The Evolution of Action

Along the way, we go from thinking we are the doers of action (karma) to action seeming to take care of itself. (with Self realization)

“Actions are in every case performed by the gunas of Nature. He whose mind is deluded by the sense of `I’ holds `I am the doer.’”
Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 3, verse 27

The world around us takes on the appearance of being an illusion or dream. Only Self is real. As we deepen into this experience, we discover…

“The Lord creates neither the authorship of action nor the action of beings; nor does He create the link between (the doer), the action and its fruits. Nature carries this out.”
Ch. 5, verse 14

And as we deepen still further…

“I am indeed doing this action, but actually I am not doing it; I am Brahman, and action is also Brahman, and the fruit of action is also Brahman, so even the fruit is nothing but my own Self, and the Self I am already.”
Commentary on Ch. 6, verse 1, by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

I spoke earlier of how the dream or Maya evolves from being illusion to the way home. When all is discovered to be Brahman, Maya is found to be none other than that. Brahman says, “My indestructible Maya.”

Knowledge, as they say, is different in different states of consciousness.
Davidya

Arjuna Before and After

I continue to gradually read the Yog Vasistha. As I mentioned in the beginning, the book is a discourse between the sage Vasistha and Rama, mostly told in stories. It is told in the royal court, filled with royalty, sages, and angels. Valmiki is remotely telling the story of the discourse, plus Valmikis discourse of the discourse is being related by one sage to yet another.  In other words, a story about a story about a story telling stories. (laughs)

I’ve also mentioned other stories, like the story of Lila where a king lives a lifetime within a lifetime within a lifetime. Not the usual linear lives.  And of Bhusunda the crow. Bhusunda has figured out how to live beyond a dissolution or world cycle when everything completes and ends for a time. He has thus seen that each world cycle repeats itself (from memory or Veda) with small variations in each.

Last night I read the story of Arjuna. It’s a brief synopsis of the story of Arjuna and Krisna on the battlefield, told in the Bhagavad Gita. Krisna is quoted verbatim. The thing is, Krisna and Arjuna were not yet due to be born for several thousand more years. Vasishta describes who his elder brothers “will be” and why this battle is destined to take place.

“… when the people become predominantly sinful, Yama the god of death sometimes engages himself in meditation for some years, during which the population increases and explodes. The gods, frightened by this population explosion, resort to various devices to reduce it. All this has happened again and again countless times.” Eventually, the next avatar of Vishnu arrives. In this case, the story is of the next one, Krisna.

“When the Lord will thus instruct Arjuna, the later will remain silent for a few moments and then say: “Lord, in the light of the sun of your admonitions, the lotus of the intelligence in my heart has fully unfolded.” Having said this, Arjuna will instantly pick up his weapons [he had thrown down] and engage himself in the conduct of war, as if in a play.”

Both the Bhagavad Gita and the Yog Vasistha offer unique worldviews from very different times.
Davidya

Concepts vs Being

In another forum, the basic issue with concepts arose.  Edited for the blog.

There is a very subtle but important point. We hear someone we respect say something and we believe it to be true. It may then become a part of our story about the world. An habitual concept. This is a perfectly natural process that allows us to learn and grow. It’s how we gain most of our non-experienced information about the world. For example, “the seeds of an apple are poisonous.” or earlier on, “don’t eat those!”

But behind that, ego is a story of being separate. When something is added to our story, it becomes a part me. We are identified with it. It is my truth, not just a truth.

We then have a filter through that information. We avoid eating apple cores, for example. We latch on to things that verify our story (apple corers) and filter out or reject things that don’t align. “You can eat all of an apple but the stem. Then there is no waste.” This way we can quickly respond to what comes up and not have to make continual conscious decisions about every little thing. But if we see ourselves reacting disproportionately to something minor, it’s probably because it is seen as a threat to our story and thus to our sense of self. We may respond with anger, resistance or denial. This is born of fear of the perceived threat to self. It can sometimes be quite odd what we are threatened by. But ego doesn’t like the holes in the story to be seen.

