Ego
Awakening as LOVE, Till the end of time
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Be thankful for everything at all times.
Realize that all power to think,
and speak, and act comes from God.
And that S/He is with you now, guiding and inspiring you.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
“Be thankful for everything at all times.
Realize that all power to think,
and speak, and act comes from God.
And that S/He is with you now, guiding and inspiring you.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
Awakening as LOVE, Till the end of time
~ Ron’s Memoirs
Dear Friends,
At age ninety, on November 8th, 2022, I became the longest lived male member of my Rattner surname Ukrainian Jewish lineage. All other Rattner men died in their 70’s, except for my father and maternal grandfather who lived until 89.
But my family’s Ukrainian Rattner women, have lived much longer than the men. And I’ve discovered that Mother/Father/God always controls our 3D experiment in time. That our illusionary perceived earth-life separation from ONE LOVE never happened. So we’ve nothing to fear – EVER.
Also, I’ve optimistically learned that our earthly experiment in time is soon ending, as a “critical mass” of human souls imminently awakens from eons of matrix thralldom by evil entities, which cannot survive in energy realms beyond illusionary fearful lower realm space/time separation.
Family History
In the mid-1950’s, at age 41, my dear Mother Sue had two serious heart attacks, and a cardiologist then predicted she’d soon die. She didn’t die as predicted, but with God’s Grace she lived until Thanksgiving day 2007, a few weeks before her 100th birthday in January, 2008. This helped me realize that God’s in charge of our lives, not expert doctors.
And despite a very difficult life history, my Mother’s youngest sister Florence is still living gratefully and independently with sharp mental acuity at age 106, in a Los Angeles senior care facility where the majority of other elderly residents are senile.
My life experience helps explain why I NOW optimistically anticipate that our thought-formed separate 3D Earth-world of fears and sufferings is neither appropriately chosen by Humankind, nor Divinely planned. That Mother/Father/God will soon honor Nature to preserve it, rather than cataclysmically end Earth-life as we’ve known it.
Previous Memoirs
In recent memoirs, I’ve demonstrated how music communicates deep feelings of instinctive perennial wisdom beyond words. Until now I’ve focussed on traditional Jewish musical themes, of Kol Nidré and Sunrise Sunset.
But historically societies which honor all their artists, whether musical, visual, literary, theatrical, photographic, or other arts, enjoy loving energies beyond separate fearful evil-entity lower realms.
So in this memoirs chapter, I’m optimistically demonstrating the importance of honoring all art and artists until we gratefully Awaken as ONE LOVE beyond time.
In 1945 the timeless music of Frederic Chopin’s Polonaise No.6, in A Flat-Major, Op. 53, was set to words titled “TILL THE END OF TIME”, by lyricist Buddy Kaye.
To show how all musical art communicates deep feelings of instinctive perennial wisdom beyond words, I’m hereafter cantorially singing edited lyrics from “Till the End of Time”. Please enjoy and listen with an open heart.
Ron’s recitation of “Till the end of time”
Till the end of time
Till the end of time,
Long as stars are in the blue,
Long as there’s a spring, a bird to sing,
I’ll go on loving you.
Till the end of time,
Long as roses bloom in May,
My love for you will grow deeper,
With every passing day.
Till the wells run dry,
And each mountain disappears,
I’ll be there for you, to care for you,
Through laughter and through tears.
So, with your Heart in sweet surrender,
Tenderly Know that I’m,
The ONE LOVE you’ve lived for,
Till the end of time . .
Till the end of time.
Dedication
May these memoirs ever honor
ONE DIVINE LOVE
“Till the end of time”;
While we remember through all artists
that until then, nothing else is possible;
So there’s nothing to fear – EVER.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Awakening to a New Day, in a New Way
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Nothing Real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“Perception is a mirror not a fact.
And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“Time, space and causation are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen.
In the Absolute there is neither time, space nor causation.”
~ Swami Vivekananda
“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 (ACIM)
“Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love.
The real miracle is the love that inspires them.
In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.”
~ A Course in Miracles
“The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear
and the acceptance of love.”
~ Marianne Williamson
“The spiritual path –
is simply the journey of living our lives.
Everyone is on a spiritual path;
most people just don’t know it.”
~ Marianne Williamson
“I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“The only thing we have to fear is…fear itself
— nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
“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
“[D]eep down, at our cores, there are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love, all negative emotions from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace, and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross; David Kessler
“Love blesses the world; fear afflicts it. ”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“The more you are motivated by Love,
The more fearless and free your action will be.”
~ Dalai Lama
“Fear arises through identification with form, whether it be a material possession, a physical body, a social role, a self-image, a thought, or an emotion. It arises through unawareness of the formless inner dimension of consciousness or spirit, which is the essence of who you are. You are trapped in object consciousness, unaware of the dimension of inner space which alone is true freedom.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.”
~ Dalai Lama
“Those who fear suffering, suffer from fear.”
~ French Proverb
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life.
A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
~ Mark Twain
“To be afraid of dying
is like being afraid of discarding an old worn-out garment.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
“Fear of death is fear of life; so
face death to live life.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“You are not a mortal; you are immortal.
So never fear being a non-being.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Our deepest fears
hide our highest potentials.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“As we lose our fear of leaving life,
we gain the art of living life.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“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
Dear Friends,
I awakened today to a new day, in an new way – fearlessly remembering and BEING my eternal identity as infinitely powerful Divine LOVE.
Over a century ago both my maternal and paternal ancestors fled Ukraine to escape from Tsarist persecutions for their Jewish religious practices. My parents were Rattner surname first cousins, whose families all lived near Kiev. And my father and his extended family fled for their lives from a Ukrainian village similar to the fictional village portrayed in Fiddler on the Roof, the popular Broadway play and film.
Into that unusual Rattner surname Ukrainian lineage, I was born on election day November 8th, 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was first elected 32nd President of the USA, during a great global depression, when many were unemployed hungry and suffering from intense fear and exploitation. In his first inaugural address FDR wisely observed that
“The only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
On midterm election day November 8th, 2022, I survived to be 90 years old, the longest lived Rattner surname male. All the rest of the Rattner men died in their 70’s except my father and maternal grandfather who lived until age 89.
At age ninety, I’ve miraculously survived at an extraordinary time in world history when war in Ukraine and worldwide insanity threatens the lives of all humans, not just Jews.
Based on eons of human experience of dealing with inevitable ups and downs of earth life and with our inability to live without making mistakes, I awakened today in a new way.
I remembered that our thoughts create our reality, which is a persistent illusion, and that it is possible for each of us to live lovingly without fear and suffering.
