Perennial Puzzles
Questions About Questions
“We never cease to stand like curious children
before the great Mystery into which we were born.”
~ Albert Einstein
“The essence of all wisdom is to know the answers to
‘who am I?’ and ‘what will become of me?’ on the Day of Judgment.”
~ Rumi
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates
the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.
It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.
Never lose a holy curiosity.”
~ Albert Einstein
“The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts,
and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre,
it will itself in the end get destroyed.
Then, there will arise Self-realization.”
“The question ‘Who am I?’ is not really meant to get an answer,
the question ‘Who am I?’ is meant to dissolve the questioner.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Who am I?
The quest is in the question.
The question is the answer.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Questions are then,
Life is NOW.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Questions About Questions
Q. When do questions arise?
A. Always then, never now.
Questions are thoughts, and thoughts are then.
Q. Can there ever be a question without a thought?
A. I don’t think so.
Without a question, there can be a thought.
But without a thought, there can’t be a question.
Q. Then, when is there never a question?
A. When there is no questioner.
Ron’s Reflections and Questions About Questioning
Dear Friends,
The foregoing quotations about the Mystery of Divinity and whimsical lines about questionig are offered to inspire and encourage our curiosity and reflection on the ‘Who am I?’ divine spiritual mystery – which Einstein called “the great Mystery into which we were born”.
On birth into new human bodies we experience instant amnesia, forgetting what we knew before we withdrew from dwelling in heavenly domains. Except for very rare Buddha-like saints and sages, we forget that we are immortal Divine Beings – each experiencing a Divine play of consciousness from a unique perspective.
Whereupon, we experience and suffer from ‘a case of mistaken identity’. Individually and collectively, we mistakenly self-identify only with our mortal physical forms, their emotions and perceptions, and their stories – and we become like actors playing unique roles in an ever expanding and endless play of consciousness.
As Shakespeare metaphorically observed:
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players”
~ William Shakespeare ~ As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
But knowingly or unknowingly, we are here to experientially remember what we forgot on incarnation into mortal human bodies.
So our embodied lives become like spiritual mystery stories. Instead of a ‘who-done-it?’ detective story, each life becomes a ‘who am I?’ spiritual mystery, which we are born to solve. Yet, the ultimate solution to that mystery is beyond our comprehension, imagination or belief. So we must find it experientially and intuitively, rather than mentally.
However, spurred by unceasing childlike curiosity, our rational minds can lead us to experiential discovery of our immortal self-identity. So we can begin by reverentially and unceasingly asking “Who am I?”.
“Ask, and it will be given to you …
For every one who asks receives.”
~ Matthew 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10
But ultimately, we discover that
“The question ‘Who am I?’ is not really meant to get an answer,
the question ‘Who am I?’ is meant to dissolve the questioner.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
Thus, as observed by twentieth century Indian sage, J. Krishnamurti, only
“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.”
The foregoing writings are offered to inspire and encourage our curiosity and reflection on the ‘Who am I?’ divine spiritual mystery.
As spiritual siblings – children of Divine LOVE – may we ever aspire to solve that Mystery.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
“Creation”/ “Evolution”/ Rumination
“We never cease to stand like curious children
before the great Mystery into which we were born.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Whence come I and whither go I?
That is the great unfathomable question,
the same for every one of us.
Science has no answer to it.”
~ Max Planck
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.
Never lose a holy curiosity.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Sometimes the questions are complicated
and the answers are simple.”
~ Dr. Seuss
The quest is in the question.
The question is the answer.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
When questioning begins, certainty ends.
When certainty ends, wisdom begins.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Creation”/ “Evolution”/ Rumination
Was space/time causality “reality” ‘created’ 5000 years ago
– or previously?
Or is “reality” ever ‘created’ instant by instant
– ever NOW?
If so, how?
Is there a Divine ‘design plan’?
If so, who is the Divine ‘designer’? Is S/HE friendly?
And if so, why and how did S/HE ‘design’ “reality”?
Is evolution ever implicit in “creation”?
As evolution happens, who/what evolves:
‘Human consciousness’? Living organisms? Beings? “Life”? “Reality”?
Is evolution inevitable, or just optional;
is it imperative, or just elective?
Do we always evolve, or sometimes devolve?
What is our Source?
Do we emerge from Divinity?
After ‘creation’, do we seek our Source,
as a matter of course?
Do we ultimately dissolve in Divinity
– and merge with Mystery?
Does Spirit mind,
and does mind matter?
What really matters?
It’s all MYSTERY!
Ron’s comments on “Creation”/ “Evolution”/ Rumination, and
about finding ever increasing happiness with continuing curiosity
Dear Friends,
The foregoing whimsical “Creation”/ “Evolution”/ Rumination poetic inquiry/essay was composed with great curiosity after my mid-life change of life, which began an immeasurably helpful and still continuing spiritual questioning process.
Thanks to continuing curiosity with open-minded uncertainty, I’ve sometimes been blessed with seemingly simple spiritual answers to complicated questions about “reality”, “self-identity”, and societal insanity – insightful answers which have brought ever-increasing happiness to my life, from intuitive levels of awareness beyond prior conceptual consciousness.
For example, inspired by curiosity I’ve occasionally received and shared ‘simple’ sutras, like these about “reality”, “death” and “silence”:
“Reality isn’t Real”;
Theory of Everything: e = mc2 = consciousness = Self”;
“Remember God, forget the rest”;
“Birth and Death are virtual,
but Life is perpetual”;
“In the beginning was the Word,
but in the end Silence says all.”