If a “better” story comes along, we’ll adapt and add an addendum. But only if it does not threaten the core story. For example, “you shouldn’t eat apples because they’re vata.” It has to be something that makes it better. Makes us more important, more complete, more healthy, more something. It’s very popular in New Age circles to teach making better stories. You’ll be happier if you believe something better. But only until the story runs into a problem. “Eat local and fresh, like apples.”

All this is why waking up is difficult. We already are that. But Being is a threat to the core of the story, the ego story of separation. Until we have enough experience of the silence that underlies all experience, we’re not usually willing to let go and let Self be. The ego can get into all sorts of conflicts with itself. “Apples are fresh and local. But apples are vata.” But it’s all just concepts because the battleground is the mind. The red flag is the need to be right. The need for one thing to be true and everything else, and everyone else, to be wrong. When we see that reactivity, this is the time to stop and look. What is behind this feeling, this reaction? Once that story is seen, it can fall away if it no longer serves. Maybe apples are good sometimes, in moderation.

Is life every really so black and white? Or is it more a spectrum? A range. Life is a process of becoming.

We may say things like truth and always or never. But this is just the mind holding onto something. We cannot win at this battle. We can only see though it and thus be willing to let it go. Then freedom can dawn. And apples can be eaten. Chocolate too
Davidya

The Insistent Concept

In another forum was another voice for the world as illusion and only awareness is real and eternal so there is no process and nothing to do. Just see this. Or rather think you see it. This is Neo-Advaita.

While yes, it is true that non-dual awareness is always present, it is first experienced as dawning in our more local awareness. Then we discover it is already eternally present. And everyone is already awake. But it’s not really true before that, whatever idea we might have.

I would not say the future is nonsense but rather the future is right now. This may not be true for you but does this make it wrong? Can you describe the origin of the experience of time and it’s relationship to perception and awareness? Then do you even know what time is? Is your idea then that the future is nonsense just a concept? Clearly you experience the passage of time. To say the future is nonsense means you are denying a part of your experience. That’s how you get stuck, not enlightened.

Let’s put this another way. Do you experience how awareness arises out of That? In deep samadhi we experience even an absence of awareness. So-called Emptiness. Where is eternal awareness then? I’m not saying awareness is not eternal. I’m just asking the question. Do you know awareness if you don’t know what it is? (and yes, you can experience awareness of an absence of awareness because awareness is aware at every point within itself.)

When you touch an object, do you experience the person touching and the object being touched? Do you experience all objects, your environment, the universe, and all experiences of every being to be inside of yourself?

If you do not, you do not understand Advaita and it’s just arguing concepts. Advaita is Vedanta, the end of the Veda, the end of knowledge. All This is That. Not just me. Not just some of it. Everything. Not just an idea of it. Direct experience. I am That.

This is why I harp on process. There are so many people underestimating what Enlightenment is. If your mirror does not reflect the fullness of what is, even noticing what is true for you right now will just give you a sliver of what’s really there. Looking at ‘what is’ is correct but never assume your experience is all of it.

There is a process to awakening, even if we don’t recognize it is occurring. Awakening is just another form of growing up. The eternal will be seen as eternal when we get there. But if you deny what you experience now, you miss a part of who you are. Anything you leave behind, you’ll have to come back and get. Better to bring it all along for the ride. If you deny there is a journey happening, then you completely miss why you’re even here, having these experiences.
Davidya

The Neo-Advaita Fog

Neo-Advaita is a kind of popularized or “new age” version of non-duality and Vedanta that’s based in concepts rather than being. Vedanta is the end of Veda or knowledge, the understanding we arrive at late in the process of Enlightenment. It has no real meaning until then, not even to the Self-realized. While statements like “All This is That” can illustrate a later perspective and we might even understand this intuitively, this is not non-dualism. Unless we are Totality, directly in our experience, it’s just a concept. If it’s taken as belief and the “only real truth”, you get a kind of rigidity in a completely impractical outlook. The conceptual misunderstanding then drifts into life, like believing there is no practice (or work) needed. The house will build itself if I wait. Further, some of the awake confuse the inner unity of Self-Realization with Advaita.  I’ve spoken about this prior on articles like Finding a Teacher. Today, an interesting and amusing article on the mistake of Neo-Advaita.

