"Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it."
-- Mark Twain
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Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Monday, 29 November 2021
FRIEND OR ENEMA? X REDN WITH HIMYSTICISM
ALL BONDAGE OF MATTER
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BAPTISM V GANGA SNAN
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The speed of light is approximately 300,000,000 meters per second (or 671,000,000 miles per hour, if that’s how your brain works). The theory of special relativity, proposed by Albert Einstein in 1905, forbids anything from traveling faster than that. Massless things always travel this speed in a vacuum. Accelerating massive objects to this speed essentially introduces a divide-by-zero in one of special relativity’s equations; it would take infinite energy to accelerate something with mass to the speed of light.
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“If you fast-forward 100 billion years into the future, all of the galaxies that we can currently see will be so far, and accelerating so quickly away from us, that the light they emitted in the past will have faded from view.”
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This quantum-ness means that if you try to peer too closely, you’ll run into the observer effect: Attempting to see things this small requires bouncing light off of them, and the energy from this interaction can fundamentally change that which you’re attempting to observe.
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Werner Heisenberg discovered that the wonkiness of quantum mechanics introduces minimum accuracy with which you can measure certain pairs of mathematically related properties, such as a particle’s position and momentum. The more accurately you can measure one, the less accurately you can measure the other. And finally, even attempting to measure just one of those properties becomes impossible at a small enough scale, called the Planck scale, which comes with a shortest length, 10^-35 meters, and a shortest time interval, around 5 x 10^-44 seconds.
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“You take the constant numbers that describe nature—a gravitational constant, the speed of light, and Planck’s constant, and if I put these constants together, I get the Planck length,” said James Beacham, physicist at the ATLAS experiment of the Large Hadron Collider. “Mathematically, it’s nothing special—I can write down a smaller number like 10^-36 meters… But quantum mechanics says that if I have a prediction to my theory that says structure exists at a smaller scale, then quantum has built-in uncertainty for it. It’s a built-in limit to our understanding of the universe—these are the smallest meaningful numbers that quantum mechanics allows us to define.”
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WORSHIP STILLNESS SHIVA
KEEP NOBLE SILENCE
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B Magic is, of course, "real." In the sense that it appears. I've read and heard a few bits and pieces about a few different kinds of magic. Shamanism, witchcraft, exorcism, demonology, Western mystery, paganism, "modern" new age, Daoist, but also, Tibetan Buddhist, Thai Buddhist, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, etc. I had a friend from Tunisia who told me how (black) magic is practiced in that country.
Is Buddhism different? Is what Buddhist Monks are doing "magic?"
Well, yes. Actually it is.
So what's the difference between Harry Potter and the Lotus Born Guru?
I think the word "magic" refers to any "play" with the appearances of the world. "Magic tricks" are play with the appearances of the world. But even authentic (e.g.) Witchcraft or practice of magic is still just a play on appearances. It just uses other subtle energy currents of the coarse elements. Splashing around in the subtle elements the way one might splash around in the element of water.
IF we consider that the spiritual dimension has a structure, in the same way that the physical dimension has a structure... for example inside cells we have empty space, and the appearance of protons neutrons and electrons, then... empty space... until it's only just empty space... the ultimate nature of the universe is self-liberated and no fixed identity exists anywhere... and yet - a universe seems to appear, like countless moonlight mirages reflecting in puddles...
What is the structure of the spiritual dimension?
Well, it's this. The appearances of the world, when looked at closely, are found to disappear. Their apparent identity resolves. When one looks at the fundamental level for their identity, as they "discover" "it" they recognise that it is in fact identityless.
All phenomena are appearing inside the nature of mind. This term, nature of mind, points to something that is beyond words and yet is "where" experience and phenomena seem to appear. Where is it?
It is neither here nor there. It neither exists nor doesn't exist. If I understand correctly, this principle is called "madhyamaka". (Experienced practitioners please confirm if I am using the term Madhyamaka correcetly in this case).
"Realizing" the nature of the mind through direct experience is the bullseye target of Buddhist practice. Everything else is a skillful means that serves to buttress this goal.
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PAROKKHA BDHA
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Sunday, 28 November 2021
NN ETD AGN - TW1 BHMED
If you play ‘hide & seek’ with a bunch of good friends, who are also really good at hiding, once they all break out and find their good hiding places, it can be frustrating & excruciating to run around trying to discover every one of their hiding spots…while at the same time being such joyous fun every time you come upon one of them and both of you jump up & down with glee!
