Posts Tagged ‘fallibility’
Human Potential Differential?
~ Ron’s Memoirs
“You are not a drop in the ocean.
You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
~ Rumi
“Our destiny is Divinity.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“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
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
~ Albert Einstein
“When I despair, I remember that all through history
the way of truth and love has always won.
There have been tyrants and murderers
and for a time they seem invincible,
but in the end they always fall — think of it. Always.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
“All is a play in consciousness.
All divisions are illusory.
You can know the false only.
The true you must yourself be.”
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“This earth is nothing but movies to me.
Just like the beam of a motion picture.
So is everything made of shadow and light.
That’s what we are. Light and shadows of the Lord.
Nothing else than that.
There’s one purpose. To get to the beam.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda-Autobiography of a Yogi, Chapter 30
“This whole creation is essentially subjective,
and the dream is the theater
where the dreamer is at once:
scene, actor, prompter, stage manager, author, audience, and critic.”
~ Carl Gustav Jung
“Cultivate compassion;
harvest happiness.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Give, and it will be given to you.
~ Luke 6:38
“For it is in giving that we receive.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi, peace prayer
“The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.”
~ Proverbs 11:18
“Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love”
~ Hosea 10:12
“A faithful man will abound with blessings,
but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”
~ Proverbs 28:20
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!”
~ Psalm 126:5
“Evolution is an endless process –
from nescience to gnosis to apotheosis;
from bestial to celestial.
We ever evolve as our boundaries dissolve.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Ron’s Introduction to Human Potential Differential
Dear Friends,
At age ninety, I’m continuing to update my memoirs with perspectives learned so far from this precious human lifetime.
Beginning thirty years ago, during a long post-retirement secluded period of meditation, introspection, and prayer, I began wondering whether human ignorance was leading us to unavoidable ‘end-times’; whether human evolution on Earth was inevitable, or just optional.
I observed people in various stages of evolution – from barbarians to Buddhas – and questioned whether Earthly humans who were selfish, violent, or warlike might ‘condemn’ us all.
So I began composing (and continuing to amend) the following Q and A sutra-essay titled “Human Potential Differential?”, which I still deem important, in light of my recent “Best Things in Life are Free” memoirs posting, the above sutras, quotations, and the following explanations.
Like “Best Things in Life are Free”, this “Human Potential Differential” posting is deeply dedicated to inspiring each of us
to lovingly follow our Sacred Heart until it is dissolved as destined into Mother/Father/God, as ONE LOVE
Please enjoy and consider it accordingly.
Ron Rattner
Human Potential Differential?
Q. Can humankind transform:
From bestial to celestial?
From infernal to supernal?
From barbarians to Buddhas?
From sinners to saints?
From selfishness to selflessness?
From immorality to immortality?
A. YES, YES, YES !!!!
As medieval alchemists transmuted lead into gold,
Mother/Father/God will transform Humanity
into ONE LOVE.
Transformation is inevitable,
but advent of ultimate realization
depends upon each unique soul’s chosen thoughts and behaviors, whether selfish or loving.
We ‘reap as we sow’,
and as we cultivate compassion;
we harvest happiness.
Ultimately, we are each dharmically destined
to Awaken as an Infinite Ocean of ONE Eternal LOVE,
rather than existing as mere ego-mind “I” drops
in that limitless Divine Ocean.
By lovingly following our Sacred Heart
We will melt and disappear timelessly –
into the Mystery of Divinity –
as Eternal LOVE.
Ron’s Recitation of Human Potential Differential
Ron’s Comments on Human Potential Differential?
Dear Friends,
During thirty years of post-retirement solitude, I’ve deeply questioned and reflected on whether human ignorance is leading us to unavoidable ‘end-times’; whether human evolution is inevitable, or just optional. Ultimately, I’ve concluded that human evolution is inevitable but that its rate differs for each unique soul.
Recognizing that dharmically and karmically we reap as we sow, and inspired by Jesus Christ, I’ve given my irrevocable ‘power of attorney’ to the law of cause and effect to non-judgmentally forgive all moral ignorance.
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeatedly taught forgiveness.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
~ Luke 6:37
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you”
~ Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27
And even as he was dying on a cross in excruciating pain, Jesus beseeched God’s forgiveness of those who crucified him:
And Jesus said,
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
~ Luke 23: 34
In emphasizing “they know not what they do” Jesus invoked Divine forgiveness in response to apparent unwitting (rather than malevolent) sins of the Roman soldiers who crucified him.
