Posts Tagged ‘Consciousness’
How Can We Become Immortal?
The dewdrop belongs to the sea. Separated, it is vulnerable to the sun and wind and other elements of nature; but when the droplet returns its source, it becomes magnified in oneness with the sea. So it is with your life. United to God you become immortal.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
What is birth? Is it of the “I-thought” or of the body?
Is “I” separate from the body or identical? How did this “I-thought” arise?
Is the “I-thought” your nature? Or is something else your nature?
The “I” of the wise man includes the body but he does not identify himself with the body. For there cannot be anything apart from “I” for him.
If the body falls, there is no loss for the “I”. “I” remains the same.
If the body feels dead, let it raise the question. Being inert, it cannot “I”.
“I” never dies and does not ask. Who then dies? Who asks?
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Eternal Life is gained by utter abandonment of one’s own [ego] life.
When God appears to His ardent lover the lover is absorbed in Him, and not so much as a hair of the lover remains.
True lovers are as shadows, and when the sun shines in glory
the shadows vanish away.
He is a true lover to God to whom God says,
“I am thine, and thou art mine! ”
~ Rumi
“The soul is eternal, all-pervading, unmodifiable, immovable and primordial.”
“The soul never takes birth and never dies at any time, nor does it come into being again when the body is created. The soul is birthless, eternal, imperishable and timeless, and is never destroyed when the body is destroyed. Just as a man giving up old worn out garments accepts other new apparel, in the same way the embodied soul giving up old and worn out bodies verily accepts new bodies.”
~ Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2
Sri Ramana Maharshi
How Can We Become Immortal?
Q. How can we become immortal?
A. To become immortal,
BE more than a mortal.
Consider:
What lives? What dies?
What exists? What persists?
Observe:
That every thing and every phenomenon
that arises and appears on the screen of our consciousness
Is but a fleeting mirage projected in space/time,
by and within the Infinite Light of Eternal Awareness;
That nothing is permanent in the ever changing universe,
where all that appears, disappears.
Be aware:
That only Eternal Awareness
exists and persists beyond time.
So, to be immortal,
just don’t be a mortal –
BE Eternal Awareness –
NOW!
Ron’s explanation and dedication of “How Can We Become Immortal?”
Dear Friends,
Today’s post title asks a trick rhetorical question:
“How Can We Become Immortal?”
In Truth we already are immortal – we are ONE eternal spirit. But (except for rare Buddha-like beings), we have forgotten our immortality and suffer societally from universally mistaken identity.
From childhood we were taught to self-identify only with an illusory and disempowering ego-mind image: with a separate name, gender, and story about who and what we are. We were taught that we were each born into Nature as limited beings; but, not that Nature is our nature, or that we are Beings of Light sharing limitless immortal common consciousness with all life-forms.
Sages, seers and mystics have been trying to tell us for millennia that we’re not what we were taught or think we are. That our self-identification as merely mortal physical beings seemingly condemned to inevitable death in space/time is an ego-mind illusion – like a mirage; that we suffer from perception-deception; and, that our True Self-identity and Reality is not what it appears to be.
“We are not merely mortal drops
in an ocean of ephemeral forms,
but the eternally Infinite Ocean of Universal Awareness,
appearing as drops!”
So today’s writings are dedicated to helping us remember that we are not merely our mortal bodies – their names, genders, features, colors, religions, beliefs, emotions, habits or stories – or the ‘voices in our heads’. That we are non-dual immortal spirit experiencing fleeting earth lives from infinite perspectives in transitory physical vehicles. But that we’re all the same ‘under the hood’! And that we can transcend inevitable suffering of ordinary human existence through Self-realization of our common spiritual essence.
After insanely and unsustainably pillaging and plundering our precious planet, humans are now confronting possibly imminent end of earth life as we have known it. Such potentially omnicidal ecological catastrophe can be averted only from elevated human consciousness beyond that which created this dire insanity. So today’s writings are especially important in these critically crazy times.
We must at long last awaken from our delusion of separateness and powerlessness, and transcend the ignorance of our immortality which has spawned these crises.
Whatever our ethical, religious, or spiritual path, if any, let us together deeply reflect upon today’s quotes and verses about our true immortality. May they spur our inevitable awakening as the “kingdom of heaven within” – as eternal LOVE.
Thus awakened, may we harmoniously, cooperatively and compassionately resolve our common crises for the common good.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Mute The Mind
“Yoga is the cessation of mind.”
~ Patanjali, Yoga Sutras
“When the mind is completely empty – only then is it capable of receiving the unknown.” …… “Only when the mind is wholly silent, completely inactive, not projecting, when it is not seeking and is utterly still – only then that which is eternal and timeless comes into being.”
~ J. Krishnamurti
“I think with intuition. The basis of true thinking is intuition.
Indeed, it is not intellect, but intuition which advances humanity. ”
~ Albert Einstein
To think or not to think,
that is the question!
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Life is not a problem to be solved,
but a reality to be experienced.”
~ Soren Kierkegaard
Mute The Mind
Bliss abides when thought subsides.
When all thoughts cease, we are at peace.
Spirit speaks when mind is mute.
Mute your mind to hear your heart.
The power to think is a great gift;
but, the power to not think is a greater gift.
So, to think or not to think, that is the question.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Mute The Mind”
Ron’s comments on “Mute The Mind”
Dear Friends,
When you hear the word “yoga”, what do you think of?
You probably think of a widely practiced art of physical postures and related practices, not necessarily associated with religion, for harmonizing body, mind and spirit. But you don’t think of mental stillness or mind control.
However, according to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the most ancient and central Sanskrit yoga text, yoga is defined as “cessation of mind”, not merely as methods to achieve such a state of thoughtless awareness. The word “yoga” is rooted in an ancient Sanskrit term meaning to unite or integrate. And for millennia Vedic seers called Yogis have followed various disciplines – such as wisdom enquiry, devotion, meditation, service, body postures, austerities and breathing techniques – attempting to merge their apparently limited human consciousness with Universal Awareness or Brahman.
The foregoing poem and quotations are about the importance of stilling the mind, without suggesting any method for achieving “yoga”. They are dedicated to helping us lead happier and more fulfilling lives, while hastening our spiritual evolution, whether or not we achieve “enlightened” states of awareness.
Until meeting my Guruji, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, who was a great Yogi, I knew virtually nothing about yoga or yogic science. But inspired by his teachings and example I gradually have experienced countless blessings from an often silent mind.
