Ron’s Memoirs
Reviewing Life’s Lessons
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful
for the evolution of your consciousness.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“There are no mistakes, no coincidences,
all events are blessings given to us to learn from.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“Listen To Your Soul:
You have to grow from the inside out.
None can teach you, none can make you spiritual.
There is no other teacher but your own soul.”
~ Swami Vivekananda
“What Causes Our Problems?
Ignorance spawns them;
Intelligence solves them;
Wisdom averts them;
Truth transcends them.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Dear Friends,
It is much easier to change our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors than those of others; much easier to learn from our own achievements or mistakes than from others.
With the advent of the Aquarian age, we live with extraordinarily dire Earthly threats and challenges, yet unprecedented opportunities for evolutionary advancement to societies of peace, freedom, well-being and justice.
Because everything we think, do or say, changes this world in some way, we ‘contagiously’ bless the world as we become ever-more loving, and learn to let life live us as LOVE.
So to help us bless the world as LOVE, today I offer these suggestions for learning from regularly reviewing our own errors and successes:
Life Reviews
Some mystics and Near Death (NDE) survivors report that on ‘crossing over’ from physical death – from one lifetime to another – Eternal souls experience (beyond time) instant non-judgmental life reviews of prior lifetime behaviors, and how they affected others. Such reviews happen to teach what helps or hurts our evolutionary matriculation on the ‘Earth branch of the Great Cosmic University’. NDE survivors often report losing fear of death with newfound intention to live lovingly.
Such life reviews remind us that we’ve incarnated to live and give LOVE; and, to let go of mistaken ego-mind fears of mortality as entities supposedly separate from Nature and timeless Awareness.
After over forty years since my midlife spiritual awakening, I’ve found it wise to regularly review our life experiences before we leave our precious human bodies; that, rather than reminisce about the past or speculate about ever uncertain futures, it’s wise to retrospectively review behaviors which have helped us to live as LOVE and to let go of ego, so as to set our intentions about navigating the rest of this soulful space/time metaphoric journey.
Each new Earth-life cycle or season can be a particularly appropriate time for life-learning reviews – not as ‘final exams’ (before graduation and commencement) but for evolutionary impetus toward ultimate “graduation” from space/time duality reality – as timeless Infinite Awareness.
Over forty years ago, on New Year’s eve 1974-75, I experienced an unforgettably profound out of body (OOB) event which awakened my conscious awareness to paradigm possibilities never previously imagined, but which were ultimately realized.
Thus, as an octogenarian in 2021, my present perspectives of “Reality” and Self-identity are consistent with those expressed for millennia by non-dualist Mystics. Mostly, I now view space/time duality “reality” like a mysteriously pre-scripted movie – a dream-like mental matrix mirage.
Now my main motive has become to non-judgmentally help others transcend mistaken ego/mind separation from Nature and Source, by compassionately sharing what I’ve learned about our common Self-identity and Reality.
And by so helping others it has helped me find previously unimagined happiness and peace of mind, which I wish to share for everyone everywhere.
Invocation
May we learn from regularly reviewing our lives,
to fearlessly let go of ego, and to
Let Life live us as LOVE.
With ever growing gratitude for Amazing Grace,
May we open our hearts to forgive and give up
what we’ve mistakenly thought we were –
And to so realize what we Truly ARE:
The unseen Source of the world we see –
ONE Eternal Spirit;
ONE Life;
ONE Light;
ONE LOVE!
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
True Communication
“It is as though he listened
and such listening as his
enfolds us in a silence
In which at last
We begin to hear
What we are meant to be.”
~ Lao-Tzu
“Our task must be to free ourselves from this [mental] prison
by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
~ Albert Einstein
“In this world of relativity,
we are all relatives.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron’s Introduction of “True Communication”
In our space/time world everything is energy emanating from non-dual universal consciousness – the Source and essence of all Life – so that the more expanded and harmonious with Nature our subtle energy fields, the greater our capacities to consciously communicate. Even without words or thoughts we can powerfully communicate emotions through tears, smiles, music, and other arts. And, however it is shared, LOVE is a ‘contagious’ blessing.
As a social justice lawyer, I learned how legal disputes often arise from miscommunications. But only after my mid-life spiritual awakening, did I begin consciously experiencing previously unknown subtle energies. Thereby, I learned about human capacities to intuitively impart, receive or exchange subtle information with other beings and other life-forms and even with seemingly inanimate objects like like plants, foods and manufactured objects – like my 1976 Volvo blessed to run well by my Guruji.
Thus many people communicate well with plants, pets and other conscious creatures. In 1981, I even experienced an unforgettable magical friendship with a sea gull which repeatedly visited me at my 12th floor high-rise apartment, at times when I was feeling lonely.
St. Francis of Assisi was a famous exemplar of such communications whose legendary exchanges with birds and animals were based on his constant heartfelt harmony and communion with all of Nature.
The above quotations, with these and following comments, quotes, poem, and video explain and illustrate how “True Communication” happens. May they help us become ever better communicators, harmonious with Nature.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
“True Communication”
True communication is neither verbal nor mental –
But transcendental.
True communication is communion –
Heart to Heart.
Ron’s audio recitation of “True Communication”
Ron’s Explanation of “True Communication”
Dear Friends,
Consciously communicating with other beings and life forms can avert or resolve many challenges or problems.
As evidenced by indigenous people everywhere, our human species once shared an intuitive sensitivity with all other sentient life-forms. But gradually, we became less intuitive and more egocentric, and lost our conscious connection with Nature. As nomadic humans became increasingly agrarian, industrialized, and centralized, we more and more self-identified with our limited thoughts and illusory perceptions. Our ego/minds created our realities.
And concurrently we began experiencing selfishness and many miscommunications, causing interpersonal and international disputes and problems.
Harmonious communication – rational or emotional, verbal or non-verbal – can avert or solve many challenges or problems. And since my mid-life spiritual awakening, I’ve learned that our abilities to communicate expand as our “human consciousness” expands.
Einstein revealed that in this quantum ‘reality’ everything is energy in a non-dual quantum field. He said:
“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.”
“There is no place in this new kind of physics both for the field and matter, for the [quantum] field is the only reality.”
~ Albert Einstein
Our energetic ‘reality’ is described by Eckhart Tolle as:
“All things are vibrating energy fields in ceaseless motion. ….
What we perceive as physical matter
is energy vibrating (moving) at a particular range of frequencies.
Thoughts consist of the same energy
vibrating at a higher frequency than matter,
which is why they cannot be seen or touched.
Thoughts have their own range of frequencies,
with negative thoughts at the lower end of the scale
and positive thoughts at the higher.”
