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When most people hear the adjective "mystical," they think of something occult, or even magical. They don't quite know what it is, but are sure that it is something "spooky"! Actually, the histories of intercultural forms of mysticism (such as gnosticism, kabbalism, and sufism, in their most generic forms, as well as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism) prove that this Way has nothing to do with the occult or with magic.
The mystic has begun a tentative knowing of the cosmos. She knows that it is not a separate collection of objects, like the universe's largest yard-sale. Instead, she comes to see the entire "material" cosmos as a complex dream. and the mystic knows that it is not her dream; it is being dreamed by a greater, immense Mind through her tiny human mind.
This dream was called by our Hindu sisters and brothers maya, a Sanskrit word meaning "illusion." The entire material universe, together with all of spacetime, are a part of this dreamillusion. When the kabbalists spoke of "creation," they were also referring to this same dreaming Mind.
But if the cosmos is being dreamed into being by a perfect, flawless Mind, why is it so imperfect, even ugly, in some ways? Because the material cosmos, before it can be sensed/perceived, must flow through the "filters" of other mindlevels. One of these Mindlevels is called the "Soul," and it makes sure that the cosmic dream also contains all personal karma. So, the projection of this karma alters the "perfect world" of a perfect Mind. We end up living in precisely the exact "virtual reality" that we need in order to grow and develop.
And if anything is "ugly," the mystic says, the problem is within the "labelmaker" within your head! If, for example, a person truly believes that a rainy, cloudy day is "beautiful," then, to her, it really can be, and is, "a beautiful day."
Every effect has a cause. And there is not the slightest object or event in your world that "just happens" or "comes from nowhere." In a nightdream, if you encounter a fly, there is a reason for it; the mind has chosen it as a symbol, in order to teach you. And so it is with the "real," ordinary or everyday world. There is no such thing as "random chance"; that is simply a cover-up for ignorance, when the causes are not known.
Knowing karma as the ultimate servant of Love, the mystic does not believe in "innocent victims." But the most important aspects of her mind are yearning and longing to "become one," meld, or merge, with Lovemind. This Supermind is deep within her unconscious Mind. So, she takes an interior heartvow always to act and react with the most Love possible. The mystic is not yet perfect; she makes mistakes. But she does her honest best, in all circumstances, to respond with her maximum Love.
She believes in Love. Even more, she believes that "God is Love," as the ancients said. So, she worships Love; it is Number One, all the time, her first priority. This makes her a happy and courteous person who loves harmony, and who renounces actively all violence, egocentricity, and superiorism. She actively contemplates humility and lives in simplicity.
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This article was written by a franciscan taoist who has been exploring the Path for thirty years. If you have any questions about the Way of intercultural (universal) mysticism, which is not a religion, please write: rmfrancis@juno.com
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Showing posts with label maya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maya. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Ego
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The ego has a place, often, several times, in the incarnational history of the Soul. For It might incarnate several times. It is counterproductive to see the ego as an "enemy," and it is not. It is our friend and teacher. But the ego is not a direct creation of God (Love).
Instead, it develops in response to karma and to earthly environments.
Since both these "mothers" of ego are illusion, so is the ego. It disappears at the death of the physical body, having served its entire purpose. Like the body, the ego is an "instrument" created for dealing with this everyday world of illusion. To use the words of the Docetic Jesus, it is a "phantom in a phantomworld." Just as we work out of Love for our bodies to keep them strong and healthy, even though they are but projections of Mind, we also must strive for psychological wellness, balance, moderation, and a Lovebased mind.
The "ego" in psychology is a little different from the "ego" of spirituality. For in psychology, if you do not have a "strong enough" ego, you suffer. But a major quest of spirituality (not religion) is to weaken the very strong ego.
Why? Because too much, or too strong, ego prevents the Spirit of Love from occupying the mind. Both ego and Spirit cannot dominate or control the mind simultaneously. "Ego" is Greek for "self," or, "I am." In metaphysics and spirituality, the word "self" has also more than one definition. There are, for example, in addition to the egoself (your everyday identity; the name on your birthcertificate and driverslicense), the "higher" Self (Soul) and "highest Self" (Spirit or Lovemind).
The mystic does not simply study the Lovemind or Lovespirit. Instead, pursuing enlightenment, she seeks actually to exchange her ego-identity for full identification with the Lovespirit (God).
Is it the goal of spirituality to "transcend" the ego? Yes, and it is viable. The ego is never the "enemy" of the spiritual being; instead, it is her teacher. As spiritual beings, we must remember that we are minds, not merely bodies. The ego is that part of mind that fully identifies with a particular body in spacetime. But these bodies, although we love, respect, and care for them, are not our true "selves."
For our truest "Self" is the Mind, unattached to any body. NOTE: The "mind" is not the "brain." The brain is within the body and is sustained by it, for it is a physical organ.
But the Mind is your immaterial, nonphysical self. It is your Soul. It existed before this life, and after this life, will continue to exist.
