The Creation Game (July 2019)
What else is there to do but dream
Up worlds and populate them
With imaginative forms caught up
In crazy, impossible plots and toils?
What else would You do
When there’s none else but You?
~ from the poem None Else, by Swami Abhayananda
Imagine there exists a designer with access to design tools and powers far greater than those available today.
The designer lives a blissful, solitary existence in a timeless state. For entertainment purposes, he decides to create a virtual reality (VR) game world consisting of the most magnificent virtual 3-dimensional immersive background structures. He then enters and plays within the virtual phantasmagoria.
The designer enjoys his majestic virtual reality game world so much that he decides to make innumerable unique extensions of himself and have each one of them enter and play within the virtual game world. Each of these countless new players plays within their own localized version of the game world and interact with the other players that appear in their localized environment. In this way, the designer enjoys playing in his spectacular virtual world not only as his original self but also as the countless individualized unique virtual extensions of himself. An inconceivably grand entertainment.
After a time, the designer decides to end his playing in the virtual world and just reside in his solitary blissful state of existence. All the virtual game players, i.e. the unique individualized virtual extensions of himself, become the designer himself.
Later, the designer chooses to create a new VR game world, and the cycle repeats itself over and over again.
This web posting provides a high-level overview of the designer's virtual reality game world and the action that takes place in it. The posting consists of the following sections;
- The Players
- Game Objective
- Game Levels
- Background Design
- Game Rules
- The Initial Game Version
- The Current Game Version
- Examples of Game Play ~from novice, to intermediate, to advanced, to master players
- "It's All in the Head"
- Final Thoughts
- References
Note - The designer made two basic player body-form types, which for convenience can be referred to as "masculine" or feminine" in a fashion similar to that found in our current world of existence. For ease of writing, the game players in this web posting will be referred to solely as "he" - with the understanding that "he" could just as well be "she."
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The Players |
The first player in the game is the designer himself. To enter the game, the designer puts on a "body-form" of light energy. The designer's virtual "body-form" can take any shape, size or appearance. The designer stays in the game until all the other players have completed the game. At all times, the designer is fully conscious of his real self outside of the game, even though part of him is also always conscious of his virtual play-being within the game. As mentioned above, in order to enhance his enjoyment of the game, the designer creates countless unique individualized virtual extensions of himself, and each of these virtual extensions of the designer plays his own unique game in his own localized game setting. Each of these players enters the game by putting on a virtual "body-form" of condensed light energy. However, unlike the designer, these body-forms are confined to fixed shapes, sizes and appearances (at least at the two lower levels. More on this later). As such, the designer effectively plays the game simultaneously through these innumerable unique virtual extensions of himself. |
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Game Objective 
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For each player, the designer's game of creation has several objectives;
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Game Levels |
The designer created three levels for his virtual creation game, as follows;
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Background Design 
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Imagine that the designer's virtual world took the appearance of a colossal cosmos, universe upon universe, each filled with a host of roaming celestial bodies; whirling galaxies, blazing star clusters, multi-coloured nebulae dancing in interstellar space, black holes, white dwarfs, and vibrant planetary spheres endlessly orbiting mother stars; planets, like the earth, a shining blue and white ball floating in the inky blackness of the ether; with majestic birds soaring in the azure skies; a host of animal species wandering on dry lands, through steamy rain forests and over towering snow-capped mountains; fish swimming in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and oceans; trees, plants and flowers painting checkered canvases over elegant savannas of gold; sparkling crystal springs and waterfalls; exquisite early morning dewdrop reflections on rolling fields of green grass; resplendent arrays of stars emerging from black night skies; bewitching rain-soaked gardens; captivating golden sunsets disappearing beneath entrancing purple-pink horizons; shimmering silver moon rays; puffy white canopies of billowing clouds. Endless variety and dramatic diversity, from tumultuous roars of crashing ocean waves to the soft lilting melodies of songbirds; from dazzling dancing auroras to the blackness of night skies; from musky aromas of autumn woods to the intoxicating fragrances wafting from spring blossoms; from the restless heaving of opal-blue oceans to the peaceful serenity and mirror-like stillness of tree-sheltered ponds; from the lonely cry of loons to symphonies of geese cackling in spring skies; from driving rain storms lashing the landscape to silent gentle snowfalls making sublime blankets of white; from the gentle caressing summer breezes to the driving winds of desert sandstorms; from towering mountain peaks to the elegant intricate patterns of tiny snowflakes; from the glorious colours of tree-covered autumn mountainsides to the stunning starkness of leaf-less tree branches silhouetted by the dim glow of winter’s twilight skies; from the hard density of translucent diamonds to the soft ethereal fragility of delicate rose petals. The miraculous, majestic splendour of the magnificent frozen-light illusion of the cosmos; the designer’s magical virtual world of mystical light. At the Lowest Level of the game, the light energy is densely held together. All of the background structures and body-forms appear dense. In the Middle Level, everything is brighter and lighter. The structures at this level can clearly be seen to be made of translucent light energy. The body-forms, while keeping similar shapes to that at the Lowest Level, are now seen to be forms of light energy. It is a far more beautiful world than the Lowest Level. The Highest Level is inconceivably beautiful. The players' body-forms have far greater freedom; they can change shape into vast forms, move anywhere instantaneously and are made of very subtle light that is easily manipulable by the players into any form they can imagine. At the Lowest Level, the game players are confined to and experience only their own localized segment of the overall game background structures. At the Middle Level, there is more freedom to experience a broader range of the overall game world. At the Highest Level, there is boundless freedom to instantly move anywhere and everywhere in its infinite realm. At the Lowest Level, players must work relatively hard to bring their creative ideas and structures into form. The dense light is not easily manipulable. At the Middle Level, creating new game structures (e.g. flowers, trees, castles, mountains, streams, etc) is easily done by rearranging the ubiquitous light atoms within the game. At the Highest Level, players are able to instantly bring into manifestation magnificent new game structures merely through the power of thought. A mere wish can bring into being new majestic waterfalls, glorious gardens of multi-coloured flowers and even new galaxies of inconceivable beauty. The designer has included game rules for automatically maintaining and evolving the background structures as well as rules that players may follow to modify the background structures and to create new ones. These rules are much like the laws of science that govern our world. At higher levels of the game, there are higher and more advanced rules that would seem miraculous to players at lower levels of the game. Players at the higher levels are aware of how much their own consciousness impacts the game and how consciousness alone can change the background design. |
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Game Rules 
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The rules of the game include the following;
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The Initial Game Version 
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The initial version of the game was magical. The players, each a unique individualized extension of the designer, started out with god-like stature and maintained this magnificence throughout the game. Of course, the real player in each case was the designer himself who, by creating a multitude of unique extensions of himself, was able to play his game through countless virtual versions of himself. By introducing a form of hypnosis, the designer was able to "fool himself" into thinking that each of the players was a separate entity when it fact, each player was really the designer himself. Each of the players donned body-forms to enter the game. The game was played through these forms. Part of the awareness of each player was associated with his pretend virtual body-form and part of his awareness was always conscious of the designer outside of the game. It was a magnificent game. Each of the players was endowed with free will to choose how he was going to play. As well, each of the players was given creative abilities to build new structures to enhance the background of the game. As such, magnificent objects were formed by light energy and were projected into the game's background - galaxies, stars, planets, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, oceans, forests, meadows, etc. The body-forms were equipped with sensory devices that allowed them to enjoy their pretend existence in the pretend world. They enjoyed seeing the magnificent structures of light; they heard the beautiful "music of the spheres" that floated around them; they felt the cool breezes enveloping their body-forms; they enjoyed the fragrances of the blossoms, roses and other enticing aromas that existed all around them; they tasted the delightful food that was formed of the light energy, etc. In this initial game, there were no diseases, no wars. Each player played his own separate game but interacted with other players when they shared a common area of the game. Everyone co-existed in joy and peace. The players started out on the Middle Level. After a joyous time creating and playing at the Middle Level, each player ascended to the Highest Level. As mentioned earlier, the Highest Level is inconceivably glorious. The players each used their enhanced creative abilities to create their own unique game structures and populated them with individualized extensions of themselves. The game backgrounds were unimaginably beautiful. The designer now experienced his game not only through the multitudes of his original unique extensions of himself, but also through the extensions of each of the players as they created their own games within the main game and populated them with extensions of themselves. This resulted in an exponential increase in players, each one a part of the consciousness of the designer - a phenomenon hard to fathom. Finally, after a blissful time at the Highest Level, each player eventually dropped his body-form of light, left the game, and became the designer from whence he came. No death, just a conscious transition out of the game. As part of this marvelous transition, each player acquired the complete consciousness of the designer itself, not just part of the designer's consciousness. It was a magnificent game. |
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Current Game Version 
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After the initial version of the creation game, the designer chose to make his game much more difficult to play for all of the virtual extensions of himself. As mentioned above, a form of hypnosis was introduced in the initial version of the game to allow the virtual extensions of the designer into partially thinking that their body-forms were their real selves. This allowed the players to get involved and enjoy the game more, all the while still retaining awareness of their real identity as unique extensions of the designer. To make the game more difficult, the strength of this hypnotic force was increased such that the players identified more and more with their pretend body-forms within the game. Their sense that their play characters were real became stronger. As such, it now became possible for the players to become so involved in the game that they could lose awareness of their true selves as extensions of the designer. If and when this happened, the players completely believed that their pretend selves were their real selves. They no longer knew their true identity. Now the game's objective was for the players to regain awareness of their true selves as extensions of the designer, play the game from this expanded awareness and then ultimately leave the game altogether, as in the initial version of the game. However, this became quite difficult as the designer added another new twist into the game. He made the hypnotic force not only more powerful but also made it a conscious force, or entity, with an objective to come up with ways to try to keep the players from regaining awareness of their true selves. Let's call this new conscious force/entity in the game, Maya. The designer had indeed made the game much more difficult for each of the unique, individualized virtual extensions of himself. And as will be seen below, the players in this current version of the game are having much difficulty. |
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Examples of Game Play
~ The Novice Player
When the designer first enters the game as a new, unique extension of himself, he does so at the Middle Level. He enters a new body-form of frozen light energy that is equipped with five sense instruments and a mind processor. The body-form at the Middle Level looks similar to a human body form that we are all familiar with, except that the forces that keep the body form of light-energy together are not as strong. As such, the body-form is much less dense.
The Middle Level of the game is quite fascinating with wondrously colourful light structures and exquisite objects to entice the senses. And so the Novice enters the game with his new body-form of light. Part of his consciousness identifies with this new body-form and part of his consciousness identifies with his true self as the designer. The Novice is fascinated by this wondrous 3-D world of light that he is immersed in. He wanders around in a state of joy and spends his time exploring and creating new structures to enhance the game. He enjoys the company of other game players that he encounters. This new individualized extension of the designer can make his own free will choices and also has unique creative abilities to build new structures of light within the game.
Just like a Virtual Reality game player in today's world who can enjoy the game as long as he wants and then can leave the game by simply taking off his VR headset, the Novice knows that he can enjoy this virtual game world of light as long as he wants and then can leave the game and return to being his real self, i.e. the designer, by simply "taking off" his body-form.
At some point, the Novice notices the activities of the animal-forms that occupy the Lowest Level. He decides to lower the vibration of his body-form so that it is much denser and consistent with that required to enter the Lower Level. He then enters this level to observe the activities of the various animal-forms in this much denser game environment. Since higher vibration body-forms are not meant to be at this level, the game automatically sends him a warning to return to the Middle Level. He ignores the warning and continues to explore the Lowest Level. A second warning arrives and tells him that if he stays any longer in this dense environment, he will lose awareness of his true self as the designer and will only retain awareness of his pretend body-form of light energy.
Once again, he chooses to ignore that warning. Soon after, the Novice becomes so confused in the dense environment of the Lowest Level that he indeed loses awareness of his true self. He is now only aware of his pretend lower vibration dense body-form. And at the Lowest Level, the body-form is quite a bit different than the body-form of the Middle Level. The Lower Level body-form has many limitations;
Once the Novice player loses awareness of his true self as the designer, he becomes quite confused and fearful - Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? And then the demands of his lower body-form start calling - he needs food and water, he has to protect his body-form from injury. Soon groups of body-forms band together to help protect each other. Fights over access to food and land become common; sometimes they grow into wars between opposing groups. Life is mostly survival.
The Novice player's primary source of contentment comes from the pleasures available through the sense instruments associated with the lower body-form. As such, the Novice seeks out the pursuit of these pleasures as often as possible. This builds desires into the Novice's mind processor such that the pursuit of sense pleasures is now almost insatiable.
And then, at some point, the body-form dies - either from disease, injuries or it just wears out. At this point the rules of the game require that this individualized extension of the designer must take on a new body-form within the game. He cannot leave the game because he has forgotten how to do so, i.e. he no longer remembers his true self outside of the game.
The Novice now takes on a body-form in the much more glorious realm of the Middle Level, from whence he originally started the game. This time around the Novice does not remember his true self as an extension of the designer but instead thinks that his true self is this new body-form. However, it is a much more enjoyable existence that that at the Lowest Level.
After a time, the unquenchable desires built up for the sense pleasures of the lower body-form are such that the Novice player returns to the Lowest Level again and takes on a new body-form. Now, however, the Novice's body-form at the Lowest Level starts out as an infant baby - an almost helpless body-form totally dependent on others to keep it alive. It is a far cry from the freedoms of the body-form at the Middle Level. Gradually the lower body-form grows into a fully functional one but now the Novice player has to re-train its mind processor to reacquire the forgotten mental skills of his previous existence. It is a slow process into a fully functional body-form.
And then, the Novice player begins another round of struggles for survival and chasing sense pleasures at the Lowest Level.
The Middle Level of the game is quite fascinating with wondrously colourful light structures and exquisite objects to entice the senses. And so the Novice enters the game with his new body-form of light. Part of his consciousness identifies with this new body-form and part of his consciousness identifies with his true self as the designer. The Novice is fascinated by this wondrous 3-D world of light that he is immersed in. He wanders around in a state of joy and spends his time exploring and creating new structures to enhance the game. He enjoys the company of other game players that he encounters. This new individualized extension of the designer can make his own free will choices and also has unique creative abilities to build new structures of light within the game.
Just like a Virtual Reality game player in today's world who can enjoy the game as long as he wants and then can leave the game by simply taking off his VR headset, the Novice knows that he can enjoy this virtual game world of light as long as he wants and then can leave the game and return to being his real self, i.e. the designer, by simply "taking off" his body-form.
At some point, the Novice notices the activities of the animal-forms that occupy the Lowest Level. He decides to lower the vibration of his body-form so that it is much denser and consistent with that required to enter the Lower Level. He then enters this level to observe the activities of the various animal-forms in this much denser game environment. Since higher vibration body-forms are not meant to be at this level, the game automatically sends him a warning to return to the Middle Level. He ignores the warning and continues to explore the Lowest Level. A second warning arrives and tells him that if he stays any longer in this dense environment, he will lose awareness of his true self as the designer and will only retain awareness of his pretend body-form of light energy.
Once again, he chooses to ignore that warning. Soon after, the Novice becomes so confused in the dense environment of the Lowest Level that he indeed loses awareness of his true self. He is now only aware of his pretend lower vibration dense body-form. And at the Lowest Level, the body-form is quite a bit different than the body-form of the Middle Level. The Lower Level body-form has many limitations;
- it is a mortal form with a finite lifetime before disintegrating
- it is subject to diseases to both the body-form itself as well as to the mind processor, which can cause suffering and premature disintegration
- it is fragile and is easily maimed or terminated by accidents or attacks by other body-forms
- It must undergo constant maintenance to stay functional, including regularly receiving revivifying light energy in the form of food and water
Once the Novice player loses awareness of his true self as the designer, he becomes quite confused and fearful - Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? And then the demands of his lower body-form start calling - he needs food and water, he has to protect his body-form from injury. Soon groups of body-forms band together to help protect each other. Fights over access to food and land become common; sometimes they grow into wars between opposing groups. Life is mostly survival.
The Novice player's primary source of contentment comes from the pleasures available through the sense instruments associated with the lower body-form. As such, the Novice seeks out the pursuit of these pleasures as often as possible. This builds desires into the Novice's mind processor such that the pursuit of sense pleasures is now almost insatiable.
And then, at some point, the body-form dies - either from disease, injuries or it just wears out. At this point the rules of the game require that this individualized extension of the designer must take on a new body-form within the game. He cannot leave the game because he has forgotten how to do so, i.e. he no longer remembers his true self outside of the game.
The Novice now takes on a body-form in the much more glorious realm of the Middle Level, from whence he originally started the game. This time around the Novice does not remember his true self as an extension of the designer but instead thinks that his true self is this new body-form. However, it is a much more enjoyable existence that that at the Lowest Level.
After a time, the unquenchable desires built up for the sense pleasures of the lower body-form are such that the Novice player returns to the Lowest Level again and takes on a new body-form. Now, however, the Novice's body-form at the Lowest Level starts out as an infant baby - an almost helpless body-form totally dependent on others to keep it alive. It is a far cry from the freedoms of the body-form at the Middle Level. Gradually the lower body-form grows into a fully functional one but now the Novice player has to re-train its mind processor to reacquire the forgotten mental skills of his previous existence. It is a slow process into a fully functional body-form.