Before meeting Guruji I was philosophically mostly influenced by the world’s ‘great thinkers’. But now I’m mostly inspired by the world’s greatest non-thinkers — mystics, intuitives and shamans (from various traditions), and others who have authentically and instinctively lived a secular life, like Albert Einstein.
Einstein taught that we can best solve human problems by emphasizing intuition over intellect, thereby raising our level of consciousness beyond that which created our problems. And he observed that:
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
May today’s postings inspire us to more and more honor intuition over intellect, and to still our minds so we can hear and follow our Hearts to lives of ever increasing fulfillment and happiness.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Divine Time Release Capsules
“Our destiny is Divinity.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Life is a round trip metaphoric journey,
on which we are destined to return to point of origin.
On return, we learn – we never left.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Divine Time Release Capsules
Our destiny is Divinity.
Our human body/minds are like
Divine time release capsules
Of ‘congealed’ consciousness encapsulated by karma –
Enveloped by eons of illusory thoughts, words, and deeds
of imagined separation from others, from Nature
and from our ever immanent inner Essence.
But our optical illusion of separation is being released in time,
As our imagined karmic coatings are inevitably dissolving into
The eternal inner Ocean of Universal Awareness.
So, with ever increasing awareness,
In time we are slowly melting
into the mystery of our inner Divinity,
and merging with our eternal Self.
Thus, beyond time –
Beyond ego’s optical illusion of separation –
Our common destiny is Divinity.
And so shall it Be!
Ron’s audio recitation of “Divine Time Release Capsules”
Ron’s Explanation of “Divine Time Release Capsules”
Dear Friends,
Metaphorically we are fellow spiritual space travelers – like “astronauts on a little spaceship called Earth.”
As seemingly mortal humans we are journeying on a planetary “pale blue dot” through a vast and mysterious space/time universe beyond scientific comprehension. Thus our ultimate destiny as space/time travelers is unknown.
So often we’re fearful, anxious, or stressed about our uncertain future. To help assuage inevitable anxieties, I have posted the foregoing “Divine Time Release Capsule” verses which metaphorically reveal why we never need to fear or worry. They explain that:
Until now, we have mistakenly perceived, believed and behaved as if we are somatically separated from each other and Nature, and from our sole spiritual essence – which is Infinite Awareness. Consequently, to learn our true Reality and deepest non-dual Self identity, our eternal souls have become unconsciously encapsulated in “self-woven karmic cocoons”, in which we are exploring the Cosmos in mortal human bodies on ‘spaceship Earth’.
Our human bodies are like “space/time soul suits” (comparable to astronauts’ space suits or deep sea divers’ suits). As we so explore this seemingly vast space/time universe (while encapsulated in karmic cocoons), we gradually learn that the Cosmos is but an ever impermanent mental illusion (like an ephemeral mirage).
And as we thus realize that time and space are illusory, our karmic cocoons are gradually but inevitably dissolving and melting (like time release capsules), and merging into an Eternal ocean of Infinite Awareness, which is our ultimate destination. Like beautiful butterflies we are evolving as living metaphors for metamorphosis to emerge totally transformed from self woven cocoons, and fated for ascension to a wonderful new Reality.(https://sillysutras.com/butterflies/)
Thus, we are assured to safely survive our mysterious metaphoric journey, because “Our destiny is Divinity” – eternal Reality, beyond this illusory phenomenal world of ever passing appearances.
May these metaphoric time release assurances bring us ever less stress and ever more happiness as we inevitably fulfill our destiny of divine discovery on “spaceship Earth”.
And so it shall be!
Ron Rattner
Is the world being ruled and ruined by psychopaths?
“Look how the caravan of civilization
has been ambushed.
Fools are everywhere in charge.
Do not practice solitude like Jesus.
Be in the assembly, and take charge of it.”
~ Rumi
“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives.
I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends
and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that.
That’s what’s insane about it.”
~ John Lennon 6/6/68
“Ultimately, the decision to save the environment must come from the human heart. The key point is a call for a genuine sense of universal responsibility that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness.”
~ Dalai Lama (From “Humanity and Ecology”)
“There is only one perpetrator of evil on the planet: human unconsciousness. That realization is true forgiveness. With forgiveness, your victim identity dissolves, and your true power emerges – the power of Presence. Instead of blaming the darkness, you bring in the light.”
~ Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
“And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’”
~ Luke 23: 34
“Ignorance is the root of all evil.”
~ Ron Rattner – Sutra Sayings
“To understand everything is to forgive everything”
~ Buddha
Is the world being ruled and ruined by psychopaths?
Introduction
Dear Friends,
Have you ever wondered why there is so much suffering in our world; why we are facing extraordinary ecological, financial, international and interpersonal crises so serious that they cause misery for millions and threaten all life on our precious planet?
Is is possible that these crises have been precipitated by sociopathic world “leaders” – obscenely privileged corporate, political and religious oligarchs – who without apparent remorse amorally acquire and misuse power, and excessive material wealth far beyond their conceivable needs; people so insane that they are unjustly and brutally harming countless people and creatures, and myopically scuttling Spaceship Earth, destroying the life support systems which sustain us?
As more and more studies emerge demonstrating the corrosive effect of psychopathy on governments and corporations, researchers have begun to explore how our society seems to have been afflictively molded in the psychopaths’ image.
One of these psychopathy researchers, Canadian author Stefan Verstappen, believes that we live in societies shaped and ruled by psychopaths – people in positions of great corporate and political power who without conscience, empathy or remorse, act to promote their delusionally perceived self interests, amorally and often violently.
Verstappen says that psychopaths often attain positions of power because, unlike the vast majority of people, they don’t play by the rules and have no qualms about cheating, lying or doing anything to anyone that gets them what they want.
Here are two recommended You Tube videos of Verstappen explaining his theories about psychopaths.
(15 minutes)
(38 minutes)
Ron’s comments:
From a limited earthly perspective, it appears that psychopaths do indeed rule the world (as Verstappen contends). As an octogenarian I have long wondered about psychopaths in power, especially because the twentieth century was blighted by over 300 million democides – government instigated or perpetrated killings of mostly non-combatant civilians – far more than in any previous century.
In my student days I learned of maniacs like Hitler in Nazi Germany, Mao in Communist China, Stalin in the U.S.S.R., Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and numerous others who were then bestially causing untold murders and misery.