~ Eckhart Tolle – A New Earth
From a quantum perspective all beings and life-forms are vibrating vortices of universal awareness – each ‘receiving’ and ‘broadcasting’ energy from a unique ‘ID’ wave-length in Nature’s infinite quantum field of Cosmic Consciousness. As ‘broadcasters’ and ‘receivers’ we can expand and enhance our abilities to harmoniously communicate, by elevating, widening and focusing our vibratory consciousness fields and frequencies – viz. our energetic identities.
And the higher, subtler and more focused our energy emanations, the more we can intuitively tune-in to Nature; the more we can thereby become sensitive to our magnificently alive environment with its miraculous multiplicity of conscious life-forms.
Einstein suggested that
“Our task must be to free ourselves from this [mental] prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
As evidenced by indigenous people everywhere, our human species once shared an intuitive sensitivity with all other sentient life-forms. But gradually, we became less intuitive and more egocentric, and lost our conscious connection with Nature. As nomadic humans became increasingly agrarian, industrialized, and centralized, we more and more self-identified with our limited thoughts and illusory perceptions. Our ego/minds created our realities.
And concurrently we began experiencing selfishness and many miscommunications, causing interpersonal and international disputes and problems.
Thanks to Albert Einstein, Max Planck and many other great non-materialistic scientists we are again learning scientifically how there is a cosmic web of life connecting everything and everyone in Nature from the greatest galaxies to the tiniest sub-atomic particles; that we are each an integral, inter-connected and interdependent part of Nature’s web of life – not separate from it; that as Einstein observed:
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
And through meditation, concentration and other mind-stilling methods we are again expanding “human consciousness” and human sensitivity to Nature’s magnificent beauty and harmony. So more and more we are able to share universal awareness and intuitive communion and empathy with all life on our precious planet.
The foregoing brief poem reminds us that “true communication is neither verbal nor mental, but transcendental”.
And embedded below is a highly recommended and fascinating thirteen minute viral video documentary film excerpt about amazing pacification of a vicious black panther by Anna Breytenbach an extraordinary animal communicator from coastal South Africa, who received advanced training through the Assisi International Animal Institute in California, which fosters inter-species animal communications.
Dedication
Today’s writings and video about “True communication” are shared to encourage our deep reflection and ever expanding insight into the true nature of space/time energy “reality” beyond our limited superficial perceptions.
Thereby, they are deeply dedicated to helping us lovingly and harmoniously “widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
The incredible story of how leopard Diabolo became Spirit
– Anna Breytenbach, “animal communicator”:
Atheists Beware!
~ Verses, Quotations and Explanations
“Yes, all one’s confusion comes to an end if one only realizes that
it is God who manifests Himself as the atheist and the believer,
the good and the bad, the real and the unreal;
that it is He who is present in waking and in sleep;
and that He is beyond all these.” …
”God alone is the Doer. Everything happens by His will.”
~ Ramakrishna Paramahansa
“I don’t try to imagine a personal God;
it suffices to stand in awe at the structure of the world,
insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it.”
~ Albert Einstein
“I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself
in the orderly harmony of what exists,
not in a God who concerns himself
with fates and actions of human beings.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Atheism is a disease of the soul,
before it becomes an error of the understanding.”
~ Plato
“There are few people so stubborn in their atheism who,
when danger is pressing in, will not acknowledge the divine power.”
~ Plato
“Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism,
but larger amounts bring us back to God.”
~ Francis Bacon
“The Atheist is God playing at hide and seek with Himself;
but is the Theist any other?
Well, perhaps; for he has seen the shadow of God and clutched at it.”
~ Sri Aurobindo
The worst moment for the atheist
is when he is really thankful
and has nobody to thank.
~ Dante Gabriel Rossetti
“Atheism is a non-prophet organization”
~ George Carlin
“I do not believe in God and I am not an atheist.”
~ Albert Camus
“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.”
~ Frank Lloyd Wright
“Since no one really knows anything about God,
those who think they do are just troublemakers.”
~ Rabia of Basri (First female Sufi saint)
Atheists Beware!
We reify what we resist.
And as we persist in resisting,
We attract and become what we resist.
So atheists, beware!
In vehemently denying Divinity,
you are reifying and deifying “God”.
And as you opine,
you’re becoming Divine.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Atheists Beware!”
Ron’s explanation of “Atheists Beware!”
The foregoing whimsical “Atheists Beware” verses were composed after I’d begun to sometimes see our space/time ‘reality’ as an ever paradoxical play of Divine ONENESS.
Before my midlife awakening to Self identity as Awareness, I don’t remember thinking about existence (or non-existence) of a creator “God”. However, I tacitly accepted the core Hebrew precept: “Hear O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is ONE” (Deuteronomy 6:4), and considered “God” as ONE universally immanent, nameless, formless, nonjudgmental Supreme Power. And I rejected ideas of a humanoid, personal or judgmental God. Hence, after childhood I always interpreted Bible legends metaphorically – not as ‘the word of God’ explicitly spoken through special messengers.
Until my midlife awakening, I hadn’t shed tears as an adult. But upon awakening to a new life at age forty three, I cried for twenty four hours. Thereafter, while others were frequent flyers, I became a ‘frequent crier’. And I wondered why I was crying so much, until experientially realizing with utter amazement that I was crying with intense longing for “God”. (See Beholding The Eternal Light Of Consciousness.)
Since then, I’ve spent much time reflecting about “God”. And I’ve found that my beliefs and ideas about “God” have evolved as I’ve opened spiritually; that my curiosity about God has emanated from a universal human longing (conscious or subliminal) for a state of ONENESS with THAT.
Curiosity about “God” soon sparked interest in “atheism” and “atheists”. (See Monistic Musings – Reflections and Questions on “God” and Divinity) Also, I soon realized that – as the Bible says – “God” is word – used by different people to designate their different ideas of a transcendent power; that, whether or not the “universe” was created by God, “God” is a concept created by man. (See God is a Word.)
And ultimately I irreversibly accepted and honored the perennial mystery of Divine Reality beyond space/time duality.
(See e.g. Mystery of Divinity)
Thus it paradoxically appeared to me that worldly people who adamantly professed with certainty to be most religious – or atheistic – were usually most intolerant of those with other religious, spiritual or philosophic views; that their professed fundamentalist certainty about superiority of their philosophy – masked deep doubt, ignorance or insecurity about the transcendent Divine mystery.
Ultimately, my reflections about “God” resulted in my living a faith-based life. After years of questioning, I found faith beyond belief, beyond dogmas or theology. I found faith in everything everywhere, and in the impenetrable Mystery beyond every form or phenomenon. I found faith in my Self and in Nature. And faith to devotionally follow my Heart. So I became a non-dualist lover of God – a Bhakta – especially inspired by by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, who taught and demonstrated that
“[A]ll one’s confusion (about God) comes to an end if one only realizes that it is God who manifests Himself as the atheist and the believer, the good and the bad, the real and the unreal.”