And of course, when it comes to ‘really big things’ like Universes, where’s the best place to hide something. Right in plain sight!😂
“Torture” is totally a human-ego judgment word, and cannot absolutely cannot be applied to (what appears to be) the Divine Expression. Unless you are one of those arrogant humans (there’s about 8 billion of them:-) who believe your ‘mind’ (which is not only infinitely limited, but doesn’t even exist:-) can actually suss out the meaning of this Creation - ”That never actually arose” - Ramana Maharshi, Tony Parsons, Sri Nisargadatta, Adi Shankara and a few other not-so-arrogant humans:-)
As one of those highly-presumptuous human egos, you can call it anything you want…we can’t stop you/
You can call it an actual created universe…even though it isn’t…just an appearance.
You can call it Nothing appearing to manifest as Everything…except that infers time & space, when in fact Nothing/Everything are actually happening simultaneously, in No Where.
You can call it The Divine Lila.
And you can believe, foolishly, that ‘something’ needs to, or is searching to, get back to Itself…when in fact there is only the One Whole, and it’s still complete and Whole.
Just don’t call it “torture.” Makes it sound like “you” (ego) know something you absolutely don’t…and can pass judgement on something “you” absolutely can’t.:-)
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In the context of nonduality, does the world exist?
It most certainly does exist, at least it does exist in my physical and mental experience and understanding. How could the world not exist?
Nonduality simply means that different things are not separate; they are just different parts of a singular whole.
Opposites do not exist in a vacuum, alone, without their counterparts.
Self and Other exist, but they do not exist as separate things. They exist together, as two parts within reality.
Reality is by definition a real thing. And the world is reality. It exists.
I am part of the world. I exist. However, I do not exist independently, I only exist with my opposite, Other.
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LM
The Writing of the Autobiography was Prophesied Long Ago
The writing of this work had been prophesied long ago. One of the seminal figures in the renaissance of yoga in modern times, the revered nineteenth-century master LAHIRI MAHASAYA (1828–1895), had foretold: “About fifty years after my passing, an account of my life will be written because of a deep interest in yoga that will arise in the West. The message of yoga will encircle the globe. It will aid in establishing the brotherhood of man: a unity based on humanity’s direct perception of the One Father.”
Many years later, Lahiri Mahasaya’s exalted disciple SWAMI SRI YUKTESWAR related this prophecy to Sri Yogananda. “You must do your part in spreading that message,” he declared, “and in writing that sacred life.”
It was in 1945, exactly fifty years after Lahiri Mahasaya’s passing, that Paramahansa Yogananda completed his Autobiography of a Yogi, which amply fulfilled both of his guru’s injunctions: providing the first detailed presentation in English of Lahiri Mahasaya’s remarkable life, and introducing to a world audience India’s age-old science of the soul.
excerpt from . . . AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI: One of the world’s most acclaimed spiritual classics – SRF link
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ALAN WATTS - PHILOSOPHICAL ENTERTAINER
When questioned sharply by students during his talk at University of California Santa Cruz in 1970, Watts responded that he was not an academic philosopher but rather "a philosophical entertainer".
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DMAK
Then, what to do for eternal peace?
Follow DM & AK concept that is the best for all.
What is DM & AK concept?
He He…..It is just the name given by me.
DM means Detach from Materials; AK means Attach to Krishna.
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MB There is no means of knowing the truth other than one’s own intuition. Enquiry opens the door of intuition. Enquiry arises only in a pure mind that is endowed with the four means through Lord’s grace and selfless work done in several births. This world is your best Teacher. This universe is a vast examination hall. Man has to learn many things in this world. If he passes here the gate of Life Immortal will be opened to him. Reject everything that stands in the way of your spiritual progress. Make yourself worthy of receiving the Divine grace through regular japa, satsanga, prayer and meditation. Be optimistic and patient. One day or other your life will be illumined with Babaji’s grace.
Aum Namaha Babaji Maha Vishuddhi (I bow to Babaji, the Great Purity)
-An Excerpt from ‘The Voice Of Babaji’
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Saturday, 27 November 2021
KP YOGA ML71RYM
"Before you can learn a new way of doing things, you have to unlearn the old way. So beginnings depend on endings."
-- Rick Maurer
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AP 
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The one thing that becomes so apparent after you turn 70, is just how short and fragile your precious life is.