Naively, I then believed that my country the USA, and its Western allies, represented only virtues of good and democratic decency, and that after the demise of World War II era psychopaths, the world would be restored to an age of peace and prosperity. But I was wrong.
Officially instigated and perpetrated amoral wars and killings – many directly or indirectly attributable to the US empire and its allies – have continued. Complicit with official governmental sanctions and support, international corporate oligarchs are insanely developing and selling weapons of mass destruction more than capable of destroying all life on earth, and insidiously and unsustainably pillaging and poisoning our precious planet’s ecology. Such insanity is impoverishing the vast majority of humankind, and pervasively harming human health, with countless chemically, genetically and radiologically polluting products – even including foods, drinks and pharmaceuticals.
After the traumatically shocking 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the soon ensuing deranged Viet Nam war devastation, I became aware of the prescience of President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 valedictory caution against dominance of the “military-industrial complex” with “potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power”.
Despite Eisenhower’s warning, it seems now apparent that ruling power has indeed been misappropriated by the military-industrial complex which, in complicity with billionaire financial, political and corporate sociopaths, is ruling and ruining the world.
As Hitler in Nazi Germany molded an insane society to support his pathological pretensions and plans, since 9/11/2001 sociopathic Western leaders have contrived and fomented alleged “terrorist” enemies as a fraudulent pretense to create an insane society which has fearfully condoned or acquiesced in outrageously immoral wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and deranged plans for attacking Iran and other Moslem countries, with radically expanded US military budgets and executive powers, and obscenely enriched entrenched vested interests, all accompanied by serious curtailments of US constitutional protections and civil liberties.
But how can humanity solve this planetary life and death problem of societal insanity and irrational fear fomented by psychopathic authorities? For many years I have been inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, one of the world’s wisest incarnate sages, for guidance on how we can evolve beyond the critical problems stemming from governance by sociopaths and psychopaths.
Addressing our ecological crisis His Holiness has said:
“Ultimately, the decision to save the environment must come from the human heart. The key point is a call for a genuine sense of universal responsibility that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness.”
Rather than vainly appealing for heartfelt compassion from psychopaths lacking empathy, I optimistically propose that we can solve and transcend current crises by intuitively following our hearts to achieve a spiritual tipping point – a ‘critical mass that will solve our critical mess’. Moreover, we can study and emulate pre-industrial societies that have instinctively lived for millennia in sustainable harmony with Nature.
At present, most psychologists and psychiatrists are devoting research efforts and treatments to individual mental pathologies. Perhaps we need first to address societal pathologies attributable to stress caused by psychopathic and sociopathic authorities complicit with the military-industrial complex. How can people avoid individual psychological problems while they are insanely and unnecessarily subjected to constant societal stresses concerning their health, life necessities and human rights?
Recently inaugurated at the Dalai Lama’s suggestion is a “Center For Investigating Healthy Minds”, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, my undergraduate alma mater. Similarly, wouldn’t it be helpful to establish scientific centers for the study of sane societies?
Weren’t there indigenous societies whose peoples lived sane and happy lives by prioritizing sustainable harmony with Nature over it’s unsustainable exploitation, cooperation over competition, respect for prophets over lust for profits, democracy over authoritarianism? Isn’t it crucial that we learn from their experience?
Conclusion
President Eisenhower in 1961 deemed essential “an alert and knowledgeable citizenry” to prevent “the disastrous rise of misplaced power”. These comments are respectfully offered in furtherance of that goal. May they help inspire “a genuine sense of universal responsibility that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness” which will promote our heartfelt, sane and nonviolent transcendence of current planetary insanity.
Epilogue, Veterans Day 2018:
November 11, 2018 marks the centenary anniversary of the end of the first World War – “the war to end all wars”. To commemorate this memorable event, ‘leaders’ from 70 nations, including the US empire and its allies, gathered in Paris, France, at the Arc de Triomphe, purportedly to honor the millions who died in that insane conflict. Their ceremony happened precisely 100 years after the 1918 armistice agreement, at the spiritually auspicious 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
But paradoxically many of those ‘leaders’ represented nations which for the past century have continued to perpetrate many more “crimes against peace”, including wars of aggression, the supreme international crime violating international treaties, agreements or assurances recognized and followed by the post WWII Nuremberg Tribunal.
November 11, first became a US federal holiday as “Armistice Day”. But, with no “end to all wars” yet in sight, the US federal holiday morphed from “Armistice Day” to “Veterans Day”.
Since Donald J.Trump’s 2016 ‘red pill’ campaign and election as 45th US President the world has experienced exceptionally tumultuous times. Many US and world citizens are experiencing and demonstrating considerable fear, anger, hatred and other polarizing negative emotions, rather than “a genuine sense of universal responsibility that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness”.
Whatever our political, cultural, generational, or geographical perspectives, we share overriding common needs and aspirations. As humankind we share the same common Cosmic consciousness, the same web of life, the same precious Earth biosphere, the same aspirations for health and happiness and for just democratic societies serving basic needs of all life on a peaceful planet. Yet until now virtually all of us in varying degrees have been suffering from an illusory sense of separation from each other, from Nature, and from our ONE common spiritual essence.
Although armed conflict is behaviorally as old as humankind, for the first time in our recorded history we are being forced to realize that more wars can trigger a nuclear or ecological catastrophe insanely ending earth life as we have known it. Yet we have gained the previously unprecedented technical capacity to end all human starvation and poverty. And in these ‘red pill’ critical times of immense suffering, yet immense opportunity, we are awakening to our infinitely unlimited human potentiality.
So as we honor and remember all those who have been conscripted or enlisted into military services fighting endless wars, let us urgently and lovingly envisage and intend imminent inception – at long last – of an era with no more war on our precious planet.
Together let us join in imagining our precious planet cooperatively ruled bottom-up by humble and compassionate societies, rather than top-down by oligarchic or plutocratic billionaire sociopaths or psychopaths.
And as we envision lasting peace, let us be guided by the Dalai Lama’s wisdom that
“Our lives are conditioned by karma. They are characterized by endless cycles of problems. One problem appears and passes, and soon another one begins.”
“Try to consider as transitory all adverse circumstances and disturbances. Like ripples in a pool, they occur and soon disappear.”
“The essence of all spiritual life is your attitude towards others. Once you have pure and sincere motives all the rest follows.”