It is birthless, deathless, and timeless. So, once we begin to identify "my Self" as "my Soul," we have entered the "timeless life" promised by Jesus and the other great mysticsaints and masterteachers.
Knowing that you are not this body allows for the creation of powerful detachment. What affects the body need not affect, harm, or hurt, you, or yourself. That explains why, even though we age, we often feel "about the same" inside; the Mind, or Soulmind, does not age, is unaffected by time. but the body is not timeless; only the Soul is.
The ego is often a loud, arrogant braggert. It loves the spotlight, and laps up as much attention and notice as possible. Both Jesus and the Buddha renounced this kind of nonsense, which is the result of selfhatred-- not, as it seems, "too much selflove." Jesus taught that, if we receive rewards (he was speaking here of fame) from human beings, we have no reward with the "heavenly Father." (Mt. 6:1)
That is, the cost of fame is the eradication of all afterlife rewards.
To get earthly fame is like trading nuggets of gold and diamond for clumps of mud!
Why, then, do even "spiritual" people reach for, cultivate, and welcome fame? The truly spiritual do not. For them, fame is the worst possible consequence. So, we want to publicize the Way, but to make sure to keep the self (ego) out of the spotlight and the headlines.:) This can be a tricky and delicate balance. But it is mandatory, not optional, for the truly spiritual person. She wants,for example, for her students to talk about the Way, but not about her personally. Anyone who is eager for, and grabbing, the headlines, or fame, has proved her deep absence or lack of real spirituality. For each being is of immeasurable and limitless value. Anyone crying out for personal attention is trying to find validation in others; when we see this lack, we can be absolutely certain that a person is not enlightened. This is the simple "acid test" that every true spiritual teacher must pass!:)
Again, ego is not "evil." It is simply illusion; it is the dreamself occupying the dreamworld. Ego is part of maya or illusion. So, it follows that, she who takes the ego too seriously, or she who mistakes it for the "self," is not enlightened.
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The ego has a place, often, several times, in the incarnational history of the Soul. For It might incarnate several times. It is counterproductive to see the ego as an "enemy," and it is not. It is our friend and teacher. But the ego is not a direct creation of God (Love).
Instead, it develops in response to karma and to earthly environments.
Since both these "mothers" of ego are illusion, so is the ego. It disappears at the death of the physical body, having served its entire purpose. Like the body, the ego is an "instrument" created for dealing with this everyday world of illusion. To use the words of the Docetic Jesus, it is a "phantom in a phantomworld." Just as we work out of Love for our bodies to keep them strong and healthy, even though they are but projections of Mind, we also must strive for psychological wellness, balance, moderation, and a Lovebased mind.
The "ego" in psychology is a little different from the "ego" of spirituality. For in psychology, if you do not have a "strong enough" ego, you suffer. But a major quest of spirituality (not religion) is to weaken the very strong ego.
Why? Because too much, or too strong, ego prevents the Spirit of Love from occupying the mind. Both ego and Spirit cannot dominate or control the mind simultaneously. "Ego" is Greek for "self," or, "I am." In metaphysics and spirituality, the word "self" has also more than one definition. There are, for example, in addition to the egoself (your everyday identity; the name on your birthcertificate and driverslicense), the "higher" Self (Soul) and "highest Self" (Spirit or Lovemind).
The mystic does not simply study the Lovemind or Lovespirit. Instead, pursuing enlightenment, she seeks actually to exchange her ego-identity for full identification with the Lovespirit (God).
Is it the goal of spirituality to "transcend" the ego? Yes, and it is viable. The ego is never the "enemy" of the spiritual being; instead, it is her teacher. As spiritual beings, we must remember that we are minds, not merely bodies. The ego is that part of mind that fully identifies with a particular body in spacetime. But these bodies, although we love, respect, and care for them, are not our true "selves."
For our truest "Self" is the Mind, unattached to any body. NOTE: The "mind" is not the "brain." The brain is within the body and is sustained by it, for it is a physical organ.
But the Mind is your immaterial, nonphysical self. It is your Soul. It existed before this life, and after this life, will continue to exist.
It is birthless, deathless, and timeless. So, once we begin to identify "my Self" as "my Soul," we have entered the "timeless life" promised by Jesus and the other great mysticsaints and masterteachers.
Knowing that you are not this body allows for the creation of powerful detachment. What affects the body need not affect, harm, or hurt, you, or yourself. That explains why, even though we age, we often feel "about the same" inside; the Mind, or Soulmind, does not age, is unaffected by time. but the body is not timeless; only the Soul is.
The ego is often a loud, arrogant braggert. It loves the spotlight, and laps up as much attention and notice as possible. Both Jesus and the Buddha renounced this kind of nonsense, which is the result of selfhatred-- not, as it seems, "too much selflove." Jesus taught that, if we receive rewards (he was speaking here of fame) from human beings, we have no reward with the "heavenly Father." (Mt. 6:1)
That is, the cost of fame is the eradication of all afterlife rewards.
