The ULTIMATE, ULTIMATE, ULTIMATE Secret of Existence!

Jeff Foster - http://www.lifewithoutacentre.com

A Prayer for the Dying

Life,

Let them struggle to understand until there is only confusion,
and in the centre of that confusion show them their inherent clarity.

Make them courageous by taking away all of their hope,
and let them weep until their stomachs hurt,
until their tears melt into laughter.

Love them by destroying them.

And when they are more alone than ever,
show them an intimacy they cannot imagine.

Make them suffer until they are exhausted from fighting You,
make their pain great enough so that all their concepts turn to ash.

Let them never know what they are looking for,
but make them keep looking anyway,
as if their lives depended on it.

Give them time to read their books and listen to their teachers,
give them time to build up mountains of knowledge,
give them certainty and pride and a sense of security.

And then let their books rot,
and turn their teachers into hypocrites,
and make them doubt and forget everything they've learned.

Everything.

And make them stand alone, facing You,
naked and without protection,
and let them tremble,
let them piss and shit themselves with fear,
let all facades fall away.

And then let them into the great secret,
that they are loved beyond words,
in their nakedness, in their failure, in their ignorance,
in everything they were running away from.

That they are you.
That your face is their face.

That nothing ever happened at all.


~ Jeff Foster - http://www.lifewithoutacentre.com

All is Truth

The spiritual journey does not consist of arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one's own ignorance concerning oneself and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening.

~ Aldous Huxley

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Perhaps the deepest reason why we are afraid of death is because we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity - but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our name, our "biography", our partners, family home, job, friends, credit cards...It is on their fragile and transient support that we rely for our security. So when they are all taken away, will we have any idea of who we really are?

Without our familiar props, we are faced with just ourselves, a person we do not know, an unnerving stranger with whom we have been living all the time but we never really wanted to meet. Isn't that why we have tried to fill every moment of time with noise and activity, however boring or trivial, to ensure that we are never left in silence with this stranger on our own?

~ Sogyal Rinpoche

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I ask you only to stop imagining that you were born, have parents, are a body, will die and so one. Just try, make a beginning ---- it is not as hard as you think.

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

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For me, it is as though at every moment the actual world had completely lost its actuality. As though there was nothing there; as though there were no foundations for anything or as though it escaped us. Only one thing, however, is vividly present: the constant tearing of the veil of appearances; the constant destruction of everything in construction. Nothing holds together, everything falls apart.

~ Eugene Ionesco

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Oneness and unity aren't profound feelings or spiritual beliefs or altered states of consciousness, they're just plain old consciousness; unadorned, uncorrupted, uncontaminated. We don't have to attend lectures or read books or kneel before altars and wise men, we need only cleanse our perceptual faculties, rid ourselves of all egoic befuddlement, see what is and stop seeing what's not. No teaching or teacher or path or practice required, just simple honesty.

~ Jed McKenna, "Spiritual Warfare"

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Meditating among liars, and retreating sternly into myself,
I see that there are really no liars or lies after all,
And nothing fails its perfect return---
And that what are called lies are perfect returns,
And that each thing exactly represents itself,
and what has preceded it
And that the truth includes all, and is compact,
just as much as space is compact,
And that there is no flaw or vacuum
in the amount of the truth---
but that all is truth without exception;
And henceforth I will go celebrate anything I see or am,
And sing and laugh, and deny nothing.

~ Walt Whitman

Focus Now on the Real

Now you realize that the I AM can exist by itself,

without manifestation,

in perfect fullness, balance, peace and bliss.

Experience it again and again

until the agains blend into permanent experience,

the natural state of I AM.

It is existence,

awareness,

and unhampered joyous liberty.

Nothing other than Consciousness

ever was, is, or shall be.

Therefore,

You are That!

You can never Be the body-senses-mind-ego-intellect.

You are Consciousness Itself,

the Self.

Focus now on the real,

not on appearances!

Movement and change are appearances only!

You will naturally realize the ocean of I AM,

an ocean of Light, Peace, and Happiness.


~ Srimati Margaret Coble, from "Self Abidance"

Inelia Benz - Straight from the Source

This woman claims to have incarnated directly from Oneness with a clear function and mission. She exemplifies the manner in which some are now detaching from their lower vibrational 3D identities and emerging into a higher frequency state in order to facilitate the planetary awakening.

Each of us has a function that becomes clear as we detach from egoic identification, a function that acts to re-harmonize and balance all of Life.

Recognizing we are not the body we wear or the role we play is a vital step that removes us from cycles of becoming engulfed in drama and story. Embracing and incorporating our higher frequency existence then becomes as simple as breathing and no mental understanding is necessary.