That life on Earth is an experiment in time, in which most humans have forgotten our only true identity and eternal Reality, which is eternal LOVE beyond fear and suffering.
That we are infinitely potential divine souls created and enveloped as Mother/Father/God beyond time. And with complete faith in Divine Grace I have given my irrevocable power of attorney to Mother/Father/God to non-judgmentally karmically forgive and bless all life as LOVE.
And I’ve determined to freely offer love and forgiveness to every one of those with whom I interact in my daily life, no matter how it appears that they’re behaving. We’re all divine and beloved children of Mother/Father/God, and to be so loved and appreciated is our God-given right. Any other state of being is impossible. So there is nothing to fear – EVER.
Therefore, I’ve decided with the Grace of God to live lovingly and fearlessly beyond Earth time, beyond Hereness/Thereness -
As just Awareness –
NOW!
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Doing Time
~ Ron’s Memoirs and Sutra-Poem
“Be empty of worrying,
Think of Who Created Thought!
Why do you stay in prison
when the door is so wide open?”
~ Rumi
“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
“There is only one time when it is essential to awaken.
That time is now.”
~ Buddha
“That which is timeless is found now.”
~ Buddha
Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas
Ron’s Introduction to “Doing Time”
Dear Friends,
Today’s posting, on my ninetieth birthday, is a sutra-poem with memoirs, paradoxically titled “Doing Time”. Instead of being about the colloquial English idiom meaning serving a prison sentence, today’s posting is about the psychological imprisonment of almost all 8 billion humans, except for rare Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who intentionally incarnate to help others.
Spiritually most humans are unknowingly imprisoned in time by illusionary ego/mind ideas of self-identity and “reality”. We are mass acculturated and psychologically ‘programmed’ to mistakenly believe ourselves to be separate physical entities in space and time apart from each other, Nature, and Eternal Divinity.
Today’s quotations, sutra-poem, and memoirs remind us that in Truth we are the unseen spiritual Source of the world we see – ONE Eternal Spirit; ONE Life; ONE Light; ONE LOVE!
After my midlife spiritual awakening I experienced many years of intense longing for the Divine, beyond the inevitable suffering of this world. It began with the amazing experience on a Yosemite mountain-top of beholding inner luminescence of “ten thousand suns”. But only after another unforgettable experience with my beloved Guruji, did I begin considering myself imprisoned and condemned to suffer in a human body.
While massaging Guruji in my San Francisco apartment, I exclaimed at the flexibility and softness of his then hundred year old body. Whereupon Guruji unforgettably responded:
“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.”
Thereafter, during many years of seclusion, prayer and meditation, I considered myself metaphorically ‘imprisoned’ in a space/time human body. It was then that I was given the following sutra-poem, which I called “Doing Time”.
In comments following the written and recited verses, I will summarize my evolution from longing to escape incarnate worldly suffering to aspiring to be in this world but not of this world, so as to help others transcend suffering.
A more detailed description and explanation of that transition is recounted in my prior memoirs chapter Human Body – A Precious ‘Prison’.
Here is the “Doing Time” poem. Please, enjoy it.
Doing Time
Time is how
“I” Measure “Now”,
And space
Is for places
Where I’m –
Entangled here in time.
But I long to be – FREE
Where there is no “ME”-
Nowhere,
Out of time,
Beyond I’m,
Beyond hereness/thereness-
As just Awareness –
NOW!
Ron’s audio comments and recitation of Doing Time
Ron’s Explanation of “Doing Time”
After birth in a human body and until physical death, we are compelled to be in this world of inevitable pain and suffering. But we are not obliged to be here mentally. With focused awareness and self-control of our thoughts, emotions and attitudes, we can remain mentally peaceful, grateful and joyful.
Thereby we can ‘be in this world’ physically, but ‘not of this world’ mentally, attitudinally or spiritually.
While “tuning in” to our ever present worldly problems, we can “tune out” from much worldly suffering by non-judgmentally and forgivingly focusing on our Eternal and infinite inner Essence, which is LOVE and Light.
Background
Eastern spiritual paths identify human incarnation as an extraordinarily precious opportunity to evolve – beyond that of any other life-form; Buddhist and Hindu teachings say that for enlightenment it is better to be born human than even in a heavenly realm.
Before my mid-life spiritual awakening, I self-identified only with my body/mind and its story. Though I cherished my health, I was totally unaware of esoteric evolutionary perspectives about preciousness of human incarnation. But, since realizing that I was and am much more than my body and its story, I have deeply reflected on the significance and purpose of a human lifetime.
After previously unimagined spiritual awakening experiences, I began wondering about the nature and importance of the human body. I realized that my initial intense rebirth experience had temporarily released a previously unimaginable flow of vital energies (chi or prana), which gradually had abated as I returned to ‘normal’ consciousness.
So, I became highly motivated to again access that hidden reservoir of vital energy.
This motivation greatly intensified and was deeply inspired after I met Guruji and observed his amazing physical prowess, even as a centenarian, and experienced his extraordinarily intense and powerful cosmic life-force energy (“shakti”).
I received confirmation of Guruji’s exceptional energy upon an unforgettable synchronistic experience with him. While massaging Guruji in my San Francisco apartment, I exclaimed at the flexibility and softness of his then hundred year old body. Whereupon Guruji unforgettably responded:
“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.”
I became and remained intensely curious about Guruji’s revelation that my body was like a prison. I wondered how and why ‘I’ was ‘imprisoned’, and how ‘I’ could get out of ‘jail’ – free like Guruji.
Was I imprisoned by body stiffness from subconsciously stored traumas?
It was apparent that my body was not supple like Guruji’s body. Though half his age, I couldn’t even sit with crossed legs, much less stand on my head or perform the other advanced yogic postures (asanas) that Guruji showed us.
As I remembered the extraordinary vitality which temporarily followed my spiritual rebirth “peek” experience, I intuited that it was a glimpse of a potentially achievable bodily state well beyond anything I had theretofore imagined. But how could I restore that state? And even if possible, would the restoration of such a state allow me to get out of prison at will, like Guruji? That remained a mystery.
Gradually and synchronistically, I’ve been given insights about the bodily ‘prison’ mystery, but haven’t yet ‘solved’ it.
I discovered an important clue, in Paramahansa Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi”, Chapter 43, wherein Yogananda’s master Yukteswar resurrected to reveal the genesis of human physical, astral, and causal bodies, saying:
“The mere presence of a body signifies that its existence is made possible by unfulfilled desires.” “The power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man’s slavery…” “Physical desires are rooted in egotism and sense pleasures.” “So long as the soul of man is encased in one, two, or three body-containers, sealed tightly with the corks of ignorance and desires, he cannot merge with the sea of Spirit.”