As these sutras suggest, thanks to continuing curiosity with open-minded uncertainty I have discovered and adopted helpful new life paradigms, which were unimagined before my spiritual awakening. And ultimately I’ve concluded that beyond all intellectual inquiry – beyond thought – there is only Mystery.
I’ve shared my curiosity questioning process, and the preceding poetic inquiry/essay, sincerely aspiring to encourage all of us to seek and discover within ever increasing spiritual happiness, by following Albert Einstein’s wise advice:
“Never lose a holy curiosity” . . . .
“The important thing is not to stop questioning”.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
What is the Universe?
“There is no reality but God,
says the completely surrendered sheik,
who is an ocean for all beings.”
~ Rumi
“Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.
The forms may change,
yet the essence remains the same. ….
The source is within you
And this whole world is springing up from it.”
~ Rumi
“You are not IN the universe,
you ARE the universe, an intrinsic part of it.
Ultimately you are not a person,
but a focal point where the universe is becoming conscious of itself.
What an amazing miracle.”
~ Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself.
Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies.
We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.”
~ Alan Watts
“In oneself lies the whole world,
and if you know how to look and learn,
then the door is there and the key is in your hand.
Nobody on earth can give you either that key or the door to open,
except yourself.”
~ J. Krishnamurti
“The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze.”
~ 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
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Nothing perceivable is real. Your attachment is your bondage. You cannot control the future.
There is no such thing as free will. Will is bondage. You identify yourself with your desires and become their slave.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Objective reality does not exist” …. “the universe is fundamentally a gigantic … hologram”
~ David Bohm
“Reality” isn’t REAL!
“Reality” is a holographic theater of the mind,
where we are the unseen Source
of the World we see.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
What is the Universe?
Q. What is the Universe?
A. The “Universe” is a word – an idea –
symbolizing Humankind’s perception of a space/time/causality “reality”.
But, space/time/causality
is an illusionary relative reality
of apparently separate forms and phenomena;
An ever impermanent appearance of
ONE eternally immanent Ultimate Reality –
An Ultimate Reality which is Infinite Potentiality
beyond space/time/causality;
An Ultimate Reality beyond conceptuality –
unimaginable, incomprehensible, and inexpressible;
An Ultimate Reality eternally and infinitely
appearing and disappearing
as ephemeral forms and phenomena,
from infinite space/time perspectives;
An Ultimate Reality eternally and infinitely
expressing and experiencing
ITSELF!
Ron’s audio recitation of “What is the Universe?”
Ron’s explanation of why “We Are The Universe”
Dear Friends,
Have you ever read or heard that: “We are the universe” or that “You are the world”? Such statements have been attributed to various prominent spiritual teachers, including Alan Watts, Deepak Chopra, J. Krishnamurti, and Eckhart Tolle.
Only after my midlife change of life did I encounter and begin wondering about these teachings. Understanding their meaning has proved very helpful in my life. So today I have posted the foregoing important quotations and a brief essay/poem, which were inspired by what (I think) I’ve learned about these teachings.
Soon after my midlife awakening as pure awareness – which cracked, but didn’t destroy, my self-woven ‘karmic cocoon’ – I was given numerous glimpses of previously unknown clairvoyant and psychic phenomena which persuaded me that the universe didn’t work the way I’d been taught or thought.
Having realized – but not always remembered – that I was pure awareness and not just my physical body and its story, I began wondering about the true nature of this world and the universe which we seem to inhabit. To satisfy my newly aroused cosmic curiosities I began reading teachings of Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti who was then known worldwide as a contemporary sage. Initially I read a Krishnamurti book which was was intriguingly entitled:
“You Are The World”.
The book included a Krishnamurti talk at Stanford University containing this perplexing statement:
“In oneself lies the whole world, and if you know how to look and learn, then the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either that key or the door to open, except yourself.”
What did Krishnamurti mean? How could the whole world be within us?
Though puzzled, I was determined to understand Krishnamurti’s enigmatic assertion. And gradually that seemed to happen.
Ultimately I deduced that since Ron was pure awareness encompassing a transient body/mind, so too was everyone and everything else in space/time; that, therefore, all humans share common Cosmic consciousness which encompasses, perceives and projects the world.
But, because we mistakenly perceive and believe ourselves to be separate from each other and Nature, we suffer individually and societally from the universal law of cause and effect – karma. Thus, our misconceptions of separateness create an illusory world of suffering.
However, as gradually we unselfishly open our hearts with compassion beyond personal desires and affections, our karmic sufferings diminish, and we reap increasing happiness. As astutely observed by Albert Einstein:
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us ‘universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings 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. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security.”
( N. Y. Times , March 29, 1972)
Einstein also revealed to us that what we perceive as ‘reality’ “is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”; and that “space and time are not conditions in which we live, they are modes in which we think”.
Mystics say that ultimately, upon Self Realization of our true divine identity, our sufferings ceace. In the meanwhile, we avoid or reduce suffering by behaving with remembrance that this space/time world isn’t really real, but an “optical delusion of .. consciousness.” So, according to the 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.”