“No longer is it necessary for the spiritual student to engage in self-inquiry or inner work on oneself. Now all that is necessary to ‘realize the Self’ is a constant repetitive denial of one’s own identity and the (pseudo) ‘understanding’ that the ego and all and everything else that happens in the universe (essence and belief systems included) is ‘simply an illusion’. Everything ‘just happens, there is no path, no cause’, so consequently there is absolutely nothing to do.

It’s really simple, just like it was for Shankara, Buddha, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Rumi and the relatively few others who are generally agreed to have been enlightened.

What? Wait a minute, I don’t recall that it was easy for the above mentioned Masters. Didn’t they spend years, and sometimes entire lifetimes meditating, engaged in self-inquiry and inner work? Oh yeah, they did. And this is the problem that exists now, because the Neo-Avaita movement claims lineage from and history from Advaita, but advocates none of the work. In fact they continue to espouse that it is simply not necessary. Merde!”

The article is a little rich in attitude (laughs) but makes the main points.

“If you feel offended by what has been written:
Either you need to become a bit more tricky in denying your own and the author’s existence (isn’t everything just an illusion?). Or you’re not yet completely hooked by the Neo-Advaita game and you might want to reconsider if this is the direction you want to take.”

He quotes Nisargadatta:
Q: “How can the absolute be the result of a process?”

Nisargadatta: “You are right, the relative cannot result in the absolute. But the relative can block the absolute, just as the non-churning of the cream may prevent butter from separating. It is the real that creates the urge; the inner prompts the outer and the outer responds in interest and effort.” “You seem to want instant insight, forgetting that the instant is always preceded by a long preparation. The fruit falls suddenly, but the ripening takes time.”

Some other related essays if the subject interests you.

Everything is dual.
Nothing is non-dual.
But nothing appears as everything,
So what is dual is really non-dual,
Which means what is dual can’t be dual…

Everything is non-dual.
Nothing is dual.
But everything appears to be nothing,
So what’s non-dual is really dual,
Which means that what is non-dual can’t be non-dual…

…[go back to start]

– Liz Jones

The above illustrates how concepts can take you in circles. The paradox resolves fully when we discover we are That.
Davidya

Love for David

Simon, that is. He runs the Chopra Center, an Ayurvedic health clinic. I recently mentioned they plan to open a second one here.

“In the amazing and mysterious ways of the universe, earlier this week, I was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.”

He goes under the knife tomorrow.

“If you wish to lend your support, which I would greatly appreciate, here’s what you can do:

1. Keep my family and me in your prayers. Knowing that the collective plays a vital role in shaping reality, I sincerely welcome your loving thoughts and good intentions.

2. The Chopra Center team has set up a website www.lovefordavid.com where you can post your prayers and good wishes, share stories if I have touched your life positively, and send jokes and funny story’s for I truly believe that laughter is the best medicine. I plan to visit this site on a daily basis for your precious inspiration.

3. Tell the people in your life that you love them now. Life is so delicate and precious. Take advantage of this opportunity to express your love and gratitude to all those who will listen.”

More:
www.lovefordavid.com

Some great jokes too…

Yoga Limbs

When I first began on the spiritual journey, I studied a number of eastern texts outlining aspects of the path. One common understanding was that there was a series of Yogas, each suitable for different types of people. Those more devotional would follow the Bhakti path. Those more intellectual the Gyan path, those more inclined to doing and experience the Karma Yoga, and those more physical, Hatha Yoga.

