Tonight's class - 7-14-10

[Rhonda]

(I sent this last night, but I don't think it went through, so I'm
resending it)


I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the cooler (though
muggier)
temps.

Tonight in the beginning of class we will discuss spirits and
visitations of entities outside of the human veil, and our first
meditation will be, what I call " the bead" meditation - a joining
of
awareness with the DNA of the universe which was taught to me by my
spirit guides at Delphi, Greece.

Then Dave will talk briefly about Mantras and give the second part
of
his talk "Introduction to the Basic Principals of Metaphysics",
discussing the essence of what we are and the essence of what we are
not. (adapted from I Am That, by Nisargadatta)

The handout is below and will be uploaded to the site, should you like
to read it in advance. No need to print it - we will have copies for
you at class.

We will finish with a meditation on managing fear, dissolving
attachment to outcome, envisioning realization and illumination.

Once again, I will have plenty of water for you. Please try to come
by
6:30 since we have so much to share. If it is too hot to walk up
from
the Path or rainy, you can take a taxi ( $5 flat fee) or the bus from
Lane 4 at
the terminal ($1.50 exact fare) and get off at 9th street.

Look forward to seeing you all. Any questions, let me know.

All the best,
RS
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Wisdom, Vision & Craft
Class 3, July 14th, 2010

An Introduction to the Basic Principles of Metaphysics - 2
DA Jaquish (adapted from I Am That, by Nisargadatta)

We cannot truly verbalize what we are in essence; we can only describe
what we are not.

But if we try to use words to give some faint hint or glimmer of our
natural state we might describe it as follows: living in a timeless
immovable state of being, a state of grace, of immeasurable bliss and
joy, ever serene; a state of creative freedom, of being and becoming,
yet neither, yet something beyond both; living without memories,
fears, desires or expectations; a witness and servant of the expansion
of consciousness at the source of life, present in all, yet beyond
all; the source of creation yet something prior, an order of reality
that makes the source itself possible.

Be open to the questions:
Are you a body?
Are you your mind?
Are you a person?
Are you your memories and feelings?

Are you something else?

There is in everyone a faint sense of being. A sense “I am”.
Explore it, watch it, stay in the I am as often as you can. At some
point your personality (which is your ego structure formed of beliefs
that you are this or that, that you are a bundle of memories, desire
and fears) separates from the witness (the pure I am). What is left
is your personality which forever remains a product of nature and you
as its clear and ever present witness.

A mystery: your essence is not perceivable, yet without you, nothing
exists.
What you are cannot be described, and the act of perceiving shows we
are not what we perceive. There can’t be perception without you. The
knower, known and witnessing (process of perceiving) arise together.
Their source, your ultimate essence is prior.

The many experiencers that appear in the undivided absolute are
identical in essence, but each is separate in memory. Our essence is
the timeless possibility of all experience.

You don’t have to “get after your essence”, it will “get after you”,
if we let it. Relinquish attachments that feed a false sense of
identity, let go resistance to the flow of life (accept and surrender
to what is, then act).

The dawning of the Real is the dawning of unconditional Love in
experience.

The ordinary mind compares, contrasts, divides, judges and opposes.
Birth of a new mind that harmonizes all differences is possible; this
enlightened mind sees the whole in the part and the part as totally
related to the whole. Ending mental processes as we know them allows
birth of this new mind within.

Nothing has a particular cause. Nothing can happen unless the entire
universe makes it happen. What seems to be the personal urge to do or
achieve something is the result of the entire universe expressing
through one or more of its innumerable channels. Every impulse to act
or create we experience is an expression of the total universe flowing
through us. Flowing with life means acceptance of the rightness of
the world as it is; such surrender to the flow allows creative freedom
to manifest.

Time, space and the concept of causation all arise in the mind; in a
sense we might say the only cause of everything is the Real beyond
consciousness itself because it is the ultimate source and ground from
which existence springs, and from this perspective causality as a
universal law in consciousness would be wrong, because consciousness
springs from the Real, but the real is beyond.

But paradoxically the Real cannot be a cause. It can be said to be
the ultimate source, but no cause can be a source. In fact from the
point of view of enlightened awareness nothing has a particular
cause. We can understand that desire gives rise to birth and death,
but this occurs in the created world, our personal world. The real
world is beyond.