(See I’ve Found A Faith-Based Life and Discovering and Honoring Devotional “Holy Fools”)
So the foregoing whimsical “Atheists Beware” verses were composed from a faith-based perspective of Divine ONENESS; that “it is God who manifests …. as [both] the atheist and the believer.”
The poem ironically reveals that, in adamantly resisting “God”, worldly atheists are unable to realize their ultimate divinity – that paradoxically they are what they resist; a realization that is transcendentally Knowable only by rare beings, like Ramakrishna.
Dedication and Invocation of “Atheists Beware”
Inspired by deep curiosity, reflection and intuition about “God”,
may we gradually discover and experience our common inner Divine Source,
Until ultimately our ego-minds melt and merge with THAT:
Universal Spirit, Being, Awareness, Bliss;
Eternal Peace, Life, Light, LOVE
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Synchronicity and Spirituality
“Synchronicity is choreographed by a great,
pervasive intelligence that lies at the heart of nature,
and is manifest in each of us through what we call the soul.”
~ Deepak Chopra, Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire
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
Synchronicities and Spirituality
Q. Why are coincidences and synchronicities in time and space noteworthy spiritual experiences?
A. Synchronicities and coincidences in time and space are noteworthy reminders of ONE Divine spiritual Reality, where there is no time or space, and where all that ever was or will be is eternally NOW.
Great mystics and scientists tell us that planet Earth’s space/time duality “reality” is a persistent mental illusion, like a mirage; that without our illusionary perceptions and egoic thoughts of separation, there no separate experiencers of separate space/time “coincidences” and “synchronicities”.
Thus, coincidences and synchronicities are like Nature’s ‘radar’ signals’ reminding us that: “Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.” and that “space and time are not conditions in which we live, they are modes in which we think.” [Albert Einstein]
Therefore, synchronicities and coincidences in space and time are noteworthy spiritual experiences reminding us that WE ARE ONE; that in Reality we are inseparable from Nature and eternal Divine Source.
Ron’s discussion of “Synchronicity and Spirituality”
Dear Friends,
In 1992 my beloved Guruji, Sri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, asked that I write and publish spiritual memoirs to “inspire many people.“ To honor that request, in 2010 I launched SillySutras.com, with “Ron’s Memoirs” as most important and tab-highlighted website category.
Also, similarly tab-highlighted is the “Synchronicity” category, because I’ve realized that my life has been guided by synchronicities, which I now notice with amazing frequency. [“Synchronicity” postings include definitions and explanations, followed by many of my favorite synchronicity stories.]
I’ve realized the spiritual importance of synchronicities, not only from my own experiences but from those of others. Many people commonly experience and wonder about synchronicities because they can’t be explained rationally or statistically. So that opens us to consider their possible spiritual or psychical causes.
For reasons explained in numerous posts on SillySutras.com I have concluded that synchronicities are signs of subtle and ordinarily imperceptible dimensions into which we are inevitably evolving, individually and collectively.
So I regard synchronicities as significant spiritual experiences, impelling us to question skeptics and mainstream materialist scientists who fail to recognize overwhelming empirical evidence that consciousness and mind are independent of physical bodies; that our physical bodies and brains are not originators of consciousness and mind, but their receptors, tuners and transducers.
Thus according to scientifically trained Dr. Deepak Chopra:
“Synchronicity is choreographed by a great,
pervasive intelligence that lies at the heart of nature,
and is manifest in each of us through what we call the soul.”
~ Deepak Chopra, Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire
Especially if you have ever wondered about ‘miraculous’ synchronicities or coincidences in your life, I hope that you’ll find this post helpful in your further reflections on their spiritual significance.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Who am ‘I’, and What is What?
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“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
“Give up all questions except one: “Who am I?”
After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are.
The “I am” is certain. The “I am this” is not.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
“By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’, 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.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Who am I?
The quest is in the question.
The question is the answer.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Sri Ramana Maharshi
Introduction to “Who am ‘I’ and What is What?”
Dear Friends,
Twentieth century sage Sri Ramana Maharshi (pictured above) was renowned for his teachings of constantly asking “Who am I?” to attain Self-realization. The following “Who am ‘I’ and What is What?” sutra verses were inspired by those “Who am I?” teachings.
But I instinctively began asking “Who am I?”, when I was ignorant of ancient Eastern spiritual philosophy and identified only with my mortal physical body and its story. It happened after an unforgettably realistic out of body (OOB) experience during a 1974-5 “pot luck” New Year’s Eve party, where I unknowingly ingested marihuana.
Such “Who am I?” questioning resulted in a life changing spiritual awakening and rebirth, which eventually led to my discovery and acceptance of the non-dualism wisdom teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Over forty five years since that previously unimagined midlife awakening, I continue to irreversibly accept non-dualism teachings as pointing to ultimate Truth beyond ego-mind illusion. So I’m gratefully sharing this posting so that it may help others (as it helped me) find ever greater happiness in life.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
“Who am ‘I’ and What is What?”
WHO AM ‘I’ and WHAT IS WHAT?
What lives? What dies?
What laughs? What cries?
What sleeps? What wakes?
What gives? What takes?
What thinks? What knows?
What comes? What goes?
What’s grief? What’s bliss?
What’s that?! What’s this?!
The quest is in the question; and
THE QUESTION IS THE ANSWER!
The question is the answer?
Ron’s audio recitation of “Who am ‘I’ and What is What?”
Ron’s explanation and dedication of “Who am ‘I’ and What is What?”
Dear Friends,
As stated in the introduction, “Who am ‘I’ and What is What?” was first inspired by ancient nondualism wisdom teachings of twentieth century sage Sri Ramana Maharshi, who endorsed constantly asking “Who am I?” to attain Self-realization. However, I instinctively began asking “Who am I?”, at a time when I was ignorant of ancient Eastern spiritual philosophy and identified only with my mortal physical body and its story.
After repeatedly asking “Who am I?” I experienced a previously unimagined life changing spiritual awakening and rebirth, which eventually led to my later discovery and acceptance of the non-dualism wisdom teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Here is the memoir story about how my life was blessed and transformed by instinctively and irresistibly asking “Who am I?”.
Over forty five years ago, after unwittingly ingesting a marihuana-laced cake at at ‘pot-luck’ New Year’s party, I had an unforgettable out of body experience (OOB) in which from a bedroom ceiling I perceived my body and thoughts as detached below me. Thereupon, I constantly and irresistibly started wondering, if I’m not my body and thoughts, “Who am I?”.
Fifteen months later, my “Who am I?” question was amazingly answered, when I suddenly realized my true Self-identity as pure awareness, rather than as my body/mind and its story, as previously believed.
Whereupon, I experienced an unforgettable mid-life spiritual awakening and rebirth, which completely and irreversibly changed my prior ideas of Self-identity and Reality, and began a previously unimagined and continuing new life phase of ever increasing happiness, peace of mind, and gratitude, with faith in the mystery of Divinity: a continuing process of increasingly incorporating into my daily life the realization of Self-identity as eternal universal awareness, rather than as a merely mortal body/mind and its thoughts.
