Let Life Be

Firstly, the Serious Buddhist...

"People naturally fear misfortune and long for good fortune, but if the distinction is carefully studied, misfortune often turns out to be good fortune and good fortune to be misfortune. The wise man learns to meet the changing circumstances of life with an equitable spirit, being neither elated by success nor depressed by failure.

If you are committed to being present, it will happen.

And even if being present is just a state of mind, so what? It's a good, constructive state of mind.

Let Life BeReposted from: Patheos.Com

Are you so busy fighting against life that you have no time left to live it? Are you so worried about what’s going on in your world that you have no energy left to get things done? Do you put so much of your attention into judgment that you fail to notice the real treasures right in from of you?

Let go. Step back. Detach. Free yourself to live. Free yourself to experience. You don’t have to take a reading every millisecond and then pass judgment on what you see. You don’t have to respond to every little shift in the wind.

Take a deep, relaxing breath and remind yourself of who you are. Look at life as it is, and let go of the need to always do something about it. See the beauty that is in even the smallest things.

And feel. Let the feelings come, and then let those feelings go. Don’t be obsessed with predicting or constructing what will come next. Instead, be fully present so you can see and experience and know and gain permanent value from whatever comes along. Enjoy, without always wondering whether or not you should.

Peacefully let life be. Act from a perspective of acceptance and gratitude rather than from a perspective of need and desperation. All is well with now, for you are here to live it with positive purpose.

The Good Mountain Climber

The good mountain climber is slow, meticulous, and in the moment.

Shadow Work with Teal Scott

In this video Teal Scott explains why it is vital to not reject negative emotions.

Quotes by Teal:

"Negative emotions are like the question, and positive emotions are like the answer. So you cannot condemn the question, without condemning the answer at the same time."

"Your fight or flight response is triggered when you don't get enough sleep."

The sum total of negative emotions can be referred to as THE SHADOW.

Orange Moon

Orange moon
What are your secrets?

Very difficult to believe
that your relationship with earth
and the cosmos
is just cold mathematics


Dear night sky
What lies in your mysterious depths?
is it only atoms and protons

How arrogant it is to say

that you are nothing more
than an endless ocean of matter

How arrogant it is to say

that your wondrous beauty
remains vastly observerless

You have been around for billions of years
perhaps you have existed forever

I came from you
How am I alive
if you are not.


Question for the hard core physicalist:

Humans have written songs, poetry on the moon and the night sky for eons. Are they addressing dead matter? Are they fools?

Tao Te Ching (Introduction)

Respect for Others' Boundaries

Just like buildings and countries have 'boundaries', humans too have boundaries.

We must respect others' boundaries, for a conflict free life.


Personal boundaries are the imaginary lines we draw around ourselves to maintain balance and protect our bodies, minds, emotions, and time from the behavior or demands of others.

They provide the framework to keep us from being used or manipulated by others, and they allow us to confidently express who we are and what we want in life.

FromPsybersquare.com:Boundaries are NOT rejection.
And Barriers

According to the Oxford English Dictionary a boundary is defined as follows:

boundary - A thing which serves to mark the limits of something; the limit itself, a dividing line.

Notice the absence of the word "rejection" in that definition? That's because boundaries -- whether physical, psychological or emotional -- are NOT rejections. Nevertheless, people frequently interpret boundaries as a rejection, or are afraid to set boundaries for themselves for fear that someone else will interpret their boundary as a rejection.

At the crux of the Great Boundary Misunderstanding is the common inclination to interpret a boundary in a black-and-white way, because of the fear of rejection. If Dan*, an adult, lets his parents know that he will visit them twice a month, but no more than that because his work will suffer otherwise, he is setting a boundary. If Dan's mother responds by complaining that they never see him anymore, she is dealing with Dan's boundary in a black-and-white fashion.

Black-and-white thinking means that there is no gray -- no middle ground.

In the case of Dan's mother, there is no "sometimes," there is only always or never. Clearly, since Dan is visiting twice a month, his mother's claim that she never sees him is not true. Dan's mother is simply afraid that Dan's action of putting a limit on the number of his visits is somehow a rejection of her or the family. When Dan says: "I can't visit as much as I used to, because my job is so demanding," his mother hears: "I don't like you anymore and no longer want to spend time with you." Is that, in fact, true? Is Dan rejecting his family? Or does he simply need a little more time and space for himself in order to succeed at work?

We all need a different amount of space at different times in our lives. To clearly define that space for ourselves and the ones we love is a healthy and reasonable thing to do. Dan's boundary is not a rejection. Dan's mother is only reacting in a negative black-and-white fashion, because she's afraid that it is. Better communication on both sides would make Dan more comfortable with the healthy boundary he has set and alleviate his mother's fears of rejection.

The boundary dilemma and the fear of rejection becomes a compounded problem for many people in recovery. Dysfunctional families are often dysfunctional in large part because they DON'T set healthy boundaries. As a result, during their crucial years of development, the children of substance abusing or dysfunctional parents very frequently ARE rejected by their loved ones. Children from dysfunctional families commonly develop a hypersensitivity to rejection as a result.

Furthermore, because the children of alcoholic or dysfunctional parents generally experience NO boundaries or TOTAL barriers growing up, they never learn to recognize what a healthy boundary is. Therefore, as adults, each time a loved one sets a boundary for them, they experience tremendous fear that the boundary is, in fact, a barrier that indicates total rejection.


However difficult it may be for a given individual to deal with boundaries, the fact remains that boundaries are a healthy, normal, and necessary part of life. Boundaries are a way to manage one's life and one's interpersonal relationships -- a way to set limits. The next time you need to set a boundary, or accept a boundary that someone else has set, just remember: a boundary is simply a boundary and not a rejection.

Never Not Here (Guest Post)

By NeverNotHereTV

(23) IN A PRIMARY RELATIONSHIP THERE ARE 3 FUNDAMENTAL IMAGINATIONS.

There is the "I", there is the "YOU", and there is the "WE". There may be some substance in the I and in the YOU, even though we know that they are both built on thoughts and memories. The WE has even less substance, and may be a pure thought form. It is also nourished (or impoverished) by thoughts and memories.

Most of the thoughts building the WE are collective beliefs of how it should be. (If you are raising children, I am not going to address your situation. Please write your own post.)

There are many thoughts around how the WE should be nourished, and I definitely agree that it should be. My focus here is how that nourishment is taking place. Many thoughts of the perfect WE honor self denial. It's that selfless mother that gave her all to the family, with nothing left over to call her own. (That's just her negative self talk isn't it?) We even have the term unconditional love, meaning there is no self in it or no business deal. Is that a high state?

Really, who wants unconditional love? Maybe in church or something? Unconditional love does not react, because it can't go up and down. Isn't that kind of distant? Detached, Cool, Lacking any specialness. Surely I wouldn't like it, would you?

If you are in any way assuming that selfless role in a relationship, I would ask if you are not nourishing bitterness along with your love? If that is your MO you are for sure reacting. You are dramatizing those reactions. You are half believing that the others are there principally to absorb your reactions, (so your "truth" can be heard). And the purpose of all that drama is to manipulate those around you as a secret back seat driver. You are as dishonest as any crook.

Please consider that if you are feeding a WE that is not feeding back your I, then you are creating a mountain of poison that will sooner or later sicken you and destroy your relationship.

