert Einstein
“There is no such thing as chance;
and what seems to us merest accident
springs from the deepest source of destiny.”
~ Friedrich Schiller
”All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions.
Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.”
~ Buddha
“The Now is as it is because it cannot be otherwise.
What Buddhists have always known, physicists now confirm:
there are no isolated things or events.
Underneath the surface appearance,
all things are interconnected,
are part of the totality of the cosmos
that has brought about the form that this moment takes.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
Q. “Are only the important events in a man’s life,
such as his main occupation or profession, predetermined,
or are trifling acts also, such as taking a cup of water or
moving from one part of the room to another?”
A. “Everything is predetermined.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Nothing perceivable is real.
Your attachment is your bondage.
You cannot control the future.
There is no such thing as free will. Will is bondage.
You identify yourself with your desires and become their slave.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
In the mind there is no absolute or free will;
but the mind is determined to wish this or that by a cause,
which has also been determined by another cause,
and this last by another cause, and so on to infinity.
~ Baruch Spinoza
Marc Chagall – The Praying Jew
Ron’s Introduction to Awakening to Ever Present Synchronicity.
Dear Friends,
At age ninety, I now retrospectively view my entire precious human lifetime as consisting of meaningful and interdependently interrelated synchronicities from it’s beginning on election day November 8th, 1932.
And I’m gratefully enjoying much greater happiness than ever before imagined, with continuing harmonious earth-life synchronicities. But this life-stage has come only after many years of living and learning from my life’s experiences.
Many people experience and wonder about amazing coincidences that can’t be explained rationally or statistically. Those “coincidences” have opened some of us to reflect upon their possible spiritual or psychical causes. And such investigation has advanced our spiritual awakening.
The following two memoirs stories tell about an amazing “coincidence” (almost forty years ago) which awakened me to the immense spiritual importance of synchronicities and have helped me find unimagined happiness.
I didn’t realize the existence and immeasurable spiritual importance of synchronicities until January 2013, when my daughter Jessica, a professional photographer, asked me – and I agreed – to accompany her to Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco’s largest Jewish synagogue. She had been engaged to do a photo shoot there of a Bar Mitzvah “coming of age” ceremony, and asked me to act as a focal point so she could check out lighting and lens requirements at various places where photos might be appropriate.
So, at the synagogue I stood for Jessica at various places, including the raised platform or ‘bimah’ at the front of the vast synagogue sanctuary, so she could focus on the place where the Bar Mitzvah honoree would be standing. Thereupon, I nostalgically recalled how twenty nine years earlier I stood at that very place at the Bar Mitzvah of my then thirteen year old son Joshua.
The two Bar Mitzvah stories were originally published soon after the SillySutras website was launched, when the second noteworthy Bar Mitzvah synchronicity reminded me of the original one.
As hereafter explained, I’m again posting both stories because we are living in extraordinary times when countless synchronous events provide infinite opportunities for realization and radiation of our Eternal spiritual Self-identity as Divine Light and LOVE
Therefore, I pray you’ll find awakening inspiration from the two related Bar Mitzvah stories.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Awakening to Ever Present Synchronicity Background
In my “Channeling” for Joseph Campbell memoir I recounted how forty years ago, in October, 1983, I began realizing that at times I was receiving ideas from higher dimensions when – as Board Chairman of CIIS, an academic institution – I bestowed on Dr. Joseph Campbell an honorary PhD. degree.
Four months after the Campbell investiture ceremony, in January, 1984, I participated in two more important investiture ceremonies involving an amazing “coincidence” which proved especially significant for me because it aroused my initial awareness of and curiosity about synchronicities.
Before that pivotal “coincidence”, I had been largely unaware of synchronicities or their evolutionary importance. But since then synchronicities have become ever more meaningful in my spiritual life.
As explained in my above introduction, I originally wrote about that 1984 inauguration “coincidence” experience because twenty nine years later I was reminded of it by another noteworthy Bar Mitzvah synchronicity at the identical place where the first one happened.
Prior to my son Joshua’s Bar Mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El, I met with one of the Emanu-El associate rabbis who informed me that I was to accompany Joshua to the raised platform or ‘bimah’ at the front of the sanctuary, where I would introduce him to the congregation and place on his shoulders a prayer shawl or tallit, as a ‘coming of age’ mantle. Whereupon he would recite a portion of the Torah (Jewish bible) and give a talk. Then the rabbi gave me mimeographed templates of suggested introductory remarks, but encouraged me to offer my own.
Soon thereafter, an ‘inner voice’ dictated and I quickly wrote the following words:
“Lord God, Divine Master, we remember Thee with deepest devotion and reverence;
with unshakable faith in Thee and the perfection of Thy Way;
and, with unspeakable gratitude for Thy blessings
which are beyond comprehension or imagination.“On this blessed day, we affirm to Thee our devotion, faith and gratitude
by presenting for initiation into the congregation of Israel
our beloved son Joshua David Rattner.We pray that his life may be a Divine blessing
in the ancient and holy tradition of Israel
of service to all people and to all of Thy creation.”*
A few days later, on Saturday morning January 28th, 1984, I recited those words at the Bar Mitzvah, with a prescribed opening prayer and then placed a prayer shawl (or tallit) on Josh’s shoulders.
That very evening, I was “coincidentally” scheduled (by The Lone Arranger) to make another investiture presentation at the San Francisco Unitarian Church, also one of city’s largest religious sanctuaries.
CIIS was publicly inaugurating there a new President, Dr. John Broomfield. And as CIIS Board Chairman I was to officially welcome him.
Upon arriving early Saturday evening at the Unitarian Church, I was informed for the first time that I was to place a shawl around Dr. Broomfield’s shoulders as a symbolic mantle of authority. Thereupon, I quickly “channeled” and wrote down the following words:
“Dr. Broomfield I invest in you, with this mantle,
the authority of President and the position of Professor of History and Comparative Studies of the California Institute of Integral Studies.
The entire CIIS community welcomes you with support and love.
We look forward to many fruitful and auspicious years under your leadership.”
Soon thereafter I addressed those words to Dr. Broomfield and placed the mantle on his shoulders as we stood at the Church pulpit.
Dr. John Broomfield and Ron Rattner, 1/28/84
Courtesy of California Institute of Integral Studies archives
Then, Dr. Broomfield gave his evening acceptance address while wearing the mantle of authority I’d placed on his shoulders, just as Josh had recited a Torah bible portion and given a talk while wearing the prayer shawl ‘coming of age’ mantle I placed on his shoulders.
Never before and never yet again, have I placed a shawl or mantle of symbolic authority on anyone’s shoulders.
Why did it happen twice on January 28, 1984?
Why in January 2013 was I asked by my daughter to stand at the same Synogogue sanctuary place where I stood twenty nine years earlier?
*Postscript.
A few days after the Bar Mitzvah ceremony a Congregation Emanu–El assistant rabbi asked and received my permission to print my “channeled” message to Josh as a template for other parents’ use.
Also, at age ninety, I continue to gratefully remember the Divine with deepest devotion and reverence. And more than ever before, as my Spiritual SELF – Eternally immanent all manifestation as ONE Divine LOVE.
Ron’s 2023 concluding comments about his Awakening to Ever Present Synchronicity
Dear Friends,
At age ninety, I am gratefully enjoying much greater happiness than ever before imagined, with continuing harmonious earth-life synchronicities. But this life-stage has come only after many years of living and learning from my life’s experiences.