~ Sri Yukteswar
Upon reading Sri Yuktewar’s esoteric explanations of human ‘bondage’, I intuitively accepted them as true. And I remembered that Guruji had revealed in San Francisco lectures on “Death, Dying and Beyond” that during a 1971 ‘near death experience’ he had been sent back by Lord Rama from a heavenly realm to his physical body because of his unfulfilled desires to help people.
I realized that all phenomena and forms – including human forms – that appear in this space/time reality interdependently originate in subtle energy planes pursuant to mysterious laws of causality. And I remembered that even though Guruji had evolved beyond limits of ordinary human consciousness, he had remained in a human body, but with amazing ability to transcend ordinary physical limitations, only because of his unselfish desires to help others.
Whereas it was obvious that I was ‘imprisoned’ by bonds of ego desire and ignorance mentioned by Sri Yukteswar.
So, thereafter, I became highly motivated to transcend all such egotistic bonds, and to get out of ‘prison’ – free like Guruji. Expressing these aspirations, I soon composed the above “Doing Time” verses.
Evolutionary Insights
During the forty year period since then, I have been blessed with an ongoing evolutionary process. Now, instead of longing to escape incarnate worldly suffering, I am unspeakably grateful for the immense privilege of encouraging others to transcend suffering by publishing memoirs insights about “Reality” and Self-identity, as requested by Guruji, which are consistent with those expressed for millennia by non-dualist Mystics.
And by so helping others it has helped me find previously unimagined happiness and peace of mind, which I aspire for everyone everywhere.
Conclusion and Dedication
Most humans are unknowingly imprisoned in time by illusionary ego/mind ideas of self-identity and “reality”.
However we are exceptionally privileged to live in an era with unprecedented opportunities for spiritual awakening and evolutionary elevation to a wonderful new ascended Earth-age, forever beyond “doing time” ‘imprisonment’ with fear and suffering, and concern about future earth-life.
These “Doing Time” writings are deeply dedicated to helping everyone everywhere soon awaken to such a wonderful new Earth-age.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Raising “Human Consciousness”
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“The key to growth
is the introduction of higher dimensions
of consciousness into our awareness.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Our separation of each other
is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
‘Time, space and causation
are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen…
In the Absolute there is neither time, space, nor causation.’
~ Swami Vivekananda [Jnana Yoga]
“Consciousness is the basis of all life
and the field of all possibilities.
Its nature is to expand and unfold its full potential.
The impulse to evolve is thus inherent in the very nature of life.”
~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
“Consciousness is always Self-Consciousness.
If you are conscious of anything,
you are essentially conscious of yourself.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
Thought divides Universal Awareness,
as a prism divides light.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Human consciousness is conditioned consciousness;
it is pure Awareness conditioned by conceptions.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Lau Tzu
Raising “Human Consciousness” ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Ron’s Introduction
Dear Friends,
In these critical times when humans are the only species causing unprecedented climate collapse, warfare and other catastrophic crises which insanely, unsustainably and imminently threaten all life on our precious planet, it appears urgently imperative that we bring expanded awareness of our true immortal identity and infinite potentiality into the world. So recently I posted quotations, poetry definitions and explanations about Clearing “Human Consciousness”.
Today, to further emphasize our urgent need and unlimited potential to honor our beautiful planet and all it’s life forms by energetically elevating a “critical mass” of our species, I’m posting memoirs explaining my awakening process and perspectives about raising “human consciousness”, a concept with immense spiritual significance.
Also, I’m hereafter sharing an optimistic prediction of an energetically ascended new Earth reality beyond current fears and sufferings.
My Awakening Process
At midlife I was spiritually awakened (through Amazing Grace) to self-identity as pure awareness, rather than as a mere mortal body, its thoughts and its story. That realization initiated an inner evolutionary process, bringing previously unimagined blessings of peace and happiness, to be shared with others.
After initially self-identifying as pure awareness, I gradually surmised that Ron’s awareness must be the same as that of every other sentient being; that I’m not merely an individual consciousness separate as a person from other sentient beings, but Universal Awareness – the mysterious spiritual Source of all manifestation and all phenomena.
Thereafter I began wondering about seemingly differing space/time states of “human consciousness”, and common consciousness of all other life-forms. For example, I became curious about how “human consciousness” might differ from dog consciousness, cat consciousness, bird consciousness, fish consciousness, plant consciousness, insect consciousness, cell consciousness and perhaps even consciousness of apparently inanimate and lifeless forms like rocks and manufactured objects (like the 1976 Volvo miraculously blessed by my Guruji).
After much reflection, I decided that what we call “human consciousness” apparently differs from common consciousness of other life-forms – which seem spontaneously harmonious with Nature – because most humans mistakenly perceive and think of themselves to be separate from each other and Nature due to what Einstein called “an optical illusion of consciousness”, and what for millennia spiritual scriptures and non-duality teachings call “ego”. Hence I’ve realized that
Universal Awareness is the sole essence and Source of all life/forms; and that human ego-mind divides universal Awareness as a prism divides light.
So, “human consciousness” is an ego-mind mental conception which seemingly circumscribes Universal Awareness; it is Universal Awareness conditioned by conception.
Thus I’ve concluded that all our ideas about “human consciousness” arise and subside in Universal Awareness; that we are never in differing states of consciousness – they are in us as Universal Awareness; and, that as we “widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty”, we gradually free ourselves from our optical ego-illusion of separation from other life-forms.
Thereby we increasingly experience elevated consciousness of Universal Awareness – our true Source and Divine essence; and we are more and more blessed with infinite potential to collectively advance all life on planet Earth.
An optimistic “New Reality” prediction
Although most people are now experiencing a matrix programmed era of unprecedented post-pandemic fearful sufferings, this is also an age of immense evolutionary opportunity.
Hence I optimistically foresee that current sufferings are energetically awakening and elevating “a critical mass” of human beings to a prophesied “new reality” of egalitarian and cooperative Earth-life sharing and openness, beyond ego-mind’s optical illusion of separation from Nature and its lifeforms.
Occasionally our Earthly “doors of perception” are opened beyond ego-mind’s 3D (‘mental mirage’) illusions of space, time, and duality by psychic experiences, which can’t yet be explained by conventional material sciences. So they’re called “miracles” or biblical “signs and wonders”.
But such Earthly “miracles” (like astral projection, synchronicity, telepathy, remote viewing, prophesy, or energy-healing) are energetically ordinary in subtler energy realms of 5D and higher.
And so I optimistically predict an imminent new Earth reality, with raised “human consciousness” beyond current fears and sufferings.
