Thought

Finding Lasting Happiness
~ Ron’s Memoirs

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life,

the whole aim and end of human existence”

~ Aristotle
“From the moment of birth every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affects this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.”
~ H.H. Dalai Lama
“Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it.
What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“True happiness cannot be found in things that change and pass away. Pleasure and pain alternate inexorably. Happiness comes from the Self and can be found in the Self only. Find your real Self and all else will come with it.”
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Seek first the kingdom of heaven,
which is within.”
~ Matthew 6:33; Luke 17:20-21
“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to . . problems of human existence.”
~ Erich Fromm

“We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.”

~ Rumi

“There is nothing outside of yourself, look within.

Everything you want is there.

You are That.”

~ Rumi


“You are not just the drop in the ocean.

You are the mighty ocean in the drop.”

~ Rumi
“Our destiny is Divinity.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Earth-life is a round trip metaphoric journey,
on which we are destined to return to where we began.
On return, we learn – we never left.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings






Introduction to “How can we find lasting happiness?”

Dear Friends,

We’re all matriculating as supposed mortal persons on the Earth branch of the Great Cosmic University. We are here to learn lasting happiness from our life experiences, especially from our karmic successes and failures.

We don’t ‘graduate’ until we’ve learned to non-judgmentally accept everyone and everything everywhere in the Universe, (including ourselves and our enemies) with loving, compassion, and forgiveness.

Upon ‘graduation’ we find timeless happiness as LOVE, beyond all fears, pain and suffering.

And as we begin the ’second 2023 biannual Earth-school semester’, I greet you with wonderful news!

Because current global sufferings and interruptions of normal lives are awakening billions of human souls to our God-given blessings, we have unprecedented opportunities as Earth students and citizens to co-create a new and wonderful world of lasting happiness, harmony and health, with freedom, peace, and justice for all.

To explain this optimistic observation, I’ve posted the above quotations and sutra sayings, and the following Q & A essay about finding lasting happiness.

These writings follow recent SillySutras postings which revealed for us that chronological time is being quickened by unique cosmic energies, and auspicious cyclical and astrological planetary alignments, to awaken a “critical mass” of Humanity worldwide to our instinctive caring for one-another, which will bless Earth-life with an unprecedented era of Universal LOVE.

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner


Q&A Sutra Essay: “How can we find lasting happiness?”

Q. How can we find lasting happiness?

A. We can find lasting happiness upon transcending our illusionary ego-self, and Being our true SELF.

Knowingly or unknowingly, everyone wants lasting happiness.

However, most seek it futilely in worldly pleasures which are always impermanent.

But, ever abiding Happiness is our true inner nature – our eternal SELF – and our ultimate destiny.

So to find lasting happiness we must look within.

There mindfully we can uncover and eliminate all illusory ego-mind ideas which obscure awareness of our true SELF.

And upon so transcending our ego-self we can BE our true SELF,
which is the lasting happiness of Divine LOVE.



Ron’s Explanation and Dedication of “How can we find lasting happiness?”

I’ve shared the foregoing quotations, sutras and Q & A essay/poem, to help remind us of profoundly simple answers to seemingly complicated questions about happiness and suffering, and to help us discover that lasting happiness as Love is our true nature, and ultimate destiny.

These writings are dedicated to inspiring us to help heal this beautiful world with heartfelt Love, as we remember that ‘everything we think, do or say, changes this world in some way’, and realize that “Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to problems of human existence.”

Accordingly, I wholeheartedly encourage us to join billions of others worldwide as an awakened “critical mass” of humanity which will peacefully end insane and unsustainable desecration of our precious planet, and immoral exploitation of all other life forms thereon.

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

Invocation

May our current unusual fears and sufferings
prove immense disguised blessings.
May they deeply awaken our instinctive caring for one-another,
and inspire an Earth-life era of wholehearted Universal LOVE.



And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

Interdependence Way,
On Independence Day
~ A Revolution of Consciousness

“At the center of the Universe dwells the Great Spirit and —
this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.”
~ Black Elk, Oglala Sioux
“We did not weave the web of life.
We are merely strands in it.
All things are bound together. All things connect.”
~ Chief Seattle
“All things are our relatives;

what we do to everything, we do to ourselves.

All is really One.”

~ Black Elk, Oglala Sioux

“Independence is impossible!”
“Whatever we think, do, or say,

changes this world in some way.”

~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Remember God, forget the rest.

Forget who you think you are,

to know what you really are.”

~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“We are not merely mortal drops
in an ocean of ephemeral forms,
but the eternally Infinite Ocean of Universal Awareness,
appearing as drops!”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Nothing Real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God.”  

~ A Course In Miracles (ACIM)
“You are “gods”;
you are all children of the Most High.”

~ Psalm 82:6
“You are the light of the world.”

~ Matthew 5:14
“Hear O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is ONE”

~ Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29
“Though One, Brahman is the cause of the many…
The One manifests as the many,
the formless putting on forms.”
~ Rig Veda, 1500–1200 BCE
“All things come out of the One and the One out of all things.”
~ Heraclitus, 500BC
“Reality cannot be found except in One single source,
because of the interconnection of all things with one another.”
~ Leibniz, 1670
“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


Interdependence way

Interdependence Way, On Independence Day
~ A Revolution of Consciousness


Dear Friends,

Happy July 4th, 2023, US Independence Day holiday!

Almost 250 years ago on July 4th, 1776, our founding fathers declared their independence from British royal rule. Their declaration later led to the founding of the United States of America, which has become the richest and most powerful empire in the history of our precious planet Earth.

July 4th has become a popular American national holiday now celebrated by many US citizens without their mindful contemplation of its deeper meaning.

But today’s July 4th, 2023 SillySutras posting – like thousands of other prior SS postings – is dedicated to our mindful contemplation of how these Independence events can help us lead ever happier and more fulfilling lives while our eternal souls are incarnate on planet Earth in mortal physical bodies, which inevitably deteriorate and die.

As explained in the the recent “Egocide” posting, it is impossible to avoid some ego identification with consequent karmic suffering when existing incarnate on Earth, as supposedly separate from each other and all other life-forms. Only when we end our beliefs and behaviors as supposedly separate “I”-Egos, do all our sufferings end. That happens when we are ONE as an infinite Ocean of Divine LOVE, rather existing as mere separate “I”-drops in that Infinite Ocean.

As revealed by Sri Ramakrishna Paramanansa, although ego is unavoidable on Earthly incarnations, we quicken our transcendence thereof by choosing beliefs and behaviors which are loving and helpful, rather than selfish.


This posting is dedicated to inspiring our realization that until we so transcend Ego, worldly independence is impossible.

Ancient Vedic and Buddhist non-dualist scriptures have revealed that this Earth world arose from, and is interdependently part of, only ONE Eternal spiritual Source or GOD.

Therefore, until they disappear forever, all life-forms in this world always exist interdependently, not independently.