And then, the Novice player begins another round of struggles for survival and chasing sense pleasures at the Lowest Level.
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Examples of Game Play 
Characters from the movie 
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This cycle of going back and forth between lifetimes spent at the Middle Level and the Lowest Level continues for the Novice player and other players who are part of the game. Initially unbeknownst to the players, the game includes a rule that "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Let's call this game rule the law of karma. It means that should a player make good choices involving his interactions with his fellow players and his game background, then good interactions are returned to him by others and his game background is a good one (e.g. living in a peaceful country vs living in a war zone). However, if bad choices are made in interactions with others and with his game background (e.g. polluting rivers, destroying lands, etc.), then his fellow players will treat him badly and his game environment will no longer be a good one. The above is a much simplified summary of a complicated game rule. More on this can be found in the references at the end of this posting. The law of karma takes much time to figure out because the time between the action and the reaction is not instant. In fact, the time delay may cross over into a subsequent lifetime. The law allows time for each player to think about his poor choices and, hopefully, to decide not to make such choices again. If so, then the game rules are such that there is no negative reaction to that player. However, if the player does not correct his behaviour within the allowed amount of time, and continues to make the same bad choices, then "the school of hard knocks" becomes his teacher, i.e. the game inflicts the same negative experience on the player that he inflicted on another player. The player experiencing the school of hard knocks may choose to react in one of two ways; he may (1) recognize how much pain he has inflicted on his fellow player(s) and resolve not to make such bad choices again, or (2) he can become resentful and continue his poor choices. If he makes choice number (1) he has successfully learned what was needed to be learned. If he makes choice (2) the school of hard knocks will come calling again and again until he finally learns. So now, a player who has moved to the Middle Level finds himself being called back to the Lowest Level not only due to sense desires but also due to karma that needs to be resolved. And just to make things even more difficult, the conscious force/entity of Maya, mentioned earlier, is working full-time within the game to keep the players trapped at the Lowest Level of the game. Maya does this by encouraging discord amongst the players and by enhancing desires such that players will need to keep returning to the Lowest Level after short, refreshing stays in the Middle Level. The designer has made his game quite difficult for himself. The players, the unique individualized extensions of himself created so that the designer can experience his game through multiple forms, have forgotten their true identity and have come to believe that their pretend body-forms of light energy are who they are. The game now requires that the designer overcome this delusion in each of his play-selves and then get back to playing the game with the awareness of his true self. And the conscious force of Maya continues to make things difficult for the players by creating conditions that encourage karma-inducing bad choices. Some of these conditions include the introduction of unfavourable structures into the game's background that act as a catalyst for the players to make poor choices. Many of the discordant structures and conditions at the Lowest Level are directly due to the work of Maya, e.g. desolate landscapes, violent storms, savage animals, pests, wars, hunger, suffering, diseases, etc. It is a complicated game played back and forth between the Lowest Level and the Middle Level. Each round provides the players with opportunities to learn (often through the suffering inherent in the school of hard knocks) and to try to play the game better. And so the cycle continues over and over again, lifetime after lifetime. It is to be noted that the game rules are such that those players who are dear to each other, e.g. family members and dear friends, travel together. Players close to each other in one lifetime will return together next time around. Of course, each of the players will have a different body-form and will play a different role in subsequent lives, but the players will intuitively feel a deep attraction towards each other as they travel together in each new life. As well, in addition to individual karma, there is also a "group karma" rule in the game that may cause small or large groups of players to return together in their next lifetime. See references at the end of this posting for more on this. |
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Examples of Game Play 
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Eventually, the suffering inherent in playing the game at the Lowest Level becomes a prod to awaken the intuitive minds of the players. This is a rule that the designer built into the game such that if the free will choices of the players become such that they cannot escape the Lowest Level, then the cumulative impact of many, many lifetimes of suffering opens their minds to receiving a message from their true selves, i.e. the designer, to encourage them to find a path to get to the higher game levels. When this intuitive message arises in the mind of a player, he begins to seek answers and ways to escape his predicament. At first, he seeks answers from books and other available information sources that are readily available to all those who seek. Gradually, as the intensity of a player's desire to permanently leave behind the Lowest Level becomes acute, he is led to advanced teachings that can help him. Eventually, after practicing these teachings long enough, he is able to escape the need to return to the Lowest Level. *** Now, the player cycles between stays at the Middle Level and the Highest Level. Eventually, the attraction of the beautiful environment of the Middle Level wanes compared to the almost inconceivably gorgeous environment of the Highest Level. At that point, the player remains at the Highest Level. Here, his creative abilities find their greatest potential. At the Lowest Level, creating things is very difficult due to the very dense nature of the structures. Much effort is required to create. At the Highest Level however, everything is made of almost transparent light. At the mere wish of a player, new structures are formed instantaneously. Eventually, each player learns how to create his own personal universe and how to populate it with unique, individualized extensions of himself, in a similar manner to that originally performed by the designer. Now, in effect, the designer can experience his virtual game not only through his original creation but also through the game creations of the multitudes of his extended selves. Eventually, each player decides that he will leave the game altogether. In so doing, he drops the almost translucent body form of the Highest Level and becomes the designer again. *** The references at the end of this posting describe in more detail the methods by which a player can escape not only the Lowest Level but all levels of the game and ultimately return to his original status as the designer himself. |
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Examples of Game Play 
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A Master Player is one who has "graduated" out of the game but who volunteers to re-enter the game a second time. This is so he may help those struggling players who are trapped in the almost endless cycles of traversing the lower game levels due to unresolved karma and desires. The conscious force of Maya, which the designer created to make the game more difficult, has been doing his job quite effectively, such that the players are having a very arduous time. The role of the Master Players is to help counteract Maya and make the game a bit easier. The Master Players do so by teaching those interested in the ways to counteract Maya and how to progress to the higher levels of the game and ultimately how to leave the game altogether. The rules require that the Master Players enter the game in the same way as everyone else. For Master Players helping those at the Lowest Level that means taking on a body-form consistent with that level, i.e. an infant body-form. This infant body-form must grow into a fully functional body-form like any other player. The Master Player must also re-acquire the total knowledge of the game that he had gained upon "graduation." This is typically done in what we would describe as his "teenage years," after which he spends his time helping other players. ** It is ironic that Master Players are not often received graciously by the struggling players trapped in the game, even though each Master Player's sole purpose is to help them. Maya works overtime to try to discredit the Master Players and to try to convince the struggling players to not believe or follow the instructions of the Masters. Nothing is easy when Maya gets involved. A Master Player may be referred to as an advanced mystic or avatar. More on this in a future posting. ** on occasion, a Master Player is allowed to take on a temporary body-form and enter the game "out of nowhere" in order to help an advanced player. The Master Player then dissolves the temporary body-form and exits the game again. This is done relatively rarely. |
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"It's All in the Head" 
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When one of today's Virtual Reality game players puts on his headset, a new world appears before him and all around him. He is immersed in the game world's background as he takes on the role of a character within the game. All of the activities of the game player's character are carried out within the 3-D background in which the game player finds himself. While in the game with his headset on, today's VR game player can travel to distant lands; fly fighter airplanes; be involved in wars; raise a family; be a global emissary; live on a farm, etc. During all of these experiences, the game player has the sense that he is moving around from place to place in this new world and is actually experiencing all these activities. But he has gone nowhere. He has performed no activities. All of the action is taking place within his consciousness. When he takes off the VR headset, he realizes that all of the world travels and all of the myriad activities of the game were all carried out solely in his mind. The game's action was only in his consciousness. The designer's game described above is just like that. The real game players are each of the unique, individualized extensions of the designer. When they put on a body-form in order to enter the game, all of the activities are undertaken by the virtual, pretend body-forms within whatever game background they find themselves. The body-forms are only light energy creations and are not real. They are only part of the pretend game of the designer. Like today's Virtual Reality game players, the individualized extensions of the designer actually go nowhere. All of the activities of the pretend body-forms take place solely within the consciousness of the individualized extensions of the designer. However, as mentioned above, the game players have come to believe that their play selves are real and that their body-forms are their true selves. They believe that all of the activities and travels within whatever game background they find themselves actually occurred. But, in actuality, the action is solely taking place within the consciousness of each of the individualized extensions of the designer. Once a player ultimately remembers who he truly is, he will laugh and realize that he has been fooled - none of the rise and fall of civilizations were real; none of his grief and sorrows over multiple lifetimes within the game were real; none of the body-forms that he occupied during many, many lifetimes within the game were real. It has all just been a fantastic game. Throughout, he has always just been his real self, a unique individualized extension of the designer. In fact, even his existence as a unique, individualized extension of the designer has been a charade. They is really none other than the game designer himself. And after the many, many, many rounds of the game have been played by countless players, everything resolves back to what it was before the game started. Each of the players becomes the designer, whom he was before the game started. It has all been a stupendous fantasy. |
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Final Thoughts 
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The above is a high level overview of the designer's game of creation. To keep this posting short, much has been left out. As an example, the game summary outlined above describes a sequence in which a player (i) starts at the Middle Level, (ii) gets trapped at the Lowest Level, (iii) cycles between the Lowest Level and the Middle Level, (iv) cycles between the Middle Level and the Highest Level, (v) enjoys the Highest Level, and then (vi) finally graduates out of the game. However, it is quite possible to graduate out of the game directly from the Lowest Level under certain conditions. The references below provide much more detail. A question that arises to many players - did the designer make the current version of his game too difficult? Some players who finally achieved the goal of regaining the awareness of their true selves think so. Is it possible that the designer may relax the rules for his next game version? Perhaps. Are each of us playing in a virtual game world much like that of the designer's game world described above? Have we forgotten our true selves beyond the game? Have modern day mystics, philosophers and scientists been trying to tell us that our world is a game being played within our minds? Is that what the quotations below mean? “The world you perceive is made of consciousness; what you call matter is consciousness itself.” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj According to quantum theory, the greenness of grass, the hardness of stones, the coldness of snow - in fact the entire “outside world”─does not exist “out there,” independently of and separate from ourselves, but rather, exists nowhere except within our own minds.” ~ Paul Levy “Every man’s world picture is and always remains a construct of his mind.” ~ Erwin Schrödinger (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1887 – 1961) “Even when we intellectually accept the fact that our entire world of experience is a construction within the mind, as eventually we must, we still see this world ‘out there,’ around us.” ~ Peter Russell (scientist, futurist, philosopher, b1946) “The fact is that you are not the body. The Self does not move. The world moves in it.” ~ Ramana Maharshi “All these universes, humans, objects, thoughts and events are merely pictures moving on the screen of Pure Consciousness, which alone is real.” ~ Ramana Maharshi All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world." ~ Buddha "It’s an enormous step forward to realize for oneself that all the unhappiness, discontent and conflict in most people’s lives originate within the structures of our minds rather than being externally caused.” ~ Eckhart Tolle “This very room and the universe are floating like a motion picture on the screen of my consciousness.” ~ P. Yogananda This posting concludes with a sublime summary on this topic taken from the writings of the great modern-day mystic Paramahansa Yogananda, whose god-consciousness allowed him to experience and witness everything within this majestic creation game as well as directly experience the Spirit designer beyond the creation game. “When no goblin nebulae breathed and glided in the space body, when no fire-eyed baby planets opened their eyes in the cradle of space, when no star-rivers ran across the tracts of infinite space, when the ocean of space was unpeopled, uninhabited by floating island universes, when the sun and moon and planetary families did not swim in space, when a little ball of earth with its dollhouses and diminutive human beings did not exist, when no object of any kind had come into being - Spirit existed. This Unmanifested Absolute cannot be described except that It was the Knower, the Knowing, and the Known existing as One. In It the being, Its cosmic consciousness, and Its omnipotence, all were without differentiation: ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever newly joyous Spirit. In this Ever-New Bliss, there was no space or time, no dual conception or law of relativity; everything that was, is, or is to be existed as One Undifferentiated Spirit. Space and time and relativity are categories of objects; as soon as a human being sees a planet hanging in the sky, he conceives that it is occupying dimensional space and existing in time, relative to its place in the universe. But when there were no finite objects of creation, neither were there the dimensions of being that define them, only the Blissful Spirit. When, whence, and why came creation into being? Who may make bold to read the Mind of the Infinite in seeking causes from the Uncaused, beginnings from the Ever-Existing, paltry reasons from Omniscience? Audacious mortals pursue their queries, while sages enter that Mind and return to state in unadorned simplicity that the One entertained a desireless desire to enjoy His Bliss through many, and the cosmos and its beings were born. The Unmanifested Spirit felt, "I am alone. I am conscious Bliss, but there is no one to taste the sweetness of My Nectar of Joy." Even as He thus dreamed, He became many. Spirit, being the only existing Substance, had naught but Itself with which to create. Spirit and Its universal creation could not be essentially different, for two ever-existing Infinite Forces would consequently each be absolute, which is by definition an impossibility. An orderly creation requires the duality of Creator and created. Thus, Spirit first gave rise to a Magic Delusion, Maya, the cosmic Magical Measurer, which produces the illusion of dividing a portion of the Indivisible Infinite into separate finite objects, even as a calm ocean becomes distorted into individual waves on its surface by the action of a storm. All creation is nothing but Spirit, seemingly and temporarily diversified by Spirit’s creative vibratory activity.” |
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Some Interesting Thoughts from Today's Scientists and Technology Leaders
“While the world we see is in some sense “real”, it is not located at the fundamental level of reality.” ~ Nick Bostrom, Professor at Oxford University, with a background in theoretical physics, computational neuroscience, logic, artificial intelligence, and philosophy
Rich Terrile, a computer scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California thinks the ability to model sentient beings could soon be within our grasp. “We are within a generation of being those gods who create universes."
“If you assume any rate of improvement at all, games will eventually be indistinguishable from reality. We’re most likely in a simulation.” ~ Elon Musk, billionaire entrepreneur, founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors
"I think it’s more likely than not that we are in some kind of a simulated universe" ~ Rizwan Virk, computer scientist, entrepreneur, bestselling author, video game industry pioneer and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s PlayLabs program
Question - How close are we to having the technological capacity to build an artificial world that’s as realistic and plausible as The Matrix?
Rizwan Virk - ..... We’re at about stage five, which is around virtual reality and augmented reality ..... my guess is within a few decades to 100 years from now, we will reach the simulation point.
Rizwan Virk recalls playing a virtual reality game so realistic that he forgot that he was in an empty room with a headset on.
“While the world we see is in some sense “real”, it is not located at the fundamental level of reality.” ~ Nick Bostrom, Professor at Oxford University, with a background in theoretical physics, computational neuroscience, logic, artificial intelligence, and philosophy
Rich Terrile, a computer scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California thinks the ability to model sentient beings could soon be within our grasp. “We are within a generation of being those gods who create universes."
“If you assume any rate of improvement at all, games will eventually be indistinguishable from reality. We’re most likely in a simulation.” ~ Elon Musk, billionaire entrepreneur, founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors
"I think it’s more likely than not that we are in some kind of a simulated universe" ~ Rizwan Virk, computer scientist, entrepreneur, bestselling author, video game industry pioneer and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s PlayLabs program
Question - How close are we to having the technological capacity to build an artificial world that’s as realistic and plausible as The Matrix?
Rizwan Virk - ..... We’re at about stage five, which is around virtual reality and augmented reality ..... my guess is within a few decades to 100 years from now, we will reach the simulation point.
Rizwan Virk recalls playing a virtual reality game so realistic that he forgot that he was in an empty room with a headset on.