As a secular Jewish lawyer, I had been ignorant of any spiritual or esoteric teachings which might explain my extraordinary awakening experience. But afterwards I was soon synchronistically led to profound non-dualism teachings of twentieth century sage Sri Ramana Maharshi, who endorsed constantly asking “Who am I?” to attain Self-realization.
At the time of my awakening I hadn’t yet learned about synchronicity. But retrospectively I’ve realized that my asking “Who am I?” was a wonderful synchronicity. And that synchronicities are constantly present as important blessings in our lives. So that
“Life will give [us] whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of our consciousness.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
Identifying “Ego”as Source of all Unhappiness and Suffering
In explaining the self-inquiry (vichara) process Sri Ramana identified “ego” as the source of all human unhappiness, and taught that by transcending “ego” we are freed from all unhappiness and suffering.
He defined ego as mistaken self-identification with thought, and equated it with mind and memory. And he identified the ‘I’ thought as root of the ego-mind and, hence, source of all suffering.
For example, he said:
“All bad qualities centre round the ego. .. There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only.”
“The mind is only a bundle of thoughts [with] their root in the I-thought. Whoever investigates the True “I” enjoys the stillness of bliss.”
“All unhappiness is due to the ego. With it comes all your trouble. If you would deny the ego and scorch it by ignoring it you would be free.”
And he taught that
“By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’, 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.”
Sri Ramana recognized that the “Who am I?” question could never be answered rationally, but only through the inconceivable and ineffable experience of Self-realization. He explained 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.”
Ultimately, I realized the supreme wisdom of Sri Ramana’s ancient non-dualistic method for efficiently dissolving ego, while I’ve remained mostly engrossed in the emotion of devotion. Thus as a frequent crier for God, while ever mindful that I’m only calling and crying to universal Self; that
“[Our] own will is all that answers prayer, only it appears under the guise of different religious conceptions to each mind. We may call it Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, but it is only the Self, the ‘I’.”
~ Swami Vivekananda – Jnana Yoga
Moreover, I’ve also realized that since “ego” is the apparent sole source of all human suffering, all enduring spiritual paths, scriptures and teachings are aimed at ending ego; that for millennia spiritual teachings have identified “ego” as the fundamental impediment to spiritual evolution and realization; as “the biggest enemy of humans.” (Rig Veda ); and the “number-one enemy of compassion.” (Dalai Lama). The Dalai Lama has said that all Buddhist teachings aim “to wipe out the persistence of ego.” And Eckhart Tolle believes that transcending ego is the only spiritual teaching.
And after decades of observation and experience, I still see “Who Am I?” as a key path to be considered by those with spiritual aspirations; that persistently asking “who am I”, with constant curiosity, patience and acceptance of inevitable uncertainty can significantly enhance and advance spiritual evolution.
Accordingly, many SillySutras quotations, essays and poems are dedicated to furthering our happiness by recognizing and transcending “ego” through various disciplines, including the nondualism path of self-inquiry, addressed in today’s “Who am ‘I’ and What is What?” sutra-verses.
Invocation
May today’s Who am ‘I’ and What is What? posting,
help us live ever happier lives,
and advance our spiritual evolution
until we realize that
“The end of all wisdom is love, love, love.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner.
Spirituality, Religion and Politics
~ Quotations and Sayings
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you;
for this is the law and the prophets.”
~ Matthew 7:12
“Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;
and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
~ Matthew 7:1-5
“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics
do not know what religion is.”
“I claim that human mind or human society is not divided
into watertight compartments called social, political and religious. All act and react upon one another.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Introduction
Dear Friends,
In my memoirs about Spirituality, Religion and Politics I recounted the history of my egalitarian social justice politics and Gandhian political philosophy. And I explained how my political/philosophical and spiritual/moral perspectives have helped me become an ever vigilant and concerned spiritual citizen of our beautiful blue planet Earth, with ever expanding happiness and gratitude for this hallowed human lifetime.
Hereafter posted is a collection of political/moral quotations which have helped me. They are shared with the deep aspiration that they may help all of us remember the sanctity of Earth-life, until ultimately we realize that everything’s holy; and, that nothing’s really Real, but Divine LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Quotation Collection concerning “Spirituality, Religion and Politics”
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”
~ President John F. Kennedy, quoting Philosopher Edmond Burke
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
~ Plato
“Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like
trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on
stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.”
~ Plato
“Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion
that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion.
Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends,
than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
~ John Stuart Mill, Philosopher
“In our age there is no such thing as “keeping out of politics.” All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.”
~ George Orwell – “Politics and the English Language,” 1946
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”
~ Abraham Lincoln
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
~ Joseph Goebbels
“Naturally the common people don’t want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or fascist dictorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peace makers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
~ Hermann Goering, at the Nuremberg Trials
“An oligarchy of private capital cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society because under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information.”
~ Albert Einstein
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Where is the justice of political power if it… marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills?
~ Kahlil Gibran
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Don’t let anybody make you think God chose America as His divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world.” .. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” ..“The choice is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.
~ Mark Twain, Autobiography
“At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.”
~ Aldous Huxley
“Many ancient Indian masters have preached nonviolence as a philosophy. That was a more spiritual understanding of it. Mahatma Gandhi, in this twentieth century, produced a very sophisticated approach because he implemented that very noble philosophy of nonviolence in modern politics, and he succeeded. That is a very great thing. It has represented an evolutionary leap in political consciousness, his experimentation with truth.”
~ H.H. Dalai Lama, from “The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness”
“What is a wife and what is a harlot? What is a church and what
Is a theatre? are they two and not one? can they exist separate?
Are not religion and politics the same thing? Brotherhood is religion,
O demonstrations of reason dividing families in cruelty and pride!”
~ William Blake
“Your daily life is your temple and your religion. …
Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,
And that which is neither deed nor reflection,
but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul,
even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom?
Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?
~ Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet”
“The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves!”
~ Swami Vivekananda
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity.”
~ Albert Einstein
“True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness”“There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”
~ H.H. the Dalai Lama
You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it is going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it’s always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.
~ Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?… Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?…The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now.”
“Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
~ George Orwell, “1984”
Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance.
~ Vaclav Havel
“Don’t let anybody make you think God chose America as His divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world.” .. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” ..“The choice is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That’s the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“It is important that we conduct our… life with compassion, with kindness.
Without compassion, you can’t be happy, no matter how rich you are.
You become isolated and trapped within your own world,
unable to relate to people or understand them.
Running after profit at the expense of compassion hurts you as much as it hurts other people.”
“When you look deeply, you see the pain and suffering in the world, and
recognize your deep desire to relieve it. You also recognize that bringing joy to
others is the greatest joy you can have, the greatest achievement. In choosing to
cultivate true power, you do not have to give up your desire for the good life.