To help us “escape the suffering” of this crazy world, today’s profound quotations and “What is the Universe?” essay/poem can remind us of our true divine self-identity as Universal Awareness – that we ARE the Universe. Also embedded below is a highly recommended and very pithy 10 minute YouTube video montage titled “We Create “Reality””
May these writings and video encourage and inspire us to live ever happier and soul fulfilling lives, as gradually we compassionately open our hearts to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature – as we remember that we are the unseen Source of the World we see.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
We Create “Reality”
Perfect Paradox
“The truest sayings are paradoxical.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Perfection is a state in which things are the way they are,
and are not the way they are not.
As you can see, this universe is perfect.”
~ Werner Erhard, est
“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.”
~ Lao-Tzu
“By letting it go it all gets done.
The world is won by those who let it go.
But when you try and try,
the world is beyond the winning.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life.”
“[It] is surrender to this moment, not to a story through which you interpret this moment and then try to resign yourself to it.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment…
Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life –
and see how life starts suddenly..
working for you, rather than against you.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
If you can accept the flow of life and give in to it, you will be accepting what is real. Only when you accept what is real can you live with it in peace and happiness. The alternative is a struggle that will never end because it is a struggle with the unreal, with a mirage of life instead of life itself.
~ Deepak Chopra
“Embrace the higher truth that everything comes to pass exactly as it should. Find peace and wisdom by accepting what is.”
~ Dan Millman
“The moment that judgement stops through acceptance of what it is, you are free of the mind.
You have made room for love, for joy, for peace.”
“Your acceptance of ‘what is’ takes you to a deeper level
where your inner state as well as your sense of self
no longer depend on the mind’s judgment of “good” or “bad.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“True surrender . . . . does not mean to passively put up with whatever situation you find yourself in and to do nothing about it. Nor does it mean to cease making plans or initiating positive action. Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
Introduction to “Perfect Paradox”
The following SillySutras poem restates a perennial wisdom principle.
It cautions that we mentally yield to life’s flow in each moment because we can’t change it; that we accept the NOW, as paradoxically “perfect”, even though it is pervaded with painful problems, because causally and karmically “what is” cannot be otherwise.
The poem’s esoteric message is explained by above apt quotations, and by my following comments.
Please enjoy and reflect upon these writings. Moment by moment, may they bring us ever expanding happiness.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Perfect Paradox
Despite Omni-present ignorance,
selfishness, misery and suffering,
and apparent chaotic uncertainty,
Perfection pervades our “Loco Loka“ * –
the realm of space/time and causation;
the realm of manifest Mystery.
*”Loco Loka“ = crazy world
Ron’s audio recitation of “Perfect Paradox”
Ron’s explanation of “Perfect Paradox”
Dear Friends,
Today’s posting is about accepting as “Perfect” ‘what is’ NOW, despite pervasively perceived suffering and problems.
For millennia mystics have taught that our ever impermanent space/time ‘reality’ is ultimately unreal and illusory, like a mental mirage; that life exists only in the choiceless, thoughtless present moment, which karmically cannot be otherwise. But we mostly experience this world mentally and conceptually, rather than thoughtlessly. Thus for most humans our life is a thought-created continuing story in which (as William Shakespeare revealed) “nothing’s either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Yet, whatever we may think about ‘what is’ NOW, it can’t be changed. So mentally resisting each present moment is futile, and inevitably causes karmic suffering. (see https://sillysutras.com/dont-seize-the-moment/)
Thus mystics (like those quoted above) perennially counsel us to let go of mental descriptions or characterizations, and to non-conceptually accept each moment of Nature’s spontaneous flow of life.
Background
I first learned about the spiritual principle of choicelessly accepting ‘what is’ soon after my mid-life awakening. In 1977, I attended “est”, an impactful self-help seminar where I was first exposed to certain Eastern spirituality principles cleverly collected and presented by Werner Erhard, est’s founder, to motivate participants to radically transform their lives.
To communicate an alleged epiphany experienced while he was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge, Werner’s key est teaching was to: Always accept “what is”. [See Ron’s Memoirs: Getting “IT” at est]
To encourage est participants to accept “what is”, Werner described the world as “perfect”, with innovative definitions such as:
“Perfection is a state in which things are the way they are, and are not the way they are not.
As you can see, this universe is perfect.”
Intrigued by est teachings, I began wondering about, and gradually accepting, “what is” in the present moment (because karmically it could not be otherwise). And non-judgmentally accepting “what is” has significantly spurred my spiritual awakening process. So I have written about it, to help others.
(see https://sillysutras.com/dont-seize-the-moment/)
“Perfect Paradox” poetry
Today, to encourage our accepting “what is” in the present moment, I have shared the above poetic verses first composed during my post-retirement reclusive period, together with apt quotations, including Werner’s definition of “perfection”.
The poem is oxymoronically titled “Perfect Paradox” because in our space/time polarity duality reality we can’t have “perfection”, without imperfection. (See https://sillysutras.com/what-is-perfection/) Moreover Eastern mystics have persuasively taught for millennia that this so-called ‘reality’ isn’t even real; that it is an optical illusion – like a mental mirage. So to call it “perfect” is cosmically contradictory. Furthermore, words can never describe or express mysterious transcendent Truth beyond illusionary ‘duality reality’.
Nonetheless, words which seem intellectually illogical, can metaphorically, rhetorically, or paradoxically point to otherwise ineffable Truth. So sometimes
“The truest sayings are paradoxical.”
~ Lao Tzu
Therefore today’s “Perfect Paradox” verses and quotations are offered to encourage our acceptance of “what is” NOW, which karmically cannot be otherwise.
