Writings
Here I share some of my experiences and understandings gleaned from 40 years of spiritual practice and experience.
Spiritual Misconceptions
What is it to be 'spiritiual'? its a good question one that needs to be thought about quite deeply if wish to find something that approximates the truth. Well something which is common to a lot of spiritual cultures is the experience of pure consciousness,i.e. a condition of bliss and deep peace and spaciousness, I can fully accept this view as it has been my own experience and that of many other people i've communicated with over the years who have been engaged on a spiritual path.
Is there more to it than this? I say yes, there is the whole human aspect also which includes your mind- body thats exisisting here on earth. Accepting that you have a mind which is 'your' mind not just a 'mind' is important. I say this because eastern philosophy is so full of the dismissal of desire and your own body-mind as if it were some big problem in that having them and was a barrier to being spiritual.
I would suggest the complete opposite to be true and that spirituality comes by by including consciousness,mind,body and all your desires,in fact all of it is YOU because You are everything!
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Suffering
Suffering is a part of life and I dont think anybody enjoys it, but if we are alive there is no way it can be avoided. A certain maturity takes place in your relationship to life when you don't try to escape pain with the usual ways 'out which can be' booze,tv,work,drugs,sex.,you name it.
Spiritual awareness changes your perpective and allows you to live with it, and not run away from part of what you are, this is realistic and not fancyfull but for this to occur one needs to be in touch with the transcendent divine aspect of your being.
Openess to life
It's interesting how the more aware we become of the transcendent aspect of ourselves, the more human we tend to become. One important but by no means the only aspect of openess is vulnerability. Let me try and explain a little bit, the natural response to being aware of consciousess itself and provided you dont impose ideas about what it is to be spiritual on your behavour, and allow things to unfold in an organic way is that of vulnerbility, that manifests itself as a reduction of defensiveness through giving yourself the permission to be ordinary and human. This can be experienced as anger,fear,jelousey, loneliness, insecurity or just plain nasty and feel ok about it.
It's being relaxed and accepting with whatever 'stuff' is going on within yourself without condemnation,[ you dont have to like it] that leads you to be less judgemental of others short comings and paradoxicaly feel a greater degree of empathy with life in general.
There is a common belief [I have witnessed in spiritual seekers at least] originating from a misunderstanding of eastern spiritual traditions, that you develop spiritualy if you can be more detached and aloof from 'the world' with an unhealthy preoccupation for self-control, this approach though well intended tends to lead to greater isolation, [self imposed lonelines], and disassociation from life rather than a natural integration and feeling of belonging to this world you live in.
Idealism verses realism
I think for a good part of my short life I've see-sawed between idealism and realism, idealism because I
wanted to live in a better more humanitarian world, the downside of this was a lot of escapism because I did not want to face everyday realities because they often involved pain.
On the other hand the realist in me recognized that facing up to whats real wheather painfull or not was at least living with courage, even if it is difficult.
Being aware of your transcendent nature is very enpowering because it allows you to look right into the most difficult of relative realities yet knowing in essence the supreme reality is pure consciousness and is eternal. The need for idealism dissolves but its still ok to have ideals because they help galvanize your energies to-wards something positive universal and inspiring!
Real love,does it exist?
Yes love exists, there are many types of love according to Indian and Greek philosophy. The most universal and undying love is the love of the divine. This kind of love accepts everything without discrimination because everything is a part of it, i.e. the divine.
How to know this reality? well that's something else, certainly I would say for most of my life I've not been aware of this unique quintessential quality. Doing good, going around smiling sincerly at people even having a loving attitude to life is NOT going to make i! Why? you might ask,well most of us [not all] including me have varying degrees of fraustration,anger,fear,conditioning etc. What I believe will help us based on working effectivley with many people over the years are there are three main things which can bring us closer to that divine love.
First: Is a regular contact with the transcendent aspect of your being which brings peace,awareness and a greater sense of freedom. This can come through regular meditation and frequent contact with an awakened or enlightened person not just a spiritual teacher.
