Posts Tagged ‘Thought’
Synchronicities Are Reminders
“Synchronicity is an ever present reality for those who have eyes to see.”
~ Carl Jung
“I am open to the guidance of synchronicity,
and do not let expectations hinder my path.”
~ Dalai Lama
How can the divine Oneness be seen?
In beautiful forms,
breathtaking wonders, awe-inspiring miracles?
The Tao is not obliged to present itself in this way.
If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere,
even in the most ordinary things.
~ Lao Tzu
“Remember God,
forget the rest.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Introduction
Dear Friends,
The following sutra/poem declares metaphorically that synchronicities are reminders of Cosmic Consciousness, which is our ONE true Source, Self identity and Ultimate Reality.
Explanatory comments following the poem suggest that synchronicities can advance our spiritual evolution and transcendence of illusory and disempowering ego-mind self-identity, by helping us remember again our once known, but long forgotten, true Divinity.
If ever you’ve wondered about ‘miraculous’ synchronicities or “coincidences”, this sutra/poem is shared to further our understanding of their spiritual significance.
Please enjoy it accordingly.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Synchronicities Are Reminders
In our wonderful world
of space/time causality reality,
everything’s impermanent –
arising from and melting into Mystery.
The Mystery of an Infinite Potentiality Reality:
Beyond conception,
Beyond description,
Beyond comprehension,
Beyond imagination.
Some call it Cosmic Consciousness.
Cosmic Consciousness is
the Essence,
the Origin, and
the Witness
of the world.
It is our ultimate Reality.
Our ever impermanent world
of apparent appearance and disappearance –
of infinite forms and phenomena –
is only a play of Cosmic Consciousness.
All such appearances are but
interdependently interconnected forms
of Cosmic Consciousness.
So synchronicities are manifestations of Cosmic Consciousness.
They are noteworthy forms and phenomena in space/time,
reminding us of ultimate Reality beyond space/time –
and of mysterious and timeless interdependent interconnectedness
of everything in space/time.
So synchronicities are reminders
of timeless Mystery beyond all appearances:
Reminders of our universal essence, origin and witness;
Reminders of our ultimate identity;
Reminders of Infinite Potentiality Reality;
Reminders of Cosmic Consciousness.
As mysterious synchronicities appear in our lives,
let us ever more reverently recall and become
their Source –
Our universal essence, origin and witness;
Our ultimate identity, and
Infinite Potentiality Reality.
And so may it BE!
Ron’s audio recitation of “Synchronicities Are Reminders”
Ron’s Reflections on “Synchronicities Are Reminders”
Dear Friends,
For millennia mystics have revealed that most of humankind (except for rare Avatars), are disempowered by illusory ego-mind self-identity, as supposedly separated from each other, Nature, and Cosmic Consciousness. So we’ve forgotten our (once known) true Self identity as infinitely omnipotent Divine beings, ONE with Nature and Source.
The foregoing sutra/poem metaphorically declares my view that synchronicities are empowering reminders of our true Self identity as Cosmic Consciousness.
Remembering that we actually are much more than we’ve thought or imagined, can help us transcend illusory, misleading and disempowering ego-mind self-identity as separated mortal beings existing only in space and time. It can help us rediscover ultimate Reality beyond space/time, and realize the mysterious and timeless interdependent interconnectedness of everything within space/time.
Since my midlife spiritual awakening, I’ve been blessed with many experiences of meaningful or noteworthy synchronicities from which I’ve determined that our Earth-life experience has been largely predetermined as part of the divine mysterious Natural order of the universe.
And I consider synchronicities to be scientifically significant spiritual experiences impelling us to reconsider mainstream materialist science which fails to recognize overwhelming empirical evidence that consciousness and mind are independent of physical bodies; that our physical bodies and brains are not originators of consciousness and mind, but their receptors, tuners and transducers; that synchronicities are signs of subtle and ordinarily imperceptible dimensions into which we are evolving individually and collectively.
Mystics reveal that as we evolve to subtler vibrational dimensions, we transcend time; that all is NOW; and that increasingly our compassionate thoughts and behaviors bless our existential experience.
