Wholeness
Remembering Wisdom Beyond Words And Mind With Mystical Music ~ Ron’s Memoirs
There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.
There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care.
Some day!
Somewhere!
~ West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein music, Stephen Sondheim lyrics.
“Nothing escapes the Principle of Cause and Effect,
but there are many Planes of Causation,
and one may use the laws of the higher
to overcome the laws of the lower.”
– The Kybalion
“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end,
by forces over which we have no control.
It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star.
Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust,
we all dance to a mysterious tune,
intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.” .
“Human beings in their thinking, feeling and acting are not free
but are as causally bound as the stars in their motions.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong.
What we have called matter is energy,
whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live,
they are modes in which we think.”
“The distinction between past, present, and future
is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.”
~ George Orwell, “1984”
“We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we make the world.”
~ Buddha
“A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion,
does not act as if it is real,
so he escapes the suffering.”
~ Buddha
“Perception is a mirror, not a fact.
And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”.
~ Shakespeare [ Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2]
“Reality cannot be found except in One single source,
because of the interconnection of all things with one another.”
~ Gottfried Leibniz, 1670
“Though One, Brahman is the cause of the many.”
~ Rig Veda, 1500–1200 BCE
“Love is what we were born with.
Fear is what we learned here.
The spiritual journey is the relinquishment – or unlearning – of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts.”
~ Marianne Williamson
“Nothing Real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“Forgiveness is the demonstration that you are the light of the world.
Through your forgiveness does the truth about your Self return to your memory.
Therefore, in your forgiveness lies your salvation.”
~ A Course in Miracles
When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter.
As you see him, you will see yourself. As you treat him, you will treat yourself.
As you think of him, you will think of yourself.
Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose sight of yourself.”
~ A Course in Miracles
“I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, . .
and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
~ 1 John 4:18
“Love blesses the world; fear afflicts it.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“As we lose our fear of leaving life,
we gain the art of living life.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Every particle of the world is a mirror.
In each atom lies the blazing light of a thousand suns.”
~ Mahmud Shabestari, Sufi Mystic, 15th century
“There is a light that shines beyond all things on Earth,
… beyond the highest, the very highest heavens.
This is the light that shines in your Heart.”
~ Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7
Remembering Wisdom Beyond Words And Mind
With Mystical Music ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction
Dear Friends,
Several recent memoirs postings have demonstrated with musical performances, the spiritual importance of mystical music .
Today’s posting again features the beautiful song “Somewhere” from the 1957 Broadway musical “West Side Story” (which contemporizes the “Romeo and Juliet” story) with masterly music by Leonard Bernstein and transcendent spiritual lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
Both the original Romeo and Juliet story and the contemporized West Side Story version of the romantic tragedy involve young heterosexual lovers from clans feuding over domination of disputed territory. Only after tragic deaths of the lovers and many others do the grieving groups tribally agree to end their feuds.
In this memoirs chapter, I’ll first display and sing the “Somewhere” lyrics. Then I’ll briefly explain how that mystical music communicates deep perennial wisdom beyond words, and how our musical “mirror of mind” has evolved since the 1987 West Side Story opened. Please listen and consider “Somewhere” with a receptive mind and open heart.
“Somewhere” (West Side Story) Lyrics
There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.
There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care.
Some day!
Somewhere!
We’ll find a new way of living,
We’ll find a way of forgiving.
Somewhere,
Somewhere . . .
There’s a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we’re halfway there.
Hold my hand and I’ll take you there
Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!
“Somewhere” (West Side Story) sung by Ron Rattner
“Somewhere” (West Side Story) explained by Ron Rattner
Dear Friends,
In the “Somewhere” lyrics the young lovers (Maria and Tony) long to live in peace and quiet, with time together to learn and care, while forgiving all others, without feuding and fighting with them – with distrust, fear, and hatred. They affectionately hold hands to comfort each other from anxiety and fear of imminent tragedy.
Maria and Tony intuit and long for a completely peaceful, loving and harmonious existence that doesn’t yet exist in our predominantly low and fearful 3D earth energies of time, space and duality. But subconsciously (as Divine souls) they remember and can intuit the possibility of such an existence.
After eons of existing physically and fearfully in low third dimension energies humans are now in an ascension process from low third dimension to fourth dimension energies described or implied in the “Somewhere” lyrics.
Such energy ascension cannot be attained, until we transcend all fears and fighting with one another, to become harmonious with loving elevated energy planes.
Deep within ourselves we have always known that we were created as, and always have been, ONE Divine LOVE. And that any separation from Mother, Father, God is an ego illusion.
But long ago, with free choice, we began an experiment in time, space and duality, in which we intentionally forgot our true Divinity, and existed as seemingly separate and mortal physical forms – in an unreal and illusory mental reality, which we each created, perceived and projected from unique perspectives, with our thoughts and behaviors.
In choosing an Earth plane experiment in time, space and duality, seemingly separate from our Divine Source and true identity, we subjected ourselves to suffering from inescapable law of karmic cause and effect. But now after eons of fearful suffering we have an unusually auspicious opportunity to ascend to loving elevated energy plane behaviors because of favorable cosmic energies and astrological planetary alignments.
Therefore many humans, like Maria and Tony, can now intuit that our perceived Earth-life separation from eternal Mother/Father/God and Nature is a mental illusion that never happened; that our that true eternal identity and Reality is ONE Divine LOVE, from which we never separated; and, that any seeming separation from Mother, Father, God is an ego illusion. So we have nothing to fear – EVER.
Thereby together we can choose to end our fearful and hurtful separation thoughts and behaviors, with which we’ve created this illusion. And with our loving thought energy vibrations we can transcend any more low energy sufferings. (See above key quotations.)
Thus, I now optimistically foresee humankind’s imminent “critical mass” empathetic awakening to our instinctive caring for one-another, and ascension to elevated new dimensions beyond current space/time sufferings – wherein we will follow our hearts to co-create a prophesied New Earth era of long-lasting happiness beyond space/time sufferings.
Recent evolution of our musical “mirror of mind”
Our musical “mirror of mind” has clearly evolved since the West Side Story opened on Broadway over thirty years age.