Human Potential Differential in current turbulent times
For the following reasons, even in this era of unprecedented global warfare, suffering and turmoil, I’m spiritually optimistic about survival of Human Earth-life, despite dire “end times” predictions of its cataclysmic collapse:
1) I’ve realized that “Our destiny is Divinity” because we’re not what we think we are, but Infinite Eternal Awareness!
2) As unique immortal souls we are each dharmically destined to be dissolved in timeless Eternal ONENESS as Divine LOVE beyond unavoidable third dimension space/time duality[3D] Earthly ego-mind fears and illusions. We each transcend inescapable ego-mind fears and illusions at rates dependent upon whether our unique thoughts and behaviors are loving or selfish – helpful or harmful.
3) Moreover, there is no death. Death is just an energy transition, until we’re formlessly dissolved as ONE LOVE. It’s an illusory belief that our lives end when our mortal bodies no longer function.
4) Karmically, as each unique soul evolves to ever ascending energy planes, it transcends all ego-mind fears to exist lovingly and dharmically, forever free of unhappiness and disharmony until dissolved in timeless Eternal ONENESS as Divine LOVE beyond unavoidable third dimension space/time duality[3D] Earthly “realty”.
5) While subjected to ego-mind, we unavoidably exist with karmic cause and effect sufferings from the earthly illusion of space/time/duality “realty”. But the more we intentionally lovingly follow our Sacred Heart the more we enjoy happy lives, and the less we suffer from perpetually unknown karmic causes and conditions.
6} Ultimately, we’ve never been separated from our Eternal Source Mother/Father/God. So we have nothing to fear – EVER
Conclusion and Dedication
As each unique soul evolves from illusory space/time duality third dimension [3D] to ever ascending energy planes, it transcends all ego-mind fears to exist lovingly and dharmically, forever free of unhappiness and disharmony until it is dissolved as destined into Mother/Father/God,
as ONE LOVE.
This “Human Potential Differential” posting is deeply dedicated to encouraging and inspiring each of us to live fearlessly, lovingly and forgivingly, until we inevitably transcend all fearful ego-mind thoughts and behaviors as Universal Divine LOVE
Invocation
May today’s Human Potential Differential
verses, quotations and explanations
help us hasten our inevitable process
from nescience to gnosis to apotheosis.
Remembering that we reap as we sow,
may we ever more choose to cultivate compassion
and harvest happiness
for everyone everywhere,
until as destined we are dissolved
As an Infinite Ocean
of ONE Eternal LOVE.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
What is Perfection?
“All people are flawed;
none are perfect.
But the most flawed,
are those who think or claim they’re perfect.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth
who continually does good and who never sins”
~ Ecclesiastes 7:20
“The man with insight enough to admit his limitations
comes nearest to perfection.”
~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
“Were I to await perfection, my book would never be finished.”
~ Chinese Proverb
“Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly materialistic,
and mankind is reaching toward the very zenith of external progress,
driven by an insatiable desire for power and vast possessions.
Yet by this vain striving for perfection in a world where everything is relative, they wander even further away from inward peace and happiness of the mind.”
~ H.H. the Dalai Lama
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in.”
~ Leonard Cohen
“This is the very perfection of a man,
to find out his own imperfections.”
~ Saint Augustine
“Advance, and never halt,
for advancing is perfection.”
~ Kahlil Gibran
“Perfection is a state in which things are the way they are,
and are not the way they are not.
As you can see, this universe is perfect.”
~ Werner Erhard, est
“Incarnation is limitation.”
“All is perfection,
but nobody’s perfect.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
What is Perfection?
Q. What is perfection?
A. “Perfection” is an idea;
a conception in duality reality.
Perfection implies imperfection.
So in relative reality we can’t have perfection without imperfection.
And in Ultimate Reality beyond relative reality,
there is no perfection.
Ultimate Reality is beyond conception,
and so beyond “perfection”.
Q. What is perfection?
A. “Perfection” is an idea;
a conception in duality reality.
Perfection implies imperfection.
So in relative reality we can’t have perfection without imperfection.
