Posts Tagged ‘self identity’
Our Mentality Is Our Reality:
~ Sutra Sayings
“The greatest discovery of any generation
is that human beings can alter their lives
by altering the attitudes of their minds.”
~ Albert Schweitzer
“We do not see things as they are;
we see things as we are.”
~ Talmud
“Our mentality is our reality.
Our “reality” is what we think it to be.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.”
~ George Orwell, 1984
Introduction.
The following verses were inspired by Dr. Albert Schweitzer’s crucial assertion that:
“human beings can alter their lives by altering the attitudes of their minds”
.
They are shared to remind us that our entire space/time “reality” arises only from thought. And that, with vigilant awareness, we can vastly improve our lives by observing, stilling and emptying our minds – our constant thoughts.
Our Mentality Is Our Reality
Our mentality
is our reality.
Change your mentality,
to change your reality.
Learn to observe,
and to still your mind.
Open your mind and see its Source.
Still your mind and Be its Source.
Change your mentality
and Be –
Reality.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Our Mentality Is Our Reality”
Ron’s Explanation and Dedication of “Our Mentality Is Our Reality”
Dear Friends,
My understanding of the foregoing key philosophic concepts began experientially with an unforgettable 1976 out-of-body experience [OOB] in which I observed every thought as a kaleidoscopic form. Thereafter I gradually deduced that our mistaken mental reification of a seemingly separate space/time “reality” subjects us to inevitable karmic problems and sufferings.
Following the OOB, my investigations leading to this realization began with reading published statements of J. Krishnamurti, such as those quoted e.g. in De-condition the Mind.
Now, after over four decades of validating observations and philosophic reflections, I continue to affirm the crucial importance of our mistaken ego-mind self-identification with perceptions and thoughts; that since our problems and sufferings arise mentally, we can gradually transcend them by observing and stilling our minds.
Since thought alone creates our problems and sufferings, thought alone can help us gradually transcend them.
May these writings help us transcend our identification with thought, and thereby to live ever happier and soul fulfilling lives.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
De-condition the Mind
“Truth is a pathless land. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophic knowledge or psychological technique.
He has to find it through the mirror of relationship,
through the understanding of the contents of his own mind,
through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection.”
“Our problem is how to be free from all conditioning. – – – –
When the mind is completely unconditioned then only can you experience or discover if there is something real or not. A cup is useful only when it is empty; and a mind that is filled with beliefs, with dogmas with assertions, with quotations is really an uncreative mind; it is merely a repetitive mind.”
“When man becomes aware of the movement of his own thoughts he will see the division between the thinker and thought, the observer and the observed, the experiencer and the experience.
He will discover that this division is an illusion.
Then only is there pure observation which is insight without any shadow of the past or of time.
This timeless insight brings about a deep radical mutation in the mind.”
“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
“Our conditioning determines our condition.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
J. Krishnamurti ~ May 11, 1895 – February 17, 1986
De-condition the Mind
Our search for remission
From ills of the human condition
Will find its fruition
As we de-condition –
The mind.
Ron’s audio recitation of “De-condition the Mind”
Ron’s explanation of “De-condition the Mind”
Dear Friends,
The foregoing “De-condition the Mind” pithy poem was long ago inspired by renowned twentieth century philosopher J. Krishnamurti, whose independent spiritual philosophy helped me begin understanding what was happening to me soon after my spiritual awakening. To help you understand the poem, I have culled and posted the foregoing quotations, which include some of Krishnamurti’s core teachings.
Though born in India, Krishnamurti disclaimed allegiance to any nationality, caste, religion, guru or philosophy. He spent most of his life traveling and teaching worldwide.
Soon after a midlife spiritual awakening that I was pure awareness and not just my physical body and its story, I was given numerous glimpses of previously unknown clairvoyant and psychic phenomena which also persuaded me that the universe didn’t work the way I’d been taught or thought.
So I wondered about the true nature of this supposedly “real” world and the universe which we seem to inhabit. Krishnamurti had then become known to me as a contemporary sage. And to satisfy my newly aroused cosmic curiosities, I began reading Krishnamurti’s teachings.
Though initially I was puzzled by many of his enigmatic assertions about the human mind, I was determined to understand them. And gradually that seemed to happen.