Maria and Tony (like Romeo and Juliet) were portrayed as heterosexual young lovers from racially similar tribally feuding clans. And (presumably) the peace and happiness they longed for “Somewhere” wasn’t available to other young lovers with differing racial and sexual labels.
But e.g. as evidenced by Matt Leisy’s heart-felt singing of “Somewhere” at a 2015 gay pride benefit, those illusory racial and sexual labels are being transcended everywhere on our precious planet.
In the Romeo and Juliet story the young lovers’ human sexuality was only determined by their mortal physical bodies, in our “either this or that” illusory duality reality.
But perennial wisdom tells us that sex is merely a manifestation of gender on the physical plane of organic life. “Gender” is much broader and more general than “sex”. Gender manifests in everything on all planetary planes. And everything and everyone has masculine and feminine principles. They have both assertive masculine “I”, and receptive feminine “Me” energies – regardless of their physical bodies.
Thus, e.g. a physically embodied soul with male genitalia may have predominantly receptive feminine “Me” energies, whereas an embodied soul with female genitalia may have predominantly assertive masculine “I” energies.
And in the past thirty years we have clearly evolved to openly express much more truth, with much less taboo hypocrisy, about sex and gender on Earth.
Evolution Beyond Anthropocentrism
Anthropocentrism is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entities in the universe. From an anthropocentric perspective, humankind are seen as separate from nature and superior to it, and other entities (animals, plants, minerals, etc.) are viewed as resources for humans to use.
Many humans view the universe from an anthropocentric perspective, and imagine non-human entities as humanoids, with human form or characteristics, versus hominids or “Great apes”, which are considered as human anthropological predecessors.
Although anthropocentrism isn’t important in the Romeo and Juliet stories, it is relevant to spiritually elevated perspectives of the mental Universe which humankind may soon experience in our process of evoluton from low third dimension to fourth dimension energies described or implied in the “Somewhere” lyrics.
As divine souls we mentally evolve to endlessly elevated causal planes of creation as seemingly ego-separated from Nature and Mother/Father/God – our common Source. And we may exist in infinitely expanding potential forms from infinite perspectives which are well beyond human conception, imagination or intuition, but which are all energetically subject to karmic cause and effect until our predestined transcendence of ego-mind as ONE Divine LOVE – Eternally NOW.
In this extraordinarily rare period of human awakening from eons of past fearful beliefs and behaviors, it is highly probable that we are being assisted by totally benevolent extraterrestrial beings who (if judged anthropocentrically) may appear to humans as bizarre and terrifying.
It is very important that we avert any such anthropocentrism and gratefully accept any such benevolent extraterrestrial assistance or appearance everywhere – and not just “Somewhere”.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Invocation
May we ever remember and never forget
That our true identity is immortal LOVE;
That all that is, was, or ever can be
is the Eternal Light of Divine Love – NOW!
That as embodied Human Souls
we’ve fleetingly appeared through the
Mirror of the Mind
As illusionary space/time energy forms,
to always follow our Heart
Everywhere – and not just “Somewhere”,
Until we’re formlessly dissolved as ONE LOVE
within Mother/Father/God and Nature –
our Eternal Source.
May we ever remember and never forget
That our separation from Source never happened.
So we’ve nothing to fear – EVER.
That all that is, was, or ever can be
is the Eternal Light of Divine Love – NOW!
And so may it ever be!
Ron Rattner
“Amazing Grace”
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Amazing grace!
how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now i see.”
~ John Newton
“Above all the grace and the gifts
that Christ gives to his beloved,
is that of overcoming self.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi
“Every breath we draw is a gift of [God’s] love,
every moment of existence is a grace,
for it brings with it immense graces from Him.”
~ Thomas Merton
“Give up to grace.
The ocean takes care of each wave ’til it gets to shore.
You need more help than you know.”
~ Rumi
“Love cannot be learned or taught.
Love comes as Grace.”
~ Rumi
“The winds of grace are always blowing,
but you have to raise the sail.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna
“Grace is ever present.
All that is necessary is that you surrender to it.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Grace comes to forgive and then forgive again.”
~ Rumi
“I know, to banish anger altogether
from one’s breast is a difficult task.
It cannot be achieved through pure personal effort.
It can be done only by God’s grace.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
“As far as inner transformation is concerned,
there is nothing you can do about it.
You cannot transform yourself,
and you certainly cannot transform your partner or anybody else.
All you can do is create a space for transformation to happen,
for grace and love to enter.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —
and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God —
not by works, so that no one can boast.”
~ Ephesians 2:8-9
“Amazing Grace” ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Ron’s Introduction to “Amazing Grace”
Dear Friends,
At age 90, I am again reflecting on my most important spiritual insights, learned so far.
Today’s memoirs posting refers both to the idea of Divine Grace in religion, philosophy, and perennial spiritual teachings, and to the phrase “Amazing Grace” which began in 1772 with John Newton’s well-known Christian hymn. (See footnote)
This posting hereafter includes my recited sutra poem titled “Amazing Grace” (composed almost thirty years ago}, together with apt quotations, explanations and invocations. It also includes powerful embedded a cappella performances of that hymn, by internationally famed vocalists Hayley Westenra and Andrea Bocelli, and sung by by the South African Soweto Gospel Choir.
Footnote
“Amazing Grace” first became well known as the title of a powerful Christian hymn text, composed in 1772 by English poet, abolitionist, and Anglican clergyman John Newton – who wholeheartedly wrote from his genuine ‘born-again’ Christian experience, after leading an extraordinarily miserable, difficult, and dissolute life as a slave trader.
Background
Long before consciously considering the blessings of Divine Grace in my life, I remember being moved by cantorial chants during Jewish High Holy Day services. And I recall thereafter being emotionally moved on hearing the wonderfully powerful “Amazing Grace” gospel hymn.
Then in 1976 I was spiritually awakened to self-identity as much more than my mortal physical body, its thoughts and its story. That awakening initiated an evolutionary process of inner transformation bringing previously unimagined blessings of peace and happiness.