Your life can be more satisfying, and you will be happy and relaxed, relieving
suffering and bringing happiness to everyone.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power, Introduction
“When fear becomes collective, when anger becomes collective, it’s extremely dangerous. It is overwhelming… The mass media and the military-industrial complex create a prison for us, so we continue to think, see, and act in the same way… We need the courage to express ourselves even when the majority is going in the opposite direction… because a change of direction can happen only when there is a collective awakening… Therefore, it is very important to say, ‘I am here!’ to those who share the same kind of insight.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise, or even right… The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”
~ John Stuart Mill, Philosopher, On Liberty
Conclusion and dedication
The foregoing quotations confirm that fundamental issues of spirituality, morality and politics are often inextricably intertwined. Each of us must morally resolve such issues from our unique perspectives of “reality”, as seemingly separate souls.
Particularly in this pivotal “new normal” era in human history, these writings are deeply dedicated to uplifting everyone everywhere to higher states of consciousness, spiritual freedom, and happiness.
May they so guide us, and thereby help us remember the sanctity of all Earth-life, as we inevitably return to our ONE inner Source, and realize that nothing’s really Real, but Divine LOVE!
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Life Is NOW, Never Then!
“That which is timeless is found NOW.”
~ Buddha
“Life can be found only in the present moment.
The past is gone, the future is not yet here,
and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment,
we cannot be in touch with life.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
“People .. who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
~ Albert Einstein
Tao and Zen
are NOW,
not then.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Introduction to Life Is NOW, Never Then!
Dear Friends,
After my mid-life spiritual awakening, which began a new life phase of previously unimagined interest in spiritual evolution, I began to regularly and reflectively walk alone by San Francisco Bay, as an informal spiritual practice.
While walking by the Bay, I synchronistically began “channeling” spiritual sayings, rhymes and poems. Often, too, I’d spontaneously sing original melodies to accompany my poems and rhymes. As I walked, I regularly wrote the words that came to me. But, mostly I forgot the melodies, which I couldn’t write.
One of the few songs with melody that I remembered, I called Life Is NOW, Never Then!
It was telepathically transmitted and received as I joyfully experienced being in the precious present moment – the NOW.
After composing the Life is NOW song I rarely sang it, and it wasn’t otherwise performed or known to others, except for a few of my friends. Later, upon launching the SillySutras website, I recorded and posted an mp3 version of the song.
Also, Rob Tobias, a talented Oregon musician/songwriter/singer and videographer, and longtime partner of my niece Janice Medvin, started filming me for a biographical documentary record of eccentric Uncle Ron’s spiritual journey from litigation to meditation and beyond, which he titled: “Walks With Ron (A Spiritual Memoir)” . During the filming process, Rob heard and liked the Life is NOW song, and ultimately this year he professionally performed and recorded his version of the song.
Embedded below are both my original recording and Rob’s current professional recording of the Life is NOW song. Please enjoy the written and recorded versions of the song, and reflect deeply on their fundamental spiritual message.
May they inspire our spiritual evolution and growing happiness in life, by encouraging our being Here NOW in each precious present moment.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Life Is NOW, Never Then!
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Life is NOW or never,
Life is NOW forever,
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Past is history,
Future’s mystery;
But, life is never then.
Life is NOW or never,
Life is NOW forever,
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Time is how
We measure now.
But, life is never when.
Life is NOW or never,
Life is NOW forever,
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Life is NOW or never,
Life is NOW forever,
Life is NOW
Ever NOW
Never then.
Ron’s singing of “Life Is NOW, Never Then!”
Rob Tobias’s professional performance of “Life Is NOW”
Dedication
May the Life is NOW song lyrics and recordings inspire our spiritual evolution and growing happiness, by encouraging our being Here NOW in each precious present moment.
And so may it be!
Namasté!
Ron Rattner
Becoming Givers, Not Getters
“For it is in giving that we receive.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi, peace prayer
“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” …
“For in truth it is life that gives unto life –
while you, who deem yourself a giver,
is but a witness.”
~ Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
“You can give without loving,
but you can never love without giving.”
~ Robert Louis Stevenson and/or
~ Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
“The value of a man resides in what he gives,
and not in what he is capable of receiving.”
~ Albert Einstein
“The wise man does not lay up his own treasures.
The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Life is for giving and forgiving,
not getting and forgetting.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra sayings
Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas
Dear Friends,
Since meeting my beloved Guruji, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, l’ve been learning from life that we can bless the world by becoming givers, not getters.
Soon after my shakipat initiation, I attended a group meditation program wherein Guruji entertained and answered audience questions. His simple response to one of those questions has had lasting impact for me.
A skeptical newcomer asked Guruji: “What are you getting from what you are doing?”
Guruji responded succinctly and inspirationally: “Gurus are givers, not getters.”
After gratefully reflecting on Guruji’s saintly motivation, I’ve realized that we don’t have to become gurus to be givers; that we can all be givers, not getters, by lovingly helping – and not harming – others.
From long life experience I’ve seen that we all can help others, each in our own unique way from our unique perspectives.
Most people I’ve met are ordinary people (in many different life roles), who are naturally, generous, kind and compassionate, and who are instinctively motivated to be helpful in their relationships with others, even though they live in a materialist society which has become polluted by greed and selfishness.
As William Shakespeare reminded us, all the world’s a stage on which we each play different roles in an endless cosmic melodrama. Whatever our roles, we can bless the world by lovingly giving and forgiving, rather than selfishly getting and forgetting.
We are all connected and everything we think do or say changes this world in some way. So we don’t have to be materially or money rich to bless the world.
For more than forty years I have been daily reciting the peace prayer attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, which reminds us that “It is in giving, that we receive” , and I’ve observed the fundamental truth of that declaration.
So I write today as a heartfelt reminder that each us in our own unique way can help bless the world by giving our loving and respectful kindness to all sentient beings and to our beautiful blue planet.
May we together harmoniously co-create and bless the world as Love by being givers, not getters, and thus by helping, not hurting, everyone everywhere.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Freedom or Slavery?
~ Choosing to BE – Choicelessly FREE
Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty
when the state has become lawless or corrupt.
And a citizen who barters with such a state
shares in its corruption and lawlessness.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
“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
“Ultimate freedom is not
freedom of choice,
but freedom from choice.
Ego is free to choose,
but is never free.
Self does not choose,
but is ever free.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Introduction
Dear Friends,
Happy Holiday Season of Light!
Notwithstanding the holiday season, I feel impelled to publish this serious “Freedom or Slavery” posting because we have reached an apocalyptically rare turning point in modern human history. While enjoying the holidays, I respectfully ask your brief review of the momentous Earth-life issues hereafter summarized with writings, links, and in two brief embedded videos.