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References |
Introduction
The Players
Game Objective
Game Levels
Background Design
Game Rules
The Initial Game Version
The Current Game Version
Examples of Game Play
"It's All in the Head"
Final Thoughts
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Edgar Cayce, the "Sleeping Prophet"
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The Sleeping Prophet (October 2019)
Edgar Cayce (pronounced Casey) was born on a tobacco farm in Kentucky, in 1877. At the age of twenty-four, Cayce discovered that he had the ability to lie on a sofa and put himself into a trance-like state in which, given only the name and address of individuals, he could provide a detailed medical diagnosis and treatment for them. These events became known as "readings'" and most were transcribed by his stenographer. In 1910, the New York Times brought the first major national attention to the now 33-year old "sleeping prophet." In the 1920s, Cayce’s trance readings expanded beyond medicine to include “life readings,” in which he explored a person’s inner conflicts and needs. These readings made reference to astrology, karma, reincarnation, meditation, the lost years of Jesus, comparative religions, dream interpretation, life after death, creation and the role of man, spiritual development, and other esoteric topics. Other times, he expounded on global prophecies, climate or geological changes, as well as the lost history of mythical cultures, such as Atlantis and Lemuria. Cayce's readings have provided fascinating insights into our world as well as the worlds beyond. His description of creation and the role of man within it is enthralling. |
This posting consists of the following sections;
- Background
- World Predictions
- Universal Religion
- Matter, Space and Time
- Creation and the Role of Man
- Final Thoughts
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1 - Background 
A.R.E. in Virginia Beach
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Edgar Cayce was an average individual in most respects: a loving husband, a father of two children, a skilled photographer, a devoted Sunday School teacher, and an eager gardener. He had only an eighth grade education and rarely ventured beyond the Bible Belt environs of his childhood. While his knowledge of Scripture was encyclopedic, Cayce's reading tastes were otherwise limited. Yet, he was one of the most remarkable psychic talents of all time. Over a forty year period, he amassed over 15,000 psychic readings. There are copies of over 14,300 of them at his Association for Research and Enlightenment, or A.R.E., in Virginia Beach. While the majority of the readings were medical in nature, Cayce's more than 2,000 "life readings" were the most fascinating. For these, he traveled back in time to people's former lifetimes in order to find the cause of conditions that were manifesting in their current lives. These journeys into the past were quite entrancing. Cayce had no recollection of anything he said during his trance states. He learned what he had spoken by reading the transcripts. The life readings were a source of tortuous self-doubt for Cayce. Brought up in an environment of strict, orthodox, southern Bible Belt Christianity, much of the information that he brought back from these life readings was inconsistent with his fundamentalist Christian beliefs. More on this shortly. The readings brought back information which the awakened Cayce would have had no knowledge about. The source of the material that came to him during the readings was twofold. The first was the subconscious mind of the individual which holds the sum-total of all the experiences of that soul throughout time. This information is “written" not only in the subconsciousness of the individual but also into what is known as the Akashic records. The Akashic Records were the second source of Cayce's information. The mystics have said that everything that has ever happened throughout time is stored in the Book of Life or the Akashic Records. The Akashic Records is a term derived from ancient Vedic writings, in which akasha is a kind of universal ether. Upon time and space is written the thoughts, the deeds, the activities of an entity ... Hence, as it has been oft called, the record is God's book of remembrance. ~ Edgar Cayce Reading 1650-1 "Everything that has happened throughout the ages is recorded in the ether" ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, from The Divine Romance More than just a reservoir of events, the Akashic Records contain every deed, word, feeling, thought, and intent that has ever occurred at any time in the history of the world. The Akashic Records are not solely a transcription of the past but also include the present and the future (based on most-likely probabilities). As such, Yogananda wrote in a poem that while in god-consciousness, he was aware of the "thoughts of all men, past, present, to come." The acceptance of Cayce's psychic work is evidenced by approximately one dozen biographies and literally hundreds of titles which explore various aspects of the readings and the thousands of topics that were covered. The earliest biography, entitled, “There Is a River,” was written by Thomas Sugrue while Cayce was still alive. When the book first appeared in 1942, it brought Cayce worldwide attention that surpassed earlier newspaper articles. |
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2 - World Predictions 
Dead Sea Scrolls
Lost Continent of Atlantis
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Edgar Cayce is perhaps best remembered for his world predictions, some of which happened, some of which are yet to happen, and some of which may never occur. Dire predictions of terrible future world events are put forth by seers with the intent of having them not occur. Nothing in the future is definite, i.e. events can change if world consciousness changes. Predictions are "most probable" outcomes based on mass human consciousness and the choices that people are mostly likely to make. Should a sufficiently large enough group of humans make better or higher choices, then future negative events can be changed, modified or completely eliminated. Such is the power of our co-creation and karma mitigating abilities. As our collective consciousness changes, so does the world. Prophecies of catastrophic events are never given for any other purpose than as a warning. For this reason, a successful prophecy is one that has been averted and therefore does not happen. Cayce would repeatedly say that even the Lord of Lords could not accurately predict upcoming events because human free will can alter and change the future. With this in mind, it has been claimed that Cayce's accuracy in his medical readings and world predictions was about 80 to 90%. Here are some world predictions that Cayce made, many years prior to their happening;
Cayce made other predictions that have yet to happen, e.g.
It is interesting to note that warming of the colder regions of the planet has already been noted by today's scientists and has been attributed to increased greenhouse gas in the atmosphere (due primarily to fossil fuel combustion and various industrial processes). Cayce's above predictions suggest other causes as well. |
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3 - Universal Religion 
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"Coordinate the teachings, the philosophies of the east, and the west, the oriental and the occidental, the new truths and the old... Correlate not the differences, but where all religions meet- there is one God! " ~ Edgar Cayce Reading 991-1 Edgar Cayce was a devout Bible Belt Christian who read the complete Bible once every year. As mentioned above, he had much difficulty accepting the information that came to him during the readings that touched on religious topics. The readings consistently described a Universal Religion that was more compatible with Eastern philosophy than orthodox, fundamental Christian views. Cayce was uninformed on the other great religions of the world. The principles of these great religions, said the readings, are essentially all the same - they are only clothed in the different garments of language and time. This was difficult for Cayce to accept. The Bible maintains a careful distinction between God and man. God is the Creator; man is His creature. The Bible also maintains a clear distinction between Jesus and other men. In the Bible, it is stated that Jesus is the completely unique God-man; no other man is like Him. Jesus is universally recognized as one of the greatest mystics and avatars to have walked this planet. However, contrary to orthodox Christianity, Jesus is not the only son of God, nor did he claim to be. Each one of us is a unique, individualized extension of God. We are gods. Jesus knew his divine status and tried to awaken the same divine status in others. He reminded us that, "Ye are gods." The oneness between man and God described in the Cayce's teachings is essentially the same as the Advaita Vedanta teachings of the East. Mystics of all lands and ages have discovered this oneness of man and God through their own mystic experiences. Eventually, Cayce came to appreciate the universal approach of a One Religion that encompasses the true teachings of all great spiritual teachings and which avoids all the dogma and inaccuracies that have plagued orthodox religions for some time. The One Religion that Cayce described in his readings is the same as that described in this website, as expressed in the words of the mystics of all lands and times. Similarly, after the first reading in which he mentioned reincarnation, Cayce's reaction was to stop giving readings. However, over time he accepted the doctrine of reincarnation and found it to be consistent with his Christian views after he found a few remaining references to reincarnation that remain the Bible (the same ones that are outlined in the Karma and Reincarnation section of this website). Most references to reincarnation had been removed from the Bible around 500AD by unenlightened Church officials. The following are summaries on this topic put together by Cayce researchers;
"Each soul has again, and yet again, the opportunity for making its paths straight" |
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4 - Matter, Space and Time 
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As an introduction to the next section, below are some views on matter, space and time from the Cayce readings. MATTER:
SPACE AND TIME:
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5 - Creation and the Role of Man 
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Perhaps the most interesting contribution that Cayce made to universal knowledge is the fascinating story of creation that he brought back from his journeys into the higher realms of consciousness. What is remarkable is that this description of creation is essentially the same as that told by the mystics - just expressed using different words that are unique and quite compelling. The resulting account is eloquent, profound and transcending. The following are extracts from the writings of various Cayce scholars (primarily John Van Auken and Kevin Williams) who have studied the readings on these topics and have summarized them as follows; CREATION:
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THOUGHTS
DESTINY OF MAN
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6 - Final Thoughts 
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Edgar Cayce was a fascinating and unique being. He lived a simple life and tried as much as possible to avoid fame. He was unmoved by newspaper headlines and offers of large sums of money. He loved to talk about the Bible and would always be ready to preach a sermon. He was not averse to taking an occasional drink and was a chain-smoker. Although he never earned more than a modest living at best, and was desperately poor at times, he turned down all efforts by others to commercialize the readings. His life was not easy. His fellow residents in the Bible Belt of a very conservative southern United States during the first half of the twentieth century had a hard time accepting the readings that talked about reincarnation, lost civilizations in Atlantis and Lemuria, astrology, meditation, man's status as gods, etc. Cayce himself struggled to accept the words from his own readings. Of course, everyone was happy with his medical readings and cures, in spite of the fact that Cayce in his normal consciousness had no medical training. In his later years, Cayce wrote a brief account of his work, as such; "The life of a person endowed with such powers is not easy. For more than forty years now I have been giving readings to those who came seeking help. Thirty-five years ago the jeers, scorn and laughter were even louder than today. I have faced the laughter of ignorant crowds, the withering scorn of tabloid headlines, and the cold smirk of self-satisfied intellectuals. But I have also known the wordless happiness of little children who have been helped, the gratitude of fathers and mothers and friends... I believe that the attitude of the scientific world is gradually changing towards these subjects." And, indeed, the scientific discoveries of the twenty-first century have confirmed much of the information from Cayce's scientific readings. And contemporary mystics have described Cayce's more esoteric topics of reincarnation, lost civilizations, man's status as gods, etc. in a way that is remarkably similar to his own. Approximately one dozen biographies and more than 300 titles that discuss various aspects of Cayce's life and work have been written. Some of the more classic books include There is a River: The Story of Edgar Cayce (1942) by Thomas Sugrue; Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Prophet (1967) by Jess Stearn; Many Mansions (1950) by Gina Cerminara, and Edgar Cayce-An American Prophet (2000) by Sidney Kirkpatrick. The Cayce readings relating to creation, human origins and the role of man are a priceless contribution to mankind's understanding of who we are, why we are here and what is our destiny. |
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The Timeless Path of Yoga (January2020)
Modern Hatha Yoga has become very popular, with yoga studios proliferating across North America and other parts of the world for the last several decades. Statistics suggest that there are over 300 million hatha yoga practitioners worldwide.
Meanwhile the spiritual science of yoga continues as it has for millennia, offering a path for those few (less than 1%) who are actively seeking enlightenment and God-consciousness.
This posting addresses these two paths as well as some misconceptions that have arisen regarding them. The posting is divided into the following sections;
1 - Brief History of Yoga
2 - Modern Hatha Yoga
3 - Spiritual Yoga
4 - The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali
5 - A Few Misconceptions
6 - Final Thoughts
Modern Hatha Yoga has become very popular, with yoga studios proliferating across North America and other parts of the world for the last several decades. Statistics suggest that there are over 300 million hatha yoga practitioners worldwide.
Meanwhile the spiritual science of yoga continues as it has for millennia, offering a path for those few (less than 1%) who are actively seeking enlightenment and God-consciousness.
This posting addresses these two paths as well as some misconceptions that have arisen regarding them. The posting is divided into the following sections;
1 - Brief History of Yoga
2 - Modern Hatha Yoga
3 - Spiritual Yoga
4 - The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali
5 - A Few Misconceptions
6 - Final Thoughts
1 - Brief History of Yoga 
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The origins of Yoga go back 5,000 to 10,000 years, possibly earlier. The long and rich history of Yoga can be divided into the following main periods;
In the 1890s, Swami Vivekananda opened the door to the spiritual side of yoga to Americans. He was followed in the 1920s by Paramahansa Yogananda, the God-conscious master whose world mission of spreading spiritual teachings through advanced scientific meditation techniques started in America and spread worldwide. In the 1920s and 1930s, Hatha Yoga was strongly promoted in India with the work of T. Krishnamacharya, Swami Sivananda and others. Krishnamachary opened the first Hatha Yoga school in Mysore in 1924 and in 1936 Sivananda founded the Society of Divine Life on the banks of the River Ganges. Sivananda wrote over 200 books on yoga, and established nine ashrams and many yoga centers around the world. Krishnamacharya produced four students who continued his heritage and increased the popularity of Hatha Yoga: B.K.S. Iyengar, T.K.V. Desikachar, Indra Devi and Pattabhi Jois. At that time, Hatha Yoga teachers also included Vedantic teachings of the higher aspects of Yoga. Since the 1970s, Modern Hatha Yoga has spread across many countries, changing as it did so, and becoming an integral part of urban cultures worldwide, to the extent that the word yoga to most in the Western world now means the practice of asanas (body postures), typically in a class. The higher aspects of Spiritual Yoga were largely not addressed or understood. "The first teachers who brought Yoga to the West came with the profound teachings of Vedanta as their greatest treasure to share with the world. They presented Vedanta as the philosophy of Self-realization and Yoga as the methodology by which to achieve it. Such great masters began with Swami Vivekananda at the end of the nineteenth century and continued with Swami Rama Tirtha, Paramahansa Yogananda, and the many disciples of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. They called their teaching Yoga-Vedanta, which they viewed as a complete science of spiritual growth. However, in the course of time asana or Yoga postures gained more popularity in the physically-minded West, and the Vedantic aspect of the teachings fell to the sidelines, particularly over the last twenty years. The result is that today few American Yoga teachers know what Vedanta is or can explain it to others. If they have an interest in meditation they generally look to Zen or Vipassana, not knowing that meditation is the very foundation of classical Yoga and its related traditions." ~ David Frawley, an internationally recognized scholar and teacher, from his book Vedantic Meditation, 2000. |
2 - Modern Hatha Yoga 
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Modern Hatha Yoga refers to the practice of yoga postures, exercises, etc. In some cases, modern yoga practice includes breathing techniques and meditation, to help calm the mind and provide stress relief, control of anxiety, etc. For purposes of this posting, Modern Hatha Yoga refers to all of these practices. Flexibility and stress relief are the most popular reasons given by practitioners for starting yoga. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, build muscle, increase flexibility, improve posture, relieve back pain, develop mindfulness, reduce stress, control anxiety and depression, become more calm and empathetic – Modern Hatha Yoga seems to be an almost magical panacea to reach your goals. Global popularity has resulted in Modern Hatha Yoga evolving from the traditional postures (asanas) to an amalgamation of different workouts and formats, including ashtanga yoga, vinyasa yoga, power yoga, hot yoga, prenatal/postnatal yoga, etc. New versions of postures and exercises are developed and marketed as innovative new options. Women make up between 70 and 90 percent of most yoga classes. Most yoga teachers are women as well. While the physical postures and exercises are the primary focus of Modern Hatha Yoga, breathing techniques and meditation are often offered as well. Breathing techniques may be part of the physical program as well as the meditation program. Various meditation techniques may be offered to complement the physical program, with the primary objective of developing calmness and mindfulness as well as helping to relieve stress and anxiety. Some of the meditation techniques offered include Mantra meditation, Mindfulness meditation, Vipassana Meditation, Zen meditation, etc. Meditations may be guided by a teacher or not. As mentioned, various breathing techniques may be included as part of the meditation practice. While Modern Hatha Yoga teachers often refer to spiritual elements in their programs, this primarily means trying to awaken qualities like peace, loving-kindness, empathy, calmness, mindfulness, etc. All of this is wonderful, but it is not the same use of the word spiritual as the one used to define true Spiritual Yoga, as addressed below. This is by no means a knock on Modern Hatha Yoga, which is a wonderful practice with many benefits to body and mind, as mentioned above. Modern Hatha Yoga is growing at a rapid pace for a reason - it is truly valuable and rewarding. It's just an acknowledgement that Modern Hatha Yoga is primarily a physical practice, not a spiritual one. |
3 - Spiritual Yoga 