Prior to my midlife spiritual awakening, I was unfamiliar with the word “synchronicity” (coined by C.G. Jung in the 1950’s)
However, like many others I occasionally noted unusual “coincidences” in linear time which could not be explained rationally or statistically. Then, following a 1977 miraculous week of pre-cognitive events in New York City, I began questioning the reality of “coincidences” in linear time.
But it was not until the foregoing amazing 1984 apparent “coincidence” events that I was first awakened to the immense spiritual significance of synchronicities, suggesting that “There are no mistakes, no coincidences, that “all events are blessings given to us to learn from.” [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross]
Since the SillySutras website was later launched, I’ve considered Synchronicity one of its most important spiritual categories. (So there has always been a tab-highlighted “Synchronicity” category link at the top of every website page.)
Thus I’ve published and republished both the above original 1984 “coincidence” story, and the second noteworthy synchronicity story which reminded me of the first story, since it happened at the same place where the first one happened.
Because of their spiritual significance both stories have been told and retold today, to further our awareness and appreciation of synchronicities, and thereby to help us find happiness through spiritual awakening.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Forgiving the Past
To BE LOVE Now
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“To understand everything is to forgive everything”
~ Buddha
“It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned.”
~ Saint Francis of Assisi, peace prayer
“To err is human; to forgive, Divine.”
~ Alexander Pope
“Forgiveness is the demonstration that you are the light of the world. Through your forgiveness does the truth about your Self return to your memory. Therefore, in your forgiveness lies your salvation.”
~ A Course in Miracles
“If you are harboring the slightest bitterness toward anyone, or any unkind thoughts of any sort whatever, you must get rid of them quickly. They are not hurting anyone but you. It isn’t enough just to do right things and say right things – you must also think right things before your life can come into harmony.”
~ “Peace Pilgrim
“Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins,”
~ Ecclesiastes 7:20
“Life can be found only in the present moment.
The past is gone, the future is not yet here,
and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment,
we cannot be in touch with life.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
“There is only one time when it is essential to awaken.
That time is now.”
“That which is timeless is found now.”
~ Buddha
“Always say “yes” to the present moment.
What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is?
What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now?
Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you, rather than against you.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Life is NOW or never,
Life is NOW forever,
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“If the doors of perception were cleansed
everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”
~ William Blake
“Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things,
man will not himself find peace.”
~ Albert Schweitzer
“The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are.
Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.”
~ Albert Schweitzer
“Place your burden at the feet of the Lord of the universe
who is ever victorious and accomplishes everything.
Remain all the time steadfast in the heart,
in the Transcendental Absolute.
God knows the past, present and future.
He will determine the future for you and accomplish the work.
What is to be done will be done at the proper time.
Don’t worry. Abide in the heart and surrender your acts to the Divine.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“The more you struggle to live, the less you live.
Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing.
Instead, surrender to what is real within you,
for that alone is sure….you are above everything distressing.”
~ Baruch Spinoza
“May you find grace as you surrender to life.
May you find happiness, as you stop seeking it.
May you come to trust these laws and inherit the wisdom of the Earth.
May you reconnect with the heart of nature and feel the blessings of Spirit.”
~ Dan Millman
Marc Chagall – The Praying Jew
Ron’s Introduction to Forgiving the Past
To BE LOVE Now
Dear Friends,
As a ninety year old faith-based optimist, I have explained in recent postings that we are experiencing an illusory low energy Earthly ‘reality’ of third dimension [3D] ego-mind space/time/and duality separation from each other and Nature, but that I now optimistically foresee our imminent quantum-leap ascension to a New Reality beyond unavoidable Earthly ego-mind illusions of seeming separation from Source.
Thus, as a global family of empathetic humans we are about to achieve a “critical mass” transformation enabling us to resolve our apparent Earth-life ‘critical mess’, by following our Sacred Heart’s innate empathy, compassion and LOVE for all people and all Life everywhere.
So today’s posting is dedicated to inspiring our newly elevated view of Forgiving the Past To BE LOVE Now – to inspiring our heartfelt surrender of illusions about space/time/and duality Earthly ego-mind ‘reality’ with ever-abiding Faith in our Eternal existence as ONE Divine LOVE.
Returning to “Godliness”
In lunar/solar new moon and equinox seasons of major religious ‘holy days’ we are often reminded that our spiritual goal is returning to “godliness” – to Ultimate Reality. This memoirs posting explains how we can advance our evolution toward attainment of that goal, by clearing past mental conditioning to increasingly be here NOW in the precious present.
Because this posting coincides with the Jewish High Holy Days, it emphasizes Yom Kippur communal practices of:
(1) non-judgmental forgiveness or atonement of supposed transgressions or ‘sins’ by or against us; and of
(2) annulment or rescission of obsolete and unhelpful private intentions, resolutions, or vows to ourselves or God.
Thus it explains that such practices, which are premised on societal awareness of inevitable limitation and fallibility of all incarnate humans, can be universally beneficial in advancing everyone’s spiritual evolution.
Also it explains why our spiritual evolution can be furthered by other practices or activities which help us quiet the mind and clear mental pre-conditioning to increasingly live moment by moment in the precious present, with Love as the supreme unifying principle of Life.
Religious Teachings of Forgiveness
Most major religions teach the importance of forgiving or atoning for transgressions committed by or against us – our “sins”. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism teach forgiveness.
“Sins” are often considered acts or omissions violating moral or ethical codes, with emphasis on what is wrong. But the original meaning of “sin” in Greek is to miss the mark – like an archer missing the target.
“According to Christian teachings, the normal collective state of humanity is one of “original sin.” Sin is a word that has been greatly misunderstood and misinterpreted. Literally translated from the ancient Greek in which the New Testament was written, to sin means to miss the mark, as an archer who misses the target, so to sin means to miss the point of human existence. It means to live unskillfully, blindly, and thus to suffer and cause suffering. Again, the term, stripped of its cultural baggage and misinterpretations, points to the dysfunction inherent in the human condition.”
~ Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
When sins are considered ‘missing the mark’ from ignorance rather than malevolence, expiation requires that we focus on what is right, and on how to get back ‘on target’, rather than on what was wrong with mistaken acts or omissions.
Recognition and transcendence of “sins”
Thus to transcend the negative, we realize the positive.
“There is only one perpetrator of evil on the planet: human unconsciousness. That realization is true forgiveness. With forgiveness, your victim identity dissolves, and your true power emerges – the power of Presence. Instead of blaming the darkness, you bring in the light.”
~ Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
Yom Kippur: Jewish Day of Atonement for “Sins”
In the Jewish tradition, the highest of High Holy Days is Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement and forgiveness. While fasting on that day, observant Jews communally confess their wrongs and ask Divine forgiveness, humbly acknowledging that there are none amongst them so righteous that they have not sinned.
“Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins,”
~ Ecclesiastes 7:20
Recognizing the inevitability of ‘sin”, the Torah enjoins Jews to return to a righteous path with a process of societal repentance and reparation called teshuvah. “Teshuvah means returning to God and godliness.”; and returning to God is the essence of Judaism. ~ Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro,“Open Secrets”, pp.12-13
Forgiveness as returning to At-one-ment with “Godliness”
The process of returning to “godliness” which is the essence of Judaism is also central to all other major theistic religions.
