Tag: Quotes

Jed McKenna Quotes
Jed McKenna is one of the most straightforward and authentic spiritual teachers, ever. Jed tells it like it is: the reality of Living Unbound, and the way to Living Unbound. Jed McKenna is a pen-name, but whoever writes as Jed McKenna articulates Living Unbound in reality with an authenticity and a clarity rarely found anywhere.
Here is some of the very direct and very real wisdom of Jed McKenna:
Suffering just means you’re having a bad dream. Happiness means you’re having a good dream. Enlightenment means getting out of the dream altogether.
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Enlightenment isn’t when you go there; it’s when there comes here.
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It’s ego – the false self – that exalts the guru and declares the teaching sacred, but nothing is exalted or sacred, only true or not true.
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Enlightenment is the unprogrammed state.

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I don’t have something you don’t; you believe something I don’t.
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The point is to wake up, not to earn a Ph.D. In waking up.

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The bottom line remains the same: you’re either awake or you’re not.One day, there it is. Nothing. No more enemies, no more battles.

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There’s nothing left to contend against and nothing left that must be done, and there will never be anything that must be done ever again.

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The you that you think of as you (and that thinks of you as you, and so on) is not you, it’s just the character that the underlying truth of you is dreaming into existence. Enlightenment isn’t in the character, it’s in the underlying truth.
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Wake up first. Wake up, and then you can double back and perhaps be of some use to others if you still have the urge. Wake up first, with pure and unapologetic selfishness, or you’re just another shipwreck victim floundering in the ocean and all the compassion in the world is of absolutely no use to the other victims floundering around you.
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The universe isn’t vague and ignorant. I am vague and ignorant. Something is true, and it doesn’t matter what it is, I’m not going to be false any more. I have not even the slightest trace of the slightest reservation that I would rather suffer and die figuring out what is true than continue this life as a slave to lies and ignorance.
-On the attitude needed for enlightenment
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I don’t see it as my role to save or rescue anybody any more than regular people feel the need to rescue each other from sleeping and dreaming.
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That’s how it is in dreams: thoughts become things practically before they’re thought.
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You can’t manage to avoid your own true nature forever. It’s a wonder anybody manages it at all.
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Who you are has little or nothing to do with you.
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There is no true self. Truth and self are mutually exclusive.
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This is about unknowing. All this so-called knowledge is exactly what stands between seeker and sought.
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The teachers we need will always be there when we need them; no reason to track down somebody else’s.
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The ‘I” casts off the illusion of ‘I’ and yet remains as ‘I’. Such is the paradox of self-realization. The realized do not see any contradiction in it.
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Before enlightenment, I believed my ego was me. Then enlightenment comes along and no more ego, only the underlying reality. Now it’s after enlightenment, and this ego might be slightly uncomfortable or ill-fitting at times, but it’s all I’ve got.
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The idea that your ego is destroyed in the process of enlightenment is roughly correct, but it’s not complete. Before enlightenment, you’re a human being in the world, just like everyone you see. During enlightenment, you realize that the human being that you thought you were is just a character in a play, and that the world you thought you were in is just a stage, so you go through a process of radical deconstruction of your character to see what’s left when it’s gone. The result isn’t enlightened-self or true-self, it’s no-self. When it’s all over it’s time to be a human being in the world again, and that means slipping back into costume and getting back onstage.
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Miracles are nature unimpeded, which is a good way of saying that if you take your hand off the tiller, the boat will steer itself and do a vastly better job of it than you ever could.
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Relax into the moment and let the universe do the driving. If there was a secret to happiness in life, I’d say that was it.
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Trust you develop a little at a time as you learn to relinquish the illusion of control.
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They have abandoned the illusion of control. It doesn’t matter why you do it, just that you do. This is the point of distinction and the root teaching of all major religions.
~On the power of spiritual devotion
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Fear and ego – in other words, ignorance – are keeping your hand on the tiller. Release the tiller for whatever reason, and the steering takes care of itself.
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Everyone’s grooving on the gurus, and everyone’s getting more and more spiritual, but nobody’s waking up.

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Go jump off a cliff. Don’t go near the cliff and contemplate jumping off. Don’t read a book about jumping off. Don’t study the art and science of jumping off. Don’t join a support group for jumping off. Don’t write poems about jumping off. Don’t kiss the ass of someone else who jumped off. Just jump.
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The difference between us isn’t that I’m enlightened and you’re not. The difference between us is that I know it, and you don’t.
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The truth is identical for both of us. I haven’t achieved a better status than you.
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There’s no such thing as instant enlightenment any more than there’s such a thing as an instant baby.
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Simply put, I don’t think. I don’t make choices or decisions. I don’t weigh possibilities and select one over others. Instead, I observe patterns and move with them.

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I used to try to be smart and now I don’t and everything works a whole lot better. Stopping being smart was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done.