We are here to facilitate awakening, this is Life's mandate. The return to what is beyond birth and death is imminent.

http://ascension101.com/

Why the Power of Mind Over Matter is Important

Have you ever wondered how powerful your mind really is? Have you ever considered that if one human can achieve the most amazing feats then we all possess the same potential?

There are indeed amazing feats of mind over matter like the Yogi in India who lives without food and water, the story of Coral Castle where one man cut and moved solid stones larger than those used in the pyramids, or the proven telekinetic powers of Nina Kulagina.

These cases, and others involving transcending the material world like cases of extrasensory perception (ESP), are typically viewed as paranormal events. However, these seemingly impossible phenomenon may become more widely accepted as we better understand the implications of quantum mechanics.

Quantum physics has proven that all matter at the subatomic level exists in wave form, and that matter only appears solid when we, as the observer, use our senses to decode and perceive the wave patterns in space and time. Significantly, thoughts, especially concentrated thoughts, also form measurable wave patterns. And thought waves have proven to affect observable matter in the physical world.

Droplet with "Thank You"

In his book called The Hidden Messages in Water, Masaru Emoto explains his experiments on water crystals which proved that droplets of water form different shapes when frozen with words associated to each sample. For example, the sample droplets would have phrases like I love you, thank you, or I hate you written next to them. The frozen droplets would form glorious snowflake-like crystals with the words love and thank you, but a nasty oil splotch-like design next to the word hate. As stated in the movie What the bleep do we know?, "If thoughts and words have that much power over water, imagine what they do to us," as we are formed of between 60%-80% water, based on our age.

If our thoughts have the power to manifest changes in the physical world, then controlling our thoughts would seem to be of utmost importance. As popularized in the book and movie The Secret, thoughts will manifest into reality. Simply put, thoughts become things -- even negative thoughts. The examples laid out in The Secret are mostly about people attracting wealth, health, or relationships to themselves through positive thinking and visualization exercises.

Droplet with "You make me sick.
I will kill you"

What's more, physicists have also discovered that at the quantum level all particles (matter) seem to somehow be connected to all other particles through what they call entanglement. Tests show that particles that were created together will react instantly to the same stimuli presented to one of them no matter how far apart they are in perceivable space. And assuming the Big Bang theory is correct, then all particles that created the known universe are forever entangled.

This detectable connection between all particles represents profound implications. First, this would seem to mean that on the subatomic level we are scientifically one with everything and everybody. And second, this connectivity and oneness would seem to provide unlimited power for the individual to imprint changes to the whole with his thoughts. Lastly, it may ultimately solve many paranormal mysteries.

This connectivity would appear to help explain the mechanics behind extrasensory perception (ESP), which is now a statistically measurable phenomenon on average humans. So much so that a recent Cornell University study on ESP has been published in the prestigious Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Psychological Association.

If we are connected to all things past, present and future -- and all things are frequency ranges that cannot be destroyed -- then space and time does not exist as we think of it. So, in a sense, we are connected to the dinosaurs who still technically exist, only in a undetectable frequency range. In turn, all human souls, or intelligent consciousnesses if you prefer, consistently exist in a timeless, space-less frequency range. It is this concept that may help explain precognition, channeling, reincarnation, telepathy, etc. In other words, people who have these abilities and experiences may simply be tuning into a different frequency on their extrasensory dial.

As outrageous as it may be to believe, we all would seem to possess these great powers of the mind to transcend and effect the physical world. Minimally, each of us clearly plays a distinct role in creating, not only our personal reality, but also collective reality though our thoughts and beliefs. These thoughts, if conditioned to focus on negative or fearful feelings, will likely result in more manifestations of negativity in the world through more economic collapse, natural disasters, wars, suffering, and other events that feed off our fears.

Although most fears propagated by those with an agenda are an illusion, even seemingly legitimate fears that help us survive in the material world may also be fictitious. After all, if the energy of our being, by laws of nature, cannot be created or destroyed, death is nothing more than a transformation of our eternal frequency. Therefore, not even death should be feared.

The lesson is that if each of our minds has great power over what manifests in the world, it would seem to nullify the blame game of all problems in the world. Incidentally, each of us, by way of connection on the subatomic level and fear-bound complacency on the physical level, are partially responsible for all global atrocities. To place angry blame on a specific group who represents a given atrocity would only seem to feed the darkest manifestation of what this group promotes.

This idea was highlighted by Gandhi who stated that a movement is much more powerful when it promotes what it stands for, rather than fight against what it opposes. Hence, those who seek to make the world a better place would be far more effective by focusing their energy and thoughts on solutions to what they oppose. This is not to say we should not acknowledge our distaste for unsavory events like war, environmental disasters, economic injustice, and the like. However, we should not allow our anger to become hatred of the perpetrators themselves, but rather to help concentrate our focus on manifesting the world we wish to see around us.