Long prior to Mid-East monotheism, the ancient Rig Veda revealed that

“Though One, Brahman [God] is the cause of the many…
The One manifests as the many, the formless putting on forms.”

And the Buddhist Heart Sutra said that everything originates only “interdependently” from emptiness [“anatta”].

July 4th, 1776, Background


On July 4, 1776, thirteen American colonies declared their independence from British royal rule, in an historic document inspired by Thomas Paine’s Deist philosophy and written by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that under “the laws of nature and of nature’s God” government is established by people to secure their life, liberty, and happiness, and is to be overthrown as illegitimate if it no longer does that.



The US founding fathers recognized, that governments and their chartered transnational organizations do not exist by Divine right; that they are established by people to serve people – not to exploit or oppress them – and that they are illegitimate unless they serve human rights and happiness.



Since July 4, 1776, “the laws of nature and of nature’s God” have prevailed, but the world has changed immensely: The thirteen North American colonies have become the richest most powerful empire in world history, much vaster than the British empire which it succeeded. Human population has grown meteorically, from approximately 800 million (with 2.5 million people inhabiting American colonies) to over 7.9 billion and growing rapidly.



Through amazing technological and scientific advances the world has become much smaller and most humans have become part of an instantly interconnected and largely interdependent global community, sharing critical information in an unprecedented new age of world-wide ecologic, economic, political and social crises and opportunities. Yet despite this amazing technological advancement much of humanity continues to suffer illusionary psychological separation from each other and Nature, fostering insanely unsustainable ecological desecration of our precious planet, and barbaric exploitation of vulnerable beings and other life-forms, which threaten extinction of all Earth life as we’ve known it.

Yet as in 1776 such psychopathic insanity is still initiated and perpetrated by a few “rulers” or “leaders”, and by greedy transnational institutions evading equitable taxation and distribution of wealth who all self-destructively thrive on always increasing their power and control over others.

Nonetheless they are still allowed by most of humankind to insanely exploit and desecrate our world.

However, in the almost 250 years since 1776, there has been an unprecedented awakening of humanity, and we are now experiencing a revolution of human consciousness with unprecedented worldwide social and cultural unrest.

Deeply disturbed by irrational and immoral interruptions of their normal lives more and more people are psychologically awakening to our sacred connection with, and deep moral responsibility to cherish and preserve, all life on our precious planet Earth.

Moreover today’s July 4, 2023, Independence Day holiday coincides with the the first of four consecutive full super-moons after the 2023 summer solstice, which spiritually and energetically is extremely sacred for both Hindus and Buddhists, as Guru Purnima (the first Guru’s birthday) and as the day when the Buddha gave his first sermon.

Beyond today’s day of spiritual sanctity, we are also experiencing exceptionally advantageous cosmic energies, and rare cyclical and astrological planetary alignments, which are energetically elevating a “critical mass” of humankind to ascend beyond illusionary Third Dimension ego consciousness toward previously unimagined Fifth Dimension heart/mind telepathic awareness.

And currently confronted with apparently imminent global catastrophe, humankind are realizing on July 4, 2023, (as did visionary English-born Deist philosopher Thomas Pain) that under “the laws of nature and of nature’s God” independence is impossible; that everything and everyone is interdependent, not independent.

So faced with possible catastrophe ending Earth-life as we’ve known it, our global human family can awaken to avert extinction by transcending critically mistaken and illusory Ego-mind beliefs in separate independence, with realization that independence is impossible; that everyone/everything is interconnected and interdependent, with no-one/nothing existing independently, except Nature’s God.

Therefore, let us use this rare opportunity to revolutionarily and compassionately transform the world, so that all life forms everywhere consciously exist cooperatively and interdependently, not selfishly and exploitively.

Closing Invocations

May we revolutionarily and compassionately transform the world!

May all life forms everywhere exist interdependently,

As uniquely conscious and cooperative instruments of Light and Love,

May we so interdependently co-create an ever better world as ONE Eternal LOVE

– Happy, Harmonious and Peaceful –

As Nature’s God ever intended it to BE!


And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

Crossroads: Labor Pains of a New Worldview:

Our urgent need for a new interdependent worldview – how we need to collectively change our beliefs to change our world – is expertly explained and portrayed in this excellent one hour documentary movie, already viewed online by over one million concerned people.


Egocide

“Ego is the biggest enemy of humans. ”
~ Rig Veda
“All troubles come to an end when the ego dies”
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
“The mind is a bundle of thoughts.
The thoughts arise because there is the thinker.
The thinker is the ego.
The ego, if sought, will automatically vanish.
The ego and the mind are the same.
The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Free of ego, living naturally, working virtuously, you become filled with inexhaustible vitality and are liberated forever from the cycle of death and rebirth.”
~ Lao Tzu
“The foundation of the Buddha’s teachings lies in compassion,
and the reason for practicing the teachings is to wipe out the persistence of ego, the number-one enemy of compassion.”
~ H.H. Dalai Lama
“The entire Buddhist path is based on the discovery of egolessness and the maturing of insight or knowledge that comes from egolessness.”
~ Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
“In essence there is and always has been
only one spiritual teaching,
although it comes in many forms.”

~ Eckhart Tolle – The Power of Now
“As ego goes,
consciousness grows,
until it Knows
– Its-SELF.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“The choice that [mentally] frees or imprisons us
is the choice of love or fear.
Love liberates. Fear imprisons.”
~ Gary Zukav
“Bondage and Liberation are of the mind alone.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
“The supreme purpose and goal for human life… is to cultivate love.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
“Have love for everyone, no one is other than you.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa





Introduction to “Egocide”

Dear Friends,

We are now experiencing exceptionally advantageous Age of Aquarius cosmic energies, and auspicious astrological planetary alignments, favorable to spiritual evolution. I optimistically foresee that these unprecedented energies and rare alignments are elevating a ‘critical mass’ of Humankind to ascend from low illusory Third Dimension Ego-mind consciousness to previously unimagined Fifth Dimension (5D) heart/mind telepathic awareness.

Therefore I’m updating and republishing postings like “Egocide” which can best benefit us from these unprecedented evolutionary opportunities.

Transcending ego is the fundamental message of all spiritual teachings, because Ego-mind is the greatest obstacle to human spiritual evolution.

According to Sri Ramana Maharshi

“The ego and the mind are the same”.
“The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.”
So, if recognized, the ego “will automatically vanish”.


Thus today’s “Egocide” posting includes above key quotations, and the following sutra-poem (with mp3 recitation), which was composed after I’d realized the crucial importance of undoing ego to transcend inevitable karmic suffering in this illusory low energy Third Dimension (3D) space/time causality duality ‘reality’.

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

Ron’s explanation of “Egocide”

Dear Friends,

The following whimsical “Egocide” poem was composed after I’d realized the crucial importance of undoing ego to transcend inevitable karmic suffering in this space/time causality ‘reality’.