According to Albert Einstein, our space/time
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live,
they are modes in which we think.”
So for Einstein space and time are “only a stubbornly persistent illusion”; a way of thinking rather than a reality in which we live. I concur with Einstein’s ideas.
Without supposedly being separated monads in space and time, we can’t have any coincidence in space or time; without time there can be no premonition or fear of ‘future’ events, nor remembrance of ‘past’ events.
As explained in other related Silly Sutras posts, I consider ‘miraculous’ synchronicities or “coincidences” to be significant spiritual experiences that can spur an inner search for a new “reality” paradigm, ultimately leading to our transformational discovery that ever changing three dimensional space/time “reality” isn’t really Real; that timeless Cosmic consciousness is our true Reality. That life is timelessly NOW ever Now, never then.
Thus, this “Synchronicities Are Reminders” posting is dedicated to advancing our transcendence of illusory and disempowering ego-mind self-identity, by helping us realize and remember the immense spiritual significance of noteworthy synchronicities.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Synchronicity and Spirituality
“Synchronicity is choreographed by a great,
pervasive intelligence that lies at the heart of nature,
and is manifest in each of us through what we call the soul.”
~ Deepak Chopra, Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire
How can the divine Oneness be seen?
In beautiful forms, breathtaking wonders, awe-inspiring miracles?
The Tao is not obliged to present itself in this way.
If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere,
even in the most ordinary things.
~ Lao Tzu
Synchronicities and Spirituality
Q. Why are coincidences and synchronicities in time and space noteworthy spiritual experiences?
A. Synchronicities and coincidences in time and space are noteworthy reminders of ONE Divine spiritual Reality, where there is no time or space, and where all that ever was or will be is eternally NOW.
Great mystics and scientists tell us that planet Earth’s space/time duality “reality” is a persistent mental illusion, like a mirage; that without our illusionary perceptions and egoic thoughts of separation, there no separate experiencers of separate space/time “coincidences” and “synchronicities”.
Thus, coincidences and synchronicities are like Nature’s ‘radar’ signals’ reminding us that: “Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.” and that “space and time are not conditions in which we live, they are modes in which we think.” [Albert Einstein]
Therefore, synchronicities and coincidences in space and time are noteworthy spiritual experiences reminding us that WE ARE ONE; that in Reality we are inseparable from Nature and eternal Divine Source.
Ron’s discussion of “Synchronicity and Spirituality”
Dear Friends,
In 1992 my beloved Guruji, Sri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, asked that I write and publish spiritual memoirs to “inspire many people.“ To honor that request, in 2010 I launched SillySutras.com, with “Ron’s Memoirs” as most important and tab-highlighted website category.
Also, similarly tab-highlighted is the “Synchronicity” category, because I’ve realized that my life has been guided by synchronicities, which I now notice with amazing frequency. [“Synchronicity” postings include definitions and explanations, followed by many of my favorite synchronicity stories.]
I’ve realized the spiritual importance of synchronicities, not only from my own experiences but from those of others. Many people commonly experience and wonder about synchronicities because they can’t be explained rationally or statistically. So that opens us to consider their possible spiritual or psychical causes.
For reasons explained in numerous posts on SillySutras.com I have concluded that synchronicities are signs of subtle and ordinarily imperceptible dimensions into which we are inevitably evolving, individually and collectively.
So I regard synchronicities as significant spiritual experiences, impelling us to question skeptics and mainstream materialist scientists who fail to recognize overwhelming empirical evidence that consciousness and mind are independent of physical bodies; that our physical bodies and brains are not originators of consciousness and mind, but their receptors, tuners and transducers.
Thus according to scientifically trained Dr. Deepak Chopra:
“Synchronicity is choreographed by a great,
pervasive intelligence that lies at the heart of nature,
and is manifest in each of us through what we call the soul.”
~ Deepak Chopra, Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire
Especially if you have ever wondered about ‘miraculous’ synchronicities or coincidences in your life, I hope that you’ll find this post helpful in your further reflections on their spiritual significance.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
The Way In, Is The Way Out
“The way is not in the sky.
The way is in the heart.”