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Spiritual Yoga appeals to those who are seeking the meaning of life; who want to know why we are here and where we are going; who intuitively know that there is a higher consciousness than the one that identifies itself with ephemeral bodies in a play universe of frozen light vibrations; who are seeking cosmic consciousness and enlightenment; who are tired of the suffering inherent on this plane of existence; who are searching for their original state of immortal, ever new bliss consciousness; who want to return home. In other words, less than 1% of mankind. The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word Yoga is 'yoke' or union, and is defined as a means of uniting the individual spirit with the universal spirit of God. This is Spiritual Yoga. Below are two encyclopedic definitions of Yoga; YOGA - one of the six classic systems of Hindu philosophy, distinguished from the others by the marvels of bodily control and the magical powers ascribed to its advanced devotees. Yoga affirms the doctrine that through the practice of certain disciplines one may achieve liberation from the limitations of flesh, the delusions of sense, and the pitfalls of thought and thus attain union with the object of knowledge, i.e. the Universal Spirit. ~ from Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia YOGA - general term for spiritual disciplines ..... that are directed toward attaining higher consciousness and liberation from ignorance, suffering, and rebirth ..... The basic text of the Yoga philosophical school, the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali (2d cent. B.C.), is a systematization of these older traditions. ~ from The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. There are several varieties of Spiritual Yoga (as outlined in the webpage The Path to Awakening herein); Jnana Yoga – path of wisdom, i.e. trying to control the ego-mind and awaken the god-consciousness through learning the truth about our existence. Bhakti Yoga – path of devotion, i.e. trying to awaken one’s natural state as a god through love. Hatha Yoga – exercises and postures to increase the life current in the body, so that the body is healthy and ready to practice higher forms of yoga. Karma Yoga – path of action, by which one tries to control the ego-consciousness by undertaking all actions without any attachment to personal gain. Raja Yoga – the highest “royal” path, which employs elements of all other paths as well as scientific meditation techniques designed to attain full god-consciousness, i.e. samadhi, or cosmic consciousness. This is the meditative school of Yoga, such as systematized by Patanjali in the Yoga Sūtras. It is Raja Yoga, the inner path to Self-realization featuring advanced meditation techniques, that is favoured by those intent on achieving their goal in the shortest amount of time. "In contrast to its modern Western transplanted forms, Yoga essentially consists of meditative practices culminating in attaining a state of consciousness free from all modes of active or discursive thought ..... This state is not only desirable in its own right, but its attainment guarantees the practitioner freedom from every kind of material pain or suffering, and, indeed, is the primary classical means of attaining liberation from the cycle of birth and death ....." ~ Edwin Bryant, professor of religions of India at Rutgers University and author of several books on Vedic history and yoga. "Yoga promises undreamed-of possibilities … makes possible intuitions that transcend consciousness." ~ Dr. Carl Jung “The universal appeal of yoga is thus its approach to God through a daily usable scientific method, rather than through a devotional fervor that, for the ordinary man, is beyond his emotional scope.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda |
4 - The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali 
Edwin Bryant, b1957
Eightfold Path of Yoga
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The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali are being addressed herein for two reasons;
The Yoga Sutras, estimated to have been written some 2000 years ago, are attributed to the legendary sage, Patanjali. They were written in Sanskrit, a classical language of ancient India. Modern day scholar Edwin Bryant, professor of religions of India at Rutgers University and author of several books on Vedic history and yoga, has provided an excellent overview of the Yoga Sūtras, from which come the following extracts; "The term “sūtra,” (from the Sanskrit root sū, cognate with “sew”) literally means a thread, and essentially refers to a terse and pithy philosophical statement in which the maximum amount of information is packed into the minimum amount of words. Knowledge systems were handed down orally in ancient India, and thus source material was kept minimal partly with a view to facilitating memorization." "This very succinctness – the Yoga Sūtras contain about 1200 words in 195 sūtras – and the fact that the sūtras are in places cryptic, esoteric and incomprehensible in their own terms points to the fact that they served as manuals to be used in conjunction with a teacher. ..... One cannot overstress, therefore, that our understanding of Patañjali’s text is completely dependent on the interpretations of later commentators ..... the first commentary by Vyāsa in the 5th Century C.E. ..... determined what Patañjali’s abstruse Sūtras meant, and all subsequent commentators elaborated on Vyāsa. The Vyāsa Bhāṣya (commentary) becomes inseparable from the Sūtras; an extension of it. From one sūtra of a few words, Vyāsa might write several lines of comment without which the sūtra remains incomprehensible. ..... Subsequent commentators base their commentaries on unpacking Vyāsa’s Bhāṣya – rarely critiquing it, but rather expanding or elaborating upon it. It is this point of reference that produces a marked uniformity in the interpretation of the Sūtras in the pre-modern period." "The Yoga Sūtras is divided into four padas, chapters. The first, samādhi pāda, defines Yoga as the complete cessation of all active states of mind, and outlines various stages of insight that stem from this. The chapter points to the ultimate goal of Yoga, which is content-less awareness, beyond even the most supreme stages of insight. The second, sādhana pāda, outlines the various practices, and moral and ethical observances that are preliminary requirements to serious meditative practice. The third, vibhūti pada, primarily deals with various super-normal powers that can accrue to the practitioner when the mind is in extreme states of concentration. There seems to have been a widespread culture in ancient India of engaging in Yoga-like practices but not in pursuit of the real goal of Yoga as defined by Patañjali, but rather in quest of such super-normal powers; this chapter can be read as Patañjali’s warning against being side-tracked in this way. The fourth, kaivalya pāda deals with liberation." The text fell into relative obscurity between the 12th- and 19th-centuries. It made a comeback in the late 19th century due to the efforts of Swami Vivekananda, who provided the first English commentary on the Yoga Sūtras. A number of other English translations and commentaries started to appear at the beginning of the twentieth century, beginning with one by Charles Johnston in 1912. It may be worthwhile to look briefly at a couple of key sutras; Sutra I:2 - chitta vritti nirodha, can be translated as "control of the whirlpool of thoughts." This is the essence of yoga, gaining control of the ego-consciousness and its endless thoughts in order to free the mind to access the higher god-consciousness. “When the five senses and the mind are still, and the reasoning intellect rests in silence, then begins the highest path. This calm steadiness of the senses is called yoga.” ~ from Katha Upanishad Sutra I:3 - Patanjali then continues, “Then the seer abides in his own nature or self.” This refers to his true Self, or soul. That is, he attains Self-realization, oneness of his soul with God - the attainment of the goal of yoga. “Through psychophysical techniques of yoga one can regain mastery of his mind, stilling the restless thought vibrations of human consciousness and entering the ecstasy of God-consciousness.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda Sutra II:49 - “Liberation can be attained by that pranayama which is accomplished by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration,” an acknowledgement of the liberating technique of Kriya Yoga. “Raja Yoga, specifically Kriya Yoga, is the quintessence of all yoga paths, the path especially favored by royal sages and great yogis in ancient India.”~ Paramahansa Yogananda The Eightfold Path of Yoga is enumerated by Patanjali in Sutra II:29;
In Samadhi, the soul, the purest individualized sense of being, knows its Spirit-identity of omniscience and omnipresence, and merely uses the instruments of the body and mind as a means of communication and interaction with objectified creation. The attainment of mastery over phenomenal creation is not a goal of the enlightened man, but is a natural endowment of the omnipotent, omniscient soul—the immortal Self, which becomes manifest as it gradually sheds its coverings of delusion. "Patanjali's renowned Yoga Sutras presents, in a series of brief aphorisms, the condensed essence of the exceedingly vast and intricate science of God-union. ..... While the Gita describes in allegory the process of realizing God, Patanjali speaks of the scientific method of uniting the soul with the undifferentiated Spirit in such a beautiful, clear, and concise way that generations of scholars have acknowledged him as the foremost exponent of yoga." ~ Paramahansa Yogananda |
5 - A Few Misconceptions 
Charles Johnston
(1867 - 1931) 
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The typical perception of Yoga has shifted a great deal in the past century, particularly during the last few decades. Most of this is due to changes made in the West, particularly in the United States, though it is not solely an American phenomenon. In today's world, the view that Yoga is a physical exercise program is the dominant viewpoint. This view then spreads through many institutions, classes, teachers, books, magazines, and millions of students of modern Yoga, who have little or no knowledge or interest in the spiritual goals of traditional Yoga and yoga meditation. As should be clear from the previous section, the Yoga Sūtras are a spiritual treatise. In researching material for this posting, I came across some misconceptions regarding the Yoga Sūtras. In most Modern Hatha Yoga teacher training programs, only a small percentage of the curriculum deals with the spiritual aspects of Yoga, including a brief overview of the Yoga Sutras. All of this is fine, since Modern Hatha Yoga is essentially a physical discipline. However, having just a cursory understanding of Spiritual Yoga has resulted in some Modern Hatha Yoga instructors making unfortunate statements in articles, e.g.
Modern Hatha Yoga is not a spiritual discipline, and that is fine. It is a wonderful practice in its own right. and offers many benefits for the body as well as calmness for the mind. It is not expected that Modern Hatha Yoga practitioners or instructors would understand (or even have any interest in) Charles Johnston, Sanskrit scholar and Yoga Sūtras translator/commentator, when he states the following regarding the core essence of the Yoga Sūtras; "Rightly understood, therefore, the whole life of the personal man is for another, not for himself ,,,.. When he does understand this, and lives for the Higher Self, setting his heart and thought on the Higher Self, then his sacrifice bears divine fruit, the spiritual man is built up, consciousness awakes in him, and he comes fully into being as a divine and immortal individuality." Perhaps it just may be better if spiritual commentary is left to those who understand and practice Spiritual Yoga. "Although the entirety of Yoga is typically understood and presented as āsana, physical posture, in the popular representations of the term in the West, it is actually only the third limb of Yoga, not an end or goal unto itself. ..... Posture is a limb of the actual goal of Yoga to the extent that it allows the meditator to sit 'firmly,' sthira, and 'comfortably,' sukha, for meditation. Indeed, as noted, āsana in fact literally means 'seat.'" ~ Edwin Bryant |
6 - Final Thoughts 
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"Amazingly, Yoga can be beneficial even when it is reduced down to posture practice. But people shortchange themselves when they strip Yoga of its spiritual side." ~Georg Feurstein, well-recognized scholar and teacher, from LA Yoga Magazine article, 2003 Modern Hatha Yoga is a wonderful practice that has become highly popular. It is growing at a remarkable pace due largely to the many benefits that it offers for both the body and the mind. It fulfills a much needed role in our stressful modern day world environment. The practice has evolved quite a bit from its early days and it continues to evolve today. The key principles of Spiritual Yoga are the same today as they were in ancient times. This sublime practice leads to the ultimate goal of all mankind - spiritual enlightenment, immortal bliss consciousness, oneness with Spirit. Spiritual Yoga is the timeless path of Yoga - timeless in that it will ever be available to seeking souls throughout all ages and timeless in that it ultimately leads its followers to a state of eternal bliss consciousness beyond all limits of time itself. Both Modern Hatha Yoga as well as Spiritual Yoga offer marvelous benefits to their practitioners - either for the body and mind or for the soul. Perhaps the best way to wrap up this posting is with the following quotation from the inimitable mystic and God-conscious sage, Paramahansa Yogananda; "Yoga means union with God, or, union of the little, ego-self with the divine Self, the infinite Spirit. Most people in the West, and also many in India, confuse Yoga with Hatha Yoga, the system of bodily postures. But Yoga is primarily a spiritual discipline. I don't mean to belittle the Yoga postures. Hatha Yoga is a wonderful system. The body, moreover, is a part of our human nature, and must be kept fit lest it obstruct our spiritual efforts. Devotees, however, who are bent on finding God give less importance to the Yoga postures. Nor is it strictly necessary that they practice them. Hatha Yoga is the physical branch of Raja Yoga, the true science of Yoga. Raja Yoga is a system of meditation techniques that help to harmonize human consciousness with the divine consciousness." |
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Are You in the Universe or is the Universe in You? (April 2020)
"The universe is a mental construct displayed on the screen of perception" ~ Bernardo Kastrup (Ph.D. in philosophy and Ph.D. in computer engineering, 2019)
With our normal human consciousness, the question asked in the title above seems ludicrous. And yet, just recently I came across two articles written by scientists- one containing the quotation above and a second article entitled, "The Mental Universe," by R. C. Henry (professor of physics and astronomy). What's going on?
This topic is not an easy one, particularly since our normal human consciousness will always see ourselves as bodies within a universal structure. If science and/or the mystics suggest otherwise, there will be a normal human response to reject such a premise as being ridiculous.
So, in order to read this posting, one must suspend normal human judgments that reject anything that is not consistent with the views of the ego-mind and its sense instruments. All such judgements must be put on hold. Put on pause. If the reader cannot make such a mental leap, it may be best not to proceed any further. To the adventurous soul with an open mind, come along for the ride. I think anybody who has gotten this far in the website must be considered an adventurous soul!
To answer the question in the title essentially means to decide;
To answer the above, we start by looking at the essential nature of Spirit and creation to look for clues. We are told by those who have directly experienced Spirit, i.e. the mystics, that Spirit is pure consciousness, without form, and that Its creation is a like a dream produced by Its boundless consciousness. That is a pretty big clue. Next, we briefly look at the dream analogy for creation, since many of the quotations in this posting refer to this analogy. After that, we briefly look at consciousness itself. We all know that we are conscious beings, but we really do not understand just what consciousness is. Next, we look into the true nature of matter for more clues, i.e. is matter solid and real or is matter an immaterial substance produced by consciousness with the ability to fool our human senses? We then look at how the scientific community currently views consciousness and the universe. Following that, we look to the views of mystics. Since mystics of early times would not have used the term "consciousness," as it would not have been understood by the people of their times, we primarily focus on the comments of contemporary mystics. And finally, we summarize all this information and come to some conclusions.
The posting therefore consists of the following sections;
1 - Spirit and Creation
2 - Creation Analogies
3 - What is Consciousness?
4 - The Enigma of Matter
5 - The View of Modern Science
6 - The View of the Mystics
7 - Summary and Conclusions
"The universe is a mental construct displayed on the screen of perception" ~ Bernardo Kastrup (Ph.D. in philosophy and Ph.D. in computer engineering, 2019)
With our normal human consciousness, the question asked in the title above seems ludicrous. And yet, just recently I came across two articles written by scientists- one containing the quotation above and a second article entitled, "The Mental Universe," by R. C. Henry (professor of physics and astronomy). What's going on?
This topic is not an easy one, particularly since our normal human consciousness will always see ourselves as bodies within a universal structure. If science and/or the mystics suggest otherwise, there will be a normal human response to reject such a premise as being ridiculous.
So, in order to read this posting, one must suspend normal human judgments that reject anything that is not consistent with the views of the ego-mind and its sense instruments. All such judgements must be put on hold. Put on pause. If the reader cannot make such a mental leap, it may be best not to proceed any further. To the adventurous soul with an open mind, come along for the ride. I think anybody who has gotten this far in the website must be considered an adventurous soul!
To answer the question in the title essentially means to decide;
- are your body and the universal structure around you made of a solid substance? If so, you are in the universe; or
- is matter essentially a mirage, merely immaterial light energy that can be projected from one's consciousness, just like you create worlds in your dreams? If so, the universe is in you.
To answer the above, we start by looking at the essential nature of Spirit and creation to look for clues. We are told by those who have directly experienced Spirit, i.e. the mystics, that Spirit is pure consciousness, without form, and that Its creation is a like a dream produced by Its boundless consciousness. That is a pretty big clue. Next, we briefly look at the dream analogy for creation, since many of the quotations in this posting refer to this analogy. After that, we briefly look at consciousness itself. We all know that we are conscious beings, but we really do not understand just what consciousness is. Next, we look into the true nature of matter for more clues, i.e. is matter solid and real or is matter an immaterial substance produced by consciousness with the ability to fool our human senses? We then look at how the scientific community currently views consciousness and the universe. Following that, we look to the views of mystics. Since mystics of early times would not have used the term "consciousness," as it would not have been understood by the people of their times, we primarily focus on the comments of contemporary mystics. And finally, we summarize all this information and come to some conclusions.
The posting therefore consists of the following sections;
1 - Spirit and Creation
2 - Creation Analogies
3 - What is Consciousness?
4 - The Enigma of Matter
5 - The View of Modern Science
6 - The View of the Mystics
7 - Summary and Conclusions
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1 - Spirit and Creation Paramahansa Yogananda on Creation
“When no goblin nebulae breathed and glided in the space body, when no fire-eyed baby planets opened their eyes in the cradle of space, when no star-rivers ran across the tracts of infinite space, when the ocean of space was unpeopled, uninhabited by floating island universes, when the sun and moon and planetary families did not swim in space, when a little ball of earth with its dollhouses and diminutive human beings did not exist, when no object of any kind had come into being - Spirit existed. This Unmanifested Absolute cannot be described except that It was the Knower, the Knowing, and the Known existing as One. In It the being, Its cosmic consciousness, and Its omnipotence, all were without differentiation: ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever newly joyous Spirit. In this Ever-New Bliss, there was no space or time, no dual conception or law of relativity; everything that was, is, or is to be existed as One Undifferentiated Spirit. ... When, whence, and why came creation into being? Who may make bold to read the Mind of the Infinite in seeking causes from the Uncaused, beginnings from the Ever-Existing, paltry reasons from Omniscience? Audacious mortals pursue their queries, while sages enter that Mind and return to state in unadorned simplicity that the One entertained a desireless desire to enjoy His Bliss through many, and the cosmos and its beings were born. An orderly creation requires the duality of Creator and created. Thus, Spirit first gave rise to a Magic Delusion, Maya, the cosmic Magical Measurer, which produces the illusion of dividing a portion of the Indivisible Infinite into separate finite objects, even as a calm ocean becomes distorted into individual waves on its surface by the action of a storm. All creation is nothing but Spirit, seemingly and temporarily diversified by Spirit’s creative vibratory activity.” "Just as the … light going out of the movie booth is seen to be a transparent searchlight free from any inherent pictures, yet images mysteriously appear on the screen; so God from His booth … is emanating a spherical bundle of rays, invisible searchlights, which … produce … on the screen of space an endless variety of apparently real pictures. But the images are shadowy illusions; the only reality is God and His individualized consciousness in the forms that behold and interact in the play." 