For millennia spiritual teachings have identified “ego” as the fundamental impediment to spiritual evolution and realization; as “the biggest enemy of humans.” (Rig Veda ); and the “number-one enemy of compassion.” (Dalai Lama). The Dalai Lama has said that all Buddhist teachings aim “to wipe out the persistence of ego.” And Eckhart Tolle believes that transcending ego “is and always has been [the] only one spiritual teaching.”

Every incarnate Human (except for extraordinary and incorruptible Buddha-like, Krishna-like, or Christ-like beings) is in some evolutionary stage of transcending mistaken ego identity.

When required to preserve life on our precious planet, such beings rarely appear in mortal human bodies as exemplars or avatars to teach with their words and deeds.

For example as a rare exemplar of Divine LOVE, Jesus Christ inspired millions with his words and deeds of non-judgmental and merciful forgiveness, of even enemies and persecutors. So even while suffering excruciating pain on a crucifixion cross He beseeched:
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Upon Earthly incarnation, Human ego-identity is unavoidable

In the 19th Century, Hindu Holy Man and Avatar Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa appeared to demonstrate and teach how “all troubles .. end when the ego dies” , during an extraordinary fifty year lifetime in what is now West Bengal, India. By following traditional devotional practices Ramakrishna’s Eternal soul attained Hinduism’s highest God realization spiritual goal to BE dissolved and liberated into the unity of everything.

But rather than exist as Eternal bliss, Sri Ramakrishna chose to return to his mortal human body to help inspire and teach others.

Whereupon he revealed that ego-identity as a supposedly separate life-form in our low energy third dimension reality is unavoidable. But that we can choose lives and behaviors which are either loving and helpful, or selfish and harmful to others.

So, the following “Egocide” sutra-verses and above quotations are shared to inspire and encourage us to live loving and helpful lives, so we can realize and BE what we truly are – immortally ONE with Divine SELF as LOVE..

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

Egocide

Ego’s attrition
is our mission;

Egocide’s our goal.

When ego’s dead
we’ll lose all dread,

Knowing we are Soul.

Then we’ll say
that life’s a play,

Each body/mind a role;

That we’re the Glory
and not the story,

Not just parts –
but WHOLE.


Ron’s recitation of “Egocide”

Listen to



And so may it be!

Ron Rattner


“Finding Freedom” as the Spiritual message of the Passover story


“Be empty of worrying,
Think of Who Created Thought!
Why do you stay in prison
when the door is so wide open?”
~ Rumi

“You will know the truth,

and the truth will set you free.”

~ John 8:32

“Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt land
Tell old Pharaoh to let my people go.”
~ Afro-American Spiritual Song

“Free at last, free at last.
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We are shackled by illusory bonds of belief.

Freedom is beyond belief.”

~ Ron Rattner – Sutra Sayings

“There is only one central issue, crisis, or challenge for man,
which is, that he must be completely free.
As long as the mind is holding on to a structure, a method, a system, there is no freedom.”
~ J. Krishnamurti

“Freedom is not a reaction; freedom is not a choice.
Freedom is found in the choiceless awareness
of our daily existence and activity.”
~ J. Krishnamurti

“Bondage is of the mind; freedom too is of the mind.
If you say ‘I am a free soul.
I am a son of God who can bind me’
free you shall be.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa

“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him–
that moment I am free from bondage,
everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.”
~ Swami Vivekananda

All life is an effort to attain freedom from self-created entanglement;
it is a desperate struggle to undo what has been done under ignorance,
to throw away the accumulated burden of the past,
to find rescue from the debris left by a series of temporary achievements and failures.”
~ Meher Baba

“Freedom is of the nature of the soul, it is its birthright:
.. real freedom of the soul shines through veils of matter
in the form of the apparent freedom of man.”
~ Swami Vivekananda

“To acquire freedom we have to get beyond the limitations of this universe;
it cannot be found here. ….
The only way to come out of bondage
is to go beyond the limitations of [karmic] law,
to go beyond causation.”
~ Swami Vivekananda

“Liberation is our very nature. We are that.
The very fact that we wish for liberation
shows that freedom from all bondage is our real nature.”
~ Ramana Maharshi

“Spiritual freedom is freedom from all wanting. . .
When the soul breaks asunder the shackles of wanting,
it is emancipated from bondage to body, mind, and ego.
This freedom brings realization of the unity of all life
and puts an end to all doubts and worries.”
~ Meher Baba

“True freedom and the end of suffering
is living in such a way as if you had completely chosen
whatever you feel or experience at this moment.
This inner alignment with Now is the end of suffering.”
~ Eckhart Tolle

“The most fundamental message of Gautama the Buddha is not God, is not soul… it is freedom: freedom absolute, total, unconditional. He does not want to give you an ideology, because every ideology creates its own slavery. He does not want to give you a religion, because religion binds you.”
~ Osho

“We are shackled by illusory bonds of belief.
Freedom is beyond belief.”
~ Ron Rattner – Sutra Sayings

“You are truly free when you are not a person.”
~ Deepak Chopra – The Book of Secrets

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual,
“Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr. — “I Have a Dream” speech, August 28, 1963

 

“Finding Freedom”




Ron’s introduction to “Finding Freedom” as the spiritual message of the biblical Passover story
 
Dear Friends,

Happy Easter/Passover/Ramadan/Navratri/Nowruz etc. vernal holiday season!

As Passover begins today, this posting explains why metaphorically “Finding Freedom” as Eternal LOVE is the spiritual message of the biblical Passover story, and the transcendental inner goal of all non-dual religious, ethical and perennial wisdom paths.

Most people associate “freedom” with personal, political, and economic liberty.  But spiritual freedom is an extraordinarily rare transcendental state which can be inwardly attained even by those who do not enjoy external freedoms, like slaves or prison inmates.

Only after my 1976 spiritual awakening, did I begin reflecting upon and discovering inner spiritual freedom. 

My Background in “Finding Freedom”


I first deeply reflected on transcendental concepts of “freedom” during the 1950’s on learning of Abraham Maslow’s humanistic psychology theories concerning self-actuated people, and when I read “Escape From Freedom” by German-born psychotherapist Erich Fromm, who endorsed the fundamental importance of not submitting to outer-dictates from an authoritarian societal system that prescribes inauthentic beliefs and behaviors.

Though I’ve always been instinctively inner-directed, after becoming a lawyer I rarely reflected about inner “freedom” until I had a memorable face-to-face exchange with my beloved Guruji, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, just prior to his 1980 return to India. 

While then residing in my apartment, Guruji told me: “Rasik, a yogi’s body is like a baby’s body. Your body is like a prison. I am like a jailer with the prison key. I come and go as I please.”

Thereupon, I became intensely curious about Guruji’s surprising revelation that my body was “like a prison”. And I wondered how and why ‘I’ was ‘imprisoned’, and how ‘I’ could get out of ‘jail’ – free like Guruji. So I began deeply exploring inner spiritual freedom, as distinguished from personal, political, and economic freedoms.  



