Posts Tagged ‘Elizabeth Gilbert’
Transformation
“The identification of pure awareness with the mind and its creations
causes the [mistaken] apprehension of both an objective world
and a [separate] perceiver of it.”
~ Patanjali – Yoga Sutras
“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
“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong.
What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.”
“There is no place in this new kind of physics both for the field and matter, for the [Quantum] field is the only reality.”
~ Albert Einstein
“All things are vibrating energy fields in ceaseless motion. ….
What we perceive as physical matter
is energy vibrating (moving) at a particular range of frequencies.
Thoughts consist of the same energy
vibrating at a higher frequency than matter,
which is why they cannot be seen or touched.
Thoughts have their own range of frequencies,
with negative thoughts at the lower end of the scale
and positive thoughts at the higher.”
~ Eckhart Tolle – A New Earth
Lofty intentions fuel our ascensions
to higher dimensions.
So, always aspire to be ever higher.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron’s Introduction to “Transformation”
Dear Friends,
Ancient shamans, seers, and indigenous societies have intuitively known for millennia that there is a cosmic web of life connecting everything and everyone in Nature – from the greatest galaxies to the tiniest sub-atomic particles; that we are each an integral inter-connected part of Nature’s web of life – not separate from it; and that, as Albert Einstein observed:
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
Today’s posting, like most other SillySutras postings, is intended to inspire our spiritual evolution, and thereby to help us live ever happier lives.
The spiritual evolution process is often called “transformation”. So today’s posting includes quotations, comments and the following brief poem, titled “Transformation”, (with mp3 recitation) about our spiritual awakening to ever elevated states of Being.
My comments after the poetic verses help explain the spiritual importance of “Transformation”. Please consider them as you enjoy this “Transformation” posting.
Ron Rattner
Transformation
Transformation and
transfiguration
– like creation –
are vibration.
So, elevation
of vibration
of creation
brings transformation
and transfiguration
of manifestation.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Transformation”
Ron’s explanation of “Transformation”
Dear Friends,
Most SillySutras postings are intended to help us live ever happier, loving, and more peaceful lives, while we still mentally self-identify as mortals separate from each other and Nature. Without emphasis on any path or teacher, they are aimed at inspiring our spiritual transformation from the unavoidable earthly third dimension [3D] ego-mind illusion of time, space, and duality toward awakened eternal existence as ONE Divine LOVE
Though very rare awakened Avatars have achieved transformation from Humanity to Divinity – from human consciousness to superconsciousness – the overwhelmingly vast majority of Humankind are still spiritually evolving, experientially learning from life, and remembering our true Divine Self-identity.
“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)
Mystics tell us that our beautiful planet Earth is an ever impermanent and illusory mental reality created by our behaviors and thoughts – a dreamlike mirage.
“We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we make the world.”
~Buddha
Though Einstein’s insights revolutionized our scientific understanding of space/time “reality”, most humans haven’t yet changed their ways of thinking about such illusionary “reality”.
Until now, most Humankind have mistakenly kept behaving as if they are separated from each other and Nature, and not part of it. This behavior has resulted in continuing selfishness, cruelty, wars and unsustainable and disharmonious exploitation of each other and our beautiful planet.
But gradually we are awakening. From seeing everyone and everything as discrete, and separated by apparently immutable boundaries, we are more and more realizing that everyone and everything shares Universal awareness as our common essence and Eternal Source.
Depending on whether we are in harmony or dis-harmony with Nature, our unique thoughts and behaviors either hasten or impede our spiritual evolution and transformation.
Invocation
Ever mindful that we are eternally interconnected
and coexist with all Life on our beautiful blue planet Earth,
let us ever BE loving, kind, compassionate, and harmonious
with all earthly beings and lifeforms.
Ever mindful that Nature is our nature,
let us see and cherish Nature in everything and everyone.
Ever mindful of our existence as ONE Divine LOVE,
let us always BE and live as eternal LOVE!
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
What is “Enlightenment”?
~ Quotations and Comments
“Knowing others is wisdom,
knowing your Self is enlightenment.”
~ Lao Tzu
Introduction
This is the second of two related articles about “enlightenment”. The first posting, linked here, defines “enlightenment”; this posting contains key quotations from spiritual teachers, and explanatory comments about “enlightenment”.
Both of these postings are offered to help us realize ever increasing inner happiness, by finding and following our Sacred Heart.
Quotations about “Enlightenment”
“There is no such thing as
enlightenment,
the realization of that fact is
itself enlightenment.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
“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 Comments about “Enlightenment”
Dear Friends,
I am privileged to share with you today the foregoing 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 Undo” – 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 a perpetual 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 a 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 these comments are offered to help us realize ever increasing inner happiness by finding and following our Sacred Heart.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