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Mystics, based on their direct experience of God, consistently say the same thing. Spirit is the sole reality. The universe is Spirit's light and shadow picture show; an illusion that seems real to the human mind and senses; a dream creation that seems substantial to those within the dream but not to those who are awake. Sometimes Spirit creates a dream universe of light from Its boundless consciousness and sometimes Spirit exists all by Itself. And what exactly is Spirit? The nature of Spirit in incomprehensible to human minds in their normal state of ego-consciousness. The situation is much like the man returning to Plato's cave after seeing the wondrous world outside the cave. He is unable to describe his experience since the cave dwellers have only ever lived in the dim, dismal confines of the underground cave. The cave dweller language does not include words like rivers, mountains, trees, sunshine, fields of flowers, etc. The only way for a cave dweller to understand the world outside the cave is to experience it himself. Similarly, to understand Spirit requires that one directly experience God himself. And that is exactly what mystics throughout the ages and from all lands have done. They have directly experienced Spirit. And they are at a loss to describe Spirit to their fellow humans. The best that can be said is an expression that originates from Eastern mystics, who use the Sanskrit phrase, "Sat - Chit - Ananda" as the closest way to describe Spirit. This phrase translates to "Absolute Being or Existence - Consciousness - Bliss." Spirit is ever-existing, bliss consciousness. And mystics say that Spirit exists without the limitation of any form, in a realm beyond time and space - infinite and eternal. Spirit employs the ideas of time, space and forms within Its creation daydream, but Spirit Itself is timeless and formless. As such, Spirit is eternal, formless consciousness of ever expanding bliss. During periods of creation, Spirit projects a universe from Its consciousness in a manner similar to you or I having a vivid daydream. We enjoy our daydream creation but are also fully aware of our true self existing outside the daydream. The daydream can appear to be quite real and we can get caught up in it, but in the end it evaporates into nothingness and we remember that it was just a creation from within our consciousness. Spirit's creation is just the same. A daydream creation made from consciousness alone, it appears to be real and provides much entertainment, but ultimately it disappears into nothingness. The substance of our daydreams and Spirit's creation both seem to be made of some real material - bodies and surroundings appear quite real when we focus on all the action within the daydream, but in fact all the forms are merely projections of consciousness. In order to more fully enjoy Its daydream, Spirit took on a dream form and entered the creation playground within Its consciousness. Spirit's dream form within the daydream is often referred to as Ishvara. Initially, Ishvara was the only being with the ability to be fully conscious of both the dream creation as well as Itself as Spirit beyond the dream. According to mystics, Spirit enjoyed Its original daydream of creation so much, that It decided to enhance Its enjoyment by creating a host of individualized extensions of Itself. Each of these individualized extensions of Itself was unique and endowed with both free will as well as co-creation powers to modify the dream creation from within. These are the gods. The gods would enter creation by taking on a dream body-form and would enjoy playing within the dream with its wondrous phantasmagoria of beautiful structures of multi-coloured light forms. In this way Spirit enjoyed his creation playground through each of gods, who were essentially Spirit Itself. In order to make the entertainment more interesting, Spirit put each of the god-versions of Itself under a spell of cosmic hypnosis, or maya, in order that the gods would partially believe that the body-forms they occupied were real instead of just being frozen light. Similarly, the dream universal structures were made to appear real when in fact, they too were actually only made of immaterial light energy. After a time, the gods would choose to leave the creation playground and return to their original state as Spirit. Upon their return, each god enjoyed the full boundless consciousness of Spirit. While playing in the universal playground, there was always the possibility that the gods would find the dream universal structures and their body-forms of light so realistic that they would forget their true nature and believe that the body-forms were their true identity. And so it happened. Now the gods became trapped within the dream universal playground of light and had to extend their stay in the dream long past the intended period. Eventually, each god finally awoke from the dreamland of creation. At that time, each god could choose to leave the daydream and become Spirit or choose to occupy a higher body-form for a time and continue to play in the daydream playground, no longer under the spell of maya. Each of us is one of the gods. One the left is a wonderful, poetic description of creation by Paramahansa Yogananda. |
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2 - Creation Analogies 
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In an earlier section of this website, entitled Helpful Creation Analogies, a number of analogies were put forth to help describe creation, i.e.
In recent posts to the website, the Virtual Reality Game creation analogy has been the one used most extensively. In this posting, The Dream Universe will be employed, primarily because most of the quotations that follow below use this analogy. The Virtual Reality Game and The Dream Universe are quite similar. In both analogies, each of us start out in our native state as gods, i.e. the unique individualized extensions of Spirit that were created to allow Spirit to enjoy Its entertainment of creation through multiple forms. In both analogies, our true state as gods exist outside of the dream or the virtual reality game. In the dream analogy, the gods put on dream body-forms to enter the daydream. In the VR analogy, the gods put on "headsets" to enter the virtual game. In both analogies, the gods originally remain conscious of their true selves outside the dream/VR game while playing in the dreamland/virtual game environment. In both analogies, the gods at some point get so involved in the daydream/ VR game that they forget their true selves outside. In both analogies, the gods stay longer in the daydream/ VR game than originally intended, but eventually awake from the dream/remember to take off the VR headsets. In both analogies, the action, the bodies/players and the surrounding dream/virtual environments appear very real, but in fact are just light and shadow creations within the consciousness of the gods. |
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3 - What is Consciousness? 
Peter Russell, b1947
Quotations on Consciousness and Awareness “Consciousness does not shine by itself. It shines by a light beyond it. The mind must learn that beyond the moving mind there is a background of awareness which does not change. The mind must come to know the true self and respect it and cease covering it up, like the moon which obscures the sun during a solar eclipse.” ~Nisargadatta Maharaj "Essentially, consciousness can be regarded as mind with objects, whereas awareness refers to mind without objects" ~ Bob O'Hearn "Awareness is absolute, consciousness is relative to its content; consciousness is always of something. Consciousness is partial and changeful, awareness is total, changeless, calm and silent" ~Nisargadatta Maharaj "By dis-engaging from identification with the stream of thought objects, a space is created for awareness to shine forth unobstructed. This is the purpose of meditation, releasing attention from the passing neural parade by being aware of being aware. In this way, attention can penetrate the surface layers where it typically resides and fall back into its source – the silent and aware, transparent and spacious essence of mind’s true nature." ~ Bob O'Hearn "As long as we are identified with the character in the dream, the one we currently believe ourselves to be, we cannot awaken. However, when that intoxication dissipates to some extent, we might be moved to investigate the nature of our own appearance, suspecting that things aren’t really what they seem." ~ Bob O'Hearn "Awareness is present as pure Being, a changeless presence which simply, immovably is. ... It's the way a pure white movie screen never budges, while the movie characters and images superimposed on it appear to move and change constantly. Pure Awareness is changelessly present ... You are not the mind. Thinking and sensing are what you appear to use, or do - they're not what you are as pure Conscious Awareness." ~ Peter Francis Dziuban (author/lecturer on consciousness) “From moment to moment you are renewing the dream. Once you have seen that you are dreaming, you shall wake up. But you do not see, because you want the dream to continue. A day will come when you will long for the ending of the dream, with all your heart and mind, and be willing to pay any price; the price will be dispassion, the loss of interest in the dream itself.” ~Nisargadatta Maharaj "By disengaging from that stream of thoughts, images, interpretations, memories, and projections which constitute “the story”, attention comes to rest in silence, and it is only in such silence, freed from all distractions, all mental and emotional obscurations, all futile seeking and stressful striving, that our true nature can reveal itself as the pure simplicity of open awake awareness that it is." ~ Peter Francis Dziuban (author/lecturer on consciousness) |
As noted above, the essential nature of Spirit is pure consciousness. Boundless bliss consciousness. And consciousness is a key element of the ensuing sections of this posting. Since most of us would have a hard time defining what consciousness is, it is probably worth having a brief look at it. Consciousness is a difficult topic. It is not something separate from ourselves, but is our very being or essence. Even though consciousness is such a fundamental faculty of our existence, it is hard to find a succinct definition of it. Perhaps an analogy put forth by Peter Russell (scientist, author, futurist and long-time student of consciousness) may help: "The faculty of consciousness can be likened to the light from a video projector. The projector shines light on to a screen, modifying the light so as to produce any one of an infinity of images. These images are like the perceptions, sensations, dreams, memories, thoughts, and feelings that we experience–what I call the "contents of consciousness." The light itself, without which no images would be possible, corresponds to the faculty of consciousness. We know all the images on the screen are composed of this light, but we are not usually aware of the light itself; our attention is caught up in the images that appear and the stories they tell. In much the same way, we know we are conscious, but we are usually aware only of the many different perceptions, thoughts and feelings that appear in the mind. We are seldom aware of consciousness itself." We will come back to this analogy shortly. But first, some more from Peter Russell; ... "Usually we derive our sense of self from the various things that mark us out as individuals–our bodies and their appearance, our history, our nationality, the roles we play, our work, our social and financial status, what we own, what others think of us, and so on. We also derive an identity from the thoughts and feelings we have, from our beliefs and values, from our creative and intellectual abilities, from our character and personality ... Such an identity is, however, forever at the mercy of events, forever vulnerable, and forever in need of protection and support." What Peter Russell is describing above is what we could call our ego-consciousness. Each of us has our own perception of ourselves and the world, based primarily on our local surroundings and the belief that our body-forms represent our true identity. But there is a higher level of consciousness. One that is pure Awareness. One that is referred to as god-consciousness in this website. One that Peter Russell calls the "faculty of consciousness" in his analogy above, i.e. the light from the projector. The images on the screen are constantly changing in the movie, but the light from the projector remains untouched. Awareness never changes. It is the witness of all the sensations, feelings, thoughts, etc that we have. Some mystics use a similar analog but refer to Awareness as the cinema screen itself. All the images dance off the screen but the screen itself remains untouched. This state of Awareness is the consciousness that we had as gods before we became entrapped in the game of creation. Once trapped in the game, we forgot our true nature of god-consciousness, or pure Awareness, and became the ego-consciousness of sensations, feelings, fears, etc associated with the belief that the body-form is who we are. In truth, the body-form is just the vehicle which we use to enter the playground of creation. It is just a mass of swirling light energy that our senses tell us is a solid form. Its only purpose is to allow us to play within the dream, to play within the virtual reality game. It has no ultimate reality. Once we awaken from the dream or leave the virtual reality game, the body-form disappears. It has served its purpose of entertainment. We are the gods again. In order to awaken from the dream creation (or leave the VR game) we must reacquire our true sense of identity as gods, i.e. we must reacquire pure Awareness. Meditation is one of the main methods recommended by mystics to do so. In deep meditation, one tries to still the constant chatter of the ego-consciousness. If one is successful, then Awareness is found. Awareness is with us always. It is normally unknown because of the all the noise of the ego-mind's sensations, fears, desires, etc. The advice to "Be still and know that I am God " tells us that by stilling the chatter of the ego-mind, one can find that pure Awareness which is our true god-selves. Initially, as one reacquires the native state of Awareness, a sense of peace ensues - the "peace that passeth all understanding." No more wants or needs of the ego-mind - just peace. As one spends more time within Awareness, one discovers that there is no longer a sense of time, there is no longer a sense of being within the confines of a form. It becomes a timeless, spaceless feeling. Increasingly, one becomes aware of one's true identity as a god, outside of the virtual reality game, outside of the dream. Awareness now becomes timeless, formless bliss consciousness. One now identifies solely with this immortal, formless bliss consciousness which, as the mystics have told us, is the essence of Spirit Itself. We have becomes gods again. From the perch of Awareness, one can watch one's body-form within the dream or virtual reality game, but no longer get caught up in the drama. It becomes like watching a movie from the theatre in which you are playing a role - fun to watch, but without any identification with all the pain and suffering that the imaged person on the screen seems to be feeling. The body-form is no longer you. It really never was. "Although the self may never be known as an object of experience, it can be known in another, more intimate and immediate, way. When the mind is silent, when all the thoughts, feelings, perceptions and memories with which we habitually identify have fallen away, then what remains is the essence of self, the pure subject without an object. What we then find is not a sense of "I am this" or "I am that;" but just "I am"." ~ Peter Russell "When the mind is devoid of all content, you not only find absolute serenity and peace, you also discover the true nature of the self" ~ Peter Russell "We discover that these bodies are like ingenious space suits we have donned to explore the physical dimension, but what we really are and always have been is nothing less than immortal Spirit" ~ Bob O'Hearn (writer on consciousness) “Awareness is the supreme and blissful primal reality” ~ Ramana Maharshi In the column on the left are some sublime quotations that help further explain consciousness and Awareness. |
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4 - The Enigma of Matter 
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
The Unreality of Matter - More Quotations
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As mentioned in the introduction, it is helpful to understand the true nature of matter as we continue into this posting. And so, here goes. “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one” ~ Albert Einstein (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1879 – 1955) “Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.” ~ Albert Einstein “The world of physics is a world of shadows, we were not aware of it; we thought we were dealing with the real world.” ~ Erwin Schrödinger (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1887 - 1961) “Everything is made of shadows and light. I see it all the time.” ~ P. Yogananda Matter does not exist. But wait - everyday we walk with our solid bodies and sit on solid chairs and eat solid food from plates sitting on solid tables. How we anyone say that matter does not exist? It's all a mirage. Our human senses are fooled into thinking that matter is a physical substance. In fact, matter is just vibrating light energy held in different forms by various forces. Both light and force fields are immaterial substances - neither has mass. The truth about matter was revealed by science roughly one hundred years ago during the incredible period of quantum mechanics discoveries. In fact, quantum mechanics went even further and discovered that even this immaterial substance called matter only comes into view when a conscious mind brings it into appearance. Until then, matter resides in a fuzzy state of unmanifested non-existence, i.e. background waves of possibilities with associated probabilities of manifestation. Once brought into form by a conscious mind, matter will appear as solid forms but will actually be waves of immaterial light energy, "frozen" by force fields into forms and objects. All of the above follow from scientific discoveries. Matter is essentially empty space - 99.9999999% empty space, in fact. No scientist would refute this. Of course, the mirage that we humans see every day, i.e. the appearance of the solidity of matter, makes it hard for all of us to deal with the truth. Matter seems so substantial. It is not. "Even the notion of mass is questionable ... A person in an elevator feels lighter when the elevator accelerates downwards, and heavier when it decelerates to a halt. This is no illusion, scales would also show your weight to have changed. What we experience as mass is the resistance of the ground beneath our feet to our otherwise free fall towards the center of the Earth. According to Einstein, we are being continually decelerated, and interpret that as mass. An astronaut in orbit experiences no mass." ~ Peter Russell Fascinating quotations from world-renowned physicists and mystics on the unreality of matter are shown above, below and in the column on the left. More on this topic can be found on the webpage The View of Modern Science from within The Enchanted Universe section of this website.