~ Dalai Lama – Little Book of Buddhism
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Cosmology Mythology: From Beyond The Beginning To The Beginning And Beyond
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
And the earth was without form and void
And darkness was upon the face of the deep
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters
And God said ‘Let there be light’; and there was light
And God saw the light, that it was good
And God divided the light from the darkness”
~ Genesis 1:1-4
“We never cease to stand like curious children before the great Mystery into which we were born.”
~ Albert Einstein
Cosmology Mythology: From Beyond The Beginning To The Beginning And Beyond
Eternal Mystery:
Pure potentiality;
Infinite intelligence;
Plenum void, pregnant with cosmological constancy,
Matrix intending to manifest,
To realize and actualize infinite potentiality.
Aum thought –
Creation vibration:
Bursting brilliance of brightest light,
Ending endlesss night.
Silence sounding in
Ever resounding
Symphony of spheres.
Spiraling stardust:
Agglomerating and growing,
Glowing and flowing,
Cosmically, consciously,
Systemically, siderealy,
Galactically, fractally, spherically.
Mystery manifest
as life-formed multiplicities:
Rotating, revolving and
Ever evolving —
To complexities from simplicities.
Infinite Intelligence
Exploring, and communing –
With Itself,
In an autogyral
Endless spiral
Flowing up and beyond
The beyond.
In an autogyral
Endless spiral
Flowing up and beyond
The beyond.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Cosmology Mythology-From Beyond The Beginning To The Beginning And Beyond”
Ron’s explanation and dedication of “Cosmology Mythology: From Beyond The Beginning To The Beginning And Beyond”
Dear Friends,
Until his death Albert Einstein remained in reverential awe about “the great Mystery into which we were born.” He had spent much of his adult life vainly searching for a simple and provable “theory of everything” that might resolve that cosmic mystery. And theoretical scientists have continued to search for such a formula. Hopefully, they may some day fulfill Swami Vivekananda’s prediction that “Science and religion will meet and shake hands”.
Have you – like Einstein – ever wondered how our space/time universe began? I have.
After my midlife spiritual awakening to Self-identity as Awareness, I began questioning and rejecting previously accepted concepts about Reality. And I became very curious – scientifically and philosophically – about how and why our space/time universe had appeared. Though I’ve had no scientific training or aptitude, I felt philosophically impelled to pursue cosmic creation questions.
So introspectively I began raising many questions about this great mystery. For example, I wondered
“Did space/time just appear from nothing? What was its source – its matrix? Was it intelligently designed? Was it divinely created? If so, why? Did it begin with a “big bang”? How? When? What if anything existed beyond its beginning? Will it ever end? If so, will it begin again? What is its purpose, if any? Is it really ‘real’, or just an illusionary, simulated or virtual reality? Is it a holographic, fractal projection of Universal Awareness – our common Cosmic Consciousness? Can it ever be explained? Can we ever discover a scientific theory explaining everything about space/time – a “T.E.O”?”
As a lawyer I emphasized factual evidence, and tried to avoid speculative opinions unless rendered by qualified ‘experts’. But as a ‘born again’ intuitive I have increasingly pursued experiential and inner insights rather than relying on worldly ‘expert’ knowledge. So I’ve often philosophically speculated and sometimes written about the meaning or purpose of earth life.
For example, during a ten year post-retirement ‘hibernation’ period I composed this verse:
Life is a metaphoric metamorphosis process.
Gleaning meaning in matter,
we learn all that matters —
we learn all that matters is
LOVE!
Posted above with mp3 recitation is another theoretical poem ‘channeled’ during my reclusive post-retirement period, “Cosmology Mythology: From Beyond The Beginning To The Beginning And Beyond”. The poem intuitively speculates on how and why our cosmic reality might have originated. For reasons hereafter explained, I hope you’ll reflect on it.
Whether or not my intuited verses ring true for you, perhaps they can inspire your wonder and amazement about our precious lives on this precious planet. Such a state of wonder and awe can help us transcend long outdated conceptual world-views about supposedly material reality: mistaken beliefs which impede reverential realization of ONE timeless spiritual Reality beyond materiality – a Universal Intelligence beyond, imagination, conception, comprehension or description.
As I have often reflected and speculated about meaning and purpose life, gradually I have concluded that many perennial philosophical questions about our cosmic mystery are ever unanswerable Mystery. And from Buddhist teachings I’ve begun to wonder whether to continue publishing such cosmic speculations.
Buddha’s teachings centered on ending human suffering, and were mostly devoid of speculation. In esoteric sutras the Buddha discouraged speculation not leading to edification about ending inevitable suffering in samsara. So he reportedly mostly refused to discuss metaphysics. And in spite of frequent urging, he continued his “noble silence” without indulging in needless theorizing which “tends not to edification”. (See e.g. The Buddha’s Silence)
So now I often feel it best to emphasize simple perennial precepts that pragmatically may help us lead happier lives rather than to speculate on conceptually unanswerable philosophical questions about the eternal mystery of Divinity, realizable only through rare mystical experience.
Thus, as a project of The Perennial Wisdom Foundation, SillySutras.com is dedicated to elevating awareness of universal wisdom principles at the heart of all enduring religious, spiritual and ethical traditions – such as the Golden Rule – without emphasis on any particular path or person.
Nonetheless I have published today poetic reflections on unanswerable cosmic questions, because they may help some of us experience life-changing awe and wonder at our miraculous causality reality about which Albert Einstein observed:
“We never cease to stand like curious children before the great Mystery into which we were born.”
Conclusion
May the above poem and mp3 recitation encourage and inspire our deepest awe and gratitude for our lives on this precious planet, bringing us ever expanding fulfillment and happiness until our ultimate transcendence of this permanently impermanent world of time and space.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
My Life of “Prayer” – Ron’s Memoirs
“Our prayers should be for blessings in general,
for God knows best what is good for us.”
~ Socrates
“When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing — nothing.”
“We should seek not so much to pray, but to become prayer.”
~ Saint Francis of Assisi
“[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
Introduction.
After a midlife spiritual awakening at age forty three, prayer became essential to my spiritually conscious life process. So my spiritual memoirs appropriately include the following description and explanation of “prayer” in my life, both before and since the midlife awakening.
My history with “prayer”.