Dedication
The foregoing writings and optimistic “New Reality” prediction are respectfully dedicated and offered to help encourage and inspire our collective participation in the elevation of “human consciousness” to resolve and transcend all crises on our precious planet, bringing us universal peace, light, and love.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Healing is Wholing
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Life is a healing/wholing/gnosis/process.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Feeling hastens healing,
and happiness heals.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Evolution is an endless process –
from nescience, to gnosis, to apotheosis;
From bestial to celestial –
We ever evolve, as our boundaries dissolve.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Healing is Wholing” ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Ron’s Introduction to “Healing is Wholing”
Dear Friends,
The following “Healing is Wholing” writings epigrammatically express and explain my post-awakening perspectives about spiritual healing.
They include quotations, sutra sayings and verses (with mp3 recitation) defining, describing and revealing an holistic and evolutionary earth-life ego-mind “healing” process; also included are memoirs explanations about the synchronistic circumstances which motivated their composition long ago.
They are dedicated to inspiring our transformational transcendence of ego-mind’s evolutionary impediments, and so to hasten our spiritual evolution from “nescience, to gnosis, to apotheosis” – our continuing process of “healing” beyond suffering to health and spiritual freedom.
Explanation of “Healing is Wholing”
Since my midlife awakening I’ve gradually realized that all humans and other life-forms are deeply inter-connected.
So to heal our planet’s pervasive pathologies and disharmonies, our lives and ills must be viewed and addressed holistically and systemically, not just symptomatically. Identifying and treating separate symptoms may afford temporary relief, but it can’t cure their causes.
We live in an earth-age of mental malaise – in an extremely fearful, stressful, disharmonious and turbulent illusory world, with widespread human psychological and physical sicknesses and suffering; a world so insane that we appear to be on the brink of human caused nuclear cataclysm or ecological omnicide.
So this posting is dedicated to elevating energies of “human consciousness” beyond illusory states of fear and suffering by identifying and healing the causes of our pathologies. As explained in many other Silly Sutras postings, the root cause of our problems is ego-mind.
“Ego-mind” is our mistaken mental self-identification as mortal entities separate from from each other and Nature, and from Universal Awareness, our Eternal essence and sole spiritual Source.
So to spiritually “heal” many human pathologies, disharmonies and sufferings we must identify, and holistically transcend “ego”.
Memoirs synchronicity story about “Healing is Wholing”
Today’s “Healing is Wholing” poetic verses and sutra sayings arose from these synchronistic circumstances:
After my inner awakening and years of public service as Board Chairman of the California Institute of Integral Studies [CIIS] , I retired from all other public pro-bono activities, but continued serving on the Board of New Dimensions Foundation, a groundbreaking independent producer of spiritual radio interviews. And then became friendly with fellow Board member Dr. Anne Wilson-Schaef, Ph.D, a long-practicing psychotherapist, and best selling spiritual author.
Following years of conventional psychotherapy practice, Dr. Schaef had decided that psychotherapy didn’t work. So she originated and began leading worldwide ‘workshops’ based on 12-step therapy principles which she called “living in process intensives”. She described her “living in process” ideas in her controversially popular book: “Beyond Therapy, Beyond Science: A New Model For Healing The Whole Person”.
In that book Dr. Schaef described society as addictively and psychologically alienated from the whole universe and its universal spirituality. And she asserted that traditionally dualistic Newtonian sciences and psychotherapies co-dependently enabled an “Addictive Society”, just as individual enablers co-dependently fostered addictions (like alcoholism).
So to heal and spiritually transform our alienated societies she proposed going beyond conventional dualistic psychotherapies to a natural evolutionary process of experiential transformation, which she called “living in process”.
At Dr. Schaef’s request for my editorial comments, I carefully read a pre-publication galley proof of a new edition of her “Beyond Therapy” book. In it I recognized that many of her then controversial conclusions and proposals, were harmonious with my perspectives about conventional versus spiritual psychotherapy. For example Dr. Schaef’s proposals were consistent with my view that secular psychology merely attempts to alleviate ego’s inevitable mental suffering, whereas spiritual psychotherapy aims at eliminating our psychological imprisonment. (See https://sillysutras.com/spiritual-psychotherapy/)
Dr. Schaef’s proposed text often used both concepts of “recovery” (as from addictive habit patterns) as well as “healing” (as in the subtitle “A New Model For Healing The Whole Person”}. Though I understood Dr. Schaef’s proposals, I was concerned that other readers might mistakenly conflate the separate “recovering” and “healing” concepts; that “recovering” implied returning from addiction to a prior condition of adjustment to a sick society, whereas “healing” meant being uplifted beyond habitual dependencies to a higher and freer state of being.
So, to tactfully communicate this concern to Dr. Schaef, I ‘channeled’ and sent her these sutra verses about the “healing” process as revealing a new state of spiritual wholeness, beyond adjustment to a sick society:
Please consider and enjoy them!
Ron Rattner
Healing is Wholing
Healing is Wholing.
Healing is revealing,
Not re-covering.
Healing is un-covering;
Healing is dis-covering:
Wholeness,
Holiness,
SELF!
Ron’s audio recitation of “Healing is Wholing”
Conclusion
Healing is our individual (and societal) experience of transcending suffering; not of recovering from illness to a prior state of wellbeing, but a process of ever evolving to elevated, expanded, and previously unknown psychological perspectives, beyond prior states of suffering – of continuously discovering and experiencing freer states of being until we become and BE WHOLE, beyond ego-mind’s illusory psychic self-identification separation.
Dedication
These verses and writings are dedicated to inspiring our transformational transcendence of ego-mind’s evolutionary impediments, and so to hasten our spiritual evolution from “nescience, to gnosis, to apotheosis” – our continuing process of “healing” beyond suffering to health and spiritual freedom.
Invocation
“May we Wholly heal –
as LOVE and Light,Beyond-all suffering,
from ego-mind fright.”
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Evolving ‘Out Of The Box’:
Into The Light Of Creation.
“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
~ King Solomon – Proverbs 23:7
“The release of atom power ..changed everything
except our way of thinking..the solution to this problem
lies in the heart of mankind.”
~ Albert Einstein
“I think with intuition. The basis of true thinking is intuition.
Indeed, it is not intellect, but intuition which advances humanity.
Intuition tells a man his purpose in life.
One never goes wrong following his feelings – for feelings and intuition are one.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
“A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.”
~ Albert Einstein
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness
that created it. ”
~ Albert Einstein
“Humanity is evolving out of the box and into the light of creation.”