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This is it. Not some other time, not some other place. Right here. Right now. I am standing at the exact center of infinity and I see beauty and perfection and absolute delight everywhere and in every thing. The touch of the slightest breeze, the sight of a single star through cloud-swept skies, the howls of coyote pups in the distance and the sheer glory and beauty of it all is enough to tear me to shreds and all I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you
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Truth isn’t an idea or a concept. It’s not in libraries or the words of sages. It doesn’t come in a flash of insight or a peak experience. It’s not a feeling of bliss or ecstasy. It’s not a concept to be understood or a feeling to be experienced. It’s not in your heart or your mind. It’s further.
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Spiritual awakening is about discovering what’s true. Anything that’s not about getting to the truth must be discarded. Truth isn’t about knowing things; you already know too much. It’s about unknowing. It’s not about becoming true; it’s about unbecoming false so that all that’s left is truth.
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No belief is true. No. Belief. Is. True.
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One millionth of one percent false is completely false. Everything in duality is false. False as in not true. Not true as in bullshit.
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This isn’t a song we’re singing or a mountain we’re climbing; it’s a dream we’re unweaving.
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Living Unbound Jed McKenna Videos Playlist – 11 Videos, Total

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June 2, 2010
Abhinavagupta Quotes
Abhinavagupta (950-1020, Kashmir, India) was one of the most powerfully insightful, deeply profound and logically-clear philosophers of the reality of Living Unbound that the world has ever known. However, he is not at all widely known outside of the circles that his work has touched directly, namely the non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir and certain Indian disciplines of poetics and aesthetics.
Here are some quotes from Abhinavagupta on the simple reality of Living Unbound that is the true nature of everyone, the ground of being of pure, liberated awareness underlying “accumulated multiplicity” as Abhinavagupta terms it.
This bliss is not like the intoxication of wine or that of riches, nor similar to union with the beloved. The manifestation of the light of consciousness is not like the ray of light from a lamp, sun or moon. When one frees oneself from accumulated multiplicity, the state of bliss is like that of putting down a burden; the manifestation of the Light is like the acquiring of a lost treasure, the domain of universal non-duality.
Nothing perceived is independent of perception and perception differs not from the perceiver, therefore the universe is nothing but the perceiver.
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Philosophy is an elaboration of different kinds of experiences. The abstractions of high-grade metaphysics are based on spiritual experience and derive their whole value from the experiences they symbolize.
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Relative distinction between two realities is not impossible. This is the doctrine of Supreme Unity in which in which relative distinction is neither shunned nor accepted. While there is an external difference between phenomena, there is none inwardly.
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The existence or non-existence of phenomena within the domain of the empirical cannot be established unless they rest within consciousness. In fact, phenomena which rest within consciousness are apparent. And the fact of their appearing is itself their oneness with consciousness because consciousness is nothing but the fact of appearing.
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The group of subjects, the various means of knowledge, the multiple kinds of knowledge and the objects of knowledge – all this is consciousness alone. The Supreme Goddess is the absolute freedom of consciousness which assumes all these forms.
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Both characteristics, unity and diversity, are found in that which does not fall to the level of an object but which, because it is consciousness, is the supremely real Light. It has only one characteristic, namely, consciousness which is the perfect medium of reflection. This is what experience tells us.
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The truth is therefore this: the Supreme Lord manifests freely all the varied play of emissions and absorptions in the sky of his own nature.
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The Light is the supreme reality that encompasses all the categories from Earth to Paramasiva, while the unfolding of the reflective awareness of the Heart of I consciousness within it, distinguishes between them.

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Absolute consciousness is manifest here in every circumstance of daily life because it is everywhere full and perfect. Consciousness is said to be the cause of all things because it is everywhere emergent as each manifest entity.
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The extremely pure conscious reality transcends all talk of succession and its absence.
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Immersing himself in the supreme reality, clearly aware that consciousness is all things, the yogi’s consciousness vibrates. This vibration is the Great Pervasion.
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The yogi should abide firmly fixed in his own nature by the power of the exertion of his expanding consciousness. Thus he is established on the plane of Bliss relishing the objects of sense that spontaneously appear before him. Perfected yogis (siddha) , are ever steadfast in this, the Supreme Gesture (mudra), the perfect and unobstructed expansion of the awakened.
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The couple (yamala) is consciousness itself; the unifying emission and the stable abode. It is the absolute, the noble cosmic bliss consisting of both (Siva and Sakti). It is the supreme secret of Kula (the ultimate reality); neither quiescent or emergent, it is the flowing fount of both quiescence and emergence.
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The variety of this world can only be manifested if the Highest Lord, Who is essentially the pure light of consciousness, exists; just as a surface is necessary for a picture.
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Other achievements are in vain if one has missed the supreme reality, the Self. But once one has attained this reality there is nothing left that one could desire.
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Source: by The Doctrine Of Vibration By Mark S. G. Dyczkowski
For more on Kashmir Shaivism, please see the Living Unbound Kashmir Shaivism Resource Page.