I don’t recall spontaneously praying or crying to God prior to midlife. But I do remember feeling emotionally moved while singing collective prayers, and on hearing chanted cantorial prayers, at organized Jewish high holy day services. Even though I didn’t understand the words, I was especially affected by “Kol Nidre” (“All Vows”), an emotively powerful prayer with a hauntingly beautiful melody which is chanted and recited in ancient Aramaic, to begin Yom Kippur services.
Only after the midlife awakening did I synchronistically begin regularly praying with daily recitations of the “make me an instrument of Thy peace” prayer attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi – heartfelt recitations which have continued for over forty years.
Before the midlife awakening I hadn’t shed tears as an adult. But thereupon, I cried for twenty four hours, and soon realized with amazement that I was crying with intense longing for God. (See Beholding The Eternal Light Of Consciousness.)
Two years after the midlife awakening, I met my beloved Guruji, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, and received shaktipat initiation into the path of kundalini yoga. Thereupon I was given a sacred “Rama” mantra and spiritual name “Rasik: one engrossed in devotion”. Afterwards, as Guruji presciently had foreseen, I became and have ever since remained “engrossed in devotion”, intensely yearning for the Divine, and often spontaneously calling and weeping for “Rama” with deep longing.
Also, in addition to the Saint Francis prayer, I began regularly reciting prayers and mantras recommended by Guruji, and soon became a “born-again Hindu”. Though some Hindu prayers were directed to mythological Hindu deities – including the legendary monkey-god Hanuman – in calling, crying or praying to the Divine, I consistently conceived of “God” as formless and invisible. Ultimately, on my acceptance of Advaita non-duality philosophy, “God” as ultimate Reality became (and remains} for me an inconceivable Mystery.
Especially during my extended post-retirement reclusive period, I daily prayed for particular people, envisioning them as enveloped by divine light, while silently praying for everyone everywhere. Sometimes I prayed for specific outcomes, like healing or wellbeing. But gradually I ceased praying for specific outcomes, while continuing to pray for all Life everywhere.
Now, although all specific loving prayers are beneficial, I instinctively pray with faith for best outcomes, without specifying desired results. Especially since miraculously surviving and recovering from a June, 2014 near-death taxicab rundown, I have gratefully given my ‘irrevocable power of attorney’ to The Lone Arranger to determine appropriate outcomes for all Life everywhere.
What is “prayer”?
On first meeting Guruji I simply thought of prayer as ‘talking to God’, and meditation as listening. So I didn’t then even consider calling and crying for God or reciting mantras as “prayers”. But since then my view of “prayer” gradually widened to include those and many other behaviors not previously regarded as “prayer”. Thus my concept of prayer now includes all heartfelt longings for eternal communion with the Divine. And I accept Mahatma Gandhi’s statement that “prayer is nothing else but an intense longing of the heart”. Also, I believe it possible for us to prayerfully open our hearts to all Life, without excluding anyone or anything, even vile enemies. (See e.g. https://sillysutras.com/how-st-francis-of-assisi-inspires-pope-francis/)
How shall we pray?
Prayer is universal – a concept recognized worldwide by all cultures and people. But it is understood and practiced in different ways at different times.
In perceived dire sudden emergencies or threats most humans spontaneously pray for help, even if they haven’t previously prayed and their instinct to pray is subliminal. Thus, once before becoming a “born-again Hindu”, I suddenly began calling and crying out to God as “Rama, Rama, Rama”, upon fearfully being lost in a jungle-like Hawaiian nature preserve. And I remember instinctively exclaiming “Jesus” when twice almost run down by crazy car drivers, though I’d never before prayed to Jesus.
All humans share a common instinct to return to our Divine Source. But, as unique beings with uniquely conditioned karmic perspectives and limitations, we each experience different evolutionary challenges and different theoretical spiritual paths. So, as we evolve toward realization of our common spiritual Source and Self identity, different practices and behaviors are most appropriate for each of us – including whether, when or how we pray. (See e.g. https://sillysutras.com/different-person-different-path/ ) In my experience, our inner insights and instincts best help us determine our unique evolutionary paths.
Thus, though I began this lifetime only praying rarely in organized religious programs, after years of evolutionary process I now instinctively pray constantly and spontaneously, with an unprecedented and all encompassing concept of “prayer”.
I am unqualified to tell others how, when or whether to pray. But it is my aspiration that SillySutras readers may find guidance about prayer and other spiritual practices from these memoirs and cited spiritual quotations. So I will hereafter share my opinions and observations about prayer in our lives.
Observations and quotations about “prayer”.
Praying is instinctive. Throughout recorded human history prayers have been offered by countless saints and sages, and by ordinary people of every religious denomination. Even Buddhists who don’t believe in a Creator God recite many mantras and pray a lot.
Different people have differing ideas about meanings and methods of “prayer”. Most often prayer involves asking for divine help or expressing gratitude to God or other higher power. But “prayer” can be broadly considered as all spontaneous, heartfelt, or worshipful longing for or communion with Universal Intelligence, Nature, or Divinity. And all such selfless loving prayer may be magically powerful. For example I’ve become gratefully convinced that heartfelt prayers of others helped my miraculous survival and healing from a 2014 near-death taxi rundown. And all our compassionate prayers are often answered. Mahatma Gandhi has said that prayer “is the most potent instrument of action”; that “with the Grace of God everything can be achieved.”
“Everything we think, do or say changes this world in some way”. So we are all co-creating our earthly mental reality. As Universal Spirit, we are ONE, and we ‘contagiously’ influence one another, positively or negatively. Every thought affects our collective consciousness. We have infinite potentiality to lovingly and prayerfully bless this world. But our fearful and worrisome thoughts and behaviors are tantamount to negative prayers, which can unknowingly afflict the world. So mental mindfulness helps us avert such worrisome thoughts.
Beyond historically helpful traditional prayer customs and practices, even Western scientific double-blind “placebo effect” studies, now support efficacy of prayer. A 2006 Washington Post article even asserted that “prayer is the most common complement to mainstream medicine, far outpacing acupuncture, herbs, vitamins and other alternative remedies.”
The stiller and more focused our minds, the more opened our hearts, and the deeper our harmony with Nature, the more impactful are our prayers. And, whether or not we intentionally “pray”, our focused awareness of conditioned mental propensities can be key to fulfilling our deepest evolutionary aspirations.
It is best to be givers, not getters. For it is in giving that we receive. So, it’s preferable to pray selflessly for peace and welfare of all others, rather than for our perceived self-interests; to ‘pray for God to do through us – not for us’.