~ Ellie Crystal
Evolving ‘Out Of The Box’ and Into the Light of Creation
Ron’s Introduction
Dear Friends,
Twelve years ago I optimistically first composed and published the following poetic prophesy of Humankind’s transcendence of current cataclysmic threats to life on Earth, predicting that “we shall soon reach a “critical mass” tipping point which uplifts “human consciousness” to transcend and resolve crises created by outmoded and illusionary beliefs.”
Since then, it appears that we have experienced unprecedented self-inflicted threats by only our species of nuclear war or climate collapse cataclysm, potentially portending destruction of Earth life as we have known it. Accordingly, most humans are now experiencing an extraordinary (matrix programmed) post-pandemic “new normal” era of fearful sufferings. So we urgently need energetically elevated “human consciousness’ to avert such catastrophes.
However, from my still optimistic perspective, this is not only a time of unprecedented threat to Earth life, but also an age of immense evolutionary opportunity. It is increasingly apparent that current global sufferings are energetically awakening and elevating “a critical mass” of human beings to a prophesied “new reality” of egalitarian and cooperative Earth-life sharing and openness, beyond ego-mind’s optical illusion of separation from Nature and its lifeforms.
So I’ve hereafter reposted my ‘utopian’ poetic prophesy of Humankind’s transcendence of current cataclysmic threats to life on Earth. Please deeply consider joining the “critical mass” it predicts.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Evolving ‘Out Of The Box’ Into The Light Of Creation
Individually and societally, humankind have been caught in a psychological box, self-created by mistaken perceptions and ego-mind ideas of separation from Nature and each other.
We’ve mistakenly regarded ourselves and others as mere limited entities, rather than as limitless souls – spirit drops in an infinite ocean of Eternal Light. And, our worldviews have been mostly based on such unrealistically reductionist ideas of who and what we are.
Thereby, individually we’ve been caught in a mistaken self-identity box;
and societally we’ve been “boxed in” by an outmoded Newtonian
pre-quantum worldview. Though quantum science now knows that “reality”
can’t be reduced to objects or entities in space,
we’ve kept acting as if this is so.
We’ve thus been self-limited by our mistaken ideas of “reality” and of our true identities, powers and potentialities – which are infinite,
though yet largely unknown and unrealized.
But, spurred by extraordinarily critical inter-personal and planetary crises, and innately blessed with an intuitive evolutionary impetus in each us, more and more people are realizing their true spiritual nature and awakening with compassion from their egoically imagined limitations.
From seeing everyone and everything as discrete and separated by apparently immutable boundaries, we are gradually realizing that everyone/everything is connected by our common essence:
ever-changing energy in a matrix of immutable eternal Awareness –
our true Source and common Divine essence.
We are evolving from a Newtonian “reality” of polarized duality
to a quantum “Reality” of holistic connectedness; from either this or that, to this and that are ONE. And so we are beginning to envision, intuit and implement ‘Out Of The Box’ solutions to current crises.
And as we evolve ‘Out Of The Box’ and into the Light of creation,
we shall soon reach a “critical-mass” tipping point which energetically uplifts “human consciousness” to transcend and resolve current crises arising from outmoded and illusionary ego-mind beliefs.
Ron’s comments on evolving out of the box into the light of creation.
Dear Friends,
While long aware that “no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it”, I’ve often wondered how individually and societally we can most effectively elevate “human consciousness” to resolve critical interpersonal and international planetary problems. And I’ve concluded that we need to be ever more loving and compassionate; that our love is ‘contagious’ and will inevitably bless and change the world as it gradually spreads to others, until ultimately we will reach a “critical mass” tipping point triggering new societal worldview solutions to old problems.
So many years ago I optimistically began predicting in the foregoing essay that
“we shall soon reach a critical mass tipping point which uplifts human consciousness to transcend and resolve crises created by outmoded and illusionary beliefs.”
Yet paradoxically it appears we are now nearer than ever before to nuclear or ecological disaster, potentially portending destruction of Earth life as we have known it. So, more than ever before, we urgently need energetically elevated “human consciousness” to avert such disaster.
A century has passed since quantum science revealed to us that “reality” can’t be reduced to objects or entities in space/time. Yet we’ve kept acting as if this is so – clinging to a false Newtonian materialistic worldview that sees everyone and everything as discrete and separated by apparently immutable boundaries.
Three generations have passed since immensely destructive nuclear weapons were first developed, atmospherically tested, and savagely used by the American Empire against innocent civilians at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet these dreadful weapons have insanely proliferated worldwide and now threaten our precious planet more than ever before. In a May 1946 letter to prominent Americans, Albert Einstein wrote:
“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.”
Einstein foresaw that such “unparalleled catastrophe” could be averted only from levels of consciousness beyond those which created it; thus he observed that “the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.”
After much deep reflection, and with unspeakable faith in the Sacred Heart of all Humans – which is LOVE – I have today optimistically reposted the foregoing poetic essay with my intuitive ‘utopian’ prophesy of Humankind’s transcendence of current cataclysmic threats to life on Earth.
I still foresee the imminent onset of a new age of nonviolent cooperative societies which will advance the highest good for all life on our precious planet, transcending the outmoded and illusionary beliefs which created current crises.
So I optimistically pray that we shall join together – each from our unique heartfelt perspective – to fearlessly follow our hearts and ‘contagiously’ bless all Life as LOVE.
Dedication and Invocation
This posting is deeply dedicated to inspiring us to lovingly BE and bless all Earth-Life as LOVE. So
May we honor as LOVE
the spiritual Source and essence
of everyone/everything/everywhere
thereby energetically uplifting “human consciousness”
to lovingly transcend and resolve
crises created by long outmoded
illusionary ego-mind beliefs.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Clearing “Human Consciousness”
“If the doors of perception were cleansed
everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”
~ William Blake
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,
but by making the darkness conscious.”
~ Carl Jung
“It is only through a change of human consciousness that the world will be transformed.
The personal and the planetary are connected. As we expand our awareness of mind, body, psyche, and spirit and bring that awareness actively into the world, so also will the world be changed.”
~ Michael Toms, New Dimensions Radio introduction
Everything we think, do, or say,
changes this world in some way.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Just as dreamers ‘create’ their dreams, together we are a ‘dream-team’, karmically dreaming our world into being; and, consciously or unconsciously creating a ‘common dream’.”
“As we ever awaken, we shall consciously and cooperatively participate to co-create an ever better reality –
as we intend, intuit, and imagine it to be.”
~ Ron Rattner, SillySutras.com Home Page Dedication
Clearing “Human Consciousness”
Ron’s Introduction
Dear Friends,
The following verses were composed during my extended post-retirement reclusive period of prayer and meditation. They are explained in the comments below.