In addition to Krishnamurti’s independent philosophic teachings, I began discovering similar wisdom teachings concerning Advaita Vedanta, the oldest extant school of Indian Philosophy. Advaita means non-dualism, and its teachings are about experiencing non-dual Self Realization via focused self-inquiry.
Ultimately I inferred from these philosophic teachings and from my spiritual awakening as Awareness, that everyone and everything else in space/time was like me the same pure Awareness mentally experiencing space/time through an impermanent energy form.
But, I also realized that our misperceptions and mental misconceptions of separateness have created an illusory world of suffering – an illusory mental mirage – with which we self-identify and reify. And that as long as we mistakenly perceive and believe ourselves to be separate from each other and nature, we suffer individually and societally from the universal law of cause and effect – karma.
From long lifetime experience, I have learned that as gradually we unselfishly open our hearts with compassion beyond personal desires and affections, our karmic sufferings diminish, and we reap increasing happiness.
Most postings on the SillySutras website, including “De-condition the Mind” are sincerely dedicated to helping all of us lead ever happier lives through increasing awareness of perennial spiritual wisdom.
Mystics say that ultimately, upon Self Realization of our true divine identity, our earthly sufferings end.
Today’s profound Krishnamurti quotations and De-condition the Mind poem can help remind us that since all our space/time “reality” arises from thought – that our mentality is our “reality” – we can vastly change our lives by observing and changing our thoughts, and by stilling and emptying our minds.
May these writings thereby help us live ever happier and soul fulfilling lives, as gradually we still our minds and open our hearts to remember that we are the unseen Source of the world we see.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
I Have Learned So Much ~ by Hafiz
“I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Moslem, Jew, Buddhist and Confucian.”
~ Gandhi
“Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen.
Not any religion
My place is the placeless, a trace of the traceless.
Neither body or soul.”
~ Rumi
“There is a temple, a shrine, a mosque, a church where I kneel.
Prayer should bring us to an altar where no walls or names exist.
Is there not a region of love where the sovereignty is illumined nothing,”
~ Rabia of Basra
“I have learned so much from God
That I can no longer call myself
a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew”
~ Hafiz
“The great religions are the ships,
Poets the life boats.
Every sane person I know has jumped overboard.”
~ Hafiz
I Have Learned So Much ~ by Hafiz
I have learned so much from God
That I can no longer call myself
a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.
The Truth has shared so much of itself with me
that I can no longer call myself
a man, a woman, an angel
or even pure soul.
Love has befriended me so completely
It has turned to ash and freed me
of every concept and image
my mind has ever known.
-Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky in
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master
Ron’s Reflections on “I Have Learned So Much” ~ by Hafiz
Dear Friends,
“I Have Learned So Much” by Sufi Poet-Saint Hafiz, is one of the most inspiring writings on this website.
Though composed seven centuries ago, Hafiz’s enlightened verses continue to bless the world as LOVE.
And they deeply inspire our soul’s remembrance that – beyond any words or concepts or religious rules – Eternal LOVE is the only Reality.
As we read these illumined verses may we – like Hafiz – be freed as LOVE “of every concept and image (that) mind has ever known.”
And so may it be!
Who’s a Who, and Who are You?
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
~ Dr. Seuss
Horton Hears a Who
“[Self] Realization is of the fact that you are not a person.”
“You are THAT!”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Who’s a Who, and Who are You?
Q. If “A person’s a person, no matter how small”,
and a person’s a person, though tiny or tall,When is a person no person at all?
A. A person’s no person, whether tiny or tall,
when s(he) doesn’t think s(he)’s a “person” –
any person at all.
Q. Doesn’t everyone think they’re a “person” –
whether tiny or tall;Does anyone think they’re no person at all?
A. Nobody thinks that they’re anyone – tiny or tall,
when they don’t think anything – anything at all.
Q. But when they’re not thinking,
who are they?
And who am I? And who are you?
A. To realize that we must stop thinking,too!
Ron’s comments and recitation of “Who’s a Who, and Who are You?”
Ron’s explanation of “Who’s a Who, and Who are You?”