It’s impossible to always be ego-free
Except for rare Buddha-like beings, it’s impossible for us to always be ego-free. Until we attain Self Realization, we’re all evolving beyond egoically misidentifying ourselves as separated from Source, instead of BEING as ONE immortal SELF.
While we so evolve, we have apparent separate free will. But until we transcend ego, we ‘reap as we sow’ and experience continuing karmic consequences, depending upon how we use our minds.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, the human mind can be our best friend or worst enemy. We can choose to use it to skillfully advance, or unwisely to deter, our spiritual evolution. (https://sillysutras.com/what-is-the-human-mind-is-it-best-friend-or-worst-enemy/)
We’ve reached a rare social justice turning point in modern human history
Deeply held Gandhian social justice perspectives motivate publication of these “Freedom or Slavery” views (despite the holiday season) because we have reached an extremely rare social justice turning point in modern human history. Like Mahatma Gandhi, and his disciple Dr. King, we can “be the change” we wish to see if we relentlessly assert our fundamental human morality in non-violent civil disobedience to corrupt government decrees.
A “critical mass” of spiritually aware people can now assure human freedom from past earthly sufferings by relentlessly resisting and adamantly refusing to follow present immoral and unlawful pandemic decrees of our corrupt ruling “leaders”. These decrees are intended to initiate an unprecedented era of brainwashed cyborg slavery on surviving human societies – especially upon our children’s generations.
Therefore, this posting is urgently dedicated to protecting our children by inspiring a “critical mass” of spiritually aware adults to relentlessly refuse to obey immoral, hypocritical, and unlawful “new normal” pandemic decrees.
Background Information
Previous postings explain why we have reached a rare turning point in human history and suggest how Gandhian civil disobedience methods can assure our skillful escape from exploitation and domination, thereby forever freeing us from needless suffering.
For example, I’ve suggested that we turn off all mainstream information media which are all dishonestly dominated and controlled by our “leaders”. In these extraordinary times, true information is systematically censored or mischaracterized, while brave truth-tellers are slandered or ridiculed if not totally censored. We must not be diverted or confused by false information or speculation, which is published with insidious motives.
For truthful information, we need to consider non-mainstream sources, especially those which are ridiculed, slandered or censored by mainstream media.
[See essay and authorities https://sillysutras.com/from-co-dependent-exploitation-to-co-creative-realization-a-rare-turning-point-in-human-history/.]
Also at https://sillysutras.com/time-cycling/ I’ve explained (with citations) why a small but growing number of spiritually aware humans (like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Catherine Austin Fitts) are determined to nonviolently disobey unlawfully evil edicts of our “leaders” and “rulers”. which they see as deprivations of God-given and constitutional rights, confronting us with “slavery unless we choose freedom”.
And I’ve embedded below two very brief videos by highly qualified experts:
1) An important recent 5 minute YouTube video address by business and US government expert Catherine Austin Fitts, investment banker, former managing director of Dillon, Read & Co., and HUD cabinet member, during presidency of George H.W. Bush, who has widely lectured and written about government fraud. She succinctly explains why survival of Earth life as we’ve known it impels civil disobedience of pandemic edicts.
2) A 4 minute video (completely censored from YouTube and mainstream media) of recent testimony at an Edmonton, Canada, City Council Committee meeting by Dr Roger Hodkinson who is former Chairman of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons committee in Ottawa, prior CEO of a large private medical laboratory in Edmonton, Alberta, and for the past 20 years Chairman of a Medical Biotechnology company based in North Carolina. He is a medical specialist in pathology, which includes virology, who trained at Cambridge University in the UK. His expert testimony details “utterly unfounded public hysteria driven by the media and politicians”.
Further, at https://sillysutras.com/spirituality-religion-and-politics-rons-memoirs/ I’ve explained (with detailed quotations and citations) how historically insidious repetition of outrageously false propaganda has been used to successfully terrorize societies which have thereby fearfully and insanely participated in outrageously immoral wars, killing countless innocent civilians and children.
Current insights
Growing numbers of spiritually aware people see that current “new normal” era pre-planned purported “pandemics” have replaced false flag alleged 9/11’“terrorists” as fraudulently fomented pretenses for wars enslaving and murdering countless humans, and desecrating our precious planet for its “resources”.
Catherine Austin Fitts – Choose Freedom not Slavery video
Dr Roger Hodkinson destroys Covid in 4 mins.
Conclusion: Choose to BE FREE
We can and must end immoral exploitation empowering the (under 1%) obscenely-rich corrupt plutocratic ruling class at the expense of the (over 99%) rest of us.
By fearlessly and relentlessly refusing to obey malignantly immoral and unlawful pandemic decrees with mass Gandhian civil disobedience, we will quickly render these corrupt edicts enforceable.
And thus we will reject slavery, and forever
Choose to BE FREE.
Dedication
These writings are deeply dedicated to encouraging and inspiring a “critical mass” of humankind to choose to BE Choicelessly FREE, by relentlessly refusing to obey malignantly immoral and unlawful pandemic decrees. And thereby to protect survival of our children’s generations, and to hasten our destined joyous proclamation that:
“Free at last, free at last.
Thank God Almighty,
we are free at last”
Invocation
May our fearless disobedience of
“new normal” pre-planned pandemic propaganda decrees
hasten our destined spiritual evolution
to timeless Freedom –
And Realization that
Eternally we are:FREE at last, FREE at last!
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Sri Ramakrishna’s Timeless Wisdom
“God alone is the Doer.
Everything happens by His will.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
February 18, 1836 – August 16, 1886
Ron’s Introduction to “Sri Ramakrishna’s Timeless Wisdom”
Dear Friends,
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was an exraordinary 19th century Indian holy man who has become likened to Krishna, Buddha, and Christ, as a Divine Incarnation. He was an extremely rare and eccentric mystical genius who taught from his direct experience. Like Jesus, in order to explain abstruse spiritual philosophy to common people, Sri Ramakrishna used parables and illustrations, culled from his observation of the daily life around him.
His exceptional life exemplified the ancient universal non-dualism truths of Advaita Hindu philosophy. However, Sri Ramakrishna’s mystical experiences transcended most precepts of Hinduism, and were similar to experiences of prophets and mystics from other enduring religions.
As a tribute to him Mahatma Gandhi has written:
“His life enables us to see God face to face. .
Ramakrishna was a living embodiment of godliness.”
Sri Ramakrishna’s spiritual teachings have been preserved and disseminated globally through “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrisha”, a unique written record of the direct words of a prophet consisting of a very detailed account of the daily life and conversations of Sri Ramakrishna interspersed with his profound and subtle utterances about the nature of Ultimate Reality. Those teachings continue to bless and benefit countless people worldwide, including me.