Second: To bring out in a cathartic way some of your own 'shadow self'' [Carl Jung the great swiss psychologist believed that an acknowledgment of this aspect of ourselves was very important to spiritual/human development],as I mentioned before, in can be through drawing,writing even shouting or talking it out with someone who resects the journey you are on.
This process may make you temporarily more self-centred and less interested in other peoples problems, the converse of what you wanted to achieve but a important step. Once you stop pretending and give vent to some of the negative aspects which you 'hold' within, a lightness starts to emerge and an authenticity which will futher enpower you.
Third: A deep love of your ego self no-matter how good or bad you have been in your life, this allows you to relax into the divine/human existance rather than beating yourself up! I dont mean self-love in a vanity sense but in a nuturing maternal way, a caring like you would have for your own child or loved one
The above suggestions allow only the possibility of feeling that divine limitless love that I believe we are all a part of. Ultimately we are that divine love ourselves, and that can known, and that self is forever!
The yoga to only have 'light' in your life,does not work!
If your life is governed by a philosophy of light and goodness alone which denies basic human needs and desires it tend to split the person psychologicaly in two, and can create an internal war rather than freedom. Real peace and joy can only come by uniting the light of consciousness and the shadow part of our humaness which we all posess. .
Living
If you really want to live fully, learn to dance on fire,ha,ha,ha.
Enlightenment, what is it?
Much has been writen on this subject and we here are refering to the eastern spititual understanding of the word rather than the period in western european history called 'The Enlightenment' which was the beginings of modern scientific development.
I've met and spoke to many spiritual teachers,Guru's and awakened souls over the past 40 years, these are my findings and at times, my own experience.
Enlightenment is a condition in which the individual is far more awake and aware than in the normal everyday state of consciousness.
There is a definite knowingness that their is a 'you' that never changes in a world that forever changes, in essence, it is the witness to all else that goes on around you,it is that which gives rise to awareness within you.
A strong sense of being here and now of which you as a personality/individual play no part in it being present, often refered in religious and spiritual wrtings as eternity, because its the same as 'here and now', it's forever. A deep sense of peace and being present, this will be felt much of the time but not necessarily all the time.
A feeling and a perception of being connected to everything in life in some intangible way, a deep intimacy in the way you would expect if you were deeply in love with someone.
This realization is also has the feeling, that all is 'one' [This has been the hallmark of enlightenment which has been spoken about by mystics and visionary philosophers the world over for thousands of years]. That there is just one essence, one reality which has nothing to do with any one particular religion, philosophy or belief system, we already are that 'self' its just a matter of realizing it.
I would say to be enlightened, this condition has to be either a continuous state or a frequently occuring realization.
A great sense of freedom irespective of what conditions exist about you.
A knowledge of being infinite and finite simutaneosly, this is the apparent paradox, i.e.a contradiction,but thats how it is, if 'you' are everything and nothing [Being] then it makes sense, but may sound a bit abstract if you've never experienced it!
What i've found enlightenment found not to be is:
An occasional experience of transcendance/freedom.
A lot of knowledge gained through study and hard work.
A permanant higher state of consciousness, in which you are more awake and aware, but this is a stage on the road to enlightenment, which is a much deeper realisation of the nature of reality.
Trying to be present in the 'here and now' or mindfulness, this is an approach to living which can have many benefits, but is nothing like being fully present which is the natural result of the enlightened condition which requires no effort or need to be especialy attentive in any particular way.
What can catalyse enlightenment? The repeated exposure to an awakened or enlightened being over a period of time, a kind of osmoses takes place which has nothing to do with effort, trying to be 'spiritual', following a teaching or being a 'good' person, these approaches which are not uncommon on spiritual paths,in my experience dont lead to the desired goal!
The whole process just takes place if you have the right catalyst and an open attitude, all goodness etc will flow organically as a RESULT of these dynamics.