Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Ending the Me

What takes place when living now, today, this morning, when the brain actually ceases, ends its memories, its images, its conclusions? - which is the content of consciousness - you follow? Can my brain, my consciousness, which is the 'me', can that, with all its content, come to an end, living, not at the end of another ten years through disease, living now? Can that mind, can that consciousness empty its content, therefore empty the 'me' - do you understand all this? Is that ever possible?

I get up and go to my room, after I have talked here; the knowledge where that room is must exist otherwise it is not possible to live at all - right? So knowledge, which is based on experience and memory, from which all thought arises and therefore thought is never free and never new, that knowledge must exist, which is part of consciousness, isn't it? Are you meeting all this - right sir? Somebody come with me. Riding a bicycle, driving a car, speaking a different language, that knowledge must exist, that is also part of consciousness. But that knowledge is used by the 'me' as a separative movement, uses that knowledge for its own psychological comfort and power, position, prestige and all the rest of it. Right? So I am asking myself, whether that consciousness, with all its content as the psychological movement as the 'me' can end now, so that the mind is aware of what death means, and to see what happens.

J.Krishnamurti - Brockwood Park 3rd Public Talk 8th September 1973

Monday, August 30, 2010

1 Corinthians 13 - Love

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

New Testament - 1 Corinthians 13

Friday, August 13, 2010

Insight in Action

"Stay sharp. Get plenty of oxygen to your blood with deep breathing and exercise. Ideally, your mind and body will be in a perpetual state of readiness."

Virgo Horoscope for 8/8 - by Holiday Mathis (Daily Freeman)
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Work slower and mindfully... but KEEP WORKING. The key is minimizing distraction and staying focused, at any speed. At times I can pick up the pace and this is a blessing of personal power and freewill, but not all the time... so the important thing is simply to keep moving.

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Focus on the BIG things before the little things... tackle those big boxes first, not the one or two papers that are out of place. Then do a final cleanup at the end.

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My life is taking a positive turn in the direction of emphasizing the creative and joyful... what I WANT to do, because what I have to do is coming ever more under my control via the mature and developed capacity for responsibility.

JDZ

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Presence to Purpose

Preliminary Purpose - Pure Intrinsic Awareness gives light to Inner Consciousness (psyche/mind), with all mental goings on, positive and negative, pleasant and painful, active and passive, functional and dysfunctional. In a state of clear undistorted observation one is detached and aware, without objective identification (objectification), letting go and letting God. With clarity, understanding and vision, this intrinsic awareness dissolves and re-creates all images of illusory earthly and psychic phenomena, as all external phenomena come and go, entering and departing the screen of awareness. The appearances are fleeting, the awareness itself Eternal. "I AM NOW"

Spirit (conscious being) = Soul-Psyche (human being) = Universe (formless/infinite being) or Consciousness, Sub-Consciousness and Super-Consciousness respectively.

The natural unfolding of Purpose into active manifestation, life experience & self expression is as follows:

I Primary Purpose

Spontaneous Expression - Letting Self go, Living in Non-duality or Pure Presence. Immediacy of action with focus on matter at hand. Living without self consciousness, nor without any doubt/hesitation. To act consciously in accordance with choice and freewill, in the moment, negating the heavy binding influence of all the rest. Choosing to focus attention here and now, immediately, without the fog of excess thinking. The will to be that allows all negatives and positives in life to coexist, while mindfully and willingly choosing the positive alignment and orientation. Being/Seeing = Thinking + Feeling = Doing + Having = Creative Manifestation (Becoming) = Higher Purpose

II Secondary Purpose:

Practical Implementation - Efficiency, effective, mindful and productive action... also toxic elimination in mind-body and environment. The daily workload with lists and agendas, ground rules and limits, and a backbone of natural order. Each moment when I take responsible action that involves discipline and duty, observances and restrictions (of good and bad behavior respectively), inner-outer commitments and service to human society. Learning systems, exercises and practices (like "Getting Things Done" by David Allen) which help one to manage responsibility and "have a mind like water".

Where the Primary Purpose indicates "what I WANT to do" the Secondary Purpose is "what I HAVE to do" to make it all possible, beginning with ordinary tasks like cooking meals, cleaning house, going to work, bringing home the bacon, and keeping an orderly efficient running system of operations that begins right at home. For example, even if one is going on vacation there are plans of implementation, travel, food and lodging and many other details that call for mindful attention.

III Tertiary Purpose:

3a) Service & Socialization - Helping or serving as many as possible, finding vocation that serves humanity, contributing to causes, volunteer work, spontaneous helpfulness, group and spiritual activities. Generosity, good will and conduct. Close relationships serving as reminder to mindful/aware of others, thinking of others and not living in a self-enclosed cocoon.

3b) Social Connections - Opportunities and new experiences via others, Friendships that supportive and positive. Includes counseling, medical attention and all things healing or therapeutic. Participating in group events of common interest, with others who share my ideals, dreams and aspirations.

IV Evolutionary Purpose:

4a) Deliberate Creation (Expansion/Imagination) - Quantum Creation and the power of positive thinking... creative visualization, working creatively upon the foundations of immediate expression, practical implementation, service and socialization. One who generates positive vibrations, having a chosen a conscious focus (as in primary purpose, more developed). This divine power of freewill brings out our fullest creative capacity in accordance with universal and natural laws of abundance/attraction.

Inner and outer wealth/abundance are inseparable, and financial growth serves a primary individual-spiritual purpose. Here at the pinnacle of life it's all about focusing courageously and positively on what you desire and ignoring or letting go of your fear... mainly any fear of becoming powerful and successful.

4b) Higher Learning (Education/Intuition) - Reading, Research, Schooling, Online Resources, Articles and Newsletters, Books on Spirituality, Self-Development, Improving Financial Resources, Managing Time, Writing, Buddhism, Yoga, Philosophy. Whether in solitude or with a class or group of people, we learn new subjects to sharpen our skills and/or knowledge within a given field of understanding, functioning or general living.

V Higher Purpose:

Spiritual Evolution (Empowerment/Illumination) - Realization of Power, Wisdom, Love, Clarity and Calmness. Mastery of Self, Realization of Unity... and all of the challenges, trials and tribulations that lead us further along the path of Dharma and Truth. Here is where the Primary Purpose is realized in its entirety, having gone through the practical, social and evolutionary processes (or realms) of being in the world.

"The Subduer said that all the unbearable suffering of the three lower realms is the fruition of wrongdoing. Therefore, never committing negative deeds, even at peril to one's life, is the Bodhisattvas' practice." ~ From The Thirty-Seven Bodhisattva Practices by Ngulchu Thogme Zangpo

JDZ