In fact, in a healthy, long lasting relationship, the I and the YOU and the WE are in balance with respect to their power. They are equal in how they command a slice of your attention. Each component is growing in caring and love, in social abilities and in personal empowerment that makes a difference.

Some people with an advanced case of inadequacy have given up on their own motive power. They may be seeking a stronger WE to prop themselves up with. It also happens with an advanced belief in scarcity, where one tries to jump several financial or social classes to a new level of WE. You might remember that old old TV show, "How to Marry a Millionaire".

If your relationship lacks this balance, start to watch out now. Don't let any more poison seep in. The moment you discover a refusal to build these three equally, then I say "get out". Entanglement only gets deeper. Even the sex is fake. It is not clean.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Firstly, a wonderful post from Universal Consciousness

Tuesday, April 05, 2005:

"The unexamined life is not worth living." -Socrates (quoted by Plato in Apology)

I think what Socrates is saying here is that on some basic level, to be alive, to be human, is to actively examine life. If you don't think about how you want to live, then you give up those decisions to others. You become like an animal, or even a machine, in that you have no self, no agency acting independently. Socrates sees this sense of an independent, rational self, as essential to our humanity. Another translation of the quote reads, "the unexamined life not being livable for a person." This explicit reference to "a person" is evidence of the distintion being made between humans and animals. In fact, one could even interpret it to mean that it is an impossiblity for a human being to go through life without examining it. On some level, to be alive, at least in the human form, is to be conscious. To be conscious is to examine the world around you. Without examining the world, we would be zombies (in the philosophical sense).

However, I do not completly agree with Socrates. The effect of other's ideas on one's own must be recognized. Nobody is completely independent. Socrates might argue that rationality is innate, and that each person can come to rational conclusions independently, but this does not refute my argument. Taking for granted that rationality is innate, (something that I do not, but will for the sake of argument) there is some creativity involved in rationality which allows one to look down the right logical path.

The rules math, for example, are set, but many problems remain unsolved because no one has had the insight to chose the right path to find their solutions. It is this creativity which is susceptible to outside pressure (if not outside determination). One wonders whether there is any substantial ego at all, since science can find no point in the brain at which decisions are made, that is, there is no physical manifestation of a single-point ego (and the ego does seem to be a single point). I'm a materialist, and I think dualism is absurd, and so I seriously question the whole concept of a "Self." So is there really any examiner to do the examining? Socrates believed there to be one essentially a priori, as I alluded to earlier, but perhaps this is an incorrect assumption. If it is, then the quote is largely meaningless.

Guest Post (Altering Perspectives)

Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. Ready?

Here we go:
1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?

2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.

“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu

3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.


4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle

5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!

“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.

8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer
11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.

“The only fear we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.

13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.

15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

Māyāḥ ॥मायाः॥

If we take away the NOW from the human, all that is left is a hazy dream.

Best use of this moment is to drown in It...HWL Poonja.

The hazy dream has the following constituents:

1. Emotions like fear, anger, depression, paranoia.

2. Images.

3. Words.

The hazy dream tries to take over the NOW using aspect 1.

2 & 3 in themselves just cannot hurt, if you look carefully...

The NOW is a magical, peaceful, comfortable realm. That the hazy dream appears to take over every now and then.

But the NOW is untouchable.

The hazy dream in itself is not evil or anything. It cannot hurt.

The sights and the sounds and the work going on in the NOW is INDEPENDENT of what the hazy dream says about its history.

Perhaps the NOW can be obscured by aspect 1 - but only obscured. Not destroyed.

The Sun cannot be destroyed by the clouds....

Question: So how to deal with Māyāḥ then?

Ans: Nothing. Don't fret yourself. Māyāḥ deals with itself on its own.
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others” - Martha Graham. via Om Chef


A Nisargadatta Maharaj PassageQ.: If both dream and escape from dream are imaginings, what is the way out?

A. : There is no need of a way out! Don't you see that a way out is also part of the dream? All you have to do is to see the dream as dream.

Q. : If I start the practice of dismissing everything as a dream, where will it lead me?

A. : Wherever it leads you, it will be a dream. The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory. Why go anywhere? Just realize that you are dreaming a dream you call the world, and stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your problem. Your problem is that you like one part of the dream and not another. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that needs be done.

The world is but a show, glittering and empty. It is, and yet is not. It is there as long as I want to see it and take part in it. When I cease caring, it dissolves. It has no cause and serves no purpose. It just happens when we are absent-minded. It appears exactly as it looks, but there is no depth in it, nor meaning. Only the onlooker is real, call him Self or Atma. To the Self the world is but a colourful show, which he enjoys as long as it lasts and forgets when it is over. Whatever happens on the stage makes him shudder in terror or roll with laughter, yet all the time he is aware that it is but a show. Without desire or fear he enjoys it, as it happens.

I am The Living Principle in All Things

श्रीभगवानुवाच- पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते। न हि कल्याणकृत्कश्चिद्‌दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति॥६- ४०॥ O son of Pritha, neither here in this world, nor in the next, is a sincere person defeated. Such a person, My dear friend, is never on the road of misfortune.

चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्‌दृढम्।
तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम् ॥६- ३४॥

O Kesava, it is easier to control the wind than to try and control the fickle, unsettled, stubborn mind.

कच्चिन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति।
अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मणः पथि॥६- ३८॥

O mighty armed one, is he not lost in his pursuit of transcendence like a wandering cloud with no solid footing in either of the worlds?

श्रीभगवानुवाच
ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम्।
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥१५- १॥
अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः।
अधश्च मूलान्यनुसंततानि कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके ॥१५- २॥
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च संप्रतिष्ठा।
अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूल-मसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ॥१५- ३॥
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः।
तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी॥१५- ४॥

The Lord said: They (or the wise) speak of the eternal Ashvattha tree having its origin above and its branches below (in the visible cosmos) whose leaves are hymns. One who understands this is a knower of the truth.

The branches (of this world tree of Maya) spread below and above (or all over the cosmos). The tree is nourished by the Gunas; sense pleasures are its sprouts; and its roots (of ego and desires) stretch below in the human world causing Karmic bondage.

Neither its (real) form nor its beginning, neither its end nor its existence is perceptible here on the earth. Having cut these firm roots of the Ashvattha tree by the mighty ax of detachment;

The goal (of nirvana) should be sought reaching which one does not come back; thus thinking: In that very primal spirit I take refuge from which this primal manifestation comes forth.

यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति|
तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च||२- ५२||

श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला|
समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि||२- ५३||

Translation:

When your mind is released from dense delusions, you shall realise how disgusting all that you have heard so far has been. When your mind is fixed and unmoved and not confused by scriptural injunctions you shall attain yogic samadhi.


तानि सर्वाणि संयम्य युक्त आसीत मत्परः|
वशे हि यस्येन्द्रियाणि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता||२- ६१||

In order to attain steady wisdom, you should restrain your senses and focus your entire mind and being on Me.

इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते|
तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि||२- ६७||

If the mind hankers after any sense objects, the wandering senses carry away one's intelligence, just as the wind blows away a ship at sea.

तस्माद्यस्य महाबाहो निगृहीतानि सर्वशः|
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता||२- ६८||

Therefore, O Mighty Armed, one who's senses are detached from sense objects, is the one fixed on wisdom.


या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी|
यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः||२- ६९||

That which is dark for all sentient beings appears like bright daylight for those who's senses are controlled.