“When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing — nothing.”
~ Saint Francis of Assisi to his Order of Friars Minor
And it’s best to leave to Supreme Authority details of how to accomplish all our prayerful wishes, rather than to specify them.
“Our prayers should be for blessings in general,
for God knows best what is good for us.”
~ Socrates
As we evolve beyond our illusionary perceptual/conceptual separation of each other, and all our other mistaken beliefs which theoretically divide ONE Reality, those illusions gradually melt into mystery. And increasingly we realize that we are THAT eternal Self to which we which we pray, and to which we intensely aspire to return. We see 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
Becoming “prayer”.
There are now, and always have been, rare Avatars, Saints and Buddha-like beings who are completely devoted to blessing all Life, without exception or exclusion. Hence, it is possible to live life as continual prayer, not just with continual prayer. So it can be evolutionarily feasible that ultimately
“We should seek not so much to pray, but to become prayer.”
~ Saint Francis of Assisi to his Order of Friars Minor
Realization of humanity’s shared evolutionary aspiration.
Realization of such a perpetually prayerful saintly state is humanity’s deepest aspiration. Knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or subconsciously, no matter who or where we are, no matter our age, gender or culture, all humans share a universal and irresistible instinct and desire to return to a soul-remembered original state of Divine Love, Peace and Oneness – a transcendent state beyond words or thoughts, so marvelous that its subliminal memory magnetically attracts every sentient being to merge and be At-One with THAT.
Self Realization of THAT to which we pray, and for which we deeply aspire, is our ultimate destiny.
Conclusion.
May these writings on “prayer” help advance us toward realization of that ultimate destiny.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Life Is Perpetual; Happiness Is Optional
”Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it.
What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.”
~ Chuang-Tzu
“The soul is eternal, all-pervading, unmodifiable, immovable and primordial.”
“The soul never takes birth and never dies at any time
nor does it come into being again when the body is created.
The soul is birthless, eternal, imperishable and timeless
and is never destroyed when the body is destroyed.
Just as a man giving up old worn out garments accepts other new apparel, in the same way the embodied soul giving up old and worn out bodies verily accepts new bodies.”
~ Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2
Life Is Perpetual; Happiness Is Optional
Life is perpetual;
Happiness is optional.
God gives Life eternal.
Humankind makes it sublime or infernal.
Timeless delight,
or endless night:
However we choose it,
we never can lose it.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Life Is Perpetual; Happiness Is Optional”
Ron’s commentary on “Life Is Perpetual; Happiness Is Optional”
Dear Friends,
Have you ever wondered why the world seems so crazy? Why billions of people worldwide suffer unnecessarily from wars, poverty, illness, lack of basic life-sustaining necessities? Why even in the richest nation on Earth, suffering is ubiquitous? Why even materially rich people are often depressed, addicted or mentally ill?
Long before my mid-life spiritual awakening, I attributed societal suffering to societal insanity. But only afterwards, did I begin deeply reflecting on root causes of such societal insanity and unhappiness. I began asking many new questions about our true identity and reality. That continuing process of constant questioning has proved immeasurably helpful.
Thereby, I have been blessed with simple spiritual answers to seemingly complicated questions about crazy behaviors in a crazy world; answers which have brought me ever-increasing happiness. Like Dr. Seuss, I’ve discovered that: “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple”; that seemingly complicated questions about living a happy life often can be resolved with simple answers from elevated levels of inner awareness.
I have found that societal suffering arises from ignorance of our true nature and spiritual self-identity; that we inevitably suffer karmically while seeking happiness through satisfaction of ephemeral worldly desires, because lasting happiness can only be found within; and, that our experience of happiness depends upon our self-identification as eternal spirit rather than as only impermanent mortal bodies and their stories.
So inspired by my beloved Guruji, I’ve shared many SillyStutras writings about happiness, to help us discover within that eternal happiness is our true nature.
The foregoing pithy poem “Life Is Perpetual; Happiness Is Optional” and preceding quotations emphasize the crucial truth that Life is eternal, though suffering is optional. I hope you’ll reflect upon them.
May these writings help inspire us to experience ever more inner happiness in a seemingly insane world.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Season’s Blessings
“To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1
“The winds of grace are always blowing,
but you have to raise the sail.”
~ Sri Ramakrishna
“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.
“Cherish or Perish.
Co-exist cooperatively, or
Co-expire catastrophically.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness, a kind of prison for us. . .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 (edited excisions)
“The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion”; “space and time are not conditions in which we live, [but] modes in which we think.”
~ Albert Einstein
Season’s Blessings
Dear Friends,
Season’s greetings! Happy Earth-life Equinox season!
Following the September 22nd solar equinox we are all collectively sharing a new solar season. Yet as unique beings with unique conditioned karmic perspectives and limitations, we are each also experiencing different evolutionary life cycle seasons and challenges. (See video embedded below.)
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the sun (or heaven).”
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1
Though we are all ending and beginning new space/time solar/lunar and karmic seasons, we are also reminded by Ecclesiastes that paradoxically and Cosmically “there is nothing new under the sun”. (See Ecclesiastes 1:9 – sometimes attributed to King Solomon)
In this ever changing duality reality we experience time and seasons (with apparent “free will”) while learning from Nature that our true Source and self identity is Reality beyond space and time and “will”, where all that is, was, or will be is NOW – an ultimate Infinite Reality where nothing is new or old or separate.
But as students on the ‘Earth branch of the Great Cosmic University’, while we orbit, rotate, and revolve with Gaia, the Earth Mother that birthed us all, we must harmoniously honor Nature’s blessings and limitations. As stewards of all Life forms on this precious planet we must protect and nurture them – not insanely and unsustainably pillage, plunder and destroy them. We must
“Cherish or Perish.
Co-exist cooperatively, or
Co-expire catastrophically.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
So as we begin new solar, lunar, and karmic seasons, let us resolve to solve potentially catastrophic planetary disharmonies. As earthly spiritual siblings may we help solve critical interpersonal and international planetary problems, which threaten all Life forms on our precious planet, through awakened awareness of how and why we humans alone are insanely causing these crises.
Individually and collectively, let us become actively engaged as a global human family to resolve with compassionate solidarity the immense ecological challenges facing us, not just as a matter of morality or ethics but for survival of earth life as we have known it – when the doomsday clock of the bulletin of atomic scientists has been advanced to two minutes to midnight.