As I had a strong drive to understand, I identified myself as Gyan. But as this was the path of discrimination, it was not for the distractions of the world. A proper Gyan would have to become a renunciate and monk. For a time, I considered how I’d be a monk until I reread the descriptions and saw the perceptual part of the Karma Yogi path. I was big on perceptual understanding, so perhaps I was more Karma Yogi. Those who know me would laugh that I ever considered being a monk. More Yogi Bear. (laughs) I was just making a story rather than any real understanding.

At some point, I concluded I was probably a blend. Karma Yogi like many westerners with a Gyan tendency. But also like many westerners, I saw devotion as not my thing and not part of my journey. Yet at a certain point I was faced with dealing with the heart. I could not progress unless I did some clearing and opening. Plus, learned something of surrender.

At first it seemed that the higher states were prominently shifts of each of the primary yogas. Karma to approach Self Realization, Bhakti for God Realization and Gyan for Unity. That obviously implies all are required. Then, closer up it was clear that the primary wakings required something of each. Without surrender, there is no shift. Without understanding, the mind won’t let go. Without preparation, there was no readiness.

Soon it was clear that each of us may have natural leanings or orientation, but we have to deal with it all. Body, heart and mind. Nothing gets left out. For unity, a union of all aspects.

In the recent BATGAP interview with James Swartz, a Vedanta teacher, he finally puts that concept to rest. More like Patanjali’s limbs of Yoga, all forms of Yoga are required for our evolution – at least to some degree. The concept was so lodged in there that in spite of all the exceptions, I still hadn’t fully dropped it. One of my teachers was wrong on that point.

If we have a resistance to a life arena, and in the west a big one is often our emotional baggage, that’s the area we’ll have to deal with one way or another if we want to really “get it”. As James mentions, we can spend our entire meditation processing reactions, only to reenliven them when we step back into activity. Unless we deal with the roots, we’ll just spin our wheels.

If I use the word devotion, blind faith may come to mind. Or Indian pageantry and gods. Strangeness to many westerners. But this is not the only form of devotion. Many are uplifted by the poems of Rumi, Blake, or other western visionaries like Traherne. We can also observe many clear exponents of understanding like Yogananda also writing devotional verse.

Plus, as James observes, even the devotion to self-knowledge is Bhakti. A good friend of mine surprised me with that one. And that in turn eased my concepts around devotion, allowing the heart to further open.

Amusingly, when I then go back and look at Patanjali’s Royal Yoga, it blends all the primary Yogas. I see this message was staring us in the face. All the limbs together, all the Yogas together. An understanding that has to be repeatedly brought to light against the minds tendency to segregate and identify with separateness.

It’s funny how we are. Here’s a primary concept I ran into that didn’t fit. And was repeatedly shown to be incorrect. And the correct understanding was right beside it. But so many people continue to carry and reinforce the idea, so it remains.

Together. Always together.
Davidya

Surrender Date

Recently, I had one of those curious experiences where I started to look at a different career direction, then the means in question vanished. Later that same day, I went to a talk on book publishing and was surprised by the dramatic changes in the industry. Independent publishers are now producing more titles than the traditional houses and Print on Demand dominates the market. All of this is driven by an unsustainable model in retail book sales where a large number of books are burned just a few months after printing. More to the point, there was a viable new way of making a living in this market. Something like what’s happening for independent musicians.

What further amused me was the crowning touch. An article in the career pages of a local paper I read on the way home by Dr. Career*. It was called Surrender date: Have you reached yours yet?

“A surrender date is a unique moment in your life when you accept what your natural born talent is. Not what you want it to be or what others want it to be… when you decide to no longer live your life by other people’s rules that are either imposed on you or are part of your belief system…”

I laughed at this for a number of reasons. For one, I talk about Surrender dates here in reference to moments of awakening. Many people can very clearly remember the place and time of their awakenings. A kind of before and after point when life made a major shift.

“You will never forget your surrender date. Like the time when your first child was born or when you lost your virginity.”

He goes on to talk about the freedom and the reduction in worry. “…you no longer have to pretend or spend energy comparing yourself to others.” “When you are not fighting, you are accepting.”

