Common “I”-Ness
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”
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Who or What Are We?
“[Self] Realization is of the fact that you are not a person.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Just as it is known
That an image of one’s face is seen
Depending on a mirror
But does not really exist as a face,
So the conception of “I” exists
Dependent on mind and body,
But like the image of a face
The “I” does not at all exist as its own reality.”
~ Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland of Advice
“The Witness and the witnessed are ONE.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron’s Introduction to Who or What Are We?
Dear Friends,
Over forty years ago, I was blessed with the immensely transformative insight that I was not merely my physical body, its thoughts or its story – with which until then I’d always self-identified – but the ONE consciousness from which they arose.
In 1975, during a traumatic divorce and mid-life crisis, I experienced what some Hindus call a spontaneous awakening of the Kundalini energy, with sudden realization that I was much more than my mortal physical body, its story and thoughts.
That realization triggered my unforgettable born-again “rebirth” with many amazing mystical experiences which forever changed the remainder of my life, impelling me to soulfully reconsider whether the universe was what from childhood I’d been taught, thought and believed.
Accordingly, I began studying, and have embraced as ultimate Truth, Eastern non-duality philosophy – especially that of Advaita Hinduism and Buddhism. That philosophical truth is the essence of Vedanta and the Advaita wisdom path of Self-inquiry.
It is succinctly summarized in these sutra verses, composed long ago:
Who or What Are We?
We are the screen,
not the movie.
We are the Glory,
not the story.
We are Rama,
not the drama.
We are the Whole,
not our role.
Aum Ram Sovayam,
Aum Ram Sovayam,
Aum Ram Sovayam!
We are THAT,
We are THAT,
We are THAT!
Ron’s audio explanation and recitation of Who or What Are We?
Ron’s dedication and invocation for Who or What Are We?
Since embracing Advaita Vedanta non-dualism philosophy, I’ve enjoyed ever growing happiness, and ever less fear of death by increasingly Self-identifying and BEING ONE as Eternal spirit, rather than a separate mortal physical body.
Therefore, this posting is deeply dedicated to helping us and countless others to so enjoy happy lives.
Invocation
May we bless the Whole
By BEING ONE – as
Eternal Spirit,
Life, Light, LOVE
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
The Unanswered Question”
~ Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony
“Music is the language of God.”
“Music can change the world.”
~ Ludwig van Beethoven
“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!”
~ Gustav Mahler – “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2
Gustav-Mahler- ~ July 7, 1860 – May 18, 1911
Ron’s Introduction to “The Unanswered Question”
~ Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony
Dear Friends,
Last month – to demonstrate how passionate mystical music elevates us beyond earthly cares and fears, and to so experience the eternal Light of timeless LOVE – I posted three YouTube video performances of one of the greatest symphonies of all time, Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2 (composed between 1888-1894) including a performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein, a long-time Mahler enthusiast and interpreter.
The concluding choral fifth movement of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony ends with the above-quoted words written by Mahler characterizing inevitable physical death, as a rebirth to the eternal Divine Light of God.
Mahler’s Ninth Symphony (composed in 1909), was his last completed symphony. Like his “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2, it can be conducted and interpreted, as an ode to spiritual rebirth, but also as prophetic of inevitable and unavoidable physical death.
Today, to augment the Mahler “Resurrection” Symphony posting, I’ve posted below as “The Unanswered Question”, Leonard Bernstein’s interpretation of Mahler’s music given in a 1973 Harvard University public lecture titled: “The Twentieth Century Crisis”.
In that lecture, Bernstein interprets Mahler’s music as a reflection of Mahler’s fifty year life and times (from 1860 to 1911), as well as prophetic of current times. Bernstein has even further believed that this Mahler Ninth symphony was a foreboding of the end of musical tonality, and end of honoring artists as European cultural heroes of Mahler’s era, and even of fascist world wars.
In 1973 Bernstein had become the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard. This prestigious position had previously been awarded to such notable musical figures as Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland, and to poets such as e.e. cummings and W.H. Auden. The professorship required Bernstein to deliver a series of six public lectures. Bernstein, a “Harvard man”, was honored to become a part of this distinguished tradition.
Bernstein’s “Twentieth Century Crisis” lecture began with his explanation of how during the twentieth century there had been gradually increasing and ultimately excessive musical ambiguity, that had destroyed the essential balance between clarity and ambiguity.