That which is dawn for sentient beings appears like the dark night for the introspective sage who sees.

एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति|
स्थित्वास्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति||२- ७२||

O Partha, having attained such a divine state, one is not confused; if one is fixed in this pure consciousness even at the moment of death, one attains Brahman and all suffering ceases.

नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः|
शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मणः||३- ८||

O Arjuna! Great is the man who can use his mind to control his senses and do his karma without attachment.

नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः|
शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मणः||३- ८||

It is better to do your duty than to remain without doing anything. Action is important because we cannot maintain even our bodies without it.

न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन|
नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि||३- २२||

O Arjuna! Though there is no work I need to complete in all the three worlds, I still do My duties.

यदा विनियतं चित्तमात्मन्येवावतिष्ठते|
निःस्पृहः सर्वकामेभ्यो युक्त इत्युच्यते तदा||६- १८||

A yogi who's mind is controlled and focused in yoga is like an un-flickering lamp in a windless place.

सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः|
सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते||६- ३१||

For he who sees Me everywhere and sees all things in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.

मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय|
मयि सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव||७- ७||

O winner of wealth there is nothing superior to Me; everything rests on Me like pearls strung on a thread.

ये चैव सात्त्विका भावा राजसास्तामसाश्च ये|
मत्त एवेति तान्विद्धि न त्वहं तेषु ते मयि||७- १२||

Know that all states of being, be it purity, passion, or ignorance, all ensue from Me alone.
But understand that I am not in them, they are in Me.

अभ्यासयोगयुक्तेन चेतसा नान्यगामिना|
परमं पुरुषं दिव्यं याति पार्थानुचिन्तयन्||८- ८||

Therefore remember Me at all times and do your duty. With your mind and intellect fixed on Me, you shall become one with Me.


अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम्|
परं भावमजानन्तो मम भूतमहेश्वरम्||९- ११||
मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतसः|
राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिताः||९- १२||
महात्मानस्तु मां पार्थ दैवीं प्रकृतिमाश्रिताः|
भजन्त्यनन्यमनसो ज्ञात्वा भूतादिमव्ययम्||९- १३||

Trapped by illusions, they do not feel My transcendental existence as the living principle in all beings.

Their hopes are in vain, their knowledge is in vain. They are irrational, trusting the deceiving nature of fiends and demons.

Those souls who feel their divine nature, contemplate Me with steady minds knowing Me as the imperishable source of all beings.

पिताहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामहः|
वेद्यं पवित्रमोंकार ऋक्साम यजुरेव च||९- १७||

गतिर्भर्ता प्रभुः साक्षी निवासः शरणं सुहृत्|
प्रभवः प्रलयः स्थानं निधानं बीजमव्ययम्||९- १८||

I am the father of the universe, its mother, its nurturer, its grandfather; I am the goal, support, witness, abode, refuge, friend.

A Case For Optimism

Is she spinning clockwise, or anticlockwise?

Many situations in life can appear to be as this graphic...

In such situations, we need not despair. Such situations may not lead to complete disaster, as the world-mind may want us to believe. The world-mind uses every excuse to point to utter and complete disaster, or enslavement. It is its nature to do so. And it often succeeds, but only temporarily, but that is because its voices are laden with hypnotic power.

We do not need to pay much attention to the world-mind. We need a protective layer around ourselves, to insulate ourselves from the world-mind.

The world-mind is the 'EGO' that spiritual teachers like Eckhart Tolle, Gina Lake, Ramesh Balsekar and Mooji talk about.

I have used the term 'world-mind' instead of 'mind' deliberately.

If the reader wants to go into details as to why, then please check the label NON DUALITY.

An interesting variation from "MoIllusions".

Some very positive teachings by Teal Scott.

ThinkExist Guest Post

From ThinkExist.

By Stephen

[ I work at Ruthless Truth where we liberate people from the lie of self allowing them to embrace life fully and see clearly for what may be the first time. I also run a blog where I focus my efforts on bringing liberation to the public by any means necessary. ]

START
I would like to start this article gently, but the truth is. No matter how I put this, it will seem odd. No matter how I say this, it will rub someone up the wrong way. No matter how delicately I handle this it, will challenge the foundations of your entire life.

If moving towards the truth is not what you want. If breaking free of the ties that have bound your life. If a rejection of the very reason you are here now, searching for freedom is not what you are after, stop reading now.

I’ll assume whoever is left only wants one thing: the cold and ruthless truth. Now to dispense with the pleasantries…

You do not exist.

What? How? Why?

I could explain logically that for self to exist it must be outside of reality-manipulating reality, and that anything outside of reality is unreal.

I could tell you that all you have ever had of your self is your thoughts about it. Just as your thoughts about unicorns do not mean unicorns are real, your thoughts about yourself are nothing more than thoughts.

We could delve into the many linguistic errors in this piece and ask “if you don’t exist why do you use the word ‘I’ so much”. I know, as you now know, that use of a word does not prove the existence of its namesake. We must simply do our best with the limited “selfish” language we were given.

I do not expect you to believe me

In fact I don’t want belief. I want you to discover it for yourself that you have no self (clever, eh?).

I’d like to offer that all we really know for sure is what we are experiencing right now. Memory is fallible, the past and future never come or go. All we can know is our direct experience of what is in the present moment.

With that in mind, I want you to pay direct attention to your experience of life right now.

Take a look at this self, which thinks your thoughts and moves your body. If it truly thinks your thoughts then it must exist apart from those thoughts. Pay attention to your experience; do you experience this self outside of thought?

Sure you have thoughts about the self, but look at experience, do those thoughts come from a self?

More importantly what are each of those thoughts DOING ? Are they trying to convince that there is a self?

I resisted this at first too..

The first thing I thought when I tried this was “Of course there is a self, this is stupid.” However as I watched, I realized that all my thoughts were about a self, but there was no self thinking up the thoughts.
I began to rationalize that I must be the brain because the brain thinks up the thoughts, but it hit me hard between the eyes. I don’t experience the brain thinking up thoughts.
I just experience thoughts arising conditioned by experience. It wasn’t my experience, I wasn’t there thinking the thoughts. There was only experience conditioned thoughts.

Sure there was a body and a mind, but the driver seat was empty. Life was automatic. As I looked around the room I sat in, the haze began to lift. My entire world fell apart. Only, it wasn’t my world and had never been. My whole life made sense, because it was never truly my life.

How has this affected me?

It’s an intense and real freedom, this liberation from erroneous assumption of self. From the time from the thought first entered my head, till my taking a look at the experience of life in that moment was roughly 7 minutes.

In mid September 2010 I saw life for what it is. It’s changed me for the better since. I can see clearly now. I tend not to get caught in emotional feedback loops and the idea of self. I still have it I just see that I have it, and see it for what it is.

Since I got this I’ve dedicated my life to bringing this to other people. I’ve been taking a little break but over the first 6 months I liberated 13 people . I have many friends who also pledged themselves to free this world. It’s hasn’t been easy there have been many ups and downs. We’ve stared into the abyss together and watched the brightest of stars fall from grace. What we do now we do with eyes open, and what we do is open eyes.

All it took was 7 minutes. I’ve seen people do it in 3. All you need to do is to pay attention to your experience of life. Just look.