Most importantly, in 1978 I received Shaktipat initiation by my beloved Guruji, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas. Whereupon I became a self-declared “born-again HIndu”. Thereafter I gratefully began reflecting upon, and sometimes describing as “amazing grace”, what was happening in my life.
During a post-retirement period of solitude, prayer and reflection, I composed (and later recited) the following visionary sutra-poem titled “Amazing Grace”.
Because Divine Grace applies to all human spiritual experience – that poem and all online quotations about “grace” can apply to everyone everywhere whether or not they are religious ‘believers’. So I’m blessed to share with you this Amazing Grace posting, with the deep aspiration that it may open our hearts to receiving and sharing gifts of Divine Grace, which are ever-potential blessings in all our lives.
“Amazing Grace” Sutra Poem ~ by Ron Rattner
Knowingly or unknowingly we seek
Wholeness, Happiness and Love.
Consciously or subliminally,
We intuit and long for a state of being
which transcends inevitable Earthly cares and suffering.
And there is a transcendent spiritual Force
which impels and rewards our longing.
Some call it Grace –
‘Amazing Grace’.
Grace is to mind as gravity is to matter:
Grace is an inescapable centripetal force
drawing mind to its Source –
To the Sacred Heart.
Knowingly or unknowingly,
we are all seekers, and
With ‘Amazing Grace’,
we shall all be finders, of –
Wholeness, Happiness and Love.
Knowingly or unknowingly we seek
Wholeness, Happiness and Love.
Consciously or subliminally,
We intuit and long for a state of being
which transcends inevitable Earthly cares and suffering.
And there is a transcendent spiritual Force
which impels and rewards our longing.
Some call it Grace –
‘Amazing Grace’.
Grace is to mind as gravity is to matter:
Grace is an inescapable centripetal force
drawing mind to its Source –
To the Sacred Heart.
Knowingly or unknowingly,
we are all seekers, and
With ‘Amazing Grace’,
we shall all be finders, of –
Wholeness, Happiness and Love.
Ron’s recitation of “Amazing Grace”
Recent Propitious Events
This 2023 post-pandemic winter solstice season is an especially auspicious time for our reflecting upon, and opening our hearts to, Amazing Grace. We are now extraordinarily privileged to witness an unprecedented turning point in modern human history, with marvelous opportunities for realizing blessings of Divine Grace.
Countless people worldwide are awakening from believing and fearing massive untruths long told by a tiny ruling class to control, divide and exploit humankind. And they are collectively and righteously refusing to continue following their purported leaders, any longer. And with Divine grace many are remembering our true eternal identity as Divine Love.
Ron’s Reflections on Divine Grace
Rumi reminds us that our loving behaviors, rather than our theological beliefs, are most crucial in opening us to gifts of Grace.
“Love cannot be learned or taught.
Love comes as Grace.”
~ Rumi
Thus Grace comes without warning to those who have opened their hearts to receive it.
“The winds of grace are always blowing,
but you have to raise the sail.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna
So I’m blessed to share with you this Amazing Grace memoirs posting with the deep aspiration that it may help us open our hearts to receive and share gifts of Divine Grace, which are ever potential blessings in all our lives.
Ultimately, may we realize that
“Every breath we draw is a gift of love,
every moment of existence is a grace,
for it brings with it immense graces from [Mother/Father/God].”
~ Thomas Merton
Invocation
With unspeakable gratitude for our constant Divine blessings,
May we open our hearts with faith
to receive and share endless gifts of Divine Grace,
which are ever potential blessings in all our lives.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Amazing Grace vocal solo by Hayley Westenra
Andrea Bocelli: Amazing Grace – Music For Hope (Live From Duomo di Milano) – Easter Sunday April 12, 2020
“Amazing Grace” by John Newton ~ Sung By Soweto Gospel Choir
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Passionate Love Songs
~ Ron’s Memoirs
There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.
There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care.
Some day!
Somewhere!
~ West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein music, Stephen Sondheim lyrics.
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Passionate Love Songs
~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction
Dear Friends,
My recent memoirs postings have emphasized the fundamental spiritual importance of Remembering the Mirror of the Mind, because we create our “optical illusion” of reality with our thoughts and projections of our perceptions.
Some of these postings have explained this with words and demonstrated it with music. Their intent is to show how open-hearted listening to the sounds of mystical music (whether or not vocalized) can communicate deep inner wisdom.
My last postings were inspired by “Passion” a musical play with lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim.
Today’s posting was inspired by the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, (a contemporized version of the Romeo and Juliet story) with masterly music composed by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
It features a heart-felt performance of the West Side Story song “Somewhere” sung by Matt Leisy at a 2015 gay pride benefit, and a West Side Story “Maria” cello solo, by Hajime Mizoguchi and “Somewhere” vocal solo by Hayley Westenra – sung in Japan, March 2012.
Today’s posting demonstrates the timeless power of “Somewhere” when sung from a heart-space attuned to universal love energy, by anyone, regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity, or other labels.
Thus, the performances of “Somewhere” embedded below show how we can remember the Mirror of the Mind by intuitively listening to mystical music which (beyond words) conveys deep wisdom of timeless LOVE.
Somewhere (West Side Story) Lyrics
There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.
There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to learn, time to care.
Some day!
Somewhere!
We’ll find a new way of living,
We’ll find a way of forgiving.
Somewhere,
Somewhere . . .
There’s a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we’re halfway there.
Hold my hand and I’ll take you there
Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!
Somewhere (West Side Story) -“2015 Performance of “Somewhere” by Matt Leisy
Somewhere (West Side Story) – Matt Leisy
West Side Story “Maria” cello solo by Hajime Mizoguchi , and “Somewhere” vocal solo by Hayley Westenra – performed in Japan March 2012
https://youtu.be/LQCRZNr1AqA
Dedication
May the above performances of “Somewhere” and “Maria” help us remember the Mirror of the Mind when listening to mystical music which (beyond words) conveys deep wisdom of timeless LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Passionate Love Songs
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“Loving you is not a choice
It’s who I am
Loving you is not a choice
This is why I live
You are why I live”
~ Stephen Sondheim, Passion
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Passionate Love Songs
~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction
Dear Friends,
My last memoirs postings explained with words, a mirror exhibit, and a mystical music performance, the spiritual importance of remembering the Mirror of the Mind.