June 2, 2010
Quotes By Yogani
“I reach for a piece of wood. It turns into a lute.
I do some meanness. It turns out helpful.
I say one must not travel during the holy month.
Then I start out, and wonderful things happen.” ~Rumi
Like that, if we meditate and keep dancing, we will find our way. That is where our responsibility lies. Divine life is filled with paradox, and ever opening. Better not to second-guess it too much … though that too is part of it.
The guru is in you.
~Yogani

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Ego is just a concept, a word to describe consciousness identified with the objects of perception. Or, as the Buddhists say, “attached” to the objects of perception. The mind itself will not become dead until we are dead. It goes from being a tool of identified self (small “s”) to being a tool of unidentified Self (big “S”). What becomes dead in this life is identification of our awareness as self with all that appears in time and space. That is not death of the mind, or even of the “I thought” we call ego. We just come to know it for what it is, through the increasing presence of abiding inner silence (witness) cultivated in spiritual practices. It is the illumination of the mind in a divine outpouring, which then can awaken the unending joy of Oneness in time and space. It is the same thing that has been talked about by the sages of old, and modern ones too. It is the same experience. Only the words describing it may be a little different.
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From the perspective of the individual, thoughts are only omnipresent when consciously released in omnipresent abiding inner silence, which is cultivated through deep meditation. Before that, thoughts are only objects of perception with which we are identified locally. It is the samyama effect (release in stillness) that enables thought to become omnipresent, and therefore infinite in speed.
Before the samyama effect, a thought is like a picture. After the samyama effect, a thought is the thing itself, and far more influential via the infinite creative energy of divine outpouring that occurs when the mind is surrendered in stillness.
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Sri Yantra By Yogani. For more of these look here

Kundalini awakening is a partnership between ourselves and the divine. Have you taken ownership of your role in this partnership, or do you consider yourself to be a victim in it?
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“Uncertainty” is an interpretation of the flow of life, isn’t it? A “story.” This raises the question: Are we navigating a sea of uncertainty, or a sea of ecstatic bliss? It all depends on our point of view, and that depends on our relationship in stillness with the flow of life. Uncertainty is actually quite certain, isn’t it? Why argue with it? It can be very tiring. Much easier to go with it. We have plenty of choices as we move through — unlimited possibilities for uplifting the whole thing.
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This is the process of purification and opening, which we gradually learn to surrender to. With self-pacing of practices in play to keep things on an even keel.

First it is only about us. Then it becomes a partnership between us and the process of awakening. Finally, there is only the awakening, and the divine outpouring.
Fear evaporates along the way … what remains is stillness in action.
The guru is in you.
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Anyway, I generally don’t say “I am THAT.” I say “We are That.” There is a difference. One separates us, and the other brings us together.
What else do I have to say about it? Not much. Better to meditate daily and find out for yourself what THAT is. You will see there is nothing to fear. Who fears freedom anymore, having tasted even a little of it?
Until there is abiding inner silence, these kinds of discussions are mostly mind games — building castles in the air. Not that we should not have them. But we should know them for what they are — scenery that cannot enlighten us. Only effective practices can do that.
So practice wisely, and enjoy!
The guru is in you.

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~By Yogani*
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But, you know, after it is all said and done, it boils down to the one question that has no answer: Who or what am I?
No answer? But aren’t we pure bliss consciousness, the One, the Void, the Tao, and all of that? Surely this is the answer. But that isn’t the answer really. That is a structure in the mind, a concept. Not the thing itself. The who or what we are is not of the mind. It is beyond the mind. It is the infinite sea that mind is swimming in, which the mind is constantly trying to make into a solid concept. Trying to make solid what is fluid, invisible and without attributes. The mind is the proverbial fish that cannot see the water it is swimming in.
While there can be no answer to the question “Who or what am I?” we can realize we are that, become that, simply by letting go of the need to know. As soon as we surrender the heart and the mind, we are unadulterated That. This is not an answer. It is a condition. A non-experience of the AM-ness underlying the inner and outer din of our lives. We can only talk about it in a removed way.
Then, somehow, magically, mysteriously, this AM-ness is able to move within and through us, and express on this earth plane, as Love. We may ask, “How does this happen?” There is no answer to this question either. We can set up the conditions for it to happen through daily spiritual practice, but we cannot say how it happens, or why it is. It is beyond the rational mind. That is why we call it “Divine,” which explains everything, and nothing. We can have faith in what is, even if we cannot explain it. It has always been this way with human beings. When we don’t know, we call it “God,” or something that depicts the unknown, and our reverence for it. In time, we recognize that these too are concepts we transcend when we become the reality which they attempt to describe.
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Revenge is not self-defense. It is aggression, and will lead to complications.
It is aggression, and will lead to complications. It all depends on our spiritual condition. We will act as we must, according to our awareness. The trick is to expand our awareness, which will elevate all of our actions to a higher level of morality.
In truth, no one is injured, for ultimately we are beyond events occurring in time and space. We are pure bliss consciousness. As we advance in practices and on our path, we find this as direct experience, and act accordingly.
On the other hand, current perception is 100% of our reality, and we must live from where we are. In that case, some common sense can help keep us out of the ditch – paying attention to the basic precepts of yama (restraints) and niyama (observances), and to the laws of the land wherever we are living. It is certain that acting with personal intent to injure others will injure us, just as breaking the law of the land will lead to unwanted consequences in life. So it makes sense to keep this in mind.
If someone is harming you, it is reasonable to protect yourself, and take steps to prevent repeat injury from the same source in the future. However, it is not in your best interest to attempt to injure the other for revenge. That kind of “justice” is fleeting, and will only lead to further cycles of injury to you and others.
Prudent self-defense and forgiveness make good partners. “I love you and forgive you, but will not permit you to do that” is the way to handle those who are prone to inflict injury on others. It may mean exiting a relationship altogether, with no hard feelings. Actions performed on that basis are not personal. They are divine flow. But we may find anger mixed in, so it is good to pause to consider the consequences of our actions before moving ahead.
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*He had drawn this as a bookmark to indicate something in a book he send me. I think it is cute… so thought I’d share it. :) -Shweta
Resources:
The above quotes are taken from lessons posted by Yogani at the Advanced Yoga Practices Site and replies he has posted in the AYP forums.

