Let us talk about ourselves

[Catastrophicfailure]

Originally Posted by iamthat

And even if we find ourselves still in resistance to whatever is present, then resistance is simply what is present so allow the resistance to be present. It will pass.

Today is such a day, i realized that suffering is just suffering, why even bother about it? Just leave it be like i leave a tree in China be, i just don't give a heck about it. Hopefully something good can come from it

[Starman]

Cat…., to me “heaven” is just a word people use to represent
the purest comfort and fulfillment they can imagine. In different
languages people have different words which they use for that.
My association with what I call “heaven” is one of ecstatic joy,
overwhelming love, and immeasurable fulfillment. I have experienced
this within myself. I embrace that the “Kingdom of Heaven is within me.”

The Christian Bible, as well as many other spiritual teachings, say this.
It is also my very potent experience. Now while this is true for me,
I do not expect everyone to embrace my truth. I do view this physical
plane of existence as a spiritual plane of existence which has a definite purpose.
Nothing in the universe is what we call it here on Earth,
especially in view of the fact that there are thousands of languages
spoken, and or, written here on Earth.

I am grateful for my human life and all that I have been through in
more than seven-decades, it has all been definitely worth it. But what
do I have to compare it to but itself. I find the whole process of life
speechless, incredible, amazing, and leaving me awestruck and
humbled. When I am in the joy of life at its essence, beyond words, I
cannot remember the pain, struggles, or discomfort, I had
previously experienced in life. It is like it never happened.

Peace

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by Catastrophicfailure

How about we are free beings first, and act from it, see what it might bring. We Might Have Been Free All along.

Yes. This reminds me of the Zen koan: There is a goose in a bottle. Is it trapped?

One possible answer is that the goose is a goose and the bottle is a bottle. The bottle can never interfere with the nature of the goose. So the goose may seem to be trapped but it has always been free.

Which also applies to us humans. The goose is our Buddha-nature and the bottle is the human form with all its limitations. The human form with all its limitations can never interfere with our Buddha-nature. So we are always free.

We just have to realise it. We still have to function through the human form with all its limitations but our true nature has no limits.

Peace

[Catastrophicfailure]

Today on my journey i am remaning. Whatever remains with me will stick, otherwise it will go.

The insights that fabricate this knowingness of mine is often accompanied with a non-resistance towards life for a while, and after a couple of hours it dies down and my struggle remains.

However, today is a day for me to see what remains when what remains remains. If i go with it, so be it, i didn't ask for this gift of life and thus it's not mine to have, whatever happens is for the greater context and not for me.

amen

[Catastrophicfailure]

I would like to share where I am at today, I am where the I AM resides.
I intuitively could find where I AM resides, turned my gaze inwards towards it.
Many masters talk about the I AM, Nisargadatta Maharaj tells us that this is where the whole cosmos spring from.

My thinking was, if I am eternal, if I hold the key to the locks of my troubles...... why wouldn't I try it with myself to see if it is so?
Why wouldn't I try to see if the I AM that I see and feel isn't the place where holy ones resides?
If it is so and I disregard it I would be very unhappy with myself for not trying.

So today I reside in the I AM, I wonder, have I struck gold?

I don't want this thread to be all about me so I want to add that everybody should share where they are and then we can have discussions about what works for you and me, etc.

I have a mindfull of knowledge, so does many on this forum, so please, share where you are so you can feel secure in the ways you are going at enlightment, or meditation, etc.

Anyways, I wish everybody prosperity today, peace and happiness.

Best wishes

Jim

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 43:

Originally Posted by iamthat

This reminds me of the Zen koan: There is a goose in a bottle. Is it trapped?

I recall a very similar Zen koan story about a goose in a bottle with a very narrow head. The question was how did the goose get out.

One answer was "the same way it got in".

Use your imagination on that one.

[J_A_S_G]

Originally Posted by Catastrophicfailure

My thinking was, if I am eternal, if I hold the key to the locks of my troubles...... why wouldn't I try it with myself to see if it is so?

I can have the notion or insight I am eternal, and the question that might then arise is "What Am I?" as in Ramana Maharshi's "Who Am I?" Self-inquiry.

It's a different technique but in essence pointing towards the same (no-) thing as Nisargadatta.

It's like the eye trying to see itself to validate its existence. It can't, however its existence is validated by the very fact it sees.

[Catastrophicfailure]

Originally Posted by J_A_S_G

It's like the eye trying to see itself to validate its existence. It can't, however its existence is validated by the very fact it sees.

I see this eye though for some reason, I saw like a black void which was conscious, I just stared at it for a while and then I could see that I could look back into itself. I know, words are hard here, hear me out
After I looked into itself I felt a merge happen, and I have stayed with it.
That's it

However, every experiencer should trust their own experience so I don't condone on doing it my way, I am just sharing what happened to me like a scientist trying to describe a experiment.
So there's no use for me to tell you that I am right and you're wrong or vice versa

I am just sharing this thing I am in, called life, trying to make my way through

Wish you well

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by Catastrophicfailure

I would like to share where I am at today, I am where the I AM resides. ... Why wouldn't I try to see if the I AM that I see and feel isn't the place where holy ones resides?

Ramana Maharshi points to the Heart as the seat of the Self. He does not mean the physical heart. And he says that this Heart has no physical location.

But he sometimes refers to a still small space just to the right of the centre of the chest.

If we can find this still small space and rest there then we find that it is unchanging stillness and peace and joy. It is the centre of our Being.

The Self is the Heart. The Heart is self-luminous. Light arises from the Heart and reaches the brain, which is the seat of the mind. The world is seen with the mind, that is, by the reflected light of the Self. It is perceived with the aid of the mind. When the mind is illumined it is aware of the world. When it is not itself so illumined, it is not aware of the world. If the mind is turned in towards the source of light, objective knowledge ceases and Self alone shines forth as the Heart. (Ramana Maharshi)

David Godman describes an interview with Saradamma who had been with Ramana Maharshi:

Saradamma described a small hole in the heart or Heart-centre that the mind had to withdraw into for realisation to take place, saying that when this happened realisation resulted. Saradamma said that when the mind is just outside the opening one can feel a strong sucking force pulling it towards the hole. She says that the mind is afraid of this force, and that when it feels it, it usually moves away from the hole and tries to escape to the brain. The mind has good reason to be afraid: when it goes through the hole, the Self completely destroys it and Self-realisation results.

David Godman then makes an interesting comment regarding meeting Nisargadatta:

Some people seem to have these experiences of the Heart-centre, and some do not. Nisargadatta Maharaj, for example, when I told him that I was from Ramanasramam, said that the only aspect of Ramana’s teachings that he couldn’t corroborate himself was the Heart-centre on the right side of the chest. He said that he had never had that experience. He wasn’t saying that it wasn’t true; he was just remarking that nothing like that had ever happened to him.

Anyway, continue resting in that place where holy ones reside!

Peace

[J_A_S_G]

Originally Posted by iamthat

Ramana Maharshi points to the Heart as the seat of the Self. He does not mean the physical heart. And he says that this Heart has no physical location.

He likens Self-inquiry to a stick used to stir a pyre. In the end the stick is consumed, leaving only the pyre.

Another way I've heard it phrased is on one side of Enlightenment there's a question and no answer, and on the other side there's an answer and no question.