~ Buddha
“Your task is not to seek for love,
but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself
that you have built against it.”
~ Rumi
“As you grow up, you form a mental image of who you are, based on your personal and cultural conditioning. We may call this phantom self the ego. It consists of mind activity and can only be kept going through constant thinking. The term ego means different things to different people, but when I use it …it means a false self, created by unconscious identification with the mind. …..
As long as you are identified with your mind, the ego runs your life.”
~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
“Ego is the biggest enemy of humans.”
~ Rig Veda
“As long as you take yourself to be a person, a body, a mind, separate from the stream of life, having a will of its own, pursuing its own aims, you are living merely on the surface and whatever you do will be short-lived and of little value, mere straws to feed the flames of vanity.”
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Undo ego!
As ego goes,
consciousness grows,
until it Knows – Its Self.”“On the path of Undo
we’ll never be through
’til we’re an undone ONE”.~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Introduction to “The Way In, Is The Way Out”
Dear Friends,
The following written and recited sutra poem is about undoing ego’s misidentification with the mind. The poem metaphorically tells how we’re each caught (by ego) in a mental maze; so that to find our way out, we must know the way we got in. It is explained by above key quotations and comments below.
In addition to the poem’s posted voice recitation. there is a brief video segment of Ron reading this sutra poem on his computer screen in “Walks With Ron”, a free YouTube spiritual memoir film about me, by Rob Tobias.
I hope you’ll enjoy and be helped by this whimsical poem and by viewing that video memoir.
Ron Rattner
The Way In, Is The Way Out
In this crazy age
of mental malaise,
we’re caught
in a mental maze.
Without a doubt,
to find our way out
we must know
the way we got in.
Ron’s Audio Recitation of “The Way In, Is The Way Out”
Ron’s Explanation of “The Way In, Is The Way Out”
Dear Friends,
Upon birth in human bodies we experience amnesia about our true spiritual self-identity. Thereafter we are acculturated to perceive and mentally believe ourselves to be mere mortal physical bodies separate from each other and Nature. So, because of “an optical illusion of consciousness” we mistakenly identify and behave as separate entities, and become subject to the karmic law of cause and effect.
Every Human – except for rare Buddha-like beings – knowingly or unknowingly is in some evolutionary stage of undoing mistaken ego-mind identity – a process indispensable to our spiritual evolution. Hence for millennia spiritual seers have recognized “ego” as the greatest human “enemy” and impediment to our spiritual evolution.
Only as a 42 year old adult did I begin learning about mistaken ego identification. My midlife awakening sparked a previously unimagined spiritual metamorphosis process from “secular Hebrew”, to “born-again Hindu”, to “uncertain Undo”. So I’ve long proclaimed that I’m an ‘Uncertain Undo’ seeking relief from belief; and that “on the path of Undo, we’ll never be through, ’til we’re an undone ONE”.
As an “uncertain Undo”, I’ve experienced an ever happier life by gradually letting go of outdated beliefs and ideas about Self-identity and Reality. And, to help others find similar happiness, I’ve often written about this process of undoing ego, because of its fundamental spiritual significance. (See e.g. website archives linked here.)
So I hope you’ll enjoy today’s metaphoric ‘mental maze’ poem. And that it may help all of us who (knowingly or unknowingly) are longing for freedom from ego’s ‘mental maze’ by finding the way we got in.
Dedication
Today’s “Way In, Is The Way Out” posting is sincerely dedicated to helping us live ever happier lives, by undoing ego until “we’re an undone ONE”.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Illumination Rumination
“You are the light of the world.”
~ Matthew 5:14
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate:
only love can do that.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
~ Chinese Proverb
“For light I go directly to the Source of light,
not to any of the reflections.”
~ Peace Pilgrim
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire,
men cannot live without a spiritual life.”
~ Buddha
Into my heart’s night
Along a narrow way I groped;
and lo! the light,
An infinite land of day.
~ Rumi
“Reality’s essence is Divine luminescence.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
“If the radiance of a thousand suns
Were to burst at once into the sky
That would be like the splendor of the Mighty One –.”
~ Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 11, Verse 12
Every particle of the world is a mirror.