Accepting “what is”, need not impede our nonviolent opposition to injustice.
But yielding to life’s flow, need not discourage or impede our vigilantly questioning and peacefully resisting pervasive suffering and injustice caused by human ignorance and greed – as did Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..
“True surrender . does not mean to passively put up with whatever situation you find yourself in and to do nothing about it. Nor does it mean to cease making plans or initiating positive action.
Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“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
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Like A Waterfall
“Just as the strong current of a waterfall cannot be reversed,
so the movement of a human life is also irreversible.”
~ Buddha
“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.”
~ Lao-Tzu
“If you realize that all things change,
there is nothing you will try to hold on to.
If you are not afraid of dying,
there is nothing you cannot achieve.”
~ Lao Tzu
Introduction
Dear Friends,
The following “Like a Waterfall” poetic sutra verses are based upon ancient deterministic and non-dualistic philosophies, and reflect an esoteric interpretation of the above Buddha quotation from a book of daily reflections by the Dalai Lama, that: “Just as the strong current of a waterfall cannot be reversed, so the movement of a human life is also irreversible.”
With comments and quotations after the poem, I explain my poetic interpretation of that Buddhist teaching. Also, the poem’s allusions to our predestined life flow are related to other postings about Go with the Flow and Free Will or Fate.
But before considering those comments and quotations, please reflect upon and enjoy “Like a Waterfall”.
Its verses are dedicated to encouraging us to yield and skillfully go with Nature’s predestined flow, to co-create an ever better world, as we intend, intuit, and imagine it to be.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Like A Waterfall
Like a waterfall
is the course of your life.
Arising mysteriously from
interdependent karmic causes,
its current flows irreversibly and irresistibly –
Out of this impermanent world
of ever changing forms and phenomena,
and into Eternal Mystery.
You have no destination option.
So, choicelessly and unresistingly,
let go, and go with Life’s flow –
Now!.
Inevitably it will carry you
to an infinite ocean of Eternal Awareness.
There – like contents of a time release capsule –
your illusion of separateness from Source
will melt and merge timelessly
in Truth, Existence, Bliss.
There you will BE –
Eternally –
Wholeness, Holiness, SELF.
And so it shall be!
Ron’s audio recitation of “Like a Waterfall”
Explanation of “Like a Waterfall”
Dear Friends,
The foregoing “Like a Waterfall” poetic verses are based upon ancient deterministic and non-dualistic philosophies, and reflect my esoteric interpretation of the above Buddha quotation from a book of daily reflections by the Dalai Lama, that: “Just as the strong current of a waterfall cannot be reversed, so the movement of a human life is also irreversible.”
For those curious about this enigmatic teaching (as once I was), I’ll try to briefly elaborate. Poetic passages are consistent with perennial deterministic and non-dualistic philosophies which do not accept supposed separate human “free will”.
Thus this “Like a Waterfall” verse asserts and advises:
“You have no destination option.
So, choicelessly and unresistingly,
let go, and go with Life’s flow –
Now!.”
Other verses are similarly consistent with determinist non-duality philosophy (as now confirmed by quantum physics).
They accept that our supposed material world is a mental illusion, like a mirage; that there is no matter, or free will, and that our perceived separation from other apparent forms and phenomena is “an optical illusion of consciousness.” And that beyond our illusory reality, is ONE indescribable and transcendent Source – to which we are irreversibly destined to return.
Also, here are key quotations which may help us understand verses suggesting that the course of each human’s life is irreversibly predetermined, ‘like a waterfall’.
“God alone is the Doer.
Everything happens by His will.”
~ Ramakrishna Paramahansa
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
“The assumption of an absolute determinism
is the essential foundation of every scientific enquiry.”
~ Max Planck
“The only difference between a human being
and a stone rolling down a hill,
is that the human being
thinks he is in charge of his own destiny.”
~ Baruch Spinoza
Q. “Are only the important events in a man’s life,
such as his main occupation or profession, predetermined,
or are trifling acts also,
such as taking a cup of water or
moving from one part of the room to another?”
A. “Everything is predetermined.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
Dedication
These “Like a Waterfall” verses are dedicated
to encouraging us to yield and skillfully go
with Nature’s predestined flow,
to co-create an ever better world,
as we intend, intuit, and imagine it to be.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Go With The Flow!
“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.”
~ Lao-Tzu
“How can the divine Oneness be seen?
In beautiful forms, breathtaking wonders, awe-inspiring miracles?
The Tao is not obliged to present itself in this way.
If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere,
even in the most ordinary things.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Those who flow as life flows,
know they need no other force.”
~ Lao Tzu
“By letting it go it all gets done.
The world is won by those who let it go.
But when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning.”
~ Lao Tzu
“If you correct your mind,
the rest of your life will fall into place.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Tao is Now,
Tao is One,
Tao is Doer,
Tao will be done. –
Tao will be done,
So let Tao do it.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutras Sayings
Introduction to “Go With The Flow!”
Dear Friends,
The following whimsically poetic sutra verses and explanatory comments are about ‘common wisdom’ advising us to “go with the flow”. Together with posted quotations from Taoist Master Lao Tzu, these writings reveal esoteric insights into fundamental principles promoting spiritual evolution. Please enjoy and deeply reflect upon them.