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5 - The View of Modern Science 
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543)
Galileo (1564 -1642)
Peter Russell on Consciousness Within Creation
"All that I see, hear, taste, touch, smell and feel has been created from the data fed to me by my sensory organs. All I ever know of the world around are the images produced in the mind. I think I am seeing the tree "out there", in the world around me. But all that I am actually experiencing is the image created in the mind." "The world we experience around us is no more "out there" than are our dreams ..... our normal waking experience of reality is a manifestation within the mind ..... Color, sound, smell, and all the other qualities of experience are not qualities of the physical world; they exist only in the mind." "Our tacit assumption that we perceive the world as it is, has become so deeply ingrained that it is very hard indeed to appreciate that our image of reality is a construction within our own mind. Even when we intellectually accept the fact, as eventually we must, it is still extremely difficult not to see the image we have created as "out there.'" "Take the experience of the color green, for example. There may be light of various frequencies, but the light itself is not green. Nor are the electrical impulses that are transmitted from the eye to the brain. There is no color there. The green I see is a quality created in consciousness. It exists only as a subjective experience in the mind. The same is true of sound. I hear the music of a violin, but the sound I hear is a quality appearing in the mind. There is no sound as such in the external world, just vibrating air molecules. The smell of a rose does not exist without an experiencing mind, just molecules of a certain shape." |
“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence" ~ Nikola Tesla, world renowned inventor and futurist (1856-1943) Let's now look at how modern science views consciousness and the universe. We begin with a brief summary of how scientific views have evolved over time. In medieval days, it was believed that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun revolved around the earth. Even the Church adopted this as an unquestionable tenet of the Christian faith. And so, when Nicolaus Copernicus determined that the earth actually revolved around the sun, he hid his discovery until near his death before publishing it in 1543, for he knew that no one would believe him and that the Church may well have put him to death. Based on his astronomical observations, Galileo confirmed the findings of Copernicus in the early 1600s and announced it to the world. However, he was forced by the Church to recant his findings and was placed under house arrest. It was about one hundred more years before the Catholic Church finally accepted that the earth revolves around the sun. When Isaac Newton developed the principles of modern physics including the laws of motion in the 1680s, it was generally believed that the universe had now been well defined and that there would be no more dramatic new findings. With their mathematical precision, it seemed that nothing could not be described by these universal laws. That all changed in the first half of the 20th century with the astounding discoveries of quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of relativity. These topics have been addressed earlier in The View of Modern Science section of The Enchanted Universe website page, and will not be repeated. These discoveries shook the foundations upon which science stood. As outlined in the section above, matter was not the solid substance that had been assumed. In fact, matter really does not exist. While the mirage of matter seems solid to our human senses, it is not. However, the findings of quantum mechanics were so starting to the scientific community that discovered them, that to this day most scientists ignore the elephant in the room and continue to propagate a materialistic view of the universe. It is only the occasional brave maverick that comes along and reminds everyone that the materialistic view of the universe is built on a house of cards. "The first piece of the Newtonian mechanism to crumble was materialism ... Materialism was just a castle in the clouds, no less an illusion than the flat earth." ~ Thomas J. McFarlane (scientist, philosopher and author, b1964) As well, the materialistic view has no way of accounting for consciousness. Everyone agrees that consciousness is a fundamental component of the universe, but materialistic science has no way of incorporating it into their theories. Although much time and resources have been expended trying to solve the "hard problem" of consciousness, there has been no answer forthcoming. "Scientists are in the strange position of being confronted daily by the indisputable fact of their own consciousness, yet with no way of explaining it." ~ Christian de Quincey "Present-day scientific theories hardly touch the really difficult questions about consciousness ... Sometimes this question is ignored entirely; sometimes it is put off until another day; and sometimes it is simply declared answered. But in each case … the central problem remains as puzzling as ever." ~ David Chalmers "This paradox - namely, the absolutely undeniable existence of human consciousness set against the complete absence of any satisfactory scientific account for it - suggests to me that something is seriously amiss with the contemporary scientific worldview." ~ Peter Russell "After thirty years of investigation into the nature of consciousness, I have come to appreciate just how big a problem the subject is for contemporary science. We all know, beyond any doubt, that we are conscious beings. It is the most intimate and obvious fact of our existence. Indeed, all we ever directly know are the thoughts, images, and feelings arising in consciousness. Yet as far as Western science is concerned, there is nothing more difficult to explain." ~ Peter Russell Which brings us back to the beginning of this posting, which references two articles from scientific mavericks who see the world differently. They are suggesting a new scientific paradigm, one in which consciousness is the primary essence of the universe and that matter, whatever matter is, is secondary. Like all new scientific paradigms, the main body of scientists will object to it for a long while, but at some point, if the theory holds true, it will become accepted as the way things are - just like the earth revolving around the sun. "Today we may be on the threshold of a major shift in metaparadigm; a fundamental revolution in worldview that could well be even more far-reaching than the Copernican Revolution, and one that promises to shatter all our beliefs about the nature of reality." ~ Peter Russell So, let's look at what this new wave of scientists (and a few old-timers) say regarding the role of consciousness in the universe. Let's start with the views of those physicists who were instrumental in the quantum mechanics discoveries some one hundred years ago; “The world we see and experience in everyday life is simply a convenient mirage attuned to our very limited senses, an illusion conjured by our perceptions and our mind.” ~ Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (highly regarded British astronomer, physicist, and mathematician, 1882 – 1944) "Physics is the study of the structure of consciousness. The "stuff" of the world is mindstuff." ~Sir Arthur Eddington "Every man’s world picture is and always remains a construct of his mind, and cannot be proved to have any other existence." ~ Erwin Schrödinger “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness." ~ Max Planck "Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter... we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.” ~ Sir James Jeans Next, we hear from the second wave of world-renowned quantum mechanics physicists from roughly 50 years ago; “I do take 100 percent seriously the idea that the world is a figment of the imagination.” ~ John Wheeler "Is there any other answer than to say that consciousness brings all of creation into being.” ~ John Wheeler “Thought creates our world, and then says ‘I didn't do it’” ~ David Bohm "The content of the consciousness is the ultimate universal reality” ~ Alain Aspect And now, let's hear from the modern day mavericks from science who are at the vanguard of a new scientific paradigm in which the primary essence of the universe is consciousness; “I am not in the world; the world is in me ... The universe, the world, the body, and the mind are projections of your consciousness. Even though the eyes of the flesh tell you that you are there, and I am here, it’s not true.” ~ James A. Cusumano, Ph.D., from Cosmic Consciousness, Are We Truly Connected? "Perhaps it is time to reconsider the very nature of physical reality. Could it be that the universe and everything in it is not material stuff governed by rigid physical laws, but rather some kind of virtual reality? ... And might the sole basis of this virtual reality be consciousness? Is consciousness the only thing that actually exists?" ~ Bernard Haisch (astrophysicist) “It is not matter that creates an illusion of consciousness, but consciousness that creates an illusion of matter.” ~ Bernard Haisch (astrophysicist) “Ultimately it is consciousness that is the origin of matter, energy, and the laws of nature in this universe and all others that may exist." ~ Bernard Haisch (astrophysicist) "We are personally involved with the creation of our own reality. Physicists are being forced to admit that the universe is a 'mental' construction" ~ R. C. Henry (professor of physics and astronomy, from his book The Mental Universe) "All matter is the outer appearance of inner experience, different configurations of matter reflecting different patterns or modes of mental activity." ~ Bernardo Kastrup, Henry P. Stapp and Menas C. Kafatos (all modern day scientists) "Now that the most philosophically controversial predictions of QM have—finally—been experimentally confirmed without remaining loopholes, there are no excuses left for those who want to avoid confronting the implications of QM. Lest we continue to live according to a view of reality now known to be false, we must shift the cultural dialogue towards coming to grips with what nature is repeatedly telling us about herself." ~ Bernardo Kastrup, Henry P. Stapp and Menas C. Kafatos (all modern day scientists) "Materialism is a relic from an older, naiver and less sophisticated age ... it has no place in this day and age" ~ Bernardo Kastrup We wrap up this section with a few quotations from modern-day scientist Peter Russell. Several more quotations from Peter Russell are provided in the column on the left, relating to his views of how everything in our world manifests from consciousness. "Our whole experience is a construction in the mind, a form appearing in consciousness. These mental forms are composed not of physical substance but of "mindstuff" ... What appear to us as fundamental dimensions and attributes of the physical world—space, time, matter and energy—are but the fundamental dimensions and attributes of the forms appearing in consciousness." "In the waking state, our image of the world is based on sensory information drawn from our physical surroundings. This gives our waking experience a consistency and sense of reality not found in dreams. But the truth is, it is as much a creation of our minds as are our dreams." "In much the same way as Copernicus’ insight turned our model of the cosmos inside out, the distinction between the physical world and our experience of the world turns the relationship of consciousness and the material world inside out. In the current metaparadigm, consciousness is assumed to emerge from the world of space, time and matter. In the new metaparadigm, everything we know, including space, time and matter, manifests from consciousness." |
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6 - The View of the Mystics 
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"Throughout the mystical and spiritual literature of the world are examples of individuals who have claimed that the whole world is within them rather than around them. The ardent materialist might assume that these are the ravings of a mind deranged by too much meditation ... Far from suffering from an illusion, a person in this state is knowing the phenomenal reality for what it is. It is we who are under an illusion when we believe that the world we see around us is “out there” around us, rather than within us." ~ Peter Russell I am the infinite deep In whom all the worlds appear to rise. Beyond all form, forever still. So am I ~ Ashtavakra Gita All mystics have personally experienced the same highest truths and they consistently say the same thing - there is no physical universe. It is all a play of consciousness. Everything appears to be solid and real and it seems like each of us is inside a universe, but it is not so. It is all a mirage. Our human senses are fooled into seeing the world as such. Once each of us attains our original consciousness as gods, the facade fades away and we see that all this was indeed a dream, a virtual reality game, and that each of us resides as our true selves outside of the dream, outside of the VR game. Below are a collection of quotations from five contemporary and modern day mystics on this topic, each one saying the same thing using different words. |
Nisargadatta Maharaj
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Nisargadatta Maharaj - 20th century mystic.
Nisargadatta Maharaj lived in that rarified state of pure Awareness - well beyond the normal state of human consciousness. He spoke to disciples and visitors from that God-Awareness and tried to make them see that the normal view of human consciousness is limited, confining and the source of all suffering. He emphasized that by realizing the world as formed solely from consciousness, that all suffering goes - one sees the body as a player in a dream. He wanted everyone to wake up from the dream. All quotes below are taken from the 1973 book I Am That - a compilation of answers provided to questions posed by disciples and visitors. "The world you perceive is made of consciousness; what you call matter is consciousness itself.” "The world is in you, not you in the world" "Joy and sorrow, life and death, they all are real to the man in bondage; to me, they are all in the show, as unreal as the show itself. I may perceive the world just like you, but you believe to be in it, while I see it as an iridescent drop in the vast expanse of consciousness.” "This world is painted by you on the screen of consciousness" "No doubt imagination is richly creative. Universe upon universe are built on it." “My heart wants you awake. I see you suffer in your dream and I know that you must wake up to end your woes.” "The entire universe exists only in consciousness " "You are the all-pervading, eternal and infinitely creative Awareness" "You are pure being — awareness — bliss" "To know that you live in an imaginary world of your own creation is the dawn of wisdom" |
Paramahansa Yogananda
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Paramahansa Yogananda - 20th century mystic.
The great mystic and spiritual leader Paramahansa Yogananda was a very rare transcendent master who was in the highest state of God-consciousness. As one given a world mission, he sometimes chose to views things from a human perspective in order to help mankind more directly. He was able to converse with God at will. Yogananda was a prolific writer. The quotes below are taken from a variety of his works. “The ‘ray’ of the soul coming from Spirit produces a picture of the body on the screen of human consciousness and of space.” ~ P. Yogananda “This universe is a vibratory dream motion picture of God’s thoughts on the screen of time and space and human consciousness.” ~ P. Yogananda “Great saints who have awakened from the cosmic mayic dream and realized this world as an idea in the Divine Mind, can do as they wish with the body, knowing it to be only a manipulatable form of condensed or frozen energy.” “God has condensed His creative thoughts to produce all phenomena of this dream world, and by the cosmic hypnosis of maya has suggested those dreams so powerfully to our human consciousness that we accept the cosmic chimera as material reality.” “One's values are profoundly changed when he is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture, and that not in it, but beyond it, lies his own reality.” “Saints are those who are half awake and half dreaming: on one side awake in God, and on the other side dreaming the dream of incarnation. But they quickly get out of this dream.” “This very room and the universe are floating like a motion picture on the screen of my consciousness.” To a player in a virtual reality game (or in a dream), the action seems very real if one thinks his play-form in the game (or in the dream) is real. To the player who knows that his real self exists outside the game (or outside the dream), the action is just a show being played in his consciousness. As a young man, Yogananda had two experiences in which he was shown in dramatic fashion that this world is but a show of shadows and light, a dream playing in our consciousness. As a master who had been given a world mission, these experiences can be seen as primarily for the benefit of those who would read about them later, i.e. us.
** taken from an audio recording of a talk given in 1951, entitled The Great Light of God. |
Ramana Maharshi
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Ramana Maharshi - 20th century mystic
Following his enlightenment experience as a young man, Ramana Maharshi became a source of wisdom for his disciples and the many visitors who came to see him from far and wide. The quotes below are taken from answers that he gave to the many inquiring minds around him, as recorded by his disciples. His state of consciousness was such that he saw this world merely as a dream within his consciousness. He constantly tried to get those around him to understand this and to awaken to the bliss consciousness outside of the dream. The first quote illustrates this well. Like most of us, the questioner is experiencing this dream world and the human players as being real. Ramana Maharshi is trying to make the questioner see that this is all just a dream within one's mind. Questioner - Did not Mr. Brunton find you in London? Was it only a dream? Ramana Maharshi - Yes. He had the vision. He saw me in his mind. Questioner - Did he not see this concrete form? Ramana Maharshi - Yes, still in his mind. The quote below is another attempt to get a questioner to see this world as a dream. Questioner - In Europe people do not understand that a man can be helpful in solitude. They imagine that only men who work in the world can be useful. When will this confusion cease? Will the European mind continue wading in the morass or will it realise the Truth? Ramana Maharshi - Never mind about Europe or America. Where are they but in the mind? Realise your Self and then all is realised. If you see a number of men in a dream and then wake up and recall your dream, do you try to find out whether the persons of your dream-creation are also awake? And a third example. In the quote below, Ramana Maharshi sees the same war as the questioner. The questioner sees the war as real and wants Ramana to use his mystic powers to stop it. Ramana Maharshi sees it as just a play in a dream. To try to help the questioner understand, Ramana Maharshi humorously reminds the questioner that everything is in the dream, including his own body. Questioner - At present there is a Sino-Japanese war going on. If it is only in the imagination, can or will Sri Bhagavan imagine it not to be going on and so put an end to it? Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi - (laughing) The Bhagavan of the questioner (whom the questioner sees as an external being) is as much a thought of his as the Sino-Japanese War! ______________________________________ "The world is not external to you. Because you wrongly identify yourself with the body, you see the world outside you and its suffering becomes apparent to you; but the world and its sufferings are not real." "So long as you consider yourself the body, you see the world as external to you" “Are you in the world or is the world within you? You must admit that the world is not perceived in your sleep although you cannot deny your existence then. The world appears when you wake up. So where is it? Clearly, the world is your thought. Thoughts are your projections.” “The world is only in the mind” “Consciousness alone appears as the material universe. The illusion of the material world comes to an end when the mind is stilled.” "Your body, the society, the forest and the ways are all in you; you are not in them.” “All these universes, humans, objects, thoughts and events are merely pictures moving on the screen of Pure Consciousness, which alone is real.” |
Swami Abhayananda
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Swami Abhayananda - modern day mystic.
Swami Abhayananda had a life-changing mystical experience in his mid-twenties in which he directly experienced God. The experience was so overwhelming that he dedicated his life to his writings, in order to help his fellow mankind be aware of a much higher existence. The quotations below come from a variety of his writings. To those interested, a summary of all of Swami Abhayananda's writings appears in a separate posting within the What's New section of this website. “Even this body which we label “I” is but a fleeting shadow, a flickering image on a passing screen … We exist in a dream-world, a projection of a dancing spray of light beams." "We live in confident certainty of our (illusory) individuality, regarding as "self" that kaleidoscope of transient mental impressions which is presented to our conscious awareness. But, say the mystics, this superficial play of thoughts, memories, sense impressions, upon the screen of awareness is but a mirage." "Consciousness does not arise from neural activity in the brain; it is a primary property of the Divine Mind, and is implicit in the universal manifestation, and therefore in all matter. It is what matter is made of." "You are the one Mind of the universe, which merely witnesses all this world of changing forms." "Awareness is transformed into a timeless, spaceless awareness of identity with the limitless and eternal Consciousness from which the universe emanates" "Spirit Itself is formless, immortal bliss consciousness. This universe and all beings within it are contained within this consciousness and are imbued with it. Although everything in creation has an appearance of solidity - it is all just light energy (as modern science now confirms) and is ultimately just pure consciousness. This virtual world is essentially a projection of consciousness." "Consciousness is really all there is" |
Eckhart Tolle
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Eckhart Tolle - modern day mystic.