May 26, 2010
Quotes and Parables from Sri Ramakrishna
“Do you know what I see? I see Him as all. Men and other creatures appear to me only as hollow forms, moving their heads and hands and feet, but within is the Lord Himself.”
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“There are pearls in the deep sea, but one must hazard all to find them. If diving once does not bring you pearls, you need not therefore conclude that the sea is without them. Dive again and again. You are sure to be rewarded in the end. So is it with the finding of the Lord in this world. If your first attempt proves fruitless, do not lose heart. Persevere in your efforts. You are sure to realize Him at last.”
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“What are you to do when you are placed in the world? Give up everything to Him, resign yourself to Him, and there will be no more trouble for you. Then you will come to know that everything is done by His will.”
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“A devotee who can call on God while living a householder’s life is a hero indeed. God thinks: ‘He is blessed indeed who prays to me in the midst of his worldly duties. He is trying to find me, overcoming a great obstacle — pushing away, as it were, a huge block of stone weighing a ton. Such a man is a real hero.’
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A man may not know the right path, but if he has bhakti and the desire to know God, then he attains Him through the force of sheer bhakti. Once a sincere devotee set out on a pilgrimage to the temple of Jagganath in Puri. He did not know the way; he went west instead of south. He no doubt strayed from the right path, but he always eagerly asked people the way, and they gave him the right directions, saying, This is not the path; follow that one.’ At last the devotee was able to get to Puri and worship the Deity. So you see, even if you are ignorant, someone will tell you the way if you are earnest.
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“Yes, God has form and He is formless too. Further, He is beyond both form and formlessness. No one can limit Him.”
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Parable of salt doll
Sri Ramakrishna: “In samadhi one attains the Knowledge of Brahman – one realizes Brahman. In that state reasoning stops altogether, and man becomes mute. He has no power to describe the nature of Brahman.
“Once a salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean. (All laugh.) It wanted to tell others how deep the water was. But this it could never do, for no sooner did it get into the water than it melted. Now who was there to report the ocean’s depth?”
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Sri Ramakrishna Story of a farmer
It was about five o’clock in the afternoon. Sri Ramakrishna was sitting on the steps of his verandah. Hazra, Rakhal, and M. were near him. Hazra had the attitude of a Vedantist: “I am He.”
Sri Ramakrishna (to Hazra): “Yes, all one’s confusion comes to an end if one only realizes that it is God who manifests Himself as the atheist and the believer, the good and the bad, the real and the unreal; that it is He who is present in waking and in sleep; and that He is beyond all these.
“There was a farmer to whom an only son was born when he was rather advanced in age. As the child grew up, his parents became very fond of him. One day the farmer was out working in the fields, when a neighbour told him that his son was dangerously ill—indeed, at the point of death. Returning home he found the boy dead.
His wife wept bitterly, but his own eyes remained dry. Sadly the wife said to her ncighbours, ‘Such a son has passed away, and he hasn’t even one tear to shed!’
After a long while the farmer said to his wife: ‘Do you know why I am not crying? Last night I dreamt I had become a king, and the father of seven princes. These princes were beautiful as well as virtuous. They grew in stature and acquired wisdom and knowledge in the various arts. Suddenly I woke up. Now I have been wondering whether I should weep for those seven children or this one boy.’
To the jnanis the waking state is no more real than the dream state. “God alone is the Doer. Everything happens by His will.”
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Parable of the chameleon