In each atom lies the blazing light of a thousand suns.
~ Mahmud Shabestari, Sufi Mystic, 15th century.
“There are two ways of spreading light –
to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
~ Edith Wharton
Illumination Rumination
Soul light, like sun light, is Source light.
Mind light, like moon light, is reflected light.
Meditation reveals Soul light,
while rumination reflects mind light.
Rumination requires mental movement.
Illumination is in mental stillness.
Source light surpasses reflected light.
It’s better to Be the Light,
than to reflect it.
As we are guided by moonlight
until sunlight re-appears,
reflected mind light can guide us
until we are again illuminated as Soul light.
As moon light is but reflection of sunlight,
sunlight is but a reflection of Soul light.
So, for illumination,
focus on Soul light.
But at least reflect on it.
Ron’s audio recitation of “Illumination Rumination”
Ron’s Explanation and Dedication of “Illumination Rumination”
Dear Friends,
For millennia all Humankind have observed rituals of light and sun, with participants sharing wishes for universal happiness.
Since March 2020 we have entered a “new normal” post-pandemic era of unprecedented crises imminently threatening all Earth life as we have known it. So, whether or not we may have heretofore observed any symbolic light rituals, these are now times of apparent ‘darkness’, especially appropriate for our reflection upon perennial issues of inner illumination – or “enlightenment”.
Accordingly, I have again posted a sutra-poem, with quotations focused on our inner illumination process.
Titled “Illumination Rumination”, it is dedicated to helping all of us find and achieve lasting happiness through inner illumination as the “the light of the world”.
Background
This poem was inspired by an unforgettable and theretofore unimaginable intense inner experience. Over forty years ago, while passionately crying and longing for God on a Yosemite mountain top, with amazing grace I beheld an ethereal inner effulgence, which I can only describe as the ‘light of ten thousand suns’ – the Eternal Light of Cosmic Consciousness.
Since then – as I have increasingly self-identified with that glorious inner light of Eternal Awareness – my life has become ever more faith based and inner directed. Concurrently I have gradually become happier and more grateful than ever before.
With insight (not eyesight), I have begun to realize that as we evolve through a process of inner illumination we increasingly emanate the divine light of Cosmic Consciousness; that our illumined energy becomes ‘contagious’ and inevitably elevates human consciousness, infusing and inspiring others similarly seeking happiness and love.
And I emphatically concur with Dr. King’s wise words that
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only Light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate:
only Love can do that.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.
Invocation
May everyone everywhere be illumined
as “the light of the world”
To envision and co-create together
A wonderful new age, of universal
Peace, Joy, Light and LOVE.
May everyone everywhere be happy!
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Subject-Object?
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
“Space and time are not conditions in which we live,
they are modes in which we think”
~ Albert Einstein
“This perception of division between the seer and the object that is seen, is situated in the mind. For those remaining in the heart, the seer becomes one with the sight.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
‘Time, space and causation are like the glass through which the Absolute is seen…In the Absolute there is neither time, space, nor causation.’
~ Swami Vivekananda [Jnana Yoga]
“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
“Objectivity is an illusory impossibility.”
“All concepts are mental projections of Cosmic Consciousness.
But for name – subject and object are same.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Essence Of Nondualism:
Consciousness = Subject = Object = Self
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Albert Einstein
Subject-Object?
Q. Where does subject end, and object begin?
A. Nowhere.
E=mc2.
Everything’s energy everywhere.
Energy’s endless,
So everything’s endless.
But we mistakenly believe what we perceive.
Thus, as Einstein observed:
“Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
Subject and object are mere ways of thinking –
perceptual/conceptual projections of Cosmic Consciousness,
which is our true Self.
As twentieth century Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharshi observed:
“Consciousness is always Self-Consciousness.
If you are conscious of anything,
you are essentially conscious of yourself.”
Ron’s Subject-Object Commentary:
This “Subject-Object?” essay points to our spiritually limiting illusory belief that we are separate “subjects” observing separate “objects” in space/time.
Cosmically, as Einstein observed, “Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
Due to non-locality of space/time ‘reality’, perceived subjects and objects are not separated, but connected. All perceptions require projected subjective consciousness, which is immeasurable. So all perceptions are subjective projections of ONE immeasurable consciousness.