Sri Ramakrishna’s groundbreaking religious pluralism and spiritual non-dualism teachings were first prominently disseminated by his most important disciple Swami Vivekananda, a renowned sage and eloquent orator, who came to the West beginning in 1893 as the spokesman for Hinduism at the first Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago.
Thereafter to promote Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings, in America Vivekananda established Vedanta Societies, and in India he founded the Ramakrishna Mission. There now exists a thriving Ramakrishna spiritual revitalization movement with numerous Vedanta centers in India, America and worldwide.
My Discovery of Sri Ramakrisha’s Teachings
I first learned about Sri Ramakrishna during my 1982 pilgrimage to India, while at Dakshineshwar, his long-time residence place outside Calcutta (now Kolkata). There – almost a century after Sri Ramakrishna’s transition – I experienced his shakti life-force presence with an intense feeling of déjà vu while visiting a room where he had lived; a place which felt so pleasingly familiar to me that it seemed I could happily remain there forever.
Before visiting Dakshineshwar I knew nothing about Sri Ramakrishna. Nor was I yet aware that Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna’s principal disciple, had often visited him at Dakshineshwar; or that, touched and blessed by Ramakrishna, Vivekananda attained highest spiritual states, became an Indian national hero and first brought Vedantic wisdom to widespread Western audiences and spiritual practitioners. (Nor had I yet learned that Vivekananda was very important to my beloved Guruji.)
On returning home I began reading with fascination about Ramakrishna’s life and his teachings. I learned that (like Saint Francis of Assisi) he was an egalitarian ascetic mystic who completely renounced worldly pleasures and lived in utter simplicity. Ultimately, of all the saints whose stories I’d reflected on, I came to feel most intuitive affinity with Sri Ramakrishna (as well as with Saint Francis of Assisi), both of whom were extraordinary ascetics with similar Divine devotional traits with which I’ve felt great rapport, especially their “gift of tears”.
Moreover, I’ve especially appreciated Sri Ramakrishna’s simple sayings, parables, and spiritual stories, which continue to bless the world.
So to honor Sri Ramakrishna on his February 18th birthday anniversary I have gathered the following collection of his teachings.
Please enjoy and reflect upon them.
Sri Ramakrishna’s Timeless Wisdom Teachings
“The supreme purpose and goal for human life… is to cultivate love.”
“He is born in vain, who having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life.”
“Try to cultivate love of God. You are born as a human being only to attain divine love.”
“Unalloyed love of God is the essential thing. All else is unreal.”
“You should love everyone because God dwells in all beings.”
“Have love for everyone, no one is other than you.”
“One day, it was suddenly revealed to me that everything is pure spirit.”
“I have now come to a stage of realization in which I see that God is walking in every human form and manifesting Himself alike through the sage and the sinner, the virtuous and the vicious. Therefore when I meet different people I say to myself, “God in the form of the saint, God in the form of the sinner, God in the form of the righteous, God in the form of the unrighteous.”
“Yes, all one’s confusion comes to an end if one only realizes that it is God who manifests Himself as the atheist and the believer, the good and the bad, the real and the unreal; that it is He who is present in waking and in sleep; and that He is beyond all these.”
“God alone is the Doer. Everything happens by His will.”
“When the divine vision is attained, all appear equal;
and there remains no distinction of good and bad, or of high and low.”
“Men are like pillow-cases. The color of one may be red, that of another blue, and that of the third black; but all contain the same cotton within. So it is with man; one is beautiful, another is ugly, a third holy, and a fourth wicked; but the Divine Being dwells in them all.”
“The sun can give heat and light to the whole world, but he cannot do so when the clouds shut out his rays.
Similarly as long as egotism veils the heart, God cannot shine upon it.”
“God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer.”
“It is on account of the ego that one is not able to see God.
In front of the door of God’s mansion lies the stump of ego.
One cannot enter the mansion without jumping over the stump.”
“The water of God’s grace cannot collect
on the high mound of egotism. It runs down.”
“The ego is like the root of a banyan tree, you think you have removed it all then one fine morning you see a sprout flourishing again.”
“All troubles come to an end when the ego dies.”
“As a piece of rope, when burnt, retains its form, but cannot serve to bind, so is the ego which is burnt by the fire of supreme Knowledge.”
“Imagine a limitless expanse of water: above and below, before and behind, right and left, everywhere there is water. In that water is placed a jar filled with water. There is water inside the jar and water outside, but the jar is still there. The [ego] ‘I’ is the jar.”
“Take the case of the infinite ocean. There is no limit to its water. Suppose a pot is immersed in it: there is water both inside and outside the pot. The [wise] jnani sees that both inside and outside there is nothing but [God] Paramatman. Then what is this pot? It is [ego] ‘I-consciousness’. Because of the pot the water appears to be divided into two parts; because of the pot you seem to perceive an inside and an outside. One feels that way as long as this pot of [ego] ‘I’ exists. When the ‘I’ disappears, what is remains. That cannot be described in words.”
“The waves belong to the water. Does the water belong to the waves?”
“Bondage and Liberation are of the mind alone.”
“Bondage is of the mind; freedom too is of the mind. If you say ‘I am a free soul. I am a son of God who can bind me’ free you shall be.”
“It is the mind that makes one wise or ignorant, bound or emancipated.”
“By the mind one is bound; by the mind one is freed. … He who asserts with strong conviction: “I am not bound, I am free,” becomes free.”
“A man is truly free, even here in this embodied state, if he knows that God is the true [doer] and he by himself is powerless to do anything.”
*“God alone is the Doer.
Everything happens by His will.”
“Two things are necessary for the realization of God;
faith and self-surrender.”
“God has put you in the world. What can you do about it?
Resign everything to Him. Surrender yourself at His feet.
Then there will be no more confusion.
Then you will realize that it is God who does everything.”
“Surrender everything at the feet of God.
What else can you do?
Give Him the power of attorney.
Let Him do whatever He thinks best.”
“Have faith. Depend on God. Then you
will not have to do anything yourself.
Mother Kali will do everything for you.”
“An ocean of bliss may rain down from the heavens,
but if you hold up only a thimble, that is all you receive.”
“The winds of grace are always blowing,
but you have to raise the sail.”
“Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart.
Then through his grace one realizes him in course of time.
God can be seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you.”
“Great men have the nature of a child.”
“So long as one does not become simple like a child, one does not get divine illumination. Forget all the worldly knowledge that thou hast acquired and become as a child, and then will thou get the divine wisdom.”
“Only two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning, that is to say, whose minds are not over-crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realize that they know nothing.”
“Different creeds are but different paths to reach the same God.”
“As many faiths so many paths”.
“The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love.”
“Pure knowledge and pure love are one and the same thing.
Both lead the aspirants to the same goal. The path of love is much easier.”
“If you weep before the Lord, your tears wipe out the mind’s impurities of many births, and his grace immediately descends upon you. It is good to weep before the Lord.”