This “The Unanswered Question” lecture concluded with Bernstein’s deep discussion of Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony.
Bernstein described the Ninth symphony as Mahler’s prediction of his imminent physical death at age 50. It was Mahler’s last full symphony, completed soon after the death of his young daughter Maria, and when he’d been diagnosed with a very serious heart condition. After talking, Bernstein showed a video with him conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the concluding Adagio from this Mahler masterpiece.
One of those attending “The Twentieth Century Crisis” lecture was Zen Master Hyon Gak Sunim, whose Zen center organization extracted Bernstein’s discussion of Mahler and posted it on their cagin YouTube channel as “The Unanswered Question”.
In cooperation with that Zen center organization, I have copied and reposted below “The Unanswered Question”.
May we view and deeply enjoy this video. May Gustav Mahler’s passionate 9th Symphony spiritually elevate us beyond earthly cares and fears, to experience the eternal Light of timeless LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
“The Twentieth Century Crisis” and Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ8KyNA8hZk&t=4341s
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MNXqXXfMoM
Conclusion of the LSO Edinburgh Festival performance with English translations of Mahler’s German lyrics
https://youtu.be/gQctkKJMgM0
Einstein’s Mystical Ideas About God, Death, Afterlife, and Reincarnation
“I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, …Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism.
~ Albert Einstein, as quoted in his New York Times Obituary, April 19, 1955)
Albert Einstein
March 14, 1879 – April 18,1955
Ron’s Introduction to Einstein’s Mystical Ideas About God, Death, Afterlife, and Reincarnation
Dear Friends,
Today’s republished post honors Albert Einstein on the 144th anniversary of his birth on March 14, 1879. According to his New York Times Obituary, published April 19, 1955, Einstein was not only a great scientist but a wise philosopher and a pragmatic “true mystic” … “of a deeply religious nature.”
I first wrote and published this posting in 2011 soon after SillySutras went online. Since then, it has consistently been the most popular article on this website. It was composed long after my spiritual awakening.
I was never talented in or studied mathematics or traditional sciences. Apart from Albert Einstein’s global reputation as a scientific genius whose E=mc2 discoveries that everything everywhere is endless energy had revolutionized our understanding of space/time reality, I knew little about him.
I began learning about Einstein in 2002 after getting my first computer, under the following circumstances.
Background
Many silly sutras, poems and essays were first written on bits of paper during an extended period of solitude, when I had no computer, TV, or daily paper, and was extremely reluctant to participate in the ‘digital revolution’. To express my skeptical attitude about possible technological transformation, I wrote that I chose the “inner net” rather than the internet; that while “the world wants ever more information, Ron seeks infinite inspiration: in the Unknown, in the Mystery – the Mystery of Divinity”.
But finally, despite prolonged reluctance to go on-line, I felt obliged to get a computer in 2002 after my son Josh had significant legal problems requiring my professional help.
Only thereafter did I discover Albert Einstein’s wise quotations on many philosophical subjects other than theoretical physics. I was amazed to find that Einstein had expressed many of the same perennial wisdom non-duality ideas which were expressed in my sutras.
Thereafter, in trying to discuss those ideas with others I often used Einstein quotes, rather than sutras. [As a lawyer I learned that it is much more persuasive to cite Supreme Court rulings than decisions of an unknown justice of the peace.]
Thus, the following essay about “Einstein’s Mystical Ideas About God, Death, Afterlife, and Reincarnation” was composed from a perennial wisdom non-dualism perspective. It is now supplemented below with embedded biographical videos about Einstein.
Please enjoy and reflect upon that perennial wisdom, as we honor Albert Einstein on the 144th anniversary of his March 14, 1879 birthday.
Albert Einstein’s Mystical Ideas About God, Death, Afterlife, and Reincarnation
Albert Einstein was not only a great scientist but a wise philosopher and a pragmatic “true mystic” … “of a deeply religious nature.” (New York Times Obituary, April 19, 1955)
Einstein did not believe in a formal, dogmatic religion, but was religiously and reverently awed and humbled with a cosmic religious feeling by the immense beauty and eternal mystery of our Universe.
He often commented publicly on religious and ethical subjects, and thereby he became widely respected for his moral integrity and mystical wisdom, as well as for his scientific genius.