Thus everything perceived everywhere is an impermanent holographic energy form of projected consciousness. Yet we mistakenly believe in objectivity of what we subjectively project and perceive.
Like most Westerners I grew up culturally imbued with mistaken ideas and ideals of “objectivity” of our scientific, academic, journalistic and judicial institutions – of which as an adult I became disabused.
And after my midlife spiritual awakening, I began to realize that objectivity is an illusory impossibility; that the idea of objectivity refers only the measurable material world of forms and phenomena, which mistakenly excludes consciousness – the ultimate immeasurable Reality and source of all perceptions.
Despite revolutionary discoveries in relativity and quantum physics, for the past century most materialistic mainstream scientists have remained reluctant to recognize the impossibility of scientifically ‘objective’ accuracy in describing Nature through measurement without reference to immeasurable consciousness.
Yet more and more visionary scientists have seen and transcended this mistaken materialist view. As explained by Nobel prize winning physicist Max Planck:
“Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of Nature.
And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”
Invocation
May the foregoing quotations and essay
encourage our deep ‘subjective’ reflection and recognition
that Humankind – and all of its institutions –
are part of Nature’s insoluble Mystery,
with which we must mindfully and reverentially be ever harmonious.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
Questions About Questions
“We never cease to stand like curious children
before the great Mystery into which we were born.”
~ Albert Einstein
“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
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates
the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.
It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.
Never lose a holy curiosity.”
~ Albert Einstein
“The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts,
and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre,
it will itself in the end get destroyed.
Then, there will arise Self-realization.”
“The question ‘Who am I?’ is not really meant to get an answer,
the question ‘Who am I?’ is meant to dissolve the questioner.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
“Who am I?
The quest is in the question.
The question is the answer.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Questions are then,
Life is NOW.
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Questions About Questions
Q. When do questions arise?
A. Always then, never now.
Questions are thoughts, and thoughts are then.
Q. Can there ever be a question without a thought?
A. I don’t think so.
Without a question, there can be a thought.
But without a thought, there can’t be a question.
Q. Then, when is there never a question?
A. When there is no questioner.
Ron’s Reflections and Questions About Questioning
Dear Friends,
The foregoing quotations about the Mystery of Divinity and whimsical lines about questionig are offered to inspire and encourage our curiosity and reflection on the ‘Who am I?’ divine spiritual mystery – which Einstein called “the great Mystery into which we were born”.
On birth into new human bodies we experience instant amnesia, forgetting what we knew before we withdrew from dwelling in heavenly domains. Except for very rare Buddha-like saints and sages, we forget that we are immortal Divine Beings – each experiencing a Divine play of consciousness from a unique perspective.
Whereupon, we experience and suffer from ‘a case of mistaken identity’. Individually and collectively, we mistakenly self-identify only with our mortal physical forms, their emotions and perceptions, and their stories – and we become like actors playing unique roles in an ever expanding and endless play of consciousness.
As Shakespeare metaphorically observed:
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players”
~ William Shakespeare ~ As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
But knowingly or unknowingly, we are here to experientially remember what we forgot on incarnation into mortal human bodies.
So our embodied lives become like spiritual mystery stories. Instead of a ‘who-done-it?’ detective story, each life becomes a ‘who am I?’ spiritual mystery, which we are born to solve. Yet, the ultimate solution to that mystery is beyond our comprehension, imagination or belief. So we must find it experientially and intuitively, rather than mentally.
However, spurred by unceasing childlike curiosity, our rational minds can lead us to experiential discovery of our immortal self-identity. So we can begin by reverentially and unceasingly asking “Who am I?”.
“Ask, and it will be given to you …
For every one who asks receives.”
~ Matthew 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10
But ultimately, we discover that
“The question ‘Who am I?’ is not really meant to get an answer,
the question ‘Who am I?’ is meant to dissolve the questioner.”
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
Thus, as observed by twentieth century Indian sage, J. Krishnamurti, only
“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.”