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/04/why-power-of-mind-over-matter-is.html

On Being Ordinary

Don't try to understand what I'm saying. These are just pointers. I don't understand what I'm saying either. Pointers point to the state of direct realization but they're not a substitute for it.

~ Eckhart Tolle

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“The nice thing is that when you stop waiting for the mind to stop doing what it does, you start to realize it doesn’t matter how long the mind does what it does. There’s still this direct taste, this sense of being. So waiting is unnecessary. It’s just another concept.”

~ Adyashanti

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To say something meaningful,
Get in the circle of silent ones
And be silent.

~ Rumi

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I felt in need of a great pilgrimage
so I sat still for three
days

and God came
to me.

~ Kabir

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The desire to find the self will be surely fulfilled, provided you want nothing else. But you must be honest with yourself and really want nothing else. If in the meantime you want many other things and are engaged in their pursuit, your main purpose may be delayed until you grow wiser and cease being torn between contradictory urges. Go within, without swerving, without ever looking outward.

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

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In Master Linji's time, some Buddhist terms were used so often they became meaningless. People chewed on terms like “liberation” and “enlightenment” until they lost their power. It’s no different today.

What is a True Person?

“As I see it, there isn’t so much to do. Just be ordinary—put on your robes, eat your food, and pass the time doing nothing.”

~ Master Linji

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Insight can’t be found in sutras, commentaries, verbal expression, or —isms. Liberation and awakened understanding can’t be found by devoting ourselves to the study of the Buddhist scriptures. This is like trying to find fresh water in dry bones. Returning to the present moment, using our clear mind which exists right here and now, we can be in touch with liberation and enlightenment, as well as with the Buddha and the patriarchs as living realities right in this moment. The person who has nothing to do is sovereign unto herself. She doesn’t need to put on airs or leave any trace behind.

The true person is an active participant, engaged in her environment while remaining unoppressed by it. Although all phenomena are going through the various appearances of birth, abiding, changing, and dying, the true person doesn’t become a victim of sadness, happiness, love, or hate. She lives in awareness as an ordinary person, whether standing, walking, lying down, or sitting. She doesn’t act a part, even the part of a great Zen master. This is what Master Linji means by “being sovereign wherever you are and using that place as your seat of awakening.”

We may wonder, “If a person has no direction, isn’t yearning to realize an ideal, doesn’t have an aim in life, then who will help living beings be liberated, who will rescue those who are drowning in the ocean of suffering?” A Buddha is a person who has no more business to do and isn’t looking for anything. In doing nothing, in simply stopping, we can live freely and true to ourselves and our liberation will contribute to the liberation of all beings.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Simple Enlightenment

Enlightenment is not about words and thoughts and concepts which can be doubted. Enlightenment is always Here.

By "Here" I don't mean this present space. Here is somewhere within where mind cannot reach. Presence is always Here and you are always That. This Here is not the opposite of "there." This Here is nowhere, it is your Heart. When mind is still all comes back to the Heart. All the cosmos is but a speck in your Heart.

Turn mind over into This Here and it is lost. Then only Light, Wisdom and Love remain and This you are not different or apart from.

~ Papaji

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I love Jesus, who said to us:
heaven and earth will pass away.
When heaven and earth have passed away,
my word will still remain.
What was your word, Jesus?
Love? Forgiveness? Affection?
All your words were
one word: Wakeup.

~ Antonio Machado

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Ninth Duino Elegy

Praise the world to the angel: leave the unsayable aside.
Your exalted feelings do not move him.
In the universe, where he feels feelings, you are a beginner.
Therefore show him what is ordinary, what has been
shaped from generation to generation, shaped by hand and eye.
Tell him of things. He will stand still in astonishment,
the way you stood by the ropemaker in Rome
or beside the potter on the Nile.
Show him how happy a thing can be, how innocent and ours,
how even a lament takes pure form,
serves as a thing, dies as a thing,
while the violin, blessing it, fades.

And the things, even as they pass,
understand that we praise them.
Transient, they are trusting us
to save them - us, the most transient of all.
As if they wanted in our invisible hearts
to be transformed
into - oh, endlessly - into us.