Today’s posting demonstrates how hearing and seeing a passionate song, sung from a heart-space attuned to universal love energy, can help us remember the mirror of the mind to bless everyone everywhere.
It was inspired by “Passion” a musical play with lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim, which is briefly described below.
“Passion” Background and history
Passion is notable for being one of the few projects that Stephen Sondheim himself conceived. The story was adapted from an Italian film, Passione d’Amore, which Sondheim first viewed in 1983.
The plot is about how a handsome young soldier (in 19th century Italy), Giorgio, falls in love with a homely and ailing woman, Fosca, who has obsessively pursued him.
Sondheim’s masterly lyrics and music tell how a previously reluctant and selfish person can ultimately accept and reciprocate persistently powerful pure love feelings.
Passion opened and ran on Broadway from May 1994 to January 1995. After winning the Tony Award for Best Musical, the original cast performance was filmed and televised on PBS
Original Cast “Passion” Best Musical Performance
Original Loving You Performance by Donna Murphy, Best Actress
Loving You Lyrics
Loving you is not a choice
It’s who I am
Loving you is not a choice
And not much reason to rejoice
But it gives me purpose
Gives me voice to say to the world:
This is why I live
You are why I live
Conclusion and Dedication
Today’s posting reminds us that even previously selfish people,
can ultimately accept and reciprocate persistently powerful pure love feelings.
So may it help bless everyone everywhere, with openness to passionate songs,
attuned to heart-felt universal LOVE.
And so may it ever be!
Ron Rattner
Loving You Epilogue
Dear Friends,
The above posting features 1994 original cast recordings from Stephen Sondheim’s masterful lyrics and music in his award winning musical “Passion”. My foregoing comments emphasize the original story’s message that even previously selfish people, can ultimately accept and reciprocate persistently powerful pure love feelings in a single lifetime.
Since then I’ve realized that the “Passion” story reflects expansive mirror of mind perennial wisdom, which applies at different times to spiritually evolving people reincarnating and karmically learning timeless truths of Divine Grace and LOVE, which are ever present blessings in all human lifetimes.
For example the wisdom of Sondheim’s “Loving You” lyrics can be experienced in different ways, even by talented professional actors. To demonstrate this, I’ve embedded two more YouTube performances of “Loving You”; the first by actress Elana Rogers at a 2011 Olivier Awards ceremony; and the second a 2012 performance by Melissa Errico emotionally dedicated and sung to her husband.
May our continuing openness to such passionate songs, help us bless everyone everywhere attuned to heart-felt universal LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
2011 “Loving You” Performance by Elana Rogers at Olivier Awards ceremony
2012 “Loving You” Performance by Melissa Errico Dedicated to Her Husband.
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind by Loving
The Most Dangerous Animal in the World
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“You are looking at the most dangerous animal in the world.
It alone of all the animals that ever lived
can exterminate (and has) entire species of animals.
Now it has the power to wipe out all life on earth.”
~ 1963 Bronx Zoo Mirror Exhibit
The Most Dangerous Animal in the World
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
by Loving The Most Dangerous Animal in the World
~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction
Dear Friends,
My last memoirs postings explained with words and music the spiritual importance of remembering the Mirror of the Mind.
Today’s posting tells how we can Remember the Mirror of the Mind by pardoning and loving everyone everywhere.
It is based upon prior postings and inspired by a 1963 exhibit at the Bronx Zoo, New York City, that was boldly titled “The Most Dangerous Animal in the World”. It featured a mirror and text describing the dangers humans pose to life on earth. In 1968 the exhibit was duplicated at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
The original bold red text under the exhibit read: “You are looking at the most dangerous animal in the world. It alone of all the animals that ever lived can exterminate (and has) entire species of animals. Now it has the power to wipe out all life on earth.”
The Bronx Zoo curator of mammals when asked in 1963 about visitors’ reactions, said: “They take it the way we want them to. It gets them to stop and think.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Dangerous_Animal_in_the_World
Prior postings
Prior postings have explained how we each create our earthly reality with our unique ego thoughts, and why our perceived “reality” is only a mental illusion, which we reflect like mirrors. And how by understanding the mirror of our mind we can we can inwardly control it to advance (and not deter) our spiritual evolution.
Those postings have shown why fearful self-identification as a separate mortal physical body is our greatest evolutionary deterrent, and how we can energetically overcome all such mortal fear. That to transcend such mortal fears we should mindfully control our thoughts, and behave with forgiveness, kindness and compassion; and no longer confuse non-dual projected pure awareness as a separate objective world.
Optimistic future
I optimistically foresee that because of post-pandemic global disruptions of our “normal” lives we’ve reached a critical turning point in human history, when our species is awakening to a prophesied new elevated and enlightened Earth age, beyond worldwide fears and sufferings from mentally imagined absence of innate and eternal God-given LOVE.
In 2023 we are experiencing unprecedented global deprivations of normal economic and physical needs, strange terminal illnesses, and insane threats of nuclear, ecological, radiological or biological wars which would catastrophically end earth-life as we’ve known it.
I foresee that Mother/Father/God will imminently honor Nature to preserve it, rather than allow human insanity to catastrophically end Earth-life. And that a “critical mass” of our species will soon remember our long-forgotten Divine identity to transcend such insanity.
I’m also optimistic because our 3D Earthly fears and sufferings were not chosen by Human free-will, nor Divinely planned. And because our perceived earth-life separation from Nature and Mother/Father/God never happened.
So we have nothing to fear – EVER.
And so may it ever be!
Invocation
May these memoirs
encourage and inspire us
to ever remember the mirror of our ego-mind.And so to behave lovingly,
unselfishly and compassionately,
beyond all fears, blame, or judgments,Toward everyone/everywhere
with whom we gratefully co-exist
on our precious blue planet Earth.And so to ever remember
and never forgetThat we are and forever will BE
Eternal Divine Souls whose
perceived earth-life separation
from Nature and Mother/Father/God never happened.So we have nothing to fear – EVER.