By Stephen

[ I work at Ruthless Truth where we liberate people from the lie of self allowing them to embrace life fully and see clearly for what may be the first time. I also run a blog where I focus my efforts on bringing liberation to the public by any means necessary. ]

Some additional supporting videos on the nature of EGO:


Watch out for defensiveness rising in the mind. Which is nothing but the world.

What is this world-mind defending, except illusory identities, mental images.

Some Random quotes from Online forums:

There isn't a “black dot” of the present moment that's slowly moving along a timeline that stretches from your pretended “birth” to your pretended “death.” In truth, there really IS no “timeline.” The tomorrows that you’re imagining are as unreal as the yesterdays that you’re remembering. THIS single moment of NOW is the ONLY moment that is, was or ever will be. And YOU….are THAT.

Because you are the “Immoveable One,” all movement is really illusory. So everything in your long dream life has actually “occurred” at the very place where you’re at right now. In spite of what it seems, you’ve never really moved away from where you’re pretending that you were “born,” “grew up,” had “adventures,” etc. Who-you-are cannot move at all simply because there’s no place “else” for “you” to move into! In fact, you’ve ALREADY “arrived” at the very place where you’ll pretend that you’re going to “die.”

God likes to play on BOTH sides of the street. When you embrace the Shadow, you’re also embracing the Light. After all, the profane is only the sacred….in disguise.

“You” are not appearing in other people’s dreams. In truth, they’ve all been appearing in YOUR dream, and then telling you that there’s a “you” that’s been appearing in THEIR dream, too. Beneath it all, though, there’s still only One dream and only One dreamer.

When you’ve finally let go of your demands, agendas and expectations, “what is” will still be waiting patiently for you at the corner of “Here” and “Now.”

You will never be free unless you free yourself from the prison of your own false thoughts....

"What makes life difficult it how time features us 'defending fiction as if it is fact.' "Reality" features us engaged in "mission impossible": no one can prove the self is real, not even with the prop called 'the ego,' and who you are in THIS wakes up when the truth about that becomes inescapably obvious. Truth features the sum of the lies we use to pretend we can prove truth is false: it's because it is a no win game, that "reality" can feature that parody as "The Grand Charade."

"Any change in circumstances, any activity can not cause a fundamental change in you. One is depending upon addition to possessions, knowledge, favouarble circumstances, upon others whom one considers important to cause a fundamental change in one or to give a stable comfort. It is only when one clearly sees that ‘nothing’ can give you stable comfort or cause a fundamental change in you – you are face to face with yourself ‘as you are’.
It is to find ‘you’ as you are-desiring, wanting, anxious, continuously adjusting with others or environment, being insulted or praised, being hit by unexplainable failures or successes, stuck up in the maze of choices, actions and consequences and so on. This ‘as you are’ is the end of ‘you’. The end of ‘you’ is your connection to the whole. This facing oneself ‘as it is’ is like an explosion. The new mind is born."

-- Y V Chawla.

The Holocaust

From http://popchassid.com/photos-holocaust-narrative/

The Holocaust has scarred us, a yetzer hara (sneaky bastard of a voice in our heads), that keeps trying to tell us how we are defined by our past, controlled by events that happened to us, instead of using those moments as points of growth.

And, in a weird way, that’s why all those images of us looking so helpless, so gaunt, in heaps of nameless bodies, have become a morbid fascination for us.

We, and by extension the rest of the world, have chosen to define the Holocaust with these images. But there are other images. Images that show a more subtle, more true, story.

A story that shows our inner power, our inner turmoil in dealing with a situation we cannot comprehend, our attempts to gain justice, and our final steps into moving above and beyond our past and into a new future.

See more at: Holocaust

The Fourteen Stages of Development (Jainism)

(From Wikipedia)

The fourteen stages of development according to Jainism:

According to the Jain tradition, through the following fourteen stages of development, the soul gradually frees itself, firstly from the worst, then from the less bad and finally from all kinds of karma, and manifests the innate qualities of knowledge, belief and conduct in a more and more perfect form.

The first four gunasthana are related to belief or rationality in perception. As and when the soul acquires rationality in perception it moves on to 4^th gunasthana. Stages 5 to 14 relate to conduct. The purity in conduct determines the gunasthana from the 5^th stage onwards. Those who have taken the anuvratas {minor vows} may reach up to the 5^th Gunasthana. The 6^th to 14^th Gunasthanas can only be attained by those who have taken the Mahavratas (the major vows) of Jain asceticism.

The Fourteen Stages

मिथ्यदृष्टि गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of wrong belief.
सस्वदानंसंयाग्दृष्टि गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of one who has a slight taste of right belief.
मिश्रदृष्टि गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of mixed belief.
अविराट संयाग्दृष्टि गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of one who has true belief but has not self discipline.
देसाविराटा संयाग्दृष्टि गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of partial self-control.
प्रमातसंयत संयाग्दृष्टि गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of complete self-discipline, although sometimes wavering due to negligence.
अप्रमातसंयत गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of self-control without negligence.
निवृत्ति बद्र संपराय गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of one in whom the passions are still manifesting in an unevolved form.
अनिवृत्ति बद्र संपराय गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of one who practices the process called anivritti karana and in whom passions are still occurring.
सूक्षं संपराय गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of one in whom passions occur in a subtle form.
उपासमा कस्याव वित्राग चद्मस्ता गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of one who has suppressed every passion but still does not possess omniscience.
क्सिन कस्याव वित्राग चद्मस्ता गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of who has annihilated every passion but does not yet possess omniscience.
संयोगी केवलिन गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of omniscience with activity.
अयोगी केवलिन गुणस्थानः॥	The stage of omniscience without any activity.

Levels Of Thinking

"George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was an influential spiritual teacher of the early to mid-20th century who taught that most humans live their lives in a state of hypnotic "waking sleep", but that it is possible to transcend to a higher state of consciousness and achieve full human potential." -- Wikipedia.

Gurdjieff taught that thoughts have hypnotic power.
___________________________

Levels of thought based on my understanding:

Level 1 : Unaware of thoughts. Can say things like "I think", "I was thinking about XYZ", but has NO IDEA at all what thoughts are.

Such a person, if you say to him something like - "I hear voices in my head" - he will tell you to go to a shrink.

Because he has no idea what thinking is.


Level 2 : Semi aware of thoughts. Understands that thoughts are spoken words. Assumes that his thoughts are correct about everything. Takes pride in the human 'intellect', reasoning etc.


Level 3: Aware of thoughts. Semi aware of the errors in his thinking process. At this level, thoughts could be very painful.


Level 4: Has knowledge of thoughts. Knowledge because he has reached a point where he does not assume that his thoughts are correct all the time.


Level 5 : Thoughts have slowed down and transmuted into a peaceful stream. Quality of thoughts has improved. Because observation of errors in thinking has improved thinking. Consequently the pain has gone.

The Internal Dialogue

By Rande Howell

Though a positive, successful, and engaging person, Pam avoided prolonged looks into her mirror. When she was brushing her hair or applying make-up, she stayed focused on the activity – but would intentionally not make eye contact with herself. Except sometimes. On those occasions a tirade of negative judgments erupted in her thoughts.

If she didn’t avoid the negative assessment machine in her mind by distraction or busyness, the stream of thoughts that flooded into Pam’s awareness would chide her, “Your nose is too crooked. Your skin is a mess. You’re getting wrinkles under your eyes. You’re too fat. Nobody would give you a second look. You need surgery to look better.” In these moments, Pam would cringe and feel the familiar black pit in her stomach suck the positive energy right out of her. And she would begin to doubt herself and her ability to create a rewarding life.