And in Ultimate Reality beyond relative reality,
there is no perfection.
Ultimate Reality is beyond conception,
and so beyond “perfection”.
Ron’s Reflections on “What is Perfection?”
Dear Friends,
Have you ever met a ‘perfect’ person? Or perceived or projected “perfection” in this crazy world of ecological, political, and economic crises and constant conflicts? Have you ever considered seeking inner “perfection” as a life goal?
Before my mid-life change of life, I had never reflected on ideas of “perfection”.
But soon thereafter I attended “est”, an impactful self-help seminar where I was first exposed to certain Eastern spirituality principles skillfully collected and experientially presented to help participants radically transform their lives.
The key est teaching was acceptance of the present moment – emotionally accepting “what is” because it could not be otherwise. [See Getting “IT” at est, ] Apt to this teaching was the foregoing “perfection” definition, by est’s founder Werner Erhard:
“Perfection is a state in which things are the way they are,
and are not the way they are not.
As you can see, this universe is perfect.”
Intrigued by est, I began reflecting about “perfection” and sometimes wrote sutras and essays, later posted online. Accordingly, many Silly Sutras postings deal with my evolving reflections on “perfection”. Because these reflections significantly have helped my spiritual opening process, I have shared them hoping they may help others, as they have helped me.
After est, I soon realized that in our phenomenal duality reality “perfection” is an idea, which implies it’s opposite – imperfection; that we can’t have one, without the other. So, a “perfect” person isn’t possible.
Ultimately, I became persuaded by non-duality teachings discouraging “vain striving for perfection in a world where everything is relative” – and impermanent.
But for a while I mistakenly believed that there were exceptions to my conclusion that an infallible “perfect” person isn’t possible.
This happened after I was blessed to meet my beloved venerable Hindu guru, Sri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas. [ See The Luckiest Day of My Life ~ Meeting My Spiritual Master ] and also met certain other “enlightened” spiritual teachers in the US and India. Whereupon, I became a “born-again Hindu”, and read and recited Eastern scriptures and liturgy glorifying divinity of “gurus” and awakened “buddhas”.
Naively, I thereafter began projecting “perfection” onto Guruji and a few other “enlightened” teachers. But, ultimately, I realized from inner and outer experience that incarnation is limitation, and that however evolved an incarnate being may be s/he is fallible; that here on Earth, where we experience life in apparent physical bodies, human fallibility ‘goes with the territory’ – that “to err is human”.
With that realization, I ceased projecting “perfection” onto individuals and began relying on inner – not outer – authority. No longer a “born-again Hindu” I became, and remain, an “Uncertain Undo” , seeking relief from belief.
My devotional motto became, and remains:
“Adoration of the Infinite; not adulation of the incarnate”.
And I wrote The Law of Flaw, a poem beginning with these verses:
All people are flawed;
none are perfect.
But the most flawed,
are those who think or claim they’re perfect.
In reading the seemingly contradictory above quotes about perfection please remember that in this impermanent world of relativity and duality words often point paradoxically or metaphorically to Eternal truth, which is ineffable. So
“The truest sayings are paradoxical.”
~ Lao Tzu
Whether or not we may agree that “perfection is a state in which things are the way they are, and are not the way they are not”, I hope this perfection definition helps you – as it helped me – find inner peace and happiness by emotionally accepting “what is” NOW, because it could not be otherwise.
But let us remember that emotionally accepting the present moment need not deter us from questioning or nonviolently resisting – like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi – pervasive suffering and injustice caused by human ignorance and greed, while envisioning our evolutionary transcendence thereof.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
The Law of Flaw
“All is perfection,
But nobody’s perfect.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Incarnation is limitation.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth
who continually does good and who never sins.”
~ Ecclesiastes 7:20
“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom.
It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken
and the wisest might err.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Incarnation is limitation.
All people are flawed;
none are perfect.
But the most flawed,
are those who claim or think they’re perfect.
The greatest self-delusion
is the conviction of being
beyond self-delusion.
The fewer our fears,
the fewer our flaws.
“He who is without sin
cast the first stone.”
He who is without vice,
give the first advice.
High flyers, Beware!
All people are fallible,
and fallible means fall -able.
So, the higher we fly
the further we may fall.
Ron’s audio recitation of The Law of Flaw