Clearing Consciousness
“Christ consciousness”
“Cosmic consciousness”,
“Enlightened consciousness”,
“Buddha nature”
All are different terms connoting
the non-dual universal Absolute –
Unconditioned Awareness.
Ordinary “human consciousness” is
conditioned consciousness;
It is pure Awareness
conditioned by conceptions.
And our conceptual conditioning
determines our condition.
Everyone wants
enduring happiness,
freedom and love.
And what we seek,
we shall find –
As mindfully,
we decondition the mind.
As we lose illusory conceptual constraints,
we shall experience
ever expanding awareness,
And so we shall find –
enduring peace of mind.
Ron’s audio recitation of Clearing Consciousness
Ron’s explanation of Clearing “Human Consciousness”
Dear Friends,
We are all part of a participatory natural order wherein everything/ everyone is interdependent; and in which everything we think, do or say changes this world in some way. (See, e.g. Synchronicity Inquiry) Even without words or thoughts we can powerfully communicate through our vibratory energetic emanations, and our tears, smiles, music, and other arts.
So by our compassionate or fearful energy emanations each of us (in our own unique way) is either advancing or deterring evolution of earth life everywhere.
As part of the divine ‘design plan’, we are graced with infinite potentiality to individually and collectively advance all life on planet Earth, through our loving and compassionate thoughts, words, and deeds, even while we’re still experiencing illusionary ego-mind separation from Universal Awareness – our Divine Source and sole ultimate identity and Reality. Thus, as spiritually awakening beings we are helping to transform the world by clearing “human consciousness”.
In furtherance of the SillySutras website’s dedication to advancing our ‘conscious and cooperative co-creation of an ever better reality’, I have today posted the above poem and quotations about our unlimited human potential to transform the world.
May they inspire and encourage our active participation in clearing “human consciousness”, each from a unique perspective and in unique ways, to
“co-create an ever better reality –
as we intend, intuit, and imagine it to be”.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
From Seeing to BEING:
Wholeness, Holiness, LOVE
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
~ Albert Einstein
“The more we grow in love and virtue and holiness,
the more we see love and virtue and holiness outside.”
“This perfection must come through the practice of holiness and love.”. . . “Every step that has been really gained in the world has been gained by love; criticizing can never do any good, it has been tried for thousand of years. Condemnation accomplishes nothing.”
~ Swami Vivekananda
However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you
If you do not act on upon them?”
~ Buddha
“Many good sayings are to be found in holy books,
but merely reading them will not make one religious.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
“The mind, unless it is pure and holy, cannot see God.”
~ Seneca the Younger
“What the world needs today
is neither a new order, a new education,
a new system, a new society
nor a new religion.
The remedy lies in a mind and a heart filled with holiness.”
~ Shirdi Sai Baba
It’s not our longitude
Or our latitude,
But the elevation of our attitude,
That brings beatitude.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Everything can be taken away from a man but one thing:
the last of the human freedom —
to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances,
to choose one’s own way.”
~ Viktor Frankl
Ron Near Sofa Altar
From Seeing to BEING: Wholeness, Holiness, LOVE ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Dear Friends,
At almost age 90, as an elder on the path to Self-Realization, I remain deeply motivated to help inspire others spiritually. So I’m continuing to write memoirs about my evolutionary experiences.
This memoirs chapter hereafter explains how my living room sofa became a sacrosanct spiritual altar; how I prayed and meditated there for decades; and how my worship of perceived outer images there was gradually transformed energetically to become an open hearted inner experience everywhere – a grateful and soulful process of honoring the Divinity and Holiness of “all living creatures and the whole of Nature” on our precious blue planet.
How my living room sofa became an altar
On meeting my beloved Guruji, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, I was profoundly affected by his powerful cosmic life-force energy [“shakti”]. And I learned that his extraordinary inner energy was independent of his physical vitality, and physical presence. Moreover, I learned that Guruji was one of those rare yogis who could intentionally transfer “shakti” to others not only by touch, gaze, or mantra sound, but also by thought. Thus I’ve experienced Guruji’s shakti when not in his physical proximity, and even when his physical body was very weak.
In 1980 Guruji stayed at my apartment just before returning to India. His physical body and vitality were then exceptionally weak and exhausted. He was so weak that he had to be carried out of my apartment to the van bringing him to the SFO International airport. But his cosmic shakti energy was as strong as ever. After Guruji’s departure, I soon discovered that even objects touched by Guruji had become imbued with his intense cosmic energy.
While at my apartment Guruji slept at night on a large mattress brought here from his Soquel ashram. Daytimes he often sat on a living room sofa looking out at the panoramic view of San Francisco Bay. Soon after his departure I helped carry Guruji’s mattress out of my twelfth floor apartment, via elevator to a devotee’s van parked in the basement garage to be returned to the ashram.
After only a few minutes of clutching Guruji’s mattress, I became tremendously “enshakticated” – intoxicated merely by closeness to Guruji’s cosmic life-force which had amazingly permeated the mattress, rather than by ingesting some inebriating or hallucinogenic substance.
From that amazing energy experience, I realized that my living room sofa where Guruji had sat had been transformed to be a holy relic imbued with his shakti. So I made it an altar. Afterwards for over thirty years I worshiped, prayed, cried and meditated at that altar, and no one sat on it. But sensitive visitors and I felt Guruji’s holy energy still radiating from it.
Here is 2012 photo of Ron, at age seventy, at his sofa altar:
When not then meditating at my living room sofa altar, I began and ended each day worshiping at a bedroom floor altar beside a futon.
Only after being seriously disabled by taxicab rundown injuries did I start sleeping on a bed at age eighty one.
How my sofa altar’s energy was elevated and transformed
Soon after my eightieth birthday, the life-force emanations from my sofa altar were energetically evaluated by my dear spiritual friends Gayla Yates Gordon and Barry Gordon, who are both experienced and genuine masters of Feng Sui.
They tactfully persuaded me to remove the sofa altar images, because the altar’s spiritual energies had so elevated that they’d expanded throughout my living room and beyond. So now only a few inspiring images of Guruji, Jesus Christ, Sri Ramakrishna and a few others have been moved beside my computer desk across the living room.
And especially since my miraculous survival from deadly taxicab rundown injuries eight years ago my worship, prayer and meditation has been transformed to become a continuous open-hearted inner experience of honoring the Divinity and Holiness of all life everywhere.
How I’m now viewing and living this precious human lifetime
I’ve learned from Sri Ramakrishna that ego (either helpful or harmful) is unavoidable on Earth; and that with ego we have apparent free choice of our behaviors, or at least our states of mind – our mental attitudes.
And especially inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I follow my conscience and (if possible) nonviolently refuse to actively or passively obey or condone immoral or discriminatory government activities, laws or edicts.