Eastern religions emphasize “freedom” as an ultimate spiritual Reality and goal beyond thought or ego – beyond human comprehension, imagination, description or belief – which can only be known experientially, not rationally or mentally. (See https://sillysutras.com/what-is-freedom-question-and-quotes/)
All enduring religious and spiritual wisdom traditions recognize need for human transcendence of ego’s optical illusion of our imagined separation from each other and Nature; of our returning psychologically to a state of “At-one-ment” and self-identity with Universal Awareness – which is our ultimate Essence, and our ultimate destiny.
Ron’s Concluding Comments
We are here to learn and to demonstrate divine LOVE. But if we behave fearfully or selfishly, instead of lovingly and compassionately, we inevitably ‘miss the divine target mark’, and thereby we ‘sin’. And if we miss our mark and ‘sin’, we’ll inevitably suffer karmically from the law of causality. So how do we avoid ‘sinning’, and atone for past ‘sins’?
First, we must become aware of how ‘sins’ happen.
On investigating, we learn that human “sins” and sufferings are karmically inevitable and unavoidable while we unknowingly perceive “through a glass darkly” with conditioned ego(i)-minds. Thereby we realize that all our perceptions are illusory projections of past conceptions, which obscure our experience of the timeless NOW.
Thus, we learn that our space/time causality reality is like a persistent illusion – a mental mirage; and we discover that
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live, [but] modes in which we think.”, that “the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion”, and that “our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
Such new-found awareness can reveal simple solutions to previously persistent behavioral problems, from levels of consciousness beyond those which unknowingly caused our mistaken ‘sins’. For example, the Buddha taught that: “to understand everything is to forgive everything”.
So we may insightfully discover that a fundamental solution to our ‘sinning’ problems is to forgive NOW (in the precious present), all mental mistakes which we and others have unknowing made.
That “to err is human; to forgive is Divine.”
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Choosing to Live in Hard Times
as The Best of Times
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,
. . . . and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
~ 1 John 4:18
“Deep down, at our cores, there are only two emotions:
love and fear.
All positive emotions come from love,
all negative emotions from fear.
From love flows happiness, contentment, peace, and joy.
From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler – When You Don’t Choose Love You Choose Fear
“The choice that frees or imprisons us
is the choice of love or fear.
Love liberates. Fear imprisons.”
~ Gary Zukav
“Fear and Love cannot coexist.”
“So choose Love
And ever BE
Fearlessly FREE!”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“The way is not in the sky.
The way is in the heart.”
~ Buddha
“As far, verily, as this world-space extends,
so far extends the space within the heart…”
~ Chandogya Upanishad 8.1.3
“If there is love in your heart,
you don’t have to worry about rules.”
~ Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas
“Forces beyond our control can take away
our freedom to choose how we will respond to an outer situation.”
“When we are no longer able to change that situation –
we are challenged to change ourselves.”
~ Viktor E. Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning [edited by Ron Rattner]
“When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing — nothing.”
“We should seek not so much to pray, but to become prayer.”
~ Saint Francis of Assisi
“Our prayers should be for blessings in general,
for God knows best what is good for us.”
~ Socrates
“Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
~ Matthew 21:22
Remember with gratitude,
Life is beatitude –
Even its sorrows and pain;
For we’re all in God’s Grace,
Every time, every place, and
Forever (S)HE will reign!
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron’s Introduction to Choosing to Live in Hard Times as The Best of Times
Dear Friends,
At age ninety, my mortal physical body has been considerably weakened by age, symptoms from near death taxicab rundown injuries nine years ago, and post-pandemic lock-down restrictions closing public toilets and preventing my daily walks by SF Bay, and other usual activities.
However, though so weakened by body age, edicts and injury symptoms, I’m gratefully happier than ever before in this long precious human lifetime, with every day a bonus, and every breath a blessing.
Therefore, this memoirs posting explains with the above sutras and quotations, and the following comments how I’m able to psychologically and behaviorally live happily in current post-pandemic hard times.
Regardless of illusory but unavoidable Earthly ego-mind fears, I’ve remembered my eternal identity as infinitely powerful Divine LOVE. And that such ego fears and Love cannot coexist here.
So I’ve gratefully chosen to awaken each day by remembering and BEING Fearlessly FREE as Divine LOVE, in the following new ways:
1) All my daily procedures and practices prioritize spiritual over material activities, with nonjudgmental intention to help all other sentient Earth-beings.
2) They include simplification of usual routines, and undoing unneeded ideas and behaviors.
3) Daily practices include meditations, prayers, and mantras, blessing all sentient beings, and bestowing increased happiness for all people with whom I have face to face, telephone or internet customer service contacts.
Therefore, the above sutras and quotations and the following explanatory comments are posted to encourage and help us live happily in hard times.
Ron’s unusual ancestral and birthday background
Over a century ago both my maternal and paternal ancestors fled Ukraine to escape from Tsarist persecutions for their Jewish religious practices. Each of my parents were Rattner surname first cousins, whose families all lived near Kiev. And my father and his extended family fled for their lives from a Ukrainian village similar to the fictional village portrayed in Fiddler on the Roof, the popular Broadway play and film.
Into that unusual Rattner surname Ukrainian lineage, I was born on election day November 8th, 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was first elected 32nd President of the USA, during “hard times” of the 1930’s and a great global depression, when many were unemployed hungry and suffering from intense fear and exploitation.
In his first inaugural address FDR wisely observed that
“The only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt’s New Deal programs
The “hard times” of the 1930’s led to Roosevelt’s pioneering New Deal programs (like Social Security) benefiting most Americans, public works projects, financial reforms and beneficial regulations.
For example, the WPA (Works Project Administration) was established and federally funded to employ most unemployed people not only on crucial public works projects, but also to further the arts. Hence there were projects employing artists, musicians, actors, and writers.
In prior postings, I’ve shown that the most spiritually advanced societies have honored all their art and artists, who communicate deep feelings of instinctive spiritual wisdom beyond words.
And Roosevelt’s New Deal era programs wisely began by honoring Nature, art and artists in those hard times. As 20th century precedents they can inspire our chosen behaviors in current 21st century hard times.
Instead of following our “leaders”, we can each claim our unlimited power as ONE Eternal LOVE to fearlessly and lovingly follow our Sacred Heart until each unique sacred soul is dharmically dissolved in timeless Eternal ONENESS as Divine LOVE.
Our “leaders”
For eons, masses of Earthly humans (experimentally forgetting their common Divine birthright as Eternal beings of love and light, and thus fearfully believing themselves separate in space and time from each other and Nature), have been hierarchically exploited and ruled through religious, military, or political dogma by very few self-proclaimed leaders who’ve been obscenely rich, or allegedly infallible royal beings.
As psychopaths without morality, they’ve become dominant in most major human governments and empires. And most people have accepted and followed these leaders without questioning their psychopathically selfish motives even though they constitute less than 1% of Earthly humanoids.
But gradually an increasing number of people have morally refused to follow these rulers, unless apathetic, indoctrinated, or intimidated.
And such refusals are becoming crucial since these autocrats can exist only in low energy matrix biospheres, like Earth’s third density illusory world of space/time and duality. They cannot exist in elevated biosphere energies of infinitely potential fifth dimensions and above. So these evil rulers keep frightening and intimidating people to prevent their energetic ascensions to higher dimensions.