The strange part of this internal conversation going on in her mind was that Pam knew there was no truth to the accusations. Pam has a dancer’s body and is a highly accomplished dancer. In addition, she teaches dance to serious students. She also is a sought-after model due to her beauty and flawless complexion. Over the course of time, she has attempted to debate the negative voice and has tried thought stopping, positive affirmations, and positive thinking. And for awhile these techniques worked – then, like a thief in the middle of the night, the character assassinations would creep back into her thoughts and cast seeds of doubt in her mind.

Pam’s current stategy, common for many people, for dealing with this discomfort was to avoid the discomfort of this internal dialogue by busying herself with work, activities, or friends – anything to distract herself from listening to the critical Judge living within her.

The Internal Dialogue: You and Your Thoughts are Different From One Another

What Pam is experiencing in the example above is her internal dialogue masquerading as thoughts in her mind. This particular conversation is between a harsh critical voice and her self doubt. And like Pam, all of us have some variation of this internal struggle, whether we like to acknowledge it or not. The key is whether we identify with it as who we are.

If you have ever been conflicted about something and were of two minds about it, you have experienced the internal dialogue first hand. Most of us simply pay it no mind and believe that “it is only our thoughts running through our mind”. However, not being aware of it or not understanding it does not stop the force it exerts over your life. It drives our lives. It is like driving on a freeway while looking through binoculars. You are at the mercy of chance to see and understand the world you are attempting to negotiate.

The Internal Dialogue Goes Underground

Most of us are aware of this internal dialogue, but we push it away (much like Pam in the example above). We never mention it to others because of what they might think. This is our loss. Gaining a window into this internal dialogue is essential if we want to discover a deeper purpose, meaning, and joy for our lives. As we learn to observe the voices that lie beneath our thoughts, the transformation of body, mind, and Spirit becomes possible. Learning about these voices within the self is crucial for creating lasting transformation.

There is a lot at stake in this inner struggle going on within the internal dialogue. Staying mindless keeps Pam (and us) aimlessly drifting in the currents of life. Things happen repetitively that we do not understand. What is revealed in Pam’s internal dialogue is that the self is composed of a number of voices – some good, some bad. Let us explore this further.

Like Pam, many of us don’t even realize that an internal dialogue is happening in our mind. This is what I call “mindlessness”. To be blind to the internal dialogue of the mind is to be swept along on the unseen currents of life. Those who are swept along are blind to it – and to its power. Others hear an almost inaudible whisper that is moving too fast to comprehend. Still others hear the internal dialogue and it makes them uncomfortable and they do not understand it. So they avoid listening to it, and this limits their lives.

The Internal Dialogue Creates the Box of Our Comfort Zone

Instead they will distract themselves so that they are not aware of it. They busy themselves with work, conquest, exercise, drugs, sex, the latest toy, or whatever is necessary to distance themselves from the discomfort of getting out of their comfort zone. Others come to live in fear of the negative assessment machine in their mind and shrink their lives into a comfort zone so that they will not be noticed. The comfort zone locks them into familiar, habitual ways and they get stuck in old repeating patterns. This is called a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Very few people learn how to observe the internal dialogue, question it, and explore the design of its nature. It is through the exploration of these voices within the mind that we set ourselves free of their control over our lives and tap into the potential that lies buried within us. There are some negative aspects of the self that have to be observed and confronted, and there are some powerful parts of the self that we need to awaken. It is in awakening these empowering parts of the self that we change the historical script of our life and find new life.

We have to become aware of the war being waged in our minds. Once we grasp that thinking is simply a biological activity, a powerful question can surface – who, or what, is in control of the perception and thinking apparatus of our mind? The answer will surprise you. Thought is important, but it is the voice (or aspect of the self) that controls the thought that keeps us from becoming who we were born to be and transforming the potential of our lives.

Internal Dialogue:
Conversations in the Mind that Shape Our Perception of the World

To wake up to the internal dialogue opens the door for you to become an active participant in the creation of your life. We are all born into and adapt to a world of established patterns of perception. This is how we come to know our world. These perceptual patterns govern how we understand the world and what we see as possible in our lives. These historical patterns of perception are called conversations or narratives and become our comfort zone.

These conversations become us long before we develop the capacity to become aware of them. Once established, they become the world we live in. We don’t have patterns and internal conversations that govern our perception, they have us! If you want to transform your world, you have to have to learn how to identify the conversation that controls the thinking in your mind. And you have to learn to break free from the hold the narrative has over your life.

Breaking Free of the Narrative of the Comfort Zone Creates New Possibility

Let me give you an example of how this works. I work with an attorney who is employed by a large, high powered, litigating law firm and he is very unsatisfied with his life. In fact, he has become “depressed”, and feels hopeless. Yet if he could look at depression as a conversation, rather than a condition, a new world would show up ripe for transformation.

He feels like a victim (is consumed by a conversation of victimhood where he has always had to sacrifice his needs to win approval). With his wife and kids accustomed to an affluent lifestyle, he speaks to me as if he is trapped by his job. This produces his despair. He sees no escape from his dilemma and beats himself up for even wanting to change his life. He lives all week for the weekends when he can live his dream of having a small scale farm. Yet on Saturday afternoons, he begins to despair that he will have to go to work on Monday.

As he developed the ability to observe the internal dialogue and woke up to the conversation of victimhood going on in his mind, he also began to realize that these did not have to be the thoughts that controlled his life. He was able to label the participants of this internal dialogue as the Prosecuting Attorney (who wanted conviction) and a Victim (that beat himself up for not being good enough).

Simply becoming mindful of these two different conversations in his mind – and no longer identifying with them as who he was – gave him a new freedom. In that freedom he discovered that he could awaken other voices that could contribute to his internal dialogue. He found a Courageous Self and a Confident Self that, with practice, he could invoke to be part of the internal dialogue in his mind. He also discovered a Divine Voice living within him that (to his amazement) he had never connected to even though he was a practicing Christian.

As he developed these aspects of himself (voices within the self), his internal dialogue shifted. He no longer was trapped in a “victim conversation”. Discovering he could call up courageous and confident elements of himself into the thoughts of the internal dialogue created new possibilities for his life. Now, instead of drifting mindlessly in the currents of life, he began to learn how to navigate its currents. In doing so, he became a participant in the creation of his life. And yes, he is moving from being stuck in unseen patterns (comfort zone) to consciously designing the patterns that create his life.

Transforming the Conversations of the Self

This opportunity, this choice, to become a participant in the design of your life is available to all. What is required is the motivation, skill development, and discipline needed to learn how to observe the patterns and internal conversations that drive your life, disrupt them, and begin consciously developing new patterns and conversations.

As a human being, it is the greatest gift we have been given. The criterion is to recognize that the gift was not designed to serve the Ego. Rather it is built to serve a purpose greater than the self. Our job is to accept the gift, nurture the gift, and to bring forth the light that lives within us into the world.

It is at this moment that we begin the journey to becoming fully human. In the words of Nelson Mandela from his 1984 inaugural speech:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…. Your playing small does not serve the world…. We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us….. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. We are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Rande Howell writes about Igniting the Spark of Your Potential and Creating a Lasting Transformation at www.randehowell.com

Time is an engineered concept

Time is defined by humans as something that moves in a neat straight line manner at constant speed.