Dear Friends,
Since launching the Silly Sutras website I have posted many writings – aphorisms, quotations, poems and essays – about Eastern non-dualism philosophy, which I accept as highest spiritual teachings. Paradoxically these writings point to an ultimate Truth which cannot be expressed in words, but only suggested silently – like the Buddha pointing to the moon.
Thus, sometimes we may best communicate wordlessly with silent gestures, pantomime, looks or tears; or auditorily with laughter, tunes, or music.
With words, Truth is sometimes best expressed with jest – whimsically, humorously or paradoxically.
The foregoing poem “Who’s a Who, and Who are You?” was composed to both whimsically and paradoxically point to ineffable Absolute non-duality Reality.
Einstein told us that our space/time duality reality is a persistent mental illusion – a way of thinking. Similarly, for millennia mystical inner explorers have revealed the ever illusionary nature of our impermanent relative ‘reality’ – calling it (in Sanskrit) “maya” or “samsara” – which the Buddha likened to a mental mirage.
In sutra sayings I have paradoxically proclaimed that:
“Reality isn’t REAL!”
that it is just a mental movie – a holographically, fractally, and kaleidoscopically projected ‘theater of the mind’.
In composing “Who’s a Who, and Who are You?” I have attempted to express paradoxically and whimsically how Dr. Seuss might point from space/time to Ultimate non-duality Reality.
I hope we can get the ‘point’; or at least begin to wonder what it means.
And so may it be!
Children Of The Divine
“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”
~ Kahlil Gibran
“We are born and reborn countless number of times,
and it is possible that each being has been our parent at one time or another. Therefore, it is likely that all beings in this universe have familial connections.”
~ H. H. Dalai Lama, from ‘The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
“In this wonderful world of relativity,
we are all relatives.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven
is my brother and sister and mother.”
~ Matthew 12:50
Children Of The Divine
We are spiritual siblings,
born of Eternal Life, Light and Love.
We are children of the Divine,
experiencing Itself through infinite outlooks.
We are “sons and daughters of Life’s
longing for itself”*,
Each a glowing vital facet of an
infinitely faceted eternally luminescent jewel.
We are THAT!
We are THAT!
We are THAT!
*Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Ron’s audio recitation of “Children Of The Divine”
Ron’s Commentary on “Children of the Divine”
Long ago I was inspired by Khalil Gibran’s eloquent words from his timeless masterpiece “The Prophet” that
“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”
to compose the foregoing “Children of the Divine” verses, posted with apt quotations.
May these writings help inspire us to remember that we are ALL children of the Divine experiencing Itself through infinite outlooks; that with differing ‘roles’ we appear and reappear on the world’s stage in an endless Divine play of consciousness to learn and express Eternal LOVE.
May they
“Infuse us, enthuse us, and use us
to bless all Life as LOVE!”
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
That Lives in Us ~ by Rumi
“From wonder into wonder existence opens.”
~ Lao Tzu
“Consciousness is the basis of all life
and the field of all possibilities.
Its nature is to expand and unfold its full potential.
The impulse to evolve is thus inherent in the very nature of life.”
~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
“There are no mistakes, no coincidences,
all events are blessings given to us to learn from.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful
for the evolution of your consciousness.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
Life can be found only in the present moment.
The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
That Lives in Us ~ by Rumi
If you put your hands on this oar with me,
they will never harm another, and they will come to find
they hold everything you want.
If you put your hands on this oar with me, they would no longer
lift anything to your
mouth that might wound your precious land –
that sacred earth that is your body.
If you put your soul against this oar with me,
the power that made the universe will enter your sinew
from a source not outside your limbs, but from a holy realm
that lives in us.
Exuberant is existence, time a husk.
When the moment cracks open, ecstasy leaps out and devours space;
love goes mad with the blessings, like my words give.
Why lay yourself on the torturer’s rack of the past and the future?
The mind that tries to shape tomorrow beyond its capacities
will find no rest.
Be kind to yourself, dear – to our innocent follies.
Forget any sounds or touch you knew that did not help you dance.
You will come to see that all evolves us.
(Source: Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, by Daniel Ladinsky )
More Enlightened Rumi Wisdom Words
“There is no reality but God,
says the completely surrendered sheik,
who is an ocean for all beings.”