Reasons for choosing to live lovingly in current hard times
Even in this ominous era, I’m spiritually optimistic about survival of Human Earth-life, despite unprecedented global warfare, suffering and turmoil, dire “end times” predictions of cataclysmic climate collapse, and Earth’s domination by evil autocrats, because:
1) I’ve realized that “Our destiny is Divinity” since we’re not what we think we are, but Infinite Eternal Awareness!
2) As unique immortal souls we are each dharmically destined to be dissolved in timeless Eternal ONENESS as Divine LOVE beyond unavoidable third dimension space/time duality[3D] Earthly ego-mind fears and illusions. We each transcend inescapable ego-mind fears and illusions at rates dependent upon whether our unique thoughts and behaviors are loving or selfish – helpful or harmful.
3) Moreover, there is no death. Death is just an energy transition, until we’re formlessly dissolved as ONE LOVE. It’s an illusory belief that our lives end when our mortal bodies no longer function.
4) Karmically, as each unique soul evolves to ever ascending energy planes, it transcends all ego-mind fears to exist lovingly and dharmically, forever free of unhappiness and disharmony until dissolved in timeless Eternal ONENESS as Divine LOVE beyond unavoidably fearful Earthly third dimension space/time duality[3D] “realty”.
5) While subjected to ever fearful ego-mind, we inevitably exist with karmic cause and effect sufferings from the earthly illusion of space/time/duality “realty”. But the more we intentionally lovingly follow our Sacred Heart the more we enjoy happy lives, and the less we suffer from perpetually unknown karmic causes and conditions.
6} Ultimately, we’ve never been separated from our Eternal Source Mother/Father/God. So we have nothing to fear – EVER
Conclusion, Dedication, and Invocation
We now live in an inevitably illusory and fear-pervaded low energy earthly biosphere of third dimension [3D] space/time and duality, where love and fear cannot co-exist.
As each unique soul inevitably evolves from the illusory space/time duality third dimension [3D] to ever ascending energy planes, it transcends all ego-mind fears to exist lovingly and dharmically, forever free of unhappiness and disharmony until it is dissolved as destined into Mother/Father/God,
as ONE LOVE.
The spiritual insights about Love and Fear, expressed in the above key quotations, sutras and explanatory comments, are deeply dedicated to advancing and elevating our dharmically destined transcendence of all infinitely potential ego/mind biospheres to our Eternal existence as ONE Divine LOVE.
Invocation
May these writings about choosing to live lovingly and fearlessly in current hard times inspire and advance our dharmically destined Eternal Self-identification as ONE Divine LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Only Breath ~ by Rumi
“That which permeates all,
which nothing transcends and which,
like the universal space around us,
fills everything completely from within and without,
that Supreme non-dual Brahman —
that thou art.”
~ Shankaracharya
Only Breath ~ by Rumi
Not Christian or Jew or
Muslim, not Hindu,
Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen.
Not any religion
or cultural system. I am
not from the east
or the west, not
out of the ocean or up
from the ground, not
natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all.
I do not exist,
am not an entity in this
world or the next,
did not descend from
Adam and Eve or any
origin story. My place is
the placeless, a trace
of the traceless.
Neither body or soul.
I belong to the beloved,
have seen the two
worlds as one and
that one call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner,
only that breath breathing
human being.
(Translation by Coleman Barks, from Essential Rumi)
The best things in Life are Forever FREE!
~ Ron’s Memoirs
The soul of man has been separated from its source,
wandering in exile in a strange land –
“I am stranger on earth” (Psalm 119:19-20) –
ever yearning to return to that from which it first sprang,
and cleave to the Soul of all souls.”
~ Ba’al Shem Tov, Hasidic master
The soul of man has been separated from its source,
wandering in exile in a strange land –
“I am stranger on earth” (Psalm 119:19-20) –
ever yearning to return to that from which it first sprang,
and cleave to the Soul of all souls.”
~ Ba’al Shem Tov, Hasidic master
Introduction to “The best things in Life are Forever FREE!
~ Ron’s Memoirs”
Dear Friends,
At age ninety, I’m updating my memoirs to emphasize my most significant spiritual perspectives and insights learned so far during this precious human lifetime.
Today’s “Forever FREE!” posting was originally inspired by “The Best Things in Life Are Free”, a frequently popular song composed in 1927 for the musical play “Good News” during the economic stock market boom that preceded the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash, which led to a worldwide great economic depression.
In prior postings, I’ve shown how all musical art can communicate deep feelings of instinctive wisdom beyond words, until we gratefully Awaken Spiritually as ONE LOVE beyond time.
And I’ve found these lyrics to be spiritually insightful and inspiring:
Prelude
“There are so many kinds of riches,
And only one of them is gold.
Though wealth you miss,
Remember this :
Worthwhile things cannot be bought or sold.
The best things in Life are FREE!”
Refrain
“The moon belongs to everyone—
The best things in life are free
The stars belong to everyone
They gleam there for you and me
The flowers in spring, the robins that sing
The sunbeams that shine
They’re yours!—They’re mine!
And love can come to everyone—
The best things in life are free!”
My following summary and comments about today’s post will help explain the spiritual prescience of these lyrics; that although we are each unique, we are each dharmically destined to Awaken Spiritually as ONE LOVE beyond time.
Summary
Always remember that our ultimate identity is immortal Cosmic Consciousness as ONE LOVE.
We’ve appeared on Earth to experimentally experience illusionary time, space and duality as ego-embodied supposedly separated forms, but we’ve never really been separate from Mother/Father/God – our Eternal Source.
To be alive is to BE LOVE. Infinite Eternal LOVE is all that exists. As Jesus taught ‘We and our Mother/Father/God are One’.
There is no death. Death is just an energy transition, until we’re formlessly dissolved as ONE LOVE. It is an illusory belief that our lives end when our mortal bodies no longer function.
So we’ve nothing to fear. Nor need we accept as “real” any perceived Earth-life threats to our immortality.
Remembering that our separation from ONE LOVE never happened, we’ve nothing to fear – EVER.
Background
Over forty five years ago, I began seeing Earth-life as an experiment in dense 3D space/time, with each human soul on a unique dharmic path to solving that energy experiment by forever following their Heart.
Recently, I’ve been optimistically predicting that our Earthly experiment in time will soon end, as a “critical mass” of human souls imminently awakens from eons of matrix thralldom. I foresee that Mother/Father/God will (as destined) soon honor Earth-Mother’s Nature to preserve it, rather than allow it to cataclysmically end.
I’m optimistic because our separate 3D Earth-world of mental fears and sufferings was not Divinely planned, but collectively chosen by human souls to experimentally experience illusionary time, space and duality, as an imagined separate reality.
And I’m especially optimistic since I’ve realized that Human souls have nothing to fear – EVER, because our illusionary perceived earth-life separation from Mother/Father/God as Infinite Eternal LOVE never happened.
Ron’s explanations of why The Best Things In Life Are Forever FREE!
1) What Humans call “Life” is an illusory concept in space/time and duality.
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live,
they are modes in which we think.”
“The distinction between past, present, and future
is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live,
they are modes in which we think.”
“The distinction between past, present, and future
is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
2) Time is an illusion, of every Earthly human soul’s separation from its Eternal Source.