And so may it ever be!
Ron Rattner
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
With Mystical Music ~ Ron’s Memoirs
“All appearances are verily one’s own concepts,
self-conceived in the mind,
like reflections seen in a mirror.
To know whether this be so or not,
look within thine own mind.”
~ Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche)
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind With Mystical Music
~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction
Dear Friends,
My last posting explained with words the spiritual importance of Remembering the Mirror of the Mind.
Today’s posting demonstrates how we can Remember the Mirror of the Mind by intuitively listening to mystical music which (beyond words) communicates that deep wisdom.
Embedded below is a ten minute performance of Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror)
by eminent Estonian mystical composer Arvo Pärt. It is masterfully played by Lisa Batiashvili, violinist, and Hélène Grimaud, pianist just as scored by Arvo Pärt.
Please enjoy and reflect on it, to remember the mirror of the mind.
Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) by Arvo Pärt
Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) is one of the best known and most performed pieces by Arvo Pärt, and one of his last compositions before his departure from Estonia. In 1978, the renowned Russian violinist Vladimir Spivakov commissioned a piece from Pärt for violin and piano, and he premiered it at the Moscow Conservatory with the pianist Boris Bekhterev.
The composer and different musicians have created numerous versions of Spiegel im Spiegel for various instrument combinations. It has often been used in ballet and dance performances, films and documentaries and even in DJ remixes.
The musical material of Spiegel im Spiegel is presented with utmost clarity and strictness. It only consists of the melody of the violin solo instrument and the three-note piano accompaniment. The structure of the piece follows a strict formula, where no note is left to chance. The title directly reflects what is happening in the music: each ascending melodic line is followed by a descending mirror phrase.
Further musical analysis is detailed in the Source cited below.
(Source https://www.arvopart.ee/en/arvo-part/work/544/ )
Performance of Spiegel im Spiegel by Lisa Batiashvili, violinist, and Hélène Grimaud, pianist, as scored by the composer
Dedication
May this mystical music
help us intuitively experience and reflect upon
the deep and timeless spiritual importance of
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“The identification of pure awareness
with the mind and its creations causes the [mistaken] apprehension of both an objective world and a perceiver of it.”
~ Patanjali – Yoga Sutras
“All appearances are verily one’s own concepts,
self-conceived in the mind,
like reflections seen in a mirror.
To know whether this be so or not,
look within thine own mind.”
~ Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche)
Perception is a mirror, not a fact.
And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”
~ A Course In Miracles
“When you look in the mirror, what do you see?”
Do you see the real you, or what you have been conditioned to believe is you?
The two are so, so different.
One is an infinite consciousness capable of being and creating whatever it chooses,
the other is an illusion imprisoned by its own perceived and programmed limitations.
~ David Icke
“The mind of the Sage being in repose
becomes the mirror of the universe,
the speculum of all creation.”
~ Chuang Tzŭ
“The Witness and the witnessed are ONE.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Saying
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live,
they are modes in which we think.”
“The distinction between past, present, and future
is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
“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.”
~ Albert Einstein
‘Time, space and causation
are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen…
In the Absolute there is neither time, space, nor causation.’
~ Swami Vivekananda [Jnana Yoga]
“Every particle of the world is a mirror.
In each atom lies the blazing light of a thousand suns.”
~ Mahmud Shabestari, Sufi Mystic, 15th century
“We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.”
~ Buddha
“The world, indeed, is like a dream
and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage!”
“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
“This separation between man and man, between nation and nation,
between earth and moon, between moon and sun.
Out of this idea of separation between atom and atom comes all misery.
But the Vedanta says that this separation does not exist, it is not real.”
~ Swami Vivekananda [Jnana Yoga]
“We are like the spider.
We weave our life and then move along in it.
We are like the dreamer
who dreams and then lives in the dream.
This is true for the entire universe.”
~ Aitareya Upanishad
“Our mentality is our reality.
Our “reality” is what we think it to be.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Whatever we think, do, or say,
changes this world in some way.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Thought divides Universal Awareness,
as a prism divides light.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Human consciousness is conditioned consciousness;
it is pure Awareness conditioned by ego conceptions.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Ego” = “Mind”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
One must elevate — and not degrade — oneself with
one’s own mind, which is one’s friend as
well as one’s enemy. The mind is the friend of those
who have control over it, and the mind acts like an
enemy for those who do not control it. (6.05-06)
~ Bhagavad Gita 6.5-6
Remembering the Mirror of the Mind ~ Ron’s Memoirs
Introduction
Dear Friends,
At age ninety I’m again updating memoirs to emphasize my most important spiritual insights learned since spiritually awakening over forty years ago.
I’ve learned that our space/time duality “reality” is an energetic mental illusion which we create with our unique “free choice” thoughts, beliefs and behaviors. And that by understanding and intuitively using and controlling our “mind” we can inwardly advance our happiness and spiritual evolution, despite challenging outer life circumstances, with inevitable fears and sufferings.
For millennia mystics, seers and sages have revealed that space/time/duality reality is an unreal mental illusion, that they’ve often called maya or samsara. And these inner discoveries have been scientifically confirmed by Albert Einstein’s revolutionary relativity discoveries that everything everywhere is endless energy – E=mc2.
As an elder seeker of Self-Realization, I’m sharing this memoirs posting to help us understand and use our minds to transform and transcend them. Therefore the posting explains how the mind functions like a mirror, which only perceives and projects reflections. These perceived reflections are mistakenly interpreted by our minds as physical or material objects, which are only optical energy illusions.
Like mirrors the clearer the mind, the clearer and more accurate are its displayed images. And minds like mirrors can identify as “reality” only via perceived light wave images. Since most humans discern only a tiny part of a vast and ever expanding electromagnetic energy spectrum, what we visually and mentally reify is only a persistent “optical illusion of consciousness.”