Sri Ramakrishna: “Listen to a story. Once a man entered a wood and saw a small animal on a tree. He came back and told another man that he had seen a creature of a beautiful red colour on a certain tree. The second man replied: ‘When I went into the wood, I also saw that animal. But why do you call it red? It is green.’ Another man who was present contradicted them both and insisted that it was yellow.
Presently others arrived and contended that it was grey, violet, blue, and so forth and so on. At last they started quarrelling among themselves. To settle the dispute they all went to the tree. They saw a man sitting under it. On being asked, he replied: ‘Yes, I live under this tree and I know the animal very well. All your descriptions are true.
Sometimes it appears red, sometimes yellow, and at other times blue, violet, grey, and so forth. It is a chameleon. And sometimes it has no colour at all. Now it has a colour, and now it has none.’ “In like manner, one who constantly thinks of God can know His real nature; he alone knows that God reveals Himself to seekers in various forms and aspects.
God has attributes; then again He has none. Only the man who lives under the tree knows that the chameleon can appear in various colours, and he knows, further, that the animal at times has no colour at all. It is the others who suffer from the agony of futile argument.
“Kabir used to say, ‘The formless Absolute is my Father, and God with form is my Mother.’ “God reveals Himself in the form which His devotee loves most. His love for the devotee knows no bounds. It is written in the Purana that God assumed the form of Rama for His heroic devotee, Hanuman.
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Sri Ramakrishna – Importance of Scriptures, Books
Sri Ramakrishna (with a smile): “Do you know my attitude? Books, scriptures, and things like that only point out the way to reach God. After finding the way, what more need is there of books and scriptures? Then comes the time for action.
“A man received a letter from home informing him that certain presents were to be sent to his relatives. The names of the articles were given in the letter. As he was about to go shopping for them, he found that the letter was missing. He began anxiously to search for it, several others joining in the search. For a long time they continued to search. When at last the letter was discovered, his joy knew no bounds.
With great eagerness he opened the letter and read it. It said that he was to buy five seers of sweets, a piece of cloth, and a few other things. Then he did not need the letter any more, for it had served its purpose. Putting it aside, he went out to buy the things. How long is such a letter necessary? As long as its contents are not known. When the contents are known one proceeds to carry out the directions.
“In the scriptures you will find the way to realize God. But after getting all the information about the path, you must begin to work. Only then can you attain your goal.
“What will it avail a man to have mere scholarship? A pundit may have studied many scriptures, he may recite many sacred texts, but if he is still attached to the world and if inwardly he loves ‘woman and gold’, then he has not assimilated the contents of the scriptures. For such a man the study of scriptures is futile.
“The almanac forecasts the rainfall tor the year. You may squeeze the book, but you won’t get a drop of water — not even a single drop.” (Laughter.)
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Parable of the weaver woman
Sri Ramakrishna : “Listen to a story. Once a woman went to see her weaver friend. The weaver, who had been spinning different kinds of silk thread, was very happy to see her friend and said to her: ‘Friend, I can’t tell you how happy I am to
see you. Let me get you some refreshments.’ She left the room.
The woman looked at the threads of different colours and was tempted. She hid a bundle of thread under one arm. The weaver returned presently with the refreshments and began to feed her guest with great enthusiasm. But, looking at the thread, she realized that her friend had taken a bundle.
Hitting upon a plan to get it back, she said: ‘Friend, it is so long since I have seen you. This is a day of great joy for me. I feel very much like asking you to dance with me.’ The friend said, ‘Sister, I am feeling very happy too.’ So the two friends began to dance together. When the weaver saw that her friend danced without raising her hands, she said: ‘Friend, let us dance with both hands raised. This is a day of great joy.’
But the guest pressed one arm to her side and danced raising only the other. The weaver said: ‘How is this, friend? Why should you dance with only one hand raised? Dance with me raising both hands. Look at me. See how I dance with both hands raised.’ But the guest still pressed one arm to her side. She danced with the other hand raised and said with a smile, ‘This is all I know of dancing.’ “
The Sri Ramakrishna continued: “I don’t press my arm to my side. Both my hands are free. I am not afraid of anything. I accept both the Nitya and the Lila, both the Absolute and the Relative.
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Resources:
- http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Life_of_Masters/Ramakrishna/Ramakrishna_life.htm
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna : Abridged Edition
April 16, 2010
Inspirational Quotes and Poems by Rumi
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I have lived on the lip of insanity,
wanting to know reasons,
knocking on a door.
It opens.
I’ve been knocking from the inside!”
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Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
Don’t try to see through the distances.
That’s not for human beings. Move within,
But don’t move the way fear makes you move.
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The Lovers will drink wine night and day.
They will drink until they can
tear away the veils of intellect and
melt away the layers of shame and
modesty.
When in Love,
body, mind, heart and soul don’t even
exist.
Become this,
fall in Love,
and you will not be separated again.
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Within people there is a longing and a desire such that, even if a hundred thousand worlds were theirs to own, still they would find no rest or comfort. They try every trade and craft, studying astronomy, medicine and every other subject, but they reach no completion, for they have not found their true desire. Poets call the Beloved “heart’s ease,” because there the heart finds ease. How can we find peace and rest in anything but the Beloved?
All these pleasures and persuits are like a ladder. The rungs of a ladder are not a place to make one`s home ; there are for passing by. Fortunate are those who learn this. The long road becomes short for them , and they do not waste their lives upon the steps.
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The time has come to turn your heart
into a temple of fire.
Your essence is gold hidden in dust.
To reveal its splendor