With conscious concern about patently imminent dangers of nuclear or ecologic omnicide, let us politically, socially and spiritually act before it is too late.
But before acting let us first mindfully calm our disturbed, judgmental and reactive states of mind. Rather than vindictively seeking retribution for perceived wrongs, or reactively condemning others, or judgmentally attempting to change them, may we first empathetically look within to see and change our own undesirable mental habits and disharmonious behaviors.
Thereby with quiet minds and open hearts may we non-violently and non-judgmentally resist injustice, while honoring the spiritual essence and universal equality of everyone everywhere.
And so may we help bless and transform our lives and our space/time world, until we ultimately transcend it.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Asking The Ultimate Question: “Who Am I?”
“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
“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Know thyself – The unexamined life is not worth living.”
~ Socrates
“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
“Ask and it shall be given; Seek and ye shall find.”
~ Matthew 7:7
“You will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.”
~ John 8:32
“Who am I?
The quest is in the question.
The question is the answer.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“An ‘identity crisis’ can be life’s greatest opportunity,
because it raises life’s most crucial question – “Who am I?”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman — that thou art.”
~ Shankaracharya
“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
~ Dr. Seuss
“What a liberation to realize that the “voice in my head” is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“So the question Who am I? is not an idle one. How you answer the question will determine how you live the rest of your life. It will determine the quality of your life.”
~ Neale Donald Walsch
Asking The Ultimate Question: “Who Am I?”
Introduction.
Have you ever deeply wondered about your true self-identity or urgently asked yourself, “Who Am I”?
Most of us, never inquire about our true self-identity, but we assume ourselves to be mere mortal physical life-forms with unique histories, separate from everyone and everything else.
Not until age forty two, did I ever ask myself or wonder “Who Am I”? Until then, I assumed that I was only my physical body, its thoughts and its story; that I was a middle-aged secular Jewish litigation lawyer, married, with two kids, born in Chicago and living in San Francisco.
But on New Year’s Eve 1974-5, these assumptions were severely shaken. At a ‘pot luck’ dinner party, after unwittingly eating a large piece of cake laced with marijuana, I had a dramatically unforgettable out of body experience.
From a bedroom ceiling, I saw my body lying face down on a pillow, and saw each of my thoughts originating outside the body as a vividly colored kaleidoscopic form.
These perceptions seemed very real – not dreamlike or hallucinatory. And they irresistibly raised for me an unprecedented urgent new question: “Who or what am I?”
I reasoned that if I was on the ceiling of the room, while my body was face-down on the bed, I couldn’t be the body; and that if I was on the ceiling of the room, while my thoughts were appearing below me, I couldn’t be the thoughts. And if not my body and not my thoughts, “Who or what am I?”
Thereafter, irresistibly and persistently I began pursuing this previously unexamined enquiry, with intense longing for an answer. This process proved an enormous blessing which changed my life forever. It convinced me that “Who Am I?” can be the most important question that anyone can ever ask; that by deeply reflecting on our true self-identity and persistently inquiring: “Who Am I?” we can ultimately experience a profound, life-enhancing psychological transformation process.
[See “At Mid-life, a Rebirth to a New Life ~ Ron’s Memoirs”]
Historical overview.
Throughout history saints and sages of every tradition and culture – East and West – have counseled us to “Know thyself.” In the West, this fundamental injunction was attributed to the Greek oracle consulted by Socrates and carved into the Temple of Apollo as: “Gnothi Seauton”.
Eastern saints and mystics for millennia have taught that there is an ultimate goal of life – an ‘enlightened’ state of spiritual awareness bringing permanent happiness and freedom from all worldly bondage. Swami Yogananda Paramahansa, who brought Eastern wisdom to the West in the 20th century, called this spiritual goal “self-realization”.
Who is this “Self” that we are counseled to know or realize? How can we follow the advice of the saints and sages to “Know thyself”, and so experience “self-realization”?
One of the principal methods to “Know thyself” suggested by mystics and sages is to inquire: “Who am I?” For example, ancient Indian sage Shankara said that spiritual “Knowledge cannot spring up by any other means than the inquiry: Who am I?”.
In Hinduism, such self-inquiry is chiefly associated with Advaita-Vedanta, the oldest extant school of Indian Philosophy. Advaita means non-dualism and its teachings are essentially the same as those of Mahayana Buddhism. Both are aimed at experiencing non-dual Reality.
The ultimate answer to the question “Who Am I?” cannot come from intellect. We can know or realize our “self” only by intuitive experience of “Who Am I?”. However, in the Hindu and Buddhist non-duality paths, powers of discrimination are used to transcend intellect and to reveal the Self via self-realization.
Conclusion.
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Ask and it shall be given; Seek and ye shall find.” Thus, if we persistently ask “Who Am I?”, the answer shall be given. And in seeking our true Self, we shall find our true Self – as Eternal Peace beyond understanding, and as timeless Joy beyond suffering.
And so it shall be!
Ron’s explanation and dedication of “Asking the Ultimate Question”.
Dear Friends,
For millennia, seers, saints and sages have counseled us to “Know thyself”; and, to ask persistently the supremely crucial question – “Who am I?”.
But few Westerners have been inspired to pursue this perennially advised investigation.
Until mid-life, like most other Westerners, I unthinkingly self-identified only with my physical body, its thoughts and aggregate experiences. Then, following an extraordinary out of body experience, I irresistibly began wondering “Who am I?”. Finally, at age forty two, (unaware of any apt spiritual teachings) I was given the answer to that question, and realized my true self-identity as pure awareness, rather than as my physical body, its thoughts and aggregate experiences. Whereupon I experienced a profound and unforgettable mid-life spiritual awakening and rebirth.
Thereafter, I began having numerous unprecedented mystical or psychic subtle energy experiences, and became infused with so much vital energy that for several months I hardly needed to sleep. Only then did I begin learning about teachings of Eastern mysticism, including non-duality.
Afterwards, I synchronistically met my beloved teacher, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, a venerable Hindu Guru then 100 years old, from whom I received shaktipat initiation. Guruji lived until age 116, and has remained my teacher since his mahasamadhi transition in 1994. After shaktipat initiation, I learned from Guruji and others that the evolutionary purpose of spiritual ‘practice’ is to reveal experientially that there is no separate ‘practitioner’; not that the practitioner is in some way a separate, special person with special powers.