Soon, I was reminded of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legendary  “I Have a Dream” speech, and wondered why his words “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last” were so deeply powerful. 



Ultimately, I realized that those words were rooted in the biblical Exodus Passover story; and I intuited that spiritual “freedom” is the essential mythical message of that story.  I concluded that the Passover story symbolically emphasizes escape from outer bondage to a Divinely ‘promised land’ within – viz. escape from enslavement by mistaken beliefs in false external idols, Gods or goals to an inner ‘promised land’ of ONE eternal Divinity imminent in each of us.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is ONE!”

~ Deuteronomy 6:4


Later, I noted that Jesus powerfully alluded to spiritual freedom by prophesying:

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

~ John 8:32


So Jesus was teaching that we will find freedom (from psychologically self-imposed worldly slavery) only when we transcend entity identity, and commonly self-identify as ONE Divine spirit – the kingdom of heaven within – rather than as embodied personalities, 
supposedly separate from each other and Nature.


Ultimately, I concluded that our limited and limiting ego ideas about separate self-identity and reality confine each of us within a kind of psychological prison in which suffering is inevitable, and which restricts realization of our infinite potentialities.  



However, the masters teach and demonstrate that we can each mentally transcend that “prison” and emerge “free at last” from our self-woven karmic cocoons, no matter what our outer circumstances.  



Thus, Rumi reminded us:

“Be empty of worrying,

Think of Who Created Thought!

Why do you stay in prison

when the door is so wide open?”

~ Rumi



The ultimate possibility of getting out of thought-jail FREE is explained in the foregoing quotations and following sutra-essay.  May these writings encourage our evolution to precious inner freedom, our divine birthright.



And so may it be!

Ron Rattner


Sutra-essay: How can we find “Freedom”?

Q. What is “freedom”, and how can we experience it?



A. “Freedom” is a word with different meanings.
Here we define “freedom” as ultimate spiritual Reality beyond thought or ego – beyond human comprehension, imagination, description or belief – which can only be known experientially, not rationally or mentally.



Ultimate “freedom” is our divine birthright, our nature and our destiny. Freedom is ever NOW, never then. Knowingly or unknowingly, all people – including atheists, non-theists, and agnostics – long for “freedom”.



After mystically experiencing “freedom”, great beings like Jesus, the Buddha and Krishna have encouraged us to aspire to this ultimate transcendent experience. Mystics say that as long we self-identify only with our thoughts in ever changing space/time/causality reality we are inescapably ‘imprisoned’ in a state of psychological bondage, with inevitable suffering; that we experience ultimate “freedom” only in the present moment – the NOW – as we choicelessly self-identify with timeless universal awareness or spirit immanent in each of us. And essential non-dualistic wisdom teachings of all enduring spiritual, mystical and mythic paths allude to spiritual “freedom”.



Thus, the most important Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, is a teaching by Divine Avatar Krishna about the ultimate spiritual goal (“moksha”) of liberation or “freedom” from the cycle of death and rebirth (“samsara”).



Similarly, all of Gautama Buddha’s teachings were aimed at ending human suffering through attainment of “freedom” from mental fetters or chains (samyojana) of mistaken self-identification with samsara.



When Jesus said: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) he meant that we will experience “freedom” on realizing our true self-identity as eternal soul or spirit. And in declaring: “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30), Jesus showed that we can only find such freedom when we self-identify with ONE Divine spirit – the kingdom of heaven within – rather than as supposedly separate embodied personalities.



“Finding Freedom” is the spiritual message of the biblical Passover story.

Many Jews and Christians annually remember and ritually observe the biblical Exodus story about God miraculously rescuing Jews from bondage as slaves in Egypt, with Christians recalling that a Passover Seder dinner was Jesus’ last supper.   Some Afro-American Christians celebrate by singing the popular spiritual song “Go Down Moses”

.

The Exodus story symbolizes humanity’s eternal quest for spiritual freedom – for societal escape from enslavement by mistaken beliefs in false external Gods or goals to an inner ‘promised land’ of ONE eternal Divinity universally imminent as LOVE within each of us, regardless of religious or spiritual beliefs.  So Passover rituals of lighting outer candles, can symbolically remind us of humanity’s perpetual quest for the eternal inner light of universal freedom.



Conclusions



1) We find and experience ultimate freedom only in choiceless awareness that we are ONE Universal LOVE, beyond our apparent subject/object separateness; and beyond our beliefs, religions, ideologies or philosophies.

2) By recognizing and transcending illusory belief barriers which seem to imprison us, we are –

“Free at last, free at last!”

~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


3) The current era of worldwide turmoil and war, with global fear and suffering is paradoxically a time of both our species’ apparent catastrophic threat to all Earth-life, and an unprecedented opportunity for a wonderful new era of peace and prosperity.

4) This is impelling a “critical mass” of humankind to deeply reconsider our life purposes and priorities as sentient Earth beings instinctively seeking “freedom” as our Divine birthright.

5) Whatever our outer life circumstances, there always exists within us a God-given egoless state of “freedom” as LOVE, attainable by all humans.

Dedication

This “Finding Freedom” posting is deeply dedicated to inspiring our destined spiritual realization of that wonderful world, beyond fear and suffering, where we shall be “Free at last, free at last!”


Please enjoy and consider it’s key quotations, sutra-essay and comments, and embedded spiritual music explaining that ultimate “Freedom”, is spiritual freedom as Eternal LOVE, which is the transcendental goal of all perennial wisdom paths.

Invocation



May today’s writings and music

inspire our instinctive and destined realization
of 
a wonderful world of LOVE
where we are “Free at last, free at last.”


And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

“Go Down Moses”

Afro-American spiritual about exodus story, sung by Louis Armstrong and chorus.




Are Fools and Foolishness Scuttling “Spaceship Earth”?

Look how the caravan of civilization
has been ambushed.
Fools are everywhere in charge.
Do not practice solitude like Jesus.
Be in the assembly, and take charge of it.”
~ Rumi
“We are all astronauts on a little spaceship called Earth.”
~ Buckminster Fuller
“There are no passengers on spaceship earth.
We are all crew.”
~ Marshall McLuhan
“We must learn to live together as [sisters and] brothers,
or perish together as fools.” ..
“The choice is not between violence and nonviolence,
but between nonviolence and nonexistence.” 
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Cherish or Perish.

Co-exist cooperatively, or

Co-expire catastrophically.”

~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“The whole problem with the world is that
fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves,
and wiser people so full of doubts.”
~ Bertrand Russell
“Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
~ Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act III, scene II
“When fear becomes collective, when anger becomes collective, it’s extremely dangerous. It is overwhelming… The mass media and the military-industrial complex create a prison for us, so we continue to think, see, and act in the same way… We need the courage to express ourselves even when the majority is going in the opposite direction… because a change of direction can happen only when there is a collective awakening… Therefore, it is very important to say, ‘I am here!’ to those who share the same kind of insight.” 
~ Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power





Ron’s Introduction to Are Fools and Foolishness Scuttling “Spaceship Earth”?

