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Jeff Nance This idea doesn’t feel so much with me, as love is a positive presence. There have been many who have attained a lack of judgment sitting alone in the Himalayas for decades, for instance, that have not achieved the positive, dynamic force that is love for all beings. And this is why Buddhism has the little boat (Hinayana) and big boat (Mahayana) path. The Hinayanists could give a damn about the suffering of others, or helping them to find relief from it. All they are concerned with is their own salvation, their own enlightenment. But looking deeper here, perhaps a subtle judgment does underlie this, the judgment that “I” can become enlightened apart and separate from “you”. That “your” suffering, nor its relief, matters as much as “mine”. I don’t mean to kick against the pricks here, but I don’t feel love to be an absence of something. It is the fear, the judgment, that is the (perceived) absence of Love’s presence. Anyways, thanks for letting me share.
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Cindy Teevens Love is the natural state. It does not come and go. It is the ever present baseline, the only truth, but it is only known when nothing disturbs it, when nothing unnatural is temporarily added, like judgement Jeff Nance. Judgment divides and separates, creating a you and I, while love does not see a difference. The ego does look upon enlightenment as its ultimate acquisition for itself, however if attained, there will be surprise that there are no others to not be enlightened. Enlightenment is the dissolution of me.
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Jeff Nance So I take it you do not believe that each of us has an immortal soul, or do you not? I’ve always wondered about where you stand with that, because your writing comes across often as very Buddhist to me, who do not acknowledge any essential self. Would love to hear your thoughts. I respect all thee opinions out there, although I must admit, I have my own in this regard.
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Cindy Teevens There is no “each of us” … Listening to your friend’s speaking, can you separate his words from your hearing? Do not think about this! Check your actual experience, senses, and see – know it for yourself in your own direct, true experience. Mind only appears to separate, via thought. Reality is unseparated. When you believe a thought that appears to separates you, your sense of self is limited to somewhere around the head or body-mind. My sense of Self is not limited to anything anymore. I do not speak from anybody’s or any group’s religious beliefs. I do not believe. I speak from direct knowing. I used to live as thought, thoughts which said I was separate person. With that, there are two “i”s functioning, the true one ever present, and the false one, which comes and goes, ever morphing, improving, worsening, appearing to ever change, thus unreal–and it is not discerned as such, not discerned as “not me,” or unreal. Upon dissolution of the false, the ever present sense of I does not leave, (in fact it becomes stronger, clearer) but it is no longer limited. It is the same “I” for everyone – all others are seen and known to be It. There is no birth and therefore no death for that eternal Self, and being unseparated, there is no thing to threaten it. Realizing the fact of no others is the cosmic joke that causes all the laughter. When you give up being the illusion of being a limited individual, you realize your true identity and Reality as the infinite Universal. It’s a more than fair trade Jeff
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Jeff Nance I have a bit of a different take, my knowing within, that oneness and diversity can coexist here, as a diamond has many facets. That eternal souls and the Spirit can exist. There have been many enlightened beings who spoke for both sides of these viewpoints, the monists such as yourself, and the dualists, and many viewpoints besides that combine them, and there has never been any consensus. My intuitive knowing is that there is a simultaneous and inconceivable (by the limited mind) oneness and difference between the soul and the supreme soul that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu declared. Infinite are the opinions…everyone says my watch alone has the right time…but I keep an open mind. No one can prove that no individual soul exists, just as nothing spiritual can be proven. So I am a curious passerby in the bazaar of religious and spiritual viewpoints.
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Cindy Teevens The sense of separate existence is just a sense, and as such it has a temporary apparent existence, but it’s just an experience. It’s not there 24/7 – it’s absent in deep sleep. All experiences come and go and they are expressions of God, but they are not Reality, are not absolute, are not truth and are not eternal. They can be good or bad in feeling, but they are just a ride. Only knowledge of the Truth fully satisfies.
- Cindy Teevens There is no need to reject experiences, just discern what is temporary and therefore unreal, from the Real.
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I like that last comment Cindy to discern what is unreal and temporary from the real and therefore no need to reject experiences. It reminds me of that expression about having your cake and eating it too 😃 Tx x
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ha! love it. Thanks Roisin, warmly, Cindy