But I also learned that – unlike Guruji and other rare Buddha-llke beings – on realizing my true self-identity as pure awareness, I had not yet become ‘instantly enlightened’. Rather, that this realization had triggered an evolutionary process of awakened kundalini life-force energies which were manifesting via spontaneous physical, mental, or emotional experiences [ called kriyas] and thereby purifying the body and nervous system, thus allowing increasing experience of subtler states of consciousness.
Ultimately, I realized that this evolutionary kundalini purification process was gradually undoing or eliminating eons of accumulated subtle karmic impressions or seeds [samskaras or vasanas] causing unconscious habitual behaviors and emotional patterns, and precluding or inhibiting spontaneously skillful behaviors.
Soon after this revelatory discovery I declared myself to be an ‘uncertain Undo’ [rather than ‘born-again Hindu’] and began writing whimsical sutras like:
“On the path of undo we’ll never be through
’til we’re an undone ONE.”
Today, over forty years since realizing my true self-identity as pure awareness (rather than as my physical body, its thoughts and aggregate experiences), I’m still not fully ‘undone’, and ego attrition continues. But as I continue to more and more self-identify as spirit rather than as physical body there seems to be ever more Ram than Ron in my life.
Thereby after many years of questioning, I’ve found faith beyond belief, beyond dogmas or theology. And I’m happier and more grateful for this precious lifetime than ever before. (See https://sillysutras.com/ive-found-a-faith-based-life/)
Thus, from inner and outer experience, more than ever before I regard “Who Am I?” as a supremely crucial question to be persistently investigated for those with spiritual aspirations. So today I have posted the above important quotations and brief essay.
If ever you have wondered or aspired about spiritual evolution, I encourage your deep consideration of today’s posting.
May it help us live happier lives by consciously participating in an irresistible evolutionary process which is leading us to expression of one Life – one LOVE – amidst the infinite diversity of ever changing ephemeral energy forms.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
What is “Enlightenment”? ~ Quotations
“Knowing others is wisdom,
knowing your Self is enlightenment.”
~ Lao Tzu
“There is no such thing as
enlightenment,
the realization of that fact is
itself enlightenment.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
What is “Enlightenment”?
“Personal entity and enlightenment cannot go together.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Strictly speaking there are no enlightened people,
there is only enlightened activity.”
~ Suzuki Roshi
“There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
“There are many paths to enlightenment.
Be sure to take one with a heart.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Knowledge is structured in consciousness.
The process of education takes place in the field of consciousness;
the prerequisite to complete education is therefore
the full development of consciousness — enlightenment.
Knowledge is not the basis of enlightenment,
enlightenment is the basis of knowledge.”
~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
“According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don’t bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous.”
~ Deepak Chopra (Synchrodestiny)
“The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of some superhuman accomplishment, and the ego likes to keep it that way, but it is simply our natural state of felt oneness with being. It is a state of connectedness with something immeasurable and indestructible, something that, almost paradoxically, is essentially you and yet much greater than you. It is finding true your true nature beyond name and form. The inability to feel this connectedness gives rise to the illusion of separation, from yourself and from the world around you. You then perceive yourself, consciously or unconsciously, as an isolated fragment. Fear arises, and conflicts within and without become the norm.”
~ Eckhart Tolle, Practicing the Power of Now
“Enlightenment” is Being –
beyond entity identity.
Ego and “enlightenment” cannot coexist.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron’s Commentary on What is “Enlightenment”?
Dear Friends,
I am privileged to share with you today key quotations from spiritual teachers about the perennial process of inner illumination – or “enlightenment”.
In memoirs titled “Transcending Transcendence” I’ve told about my conscious pursuit of “enlightenment” as a spiritual goal, until gradually I abandoned goal oriented spiritual seeking, and – as “An Uncertain Undue” – intuitively began surrendering to the Infinite, with more and more heartfelt faith in The Lone Arranger.
I realized that “enlightenment” is only a word – a mere mental concept with different meanings for different people. So I determined that in this illusory world “enlightenment” is not an ultimate destination, but an evolutionary process; that beyond space/time/causality ‘reality’ there are no concepts – only ineffable Mystery.
As a spiritually unenlightened “Uncertain Undo”, I’ve ‘heretically’ decided that Suzuki Roshi was right in observing that
“there are no [fully] enlightened people, . . only enlightened activity”.
In my view incarnation is limitation. So no completely “enlightened” person can manifest all infinite aspects of non-duality Reality – of limitless LOVE. Therefore, as a devotional non-dualist, I’ve decided that Nisargadatta Maharaj was paradoxically right in saying that in this illusory world:
“There is no such thing as enlightenment,
the realization of that fact is itself enlightenment.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
I respectfully suggest that – except for rare Avatars, Buddhas or Bodhisattvas – we all appear here on the Earth Branch of the great Cosmic University to evolve spiritually by learning LOVE and being LOVE; and that in this ever impermanent space time “reality” our challenge is to skillfully stay in harmony with always changing energy – whether perceptible or imperceptible; that as times change our “enlightened” behaviors must change; that historically enlightened behaviors may not still be appropriate in this modern age of mental malaise.
For me perpetual change challenges us to always live life presently – ‘in the zone’ – by constantly responding appropriately, skillfully and spontaneously to ever changing earth energies. So we are learning to experience life spontaneously, like skilled master musicians in a jam session – always harmoniously responding or blending with each sensed musical sound or soundless space.
But if we had mastered that “enlightened” process of always being ‘in the zone’, we wouldn’t be here. Consider these apt quotes from popular spiritual authors:
“Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t.”
~ Richard Bach“If you’re not dead yet, you’re not done yet.”
~ Elizabeth Gilbert (quoting her mother)
As long as we incarnate on Earth, participation in the “enlightenment” process entails learning mindfully “to let go, and go with the flow” – and to “leave it to the Lone Arranger.” Moreover, active pursuit of “enlightenment” can become a subtle ego trap, to be averted. So it’s best to surrender because:
“What you seek is seeking you.”
~ Rumi
Thus, while ever honoring my beloved Guruji as guiding and inspiring ‘outer authority’, I’ve more and more relied on inner intuitive authority while experiencing the earth-life “enlightenment” process. And such reliance has brought an ever happier life.
Knowingly or unknowingly we are all on a spiritual path to discover within our true Self identity – which ‘is seeking us’. So this essay is offered to help us realize ever increasing inner happiness by finding and following our Sacred Heart.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