In an essay collection entitled The World As I See It, first published 1933, Einstein explained his reverence for God as Eternal Universal Intelligence. But he rejected prevalent religious ideas of individual survival of physical death, reincarnation, or of reward or punishment in heaven or hell after physical death. He said:
I am a deeply religious man. I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvelous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavor to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature. [The World As I See It]
On learning of the death of a lifelong friend, Einstein wrote in a March 1955 letter to his friend’s family:
“Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
Einstein’s rejection of afterlife contradicted many religious teachings and credible experiential accounts of individual afterlife and reincarnation. But it was consistent with Einstein’s revolutionary scientific paradigm and with highest non-dualistic Eastern religious teachings, the most ancient extant of which is Hindu Advaita Vedanta philosophy.
Einstein revolutionized Western science with his 1905 groundbreaking theory of relativity that “mass and energy are both but different manifestations of the same thing”; that there was an equivalence between all matter and energy in the universe, quantifiable by the simple equation E=mc2. On his arrival in New York in 1919, Einstein summarized his theory of relativity in the single sentence:
“Remove matter from the universe and you also remove space and time.”
Clark R.W., Einstein: His Life and Times (1973)
Though Vedic rishis or seers had anticipated Einstein by millennia, their teachings were largely unknown in the West until shortly before Einstein revolutionized Western science.
The ancient Vedic Advaita teachings were first brought to large Western audiences by Swami Vivekananda – who came to the West as Indian delegate to the 1893 Parliament of World Religions.
Vivekananda, who was principle disciple of nineteenth century Indian Holy Man Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, eloquently explained that according to Advaita philosophy this impermanent and ever changing world is an unreal illusion called maya or samsara; and, that “all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream”… In an eloquent New York City lecture called “The Real and the Apparent Man”, he equated maya or samsara with “time, space, and causation” and presciently predicted scientific confirmation of the ancient Vedic non-dual philosophy of One Infinite Existence. He said:
“According to the Advaita philosophy, ..this Maya or ignorance–or name and form, or, as it has been called in Europe, time, space, and causality–is out of this one Infinite Existence showing us the manifoldness of the universe; in substance, this universe is one. So long as any one thinks that there are two ultimate realities, he is mistaken. When he has come to know that there is but one, he is right. This is what is being proved to us every day, on the physical plane, on the mental plane, and also on the spiritual plane.
“What then becomes of all this threefold eschatology of the dualist, that when a man dies he goes to heaven, or goes to this or that sphere, and that the wicked persons become ghosts, and become animals, and so forth? None comes and none goes, says the non-dualist. How can you come and go? You are infinite; where is the place for you to go?
“So it is with regard to the soul; the very question of birth and death in regard to it is utter nonsense. Who goes and who comes? Where are you not? Where is the heaven that you are not in already? Omnipresent is the Self of man. Where is it to go? Where is it not to go? It is everywhere. So all this childish dream and puerile illusion of birth and death, of heavens and higher heavens and lower worlds, all vanish immediately for the perfect. For the nearly perfect it vanishes after showing them the several scenes up to Brahmaloka. It continues for the ignorant.”
“Time, space and causation are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen. In the Absolute there is neither time, space nor causation.”
“Science and religion will meet and shake hands…When the scientific teacher asserts that all things are the manifestation of one force, does it not remind you of the God of whom you hear in the Upanishads? Do you not see whither science is tending?”
“…this separation between man and man, between nation and nation, between earth and moon, between moon and sun. Out of this idea of separation between atom and atom comes all misery. But the Vedanta says that this separation does not exist, it is not real.”
“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 – Jnana Yoga
Einstein’s non-mechanistic science was very difficult for Western materialist minds to comprehend because his mystical view questioned the substantiality of matter and the ultimate reality of space, time and causality. Like Vivekananda, he said:
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live, they are modes in which we think”
“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.”
“There is no place in this new kind of physics for the field and matter, for the field is the only reality.”
“That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.”
Thus, Einstein’s rejection of prevalent religious ideas about God and individual survival of physical death and afterlife was consistent with his revolutionary science as well as with Eastern non-dualistic teachings explained by Vivekenanda that apparent separation between subject and object is an unreal “optical illusion of consciousness.”
Did Einstein’s psyche survive his death?
Was he surprised on his demise?
Though Einstein didn’t believe in individual survival of physical death, he may have been surprised on his demise. Conservation of energy is basic to physics. So Einstein must have realized that his subtle energetic essence was indestructible and could only be transformed from one state to another. But we don’t know how that knowledge may have influenced his opinion about what happens on individual death, or his experience thereafter.