By defining it, and implementing and honouring the definition, we breathe life into "time".

So we 'create' time. Breathe life into it. By consensus. And so it exists.*

Consensus Reality is a powerful concept. These links cover it quite well:

1. Princeton:Consensus Reality

2. Wikipedia:Consensus Reality

3. Huffington Post:Challenging Consensus Reality

If we did not create time, if we did not define and honour a neat, simple, straight line time, we would not be able to make sense of the world.

If we gave up time, it would destroy the civilised world. Back to the caves.

You can challenge consensus reality - but do it only when you have the strength to sustain your opposition.

What I like about 'time' is, once you understand it....you can be in it and out of it, both at the same 'time'.

Refer Eckhart Tolle speech on OPRAH and TOLLE.

You can define your own time*. Or lack of it. But consensus time (or clock time) must be honoured.

*If you want. Nothing wrong with it fundamentally.

HOW TIME IS DEFINED AND MAINTAINED BY HUMANS
In 1967 the Thirteenth General Conference on Weights and Measures defined the SI second of atomic time as:

the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.

The definition of the second was later refined at the 1997 meeting of the BIPM to include the statement:

"This definition refers to a caesium atom at rest at a temperature of 0 K."

"over the years UTC [which ticks SI seconds] has become either the basis for legal time of many countries, or accepted as the de facto basis for standard civil time"."

Liven Up With Marina Diamandis

The essence of life is being calm and cheerful and motivated.

Everything requires calm handling.

The mind often paints a very dark, unrealistic picture of the future. But not everyone takes this dark negative picture seriously because they are aware it is unrealistic.

Else they can't be cheerful and motivated...

Regular exercise & deep breathing can certainly help. The chatter of the mind reduces when the body gets exercise. The jittery nature reduces when oxygen from deep breathing flows into the brain.

So if your thoughts are killing you...all you need is exercise and oxygen flow into your brain. Nothing else. No medicines, nothing.


And talking of cheerfulness, Marina Diamandis is a very cheerful personality. A treat to watch. And inspiring.

Jain Epistemology & Logic

From the Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy.Underlying Jain epistemology is the idea that reality is multifaceted.

Anekanta, or ‘non-one-sided’, such that no one view can capture it in its entirety; that is, no single statement or set of statements captures the complete truth about the objects they describe. This insight, illustrated by the famous story of the blind men trying to describe an elephant, grounds both a kind of fallibilism in epistemology and a sevenfold classification of statements in logic.

Every school of Indian thought includes some judgment about the valid sources of knowledge (pramanas). While their lists of pramanas differ, they share a concern to capture the common-sense view; no Indian school is skeptical. The Jain list of pramanas includes sense perception, valid testimony (including scriptures), extra-sensory perception, telepathy, and kevala, the state of omniscience of a perfected soul. Notably absent from the list is inference, which most other Indian schools include, but Jain discussion of the pramanas seem to indicate that inference is included by implication in the pramana that provides the premises for inference. That is, inference from things learned by the senses is itself knowledge gained from the senses; inference from knowledge gained by testimony is itself knowledge gained by testimony, etc. Later Jain thinkers would add inference as a separate category, along with memory and tarka, the faculty by which we recognize logical relations.

Since reality is multi-faceted, none of the pramanas [evidences] gives absolute or perfect knowledge (except kevala, which is enjoyed only by the perfected soul, and cannot be expressed in language). As a result, any item of knowledge gained is only tentative and provisional.

This is expressed in Jain philosophy in the doctrine of naya, or partial predication (sometimes called the doctrine of perspectives or viewpoints). According to this doctrine, any judgment is true only from the viewpoint or perspective of the judge, and ought to be so expressed. Given the multifaceted nature of reality, no one should take his or her own judgments as the final truth about the matter, excluding all other judgments. This insight generates a sevenfold classification of predications. The seven categories of claim can be schematized as follows, where ‘a’ represents any arbitrarily selected object, and ‘F’ represents some predicate assertible of it:

Saptibhaṅgī - The Seven Valued Logic

स्यात् अस्ति॥	Perhaps a is F
स्यात् नास्ति॥	Perhaps a is not-F
स्यात् अस्ति नास्ति॥	Perhaps a is both F and not-F
स्यात् अवक्तव्यम्॥	Perhaps a is indescribable
स्यात् अस्ति अवक्तव्यम्॥	Perhaps a is F and indescribable
स्यात् नास्ति अवक्तव्यम्॥	Perhaps a is indescribable and not-F
स्यात् अस्ति नास्ति अवक्तव्यम्॥	Perhaps a is indescribable, and both F and not-F

Britannica Online writes :
As a consequence of their metaphysical liberalism, the Jaina logicians developed a unique theory of seven-valued logic, according to which the three primary truth values are “true,” “false,” and “indefinite” and the other four values are “true and false,” “true and indefinite,” “false and indefinite,” and “true, false, and indefinite.” Every statement is regarded as having these seven values, considered from different standpoints.

Knowledge is defined as that which reveals both itself and another (svaparabhasi). It is eternal, as an essential quality of the self; it is noneternal, as the perishable empirical knowledge. Whereas most Hindu epistemologists regarded pramana as the cause of knowledge, the Jainas identified pramana with valid knowledge. Knowledge is either perceptual or nonperceptual. Perception is either empirical or nonempirical. Empirical perception is either sensuous or nonsensuous. The latter arises directly in the self, not through the sense organs but only when the covering ignorance is removed. With the complete extinction of all karmas, a person attains omniscience (kevala-jnana).

And now, Continued from The Internet Encyclopaedia Of Philosophy :

In the Seven Valued Logic table - each predication is preceded by a marker of uncertainty (syat), which I have rendered here as ‘perhaps.’ Some render it as ‘from a perspective,’ or ‘somehow.’ However it is translated, it is intended to mark respect for the multifaceted nature of reality by showing a lack of conclusive certainty.

Early Jain philosophical works (especially the Tattvartha Sutra) indicate that for any object and any predicate, all seven of these predications are true. That is to say, for every object a and every predicate F, there is some circumstance in which, or perspective from which, it is correct to make claims of each of these forms. These seven categories of predication are not to be understood as seven truth-values, since they are all seven thought to be true. Historically, this view has been criticized (by Sankara, among others) on the obvious ground of inconsistency. While both a proposition and its negation may well be assertible, it seems that the conjunction, being a contradiction, can never be even assertible, never mind true, and so the third and seventh forms of predication are never possible. This is precisely the kind of consideration that leads some commentators to understand the ‘syat’ operator to mean ‘from a perspective.’ Since it may well be that from one perspective, a is F, and from another, a is not-F, then one and the same person can appreciate those facts and assert them both together. Given the multifaceted nature of the real, every object is in one way F, and in another way not-F. An appreciation of the complexity of the real also can lead one to see that objects are, as they are in themselves, indescribable (as no description can capture their entirety). This yields the fourth form of predication, which can then be combined with other insights to yield the last three forms.