May these writings inspire us to honor and yield to Nature’s flow, which will inevitably carry us back beyond ego-mind to our spiritual Source – an indescribably joyous and eternal Infinite ocean of Universal Awareness.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Go With The Flow!
Go with the flow!
Go with the flow!
Everyone says
to go with the flow.
Go with the flow!
Go with the flow!
But nobody knows
where the flow goes.
So, where will we go,
if we go with the flow?
Nobody says;
Nobody knows.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Go With The Flow”
Ron’s explanation of “Go With The Flow”
After much reflection and observation, I’ve concluded that being “in the flow”, or “in the zone”, or “in the Tao”, are all salutary and substantially similar spiritual states. So with poetic license I’ve often equated or conflated them in spiritual writings – where “Flow” and “Tao” and “zone” are often used synonymously.
From a poetic perspective all of these concepts point to non-dualistic Universal Intelligence or Infinite Potentiality which is the mysterious Source of the universe and all energy patterns that cosmically keep it harmonious, balanced and ordered.
Definition
I’ve defined going with the “flow” or the “Tao” – or being in the “zone” – as thought-free, effortless, and focused merging of intention, action, and awareness – consciously letting Life happen through us, to harmlessly harmonize with Nature and achieve effortless action.
Contrary to some interpretations, “Going with the “flow” or the “Tao” is the antithesis of being passive, apathetic or indolent. Or of just letting things happen without rational response.
When “in the flow” we skillfully and spontaneously respond to ever changing conditions or stimuli, like accomplished athletes, artists or stand-up performers who are “in the zone”. Such responses help us harmoniously co-create this ever impermanent world while maintaining homeostatic equilibrium and balance. And it is a sign of our spiritual progress in the evolutionary process of ultimately merging with Mystery.
Taoist Perspectives
Some of the wisest reflections on these perennial questions are in Lao Tzu’s enduring masterpiece the Tao Te Ching, including those preceding the above “Go With The Flow” verses.
And here are some further Tao Te Ching verses which have especially interested me:
“Stop thinking and end your problems.”
“To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.”
“Become totally empty
Quiet the restlessness of the mind
Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness”
“Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity.”
“Free of ego, living naturally, working virtuously,
you become filled with inexhaustible vitality
and are liberated forever from the cycle of death and rebirth. ”
“Understand this if nothing else:
spiritual freedom and oneness with the Tao
are not randomly bestowed gifts,
but the rewards of conscious self-transformation and self-evolution.”
Invocation
May these “go with the flow” writings
inspire us to honor and yield to Nature’s flow,
which will inevitably carry us back
beyond ego-mind to our spiritual Source –
an indescribably joyous and eternal
Infinite ocean of Universal Awareness.
And as we awaken to harmlessly harmonize with Nature,
may we consciously and cooperatively
co-create an ever better world –
as we intend, intuit, and imagine it to be.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Related Post:
Like A Waterfall
Life’s in the Balance
“Interdependence is a fundamental law of nature.”
~ Dalai Lama
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity
but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.”
~ Thomas Merton
“Life is balance of holding on and letting go.”
“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding,
the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds’ wings.”
~ Rumi
“joy and sorrow are inseparable. . .
together they come and when one sits alone with you . .
remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.”
~ Khalil Gibran
“what is joy without sorrow? what is success without failure?
what is a win without a loss? what is health without illness?
you have to experience each if you are to appreciate the other. there is always going to be suffering. it’s how you look at your suffering, how you deal with it, that will define you.”
~ Mark Twain
“In Attunement with God you will find the way to true success,
which is a balance of spiritual, mental, moral, and material attainment.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
“As long as you live, you will be subject to change,
whether you will it or not –
now glad, now sorrowful;
now pleased, now displeased;
now devout, now undevout;
now vigorous, now slothful;
now gloomy, now merry.
But a wise man who is well taught in spiritual labor
stands unshaken in all such things,
and heeds little what he feels,
or from what side the wind of instability blows.”
~ Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
“As it acts in the world, the Tao is like the bending of a bow.
The top is bent downward; the bottom is bent up.
It adjusts excess and deficiency so that there is perfect balance.
It takes from what is too much
and gives to what isn’t enough.
Those who try to control, who use force to protect their power,
go against the direction of the Tao.
They take from those who don’t have enough
and give to those who have far too much.
The Master can keep giving because there is no end to her wealth.
She acts without expectation, succeeds without taking credit,
and doesn’t think that she is better than anyone else.”
~ Lao Tzu, translation by Stephen Mitchell
“Let us celebrate – not separate – the Whole;
Let us balance our differences on a fulcrum of
< LOVE >.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Life’s in the Balance
Our life is in the balance,
Ever < NOW >,
‘Twixt our hopes
and our history,
On a fulcrum of Mystery,
Our life is in the balance,
Ever < NOW > !
Ron’s audio explanation and recitation of “Life’s in the Balance”
Ron’s explanation of “Life’s in the Balance”
Dear Friends,
The foregoing quotations and sutra verses address an important philosophical and practical question: “How can we live a “balanced life”?”
Have you ever considered what it means to live a “balanced life”? If so, what did you decide? Have you considered eating a balanced diet, or balancing and prioritizing your time spent with work, recreation, meditation, relationships, rest, etc.?
Each of us is unique with a unique Earth life history and perspective. So there can be no specific answer or definition for each of us about what constitutes “a balanced life”. Moreover, everything is in constant flux, precluding any unchanging answer. Yet living a “balanced life” is an issue of considerable importance for all of us.