The soul of man has been separated from its source,
wandering in exile in a strange land –
“I am stranger on earth” (Psalm 119:19-20) –
ever yearning to return to that from which it first sprang,
and cleave to the Soul of all souls.”
~ Ba’al Shem Tov, Hasidic master
The soul of man has been separated from its source,
wandering in exile in a strange land –
“I am stranger on earth” (Psalm 119:19-20) –
ever yearning to return to that from which it first sprang,
and cleave to the Soul of all souls.”
~ Ba’al Shem Tov, Hasidic master
3) The human soul’s fate in space and time is subject to free-will karmic cause and effect.
“Every Cause has its Effect;
Every Effect has its Cause;
Everything happens according to Law;
Chance is but a name for Law not recognized;
There are many planes of causation,
But nothing escapes the Law.”
~ The Kybalion
“Every Cause has its Effect;
Every Effect has its Cause;
Everything happens according to Law;
Chance is but a name for Law not recognized;
There are many planes of causation,
But nothing escapes the Law.”
~ The Kybalion
4) In illusory space/time and duality, the soul remains in form as a potentially infinitely expanding energy entity, until dissolved as destined into Mother/Father/God, its Source.
5) As each unique soul evolves to ever ascending energy planes, it transcends all ego-mind fears to exist lovingly and dharmically, forever free of unhappiness and disharmony.
“Love is what we were born with.
Fear is what we learned here.
The spiritual journey is the relinquishment – or unlearning – of fear
and the acceptance of love back into our hearts.”
~ Marianne Williamson
“The world is a prison and we are the prisoners:
Dig a hole in the prison and let yourself out!”
~ Rumi
“You have been a prisoner of a little pond,
I am the ocean and its turbulent flood.
Come merge with me, leave this world of ignorance.
Be with me, I will open the gate to your love.”
~ Rumi
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,
. . . . and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
~ 1 John 4:18
“Love is what we were born with.
Fear is what we learned here.
The spiritual journey is the relinquishment – or unlearning – of fear
and the acceptance of love back into our hearts.”
~ Marianne Williamson
“The world is a prison and we are the prisoners:
Dig a hole in the prison and let yourself out!”
~ Rumi
“You have been a prisoner of a little pond,
I am the ocean and its turbulent flood.
Come merge with me, leave this world of ignorance.
Be with me, I will open the gate to your love.”
~ Rumi
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,
. . . . and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
~ 1 John 4:18
6) The unique key for each soul’s transcendence of fear is found within each One’s Sacred Heart.
“The way is not in the sky.
The way is in the heart.”
~ Buddha
“
You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.”
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
~ Rumi
“There is a light that shines beyond all things on Earth,
…
beyond the highest, the very highest heavens.
This is the light that shines in your Heart.”
~ Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7
“The way is not in the sky.
The way is in the heart.”
~ Buddha
“
You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.”
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
~ Rumi
“There is a light that shines beyond all things on Earth,
…
beyond the highest, the very highest heavens.
This is the light that shines in your Heart.”
~ Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7
7) Until dissolved as formless ONENESS, each soul is a multi-dimensional fractal hologram, appearing infinitely in form.
“There is an endless net of threads throughout the universe.
The horizontal threads are in space.
The vertical threads are in time.
At every crossing of the threads, there is an individual.
And every individual is a crystal bead.
And every crystal bead reflects not only the light
from every other crystal in the net,
but also every other reflection throughout the entire universe.”
~ Indra’s Net – from the Vedas of Ancient India, 7000 years old
“Objective reality does not exist” ….
“the universe is fundamentally a gigantic … hologram”
~ David Bohm
“Every particle of the world is a mirror.
In each atom lies the blazing light of a thousand suns.”
~ Mahmud Shabestari, Sufi Mystic, 15th century
“There is an endless net of threads throughout the universe.
The horizontal threads are in space.
The vertical threads are in time.
At every crossing of the threads, there is an individual.
And every individual is a crystal bead.
And every crystal bead reflects not only the light
from every other crystal in the net,
but also every other reflection throughout the entire universe.”
~ Indra’s Net – from the Vedas of Ancient India, 7000 years old
“Objective reality does not exist” ….
“the universe is fundamentally a gigantic … hologram”
~ David Bohm
“Every particle of the world is a mirror.
In each atom lies the blazing light of a thousand suns.”
~ Mahmud Shabestari, Sufi Mystic, 15th century
8) Ultimately, Humanity’s illusionary perceived earth-life separation from Mother/Father/God – our Eternal Source never happened. So we’ve nothing to fear – EVER.
“Nothing Real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“Perception is a mirror not a fact.
And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“Time, space and causation are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen.
In the Absolute there is neither time, space nor causation.”
~ Swami Vivekananda
“Nothing Real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“Perception is a mirror not a fact.
And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“Time, space and causation are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen.
In the Absolute there is neither time, space nor causation.”
~ Swami Vivekananda
Conclusion and Dedication
As each unique soul evolves from the illusory space/time duality third dimension [3D] to ever ascending energy planes, it transcends all ego-mind fears to exist lovingly and dharmically, forever free of unhappiness and disharmony.
This “Forever Free” posting is deeply dedicated to inspiring each of us
to lovingly follow our Sacred Heart until it is dissolved as destined into Mother/Father/God,
as ONE LOVE
Invocation
May these writings inspire and encourage
each of us to lovingly follow our unique Sacred Heart
until it is dissolved as destined into Mother/Father/God
as ONE LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Al Jolson, Mario Lanza, and Frank Sinatra Singing The best things in Life are FREE!
Cartesian Critique:
On Confusing Thinking With Being:
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“If you correct your mind,
the rest of your life will fall into place.”
~ Lao Tzu
“The mind is a bundle of thoughts.
The thoughts arise because there is the thinker.
The thinker is the ego.
The ego and the mind are the same.
The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Ego is the biggest enemy of humans. ”
~ Rig Veda
“When the mind is completely empty –
only then is it capable of receiving the unknown.” ……
“Only when the mind is wholly silent, completely inactive, not projecting,
when it is not seeking and is utterly still –
only then that which is eternal and timeless comes into being.”
~ J. Krishnamurti
“To think or not to think,
that is the question!”“Thinking and Being can’t coexist.
So stop thinking and start Being. ”“Forget who you think you are
to BE what you really are. ”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Lau Tzu
Cartesian Critique: On Confusing Thinking With Being ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction to Cartesian Critique
Dear Friends,
At age ninety, I’ve updated and again posted the following “Cartesian Critique” essay to encourage and inspire our transcendence of fearful and harmful egotistic thoughts and behaviors, so that we’ll live happily and in harmony with each other and Nature.
The essay challenges the formerly well-known philosophical proposition deduced and assumed by influential 17th century French philosopher René Descartes –
“I think, therefore I am”.
Descartes’ philosophy, known as Cartesian dualism, incorrectly assumed separation between the human body and mind. Although it became very influential in Western philosophy, Cartesian dualism ignored contradictory ancient Eastern non-dualist philosophies of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, which have been scientifically validated by 20th century quantum physicists.
This Cartesian Critique essay (with above and following quotations and comments) explains how Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” proposition confused ego/mind thinking with Being as thoughtless universal awareness.