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retirees greatest concern is financial, not the amount of money, but of running out before passing on
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A woman wrote in a financial guide there are three stages of retirement:
- Go-go years: travel, move, do all the things you never had time/money for
2. Slow-go years: travel to see grandkids, mostly county bound
3. No-go years: homebound.
My wife and I were in stage 2, until covid came along, now we are in three. Each phase lasts 10 years IMHO. Al
Update: Never take a mortgage into retirement, many things can happen and most are bad. My two cents.
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To retire, keep debt way down before retirement
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To answer this question, we have to radically invert how we understand reality.
We think our experiences are produced by the brain, a view called materialism.
In Advaita Vedanta, fluctuations in consciousness cause our world, and our sense of existing inside it.
According to Advaita, the world doesn't exist in deep sleep.
In the materialist view, deep sleep is the rest-state of the physical body.
The body isn't conscious then, but still exists, snoring away.
If we understand consciousness to be primary, deep sleep is the return to reality.
Reality is pure consciousness, without any fluctuations.
Why doesn’t going to bed seem like a metaphysical leap?
Because when you’re dreaming, everything “makes sense” within the dream.
When you return to reality - without any fanfare - the dream explains this away as “sleep.”
What the dream calls sleep is the door to reality.
The best analogy I can think of is a stage door.
Before the intermission, the characters in a play say they’ll go hiking in the mountains.
The stage door is painted with mountains.
But when the characters walk through it, they’re not in the mountains.
They’re backstage, chatting, as the actors they actually are.
If we return to reality every night, why don’t we wake up enlightened?
Because “waking up” is the return to dreaming.
Waking up to the world is the return of mental activity.
What the dream represents as sleep, death, and samadhi are all doors out of mental activity.
Eventually, we lose the tendency toward mental activity, as we realize this is not what we actually want.
The trick is to see that we’re happier when we have less mental activity.
The rest takes care of itself.
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Thursday, 25 November 2021
ATRANGI RE
We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about. // Charles Kingsley
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Therapist Esther Perel on the importance of relationships: “Life will present you with unexpected opportunities, and you won't always know in advance which are the important moments. Above all, it's the quality of your relationships that will determine the quality of your life. Invest in your connections, even those that seem inconsequential.” — Tribe of Mentors
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suic note “Today, on my 47th birthday, I re-read the suicide note I wrote on my 27th birthday about two minutes before my girlfriend, Carol, showed up at my apartment and told me, ‘I’m pregnant.’ Her words were honestly the only reason I didn’t follow through with it. Suddenly I felt I had something to live for, and I started making positive changes. It’s been a journey, but Carol is now my wife and we’ve been happily married for 19 years. And my daughter, who is now a 21-year-old university student pursuing a degree in medicine, has two younger brothers. I re-read my suicide note every year on the morning of my birthday as a reminder to be grateful—I am grateful I got a second chance at life.”
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LONG BORING SHIFT
As silly as the work was, I would focus on it completely. I would organize the food samples, and talk to people and engage, and not allow myself to space out, daydream, stand around doing nothing.
Focusing on the task at hand, being completely present in the here and now, removed boredom and made time pass much faster. Incidentally, this is what meditation is: being present in the here and now.
My suggestion is: when you are at work - work.
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Survival of the friendliest? Why Homo sapiens outlived other humans
We once shared the planet with at least seven other types of human. Ironically, our success may have been due to our deepest vulnerability: being dependent on others
HUMANS today are uniquely alone. For the majority of the existence of Homo sapiens, we shared the planet with many other types of human. At the time when our lineage first evolved in Africa some 300,000 years ago, there were at least five others. And if you were going to place a bet on which of those would outlast all the rest, you might not have put your money on us.
The odds would have seemed more favourable for the Neanderthals, who had already adapted to live in colder conditions and expanded to inhabit much of Eurasia. Or Homo erectus, who had made a success of living in south-east Asia. By contrast, our direct Homo sapiens ancestors were the new kids on the block, and wouldn’t successfully settle outside of Africa until more than 200,000 years later. Yet, by 40,000 years ago, or possibly a bit more recently, we were the only humans left standing. Why?
Many explanations have been put forward: brainpower, language or just luck. Now, a new idea is building momentum to explain our dominance. Ironically, it may be some of our seemingly deepest vulnerabilities – being dependent on others, feeling compassion and experiencing empathy – that could have given us the edge.