The foregoing writings are offered to inspire and encourage our curiosity and reflection on the ‘Who am I?’ divine spiritual mystery.
As spiritual siblings – children of Divine LOVE – may we ever aspire to solve that Mystery.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Certainty ~ by Sant Tukaram*
“Certainty can become an illness
that creates hate and greed.”
~ Sant Tukaram
“The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning.
Uncertainty is the very condition
to impel man to unfold his powers.”
~ Erich Fromm
“Since no one really knows anything about God,
those who think they do are just troublemakers.”
~ Rabia of Basra (first female Sufi saint)
“Never lose a holy curiosity” . . . .
“The important thing is not to stop questioning”.
~ Albert Einstein
“The whole problem with the world is that
fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves,
and wiser people so full of doubts.”
~ Bertrand Russell
When questioning begins, certainty ends.
When certainty ends, wisdom begins.
The fewer our certainties, the greater our possibilities.
With complete uncertainty, we have infinite possibility.
Everything is possible when nothing is inevitable.
We are shackled by illusory bonds of belief.
Freedom is beyond belief.
So, we seek relief from belief.~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
Certainty
Certainty undermines one’s power, and turns happiness
into a long shot. Certainty confines.
Dears, there is nothing in your life that will
not change – especially your ideas of God.
Look what the insanity of righteous knowledge can do:
crusade and maim thousands
in wanting to convert that which
is already gold
into gold.
Certainty can become an illness
that creates hate and
greed.
God once said to Tuka,
“Even I am ever changing –
I am ever beyond
Myself,
what I may have once put my seal upon,
may no longer be
the greatest
Truth.”
~ Tukaram*
Source: “Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West”, with interpretation by Daniel Ladinsky
Footnote: *Sant Tukaram was a 16th century Indian devotional poet-saint, still widely regarded as one of India’s greatest and most influential poet-saints.
Ron’s Comments About “Certainty”:
Dear Friends,
Are you absolutely certain about anything in your life?
Have you ever been absolutely certain about something or someone, and later learned that your certainty was mistaken?
If so, please consider the foregoing quotations and wonderfully translated poem by 16th century devotional poet-saint Tukaram, one of India’s greatest and still most influential poet-saints.
These wisdom writings remind us that nothing is “certain” in this world of permanent impermanence; that inflexible certainty – even about God – “can become an illness that creates hate and greed”.
Throughout recorded human history, individuals and societies have been compelled to abandon previously cherished inflexible beliefs about religion, science, philosophy etc. which limited learning, impeded progress, and motivated evil and harmful behaviors.
How could we have advanced believing that the earth was flat, or that it was the center of our solar system, or that intuitive women should be burned as witches?
Thanks to quantum science ‘uncertainty’ theory, we have learned from physicists that what we’ve believed to be physical ‘reality’ isn’t really real; that ultimate “Reality” is indescribable consciousness.
“Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.”
~ Niels Bohr, quantum physicist
“I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”
~ Max Planck, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
After an unforgettable midlife spiritual awakening, I have learned that open-minded curiosity and awareness are crucial for life-long learning and spiritual advancement. My awakening epiphany completely and irreversibly changed prior paradigms of Self-identity and Reality, and began a new life-phase of previously unimagined new discoveries.
One of my greatest joys has been in continuously learning from life itself, especially from inevitable difficulties and challenges. Thus I’ve found that we don’t need college or post graduate academic degrees to learn our most important lessons.
In recent years, many people worldwide have been experiencing and behaving from polarized fearful and reactive states of mind directed to others with conflicting political perspectives. To address this disturbing divisiveness, and consequent turmoil, we can follow principles of ageless wisdom revealed by Sant Tukaram’s critique of “Certainty”.
Although purported world “leaders” may seem insanely “certain” of themselves, Earth’s suffering citizens can best address crucial interpersonal and international political challenges, by compassionately honoring the spiritual essence and divine equality of everyone everywhere, without mistaken certainty about them.
Invocation
May Sant Tukaram’s wisdom inspire us
to transcend mistaken certainty
“that creates hate and greed”.
With quiet minds and open hearts
may we compassionately honor
the spiritual essence and equality of everyone everywhere.