Except for very rare Buddha-like people who transcend all desires, it is probable that all humans survive physical death as psyches or mental bodies, irrespective of their beliefs. So the Dalai Lama has said:
“[Physical qualities] cannot be carried over into the next life.
The continuum of the mind, however, does carry on.
Therefore, a quality based on the mind is more enduring. …
So, through training the mind, qualities such as compassion, love, and the wisdom realizing emptiness can be developed.”
~ H.H. Dalai Lama, from Practicing wisdom: the perfection of Shantideva’s Bodhisattva way
Thus, Buddhists say that Gautama Buddha experienced countless incarnations over eons of time before ultimately transcending the cycle of birth and death. And the Dalai Lama has said:
“We are born and reborn countless number of times, and it is possible that each being has been our parent at one time or another. Therefore, it is likely that all beings in this universe have familial connections.”
~ H. H. Dalai Lama, from ‘The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”.
But, rather than wondering if on demise of Einstein’s physical body and extraordinary brain, his subtle mental body survived – with its unfulfilled desire to find a single simple “unified field” formula explaining phenomenal reality from perspective of ‘the mind of God’ – let us honor his immense evolutionary accomplishments and take inspiration from his compassionate social activism, and pragmatic wisdom.
And thereby let us learn to live ever more peacefully, harmoniously and skillfully, in this ever changing phenomenal world of space, time and causation, as together we evolve out of the darkness of ignorance and into the light of Eternal Awareness.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Conclusion and Dedication
Albert Einstein’s revolutionary science and unconventional religious ideas were consistent with highest non-dualistic Eastern religious teachings. Therefore, although Einstein was “a deeply religious man”, and not an atheist, he rejected prevalent religious ideas of individual survival of physical death, reincarnation, or of reward or punishment in heaven or hell after physical death.
Apparently this SillySutras essay has helped introduce many people to pivotal non-dualism teachings, as elucidated with above key quotations from Einstein and Swami Vivekananda. So it is deeply dedicated to helping us live according to these perennial teachings, and thereby to find ever more happiness in our lives.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
How I See the World – PBS Documentary Film About Einstein:
George Bernard Shaw pays tribute to Albert Einstein
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
“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
https://youtu.be/LQCRZNr1AqA
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
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Passionate Love Songs
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Loving you is not a choice
It’s who I am
Loving you is not a choice
This is why I live
You are why I live”
~ Stephen Sondheim, Passion
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Passionate Love Songs
~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction
Dear Friends,
My last memoirs postings explained with words, a mirror exhibit, and a mystical music performance, the spiritual importance of remembering the Mirror of the Mind.
Today’s posting demonstrates how hearing and seeing a passionate song, sung from a heart-space attuned to universal love energy, can help us remember the mirror of the mind to bless everyone everywhere.
It was inspired by “Passion” a musical play with lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim, which is briefly described below.
“Passion” Background and history
Passion is notable for being one of the few projects that Stephen Sondheim himself conceived. The story was adapted from an Italian film, Passione d’Amore, which Sondheim first viewed in 1983.
The plot is about how a handsome young soldier (in 19th century Italy), Giorgio, falls in love with a homely and ailing woman, Fosca, who has obsessively pursued him.
Sondheim’s masterly lyrics and music tell how a previously reluctant and selfish person can ultimately accept and reciprocate persistently powerful pure love feelings.
Passion opened and ran on Broadway from May 1994 to January 1995. After winning the Tony Award for Best Musical, the original cast performance was filmed and televised on PBS
Original Cast “Passion” Best Musical Performance
Original Loving You Performance by Donna Murphy, Best Actress
Loving You Lyrics
Loving you is not a choice
It’s who I am
Loving you is not a choice
And not much reason to rejoice
But it gives me purpose
Gives me voice to say to the world:
This is why I live
You are why I live
Conclusion and Dedication
Today’s posting reminds us that even previously selfish people,
can ultimately accept and reciprocate persistently powerful pure love feelings.
So may it help bless everyone everywhere, with openness to passionate songs,
attuned to heart-felt universal LOVE.
And so may it ever be!
Ron Rattner
Loving You Epilogue
Dear Friends,
The above posting features 1994 original cast recordings from Stephen Sondheim’s masterful lyrics and music in his award winning musical “Passion”. My foregoing comments emphasize the original story’s message that even previously selfish people, can ultimately accept and reciprocate persistently powerful pure love feelings in a single lifetime.