The essay’s message is particularly important in current fearful times, when we humans are the only species creating huge crises which disrupt and threaten life on our precious planet by mistakenly self-identifying with our unique thoughts rather than with Universal Consciousness of all Reality.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Cartesian Critique: On Confusing Thinking With Being.
Descartes deduced his presumed separate existence with thought.
He reasoned: “I think, therefore I am”.
But wasn’t that putting Descartes before his Source?
Isn’t it apparent that we exist when not thinking?
Isn’t thinking optional, while Being is perpetual?
Why are we called human “beings”, and not human “thinkings”?
Isn’t existence much more than just thinking?
Don’t we exist in thoughtless states?
Doesn’t Being encompass conscious and subconscious
phenomena beyond thought – like emotions, feelings, sounds,
tastes, sensations, moods, dreams, autonomic processes, etc.?
Don’t all thoughts comprise and concern past ideas,
whereas life is ever lived in the Now,
never in the past or the future?
Aren’t we most aware of our existence
when we are thoughtlessly/choicelessly mindful?
What might Descartes say,
if he were here today?
Ron’s Comments on Confusing Thinking With Being.
Dear Friends,
The above Cartesian Critique essay questions French philosopher René Descartes’ famous proposition “I think, therefore I am”, and it explains how Descartes confused thinking with being; and the ego/mind with universal thoughtless awareness.
This essay was composed following my midlife spiritual awakening as universal consciousness, and acceptance of Eastern non-duality philosophy which contradicts Descartes’ duality philosophy of body-mind separation. Thereafter, I realized that “Ego is the biggest enemy of humans”, and that our transcendence of Ego is the ultimate aim of all enduring spiritual teachings.
So on learning about Descartes’ incorrect “I think, therefore I am” assertion, I composed the above critique.
From a non-duality perspective, Descartes mistakenly deduced his supposed separate existence with egotistic-thought, which paradoxically placed Descartes before his Source, and violated both Eastern and Western wisdom teachings cautioning against reversing the natural order of things.
For example a Western proverb cautions: “Don’t put the cart before the horse.”
And ancient Taoist wisdom enjoins us to go with the flow, without mental resistance:
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow.
Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
“If you correct your mind,
the rest of your life will fall into place.”
~ Lao Tzu
Conclusion and Dedication
Honoring Nature is especially important in current troubled times, when we humans are the only species creating huge ecological and other crises which are disrupting and threatening life on our precious planet by mistakenly self-identifying with our fearful egotistic beliefs and behaviors of existing separately from each other and Mother Earth, rather than as the Eternal Source of our existence.
So this posting is deeply dedicated to inspiring us to transcend our fearful beliefs and behaviors, and to BE in harmony with each other and Mother Nature.
Invocation.
May these writings inspire and encourage us
to BE beyond thought;
and thereby to transcend fearful
egotistic beliefs and behaviors,
enabling us to live in harmony
with each other and Nature.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Crying For God
“The Gift Of Tears”
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Jesus wept.”
~ John 11:35
“As a [thirsty] stag longs for flowing streams,
so longs my soul for thee, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?
My tears have been my food
day and night.
~ Psalm 42.1-3
“The fruits of the inner man begin only with the shedding of tears.
When you reach the place of tears,
then know that your spirit has come out from the prison of this world
and has set its foot upon the path that leads towards the new age.”
~ Isaac of Nineveh, 7th C. Orthodox Christian Saint and Mystic
“Crying to God for five minutes is equal to one hour of meditation.”
“The state that we attain by calling and crying to God
is equal to the bliss that the yogi experiences in samadhi.”
~ Mata Amritanandamayi (Ammachi)
“There comes a holy and transparent time
when every touch of beauty opens the heart to tears.
This is the time the Beloved of heaven is brought tenderly on earth.
This is the time of the opening of the Rose.”
~ Rumi
“When the tears course down my cheeks,
they are a proof of the beauty and grace of my beloved.”
~ Rumi
“There is no liquid like a tear from a lover’s eye.”
~ Rumi
“There is a sacredness in tears.
They are not the mark of weakness, but of the Power.
They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues.
They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love.”
~ Rumi
“Do you want deliverance from the bonds of the world?
Then weeping profusely, you will have to cry out from the bottom of your heart:
Deliver me, Great Mother of the World, deliver me!….
When by the flood of your tears the inner and outer have fused into one,
you will find her whom you sought with such anguish,
nearer than the nearest, the very breath of life, the very core of every heart….”
~ Anandamayi Ma
“The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears.”
~ Native American proverb
What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.
~Jewish Proverb
“There is a palace that opens only to tears.”
~ Zohar (source of Kabbalah)
“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”
~ Psalms 126:5
“Weeping may endure for the night,
but joy cometh in the morning”
~ Psalms 30:5
“Man is like an onion.
When you peel away the layers,
all that is left is tears.”
~ Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, Hasidic master
“He who loves me is made pure; his heart melts in joy.
He rises to transcendental consciousness by the rousing of his higher emotional nature.
Tears of joy flow from his eyes, his hair stands on end, his heart melts in love.
The bliss in that state is so intense that, forgetful of himself and his surroundings,
he sometimes weeps profusely, or laughs, or sings, or dances;
such a devotee is a purifying influence upon the whole universe.”
~ Srimad Bhagavatam 11.8 (Lord Krishna to His disciple Uddhave)
Q. “Under what conditions does one see God?”
A. “Cry to the Lord with an intensely yearning heart and you will certainly see Him.
People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children.
They swim in tears for money. But who weeps for God?
Cry to Him with a real cry.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
“When the child refuses to be comforted by anything except the mother’s presence, she comes.
If you want to know God, you must be like the naughty baby who cries till the mother comes.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
“You know, if you weep before the Lord,
your tears wipe out the mind’s impurities of many births,
and his grace immediately descends upon you.
It is good to weep before the Lord.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna (to Sivananda)
“When, hearing the name of Hari or Rama once,
you shed tears and your hair stands on end,
then you may know for certain that you do not
have to perform such devotions as the sandhya any more.
Then only will you have a right to renounce rituals;
or rather, rituals will drop away of themselves.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna
‘Where does the strength of an aspirant lie?
It is in his tears.
As a mother gives her consent to fulfill the desire of her importunately weeping child,
so God vouchsafes to His weeping son whatever he is crying for”
~ Sri Ramakrishna
“Devotional practices are necessary only so long as tears of ecstasy do not flow at hearing the name of Hari.
He needs no devotional practices whose heart is moved to tears at the mere mention of the name of Hari.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna
“The waves belong to the Ganges, not the Ganges to the waves.
A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as ‘I am such an important man’ or ‘I am so and so’.
Level the mound of ‘I’ to the ground by dissolving it with tears of devotion.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna
“Even avatars have to desire to be in God in every moment.
And when avatars die, they desire with all their being to be united with God. …..
Look at Ramakrishna. How much he wept and prayed for the Divine Mother.”
~ Mother Meera to Andrew Harvey, “Hidden Journey”, Page 236
“Your tears were collected by the angels and were placed in a golden chalice,
and you will find them when you present yourself before God.”
~ St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Tears are the solution
for dissolution
of other in Mother –
Mother of All,
Mother of Mystery –
Divine Mother LOVE.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Introduction to Crying For God “The Gift Of Tears” ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Dear Friends,
At age ninety, I’m updating important memoirs with present perspectives, as I keep learning.