Footnote: Criticism
Perhaps the deepest problem with this doctrine is one that troubles all forms of skepticism and fallibilism to one degree or another; it seems to be self-defeating. After all, if reality is multifaceted, and that keeps us from making absolute judgments (since my judgment and its negation will both be equally true), the doctrines that underlie Jain epistemology are themselves equally tentative. For example, take the doctrine of anekantevada. According to that doctrine, reality is so complex that any claim about it will necessarily fall short of complete accuracy. The doctrine itself must then fall short of complete accuracy. Therefore, we should say, “Perhaps (or “from a perspective”) reality is multifaceted.” At the same time, we have to grant the propriety, in some circumstances, of saying, “Perhaps reality is not multifaceted.” Jain epistemology gains assertibility for its own doctrine, but at the cost of being unable to deny contradictory doctrines. What begins as a laudable fallibilism ends as an untenable relativism.

From The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy.

Jain Epistemology from Wikipedia
According to Jain epistemology, reality is multifaceted (anekanta, or 'non-one-sided'), such that no finite set of statements can capture the entire truth about the objects they describe.

The Jain list of pramanas (valid sources of knowledge) includes

• Sense perception.
• Valid testimony.
• Extra-sensory perception.
• Telepathy.
• Kevala. the state of omniscience of a perfected soul.

• Inference, which most other Indian epistemologies include, is interestingly absent from this list.

However, discussion of the pramanas seem to indicate that inference is implied in the pramana that provides the premises for inference. That is, inference from things learned by the senses is itself knowledge gained from the senses; inference from knowledge gained by testimony is itself knowledge gained by testimony, etc. Later Jain thinkers would add inference as a separate category, along with memory and tarka or logical reasoning.

Since reality is multi-faceted, none of the pramanas gives absolute or perfect knowledge.

Consequently, all knowledge is only tentative and provisional. This is expressed in Jain philosophy in the doctrine of naya, or partial predication (also known as the doctrine of perspectives or viewpoints).

JAINISM OVERVIEW

Jain Ethics

SONI, JAYANDRA (1998). Jaina philosophy. In E. Craig (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. London: Routledge. Retrieved March 08, 2013, from http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/F005SECT3.

Jaina ethics evolved out of the rules for the ascetic, which served as the model, with necessary changes, for the laity as well. The basic ascetic rules are encapsulated in the so-called five great vows (mahāvratas) ascribed to Mahāvīra, which seem to be a summary of Indian asceticism as a whole from ancient times. The first and foremost of these is nonviolence, which entails total abstinence in thought, word and deed from injury to all life forms. The principle of life is the souls which inhabit atoms, so Jainism emphasizes extreme care with reference not only to plant and animal life forms but also to those in earth, water, fire and air. The vow of nonviolence is extended to include not making another perform acts of violence and not approving them in any way. Further, ascetics, who are usually wandering mendicants, are required to stay in one area during the monsoon to avoid unintentionally disturbing and harming life forms in and as a result of the abundance of water. To avoid inadvertently injuring insects, certain groups of ascetics even cover their mouths and noses, and carry a whisk to keep insects away. The vow of not eating after sunset for the same reason is an ascetic rule and one which is considered to be ethically meritorious when practised by householders.

The other vows are: to abstain from lying, and to take care not to use violent or harmful speech; not to take what is not given; to lead a life of celibacy; and to renounce attachment to the objects of the world, that is, to renounce possession of property.

Jainism’s extreme emphasis on nonviolence is grounded in its metaphysics. Violence is responsible for the maximum amount of karma that can be accumulated by the soul, and since liberation is possible only when karma is completely destroyed, the task is reduced through an avoidance of violent deeds. Physical activity per se is responsible for the accumulation of karma; abstinence from it is symbolized by the famous iconic representations of ascetics standing upright over such long periods that vines grow up their legs – physical control represents the mental control that is also necessary to avoid subtle, inner movement. With the axiom ‘nonviolence is the highest religion’, Jainism summarizes the basis of its ethics and religious life.

The ascetic vows are mirrored in the rules for what the laity should do to exemplify an ethical life. The vow of chastity is relaxed for householders, with sexual contact restricted to the married partner; bearing in mind the ascetic’s great vow of chastity, however, restraint is enjoined as a virtue. Other vows which are included in the religious life of devotees include: nonattachment to property and possessions, and the aim of leading a simple life; religious giving or donation; eschewing excessive and unnecessary travel; fasting on auspicious days of the Jaina calendar.

The mutual reliance of ascetics and laity is evident throughout the history of Jainism. The ascetics do not cook, and rely on the devotees for their daily subsistence, and the laity require the ascetics for their religious teaching and advice. Confession of ethical transgressions belongs to the religious life of both ascetics and laity, who atone for them by penances of religious purification, the aim being to reduce or even completely annihilate the karmic effect of the infringement.

Jainism, together with Buddhism, shows how a religious and virtuous life is possible without the idea of a creator god to whom one can turn, one who is ultimately made responsible for the human condition. Models for ethical life in Jainism are provided by the biographies of the twenty-four Jinas, the conquerors of the passions, of whom Mahāvīra was the last. Indeed, they are worshipped as divine beings, even though the tradition represents them as human beings who through their extreme asceticism gained an insight into the nature of reality, on account of which they are regarded as omniscient. Their lives serve as a guiding principle and, according to the tradition, an emulation of their virtues can lead one to the same goal of liberation that they achieved.

Under the rubric of ethics the issue of voluntary death may be mentioned. Inscriptional evidence records its occurrence throughout the history of Jainism and even in contemporary times, though it has been rare since about the twelfth century. This kind of death, open to both ascetics and laity, is a death that literally makes ‘the physical body and the internal passions emaciated’ (sallekhanā; Pūjyapāda on Tattvārthasūtra V, 22); often it serves to accelerate the death process already in progress. Jainism contrasts this with death that occurs through suicide, which the Jainas eschew because passions such as ‘attachment, aversion or infatuation’ are involved in suicidal death. By virtue of its excellence, the passionless death (which is performed under strict conditions), is regarded as the most effective ascetic practice to rid the soul of binding passions and to terminate an ethical life.

Jain Ethics from Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy

Given that the proper goal for a Jain is release from death and rebirth, and rebirth is caused by the accumulation of karma, all Jain ethics aims at purging karma that has been accumulated, and ceasing to accumulate new karma. Like Buddhists and Hindus, Jains believe that good karma leads to better circumstances in the next life, and bad karma to worse. However, since they conceive karma to be a material substance that draws the soul back into the body, all karma, both good and bad, leads to rebirth in the body. No karma can help a person achieve liberation from rebirth. Karma comes in different kinds, according to the kind of actions and intentions that attract it. In particular, it comes from four basic sources: (1) attachment to worldly things, (2) the passions, such as anger, greed, fear, pride, etc., (3) sensual enjoyment, and (4) ignorance, or false belief. Only the first three have a directly ethical or moral upshot, since ignorance is cured by knowledge, not by moral action.

The moral life, then, is in part the life devoted to breaking attachments to the world, including attachments to sensual enjoyment. Hence, the moral ideal in Jainism is an ascetic ideal. Monks (who, as in Buddhism, live by stricter rules than laymen) are constrained by five cardinal rules, the “five vows”: (1) ahimsa, frequently translated “non-violence,” or “non-harming,” satya, or truthfulness, asteya, not taking anything that is not given, brahmacharya, chastity, and aparigraha, detachment. This list differs from the rules binding on Buddhists only in that Buddhism requires abstention from intoxicants, and has no separate rule against attachment to the things of the world. The cardinal rule of interaction with other jivas is the rule of ahimsa. This is because harming other jivas is caused by either passions like anger, or ignorance of their nature as living beings. Consequently, Jains are required to be vegetarians. According to the earliest Jain documents, plants both are and contain living beings, although one-sensed beings, so even a vegetarian life does harm. This is why the ideal way to end one’s life, for a Jain, is to sit motionless and starve to death. Mahavira himself, and other great Jain saints, are said to have died this way. That is the only way to be sure you are doing no harm to any living being.