Earth, isn't this what you want? To arise in us, invisible?
Is it not your dream, to enter us so wholly
there's nothing left outside us to see?
What, if not transformation,
is your deepest purpose? Earth, my love,
I want that too. Believe me,
no more of your springtimes are needed
to win me over - even one flower
is more than enough. Before I was named
I belonged to you. I seek no other law
but yours, and know I can trust
the death you will bring.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

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I clean my teeth in water drawn from a cold well;
And while I brush my clothes, I purify my mind;
Then, slowly turning pages in the Tree-Leaf Book,
I recite, along the path to the eastern shelter.
...The world has forgotten the true fountain of this teaching
And people enslave themselves to miracles and fables.
Under the given words I want the essential meaning,
I look for the simplest way to sow and reap my nature.
Here in the quiet of the priest's temple courtyard,
Mosses add their climbing colour to the thick bamboo;
And now comes the sun, out of mist and fog,
And pines that seem to be new-bathed;
And everything is gone from me, speech goes, and reading,
Leaving the single unison.

Liu Zongyuan
773–819

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The Art of Seeking

"Time is ticking. Fast, hurry, seek what you are trying to find!"

That is what I said to myself when my seeking hit the roof. I had to do something in order to achieve enlightenment.

It all started when I was 18 years. I started doing meditation after listening to a new age program on the Dutch radio station. I am 33 now and I did not know anything about enlightenment or spirituality or whatever you want to name it. So there I was, meditating for 5 minutes each day. Thoughts were all over the place, scattered as if they came from a bombshell. I read about Buddhism online and I did not understand anything about what they said.

I didn't know anything about God/Brahman/ Life itself. I was never a believer in the catholic God and thought going to church was kind of ignorance.
Going to heaven after I die? Was it my fault that I was born?
So I turned on the TV one night and Osho (an Indian mystic) said the following words 'you are not the doer, you are a watcher'. This trying to figure out who the doer was started right there that night.

So time flew but enlightenment and Self realization did not make any sense. When I was 27 or so, I typed the question on Google "who am I?" I came to an advaita site of Ramana Maharshi. It sounded good to me. As I went to YouTube, I found other advaita/non- duality teachers talk about it. When I listened to Tony Parsons saying 'everything just happens for no one', something clicked. Surely, hearing, smelling and feeling were happening on their own accord. If ever enlightenment was that easy! I couldn't believe it. I thought I had it. I thought that it happened to someone.

Darkness, separation and no Brahman/Source/ Life to be found anywhere!

Help! I saw myself as a separate doer, doing stuff in life, not knowing that that very thought of being a doer also was just perfectly happening on its own accord. SO I believed in this whole seeking mind game and all of its diverse thoughts. One day the mind started to talk in the 'you' form. So I wondered. Are there two separate selves?

But very recently things started to change. I had glimpses. They went away as fast as they came. I should be happy knowing that I was enlightened. I had it in my hands! I finally arrived.

Reality check!

Who is it that becomes enlightened?

Who is it that wants to get rid of the doer?

Who is it that seeks?

Isn't it so that all of these divine things are also happening perfectly?

So yes, writing this post is happening on by itself. And there is something still 'knowing' that it happens that doesn't require effort and pain. It is there.

This/Life itself is a knowing which knows:

- itching sensation on my left leg
- deep inhalation
- sounds
- tapping
- legs crossed on the ground
- coldness on the nose
- a thought saying ' if there is no one, who or better say what knows that this very thought is happening'
- smile
- humming of the PC
- moistening of lips
- blinking
- another thought saying why I wasn't aware of the blinking before
- laughter
- another thought saying that there is a noticing/ knowing that knows that I wasn't aware if there is an I!

So all of these things seem to happen and the 'you' cannot figure out this doership. You cannot surrender either or let go. It happens or not. In my case seeking was an obsession, like a day-job. The pre-thought 'I am going to wiggle my toe whenever I want' was my seeking experiment for 2 years but step by step in the story of Javier (if there is a step by step), there was an understanding that subtle actions were happening too, including concentration, sending imaginary signals to the toe, closing the eyes and forcing it to move the toe. Hilarious really but just OK. So there seems to be a process here NOW of dismantling subtle layers of belief and subtle thoughts of identification. So self inquiry into the doership can be the way. Or more correctly, there is no way ... there is only 'waying' by no one.

Life is living you. You are not having a Life. Of course, don't say this to an apparent anyone who believes they are separate. 'You' might end up in a separate isolation room!

It couldn't have happened in another way. So trust what you know or don't know. It is one big paradox!

~ Javier

http://beyond- advaita.blogspot .com/2011/ 04/art-of- seeking-by- javier.html

No Thoughts, No Words - Benjamin Smythe

Find your mute button. Ben calls it "find the thinker". Others might call it something else. Does it really matter? When thinking ends, all that is left is the One looking at itself in the mirror, laughing. And then the mind starts up with a discussion about the proper word to use to describe it. Too funny! Enjoy these two videos, Ben really simplifies the whole business of awakening to its primary, primordial components. It ain't rocket science, folks!

Eric Whitacre - Sleep (Virtual Choir 2011)

This is beautiful...astonishing...amazing!

Be uplifted and enjoy!