Thereby let us overcome exploitation and discrimination
against the world’s most vulnerable sentient beings,
and the iniquity of inequity in our societies.
May Sant Tukaram’s wisdom inspire us
to transcend mistaken certainty
“that creates hate and greed”.
With quiet minds and open hearts
may we compassionately honor
the spiritual essence and equality of everyone everywhere.
Thereby let us overcome exploitation and discrimination
against the world’s most vulnerable sentient beings,
and the iniquity of inequity in our societies.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Beyond Limited Being:
~ Infinite Awareness — Ever NOW
“Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.
The forms may change,
yet the essence remains the same. ….
The source is within you
And this whole world is springing up from it.”
~ Rumi
“Into my heart’s night
Along a narrow way I groped;
and lo! the light,
An infinite land of day.”
~ Rumi
“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.”
~ Rumi
“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
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us ‘universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security.”
~ Albert Einstein ( N. Y. Times , March 29, 1972)
Beyond Limited Being: Infinite Awareness— Ever NOW
Humans are but blips
in a boundless Ocean of Infinite Awareness.
Individuated humans are limited by thoughts:
Thoughts that create the “universe”;
Thoughts that divide and diffuse Awareness
as a prism diffuses light.
Mind is matrix; consciousness is context.
“Human consciousness” is an idea –
a thought which seems to limit boundless Awareness.
But in Reality consciousness can’t be contained.
Time and space are mere modes of thought,
as are matter, energy, and spirit.
Time is how we measure Now,
and space is for the places where we
think we are in time.
So, in space/time,
human body/mind/souls
are seemingly separate and circumscribed beings.
But in Reality,
we are ONE.
Beyond limited being:
Eternally boundless
Infinite Awareness –
Ever NOW.
Ron’s recitation of “Beyond Limited Being: Infinite Awareness — Ever NOW”
Ron’s explanation of “Beyond Limited Being: Infinite Awareness— Ever NOW”
Dear Friends,
About two months ago I began an ‘inner retreat’ from following recurrent media reports of outer violence and suffering. Instead of reifying insanely unprecedented pandemic fears and polarized political turbulence, I’ve focused on emanating and disseminating inner light with loving and peaceful ‘vibes’ to help heal and awaken the world.
During this time of ‘inner retreat’ I’ve been synchronistically “rediscovering” many enlightening essays and sutra poems composed long ago after my 1992 retirement from legal practice.
“Beyond Limited Being: Infinite Awareness— Ever NOW”, is one of those poems, which I’ve shared now with the above profound quotations. Also embedded below (with captioned lyrics) is an inspiring YouTube performance of one of my favorite spiritual hymns “Let There be Peace on Earth” .
If you aspire to help awaken the world with loving and peaceful thoughts, words and deeds, please reflect upon, enjoy and share these postings.
May they help illumine the world with peaceful inner light, lovingly benefiting all beings. And may they inspire our deep and grateful remembrance of our Divine Source and immortal identity, with realization that everyone/everything/everywhere is Infinite Universal Awareness – ever NOW.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
“Let there be peace on Earth” song video, with captioned lyrics.
How Can We Think More Objectively?
“Objective reality does not exist” ….
“the universe is fundamentally a gigantic … hologram”
~ David Bohm, quantum physicist
“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
“We are formed and molded by our thoughts.
Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts
give joy when they speak or act.
Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.”
~ Buddha
“Those who know how to think need no teachers.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
“Objectivity is an illusory impossibility.”
“All concepts are mental projections of Cosmic Consciousness.
But for name – subject and object are same.”
~ Ron Rattner, Sutra Sayings
How Can We Think More Objectively?
Q. How can we think more objectively?
A. We can’t. Objectivity is an illusory impossibility.
Thinking objectively is an oxymoronic misconception.
All thought is subjective; so everyone thinks subjectively.
All concepts are mental projections
of Cosmic Consciousness.
But for name – subject and object are same.
To transcend thinking in the ‘subject-object’ box,
we can intuit our wholeness – as and beyond subject and object.
And realizing that Cosmic Consciousness is our eternal essence,
We can more and more think intuitively, holistically, compassionately and lovingly – but sparingly.