While it may seem that this code of behavior is not really moral, since it is aimed at a specific reward for the agent—and is therefore entirely self-interested—it should be noted that the same can be said of any religion-based moral code. Furthermore, like the Hindus and Buddhists, Jains believe that the only reason that personal advantage accrues to moral behavior is that the very structure of the universe, in the form of the law of karma, makes it so.

Jain Ethics from WikipediaThe Five Vows
Jainism encourages spiritual development through cultivation of personal wisdom and through reliance on self-control through vows.

Jains acknowledge that every person has different capabilities and capacities, and therefore they accept different levels of compliance for ascetics and lay followers. Ascetics of this religion undertake five major vows:

Ahimsa :
Ahimsa means non-violence. The first major vow taken by ascetics is to cause no harm to living beings. It involves minimizing intentional and unintentional harm to other living creatures.

Satya :
Satya literally means "truth". This vow is to always speak the truth. Given that non-violence has priority, other principles yield to it whenever they conflict: in a situation where speaking truth could lead to violence, silence is to be observed.

Asteya :
The third vow, asteya, is to not take possession of anything that is not willingly offered. Attempting to extort material wealth from others or to exploit the weak is considered theft.

Brahmacharya:
The vow of brahmacharya requires the exercise of control over the senses by refraining from indulgence in sexual activity.

Aparigraha:
Aparigraha is to observe detachment from people, places and material things. Ascetics completely renounce property and social relations.

Jain Cosmology

Jain cosmology is the description of the shape and functioning of the physical and metaphysical Universe (loka) and its constituents (such as living, matter, space, time etc.) according to Jainism, which includes the canonical Jain texts, commentaries and the writings of the Jain philosopher-monks.

Eternal UniverseJain cosmology considers the loka, or universe, as an uncreated entity, existing since infinity, having neither beginning nor end.

Shape of the UniverseJain texts describe the shape of the universe as similar to a man standing with legs apart and arm resting on his waist.

The Universe is broad at the top, narrow at the middle and once again becomes broad at the bottom.

The universe consists of infinite amount of Jiva (souls).

The narrow waist part comprises various Kshetras, for vicharan (roaming) for humans, animals and plants. Currently we are in the Bharat Kshetra of Jambu Dweep (island).

The Deva Loka (Heavens) are at the symbolic "chest" of Creation, where all devas (gods) reside. Similarly, beneath the "waist" are the Narka Loka (Hell). There are seven Naraka Lokas, each for a varying degree suffering a jiva has to go through to face the consequences of its paap karma (sins). From the first to the seventh Naraka, the degree of suffering increases and light reaching it decreases (with no light in the seventh Naraka).

The sidhha kshetra or moksha is situated at the symbolic forehead of the creation, where all the jivas having attained nirvana reside in a state of complete peace and eternal happiness. Outside the symbolic figure of this creation nothing but aloka or akaasha (sky) exists.

Kalachakra
According to Jainism, time is beginning less and eternal. The Kālacakra, the cosmic wheel of time, rotates ceaselessly. The wheel of time is divided into two half-rotations, Utsarpiṇī or ascending time cycle and Avasarpiṇī, the descending time cycle, occurring continuously after each other.

Utsarpiṇī is a period of progressive prosperity and happiness where the time spans and ages are at an increasing scale, while Avsarpiṇī is a period of increasing sorrow and immorality with decline in time-spans of the epochs. Each of this half time cycle consisting of innumerable period of time (measured in Sagaropama and Palyopama years) is further sub-divided into six aras or epochs of unequal periods. Currently, the time cycle is in avasarpiṇī or descending phase with the following epochs.

Constituents of the Universe
This Universe is made up of what Jains call six dravya or reals or substances classified as follows:

Jīva (Living Substances)

Jīva i.e. Souls - Soul (Jīva) exists as a reality, having a separate existence from the body that houses it. It is characterised by chetana (consciousness) and upayoga (knowledge and perception).[3] Though the soul experiences both birth and death, it is neither really destroyed nor created. Decay and origin refer respectively to the disappearing of one state of soul and appearing of another state, these being merely the modes of the soul.[4]

Ajīva (Non-Living Substances)

Pudgala (Matter)) - Matter is classified as solid, liquid, gaseous, energy, fine Karmic materials and extra-fine matter i.e. ultimate particles. Paramāṇu or ultimate particle (atoms) is the basic building block of all matter. One of the qualities of the Paramāṇu and Pudgala is that of permanence and indestructibility. It combines and changes its modes but its basic qualities remain the same. According to Jainism, it cannot be created nor destroyed.

Dharma-tattva (Principle of Motion) and

Adharma-tattva (Principle of Rest) - Dharmastikāya and Adharmastikāya are distinctly peculiar to Jaina system of thought depicting the principle of Motion and Rest. They are said to pervade the entire universe. Dharma and Adharma are by itself not motion or rest but mediate motion and rest in other bodies. Without Dharmastikāya motion is not possible and without Adharmastikāya rest is not possible in universe.

Ākāśa (Space) - Space is a substance that accommodates the living souls, the matter, the principle of motion, the principle of rest and time. It is all-pervading, infinite and made of infinite space-points.

Kāla (Time) - Kāla is a real entity according to Jainism and all activities, changes or modifications can be achieved only through the progress of time.

Source:Wikipedia:Jain Cosmology

The Universal Form - Do Not Judge The Infinite

PART 1 - "DO NOT JUDGE THE INFINITE"

The question - 'Does God exist?' is half baked. It has no meaning really.

The word 'God' is just a pointer to the infinite.

The word 'exist' is AMBIGUOUS, to say the least.

Contemplative focus on the infinite is the only meaningful exercise. The "Me" in the Bhagvad Gita represents this infinity.


PART 2 - "THE UNIVERSAL FORM"

A confused and fearful Arjun is counselled by Lord Krishna.

In the process of the counselling, Arjun is blessed with visions of the Universal form of Krishna.

To Think Or Not To Think

Our biggest enemies are what we call 'our thoughts'

But our 'thoughts' are not insurmountable.

These are not really 'thoughts', but that is out of scope of this blog entry so we will use the terminology 'thoughts' here.


Firstly we have to know that the out of control stream of 'thoughts' can be controlled and influenced by us. It is very much possible.

Equanimityandpeace.wordpress.com writes:

It is only through conscious intervention that you can make your mind change course from automatically recycling negative thoughts. This is just like your breathing. You breathe automatically, but you CAN choose to influence your breathing, you can hold your breath if you are going to dive deep in the water, or you can consciously “slow down” your breath if you are relaxing in meditation and prayer.

Once I realized I did in fact have “some” ability to control my own thoughts, I consciously redirected the thoughts to positive uplifting notions. I noted that I had built such a large ego over the years that the collapse of it dragged me down in a catastrophic fashion. A big ego is different from self esteem. Both were destroyed, but I learned to regain self esteem through positive affirmations and knowing that the negative thoughts are not reality. I believe having a positive self esteem is important.

"The story is always old.

The silence is always brand new.

Deep breathing gets you in touch with silence."