Especially since my mid-life inner awakening, I have learned that – just as our bodies naturally tend toward maintaining a state of homeostasis – there is a strong tendency throughout Nature to maintain homeostatic equilibrium, and to energetically compensate for any disruptions or deviations from that balanced state. Also that “Interdependence is a fundamental law of nature.”
Yet it appears that we Humans are the only earthly species responsible for significant ecological imbalances. Forgetting that Nature is our nature; that we are interdependently ONE with Nature; and, that Nature ‘bats last’, we have mistakenly believed and behaved as if we are separated from each other and from Nature. So people unsustainably neglect or try to control Nature, and mistakenly disrupt Nature’s homeostatic equilibrium.
This behavior has resulted in catastrophic threats to all Life as we’ve known it, from disharmonious cruelty, wars, and insanely unsustainable exploitation of our precious planet. So we now see widespread physical, psychological, and economic suffering and unhappiness. Our mistaken self-identification as supposedly separate entities is what spiritual teachers call “ego”. And most spiritual teachings are intended to help us transcend such limited ego consciousness.
For example the Dalai Lama reminds us that
“Interdependence is a fundamental law of nature. Not only higher forms of life but also many of the smallest insects are social beings who, without any religion, law, or education, survive by mutual cooperation based on an innate recognition of their interconnectedness. The most subtle level of material phenomena is also governed by interdependence. All phenomena, from the planet we inhabit to the oceans, clouds, forests, and flowers that surround us, arise in dependence upon subtle patterns of energy. Without their proper interaction, they dissolve and decay.”
Because we have egocentrically forgotten our inseparable interconnectedness and interdependence with all life everywhere, we have degenerated into insanity – unconsciously committing mass suicide by ecocide, and threatening nuclear catastrophe. So these are critical times of immense jeopardy and suffering, yet immense opportunity.
The human species has developed amazing new technologies, which if wisely and unselfishly used could foster a wonderful new enlightened age. And paradoxically we can advance toward such a new age by emulating past pre-industrial societies.
Isn’t it now crucial that we learn from the wisdom of indigenous people who have lived sane and happy lives by prioritizing sustainable harmony with Nature over it’s unsustainable exploitation; cooperation over competition; respect for prophets over lust for profits; democracy over authoritarianism?
Conclusion
Since Nature is our nature and is in charge of our lives, to live a “balanced life” we must self-identify with Nature, and consciously cooperate with our precious planet’s interdependent ecosystem. We must behave mindfully without disrupting the crucial homeostatic harmony of our body-minds with our environment.
Dedication
May the foregoing “Life’s in the Balance” sutra verses and quotations help us discover innate happiness in our interdependent and inseparable ONENESS with Nature and all of its lifeforms, and encourage us to allow Nature to bless all life everywhere with interdependent balance and harmony.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
How Shall We Solve Our Planetary Problems?
“No problem can be solved
from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
~ Albert Einstein
“We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we make the world.”
~ Buddha
“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
~ 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
“Ultimately, the decision to save the environment
must come from the human heart.
The key point is a call for a genuine sense of universal responsibility
that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness.”
~ Dalai Lama (From “Humanity and Ecology”)
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift
and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors the servant
and has forgotten the gift.”
~ 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.
I don’t mean emotions, I mean feelings,
for feelings and intuition are one.”
~ Albert Einstein
How Shall We Solve Our Planetary Problems?
Q. How can humankind resolve its critical planetary problems?
A. By addressing them intuitively from elevated heart levels of awareness.
The critical problems now confronting humanity have arisen from low ego-mind levels of human consciousness, which must be transcended for our peaceful survival on planet Earth.
As Albert Einstein aptly observed:
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
To resolve critical human problems we must elevate Humanity’s level of consciousness, from the human mind – which is thought – to the human heart, which is intuition. And then, with “a genuine sense of universal responsibility that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness” [Dalai Lama], we can intuitively and cooperatively resolve our problems.
Only with feelings, insights and actions arising from loving kindness and compassion for all Life everywhere, shall humankind truly transcend and cooperatively resolve its critical ecologic and economic problems.
With opened hearts we can and we shall resolve our critical planetary problems.
Invocation
May we open our hearts
to our innate empathy, kindness and compassion.
And with benevolent and focused intention,
may we so realize our ONENESS with everyone and everything;
And thereby lovingly resolve our critical planetary problems
to bless all Life everywhere – as LOVE!
And so it shall be!
Ron Rattner
What Is Life?
~ Quotations and Sutras
“Life is everything. Life is God.
Everything changes and moves,
and that movement is God. . .
To love life is to love God.”
~ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
Introduction to “What Is Life?” ~ Quotations and Sutras
Dear Friends,
Throughout human history philosophers have wondered about perennially puzzling questions of life’s meaning or purpose, if any. For example, Aristotle declared that “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
Most SillySutras writings are offered to help us live happier lives; and some address questions about possible purpose or meaning of human existence. (E.g. see “Is Earth-life Purposeful?”)
For those who wonder why we’re here, this posting shares many noteworthy philosophical and mystical quotations about “Life”, plus a collection of Ron Rattner’s Sutra Sayings about “What Is Life?”.
Please consider and enjoy these quotations and sutras, not as spiritual truths but as philosophical speculations about human life on Earth. And don’t forget that with a completely silent mind there are no philosophical questions or answers – just choiceless Universal Awareness.