The Real is not bound by the content of the universe -- and
surprisingly neither is the universe itself; the universe is a
manifestation of a principle that is ever free of any cause or
conditioning. The real lives by only one law, the law of freedom.

The illusion of time creates the appearance of causality. No time, no
causality. Memory creates the illusion of continuity. The Real, the
Now exists outside of time; in the now only creative freedom remains.
Ultimately causality does not apply to either the Real or to chaos
(the world of illusion). The cause of any particular is untraceable.

You may trace how a thing happens in time, but you cannot find out why
a thing is as it is. It is as it is, because the universe is as it
is. Nothing happens unless the entire universe makes it happen.

The Real world is beyond the net of desires and conditioning. The net
is full of holes. Holes in the net of conditioning are
contradictions. The very act of seeing the contradictions, the very
awareness for example that we want peace but create discord, that we
want health but violate the laws of nutrition, that we want friendship
and love but manipulate and deceive, the very awareness of our
inconsistencies can dissolve them and lead to more consistent living
of our values, to right motives, right intent and right action.
Awareness heals our wounds and prunes non-purposeful habits and
conditioned reflexes from our ego structure.

It is of supreme importance to live free of contradictions. The path
and the goal must be in sync, they must not be on different levels.
They must ultimately be built of the same substance. Your behavior
must reflect your highest values and beliefs or failure is
inevitable. What is required by the student: honesty, integrity,
sincerity, kindness, tenacity of purpose and purification of what is
crude and immature within.
Keep the attention on the I am and blessings will come from within and
without. No real effort is needed, just diligence and right intent.

The unconscious dissolves when brought into consciousness. Any pain
in our soul, or shortcoming or weakness in our human nature is
overcome or dissolved or transmuted by consciously witnessing our
mental and emotional reactions to people, events or circumstances, or
by re-feeling emotions associated with prior traumas or wounding
events, or through the simple and honest recognition or knowing of an
inadequacy or deficiency within.

The witnessing state is full of power, there is nothing passive about
it. Let it work its will and magic through you. The witnessing state
is the doorway to cosmic intelligence, it has nothing to do with the
tyrant we call human ego. Witnessing in fact dissolves the false
self, the human fictional entity we call ego (a bundle of memories,
habits, fears and desires). Witnessing gains power as we slip the
bonds of ego. Witnessing is essential for the separation of the self
from the not-self.

From a Vedic perspective, shortcomings, agitations or blockages are
primarily the work of rajas guna (principle inherent in creation of
restlessness or motility or action) and tamas guna (principle of
inertia, passivity, darkness, obstruction or sloth). If drawn to
these Sanskrit expressions, we are invited to understand that the
vedic wisdom conveys that just being continuously alert and aware
(witnessing) of the operation of these 2 principles in and through us
throughout the day is enough to transmute in some measure their
influence.

As we engage then in observing thoughts and feelings associated with
the operation of these 2 gunas, what is termed sat guna (principle of
nourishment, purity, goodness, harmony and balance) begins to emerge
of its own accord as a result. Sat guna then begins the process of
rebuilding the personality. It is the colorless light of the trinity
that transforms human nature into its divine potential. Through its
emerging brilliance the dross in our nature is dissolved. The
personality is gradually transformed automatically to reflect the
truth, goodness, creativity, harmony and beauty of the Self. These
manifest as wisdom and beauty in action; fulfillment is inevitable.

In sum, awareness of the operation of restlessness and inertia in your
thoughts and actions will lessen their grip on behavior as well as
their disruption of mental quietude, alchemical transformation of the
soul then happens by itself. As Sattvic qualities spontaneously come
into awareness a point is reached where all that is false and impure
in our nature is transmuted. At this point Full Illumination becomes
possible.

Just keeping these insights in mind, just keeping our awareness easily
on the faint feeling I am, just witnessing our mental and emotional
reflexes and not speaking or acting until we are out of their grip…all
of these when done consistently day in and day out -- while living
with integrity and compassion and acting with honorable motives --
will inevitably lead to illumination. Earnestness, faith, confidence
and a good hope will see us through.
Or just a sincere interest.