Today’s posting discusses and summarizes my devotional spiritual path of crying for God, with initial emphasis on the Christian idea of “The Gift Of Tears”, rather than the Hindu sacred scripture’s Bhakti path of loving devotion.
My adult crying background
In 1966 and 1971 I attended and cried on birth of my children, Jessica and Joshua. Otherwise I don’t remember crying as an adult, until my 1976 mid-life spiritual awakening at age forty three.
Then, upon initially realizing my true Self-identity as universal consciousness, rather than my mortal body, I spontaneously shed heartfelt tears for twenty four hours, and often thereafter.
Soon after that unforgettable 1976 awakening, I realized that I was crying for God, with intense longing. (See Beholding The Eternal Light Of Consciousness.)
Then after meeting my beloved Guruji, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas in 1978, I learned that I’d been immensely blessed with the spiritual path of Divine devotion – the path of Love.
My heartfelt longing and crying for God was an extraordinary spiritual blessing recognized in all devotional paths and known in Hinduism as Bhakti the path of loving devotion, and in Christianity as “the gift of tears”.
Though never a frequent flyer, I became – and remain – a very frequent crier. Devotional tears have purified my body and nervous system bestowing ‘peek experiences’ of higher states of consciousness. And I’ve regularly had numerous other experiences, feelings and sensations that have advanced my spiritual evolution.
For example, when not crying I often had what I’ve called ‘alternative LSD experiences’ of spontaneous – and sometimes ecstatic – Laughing, Singing, and Dancing. At age ninety, my singing and dancing have been limited, but I still often privately experience spontaneous outbursts of laughing, crying, and calling to God.
My experiences with Crying For God as “The Gift Of Tears”
In 1982 and 1992 I made pilgrimages to India and Italy to pay respects to Guruji and to Saint Francis of Assisi, who had become my favorite saint and an archetype to be emulated.
In India I experienced unforgettable déja vu at various holy places especially at Dakshineshwar in the room where Sri Ramakrisha Paramahansa lived and gave satsangs.
In Italy I spent over a week in and around the beautiful Umbrian town Assisi where Saint Francis was born and resided for most of his extraordinary life. There, with intense tear-laden emotion of devotion, i had some of the most memorable spiritual experiences of this blessed ninety year lifetime.
Discovering’ that Saint Francis of Assisi and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa were incarnate prophets of Love
After learning that I’d been immensely blessed with Divine devotion – the path of Love, I became most inspired by and identified with Saint Francis of Assisi and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa as incarnate prophets of Love. Both were extremely devotional ascetics with “The Gift of Tears” who renounced worldly pleasures, and with whom I’ve identified more than any other saint or sage yet known to me.
How Saint Francis emulated Jesus
Saint Francis of Assisi was and is the most renowned Christian emulator of Jesus Christ. In midlife he renounced and relinquished all his worldly possessions and privileges as son of a wealthy merchant, to live reclusively in the Umbrian countryside; and later to establish an exemplary order of Franciscan Friars who gave away all possessions and survived only on alms while preaching in the streets to common people. Saint Francis so completely identified with Jesus that as apostle of Love, near the end of his earthly life, he became the first saint in history to miraculously receive crucifixion stigmata.
How Sri Ramakrishna Saw Jesus Merge Into His Heart
Born a Hindu brahmin, Sri Ramakrisha attained Self-Realization by following Vedic devotional practices to the Divine Mother, as well as those of all other major religions, including Christianity.
His conversion to Christianity was extraordinarily dramatic. Jesus Christ appeared to him in a Dakshineshwar garden and merged into his Heart. And he recounted to trusted devotees the following remarkable revelation of how this happened:
How Sri Ramakrishna Saw Jesus Merge Into His Heart
“There were some good pictures hanging on the walls of that room. One of those pictures was that of the child Jesus in his mother’s lap.
The Master used to say that he . . was looking intently at that picture and thinking of the extraordinary life of Jesus, when he felt that the picture came to life, and effulgent rays of light, coming out from the bodies of the Mother and the Child, entered into his heart and changed radically all the ideas of his mind!
On finding that all the inborn Hindu impressions disappeared into a secluded corner of his mind and that different ones arose in it, he tried in various ways to control himself and prayed earnestly to the divine Mother (Kali), “What strange changes art Thou bringing about in me, Mother?” But nothing availed.
Rising with a great force, the waves of those impressions completely submerged the Hindu ideas in his mind. His love and devotion to the Devas (Gods) and Devis (Goddesses) vanished, and in their stead, a great faith in and reverence for Jesus and his religion occupied his mind, and began to show him Christian padres (priests) offering incense and light before the image of Jesus in the Church and to reveal to him the eagerness of their hearts as is seen in their earnest prayers.
The Master came back to Dakshineswar temple and remained constantly absorbed in the meditation of those inner happenings. He forgot altogether to go to the temple of the divine Mother (Kali) and pay obeisance to Her. The waves of those ideas had mastery over his mind in that manner for three days.
At last, when the third day was about to close, the Master saw, while walking under the Panchavati (grove of 5 sacred trees), that a marvelous god-man of very fair complexion was coming towards him, looking steadfastly at him.
As soon as the Master saw that person, he knew that he was a foreigner. He saw that his long eyes had produced a wonderful beauty in his face, and the tip of his nose, though a little flat, did not at all impair that beauty. The Master was charmed to see the extraordinary divine expression of that handsome face, and wondered who he was.
Very soon the person approached him and from the bottom of the Master’s pure heart came out with a ringing sound, the words, “Jesus! Jesus the Christ, the great Yogi, the loving Son of God, one with the Father, who gave his heart’s blood and put up with endless torture in order to deliver men from sorrow and misery!”
Jesus, the god-man, then embraced the Master and disappeared into his body and the Master entered into ecstasy (Bhav Samadhi), lost normal consciousness and remained identified for some time with the Omnipresent Brahman (God, the Ocean of Consciousness) with attributes.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master by Swami Saradananda (pages 414 to 416).
How Jesus has inspired me
Like St. Francis and Sri Ramakrishna I too have become intensely inspired by Jesus Christ who voluntarily incarnated into a mortal human body susceptible to physical pain and suffering to inspire and prophetically guide Humankind to societal and spiritual renaissance. I regard Jesus as the historically most elevated exemplar and teacher of non-judgmental Divine Love and universal forgiveness.
Also, like countless others, I’m greatly inspired by his social justice activities of exposing Pharisees hypocrites who didn’t practice what they preached, and greedy people who defiled the sacred temple with courtyard commercial and money-lending activities.
Conclusion
Because I’ve recently been most inspired by Christian devotion to God, this memoir chapter about my spiritual path of crying for God emphasizes the Christian idea of “The Gift Of Tears”, rather than the Hindu Bhakti path of loving devotion.
And it hereafter summarizes biblical passages about tears from an opened heart as a gift of grace from God,.
“The Gift Of Tears” Biblical Background
The “Gift of Tears” is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, But it is discussed in spiritual writings since early in the Christian Orthodox Church, as an intense emotional/physiological personal spiritual experience of Divine Love that instinctively overflows in tears.
The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who as monks and nuns lived primarily in a desert of Egypt in the third century AD., and were a major influence on the development of Christianity.
They had high regard for “the gift of tears” as bestowing deep heartfelt comfort for those it blessed, and (sometimes) for others who witnessed it.