Ron Rattner
“What Is Life?” ~ Quotations
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
“The end of life is to be like unto God;
and the soul following God, will be like unto Him;
He being the beginning, middle, and end of all things.”
~ Socrates
“Life is a pilgrimage.
The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns.
He marches direct to the illimitable domain of eternal bliss,
his ultimate destination.”
~ Swami Sivananda
“One word
Frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love.”
~ Sophocles
“Life without love, is no life at all.”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.”
“Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving”
~ Khalil Gibran
“Life is not a problem to be solved,
but a reality to be experienced.”
~ Soren Kierkegaard
“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”
~ Crowfoot, 1890
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life,
the whole aim and end of human existence.”
~ Aristotle
“Be happy for this moment.
This moment is your life.”
~ Omar Khayyam
“You are not ‘in the now;’ you are the now.
That is your essential identity-
the only thing that never changes.
Life is always now. Now is consciousness.
And consciousness is who you are.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.
~ Hans Christian Andersen
“Life is God’s novel. Let him write it.”
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer
Life is a process. We are a process.
The universe is [an evolutionary] process.
~ Anne Wilson Schaef (edited)
“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.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.”
~ Lao Tzu
“The history of our spiritual life is a continuing search
for the unity between ourselves and the world.
Religion, art, and science follow, one and all, this aim.”
~ Rudolf Steiner
“Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life is a succession of lessons
which must be lived to be understood.
All is riddle, and the key to a riddle is another riddle.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Death is a stripping away of all that is not you.
The secret of life is to “die before you die” —
and find that there is no death.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“The two most important days in your life are
the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
~ Mark Twain
Life is a dream for the wise,
a game for the fool,
a comedy for the rich,
a tragedy for the poor.
~ Sholom Aleichem
What Is Life? ~ Sutra Sayings
What Is Life?
Life is a word – an idea –
with many meanings
which are mental,
not fundamental.
As beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
the meaning of “life” is what we think it to be.
But beyond our Earth-life “reality”
Life is not mental,
but Transcendental:
Life is Eternal Mystery.
What Is Life?
Life is awakened Awareness.
What Is Life?
Life is aliveness.
What Is Life?
Life is BEING, not doing.
Life is BEING, not becoming.
What Is Life?
Life is infinite experience
Of Infinite Potentiality
From infinite perspectives.
What Is Life?
What is death?
In duality ‘reality’
the meaning of life,
depends upon the meaning of death.
When we Know the meaning
of both life and death,
we shall Know no death
– only awakened Awareness.
What Is Life?
Life is an “in a body” experience.
What Is Life?
Life is an ongoing identity crisis:
An endless opportunity to
transcend entity identity.
What Is Life?
Life is an idea game
in which we’re challenged
to make ideal
our ideas of what’s “real”.
What Is Life?
Life is endless exploration in time.
Until we discover that:
Life is NOW,
Ever NOW,
Never then!
What Is Life?
Life is an exploration-experience-experiment in space/time..
What Is Life?
Life is a semantic space/time sojourn.
What Is Life?
Life is a round trip metaphoric journey,
on which we are destined to return to point of origin.
On return, we learn – we never left.
What Is Life?
Life is a journey: an ego trip.
Life is a journey: a mind trip.
What Is Life?
Life is a workshop for ego addicts; an ego trip.
What Is Life?
Life is a healing/wholing gnosis process.
What Is Life?
Life is an evolutionary learning process.
Gleaning meaning in matter,
we learn all that matters —
we learn all that matters is
LOVE!
What Is Life?
Life is a mind field –
a field of dreams,
where all we ever see or seem
is but a dream within a dream.
What Is Life?
Life is a cosmic game of hide and seek.
Self hides in plain insight
and, knowingly or unknowingly,
we seek Self.
We seek and seek
until we find
beyond the mind,
that we are what we seek –
that what we seek is the seeker.
What Is Life?
Life is a learning laboratory
for discovering immortality –
experimentally and experientially.
What Is Life?
Life is suffering;
Life is mystery.
Life’s miseries are mental,
while it’s mystery is Transcendental.
What Is Life?
Life is a cosmic masquerade;
an endless comedy/tragedy/mystery drama.
The masquerade play continues with countless acts and scenes.
Each actor must participate in innumerable roles,
until each is ultimately unmasked,
with true identity revealed as
Common “I-ness”.
What Is Life?
Life is a mystery school
in which knowingly or unknowingly
we are all students –
each learning about,
and seeking to solve,
the same Mystery –
the mystery of Divinity.
Though we may never solve it,
we shall ever evolve it –
NOW!
Ron’s Comments about “What Is Life” ~ Quotations and Sutras
Dear Friends,
The foregoing quotations and whimsical sutra speculations about Earth-life may help point to ways for us to live happier lives.
Throughout human history philosophers have wondered – and keep wondering – about the purpose or significance of “life” on Earth.
And for millennia rare avatars, saints, sages and other mystical inner explorers have reported discovering within an infinitely potential Universal Awareness – which is the sole Source of all we call “Life” in the “real world” – that can be experienced in deep meditation, but not described. Some of their quotations are shared above.
Though I’ve irreversibly accepted the existence of an indescribable Divine Life Source, I have nonetheless shared the foregoing quotations and sutras about “Life” – which are based on philosophical theories and mystical musings – as helpful hints for living happier Earth-lives.