Since then I’ve realized that the “Passion” story reflects expansive mirror of mind perennial wisdom, which applies at different times to spiritually evolving people reincarnating and karmically learning timeless truths of Divine Grace and LOVE, which are ever present blessings in all human lifetimes.
For example the wisdom of Sondheim’s “Loving You” lyrics can be experienced in different ways, even by talented professional actors. To demonstrate this, I’ve embedded two more YouTube performances of “Loving You”; the first by actress Elana Rogers at a 2011 Olivier Awards ceremony; and the second a 2012 performance by Melissa Errico emotionally dedicated and sung to her husband.
May our continuing openness to such passionate songs, help us bless everyone everywhere attuned to heart-felt universal LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
2011 “Loving You” Performance by Elana Rogers at Olivier Awards ceremony
2012 “Loving You” Performance by Melissa Errico Dedicated to Her Husband.
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind by Loving
The Most Dangerous Animal in the World
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“You are looking at the most dangerous animal in the world.
It alone of all the animals that ever lived
can exterminate (and has) entire species of animals.
Now it has the power to wipe out all life on earth.”
~ 1963 Bronx Zoo Mirror Exhibit
The Most Dangerous Animal in the World
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
by Loving The Most Dangerous Animal in the World
~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction
Dear Friends,
My last memoirs postings explained with words and music the spiritual importance of remembering the Mirror of the Mind.
Today’s posting tells how we can Remember the Mirror of the Mind by pardoning and loving everyone everywhere.
It is based upon prior postings and inspired by a 1963 exhibit at the Bronx Zoo, New York City, that was boldly titled “The Most Dangerous Animal in the World”. It featured a mirror and text describing the dangers humans pose to life on earth. In 1968 the exhibit was duplicated at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
The original bold red text under the exhibit read: “You are looking at the most dangerous animal in the world. It alone of all the animals that ever lived can exterminate (and has) entire species of animals. Now it has the power to wipe out all life on earth.”
The Bronx Zoo curator of mammals when asked in 1963 about visitors’ reactions, said: “They take it the way we want them to. It gets them to stop and think.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Dangerous_Animal_in_the_World
Prior postings
Prior postings have explained how we each create our earthly reality with our unique ego thoughts, and why our perceived “reality” is only a mental illusion, which we reflect like mirrors. And how by understanding the mirror of our mind we can we can inwardly control it to advance (and not deter) our spiritual evolution.
Those postings have shown why fearful self-identification as a separate mortal physical body is our greatest evolutionary deterrent, and how we can energetically overcome all such mortal fear. That to transcend such mortal fears we should mindfully control our thoughts, and behave with forgiveness, kindness and compassion; and no longer confuse non-dual projected pure awareness as a separate objective world.
Optimistic future
I optimistically foresee that because of post-pandemic global disruptions of our “normal” lives we’ve reached a critical turning point in human history, when our species is awakening to a prophesied new elevated and enlightened Earth age, beyond worldwide fears and sufferings from mentally imagined absence of innate and eternal God-given LOVE.
In 2023 we are experiencing unprecedented global deprivations of normal economic and physical needs, strange terminal illnesses, and insane threats of nuclear, ecological, radiological or biological wars which would catastrophically end earth-life as we’ve known it.
I foresee that Mother/Father/God will imminently honor Nature to preserve it, rather than allow human insanity to catastrophically end Earth-life. And that a “critical mass” of our species will soon remember our long-forgotten Divine identity to transcend such insanity.
I’m also optimistic because our 3D Earthly fears and sufferings were not chosen by Human free-will, nor Divinely planned. And because our perceived earth-life separation from Nature and Mother/Father/God never happened.
So we have nothing to fear – EVER.
And so may it ever be!
Invocation
May these memoirs
encourage and inspire us
to ever remember the mirror of our ego-mind.And so to behave lovingly,
unselfishly and compassionately,
beyond all fears, blame, or judgments,Toward everyone/everywhere
with whom we gratefully co-exist
on our precious blue planet Earth.And so to ever remember
and never forgetThat we are and forever will BE
Eternal Divine Souls whose
perceived earth-life separation
from Nature and Mother/Father/God never happened.So we have nothing to fear – EVER.
And so may it ever be!
Ron Rattner