Dear Friends,

Since launching this website, I have published many postings expressing deep concern that all sentient life on our precious planet Earth is experiencing potential catastrophe by following or allowing foolish leaders (representing less than 1% of humankind} to dangerously navigate “Spaceship Earth” for the 99%+ rest of us.

These postings have asserted or implied that our foolish transnational world “leaders” are malignantly or malevolenty harming countless humans and creatures, by unsustainably and unconscionably pillaging, poisoning and plundering the life systems which physically support us.

Now at age ninety, I feel impelled to correct any assertions that our “leaders”, rather than Mother/Father/God, our Source and ultimate collective identity, determine our destinies.

As I’ve explained in other recent postings, I’m optimistically confident that an ever-expanding “critical mass” of humankind is awakening to realize that we are ONE Universal LOVE, beyond our apparent subject/object separateness; and beyond our beliefs, religions, ideologies or philosophies.

Therefore, the current era of worldwide fear, suffering, turmoil and war, is paradoxically an unprecedented opportunity for a wonderful new awakened era of peace and prosperity.

Whatever our outer life circumstances, there ever-exists within us an Eternal God-given state of Universal LOVE; an egoless state of timeless joy and bliss attainable by all humans as our Divine birthright.

This ultimate Reality is impelling humankind to instinctively reconsider our life purposes and priorities as seemingly-separate sentient beings on “Spaceship Earth”. 


Bucky Fuller and “Spaceship Earth”

Buckminster Fuller ~ 1885 – 1983


In the mid-1960’s visionary American architect, inventor, and author R. Buckminster Fuller [Bucky] popularized the term “Spaceship Earth” to explain how our precious planet is a single system with its apparent separations inextricably interdependent and interconnected.

Bucky foresaw that to ensure our long-term viability and to avert global catastrophe humanity must wisely and cooperatively inhabit and operate our amazing ‘Spaceship’ – like skilled astronauts. He said:“We are all astronauts on a little spaceship called Earth.”

So I’ve wondered whether “Spaceship Earth” has become a “ship of fools”, not only because of those insanely commanding and guiding it, but also because we its apparently endangered crew tolerate such foolishness without immediately mutinying and claiming command.

Current critical times

Since inception of a purported coronavirus pandemic crisis, countless people worldwide have been experiencing much fear, anxiety, anger, hatred and other polarizing negative emotions. More people are now fearful than ever before. And such fears are constantly being psychologically fomented by mainstream news media and internet information cartels.

Whatever our political, cultural, generational, or geographical perspectives may be, we share overriding common needs and aspirations: the same precious Earth biosphere; the same aspirations for health and happiness and enjoyment of God-given rights; and for just democratic societies serving basic needs of all life on a peaceful planet.

However, until now virtually all of us in varying degrees have been suffering from an illusory sense of separation from each other and from our ONE common spiritual essence. According to mystics and non-material scientists we suffer from perception deception, mistakenly believing as ‘reality’ all we perceive as separate. But, as Albert Einstein revolutionarily revealed: “Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”

And, as Alan Watts reminds us, we’ve “been fooled” by our mistakenly perceived separation from Nature:

“The individual is separate from his universal environment only in name. When this is not recognized, you have been fooled by your name. Confusing names with Nature, you come to believe that having a separate name makes you a separate being. This is — rather literally — to be spellbound”.
~ Alan Watts

Probably each of us has subliminally known and instinctively expressed our participation in a great space/time duality hoax about our supposed separate reality and identity.   And perhaps April Fools’ days and Earth days have been expressions of that subliminal awareness.



Conclusion

Humanity needs to nonviolently take collective charge of navigating “Spaceship Earth”.

As Venerable Buddhist Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh wisely observed:


“We need the courage to express ourselves even when the majority is going in the opposite direction… because a change of direction can happen only when there is a collective awakening.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

As the 99%+ common ‘crew’ of “Spaceship Earth”, we must take charge of guiding our precious planet to assure that it is no longer unsustainably desecrated; but that it is honored by compassionately cooperative societies, rather than insanely ruled and ruined by very few purported “leaders”.

We must choose to live together as sisters and brothers rather than “perish together as fools.” 

And so shall it be!


Ron Rattner

Remembering the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2


“Music is the language of God.”
“Music can change the world.”
~ Ludwig van Beethoven

“Music is a moral law.
It gives a soul to the universe,

wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination,
a charm to sadness,

and life to everything.
It is the essence of order.”

~ Plato



”Music then is simply the result of
the effects of Love on rhythm and harmony.”
~ Plato


”Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God
and the permissible delights of the soul.”

”Harmony is next to Godliness”
~ Johann Sebastian Bach


“If only the whole world could feel the power of harmony.”
~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“

Every element has a sound,
an original sound from the order of God;
all those sounds unite like the harmony from harps and zithers.”
~ Hildegard of Bingen

Gustav-Mahler- ~ July 7, 1860 – May 18, 1911


Ron’s Introduction to Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2

Dear Friends,

In prior memoirs chapters I have explained and demonstrated how open-hearted listening to mystical music, attuned to the eternal Light of timeless LOVE, elevates our earth-energies (beyond the fearful ego-mind) to impart deep wisdom, regardless of whether we self-identify as being religious or spiritual, or with a gender, ethnicity, or as any other separate entity label.

Also, as my recent Vernal Equinox Blessings posting explains, happiness in life comes to all those who lovingly live for the happiness of others, regardless of their supposed separate self-identity.

Today’s posting features embedded YouTube video passionate performances of one of the greatest symphonies of all time, Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2 composed between 1888-1894. These performances demonstrate how mystical music elevates us beyond earthly cares and fears, to experience the eternal Light of timeless LOVE.

They are:

1) A May 2011 BBC Proms performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No.2 at the Royal Albert Hall in London by world-renowned Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel leading the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. [English translations of Mahler’s German lyrics are visually displayed for choral and solo vocal passages.]

2) A June 1995 performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection”Symphony No.2 at the Urakami Cathedral, Nagasaki, Japan, by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, plus 10 members of the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, in a “Concert for Peace” arranged and led by world-renowned Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa.
[Only Japanese translations of Mahler’s German lyrics are visually displayed for choral and solo vocal passages. English translations are posted below.]

3) A May 1974 performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection”Symphony No.2 at the Edinburgh Festival by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus with soloists – soprano: Sheila Armstrong, mezzo-soprano: Janet Baker

4) A separate YouTube video of only the triumphant conclusion of the LSO Edinburgh Festival performance which includes visually displayed English translations of Mahler’s German lyrics for choral and solo vocal passages

Although Mahler’s music is timeless, its resurrection theme is relevant to the current pre-Easter 40 day period of Lent, to prepare for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter.