you need to burn in the fire of love.
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You’ve no idea how hard I’ve looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.
What’s the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It’s no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.
So- I’ve brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.
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All night, a man called “Allah”
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then the Devil said, “Hey! Mr Gullible!
How comes you’ve been calling all night
And never once heard Allah say, “Here, I am”?
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I’ll tell you what. Nothing!”
The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And fell into a deep sleep.
In a dream, he met Abraham, who asked,
“Why are you regretting praising Allah?”
The man said, ” I called and called
But Allah never replied, “Here I am.”
Abraham explained, “Allah has said,
“Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of “Allah”
Waits a thousand replies of “Here I am.”
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The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don’t wish for union!
There’s a closeness beyond that…
Fall in love in such a way
that it frees you from any connecting.
Love is the soul’s light, the taste of morning;
no me, no we, no claim of being…
As eyes in silence, tears, face:
love cannot be said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Through your love
existence and nonexistence merge.
All opposites unite.
All that is profane
becomes sacred again.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh Beloved,
take me.
Liberate my soul.
Fill me with your love and
release me from the two worlds.
If I set my heart on anything but you
let fire burn me from inside.
Oh Beloved,
take away what I want.
Take away what I do.
Take away what I need.
Take away everything
that takes me from you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 14, 2010
Quotes By Nandhi
The following quotes are from Nandhi, a yogi from the South Indian Siddhar tradition. These are inspirational words he is sharing with us, to help us all in enjoying Living Unbound, in reality. Thank you, Nandhi for sharing your beautiful wisdom with us.
- Climbing above the mind is yoga; to be the multiple reality as oneness is the yogi. Awake to the knowing, realities ascend consciousness to the peak, to simply Be. AUM
- The ancient bridge of source and mind is grace flowing as the sacred, to Be. The bridge dissolves in oneness to be the momentum of intent, knowing purpose. AUM
- The mind clear as sky to be the universe within, and the vast void beyond the mind as awareness; to be oneness, and the many as one, each thought aligned. AUM
- Past burnt to acquire the infinite now, each thought flows empowered of source, merging all thoughts to the thought of One, become Oneness, the sacred One. AUM
- Within is the vastness of space that is void filled in the presence as light of oneness; expanded consciousness as the vibrant light, the bliss being be. AUM
- Celebrating divinity through each yogic posture as breath, wisdom is tranquility worshipped and the journey to be a light; bliss the awake guide to being. AUM
- Merging thoughts to be womb space of void, celebrate realms of all sages, the ancient soul awake to being the celebrated Siva, whirl within breath to be. AUM
- Breath, nada and awareness as bhakti fire ascends to the calm third eye perch of the vibrant flame. Yogic grace calms the fire to stillness, delving to Be. AUM
- Within breath through yoga is the guru, the ancient presence beyond breath. Aligning silent wisdom with the intellectual offerings, we alight to be bliss! AUM
- Each sheath of consciousness pierced, Kundalini climbs as consciousness awakening to dissolve senses into the inner fire of tapas, to be the bliss body. AUM
- Propelling the mind to embark on its inner journey, each sheath of consciousness as gratitude to be absorbed through breath surrender, inner fire awakening. AUM
- The throb within the atom is the vibrant awareness of the AUM that is also the vast space that holds universes, expanding consciousness to be; simply be! AUM
- Our yoga is the lightness that dwells as light. Consciousness flows empowering each thought as ancient intent of all sages to be our now; as grace that alights! AUM
- Awakening to each magical moment, time, matter and space converge to the root of thought. In bliss reality, each thought manifests the now. AUM
- Celebrating silence with each thought merged with the mantra fire is the enlightened realm. Conscious samadhi is fullness that celebrates void through each breath. AUM
- The word ‘freedom’ is most used by poets of every language spoken on planet earth. Above the mind’s rooftop is ananda, wisdom to be; prophet, as joy; ananda! AUM
- Alight as the inner music where the mind and breath has merged, the awake joy transcends the mind as the fire of knowing and the surrender. AUM
- Scriptures are for altars and not rules to be followed. The sum total of all scriptures written by humans through all ages weighs less than source that is the now. Scriptures guide to higher conscious truth and higher consciousness is independent of need for scriptures.
- Stillness and the vibrant stillness of being is fulfilling fire that has the light of knowing and the warmth of inspiration as the sun lit within; So be. AUM
- Ascending states of consciousness above the mind is oneness and celebrations of vibrant joys that empower the mind to seek more of cosmic union; so to be. AUM
- Beyond sleep and tiredness is the primal grace of inspiration. Beyond being awake is the knowing. Beyond focus is to simply Be. Each breath the breathless Be. AUM
~Quotes by Tapasyogi Kalathi Adiyen Aadi Nandhi
Founder of: Journey Beyond Enlightenment, http://nandhi.com/
March 7, 2010
Quotes by Paramahamsa Nithyananda
“Enlightenment is an ordinary life lived in an extraordinary way!”
“Bliss is like a breeze. As long as you have your hands open, you can feel it flow. Once you try to possess it, it moves away from you!”
“First bring a smile on your face, then let that smile overflow and bring smile on others face, else in the name of service you will only be imposing your ego on others. “
“Pick flowers from all the gardens and make a beautiful bouquet for yourself!”
“Guilt is the greatest sin. If you constantly think about the past and feel guilty, you destroy your present and your future, too. You are designed to move like a freely flowing river. Guilt is like the rocks in the path of the water. Guilt is actually the shadow of the ego. Only when you drop your guilt, only when you are free from the past, will you have enough energy to change your future. As long as you carry the guilt, you will project only your past into the future.”
“Nothing Can Make You Suffer, Without Your Silent Permission.”
“I’m Not here to prove i’m God. I’m here to prove YOU are God.”
“Never turn to a Master for security for that is one thing he will never give you. He throws you upon the utter insecurity of Life because those who have nothing else find God.”