Yet while incarnate we cannot escape viewing our space/time duality world through the ‘mirror of the mind’. But more and more we can remember that it reflects the unseen light of Eternal Awareness onto the screen of our human consciousness its Source. And thereby we can gradually transform and transcend the mind’s persistent “optical illusion of consciousness.” by inwardly remembering and Self-identifying with that Eternal Light of Consciousness..
So by learning how human minds perceive, reflect, and project like mirrors we can better understand why our perceived reality is only a mental illusion, which we can inwardly control to advance (and not deter) our spiritual evolution.
(See What is the human “mind”? Is it best friend or worst enemy?)
(See Transcending Ego-Suffering)
Therefore, I’ve posted the above and following quotations and explanations about how human minds appear and function like mirrors, to further our spiritual evolution.
Quotations about mental unreality of time on Earth
“The world, indeed, is like a dream
and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage!”
“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
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live,
they are modes in which we think.”
“The distinction between past, present, and future
is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Ego is the biggest enemy of humans. ”
~ Rig Veda
“The foundation of the Buddha’s teachings lies in compassion,
and the reason for practicing the teachings is to wipe out the persistence of ego,
the number-one enemy of compassion.” ~ Dalai Lama
“The mind is a bundle of thoughts.
The thoughts arise because there is the thinker.
The thinker is the ego.
The ego, if sought, will automatically vanish.
The ego and the mind are the same.
The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“All bad qualities center 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.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“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.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“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.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
One must elevate — and not degrade — oneself with
one’s own mind, which is one’s friend as
well as one’s enemy. The mind is the friend of those
who have control over it, and the mind acts like an
enemy for those who do not control it. (6.05-06)
~ Bhagavad Gita 6.5-6
“Every Cause has its Effect;
Every Effect has its Cause;
Everything happens according to Law;
Chance is but a name for Law not recognized;
There are many planes of causation,
But nothing escapes the Law.”
~ The Kybalion
Conclusions about the Mirror of the Mind as a controllable ego-mind illusion
The foregoing quotations from scriptures and seers and information on related SillySutras postings enable us to conclude that:
1) The ego = the mind; they are the same. The ego is the root I-thought from which all other thoughts arise. The mind is only a bundle of thoughts [with] their root in the I-thought.
2) Ego is what we think we are when we mistakenly self-identify as an individual mortal physical body separate from eternal non-duality Reality,
and as perceiver of a supposedly material space/time world. And our body is our ego incarnate.
3) Our Ego identification as separate forms permits our free choice. But it subjects us to the karmic cause and effect law at every energy plane of illusory separate existence. And at lower energy planes karmic suffering is inevitable. So ego can become like a psychological prison in which earthly karmic suffering or reward is unavoidable.
4) Uncontrolled ego invariably attempts to perpetuate its unreal existence. But such attempted ego self-preservation is always futile. What never existed can not be preserved.
5) Until the ego-mind is psychologically cleared, it can be controlled to gradually advance spiritual evolution. We can use it to lose it. Like using a thorn to remove another thorn’s sliver, we can use ego-mind to clear ego-mind.
6) To hasten our spiritual evolution we should mindfully control our thoughts, and behave with forgiveness, kindness and compassion; and no longer confuse non-dual projected pure awareness as a separate objective world.
7) We should remember that our perceived Earth-life separation from eternal Mother/Father/God and Nature is a mental illusion that never happened.
So we have nothing to fear – EVER.
Invocation
May we ever remember and never forget
That our true identity is immortal LOVE;
That all that is, was, or ever can be
is the Eternal Light of Divine Love – NOW!
That as embodied Human Souls
we’ve fleetingly appeared through the
Mirror of the Mind
As illusionary space/time energy forms,
to always follow our Heart
Until we’re formlessly dissolved as ONE LOVE
within Mother/Father/God and Nature –
our Eternal Source.
May we ever remember and never forget
That our separation from Source never happened.
So we’ve nothing to fear – EVER.
That all that is, was, or ever can be
is the Eternal Light of Divine Love – NOW!
And so may it ever be!
Ron Rattner
“Harmonic Resonation” ~ “Harmonic Coalescence”
~ Sutra Sayings
“May we live in harmless harmony,
and keep in cosmic synchrony,
as we play in Nature’s symphony.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron’s Introduction to “Harmonic Resonation” and “Harmonic Coalescence”
Dear Friends,
“Harmonic Resonation” and “Harmonic Coalescence” are poetic sutra-sayings composed long ago about the crucial importance of living harmoniously with each other and Nature.
As hereafter published and orally recited they still express ever enduring ideas and ideals of fundamental spiritual significance.
May these sutra-sayings encourage and inspire us to help heal the world, by living as LOVE, with our harmonious thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Harmonic Resonation ~ Sutra Sayings
Quicken and BE,
in harmony.
The higher our entrainment,
the greater our attainment.
Don’t disrupt and polarize,
but syncretize and harmonize.
Live harmlessly
in harmony.
Stay in cosmic synchrony,
as you play in Nature’s symphony.
How can there be harm in me
when I am perfect harmony?
As harmony we stay
out of harm’s way.
Let us consciously live conflict-free
as constant cosmic Harmony.
Lovingly let us ever Be
thought-free perfect Harmony.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Harmonic Resonation” – Sutra Sayings
Harmonic Coalescence
May we harmonize,
together in unity:
Unity in diversity,
not uniformity;
Unity in equality,
not hierarchy;
Unity in integrity,
not conformity.
Unity as universal
LOVE!
Ron’s audio recitation of “Harmonic Coalescence” – Sutra Sayings
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
“Harmony”
~ Quotation Collection
“Love is the energizing elixir of the Universe,
the cause and effect of all Harmony.”
~ Rumi
“When there is harmony
between the mind, heart and resolution
then nothing is impossible.”
~ Rig Veda
“Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another . . And over all these virtues put on LOVE, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
~ Colossians 3: 12-17
“Let us live in harmless harmony,
and stay in cosmic synchrony,
as we play in Nature’s symphony.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron’s introduction to “Harmony” ~ Quotation Collection
Dear Friends,
Over thirty years ago I began deeply reflecting about the crucial importance of living harmoniously with each other and Nature. Since then I’ve accumulated the following treasury of inspiring quotations about “Harmony”, which express ever enduring ideas and ideals of fundamental spiritual significance.