And paradoxically the Nagasaki Cathedral venue for the 1995 Japanese performance can be regarded as the symbolic resurrection of a great industrial city with 263,000 people, which was totally destroyed by a US plutonium nuclear bomb on August 9th, 1945.

What is Lent?

Lent is a 40 day period of preparation to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. It is a season of faithful prayer, fasting, and alms-giving intended to open the inner Sacred Heart.

In the New Testament, Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray for forty days and forty nights. It was during this time that Satan unsuccessfully tried to tempt him ( Matthew 4:1–3).

Also in the Old Testament, the prophet Moses went into the mountains for forty days and forty nights to pray and fast “without eating bread or drinking water” before receiving the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28). Likewise, the prophet Elijah went into the mountains for forty days and nights to fast and pray “until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God” when “the word of the Lord came to him” ( 1 Kings 19:8–9).

The forty day and night fasts of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus prepared them for their work. And those who observe the forty day Lent period honor that tradition.

Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2

Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2 is one of the most popular symphonies of all time. Composed between 1888-1894, it was Mahler’s first major work that established his lifelong view of the beauty of afterlife and resurrection.

A current 5 movement version of this symphony was produced and first performed at the Royal Albert Hall London in October 2005.

It featured the following (translated to English) choral and solo vocal lyrics originally written in German by Mahler himself:

Fourth Movement

Primeval Light

O little red rose!
Man lies in greatest need!

Man lies in greatest pain!

How I would rather be in heaven.



There came I upon a broad path

when came a little angel and wanted to turn me away.

Ah no! I would not let myself be turned away!

I am from God and shall return to God!

The loving God will grant me a little light,

Which will light me into that eternal blissful life!

Fifth Movement

Rise again, yes, rise again,
Will you, my dust, after a brief rest!
Immortal life! Immortal life
Will he who called you, give you.

You are sown to bloom again!
The lord of the harvest goes
And gathers sheaves,
Us, who have died.
  
O believe, my heart, O believe:
Nothing is lost to you!
Yours, yes yours, is what you desired
Yours, what you have loved
What you have fought for!

O believe,
You were not born for nothing!
Have not lived for nothing,
Nor suffered!

What was created
Must perish;
What perished, rise again!
Cease from trembling!
Prepare yourself to live!

O Pain, you piercer of all things,
From you, I have been wrested!
O Death, you conqueror of all things,
Now, are you conquered!

With wings which I have won for myself,
In love’s fierce striving,
I shall soar upwards
To the light which no eye has penetrated!

I shall die in order to live.

Rise again, yes, rise again,
Will you, my heart, in an instant!
That for which you suffered,
To God shall it carry you!

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._2_(Mahler)

Dedication

This posting of Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2 is deeply dedicated to elevating our earth-energies (beyond the fearful ego-mind) by imparting deep wisdom, regardless of whether we self-identify as being a religious or spiritual person, or with a gender, ethnicity, or as any other separate personality or entity label.

May this commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ thereby inspire all of us to live lovingly for the happiness of others, regardless of our supposed separate self-identities.

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

May 2011 BBC Proms performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No.2




June 1995 performance at the Urakami Cathedral, Nagasaki, Japan, of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No.2



May 1974 performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection”Symphony No.2 at the Edinburgh Festival



Conclusion of the LSO Edinburgh Festival performance with English translations of Mahler’s German lyrics


Divine Harmony
~ by Swami Paramahansa Yogananda

“Harmony is the secret principle of life.”
~ Swami Paramahansa Yogananda
“You are walking on the earth as in a dream.
Our world is a dream within a dream; you must realize
that to find God is the only goal, the only purpose, for which you are here.
For Him alone you exist. Him you must find.”
~ Swami Paramahansa Yogananda



Swami Paramahansa Yogananda January 5, 1893 – March 7, 1952



Ron’s Introduction to “Divine Harmony”

Dear Friends,

To honor Swami Paramahansa Yogananda on the anniversary of his 1952 mahasamadhi, it is my grateful privilege to share with you Swami Yogananda’s enlightened aphorisms titled “Divine Harmony” as excerpted verbatim from his “Journey To Self-Realization: Collected Talks And Essays On Realizing God In Daily Life, Volume III”.

Swami Yogananda’s profound wisdom words about “Divine Harmony” are shared to help heal the world, by awakening Humankind to our spiritual Oneness and Harmony with Nature and Universal Awareness, as LOVE.

May Paramahansa Yogananda’s Divine message inspire us to BE harmonious with ourselves, with each other, and with all of Nature of which we are part.

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner


“Divine Harmony” ~ by Paramahansa Yogananda

Excerpted from Journey To Self-Realization: Collected Talks And Essays On Realizing God In Daily Life, Volume III.
 

·         Disharmony is misery and death; harmony is the joy of life.

·         We Live in Two Worlds

·         The outside world is the one in which your life engages in action and interaction.  The world inside of you determines your happiness or unhappiness, and also your fitness or unfitness, expressed in the world outside.  The hand of the One who made these worlds tuned them to harmonize with each other.  Harmony is their inherent nature.  If they seem discordant, that is the fault of those who misuse and abuse the potentials of these divine creations.

·         People are convinced that their own personal perceptions are “fact” until contrary evidence eventually proves otherwise.  Who can persuade biased individuals that the whole universe moves in an eternal cosmic rhythm, and that all irregularities are misconceptions due to limited or distorted vision?  Those who can hear, hear; those who can see, see; those who have a perceptive heart perceive the divine harmony that runs through all creation.

·         To penetrate into the soul of creation, yoga insight is required.

·         There Is Harmony at the Core of Disharmony

·         Things are not what they seem.

·         Consider everything that happens as a note in the symphony of the Cosmic Conductor.

·         Only those who partake of the harmony within their souls know the harmony that runs through nature. Whosoever lacks this inner harmony feels also a lack of it in the world.  The mind in chaos finds chaos all around.

·         How can one know what peace is like if he has never tasted it?

·         But he who has inner peace can abide in this state even in the midst of outer discord.

·         Harmony is born of love and wisdom.  These, in turn, are offspring of a heart that is pure and outreaching.  A pure heart is the result of pure thoughts.

·         Mental purity comes from a selective process by which the mind sorts good thoughts from bad, rejecting the latter and dwelling always on the former.

·         By repetition, and by reinforcement through application to action, discrimination becomes a virtuous habit.  When the mental conflict of divergent thoughts ceases, owing to the elimination of wrong thinking, there arises in one’s life an outward as well as an inward harmony.  Therefore, whenever your thoughts engage in a family quarrel among themselves, mediate their differences with wisdom and behold! Distressing conflicts will disturb you no more.