“When you do things from your soul,
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
“There is a life-force within your soul,
seek that life.
There is a gem in the mountain of your body,
seek that mine.
O traveler,
if you are in search of that
Don’t look outside,
look inside yourself and seek that.”
“Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.”
“I have lived on the lip of insanity,
wanting to know reasons,
knocking on a door.
It opens.
I’ve been knocking from the inside.”
“The world is a prison and we are the prisoners:
Dig a hole in the prison and let yourself out!”
“You were born with wings.
Why prefer to crawl through life?”
“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? ”
“I long to escape the prison of my ego and lose myself in you.”
” You have been a prisoner of a little pond,
I am the ocean and its turbulent flood.
Come merge with me, leave this world of ignorance.
Be with me, I will open the gate to your love.”
~ Rumi
You Are The Sun In Drag, by Hafiz
Even after all this time
the sun never says to the Earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights the whole sky.”
~ Hafiz
“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in the darkness,
the astonishing light of your own being.”
~ Hafiz
“Love said to me, there is nothing that is not me. Be silent.”
~ Rumi
“If you could get rid of yourself just once, the secret of secrets would open to you. The face of the unknown, hidden beyond the universe would appear on the mirror of your perception.”
~ Rumi
“You are “gods”; you are all children of the Most High.”
~ Psalm 82: 6
You are the sun in drag.
You are the sun in drag.
You are God hiding from yourself.
Remove all the “mine” – that is the veil.
Why ever worry about
Anything?
Listen to what your friend Hafiz
Knows for certain:
The appearance of this world
Is a Magi’s brilliant trick, though its affairs are
Nothing into nothing.
You are a divine elephant with amnesia
Trying to live in an ant
Hole.
Sweetheart, O sweetheart
You are God in
Drag!
~ Hafiz, translated by Daniel James Ladinsky
from The Gift: Poems by the Great Sufi Master
Ron’s Commentary on Sufi Master Hafiz.
I am privileged to share with you the foregoing poem by Iran’s favorite poet, 14th century Sufi master Hafiz (Hafez). Just as many Western people keep copies of the Bible in their homes, many Persian people keep copies of Hafiz’ writings which they consider the pinnacle of Persian literature.
Written in Farsi, this poem was expertly translated to English by Daniel Ladinsky. Yet my Iranian friends say that to be fully appreciated it must be read as originally composed.
But even for those of us who do not understand Farsi, the timeless genius of this poem, as translated, enriches and enlightens our hearts.
May we joyously join Hafiz in heartfelt gratitude as this Master poet importunes us:
“Join me in the pure atmosphere of gratitude for life.
Join my eyes and soul in their divine applause.”
~ Hafiz
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Take A Banker’s Holiday
“Mind is memory, at whatever level, by whatever name you call it; mind is the product of the past, it is founded on the past, which is memory, a conditioned state.” “Truth is not a memory, because truth is ever new, constantly transforming itself. (M)emory is a hindrance to the understanding of what is. The timeless can be only when memory, which is the `me’ and the `mine’, ceases.”
~ J. Krishnamurti
To think or not to think,
that is the question!
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Thinking and Being can’t coexist.
So stop thinking and start Being.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Forget who you think you are
to Know what you really are.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Take A Banker’s Holiday
Mind is a ‘memory bank’ where we keep
all past recollections and conceptions.
We are all memory bankers, using our memory banks to think –
mostly constantly and compulsively.
So thinking is always past, not present.
Thoughts are then, while life is NOW – not then.
And life is perpetual, while thinking is optional.
So to live optimally,
Let’s live presently,
But think optionally –
Not constantly or compulsively.
Let’s lock-up our ‘memory banks’, and
Take a banker’s holiday –
NOW!
Ron’s audio recitation of “Take A Banker’s Holiday”
Know THAT!
“You are awareness, disguised as a person.”
~ Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks
“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
Know THAT!
Spirit are we –
Ever free;
Not body, not thought,
As we have been taught.
For body’s just ballast
that keeps us in time,
’Til we know –
Truth sublime.
Then to ascend in Eternal Bliss,
Merged with THAT –
Beyond all this.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Know THAT!”