May these quotations encourage and inspire our harmonious thoughts, emotions and behaviors to help heal the world, beyond illusory perceived separation from Nature and each other.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Quotations and Sayings about “Harmony”
“Harmony is the secret principle of life.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
“When there is harmony between the mind, heart and resolution
then nothing is impossible.”
~ Rig Veda
”Neither human wisdom nor divine inspiration
can confer upon man any greater blessing than
[to live a life of happiness and harmony here on earth].”
~ Plato
“Clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Bear with each other and forgive one another . .
And over all these virtues put on LOVE,
which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
~ Colossians 3: 12-17
“Love is the energizing elixir of the Universe,
the cause and effect of all Harmony.”
~ Rumi
“(A)ll problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony.”
~ Sri Aurobindo
“The heart and mind can find peace and harmony
by contemplating the transcendental nature
of the true Self as supreme effulgent life.”
~ Patanjali
“Where the heart is full of kindness which seeks no injury to another,
either in act or thought or wish, this full love creates an atmosphere of harmony,
whose benign power touches with healing all who come within its influence.
Peace in the heart radiates peace to other hearts,
even more surely than contention breeds contention.”
~ Patanjali, Yoga Sutra
“Affirm divine calmness and peace,
and send out only thoughts of love and goodwill
if you want to live in peace and harmony.
Never get angry, for anger poisons your system.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
“A harmonized mind produces harmony
in this world of seeming discord.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
“Go forth in every direction –
for the happiness, the harmony, the welfare of the many.
Offer your heart, the seeds of understanding,
like a lamp overturned and re-lit, illuminating the darkness.”
~ Buddha
“The life ahead can only be glorious
if you learn to live in total harmony with the Lord.”
~ Shirdi Sai Baba
“Happiness is when what you think,
what you say,
and what you do are in harmony.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
“Virtue is harmony.”
~ Pythagoras
“God reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists.”
~ Albert Einstein
“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed.
Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
“The sage is one with the world,
and lives in harmony with it.”
~ Lao Tzu
”One who lives in accordance with nature
does not go against the way of things,
but moves in harmony with the present moment.”
~ Lao Tzu
“He who lives in harmony with himself
lives in harmony with the universe.”
~ Marcus Aurelius
“The essence of saintliness is total acceptance of the present moment, harmony with things as they happen.”
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“If only the whole world could feel the power of harmony.”
~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
”The superior person is in Harmony,
but does not follow the crowd.
The lesser person follows the crowd,
but is not in Harmony.”
~ Confucius
“Love opens all doors,
no matter how tightly closed they may be,
no matter how rusty from lack of use.
Your work is to bring unity and harmony,
to open all those doors which have been closed for a long time.
Have patience and tolerance. Open your heart all the time.”
~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
“The life of this world is nothing but the harmony of opposites”
~ Rumi
“Where there is discord,
let us sow Harmony.”
~ Peace Prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
”Without law or compulsion,
men would dwell in harmony.”
~ Lao Tzu
As soon as laws are necessary for men,
they are no longer fit for freedom.
~ Pythagoras
”Happy the man whose lot it is to know
The secrets of the earth.
He hastens not
To work his fellows hurt by unjust deeds,
But with rapt admiration contemplates
Immortal Nature’s ageless harmony,
And how and when the order came to be.”
~ Euripides
”To have a positive religion is not necessary.
To be in harmony with yourself and the universe is what counts,
and this is possible without positive and specific formulation in words.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The unlike is joined together,
and from differences results the most beautiful harmony.”
~ Heraclitus
”Mutual respect and mutual listening
are the foundations of harmony within the family.”
~ Buddha
“Harmony can not thrive in a climate of
mistrust, cheating, bullying; mean-spirited competition.”
~ Dalai Lama
”Wherever I go meeting the public… spreading a message of human values … [and] harmony, is the most important thing.”
~ Dalai Lama
”If you want peace and harmony in the world,
you must have peace and harmony in your hearts and minds.”
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity
but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.”
~ Thomas Merton
”Harmony sinks deep into the recesses of the soul
and takes its strongest hold there,
bringing grace also to the body and mind as well.
Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe,
wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness,
and life to everything. It is the essence of order.”
~ Plato
”Music then is simply the result of the effects of Love on rhythm and harmony.”
~ Plato
”Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God
and the permissible delights of the soul.”
”Harmony is next to Godliness”
~ Johann Sebastian Bach
“If only the whole world could feel the power of harmony.”
~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Every element has a sound, an original sound from the order of God; all those sounds unite like the harmony from harps and zithers.”
~ Hildegard of Bingen
“A life in harmony with nature,
the love of truth and virtue,
will purge the eyes to understanding her text.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony,
and the deep power of joy,
we see into the life of things.”
~ William Wordsworth
“Life’s errors cry for the merciful beauty
that can modulate their isolation
into a harmony with the whole.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore
“The highest education is that
which does not merely give us information
but makes our life in harmony with all existence.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore
“Training the intellect does not result in intelligence.
Intelligence comes into being when one acts in perfect harmony,
both intellectually and emotionally.”
~ J. Krishnamurti
“As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures
there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people.
Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.”
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer
”I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind…”
~ Albert Einstein
”The harmony of natural law reveals an Intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.”
~ Albert Einstein
“In art, and in the higher ranges of science,
there is a feeling of harmony which underlies all endeavor.
There is no true greatness in art or science
without that sense of harmony.”
~ Albert Einstein
“My feeling is religious insofar as I am imbued
with the consciousness of the insufficiency of the human mind
to understand more deeply the harmony of the Universe
which we try to formulate as “laws of nature”
~ Albert Einstein
”Today wherever you go, carry the intention of peace, love, and harmony in your heart.”
“Just as light brightens darkness, discovering inner fulfillment can eliminate any disorder or discomfort. This is truly the key to creating balance and harmony in everything you do.”
~ Deepak Chopra
”There is great freedom in simplicity of living,
and after I began to feel this,
I found harmony in my life between inner and outer well-being.