·         The mind is nature’s incinerator wherein you can burn to ashes all mental dross that is not worthy to be saved:  your waste thoughts and desires, your misconceptions and grievances, and your discords in human relationships.  There is not a single relationship, however estranged, you cannot reconcile, provided you do so first in your own mind.  There is not a single problem in life you cannot resolve, provided you first solve it in your inner world, its place of origin.  Be not intimidated by consequences, even though they be drastic.  Before you act, if you first harmonize the situation with the discriminative wisdom in your mind, the outcome will take care of itself.  A harmonized mind produces harmony in this world of seeming discord.

·         Inner harmony is a prolific source of power; it breeds strength.  Things that you think you are unable to bear, you can not only bear but change and improve.  To you is given the power that can move the world and alter the face of fate despite inharmonious outer circumstances.

·         Harmony conserves mental energy; disharmony dissipates it.

·         Harmony manifests itself as a natural goodness.  A man who cannot get along with others is one who does not get along with himself, he is always at war inwardly, ill at ease with his own nature.

·         Those who cannot find peace in their own hearts will not find it elsewhere either.

·         Harmony is the Secret Principle of Life

·         Good judgment is a natural expression of wisdom; but it is directly dependent on harmony within, which is poise of mind.  When the mind lacks harmony, it has no peace; and without peace it lacks both judgment and wisdom.  Life is full of bumps and knocks.  In the hours of trials, which demand your keenest judgment, if you preserve your mental equilibrium you will attain victory.

·         This is equally true in any type of organization – any structure that has interacting parts, from nature as a whole to human relationships to corporate businesses and spiritual societies.  Harmony is the soul of organization; disharmony is death.

·         Harmony is the fruit of common understanding.

·         Efforts to establish harmony among human beings or nations solely on the basis of economic equality of equivalence of military preparedness are sure to fail.

·         What is necessary is an understanding of the common higher necessities for the preservation and true happiness of the bodies, minds, and souls of all beings.

·         Love and forbearance are essential to the growth of harmony. Love nurtures all things that grow; it harmonizes and unites.  Hatred agitates and separates; and indifference destroys what could have been made good and beneficial.  Love is harmony and harmony is love.

·         “People have time to worry and to suffer, but feel they have no time to meditate and work toward being truly happy.”  Throw off difference and cultivate love, forbearance, and wisdom. Build your joys on the sure foundation of inner harmony. Cherish no thought that does not harmonize with the love and lawful ideals of God.  Thus will your whole life be flooded with the light and bliss of the Divine Harmony.


Invocation

May Swami Paramahansa Yogananda’s Divine message inspire us to BE
harmonious with ourselves, with each other, and with all of Nature of which we are part.

May we thereby cooperatively coexist, peacefully, harmoniously and happily, with each other and with all other life on our precious planet,
for the welfare of the World and all life.

Until ultimately we realize our common Divine Self-identity
As the Eternal light of timeless LOVE.


And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

Remembering Wisdom Beyond Words And Mind With Mystical Music ~ Ron’s Memoirs

There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.

There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care.
Some day!
Somewhere!
~ West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein music, Stephen Sondheim lyrics.

“Nothing escapes the Principle of Cause and Effect,
but there are many Planes of Causation,
and one may use the laws of the higher
to overcome the laws of the lower.”
– The Kybalion

“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.” .
“Human beings in their thinking, feeling and acting are not free
but are as causally bound as the stars in their motions.”

~ Albert Einstein

“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong.
What we have called matter is energy,
whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.”

~ 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

“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.”
~ George Orwell, “1984”

“We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.

With our thoughts, we make the world.”
~ Buddha

“A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion,
does not act as if it is real,
so he escapes the suffering.”
~ Buddha

“Perception is a mirror, not a fact.
And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”
~ A Course In Miracles

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”.
~ Shakespeare [ Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2]

“Reality cannot be found except in One single source,
because of the interconnection of all things with one another.”
~ Gottfried Leibniz, 1670

“Though One, Brahman is the cause of the many.”
~ Rig Veda, 1500–1200 BCE

“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


“Nothing Real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.”
~ A Course In Miracles

“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

When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter.
As you see him, you will see yourself. As you treat him, you will treat yourself.
As you think of him, you will think of yourself.
Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose sight of yourself.”
~ A Course in Miracles

“I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt.”
~ A Course In Miracles

“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 blesses the world; 
fear afflicts it.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings

“As we lose our fear of leaving life,
we gain the art of living life.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings

“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 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




Remembering Wisdom Beyond Words And Mind
With Mystical Music ~ Ron’s Memoirs


Introduction

Dear Friends,

Several recent memoirs postings have demonstrated with musical performances, the spiritual importance of mystical music .

Today’s posting again features the beautiful song “Somewhere” from the 1957 Broadway musical “West Side Story” (which contemporizes the “Romeo and Juliet” story) with masterly music by Leonard Bernstein and transcendent spiritual lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Both the original Romeo and Juliet story and the contemporized West Side Story version of the romantic tragedy involve young heterosexual lovers from clans feuding over domination of disputed territory. Only after tragic deaths of the lovers and many others do the grieving groups tribally agree to end their feuds.

In this memoirs chapter, I’ll first display and sing the “Somewhere” lyrics. Then I’ll briefly explain how that mystical music communicates deep perennial wisdom beyond words, and how our musical “mirror of mind” has evolved since the 1987 West Side Story opened. Please listen and consider “Somewhere” with a receptive mind and open heart.

“Somewhere” (West Side Story) Lyrics

There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.

There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care.

Some day!
Somewhere!

We’ll find a new way of living,
We’ll find a way of forgiving.
Somewhere,
Somewhere . . .

There’s a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we’re halfway there.
Hold my hand and I’ll take you there

Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!





“Somewhere” (West Side Story) sung by Ron Rattner

Listen to


“Somewhere” (West Side Story) explained by Ron Rattner

Dear Friends,

In the “Somewhere” lyrics the young lovers (Maria and Tony) long to live in peace and quiet, with time together to learn and care, while forgiving all others, without feuding and fighting with them – with distrust, fear, and hatred. They affectionately hold hands to comfort each other from anxiety and fear of imminent tragedy.

Maria and Tony intuit and long for a completely peaceful, loving and harmonious existence that doesn’t yet exist in our predominantly low and fearful 3D earth energies of time, space and duality. But subconsciously (as Divine souls) they remember and can intuit the possibility of such an existence.

After eons of existing physically and fearfully in low third dimension energies humans are now in an ascension process from low third dimension to fourth dimension energies described or implied in the “Somewhere” lyrics.

Such energy ascension cannot be attained, until we transcend all fears and fighting with one another, to become harmonious with loving elevated energy planes.

Deep within ourselves we have always known that we were created as, and always have been, ONE Divine LOVE. And that any separation from Mother, Father, God is an ego illusion.

But long ago, with free choice, we began an experiment in time, space and duality, in which we intentionally forgot our true Divinity, and existed as seemingly separate and mortal physical forms – in an unreal and illusory mental reality, which we each created, perceived and projected from unique perspectives, with our thoughts and behaviors.