Further, thanks to Albert Einstein, I’m aware that everything’s energy [E=mc2] in Cosmic Consciousness, with each unique energy form vibrating at a particular rate according to its degree of consciousness. So as a unique energy entity with a unique space/time perspective my views may be inappropriate to others. But I’m sharing them now for those for whom they may be harmonious.
From my optimistic perspective we are now experiencing an unprecedented “new normal” energetic ‘quantum leap’ in human consciousness, and are ascending to a prophesied “new reality” of egalitarian and democratic sharing and openness beyond prior deprivations and sufferings. In this extraordinary era the immoral low energy vibrations of division, fear, anger, greed and deception are being overcome and transcended by the elevated energies of Self-awareness, gratitude and freedom, as more and more humans are awakening and BEING the eternal Light of LOVE.
I’m aware that with apparent freedom of choice we each create and experience a unique “reality” with unique thoughts and behaviors from unique perspectives. And I adamantly refuse to reify this insane world of immoral human caused catastrophic wars, climate collapse, illnesses, injuries, and psychopathic deprivations of God-given rights and necessities.
So I choose to see this world as an unreal, immoral and poorly programmed matrix movie in which I will not participate. Instead of reifying this matrix mirage, I’m envisioning and creating a wonderful new world beyond needless suffering, where everyone everywhere is happy – and where living is Loving.
To avoid being psychologically “brainwashed” by matrix propaganda and gossip I refuse to view all addictive “news” and social media of mass deception and distraction. And I avoid reifying “news” or “op ed” articles that evoke fear, worry, anger, or frustration.
What I’ve learned from elevating altar worship
In space/time duality relative “reality’ we have freedom to live lovingly and fearlessly.
And the more we live with energetically elevated mental attitudes the more we experience peace and happiness, and help to positively co-create an energetically elevated and wonderful world.
Accordingly, all of our fearless, forgiving, and loving thoughts, behaviors, and emotions inevitably uplift this world and everyone/everything everywhere. So:
It’s not our longitude
Or our latitude,
But the elevation of our attitude,
That brings beatitude.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Everything can be taken away from a man but one thing:
the last of the human freedom —
to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances,
to choose one’s own way.”
~ Viktor Frankl
Dedication and Invocation
Thus, this memoirs chapter is deeply dedicated
to encouraging all others on the path to Self-Realization
to open, listen to, and follow their Heart.
Thereby may we empathetically and lovingly
live for giving, not getting;
for helping, not harming
all beings (not just humans),
and our beautiful precious planet Earth,
which birthed us all.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Cartesian Critique:
On Confusing Thinking With Being
“If you correct your mind,
the rest of your life will fall into place.”
~ Lao Tzu
“The mind is a bundle of thoughts.
The thoughts arise because there is the thinker.
The thinker is the ego.
The ego and the mind are the same.
The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Ego is the biggest enemy of humans. ”
~ Rig Veda
“When the mind is completely empty –
only then is it capable of receiving the unknown.” ……
“Only when the mind is wholly silent, completely inactive, not projecting, when it is not seeking and is utterly still –
only then that which is eternal and timeless comes into being.”
~ J. Krishnamurti
“To think or not to think,
that is the question!”“Thinking and Being can’t coexist.
So stop thinking and start Being. ”“Forget who you think you are
to Know what you really are. ”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Lau Tzu
Cartesian Critique: On Confusing Thinking With Being
Introduction to Cartesian Critique
Dear Friends,
The following Cartesian Critique essay challenges the well-known philosophical proposition deduced and propounded by influential 17th century French philosopher René Descartes –
“I think, therefore I am”.
Descartes’ philosophy, known as Cartesian dualism, assumed separation between the human body and mind. Although it became very influential in Western philosophy, Cartesian dualism ignored contradictory ancient Eastern non-dualist philosophies of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, which have been scientifically validated by 20th century quantum physicists.
This essay (with above and following quotations and comments) explains how Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” proposition confuses thinking with being; and the ego/mind with universal thoughtless awareness.
It is particularly important in current critical times, when humans are the only species creating huge ecological and other crises which disrupt and threaten life on our precious planet by mistakenly self-identifying as thought rather than consciousness of thought.
So please reflect on these writings with open and intuitive awareness.
Ron Rattner
Cartesian Critique: On Confusing Thinking With Being.
Descartes deduced his presumed separate existence with thought.
He reasoned: “I think, therefore I am”.
But wasn’t that putting Descartes before his Source?
Isn’t it apparent that we exist when not thinking?
Isn’t thinking optional, while Being is perpetual?
Why are we called human “beings”, and not human “thinkings”?
Isn’t existence much more than just thinking?
Don’t we exist in thoughtless states?
Doesn’t Being encompass conscious and subconscious
phenomena beyond thought – like emotions, feelings, sounds,
tastes, sensations, moods, dreams, autonomic processes, etc.?
Don’t all thoughts comprise and concern past ideas,
whereas life is ever lived in the Now,
never in the past or the future?
Aren’t we most aware of our existence
when we are thoughtlessly/choicelessly mindful?
What might Descartes say,
if he were here today?
Ron’s Comments on Confusing Thinking With Being.
Dear Friends,
In these troubled times, the above “Cartesian Critique” essay is shared to encourage and inspire us to transcend harmful egotistic thoughts and behaviors, and to help us live in harmony with each other and Nature.
It questions famous French philosopher René Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” proposition, and explains how it confuses thinking with being; and the ego/mind with universal thoughtless awareness.
This essay was composed following my midlife spiritual awakening as consciousness. After that awakening, I accepted Eastern non-duality philosophy which contradicts Descartes’ duality philosophy of body-mind separation. And gradually I realized that “Ego is the biggest enemy of humans”, and that transcending Ego is the ultimate purpose of all enduring spiritual teachings.
So on learning about Descartes’ influential “I think, therefore I am” declaration, I composed the above critique.
From a non-duality perspective, Descartes mistakenly deduced his supposed separate existence with egotistic-thought, which paradoxically placed Descartes before his Source, and violated both Eastern and Western wisdom cautioning against reversing the natural order of things.
For example a Western proverb cautions: “Don’t put the cart before the horse.”
And ancient Taoist wisdom enjoins us to go with the flow, without mental resistance:
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow.
Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
“If you correct your mind,
the rest of your life will fall into place.”
~ Lao Tzu
Conclusion
Honoring the natural order of things is especially important in current critical times, when humans are the only species creating huge ecological and other crises which disrupt and threaten life on our precious planet by mistakenly self-identifying as thought rather than consciousness – as separate from each other and Nature rather than the Source of our existence.
Invocation.