“Signals you have not had yours yet?”
- a very busy person that never stops (to cover whats not working)
- your life is a struggle or fight
- you feel stuck or not progressing
- you are angry or blaming

He then shares his own experience of deciding not to do what he wanted but to accept his nature. Mainly because his life was a disaster. He had known since childhood but had been resisting it  because of negative beliefs.

“What beliefs do you have that are not allowing you to surrender?”

I was unnecessarily surprised to see how much this had in common with awakening. But one can certainly see how the dharma or purpose of awakening is closely linked to the more personal value of career.

It’s also notable how discouraged many of us can be from our talents. Messages of bad career choice from family. Poor results in school. Beliefs laid on about good and bad, right and wrong. It goes on and on. All of that masking why we’re here and thus where we can have the most success, joy, and sense of well-being.

I’ve been struggling with this some as I’ve been nailed a few times in my life for being myself. While I’ve approached it, I’ve not fully “surrendered” to this one. I empathize with a resistance to what Gangaji calls a willingness to be seen.

It should of course be noted that career is not necessarily a fixed thing. It will tend to evolve in life. Just as the rules of life can sometimes shift, so too our role. There are obvious things like becoming a parent. But sometimes less obvious things shift and what worked before stops working, calling us to change.

This can quite simply be due to karma. We may even spend a hunk of our life more in obligation than purpose. But the closer we are to purpose, the more easily we can resolve obligation. Change will still arise when a certain role has finished, but not with such difficulty. Now we have a new opportunity to stop and take a look. What is the best choice rather than what is the first thing that comes along? The second may seem easier up front, but it’s the bumpier road long term.

What do you want to be when you grow up? 
Davidya

* I couldn’t find the article on his site or the papers site

Developing Intuition

Dr. Judith Orloff is an intuitive psychiatrist of surprising skill. I met her here several years ago when she came for a talk. I’ve written about her a few times, such as in Being Empathic.

She’s recently written an article on Developing Intuition, in this case applied to healing. But the steps are valid for whatever your attention is on. If you do use intuition to make real world decisions (as you should be), always test the results. This ensures you’re doing it properly but also amplifies it as we see the synchronicity and support for being on the right track.

Often, if it’s not working it’s because we don’t want to see. This is also why we check as the ego can throw up diversions for things it feels unsafe about. But once we become open and clear enough by working through our stuff, it becomes increasingly reliable. You may actually find you use “impressions” or “hunches” all the time in certain areas of your life where you are more open or confident. This process helps to make your process more conscious and consistent.

(title links are to additional articles she provided)

Step 1: Notice Your Beliefs
“Positive attitudes stimulate growth. Negative attitudes impede it. It’s important to rid yourself of counterproductive attitudes that you may not even realize you have.”

Step 2: Be In Your Body
“Your body is a complex and sensitive intuitive receptor.” “Most people in Western society are conditioned to live from the neck up, ignoring the rest of their body. This stance is counter-intuitive.”

Step 3: Sense Your Body’s Subtle Energy
“We are composed of flesh and blood, but also of subtle energy. Chinese Medical Practitioners call it “chi,” a vital substance which penetrates the body and extends many feet beyond it. From an intuitive point of view, these vibrantly colored energy fields, whose centers are called chakras have a significant effect on our health.”

I wrote a series on our Energy System.

Step 4: Ask for Inner Guidance
“We each possess an intuitive voice that contains answers about our healing. Because our intellect is often so loud, this voice often gets drowned out. It’s essential that we learn to access the stillness within–though meditation, [quiet] contemplation, connecting with nature, prayer – in order to gain answers about our health.”

Step 5: Listen To Your Dreams
“Intuition is the language of dreams. Every ninety minutes each night during the REM stage of sleep, we dream. Dreams provide answers about health, relationships, career choices, any new direction. The secret is to remember them. I suggest keeping a dream journal by your bed. Before you go to sleep, ask a dream a question. For instance, “Is this relationship healthy for me or should I move on?” The next morning, write down any dreams immediately before getting out of bed. Try repeating the question, every night for the next week until your answer comes.”