In choosing an Earth plane experiment in time, space and duality, seemingly separate from our Divine Source and true identity, we subjected ourselves to suffering from inescapable law of karmic cause and effect. But now after eons of fearful suffering we have an unusually auspicious opportunity to ascend to loving elevated energy plane behaviors because of favorable cosmic energies and astrological planetary alignments.

Therefore many humans, like Maria and Tony, can now intuit that our perceived Earth-life separation from eternal Mother/Father/God and Nature is a mental illusion that never happened; that our that true eternal identity and Reality is ONE Divine LOVE, from which we never separated; and, that any seeming separation from Mother, Father, God is an ego illusion. So we have nothing to fear – EVER.

Thereby together we can choose to end our fearful and hurtful separation thoughts and behaviors, with which we’ve created this illusion. And with our loving thought energy vibrations we can transcend any more low energy sufferings. (See above key quotations.)

Thus, I now optimistically foresee humankind’s imminent “critical mass” empathetic awakening to our instinctive caring for one-another, and ascension to elevated new dimensions beyond current space/time sufferings – wherein we will follow our hearts to co-create a prophesied New Earth era of long-lasting happiness beyond space/time sufferings.

Recent evolution of our musical “mirror of mind”

Our musical “mirror of mind” has clearly evolved since the West Side Story opened on Broadway over thirty years age.

Maria and Tony (like Romeo and Juliet) were portrayed as heterosexual young lovers from racially similar tribally feuding clans. And (presumably) the peace and happiness they longed for “Somewhere” wasn’t available to other young lovers with differing racial and sexual labels.

But e.g. as evidenced by Matt Leisy’s heart-felt singing of “Somewhere” at a 2015 gay pride benefit, those illusory racial and sexual labels are being transcended everywhere on our precious planet.

In the Romeo and Juliet story the young lovers’ human sexuality was only determined by their mortal physical bodies, in our “either this or that” illusory duality reality.

But perennial wisdom tells us that sex is merely a manifestation of gender on the physical plane of organic life. “Gender” is much broader and more general than “sex”. Gender manifests in everything on all planetary planes. And everything and everyone has masculine and feminine principles. They have both assertive masculine “I”, and receptive feminine “Me” energies – regardless of their physical bodies.

Thus, e.g. a physically embodied soul with male genitalia may have predominantly receptive feminine “Me” energies, whereas an embodied soul with female genitalia may have predominantly assertive masculine “I” energies.

And in the past thirty years we have clearly evolved to openly express much more truth, with much less taboo hypocrisy, about sex and gender on Earth.

Evolution Beyond Anthropocentrism

Anthropocentrism is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entities in the universe. From an anthropocentric perspective, humankind are seen as separate from nature and superior to it, and other entities (animals, plants, minerals, etc.) are viewed as resources for humans to use.

Many humans view the universe from an anthropocentric perspective, and imagine non-human entities as humanoids, with human form or characteristics, versus hominids or “Great apes”, which are considered as human anthropological predecessors.

Although anthropocentrism isn’t important in the Romeo and Juliet stories, it is relevant to spiritually elevated perspectives of the mental Universe which humankind may soon experience in our process of evoluton from low third dimension to fourth dimension energies described or implied in the “Somewhere” lyrics.

As divine souls we mentally evolve to endlessly elevated causal planes of creation as seemingly ego-separated from Nature and Mother/Father/God – our common Source. And we may exist in infinitely expanding potential forms from infinite perspectives which are well beyond human conception, imagination or intuition, but which are all energetically subject to karmic cause and effect until our predestined transcendence of ego-mind as ONE Divine LOVE – Eternally NOW.

In this extraordinarily rare period of human awakening from eons of past fearful beliefs and behaviors, it is highly probable that we are being assisted by totally benevolent extraterrestrial beings who (if judged anthropocentrically) may appear to humans as bizarre and terrifying.

It is very important that we avert any such anthropocentrism and gratefully accept any such benevolent extraterrestrial assistance or appearance everywhere – and not just “Somewhere”.

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner

Invocation


May we ever remember and never forget
That our true identity is immortal LOVE;

That all that is, was, or ever can be

is the Eternal Light of Divine Love – NOW!

That as embodied Human Souls
we’ve fleetingly appeared through the
Mirror of the Mind

As illusionary space/time energy forms,
to always follow our Heart

Everywhere – and not just “Somewhere”,

Until we’re formlessly dissolved as ONE LOVE
within Mother/Father/God and Nature –
our Eternal Source.

May we ever remember and never forget

That our separation from Source never happened.
So we’ve nothing to fear – EVER.


That all that is, was, or ever can be

is the Eternal Light of Divine Love – NOW!



And so may it ever be!

Ron Rattner

Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Passionate Love Songs
~ Ron’s Memoirs

There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.

There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care.

Some day!
Somewhere!

~ West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein music, Stephen Sondheim lyrics.



Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Passionate Love Songs
~ Ron’s Memoirs


Introduction

Dear Friends,

My recent memoirs postings have emphasized the fundamental spiritual importance of Remembering the Mirror of the Mind, because we create our “optical illusion” of reality with our thoughts and projections of our perceptions.

Some of these postings have explained this with words and demonstrated it with music. Their intent is to show how open-hearted listening to the sounds of mystical music (whether or not vocalized) can communicate deep inner wisdom.

My last postings were inspired by “Passion” a musical play with lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim.

Today’s posting was inspired by the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, (a contemporized version of the Romeo and Juliet story) with masterly music composed by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

It features a heart-felt performance of the West Side Story song “Somewhere” sung by Matt Leisy at a 2015 gay pride benefit, and a West Side Story “Maria” cello solo, by Hajime Mizoguchi and “Somewhere” vocal solo by Hayley Westenra – sung in Japan, March 2012.

Today’s posting demonstrates the timeless power of “Somewhere” when sung from a heart-space attuned to universal love energy, by anyone, regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity, or other labels.

Thus, the performances of “Somewhere” embedded below show how we can remember the Mirror of the Mind by intuitively listening to mystical music which (beyond words) conveys deep wisdom of timeless LOVE.


Somewhere (West Side Story) Lyrics

There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.

There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care.

Some day!
Somewhere!

We’ll find a new way of living,
We’ll find a way of forgiving.
Somewhere,
Somewhere . . .

There’s a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we’re halfway there.
Hold my hand and I’ll take you there

Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!



Somewhere (West Side Story) -“2015 Performance of “Somewhere” by Matt Leisy

Somewhere (West Side Story) – Matt Leisy




West Side Story “Maria” cello solo by Hajime Mizoguchi , and “Somewhere” vocal solo by Hayley Westenra – performed in Japan March 2012



Dedication

May the above performances of “Somewhere” and “Maria” help us remember the Mirror of the Mind when listening to mystical music which (beyond words) conveys deep wisdom of timeless LOVE.

And so may it be!

Ron Rattner