There is a great deal to be said about such harmony,
not only for an individual life but also for the life of a society.
It’s because as a world we have gotten ourselves so far out of harmony,
so way off on the material side, that when we discover something like nuclear energy we are still capable of putting it into a bomb and using it to kill people!
This is because our inner well-being lags so far behind our outer well-being.”
~ Peace Pilgrim
”Everyone has the perfect gift to give the world- and if each of us is freed up to give our unique gift, the world will be in total harmony.”
~ R. Buckminster Fuller
“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.”
~ Plato (The Republic)
“Out of clutter find simplicity.
From discord make harmony.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
~ Albert Einstein
“The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace.
A persistent simplification will create an inner and outer well-being
that places harmony in one’s life.”
~ Peace Pilgrim
“Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life’s relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.”
~ Soren Kierkegaard
“Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend;
you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left”
~ Aldo Leopold
“Live harmlessly in Harmony.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“How can there be harm in me,
when I’m in harmless Harmony?”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Let us live in harmless harmony,
and stay in cosmic synchrony,
as we play in Nature’s symphony.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Don’t disrupt and polarize,
but syncretize and harmonize.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Open Heart Therapy
“The way is not in the sky.
The way is in the heart.”
~ Buddha
“You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.”
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
~ Rumi
“Your pain is the medicine by which the
physician within heals thyself.”
“Even as the stone of the fruit must break,
that its heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know pain.”
~ Kahlil Gibran
“We must feel our heart
to heal our heart.
Feeling hastens healing.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“The best and most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched –
they must be felt with the heart.”
~ Helen Keller
“There is a light that shines beyond all things on Earth, …
beyond the highest, the very highest heavens.
This is the light that shines in your Heart.”
~ Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7
“As far, verily, as this world-space extends,
so far extends the space within the heart…”
~ Chandogya Upanishad 8.1.3
“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
~ King Solomon – Proverbs 23:7
“The release of atom power ..changed everything
except our way of thinking…
the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.”
~ Albert Einstein
“If there is love in your heart,
you don’t have to worry about rules.”
~ Sri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas
Open Heart Therapy
Introduction to “Open Heart Therapy”
Dear Friends,
The following sutra-poem was inspired by my realization that a broken heart (from a very painful divorce), had opened my spiritual heart to previously suppressed deep devotional feelings and frequent tears; that a broken heart had triggered an awakened evolutionary healing process – a ‘‘breakdown-breakthrough” from decades of ego-mind afflictions.
Since long-ago composing “Open Heart Therapy”, I’ve become a “faith-based optimist”. Hence, following the sutra-poem’s words and recitation below, I optimistically explain with comments and quotes, why I now foresee that a “critical mass” of awakened people with opened spiritual hearts will soon actualize an elevated a new earth-age – an historically unprecedented era transcending current worldwide human insanity which catastrophically threatens all life on our precious planet.
These sutra verses and writings are deeply dedicated to optimistically inspiring our energetically uplifted transcendence of ego-mind’s evolutionary impediments, and so to hastening our spiritual transformation.
May they thereby encourage us to enjoy health and freedom, beyond fearful ego-mind sufferings.
Ron Rattner
Open Heart Therapy
We must feel our heart
to heal our heart.
Feeling hastens healing.
A closed heart is a cold heart.
An open heart is a warm heart –
a compassionate heart.
As our heart ever opens,
its capacity for compassion ever grows.
And as its boundaries expand,
so do its possibilities ever expand.
An opened heart
is an illumined heart;
a limitless, boundless heart;
a loving heart.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Open Heart Therapy”
Ron’s Reflections on “Open Heart Therapy”
for Awakening to an Elevated New Age.
Dear Friends,
We live in an age of mental malaise. Delusional human behaviors are threatening all Earth life as we have known it. For our peaceful survival, we must transcend these insane behaviors and resolve the problems they have caused.
As Albert Einstein aptly observed:
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” …
“The release of atom power ..changed everything except our way of thinking … the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.”
Thus for our peaceful survival on planet Earth, the critical problems now confronting humanity must be transcended – societally and individually – through spiritually elevated heartfelt awareness.
According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
“Ultimately, the decision to save the environment must come from the human heart. [From] a genuine sense of universal responsibility that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness.”
Also the Dalai Lama says that, for such a heart level of universal planetary responsibility, we need ethics based on spirituality “beyond religion” – because religion alone “is no longer adequate”.
How can this happen?
With ever expanding empathy for all life everywhere we must follow ‘the Golden Rule’. For millennia wisdom teachers from virtually all enduring ethical, religious, and spiritual traditions have proposed a simple ethical rule which if conscientiously followed will change the world.
Its essence is that we do no harm; that we treat all sentient beings with the same dignity that we wish for ourselves and that they wish for themselves.
Though easy to understand, this Golden Rule of reciprocal empathy can not easily be followed until we awaken within – beyond ego-mind’s “optical illusion” of separateness – to indivisible spiritual Wholeness with all beings and all life everywhere.
Then as Einstein suggests we must gradually
“widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Eventually, we won’t even need the Golden rule. As my beloved Guruji Shri Dhyanyogi revealed:
“If there is love in your heart,
you don’t have to worry about rules.”
Ultimately, by following our sacred heart we’ll be in harmony with all life everywhere.
Conclusion and Dedication
As a “faith-based optimist”, I now foresee that a “critical mass” of awakened people with opened spiritual hearts will soon actualize an elevated new earth-age – an historically unprecedented era transcending current worldwide human insanity which catastrophically threatens all life on our precious planet.
Thus today’s sutra verses and writings are optimistically dedicated to inspiring our energetically uplifted transcendence of ego-mind’s evolutionary impediments to an egalitarian new age, and so to hasten our spiritual transformation beyond fearful suffering to health and spiritual freedom.
Invocation
With opened and awakened hearts,
may we envision and actualize an egalitarian new age,
wherein everyone everywhere treats all beings and all life
with the same dignity that they wish for themselves –
with a “genuine sense of universal responsibility
that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness.”
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