So, with our Heart, not our head,
may we think less, and BE more –
NOW!
Ron’s comments about thinking “objectively”.
Dear Friends,
Do you accept ideas of individual or institutional “objectivity”?
If so, you may question the above posting which contends that scientifically and spiritually: “Objectivity is an illusory impossibility”; that without a separate subject there can be no separate object, and that “our (apparent) separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
Like most Westerners I grew up imbued with ideals of honesty and “objectivity” of our scientific, academic, journalistic and judicial institutions. However, as a social justice lawyer in increasingly dystopian times, I’ve become skeptical of those “objectivity” ideas and ideals.
But only after my midlife spiritual awakening, did I begin realizing that ultimate objectivity is an illusory impossibility; that the idea of objectivity refers only to a pre-relativity Newtonian world-view of apparently separate energy forms and phenomena, in which we’ve mistakenly measured matter and phenomena which are perceivable, but excluded Cosmic consciousness – the non-dual immeasurable and imperceivable matrix and Source of all our ego-mind conceptions of ‘reality’.
Ultimately I’ve intuited (and irreversibly concurred with quantum physicist David Bohm) that “Objective reality does not exist” that ….“the universe is fundamentally a gigantic … hologram” . Thus that all humanly perceived forms or phenomena are merely impermanent holographic projections of immeasurable consciousness – of ONE Reality beyond space/time causality/duality.
Despite last century’s revolutionary scientific discoveries of relativity and quantum physics, most materialistic mainstream scientists remain reluctant to recognize the impossibility of accurately describing Nature through ‘objective’ measurement. Nor do they yet confirm Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Planck’s description of matter
“as derivative from consciousness”; so that “science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of Nature. …. because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of Nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”
So still only cutting edge scientists recognize verity of Einstein’s relativity revelations that
“there is no matter”; that “what we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses”; that “our (apparent) separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.”
The foregoing Q and A essay and quotations are shared to help us understand how scientifically and spiritually “objectivity” is an illusory abstraction, causing mistaken belief in the supposed objective ‘reality’ of what we subjectively project and perceive.
Dedication
May reflection on these writings help inspire our evolutionary realization that space/time’s relative ‘reality’, like a mirage, is merely an illusory subjective mental projection of Cosmic Consciousness – our eternal essence and ultimate sole Source and Reality.
And so may it be!
Ron Rattner
When and How Shall We Think?
“The heart has its reasons
that reason does not know.”
~ Blaise Pascal
“If you correct your mind,
the rest of your life will fall into place.”
~ Lao Tzu
“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.”
~ Albert Einstein
“I think with intuition.
The basis of true thinking is intuition.
Indeed, it is not intellect,
but intuition
which advances humanity. ”
~ Albert Einstein
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
~ Albert Einstein
“We are formed and molded by our thoughts.
Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts
give joy when they speak or act.
Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.”
~ Buddha
“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
~ Proverbs 23:7
When and How Shall We Think?
Q. When and how shall we think?
A. The power of rational thought is a great gift.
But, like a tool, it’s best to choose it before we use it.
Before thinking rationally, if we still the ‘voice in our head’,
we can feel and listen to our Heart – our intuition and soul.
Thus we can first hear our Heart, not our head.
In our metaphoric Heart shines the Eternal light of Truth –
the light of Love. As stated in ancient Vedic scriptures:
“There is a light that shines beyond all things on Earth, … beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in your Heart.”
~ Chandogya Upanishad 3.13.7
Logic has its limits. When confused or misused as ego, rational thought can impede spiritual evolution, causing perpetual karmic suffering. But Truth and Love are boundless and timeless.
So, it’s best to honor our Heart, over our rational mind –
using innate intellect to serve and follow our Sacred Heart.
And so shall it be!
Ron Rattner
Invocation
May we still our minds,
to follow our Heart.
And as we so follow our Heart,
May we uncover and discover
ever expanding happiness, empathy and awareness.
With which we consciously and cooperatively
co-create an ever better world –
as we intend, intuit, and imagine it to be.
Related Post:
How Can We Think More Objectively?