For myself, I would say the last step is just “Listen”. I’ve found dreams a little too busy, but I’ve often found that answers show up when I wake in the morning or sometimes when I lay to bed. Thus, I keep a pen and supply of sticky notes by the bed. And around the house. When I take a moment out to sit, stuff arises all the time, including many of these articles. Sometimes it comes up well digested and ready to roll. Sometimes, just as a distinct impression for further consideration.

It’s also really important to be alert for resistance. If we don’t want to hear the answer, our resistance can pop up, like a kid with fingers in their ears going LA LA LA LA! I’M NOT HEARING! You’ll also see it with immediate no’s or judgments. These are actually the most useful responses as they point to where we have logjams. Letting these go can have the biggest impact on quality of life. Surprisingly often, they can be around key things like our core purpose and the gifts we have to offer.

You can explore the links for more from Dr. Orloff.
Davidya

Gulf Oil

The oil volcano in the Gulf of Mexico is certainly an active topic, both in the news and in spiritual communities. As one notable broadcast clarifies, the incident is not new, nor has the recovery technology progressed in 30 years, even though they’re now drilling much more deeply. The real difference this time is the dawn of the Internet and live coverage.

A number of organizations have gathered groups for prayer or intentional experiments to try and help “heal” the issue. I spoke about some of this last month. Our attention is very potent if we’re able to settle into a quiet space. If this is also done concurrently in groups, even more so.

Adam, the Dreamhealer continues with suggestions. He teaches visualization for healing and suggests you get to know your biology so you can more accurately visualize. In this case, they use the live feed of the main leak to aid visualization.

Another example that arose today was an interesting intention from the Japanese scientist, Dr. Masaru Emoto. He has long done experiments on the impact of our emotions on water. He became better known in the west when the film What the Bleep showed how emotions effected the patterns of water crystals.

In his commentary on the situation (translated from Japanese), he blends his own approach with Ho’oponopono from Hawaii. The basic idea of Ho’oponopono is the forgiveness of whatever problems show up in our experience.

Now let’s give energy of love and gratitude to all the living creatures in Mexico Gulf by praying like this.

To whales, dolphins, pelicans, fishes, shellfishes, planktons, corals, algae and all creatures ion Gulf of Mexico.

(pictures of the oil and oil soaked birds)

I am sorry.
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
I love you.

The email I got had adapted it a little, probably to smooth the English:

I send the energy of love and gratitude to the water and all the living creatures in the Gulf of Mexico and its surroundings. To the whales, dolphins, pelicans, fish, shellfish, plankton’s, corals, algae and all living creatures…..I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.

This may seem like an odd approach but we should not underestimate the power of attention and intention. Everything that is, everything we experience, arises from this. Most of the people experiencing the disaster or watching the news are responding with anger, fear and other negative emotions. While this is natural, adding our own drama does not help the situation. Fortunately, if we sit for a moment and touch silence, we’ll be coming from a much more powerful place than someone in fear. When we then send love and gratitude to the situation, we can help diffuse some of the trauma in the group awareness. This helps open the awareness for solutions to arise.

We may not yet have the group intention potent enough to be able to simply stop the leak. But healing group awareness should not be underestimated. When stress grows enough in consciousness, it begins to spill over, looking for a release. For some, it will show up as disease. For others, reactivity. From this you get violence, civil unrest, and untold shared miseries.

By offering a form of relief valve, we help dissipate the buildup, deflecting strife and perhaps clearing attention enough for inspiration to show up through the clouds of challenge. This is why some teachers suggest that when we meditate, we meditate for the world.

This is the way of evolution on the macrocosmic scale. We may not feel what we do has any impact on the whole but we are never apart from it. Everything we do is inseparable from everything being done. What are you contributing?
Davidya