Eckhart Tolle also had a life-changing mystical experience in his mid-twenties and he has also written much about mankind's higher existence. He has written a great deal about the nature of mankind's ego-mind that does not see the true nature of this dream existence. Eckhart Tolle gives talks in cities around the world for those interested in hearing his words directly. “Everything is our conditioned consciousness; even objects are. Conditioned consciousness has taken birth as form and then that becomes the world.” "To awaken within the dream is our purpose now. When we are awake within the dream, the ego-created earth-drama comes to an end and a more benign and wondrous dream arises." "The greatest impediment to finding the experiencer, is to become so enthralled by the experience that you lose yourself in it. It means consciousness is lost in its own dream." "Consciousness is awakening from the dream of form ... consciousness can now begin to create form without losing itself in it. It can remain conscious of itself, even while it creates and experiences form. Why should it continue to create and experience form? For the enjoyment of it." "What a liberation to realize that the “voice in my head” is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that. The Awareness that is prior to thought, the space in which the thought—or the emotion or sense perception—happens." "Awareness implies that you are not only conscious of things (objects), but you are also conscious of being conscious. If you can sense an alert inner stillness in the background while things happen in the foreground—that’s it! This dimension is there in everyone, but most people are completely unaware of it." “You are not IN the universe, you ARE the universe" |
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Quotations from Other Mystics
“When the mind ceases to think, the world vanishes, and there is bliss indescribable. When the mind begins to think, immediately the world reappears, and there is suffering.” ~ Sivananda “It is only the waking state that brings before us this creation. This universe is nothing but a mode of the mind … The movement of the mind generates the universe.” ~ Sivananda "With our thoughts we make the world.” ~ Buddha "The external world is an emanation of your own mind, your own thinking and your own imagination. You created this world ... only when you can understand yourself as all-pervading consciousness, can you possibly understand ” ~ Robert Adams "The life of a sentient being is a long dream. Existence only appears to be real. When one finally awakens ... existence is seen for what it is - a sequence of illusions." ~ Ch’an Master Sheng-yen "The perceived universe is merely an imaginary projection by the individual mind or soul of a world of objects ... in other words, it is an illusion that takes place solely in the mind" ~ Shankara “There is no misery or suffering outside your own mind because the whole world is nothing but a projection of your mind” ~ Annamalai Swami "The world comes after consciousness; and it is here, in consciousness, that all the world is found to stand.” ~ Aitareya Upanishad "Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you" ~ Rumi |
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7 - Summary and Conclusions 
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And so, back to the title of this posting, Are You in the Universe or is the Universe in You? To answer that question, we started by looking at the essential nature of Spirit. Based on their own direct experience, mystics tell us that Spirit is the sole reality - all else is an illusion, a daydream created by Spirit for Its entertainment. And the mystics tell us that Spirit Itself is pure consciousness; eternal, infinite, formless, boundless bliss consciousness. If Spirit is truly the sole reality, and consciousness, or pure Awareness, is Its essential nature, then it can be concluded that anything that is real must be consciousness, or pure Awareness. We next looked at the nature of consciousness and found that humans are capable of experiencing two different versions. Most humans are under the spell of ego-consciousness. This topic has been addressed in many other parts of this website. The essential nature of ego-consciousness is the belief that the body-forms that we occupy are our real selves and that we live in a universe of solid structures and forms. The second version of consciousness that humans are capable of experiencing is their original, native consciousness as gods, i.e. god-consciousness, or as it has been expressed in this posting, pure Awareness. Not surprisingly, in the state of pure Awareness, everything is seen as consciousness - our bodies, this world of matter, etc are all seen and experienced as emerging from consciousness. We next looked at the nature of matter. Matter does not exist. The world is not made of solid forms and structures. It is all light and shadow displays of immaterial energy. Of course, our human senses tell us a different story. They see our bodies and the world around us as solid and real. Our human senses are wrong. It is all a mirage. Brilliant scientists have now affirmed this. Mystics have said this all along. The illusory nature of matter is a key indication that our normal ego-mind does not give us a true view of how things really are. Unfortunately, the vast majority of human are operating under this spell of ego-consciousness. We next looked at what modern science is telling us. Amazingly, most scientists today continue to believe that the world of matter is real, in spite of their own conclusions to the contrary discovered decades earlier. This is utterly fascinating. All scientists will agree that matter is essentially 99.9999999% empty space, and yet, they ignore this indisputable fact and they ignore the conclusions of Nobel prize winning physicists who have concluded that matter is merely a mirage. They pretend that these truths do not exist and continue to live in a make believe world. “And so it happened that the journey into the quantum realm revealed that the apparent world of hard matter rested not on solid material particles as Democritus envisioned, but on the airy cloud of nonphysical probabilities. Materialism was just a castle in the clouds, no less an illusion than the flat earth.” ~ Thomas J. McFarlane (scientist, philosopher and author, b1964) But recently, a group of maverick scientists is challenging the materialistic view of their compatriots and reviving the truths discovered decades ago. This new group of scientists is also addressing one of the key weaknesses of the materialistic mindset, i.e. it cannot explain what consciousness is. These new scientific mavericks are now coming to the same understanding that mystics have always had, i.e. consciousness is all that really exists. Matter is consciousness. Throughout history, science has gone through a number of paradigm shifts; the earth is round, not flat; the earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around; Newton's laws of motion; the many astounding conclusions of quantum mechanics; Einstein's relativity theories, etc. The next new paradigm for science may well be the understanding that the material world is pure consciousness. Like all other paradigms throughout history, such a new paradigm will not be accepted without much kicking and screaming. But eventually, it will be accepted. When the maverick scientists in medieval times revealed that the earth revolves around the sun, it nearly cost them their lives but today such knowledge is commonplace. And then, we looked at the views of contemporary mystics. This section was easy, since the mystics all say the same thing. Everything is made of consciousness. Matter is a mirage. But to be aware of this, one must rise above the false world of the ego-mind and see things as they really, i.e. from the state of pure Awareness. One must reacquire one's native state as a god. And so, back once again to the title of this posting, Are You in the Universe or is the Universe in You? |
The answer depends on the state of one's consciousness. The vast majority of mankind under the spell of ego-consciousness falsely see themselves as being within the universe. To those who have reacquired their original, native state of pure Awareness, this universe is merely an element within the boundless expanse of their higher minds.
"All space floats like an iceberg in My mental sea.
Colossal Container, I, of all things made ...
Ocean of mind, I drink all creation’s waves ...
Eternity and I, one united ray.
A tiny bubble of laughter, I
Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself." ~ from the poem, Samadhi, by P. Yogananda
Now, those with pure Awareness still have a body and still walk around within their local surroundings. The difference is that they see their bodies and the universe like characters and backgrounds within a virtual reality game - just a game being played in their minds. Just a game with no intrinsic reality. Their real selves exist outside of the creation game; in pure Awareness of peace and bliss.
"The consciousness that most humans currently employ is one that is associated with the body-form. It is temporary, limited in awareness and very confining. Our real consciousness is that of our god-selves and is the consciousness of Spirit." ~ Swami Abhayananda
"What you are really seeing is the image that your mind is creating from the electrical signals being sent to your brain. While they may appear to be outside of you, this is an illusion, they exist within your own mind, and are being projected to appear as if they are outside of you." ~ Joseph P. Kauffman (founder of Conscious Collective)
“Our beliefs shape how we perceive reality to be, and the belief that shapes our current perception of reality was adopted by the worldview of Newtonian physics, which asserts that reality is objective—that there is a material universe existing outside of our experience. But this isn’t true; there is no material universe outside of you; the Universe takes form through you." ~ Joseph P. Kauffman (founder of Conscious Collective)
"You have no location in space. Space is in you." ~ Peter Russell (scientist, author, futurist and long-time student of consciousness)
"Our perceiving self is nowhere to be found within the world-picture, because it itself is the world-picture." ~ Erwin Schrödinger (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1887 - 1961)
"Consciousness itself remains, as ever, the silent witness of all these shenanigans [of our ego-selves] ... We forget we are that which is watching the drama unfold."~ Peter Russell (scientist, author, futurist and long-time student of consciousness)
"When any object is not in your conscious awareness, it is in a potential state ... Your consciousness is responsible for the projection from potential to actual.'" ~ Thomas J. McFarlane (scientist, philosopher and author, b1964)
"All space floats like an iceberg in My mental sea.
Colossal Container, I, of all things made ...
Ocean of mind, I drink all creation’s waves ...
Eternity and I, one united ray.
A tiny bubble of laughter, I
Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself." ~ from the poem, Samadhi, by P. Yogananda
Now, those with pure Awareness still have a body and still walk around within their local surroundings. The difference is that they see their bodies and the universe like characters and backgrounds within a virtual reality game - just a game being played in their minds. Just a game with no intrinsic reality. Their real selves exist outside of the creation game; in pure Awareness of peace and bliss.
"The consciousness that most humans currently employ is one that is associated with the body-form. It is temporary, limited in awareness and very confining. Our real consciousness is that of our god-selves and is the consciousness of Spirit." ~ Swami Abhayananda
"What you are really seeing is the image that your mind is creating from the electrical signals being sent to your brain. While they may appear to be outside of you, this is an illusion, they exist within your own mind, and are being projected to appear as if they are outside of you." ~ Joseph P. Kauffman (founder of Conscious Collective)
“Our beliefs shape how we perceive reality to be, and the belief that shapes our current perception of reality was adopted by the worldview of Newtonian physics, which asserts that reality is objective—that there is a material universe existing outside of our experience. But this isn’t true; there is no material universe outside of you; the Universe takes form through you." ~ Joseph P. Kauffman (founder of Conscious Collective)
"You have no location in space. Space is in you." ~ Peter Russell (scientist, author, futurist and long-time student of consciousness)
"Our perceiving self is nowhere to be found within the world-picture, because it itself is the world-picture." ~ Erwin Schrödinger (physicist, Nobel Prize winner, 1887 - 1961)
"Consciousness itself remains, as ever, the silent witness of all these shenanigans [of our ego-selves] ... We forget we are that which is watching the drama unfold."~ Peter Russell (scientist, author, futurist and long-time student of consciousness)
"When any object is not in your conscious awareness, it is in a potential state ... Your consciousness is responsible for the projection from potential to actual.'" ~ Thomas J. McFarlane (scientist, philosopher and author, b1964)
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April 2020 - A Few Additional Thoughts
The following arrived in my email earlier in April;
"We are all sharing one collective experience – a global pandemic. This experience will change all our lives and redirect the future of life on this planet. We have entered the unknown together and no other experience in the history of humanity – wars, floods, earthquakes, droughts – has been able to so unify the global community around the same opponent, an invisible, organic virus ... Something in our collective imagination considered that the unthinkable, the unimaginable could happen ... Now we need to recognize the deeper mystical truth that we are the engines of all that is created in our world ... We create our own reality." ~ Caroline Myss (bestselling author and internationally renowned speaker on human consciousness)
It reminded me of similar words from various sources. Perhaps by prayer and changing the nature of our thoughts we can change the picture of the universe that currently resides in our collective minds.
“Take command over conditions in matter. Co-create the conditions that you want to see instead of feeling like a victim of forces beyond your control.” ~ Buddha (paraphrased)
“Whatever happens, happens to you, by you, through you; you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them. You will want to change them when you realize that each thought creates according to its own nature.” ~ P. Yogananda
“Our every thought builds our reality” ~ Edgar Cayce
“You must realize that thoughts are things. The very universe, in the final analysis, is composed not of matter but of consciousness. Matter responds, far more than most people realize, to the power of thought.” ~ P. Yogananda
“If you have faith and do not doubt, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen, and nothing will be impossible for you.” ~ Jesus of Nazareth (paraphrased)
"If we perceive things from the perspective that everything we know is a construct of consciousness, everything changes. With this shift, whether or not we are at peace is no longer determined by what we have or do in the material world. We created our perception of the world. We have given it all the meaning and value it has for us. And, we are free to see it differently." ~ Peter Russell
The following arrived in my email earlier in April;
"We are all sharing one collective experience – a global pandemic. This experience will change all our lives and redirect the future of life on this planet. We have entered the unknown together and no other experience in the history of humanity – wars, floods, earthquakes, droughts – has been able to so unify the global community around the same opponent, an invisible, organic virus ... Something in our collective imagination considered that the unthinkable, the unimaginable could happen ... Now we need to recognize the deeper mystical truth that we are the engines of all that is created in our world ... We create our own reality." ~ Caroline Myss (bestselling author and internationally renowned speaker on human consciousness)
It reminded me of similar words from various sources. Perhaps by prayer and changing the nature of our thoughts we can change the picture of the universe that currently resides in our collective minds.
“Take command over conditions in matter. Co-create the conditions that you want to see instead of feeling like a victim of forces beyond your control.” ~ Buddha (paraphrased)
“Whatever happens, happens to you, by you, through you; you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them. You will want to change them when you realize that each thought creates according to its own nature.” ~ P. Yogananda
“Our every thought builds our reality” ~ Edgar Cayce
“You must realize that thoughts are things. The very universe, in the final analysis, is composed not of matter but of consciousness. Matter responds, far more than most people realize, to the power of thought.” ~ P. Yogananda
“If you have faith and do not doubt, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen, and nothing will be impossible for you.” ~ Jesus of Nazareth (paraphrased)
"If we perceive things from the perspective that everything we know is a construct of consciousness, everything changes. With this shift, whether or not we are at peace is no longer determined by what we have or do in the material world. We created our perception of the world. We have given it all the meaning and value it has for us. And, we are free to see it differently." ~ Peter Russell
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Mystical Musings (July 2020)
“Listen to presences inside poems, Let them take you where they will." ~ Rumi "Poetry is one of the most useful expressions of a mystic’s inner experiences. By nature a mystic is able to access a state of consciousness that is beyond the usual awareness of humanity. At a certain stage mystics and great seekers have said it is impossible to describe the consciousness they have attained. However through poetry it is possible for the mystic poets to give a glimpse of higher worlds, like a finger pointing to the moon their inspiring utterances offer a poetic description of their elevating experiences." ~ from Poet Seers |
“Poetry is the most beautiful and refined verbal expression of human beings, in all cultures.
It is a container to transport meaning through images."
Such is the power of poetry. A short poetic phrase may open the door to understanding that a thousand words of prose could not.
Mystical poetry is both magical and enlightening.
It is a container to transport meaning through images."
Such is the power of poetry. A short poetic phrase may open the door to understanding that a thousand words of prose could not.
Mystical poetry is both magical and enlightening.
Below are selections from poems by mystics as well as others who have accessed their higher intuitive consciousness. This collection is by no means comprehensive; it is merely a sampling of the vast library available to anyone interested.
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The posting consists of the following sections;
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The sections above are largely self-contained. As such, one may choose to read them in a different order. To that end, each section title above is an anchor link and by clicking on it, you will be taken directly to that section. A return link to the start of this posting is provided after each section
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Sufi Mystical Poets 
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Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam. Over the centuries, many mystics from the Sufi tradition attained the highest spiritual ecstasy and wrote poems about their experiences. Sufi mystical poets include Mehmed Muhyiddin Uftade, Muinuddin Chishti , Amir Khusrau, Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj, Baba Kuhi, Ibn Arabi, Sheikh Sultan Bahu, Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir, Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya, Sheikh Ansari Jabir ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari, Sa'd al-din Mahmud Shabistar, Yunus Emre, Sanai, Saadi of Shiraz, Jalaluddin Rumi, Ahmad Jami, Hafiz of Shiraz, Shan Niaz, Mian Muhammad Baksh, Amir Khusrow Dehlavi, Fakhruddin Iraqi, Rabia Basri, Sanai Ghaznavi and Fariduddin Attar, among others. Perhaps the most beloved and best-known of the Sufi poets is the thirteenth century Persian poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi. Rumi is considered the greatest mystic poet of Islamic literature. The great turning point in his life came when he met the wandering Sufi mystic Shamsuddin Tabrizi, a spiritual guide who aroused Rumi’s passionate devotion. Tabrizi’s mysterious disappearance in 1247 led Rumi to produce some of his most inspired verse. |
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Jalaluddin Rumi
This universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you are already that Now it is time for silence. If I told you about His true essence You would fly from your self and be gone, and neither door nor roof could hold you back! When your chest is free of your limiting ego, Then you will see the ageless Beloved Though he is fallen asleep, God will not leave him In this forgetfulness. Awakened, he Will laugh to think what troublous dreams he had. And wonder how his happy state of being He could forget ..... So this world Seems lasting, though ’tis but the sleepers’ dream You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life? You are not a drop in the ocean You are the entire ocean in a drop Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens Be full of sorrow, that you may become a hill of joy; weep, that you may break into laughter The moment you accept what troubles you’ve been given, the door will open When someone beats a rug, the blows are not against the rug, but against the dust in it Joy lives concealed in grief Whenever sorrow comes, be kind to it. For God has placed a pearl in sorrow’s hand Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? You are the bird of happiness in the magic of existence! What a pity when you let yourself be chained and caged. But if you can break free from this dark prison named body soon you will see you are the sage and the fountain of life! You embrace some form saying, “I am this.” By God, you are not this or that or the other, you and spirit are the same. A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion You came suddenly shook me from my sleep and vanished. In my heart you rose like the moon but as I glanced at you, you disappeared. Having had a glimpse of Your garden, I have no more the patience to endure my existence If you see lover and Beloved as two, you either have double vision, or you can’t count. By God, when you see your beauty you will be the idol of yourself Today I have seen the charm, the beauty, The unfathomable grace of the face I was looking for. … My arrow of love has arrived at the target. My soul is screaming in ecstasy. Every fiber of my being is in love with You! O traveler, if you are in search of That Don't look outside, look inside yourself and seek That We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us I have been a seeker and I still am, but I stopped asking the books and the stars. I started listening to the teaching of my Soul Let silence be the art you practice There is a voice that doesn’t use words, listen Sit, be still, and listen Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation You have no need to travel anywhere – journey within yourself. Enter a mine of rubies and bathe in the splendor of your own light. Wisdom tells us we are not worthy; love tells us we are. My life flows between the two Let go of your mind and then be mindful. Close your ears and listen When you lose all sense of self, the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish |
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Selections from Other Sufi Mystical Poets