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Forest ecologist MichaÅ‚ Bogdziewicz ponders ‘mast’ years, in which trees go nuts producing huge numbers of seeds, cones and acorns
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NOT A VILLAIN, JUST A DICK
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This question was originally asked in 2017, so by now, I’m sure this young questioner has long since followed his wealthy friends and gone for the gold and every material thing, and probably forgotten all about non-duality (which is good, ‘cause non-duality it not something to be ‘thought about’ or ‘remembered’:-) Or maybe in spite of his young age, our friend turned his back on the material world and disappeared into non-duality quite some time ago :-)
But this question is still repeated, quite often, by other ‘seekers’ here in 2020. So for any new readers, the answer is simple. As simple and direct as Pausha’s and Vikram Iyer, both great answers:
Even a little contemplation of the question reveals the breakdown instantly - the “I.”
Every time the questioner mentions I, the question immediately collapses.
“I want to sustain the state of non-duality”
”When I am alone, I can do it”
“When I get with friends, I admire their material wealth”
”Then. I wonder if my plan should be, get myself wealthy first, and later I will contemplate the self.
This person thinks non-duality is a ‘state’ (object,) that can be ‘attained’ (now or later:-) through his personal (subject) ‘contemplation.’
But the very definition of non-duality is totally devoid of subject and object. One not two.
An “I” can never sustain or even experience non-duality. That takes two - subject & object. If you think you are experiencing non-duality, you are not. The “you” would have had to completely disappear, and then, oops, no one around to have a subject-object experience.:😳
The questioner is still talking about experiences, all of which are still in the dream. ALL, no exceptions.
And the questioner is still talking about ‘becoming,’ not Being. Becoming something in some imagined future, that he is not already. Not content to Be What Is, Now.
Non-duality is just a concept. Being with Reality, this moment, without any human filters, is not a ‘state’ one can achieve, because it’s our natural ‘state.’
And since, when there are no ego/mind filters, there is no one there - just the One Reality - there’s your non-duality.
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To understand ‘something that is aware of gaps' you have to understand the difference between witnessing and witness.
In witnessing still there is subject - mind's ‘I' or duality or there is subtle traces of ego.
But the witness is beyond subject and object and that is none other than AWARENESS.
AWARENESS is is-ness (movie screen) where everything happens but nothing changes like the sky - clouds come and go but the sky remains as it is.
How should I proceed further now?
This part of the question is my concern because this part also shows your longing to progress and that is where we all tend to fail.
Why?
When you tend to strive for progress then you reinforce duality and this pushes you away from AWARENESS.
What is the solution? How will it work?
The gaps you experience are the gaps where the meditation happens or in a way you touch the AWARENESS. If you just ‘be' and don't try to do anything then these gaps will become larger and larger and one fine day one of the gaps will become permanent - you will enter NO-MIND.
NO-MIND- The permanent cessation of mind as master.
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“Nirvana means the ultimate enlightenment, the state when the ego disappears, when man is no more separate from existence — not even a thin curtain separates him, not even a transparent glass separates him — when all separation disappears. That meeting with the total, that merger with the whole, that melting into the absolute, is called nirvana.”
(Osho: ‘ Don’t Look Before You Leap’ Darshan Dairy 1978)
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“Enlightenment means exactly that: when meditation has become natural. You are meditative — not that you sit sometimes in meditation, not that you have a few hours of meditation every day — your whole time is meditative You move in meditation, you walk in meditation, you sit in meditation, you eat in meditation, you love in meditation, you do your businesses in meditation. Your whole life becomes surrounded by a new kind of energy. It is not NECESSARY, it is simply natural.
Enlightenment is nothing but your becoming light, your inner being becoming light.”
"…He is not conscious about enlightenment; he is simply conscious. He lives in consciousness, he sleeps in consciousness, he moves in consciousness. He lives, he dies in consciousness. Consciousness becomes an eternal source in him, a nonflickering flame, a nonwavering state of being. It is not an attribute, it is not accidental; it cannot be taken away. His whole being is conscious”.
(Osho: ‘ Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega ‘ vol 3 , 1976)
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So there are actually three samadhis. The first you may call atma samadhi, the second brahma samadhi, and the last nirvana samadhi. The very first and false samadhi you may call satori. This is the one you should guard against, because it is very easily attainable.”
(Osho: ‘ In Search of the Miraculous ‘ Vol 2 : ch 8. The Esoteric Dimensions of Tantra)
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While we pursue happiness, we flee from contentment. - Hasidic Proverb
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