May these writings inspire and encourage us
to not confuse thinking with being;
and thereby to transcend harmful
egotistic thoughts and behaviors,
allowing us to live in harmony
with each other and Nature
in current critical times.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
My Miraculous Lotus Flower
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.”
~ George Orwell, “1984”
“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.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Objective reality does not exist” ….
“The universe is fundamentally a gigantic … hologram”
~ David Bohm, Quantum Physicist and Einstein protege
“Perception is a mirror, not a fact.
And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”
~ A Course In Miracles (ACIM)
“Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.”
~ Niels Bohr, quantum physicist
“I regard consciousness as fundamental.
I regard matter as derivative from consciousness.
We cannot get behind consciousness.
Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”
~ Max Planck, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
“We do not see things as they are;
we see things as we are.”
~ Talmud
“Whatever we think, do, or say,
changes this world in some way.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron Rattner on June 7, 2022, with Miraculous Lotus Flower
Introduction to “My Miraculous Lotus Flower”
Dear Friends,
Today I’m privileged to share with you a recent true memoirs story, symbolizing the fundamental spiritual principle that every incarnate space/time human is unique, with a unique “reality” which we “create” with our thoughts and behaviors. And that to evolve we need to be ever open to new ‘realities’ which transcend our prior beliefs. Hence human societies could not have advanced if we inflexibly believed that the earth was flat, or was the center of our solar system.
My evolving “reality” history
Since my mid-life spiritual awakening, I’ve realized that many prior beliefs and paradigms about “reality” were fundamentally mistaken and limiting; requiring acceptance of never previously imagined new “realities” through open minded questioning and mindfulness, crucial for life-long learning and spiritual evolution.
Thus since 1976, I’ve learned (from mystic masters, quantum science, and out of body experiences) that we each ‘create’ an illusionary space/time “reality” through “an optical illusion of consciousness” with our unique thoughts, words, and behaviors – whereby we mistakenly perceive, project, and self-identify ourselves as supposedly mortal entities separate from each other, Nature, our precious planet, and from our ultimately inseparable Universal essence as infinite LOVE. (See e.g. Our Mentality is Our Reality)
Also, I’ve learned that in this illusionary space/time reality everything is energy [e=Mc2] appearing and disappearing within Universal consciousness. But most humans mistakenly identify only with their thoughts, instead of their consciousness of those thoughts, and don’t realize that cosmically we are merely energy vortices ‘disguised as persons’. However, as we elevate our energies beyond polarizing fears and negative emotions and radiate innate common love and compassion, we gradually transcend space/time sufferings and reap ever increasing karmic rewards, as ‘givers not getters’. And (as in the following memoirs story) those rewards often appear through amazing synchronicities.
My Miraculous Lotus Flower
This miraculous lotus flower story exemplifies my still continuing life-long “reality” realization process:
In December 2017 my former neighbor Simran Alden (a real estate broker, raised in India before emigrating to the US) left a colored flower at my front door taped to an envelope with information about year-end real estate taxes. Because of color blindness, presbyopia, and other age-related visual limitations I couldn’t discern the flower’s botanical identity or color, nor could I see it clearly. It appeared to me to be a very “real” but dried-out cut flower. So to revive and preserve it’s beauty for a few days, I carefully put it into a tube of fresh tap water.
On awakening the next day I saw a beautifully opened flower, which I assumed would soon fade and wither with age. But miraculously it stayed “alive” and beautiful. And I soon believed that the “real” flower was forming roots on seeing as organic material in the water tube.
So I regularly refilled the tube with filtered water (rather than tap water), and delightedly observed my miraculously blooming “real” flower, which I kept in prominent view on my dining room table.
When Simran Alden later phoned me about my condominium’s market value, I thanked her for the flower she’d given me in December, and told her that I was still enjoying its beauty. However, I don’t remember telling her that I believed it to be “real” and had been watering it regularly. Afterwards I emailed Simran a photo of me enjoying the flower. And I enjoyed and carefully watered my miraculous “real” flower for over four more years.
But that suddenly stopped in June 2022.
At the beginning of June, 2022, my 2008 large screen iMac, running a long outdated OS 10.9 operating system irreparably stopped working. The old iMac contained all of my essential digital data, and was not separately backed-up. So I urgently needed to save its data and replace it with another iMac which would still run OS 10.9; or I’d be involuntarily ‘retired’ as an online spiritual philosopher, sponsored by The Perennial Wisdom Foundation.
Thanks to Divine grace and many amazing synchronicities, I’m “back in business” as a spiritual philosopher, and still able to compose spiritual memoirs.
Here is what happened:
On the June 1st ‘death’ of my iMac, I immediately contacted my almost 93 year old long-time friend and computer ‘guru’, “KJ”, about my urgent dilemma. With compassion “KJ” began expertly guiding my replacement of the 2008 iMac with a late 2012 model that would still run OS 10.9. Also he instructed my daughter Jessica about finding a successor iMac on Craig’s List. Jessica successfully found a replacement iMac, and on June 7th she brought it to my apartment. It still needed to be carefully converted to run my OS 10.9 data. And (with “KJ’s” expert assistance) that finally happened on June 23, 2022. The next night “KJ” passed peacefully in his sleep. If “KJ” had departed on June 1st instead of June 24th, I couldn’t be sharing this memoirs story with you.
Jessica’s lotus “reality” revelation
On arriving at my apartment on June 7, 2022 with the 2012 replacement iMac, my dear daughter Jessica Eve Rattner, (now a prize-winning documentary photographer and UC Davis Master of Fine Arts, with keen color and visual perception) iconoclastically shattered my miraculous flower “reality” image. Looking at the flower, she immediately perceived and impishly revealed to me that the tubed bloom was an not an organically botanical flower, but a cotton woven and fabricated pink lotus.
Ron Rattner on June 7, 2022, after learning Jessica’s lotus flower “reality”
As Simran probably knew, the pink lotus is the official National Flower of India, and is prominent in ancient India’s history, art, and teachings. It has long been an extremely sacred symbol of the spiritual path, enlightenment and resurrection.
So I now view the flower as an auspicious synchronistic blessing, but Jessica’s “reality” revelation has compelled me to stop believing it miraculous.
Dedication of “My Miraculous Lotus Flower”
May this lotus flower story auspiciously symbolize the infinite potential blessings of our ever evolving earthly “reality”, which we “create” with our ever changing thoughts and behaviors.
May it remind us to always be open to new ‘realities’ which transcend our prior beliefs, until we ultimately transcend all incarnate “reality”.
Until then may we ever BE kind and compassionate, and pray:
“Infuse us, enthuse us, and use us, to bless all life as Love!”
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