“There is an extraordinary potential hidden inside every human being. If it is awakened it will take you to a much higher plane of consciousness – beyond the limitations of the human body-mind. Experience this super-consciousness, actualize your ultimate potential. This is the only aim of human life – to live the ultimate luxury of enlightenment.”

February 25, 2010
Living Unbound Quotes From A Course In Miracles
I. Text
Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. (Intro)
Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. They are performed by those who temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less. (p. 1)
Perfect love casts out fear. If fear exists, then there is not perfect love. (p.12)
Corrective learning begins with the awakening of spirit, and the turning away from belief in physical sight. (p. 22)
There are no idle thoughts. (p. 27)
Only those who give over all desire to reject can know that their own rejection is impossible. (p. 43)
The ego lives by comparisons. (p. 52)
The ego cannot survive without judgment. (p. 54)
Love will immediately enter into any mind that truly wants it. (p. 55)
Anger involves projection of separation, which must ultimately be accepted as one’s own responsibility, rather than being blamed on others. (p. 84)
The ego does not want to teach everyone all it has learned, because that would defeat its purpose. (p. 109)
The ego seeks to divide and separate. Spirit seeks to unify and heal. (p. 110)
Do not ask Spirit to heal the body. Ask rather that Spirit teach you the right perception of the body. (p. 146)
A therapist doesn’t heal, he lets healing be. (p. 161)
You will remember everything the instant you desire it wholly. To desire wholly is to create. (p. 164)
What is healing but the removal of all that stands in the way of knowledge. (p. 188)
Remember that those who attack are poor. Their poverty asks for gifts, not further impoverishment. (p. 206)
Recognize what doesn’t matter, and if your brothers ask you for something, do it because it doesn’t matter. (p. 206)
The world is only in the mind of its maker. Do not believe it is outside of yourself. (p. 207)
If you did not feel guilty, you could not attack. (p. 220)
Don’t deny yourself the message of relief that every brother offers you now. (p. 229)
God calls and you do not hear, for you are preoccupied with your own voice. (p. 232)
When everyone is welcome to you as you would have yourself be welcome to your Father, you will see no guilt in you. (p. 246)
The hidden can terrify not for what it is, but for its hiddenness. (p. 265)
The search for love is but the honest searching out of everything that interferes with love. (p. 267)
Nothing you see means anything alone. (p. 268)
Clean but the mirror and the message shines forth. (p. 271)
The holy instant is the recognition that all minds are in communication. Every thought you would keep hidden shuts off communication. (p. 289)
What you would hide is hidden from you. (p. 290)
You have so little faith in yourself because you are unwilling to accept the fact that perfect love is in you, and so you seek without for what you cannot find within. (p.293)
To the ego, the mind is private. (p. 296)
Fantasies are the veil behind which truth is hidden. (p. 316)
Whenever your thoughts wander, enter with Him into a holy instant, and there let Him release you. He needs only your willingness to share His perspective to give it to you completely. (p. 323)
There is nothing outside you. (p. 358)
Heaven is not a place or a condition. It is merely an awareness of perfect oneness. (p. 359)
Let your self be one with something beyond it. (p. 361)
It is impossible to seek for pleasure through the body and not find pain. (p. 386)
Like any communication medium, the body receives and sends the messages that it is given. It has no feeling for them. All of the feeling with which they are invested is given by the sender and the receiver. (p. 387)
You are afraid of God because you fear your brother. This brother who stands beside you still seems to be a stranger. (p. 393)
Give faith to one another, for faith and hope and mercy are yours to give. (p. 394)
The world the holy see is beautiful because they see their innocence in it. (p. 401)
The world believes in sin, but the belief that made it as you see it is not outside you. (p. 401)
In your brother is the light. See him as sinless, and there can be no fear in you. (p. 402)
Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. (p. 415)
Perception selects, and makes the world you see. (p. 425)
Reason cannot see sin, but can see errors. (p. 428)
When you feel defensive about anything, you have identified yourself with an illusion. You therefore feel weak because you’re alone. (p. 446)
The memory of God comes to the quiet mind. (p. 457)
A decision is a conclusion based on everything you believe. (p. 464)
The special have enemies, for they are different and not the same. (p. 465)
The death of specialness is not your death, but your awakening into life eternal. (p. 469)
The miracle but calls your ancient name. (p. 518)
Pain’s purpose is the same as pleasure, for they both are means to make the body real. (p. 537)
The miracle comes quietly into the mind that stops an instant and is still. (p. 547)
No one who hates but is afraid of love, and therefore must be afraid of God. He knows not what love means, he fears to love and loves to hate, and so he thinks that love is fearful, hate is love. (p. 563)
Are you afraid to find a loss of self in finding God? (p. 565)
Seek not outside yourself, for all your pain comes simply from a futile search for what you want, insisting where it must be found. (p. 573)
It is never the idol that you want, but what you think it offers you. (p. 587)
Let forgiveness be the substitute for fear. This is the only rule for happy dreams. (p. 590)
Only the self-accused condemn. (p. 606)
The holy ones whom God gave you to save are everyone you meet or look upon, not knowing who they are, all those you saw an instant and forgot, and those you knew a long while since, and those you will meet yet, the unremembered and the not yet born. (p. 618)
Every choice you make establishes your own identity as you will see it and believe it is. (p. 621)