To get earthly fame is like trading nuggets of gold and diamond for clumps of mud!
Why, then, do even "spiritual" people reach for, cultivate, and welcome fame? The truly spiritual do not. For them, fame is the worst possible consequence. So, we want to publicize the Way, but to make sure to keep the self (ego) out of the spotlight and the headlines.:) This can be a tricky and delicate balance. But it is mandatory, not optional, for the truly spiritual person. She wants,for example, for her students to talk about the Way, but not about her personally. Anyone who is eager for, and grabbing, the headlines, or fame, has proved her deep absence or lack of real spirituality. For each being is of immeasurable and limitless value. Anyone crying out for personal attention is trying to find validation in others; when we see this lack, we can be absolutely certain that a person is not enlightened. This is the simple "acid test" that every true spiritual teacher must pass!:)
Again, ego is not "evil." It is simply illusion; it is the dreamself occupying the dreamworld. Ego is part of maya or illusion. So, it follows that, she who takes the ego too seriously, or she who mistakes it for the "self," is not enlightened.
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Saturday, April 19, 2008
Miscellaneous Spiritual Meanderings
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The latest project here is a 400-page study of the Nag Hammadi Library, called The Re-enchantment of the World. It goes into each of the individual texts, presenting selected quotations from each, illustrating where, when, and how they overlap with intercultural (universal) mysticism. I am especially interested in the "Docetic heresy." My intuitionbased belief is that Jesus taught that he and all others were "phantoms" inhabiting a "phantom world." This is the "psychoholographic"
perspective of the universe, as a series of mindpictures. This view is in harmony not only with the ancient concept of maya, but also with the latest discoveries of quantum physics re the ultrastructure of the atom.
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The latest project here is a 400-page study of the Nag Hammadi Library, called The Re-enchantment of the World. It goes into each of the individual texts, presenting selected quotations from each, illustrating where, when, and how they overlap with intercultural (universal) mysticism. I am especially interested in the "Docetic heresy." My intuitionbased belief is that Jesus taught that he and all others were "phantoms" inhabiting a "phantom world." This is the "psychoholographic"
perspective of the universe, as a series of mindpictures. This view is in harmony not only with the ancient concept of maya, but also with the latest discoveries of quantum physics re the ultrastructure of the atom.
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Body in Spirituality
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The body exists within the mind, not the other way 'round.:) The body is only a psychohologram, an aspect of maya. It is a part of spirituality, and is to be acknowledged in a healthy way, but mystics do not focus much on body-consciousness, which we more often regard as a distraction from the spiritual Way. But it is an ego-distraction that, like a pesky fly, keeps coming back, again and again.:)
The chakras (pronounced "chuck-ruhs") can give valuable feedback, especially when we concentrate on the so-called "energy-bodies." But these fields of force are also a part of the mayic world, and so, are not the equivalent of the Christspirit, God, or Reality (cosmic Mind).
The body has its own karmic pattern within the overall pattern of the illusionworld (dreamworld). Sometimes, it challenges a certain aspect of mind to grow. But every biological dysfunction need not have deep symbolic meaning. Some states or conditions are meant to challenge our detachment, our faith in Love, or other factors. Thus, a person with foot-problems need not assume that she is "walking down a wrong spiritual path," and a person who temporarily loses her voice need not assume that she is "speaking incorrectly."
Still, the body is an incredibly complex "school" within the general school of earthlife. It is to be loved and respected, like a best friend, and is our "training-instrument" in this life. But heavy bodily emphasis just leads a person into greater selfconsciousness of, and perhaps slavery to, the world of illusion. Only in purest Mind, not in body, can we ever find true and lasting liberation.
*******
The body exists within the mind, not the other way 'round.:) The body is only a psychohologram, an aspect of maya. It is a part of spirituality, and is to be acknowledged in a healthy way, but mystics do not focus much on body-consciousness, which we more often regard as a distraction from the spiritual Way. But it is an ego-distraction that, like a pesky fly, keeps coming back, again and again.:)
The chakras (pronounced "chuck-ruhs") can give valuable feedback, especially when we concentrate on the so-called "energy-bodies." But these fields of force are also a part of the mayic world, and so, are not the equivalent of the Christspirit, God, or Reality (cosmic Mind).
The body has its own karmic pattern within the overall pattern of the illusionworld (dreamworld). Sometimes, it challenges a certain aspect of mind to grow. But every biological dysfunction need not have deep symbolic meaning. Some states or conditions are meant to challenge our detachment, our faith in Love, or other factors. Thus, a person with foot-problems need not assume that she is "walking down a wrong spiritual path," and a person who temporarily loses her voice need not assume that she is "speaking incorrectly."
Still, the body is an incredibly complex "school" within the general school of earthlife. It is to be loved and respected, like a best friend, and is our "training-instrument" in this life. But heavy bodily emphasis just leads a person into greater selfconsciousness of, and perhaps slavery to, the world of illusion. Only in purest Mind, not in body, can we ever find true and lasting liberation.
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