Invocation
May the foregoing “What Is Life?” quotations and sutra sayings help all of us find increasing happiness and fulfillment of our deepest inner aspirations, as we live our lives from ever elevated perspectives.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Is Earth-life Purposeful?
“One great question underlies our experience,
whether we think about it or not:
what is the purpose of life?”
~ Dalai Lama
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life,
the whole aim and end of human existence.”
~ Aristotle
“What are we here for?
We are here for freedom, for knowledge.
We want to know in order to make us free.
That is our life; one universal cry for freedom.”
~ Swami Vivekananda
“The world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self.
Man’s real nature is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self.
Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self.
The true Self is imperishable; therefore, when a man finds it,
he finds a happiness which does not come to an end.”
~ Ramana Maharshi
“Our purpose is process –
evolutionary process.
Gleaning meaning in matter,
we learn all that matters –
we learn all that matters is LOVE!”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished.
If you’re alive, it isn’t.
~ Richard Bach
Is Earth-life Purposeful?
Q. Is Earth-life purposeful?
A. Yes! We are here to learn and evolve.
Though some Eastern mystics may call this ever changing “reality” a dream, maya, samsara,or illusion, it is a marvelous and miraculous mental creation.
So how can anyone ever imagine Earth-life to be without purpose?
Our purpose is process – evolutionary process.
Like unique facets of an infinitely faceted jewel,
each Earth being has a unique perspective, but a common Source [*see Footnote] – which transcends this world, while everywhere immanent herein.
So, our purpose is harmoniously to realize and experience,
and to actualize from infinite perspectives,
our ONE transcendent Self identity.
As long as we believe ourselves to be seemingly circumscribed
and separated from each other the rest of our reality,
We incarnate to realize and to actualize
our common spiritual Self identity.
We learn until we leave.
But, we don’t leave until we learn –
LOVE!
Footnote.
*Innumerable names – God, Love, Nature, etc. – may be used to signify that Source or any of its infinite aspects. Or as in the Jewish tradition it may be acknowledged that no name can denominate “That” which is beyond conception or expression – since naming limits the illimitable and ineffable Infinite Reality.
Ron’s Comments on Life’s Purpose
Dear Friends,
Have you ever reflected on whether human life is purposeful – individually or collectively?
Or have you wondered:
“Why was I born? Why am I living?”
Or “What is the meaning of life?”
According to the Dalai Lama “What is the purpose of life?” is the “one great question [which] underlies our experience, whether we think about it or not”. And since my midlife change of life, I’ve found that reflecting about our life’s purpose, if any, has sparked a very helpful process of finding ever expanding happiness.
So today I’m sharing the foregoing quotations and essay/poem to help us consider perennial questions about ‘purpose’ or ‘meaning’ of life.
Background
Not until my midlife awakening did I ever wonder whether Earth-life is purposeful.
But since then I’ve continued to reflect and write about it.
Tentatively, I’ve hypothesized that, as students matriculating on the ‘Earth branch of the great cosmic University’, we’re learning to let life live us as LOVE, until ultimately we realize that LOVE is our common Self-identity and Universal Reality; that beyond this conceptual space/time relative reality, there are no philosophical questions or concepts or purposes, just infinitely potential Cosmic Consciousness as a ‘maha-matrix’ Source of all samsaric illusory mirage-like ‘realities’.
While growing up in 20th century America – like millions of others – I greatly enjoyed popular New York musical theater songs. Many of my favorite lyrics were composed by Master lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, mostly in collaboration with great musical talents like Richard Rodgers with whom he wrote Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music.
Until midlife I understood Hammerstein’s lyrics to encompass only worldly subjects, like romantic love. But, after spiritually awakening, I began to realize that Hammerstein’s lyrics often esoterically encompassed mystical perspectives. And I started referring to him as “Sri Oscar Hammerstein”.
When I was born in 1932, one the “top ten” popular songs was “Why Was I Born”, for which Hammerstein (with composer Jerome Kern) had written lyrics in 1929, beginning with these perennial questions: “Why was I born? Why am I living?” “What do I get? What am I giving?” And Hammerstein’s lyrics concluded with this enduring answer: “Why I was born? To love you!”
Fifty years after Hammerstein’s composition of the “Why Was I Born” lyrics, I began to realize that as an ultimate goal of Human life Hammerstein’s lyrics esoterically could refer to Divine LOVE, beyond just romantic love – e.g. to the ecstatic devotional spiritual path exemplified by Sufi-Persian Mystic Masters Rumi and Hafiz.
So with poetic license I pluralized Hammerstein’s lyric questions and edited his answer to suggest our true Earth-life purpose:
Q. Why were we born? Why are we living?
What do we get? What are we giving?
A. Why were we born? To love THEE!
Thus I’ve learned that reflecting on life’s purpose, can help us gradually realize that we are not who or what we were taught or ‘labeled’ to be by society, or by our mistaken mental reification of our projected-perceptions:
That we are not merely our mortal bodies – their genders, features, colors, religions, beliefs, emotions, habits or stories, or the ‘voices in our heads’. We are non-dual immortal spirit experiencing fleeting Earth lives from infinite perspectives in transitory physical vehicles. But ultimately ‘under the hood’ we’re all the same Cosmic Consciousness. We are all Eternal LOVE.
Invocation
May we help transform and transcend this world of suffering,
by realizing and compassionately actualizing our common spiritual identity, as LOVE.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