“Devotional practices are necessary only so long as tears of ecstasy do not flow at hearing the name of Hari. He needs no devotional practices whose heart is moved to tears at the mere mention of the name of Hari.”
“God cannot be realized if there is the slightest trace of pride.”
“Spirituality automatically leads to humility.
When a flower develops into a fruit, the petals drop off on its own.
When one becomes spiritual, the ego vanishes gradually on its own.
A tree laden with fruits always bends low. Humility is a sign of greatness.”
“The tree laden with fruits always bends low. If you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.”
“If you meditate on your ideal, you will acquire its nature. If you think of God day and night, you will acquire the nature of God.”
“Make your meditation a continuous state of mind. A great worship is going on all the time, so nothing should be neglected or excluded from your constant meditative awareness.”
“Man suffers through lack of faith in God.”
“Once a person has faith he has achieved everything.
There is nothing greater than faith.”
“You must have heard about the tremendous power of faith. It is said . . that Rama, who was God Himself – the embodiment of Absolute Brahman – had to build a bridge to cross the sea to Ceylon. But Hanuman, trusting in Rama’s name, cleared the sea in one jump and reached the other side. He had no need of a bridge.”
“The magnetic needle always points to the north, and hence it is that sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness.”
“Dwell, O mind, within yourself; Enter no other’s home. If you but seek there, you will find All you are searching for. God, the true Philosopher’s Stone, Who answers every prayer, Lies hidden deep within your heart, The richest gem of all. How many pearls and precious stones Are scattered all about The outer court that lies before The chamber of your heart!”
“A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in boat. A spiritual aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.”
“Sugar and sand may be mixed together, but the ant rejects the sand and goes off with the sugar grain; so pious men lift the good from the bad.”
“Sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but only a bright surface like that of water, or of a mirror reflects it fully. So is the light Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and pious hearts of holy men receive and reflect that light well.”
“Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic.”
“The compassion that you see in the kindhearted is God’s compassion. He has given it to them to protect the helpless.”
“The Man who works for others, without any selfish motive, really does good to himself.”
“Do yourself what you wish others to do.”
“Wisdom leads to unity, but ignorance to separation.
So long as God seems to be outside and far away, there is ignorance.
But when God is realized within, that is true knowledge.”
“One must be very particular about telling the truth. Through truth one can realize God.”
“Unless one always speaks the truth, one cannot find God Who is the soul of truth.”
“Different people call on [God] by different names: some as Allah, some as God, and others as Krishna, Siva, and Brahman. It is like the water in a lake. Some drink it at one place and call it ‘jal’, others at another place and call it ‘pani’, and still others at a third place and call it ‘water’. The Hindus call it ‘jal’, the Christians ‘water’, and the Moslems ‘pani’. But it is one and the same thing.”
“So long as the bee is outside the petals of the lily, and has not tasted the sweetness of its honey, it hovers around the flower emitting the buzzing sound; but when it is inside the flower, it noiselessly drinks the nectar. So long as a man quarrels and disputes about doctrines and dogmas, he has not tasted the nectar of true faith; when he has tasted it, he becomes quiet and full of peace.”
“One should not think, ‘My religion alone is the right path and other religions are false.’ God can be realized by means of all paths. It is enough to have sincere yearning for God. Infinite are the paths and infinite are the opinions.”
“It’s enough to have faith in one aspect of God. You have faith in God without form. That is very good. But never get into your head that your faith alone is true and every other is false. Know for certain that God without form is real and that God with form is also real. Then hold fast to whichever faith appeals to you.”
“Who is whose Guru? God alone is the guide and Guru of the universe.”
“Men bound hand and foot in the endless chain of [karmic] cause and effect cannot free each other.”
“Do not be small minded. Do not pray for gourds and pumpkins from God, when you should be asking for pure love and pure knowledge to dawn within every heart.”
“If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.”
“Pray to God that your attachment to such transitory things as wealth, name, and creature comforts may become less and less every day.”
“Pray to Him anyway you like, He can even hear the footfall of an ant.”
“The truth is that you cannot attain God if you have even a trace of desire. Subtle is the way of dharma. If you are trying to thread a needle, you will not succeed if the thread has even a slight fiber sticking out.”
“Common men talk bagfuls of religion but do not practice even a grain of it. The wise man speaks a little, even though his whole life is religion expressed in action.”
“We laugh at the efforts of the musk deer to find the source of the scent which comes from itself and despair at our efforts to find the peace which is our essence.”
“One cannot be spiritual as long as one has shame, hatred, or fear.”
“Those whose spiritual awareness has been awakened never make a false move. They don’t have to avoid evil. They are so replete with love that whatever they do is a good action. They are fully conscious that they are not the doer of their actions, but only servants of God.”
“It is true that God is even in the tiger, but we must not go and face the animal. So it is true that God dwells even in the most wicked, but it is not meet that we should associate with the wicked.”
“As a boy holding to a post or a pillar whirls about it with headlong speed without any fear or falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger.”
“Little children play with dolls in the outer room just as they like, without any care of fear or restraint; but as soon as their mother comes in, they throw aside their dolls and run to her crying, “Mamma, mamma.” You too, are now playing in this material world, infatuated with the dolls of wealth, honor, fame, etc., If however, you once see your Divine Mother, you will not afterwards find pleasure in all these. Throwing them all aside, you will run to her.”
“When an unbaked pot is broken, the potter can use the mud to make a new one; but when a baked one is broken, he cannot do the same any longer. So when a person dies in a state of ignorance, he is born again; but when he becomes well baked in the fire of true knowledge and dies a perfect man, he is not born again.”
“The world is impermanent. One should constantly remember death.”
“Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the body, as the tenant pays house-rent for the use of the house.”
“Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal , and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God.”
“If you first fortify yourself with the true knowledge of the Universal Self, and then live in the midst of wealth and worldliness, surely they will in no way affect you.”
“When one has love for God, one doesn’t feel any physical attraction to wife, children, relatives and friends. One retains only compassion for them.”
“All will surely realize God. All will be liberated. It may be that some get their meal in the morning, some at noon, and some in the evening; but none will go without food. All, without any exception, will certainly know their real Self.”
“As long as I live, so long do I learn.”
Mahatma Gandhi’s Tribute to Sri Ramakrishna
“Ramakrishna was a living embodiment of godliness. His saying are not those of a mere learned man but they are pages from the Book of Life. They are revelations of his own experiences. In this age of scepticism, Ramakrishna presents an example of bright and living faith, which gives solace to thousands of men and women who would otherwise have remained without spiritual light. Ramakrishna’s life was an object-lesson in Ahimsa. His love knew no limits, geographical or otherwise. May his divine love be an inspiration to all.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Invocation
May Sri Ramakrishna’s Universal Divine Love
inspire us to become ego-free Lovers of God;
To Self-realize that we are all equally Divine manifestations
of ONE Universal spirit – which is timeless LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