"O You who are so unbearably beautiful, Whose beloved are You?” I asked. “My own,” He replied. “For I am one and one alone.” ~ Fakhruddin Iraqi The world but seems to be, Yet it is only a blending of light and shade ~ Fakhruddin Iraqi [I was] fancying myself to be myself; but no, I was you and never knew it! ~ Fakhruddin Iraqi When the mystery of the oneness of the soul and the Divine is revealed to you, you will understand that you are not other than God. …For when you know yourself, your sense of a limited identity vanishes, and you know that you and God are one and the same. – Ibn Arabi I am in the ocean and an ocean is in me; This is the experience of one who can see. He that leaps into the river of Unity, He speaks of union with his Beloved’s beauty. ~ Ahmad Jami ____________________________________________________________________________ |
Paramahansa Yogananda 
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The great mystic and spiritual leader Paramahansa Yogananda was a very rare transcendent master who was in the highest state of God-consciousness. As one given a world mission, he sometimes chose to views things from a human perspective in order to help mankind more directly. He was able to converse with God at will. Yogananda was a prolific writer of many spiritual masterpieces, including Autobiography of a Yogi, God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita, and The Second Coming of Christ. From his ecstatic God-conscious state, he also wrote many poems. His mystical poems are mostly contained in the books Songs of the Soul and Whispers from Eternity. |
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Paramahansa Yogananda
The soul's secret door suddenly opens; and, oh, what bliss I feel at the sight of Thy light! It [love] is the God-drunk poet's heartaches For every creature's groans. Countless silver rays of living beauties Have melted into one transcendent grace – The beauties of a million, million ages – To make, at last, Thine omnipresent face. When no goblin nebulae breathed and glided in the space body, when no fire-eyed baby planets opened their eyes in the cradle of space, when no star-rivers ran across the tracts of infinite space, when the ocean of space was unpeopled, uninhabited by floating island universes, when the sun and moon and planetary families did not swim in space, when a little ball of earth with its dollhouses and diminutive human beings did not exist, when no object of any kind had come into being—Spirit existed ... The Spirit was invisible, existing alone in the home of infinity. He piped to Himself the ever-new, ever-entertaining song of perfect beatific bliss. As He sang to Himself His voice of Eternity, He wondered if aught but Himself were listening and enjoying His song. To His Wittingly imposed astonishment, He felt His solitariness ... The Unmanifested Spirit felt, "I am alone. I am conscious Bliss, but there is no one to taste the sweetness of My Nector of Joy." Even as He thus dreamed, He became many. There are faces of transcendent beauty, Faces of exquisite charm, faces tender and true; There are faces of sweetness and wisdom, But there’s none like the face of You. Vanished the veils of light and shade, Lifted every vapor of sorrow, Sailed away all dawns of fleeting joy, Gone the dim sensory mirage. ….. Smoldering joy, oft-puffed by meditation Blinding my tearful eyes, Burst into immortal flames of bliss, Consumed my tears, my frame, my all. Thou art I, I am Thou, Knowing, Knower, Known, as One! Tranquilled, unbroken thrill, eternally living, ever new peace! Samadhi extends my conscious realm Beyond limits of the mortal frame To farthest boundary of eternity Where I, the Cosmic Sea, Watch the little ego floating in me All space like an iceberg floats within my mental sea. Colossal Container, I, of all things made. Present, past, future, no more for me, But ever-present, all-flowing I, I, everywhere. I left my search in dim despair; Thou Royal, Sly Eluder! -- In haste I hied away from Thee And I retired within me: When lo! some Unseen Hand Did quickly snatch away the all-black band That did my eyes enfold That were so numb and cold. And in troth I felt quite keen: Someone beside me stood unseen And whispered to me, cool and clear, "Hello, playmate, I am here!" As I muse on Thee a thrilling fountain spray lightninglike spreads from my heart to all cells of my body, saturating them with divine devotion. I seek to enter the inmost heaven of Thy presence. Peace is the ambrosial wine of Spirit flowing from the cask of Silence, Which I quaff with my countless mouths of atoms. Yogananda's promise to his disciples; Unknown I will walk by your side And guard you with invisible arms. And as soon as you know my Beloved And hear His voice in silence, You will know me again more tangibly than you knew me on this earth plane. Yogananda's unconditional love to mankind; I want to ply my boat, many times, Across the gulf-after-death, And return to earth's shores From my home in heaven. I want to load my boat With those waiting, thirsty ones Who are left behind, And carry them by the opal pool Of iridescent joy Where my Father distributes His all-desire-quenching liquid peace. Oh, I will come again and again! Crossing a million crags of suffering, With bleeding feet, I will come -- If need be, a trillion times -- So long as I know One stray brother is left behind. ____________________________________________________________________________ |
Swami Abhayananda 
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Swami Abhayananda had a life-changing mystical experience in his mid-twenties in which he directly experienced God. The experience was so overwhelming that he dedicated his life to his writings, in order to help his fellow mankind become aware of a much higher existence. His many books include, among others, History of Mysticism, The Supreme Self, Body And Soul, Reflections On The Soul, The Divine Universe, Mysticism and Science and The Wisdom of Vedanta. He also wrote some exquisite poetry that is sprinkled throughout his writings. Swami Abhayananda is a modern-day mystic who is not as well-known as some of the others quoted in this posting. You can "catch up" with him at his website, The Mystic's Vision. For those interested, a summary of all of Swami Abhayananda's writings appears in a separate posting within the What's New section of this website. |
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Swami Abhayananda
He appears as though in a house of many mirrors, Fragmented into a million images, yet all are Him. It’s but a masquerade Once reawakened from our dreams, we know our Ever undivided and eternal Identity as Thee. In blissful folds of snow-white radiant Eternity We rest as Thee in peaceful oneness and joy It [the soul] learns that all the devilish battles and tortuous travails Were but a thought-parade in which, for the briefest time It marched, all unawares, to finally break away And find its way to freedom from time’s tumultuous play Within His own Mind, He creates a universe of Light; And, by virtue of its presence within His knowing Mind, Every particle of that universe is filled with His Consciousness … And, little by little, He leads His creatures To self-reflection and wisdom. And then, when His creatures are fully prepared, He reveals Himself within them as their origin and indwelling self, Their very life and awareness; And He brings them to completion in the knowledge That they are none else but Him That He alone comprises all that is. One by one, He leads His creatures To this self-revealing wonder and amazement, their ultimate prize; And when His solitary game of hide-and-seek is complete, He takes a rest, And then He begins it all once again. Eternally the one great Mind exists alone; Its universal picture-show comes and goes, An image on the screen of time. This eternal Mind’s in no hurry To bring this drama to a close at once: The drama’s denouement is long and slow. And the progress of your story depends on you-- On how quickly you learn and heed the clues. Pay attention now: He’s leading you to the knowledge That He is you and you are Him. The dreamer and the dream: one unending Self, One all-containing Mind, your secret identity. The timeless Self you’ve always been Was never imprisoned in a bodily shell; That’s but an illusion, a convincing spell that binds you To the dream of separate personality. Yet, one by one, we learn the truth of who we are, And once you’re freed of duality’s deception, You’ll realize you never left eternity’s bliss. There, the very earth was mine and all the starry heavens; And I was at the center, still, containing all. I had become the one great light, Begetting and illuminating every thing and beast; There was no other to behold, as all combined in me. No longer image shall I be, but transformed into Thee, not something other, but Thee entire, one glowing I, unending, perfect beauty, perfect bliss, and consciousness absolute. None of these words, of course, come close to saying what Thou art; though I searched, I could not find words that tell Thee truly. When you’re drawn up to the One, You’ll find yourself alone. … Wherever You look, You see none else but You. … There’s none else but You anywhere. In such a lonely timeless life, What else is there to do but dream Up worlds and populate them With imaginative forms caught up In crazy, impossible plots and toils? What else would You do When there’s none else but You? And, even now, while taking in the very air you breathe, And walking on the very shores of time you walk, I breathe as well the light eternal and walk the hallowed skies. My heart imbibes the sweetest joy time’s shadows can’t obscure; And, like a man with either foot astride a threshold, I’m here, though I am there. I walk the world on tiptoe, with my head above the clouds; My eyes are fixed undeviatingly on God’s perpetual smile. And, though you see me here with you, performing on the boards, I’m there, in God’s unbounded bliss, my own eternal Self. You have only temporarily forgotten That you reign supreme as the eternal One, Forever unbounded by time or place. Once reawakened from our dreams, we know our Ever undivided and eternal Identity as Thee. ____________________________________________________________________________ |
The Taoist Mystics 
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Taoism is both a philosophy and a religion, originating in China. It emphasizes doing what is natural and following The Way in accordance with the Tao, a cosmic force which flows through all things and binds and releases them. The philosophy grew from an observance of the natural world, and the religion developed out of a belief in cosmic balance maintained and regulated by the Tao. Lao Tzu is considered the originator of Taoism. He authored the Tao-Te-Ching, a book of poetry presenting a simple way of following the Tao and living life at peace with one's self, others, and the world of changes. Chuang Tzu was also a key contributor to the Taoist tradition. He wrote the book Chuang Tzu which was based on observations of the natural world and the belief that human beings are innately good and only needed a reminder of their inner nature to pursue virtue over vice. |
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Lao Tzu
To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day. Every step is on the path Before heaven and earth existed, there was something unformed, silent, alone, unchanging, constant and eternal; It could be called ‘the Source of the Universe.’ I do not know Its name and simply call It “Tao.” A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future If you are at peace you are living in the present What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly Silence is a source of Great Strength He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened Embracing Tao, you become embraced. Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn. Clearing your vision, you become clear. Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial. Opening your heart, you become accepted. Accepting the World, you embrace Tao. Bearing and nurturing, Creating but not owning, Giving without demanding, Controlling without authority, This is love. When there is no desire, all things are at peace The past has no power to stop you from being present now. Only your grievance about the past can do that. What is grievance? The baggage of old thought and emotion. Do you imagine the universe is agitated? Go into the desert at night and look at the stars. This practice should answer the question. To hold, you must first open your hand. Let go. New Beginnings are often disguised as painful endings He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity. When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny. If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart. The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. He prefers what is within to what is without. The Sage travels all day yet never leaves his inner treasure Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner An ocean of ink in a single drop, Trembling at the tip of my brush. Poised above stark white paper, A universe waits for existence. Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe. Understand this if nothing else: spiritual freedom and oneness with the Tao are not randomly bestowed gifts, but the rewards of conscious self-transformation and self-evolution |
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Chuang Tzu
The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world When the mind of the sage is calm, it becomes the mirror of the universe wherein he can see everything The visible world is born of the Invisible; the world of forms is born of the Formless. ... That which gives life to all creation, yet which is, Itself, never drawn upon —that is the Tao. Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chuang. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. While they dream, they do not know that they dream. Some will even interpret the very dream they are dreaming; and only when they wake do they know it was a dream. By and by comes the Great Awakening, and then we find that this life is really a great dream. ____________________________________________________________________________ |
Mystical Poets of India 
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Throughout the ages, India has consistently been the land of the mystics, producing many, many enlightened beings and spiritually ecstatic individuals. Included below are poem selections from a few of India's mystical poets; Sri Chinmoy - an Indian spiritual leader who advocated a path to God through prayer and meditation. He taught in the West after moving to New York City in the 1960s. A prolific author, artist, poet, and musician. Kabir - a 15th-century Indian mystic poet-saint revered by Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs Dattatreya - ancient Indian sage and mystic. Author of the Avadhuta Gita. Upanishads - sacred texts of ancient India that capture the essence of the mystical writings of the Vedas. The quotations below are written in verse format based on the original prose. No words have been changed. Bhagavad Gita - The Song of God; perhaps the most beloved and highly regarded mystical text of ancient India. Other Mystical Poets of the East - selections from Nanak, Sir Aurobindo, Mirabai, Shankaracharya and Jnaneshvar |
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Sri Chinmoy
No mind, no form, I only exist; Now ceased all will and thought; The final end of Nature’s dance, I am it whom I have sought. A realm of Bliss ….. ..... My cosmic play is done. May the finite lose its existence-life In the heart of the Ocean of Delight. May my heart-lyre play the ecstasy-music Of Transcendence-Height. Though in the world, I am above its woe; I dwell in an ocean of supreme release. O Bird of Light, O Bird of Light, With your glowing and flowing flames Do enter into my heart once again. ….. My heart is in prison, In the strangled breath of a tiny room. |
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Kabir
still the body still the mind still the voice inside in silence feel the stillness move friends this feeling cannot be imagined What, then, O friend, are you searching for like a fool? The object of your quest is within you, as the oil is in the sesame seed. As the pupil is in the eye, so is the Lord in the body; The deluded do not know Him, and search for Him without. If you want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth: Listen to the secret sound, the real sound, which is inside you When affection for the I-creature and what it owns is dead, then the work of the Teacher is over. As the river enters into the ocean, so my heart touches Thee You have slept millions and millions of years. Why not wake up this morning? There, where millions of Krishnas stand with hands folded, Where millions of Vishnus bow their heads, Where millions of Brahmâs are reading the Vedas, Where millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation, Where millions of Indras dwell in the sky, Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered, Where millions of Saraswatis, Goddess of Music, play on the vina-- There is my Lord self-revealed: and the scent of sandal and flowers dwells in those deeps If you merge your life in the Ocean of Life, You will find your life in the Supreme Land of Bliss I have had my Seat on the Self-poised One, I have drunk of the Cup of the Ineffable, I have found the Key of the Mystery, I have reached the Root of Union. Travelling by no track, I have come to the Sorrowless Land ….. He who has savoured it once, he knows what joy it can give. |
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Dattatreya
That one God who shines within everything, Who is formless like the cloudless sky, Is the pure, stainless, Self of all. Without any doubt, that is who I am. O mind, why are you so deluded? Why do you run about like a frightened ghost? Become aware of the indivisible Self! Be rid of attachment; be happy and free! I’m the infinite and immutable One; I’m pure Consciousness, without any form Here, everything is eternal; everything is Consciousness. Here, only the Immutable exists; everything is Consciousness. All this [world] is conjured by magic; It’s only the water of a desert mirage. Beyond all differences, beyond all forms, Truly, there is only Shiva alone. |
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The Upanishads
He created all this—whatever there is. Having created all this, He entered into it. Having entered into it, He became both the manifest and the unmanifest, both the defined and the undefined, both the supported and the unsupported, both the intelligent and the non-intelligent, both the real and the unreal. ~ from the Taittiriya Upanishad Only those who see Him within themselves Obtain the gift of eternal Bliss. ~ from the Svetasvatara Upanishad When the mind is silent, beyond weakness and distraction, then it can enter into a world, which is far beyond the mind: the supreme Destination ... Then one knows the joy of Eternity. ~ from the Svetasvatara Upanishad The supreme Spirit is immeasurable, inapprehensible, beyond conception, unborn, immortal, beyond reasoning, beyond thought ….. In the consciousness of Brahman, the universe exists, and into Him it returns. ~ from the Maitri Upanishad |
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Bhagavad Gita
If a thousand suns appeared simultaneously in the sky, their light might dimly resemble the [radiant] splendor of that Omnific Being! Through my Prakrti [Creative Power] I bring forth all creation, and these worlds revolve in the revolutions of time. But I am not bound by this vast work of creation. I exist alone, watching the drama of this play. I watch and in its work of creation Prakrti brings forth all that moves and moves not: and thus, the worlds go on revolving. |
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Selections from other Mystical Poets of the East
When the light of the soul blends with the universal Light, And the human mind commingles With the Mind of all things, Then, our petty being, With its violence, doubt and sorrow, disappears. Through the grace of the Guru, Such spiritual union takes place. ~ Nanak Vast, God-possessing, embraced by the Wonderful, Lifted by the All-Beautiful into his infinite beauty, Love shall envelop thee endless and fathomless, Joy unimaginable, Ecstasy illimitable, Knowledge omnipotent, Might omniscient. ~ Sri Aurobindo My Beloved dwells in my heart, I have actually seen that Abode of Joy ~ Mirabai I am that Brahman, one without a second. Maya [the Creative Power], the many-seeming, is merged in me. I am beyond the grasp of thought, the essence of all things. I am the truth. I am knowledge. I am infinite. I am absolute bliss. ~ Shankaracharya On Spirit beyond creation ("He") and Ishvara, God within creation ("She") [She] cannot live without Her Lord; And without Her, The Doer-of-all cannot appear. Since He appears because of Her, And She exists because of Her Lord, The two cannot be distinguished at all. ~ Jnaneshvar ____________________________________________________________________________ |
The Transcendentalists 
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Transcendentalism was a nineteenth century American philosophy that was centered in the Boston region of New England. It encapsulated the concept that all people, men and women equally, have a higher intuitive and spiritual knowledge about themselves and the world around them that "transcends" what the human senses suggest. The Transcendentalists were an eclectic group of religious, literary, educational, and social reformers. The club had many extraordinary thinkers, but accorded the leadership position to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Other preeminent members included Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickenson, Walt Whitman, as well as others. It is fair to conclude that each of these four were blessed at times with mystical experiences. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a highly regarded Harvard-educated essayist, poet and lecturer and one of the most influential thinkers of his time. Henry David Thoreau was also a highly-regarded deep-thinking individualist best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Civil Disobedience, an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. Emily Dickinson is one of America’s greatest and most original poets of all time. She challenged the existing definitions of poetry and, like her fellow Transcendentalists, freed her work from all limiting conventional restraints. Walt Whitman was an esteemed poet, journalist and essayist whose verse collection Leaves of Grass is a landmark in the history of American literature. |
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of God Standing on the bare ground, - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force - that thoughts rule the world I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude I laugh at the lore and the pride of man, At the sophist schools, and the learned clan; For what are they all, in their high conceit, When man in the bush with God may meet? It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not die, but only retire a little from sight and afterwards return again. The influence of the senses have in men overpowered the thought to the degree that the walls of time and space have come to look solid, real and insurmountable … Yet time and space are but inverse measures of the power of the mind. Man is capable of abolishing them both. When it is dark enough, you can see the stars |
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Henry David Thoreau
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away. As the stars looked to me when I was a shepherd in Assyria, they look to me now as a New-Englander I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. Any fool can make a rule And any fool will mind it In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagvat Geeta ….. in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial. You must live in the present … find your eternity in each moment |
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Emily Dickenson
The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me – The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality. To shut your eyes is to travel Rowing in Eden – Ah, the sea! Might I moor – Tonight – In thee! I have been bent and broken, but -I hope- into a better shape Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light. |
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