In the New Testament, Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. He also wept over the city of Jerusalem. Also Mary Magdalen, who was present at both the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus also washed Jesus’ feet with tears of repentance and love in the home of a Pharisee who considered her a prostitute.
Likewise many Christian saints wept. From St. Catherine of Sienna, to whom Jesus telepathically dictated a treatise on tears, to St. Ignatius, who was advised that his copious tears could harm his eyesight. Also as a novice, Padre Pio placed a large handkerchief on the floor in front of him because his constant tears were staining it. St. John Vianney could not speak of sinners and sins without weeping. St. Augustine said that “Tears are the heart’s blood,” referring to the tears of his mother Monica, which motivated his conversion.
Dedication
In prior memoir postings I’ve explained that I’ve accepted Eastern nondualism wisdom teachings as fundamental, while remaining primarily spiritually devotional. Also I explained that we have unique dharmic paths and perspectives. So each of us must follow our hearts for spiritual evolution.
Whatever our unique path, these SillySutras postings are deeply dedicated to helping us find ever growing happiness in life, as we lovingly evolve to ultimate Truth beyond ego-mind illusion.
May the above teachings and quotations inspire our understanding of importance of the emotion of devotion, and of longing for God with “the gift of tears”.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Remember!
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Remember God, forget the rest.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Forget who you think you are,
to know what you really are.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Just BE Divinity –
Ego-Free LOVE!.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Remember! ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Ron’s Introduction to “Remember!”
Dear Friends,
Thirty years ago, during a long post-retirement period of meditation, prayer, and introspection after my spiritual awakening, I remembered that as egos we continually exist as different illusionary separate space/time energy forms, until we’re dissolved as ONE LOVE within Mother/Father/God – our Eternal Source.
Whereupon I “channelled” (and later recorded and posted) the following sutra-poem, “Remember!”, which at age ninety I’ve re-recorded and republished today with updated sutra-sayings, quotations, and invocation.
This sutra-poem is dedicated to inspiring our heart-felt remembrance that as ego-embodied Human Souls we continuously appear and re-appear as space/time energy forms, until we’re formlessly dissolved as ONE LOVE within Mother/Father/God – our Eternal Source from which we’ve never separated.
As we deeply consider “Remember!”, may we gratefully and faithfully recall that being alive is being Love; that beyond the ego’s illusion of separation from Mother/Father/God, we eternally exist as ONE ‘dazzling Divinity’.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Remember!
Don’t forget what you knew
before you withdrew,
from dwelling in Heaven’s domain.
Recall your affinity,
with dazzling Divinity,
and in that Presence remain.
Remember with gratitude,
life is beatitude,
even its sorrows and pain;
For we’re all in God’s Grace,
every time, every place,
and
FOREVER (S)HE will reign!
Ron’s audio singing of “Remember!”
Invocation
May we ever remember and never forget
That our true identity is Divine LOVE;
That as ego-embodied Human Souls
we’ve appeared as illusionary space/time energy forms,
to faithfully follow our Heart
Until we’re formlessly dissolved as ONE LOVE
within Mother/Father/God –
our Eternal Source.
May we ever remember and never forget
That our separation from Mother/Father/God never happened.
So we’ve nothing to fear – EVER.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Advaita-Vedanta For Dummies
~ You are not what you think you are!
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Consciousness is always Self-Consciousness.
If you are conscious of anything, you are essentially conscious of yourself.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Personal entity and enlightenment cannot go together.”
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
~ John 8:32
“You are “gods”; you are all children of the Most High.”
~ Psalm 82: 6
“Your own will is all that answers prayer,
only it appears under the guise of different religious conceptions to each mind.
We may call it Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, but it is only the Self, the ‘I’.”
~ Swami Vivekananda
Essence Of Advaita
E = mc2 = Consciousness
Subject = Object = Consciousness
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Theory of Everything:
E = mc2 = Consciousness = SELF.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Sri Ramana Maharshi
Ron’s Introduction to “Advaita-Vedanta For Dummies”
Dear Friends,
Thirty years ago, after my midlife spiritual awakening and during a long post-retirement period of meditation, prayer, and introspection I “channelled” the following sutra-poem about Advaita-Vedanta.
Advaita-Vedanta means non-dualism, and is the oldest extant school of Hindu philosophy.
With the above quotations, and following explanations, this sutra-poem expresses my previously unimagined insights about our true spiritual Self-identity and ultimate Reality.
These insights are especially important now because of auspicious astrological planetary alignments, and quickened cosmic energies favorable to spiritual evolution, which are elevating a “critical mass” of humanity toward unprecedented 5D lasting happiness beyond suffering in illusory 3D matrix reality,
So I have updated this posting and dedicate it to our inclusion in the awakening “critical mass”, and attainment of lasting happiness in these extraordinary times.
May we consider and enjoy it accordingly!
Ron Rattner
“You are not what you think you are!”
You are not what you think you are:
You are not a person, or a personality.
You are not a body, or a nobody.
You are not your mind, or your thoughts.
You are infinite Eternal Awareness.
You are the screen, not the movie.
You are Rama, not the drama.
You are the glory, not the story.
You are the Whole, not your role.
So, wake up, and –
Transcend entity identity!
Ron’s audio recitation of “You are not what you think you are!”
Ron’s explanation and dedication of Advaita-Vedanta For Dummies
Dear Friends,
As revealed by the foregoing quotations and sutra-verses, we’re not what we think we are, but Infinite Eternal Awareness!
Until midlife I self-identified only with my mortal physical body, its thoughts and story, and believed that bodily death ended life.
But I was then blessed with ever increasing happiness and peace of mind, after a synchronistic spiritual awakening, which revealed previously unimagined insights about our true Self-identity and ultimate Reality. The foregoing quotations and sutra-poem summarize these insights.
Since launching the SillySutras website in 2010, I’ve been sharing these insights to inspire and encourage our ever increasing happiness and peace of mind by realizing and choosing our ultimate reality as non-duality, beyond the ego-mind illusion of being supposedly separate persons apart from each other and all sentient life-forms on our precious planet.
Such insights are especially important in current turbulent and troubled times, because they provide a rare opportunity for a “critical mass” of humankind to compassionately transform the world, by elevating us to unprecedented lasting 5D happiness beyond suffering in the illusory 3D matrix reality.
And such a “critical mass” can transcend current insanely unsustainable ecological desecration of precious planet Earth, and end barbaric exploitation of vulnerable beings and other life-forms, which threaten Earth life as we’ve known it.
Moreover, such a “critical mass” of humanity is furthered by current auspicious astrological planetary alignments, and by exceptionally quickened cosmic energies favorable to spiritual evolution.
Concluding observations and dedication
Although much of humanity continues to suffer illusory separation from each other and Nature, many others are awakening.
Deeply disturbed by irrational and immoral interruptions of their normal lives, more and more people are compassionately awakening to our sacred connection with, and deep moral responsibility to cherish and lovingly preserve, all life on our precious planet Earth.
Therefore, this updated Advaita-Vedanta For Dummies posting is dedicated to inspiring the spiritual awakening of a “critical mass” of our global family, and thereby our attainment of unprecedented happiness in these unusually troubled times, until our ultimate spiritual Self Realization – as Infinite Non-Duality Reality.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