II. Workbook
I see only the past. (p. 11)
My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts. (p. 13)
I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. (p. 34)
God is in everything I see. (p. 45)
I am constantly trying to justify my thoughts, to make them true. (p. 82)
All thoughts have power. They cannot be without effect. (p. 87)
Above all else I want to see. (p. 91)
I could see peace instead of this. (p. 93)
There is nothing my holiness cannot do. (p. 95)
God is the light in which I see. (p. 98)
God is the mind in which I think. (p. 98)
God is the love in which I forgive. (p. 99)
God does not forgive, because he has never been condemned. (p. 99)
The blameless cannot blame, and those who have accepted their innocence see nothing to forgive. Forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. It is the reflection of God’s love on earth. (p. 99
There is nothing to fear. (p. 99)
Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me and bless me. I will recognize in everyone my dearest friend. (p. 99)
What could there be to fear in a world that I have forgiven, that has forgiven me? (p. 99)
There is not a moment in which God’s voice fails to direct my thoughts, guide my actions, and lead my feet. (p. 99)
To know yourself is the salvation of the world. (p. 237)
There is no world apart from your ideas because ideas leave not their source, and you maintain the world within your mind in thought. (p. 237)
You can never be released alone. (p. 237)
Forgiveness is the key to happiness. (p. 268)
All that I give is given to myself. (p. 268)
If I defend myself, I am attacked. (p. 269)
No one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision. No one can grieve, nor fear, nor think him sick unless these are the outcomes that he wants. And no one dies without his own consent. Nothing occurs but represents your wish, and nothing is omitted that you choose. Here is your world, complete in all details. Here is its whole reality for you. And it is only here salvation lies. (p. 274)
The power of decision is my own. (p. 274)
Ideas leave not their source. Change your mind about yourself and healing will follow. (p. 311)
God is but love, and therefore so am I. (p. 324)
In my defenselessness my safety lies. (p. 324)
I am among the ministers of God. (p. 324)
I will step back and let Him lead the way. (p. 324)
I am at home. Fear is the stranger here. (p. 325)
There is no cruelty in God. (p. 327)
It is but your thoughts that bring you fear. (p. 365)
It is impossible to be hurt except by your own thoughts. (p. 365)
I will be still an instant and go home. (p. 378)
He who would not forgive must judge. (p. 391)
I rule my mind, which I alone must rule. I thus set it free to do the will of God. (p. 400)
Let every voice but God’s be still in me. Today we let no ego thoughts direct our words or actions. When such thoughts occur, we quietly step back and look at them, and then we let them go. (p. 411)
My holy vision sees all things as pure. (p. 417)
I have indeed misunderstood the world, because I laid my sins on it and saw them looking back at me. How deceived was I to think that what I feared was in the world, instead of in my mind. (p. 418)
Let all things be exactly as they are. (p. 419)
I will not use the body’s eyes today. (p. 420)
The Word of God is given me to speak. (p. 424)
I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts. (p. 428)
The hush of heaven holds my heart today. (p. 430)
Perception is but a mirror, not a fact. What I look on is my state of mind reflected outward. (p. 441)
This instant is the only time there is. (p. 443)
Perception follows judgment. Having judged, we therefore see what we would look upon. (p. 446)
The future is but an extension of the present. (p. 447)
Fear binds the world. Forgiveness sets it free. (p. 458)
I never see my brother as he is, for that is far beyond perception. What I see in him is merely what I wish to see, because it stands for what I want to be truth. (p. 460)
I am affected only by my thoughts. (p. 461)
Anger comes from judgment. (p. 467)
Each (of us is) a miracle of love. (p. 468)
Miracles mirror God’s eternal love. (p. 468)
From the oneness that we have attained, we call to all our brothers, asking them to share our peace and consummate our joy. (p. 469)
My sinless brother is my guide to peace. (p. 470)
Judgment and love are opposites. From one comes all the sorrows of the world. From the other comes the peace of God. Judgment will bind my eyes and make me blind. (p. 470)
Forgiveness is truth’s reflection. Behold his sinlessness and be you healed. (p. 473)
Our brother is the way, the truth, and the life. (p. 475)

The source of these quotes can be visited here.
For more information on A Course In Miracles, please visit here.

February 8, 2010
Quotes By Adyashanti
Adyashanti
“The mind may accept or deny that you are awareness, but either way it can’t really understand. It cannot comprehend. Thought cannot comprehend what is beyond thought.” ~Source: True Meditation, Page: 56

“Enlightenment means waking up to what you truly are and then being that.” ~Source: Emptiness Dancing, Page: 1

“Enlightenment is, in the end, nothing more than the natural state of being. “ ~Source: True Meditation, Page: 7

“The Truth is the only thing you’ll ever run into that has no agenda.” ~Source: Emptiness Dancing, Page: 32

“The biggest barrier to awakening is the belief that it is something rare.” ~Source: Emptiness Dancing, Page: 5

Adyashanti
“Do not think that enlightenment is going to make you special, it’s not. If you feel special in any way, then enlightenment has not occurred. I meet a lot of people who think they are enlightened and awake simply because they have had a very moving spiritual experience. They wear their enlightenment on their sleeve like a badge of honor. They sit among friends and talk about how awake they are while sipping coffee at a cafe. The funny thing about enlightenment is that when it is authentic, there is no one to claim it. Enlightenment is very ordinary; it is nothing special. Rather than making you more special, it is going to make you less special. It plants you right in the center of a wonderful humility and innocence. Everyone else may or may not call you enlightened, but when you are enlightened the whole notion of enlightenment and someone who is enlightened is a big joke. I use the word enlightenment all the time; not to point you toward it but to point you beyond it. Do not get stuck in enlightenment.”

“An ordinary man seeks freedom through enlightenment. An enlightened man expresses freedom through being ordinary.”

“As soon as the mind pulls out an agenda and decides what needs to change, that’s unreality. Life doesn’t need to decide who’s right and who’s wrong. Life doesn’t need to know the “right” way to go because it’s going there anyway.”

Source for above quotes: Quotes by Adyashanti

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February 4, 2010