xexon

Interesting place here.

I was brought up in the deep south as a Christian. Migrated into eastern mysticism 30+ years ago and never looked back.

I will bring a yogic point of view to the forums.

I look forward to meeting you.


x

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Destroyer of Worlds

debdodd

Welcome and looking forward to your posts ... Deb

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"Ubi dubium ibi libertas."

"We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, again and ever again ....."

romansh

Welcome ... I must admit I am curious (but admittedly skeptical)

Have fun here and all the best

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There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. ........... Douglas Adams

GX

Welcome!
Please explain eastern mysticism! Does that make you a Buddhist, Hindu or a Hare Krishna or something different all together (or maybe even some combination of the 3)?

xexon

Its a broad term. I did quite a loop through the usual routes that people take when this kind of belief system catches their attention. I eventually settled into an esoteric path called Radhasoami.

I read a book called The Path of the Masters, written by a follower of this tradition. It was literally like a bolt from the blue hit me. And this is after digesting several libraries worth of books over the years in an attempt to find the answers to life. After this book, all the reading stopped. Suddenly.

Radhasoami is a yogic tradition which utilizes a science like approach to the divine. It has no deities. It can be called a science, as you are given specific instructions on how to obtain specific results. Faith is only required in the beginning, with the aim of opening your own inner vision so that reality can be perceived directly. Outside of mental filters shaped by beliefs.

When you can see, faith is no longer needed.

This is something few religions will ever teach you.

I belong to no religion. I don't even follow the Radhasoami path anymore, but I call myself a yogi in the same way one would call themselves a Christian or a Hindu.

It's the manner in which I deliver my own message. Because I speak from personal revelation, I can adapt to any religion to discuss the aspects we all share.

All religions are built upon people who had divine experiences based upon a few very simple spiritual truths. These simple truths belong to no religion.

My purpose here will be to aqquaint you with how your own mind works in indentifying what is real and what is illusion. I think you'll find the ride interesting.

You'll notice my signature. What I truely destroy is long held beliefs. Like a garden, you need to uproot the whole thing once and a while to restore healthy and productive growth. This is also represented by my avatar of a dancing Shiva. The old ways are trampled beneath his feet.

Religion... I compare to weeds in the garden of humanity. They are old vines which produce little worthwhile fruit. Spiritual junkfood, which fills but does not offer much nourishment.

The spiritually hungry have little choice but to eat what is at hand. It's not their fault.

What I do is to teach people to see with their hearts instead of their eyes, because in doing so, you will have no further need of faith or religion or any of the traps that come with that.


x

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Destroyer of Worlds

xxkayxx

Cool
Welcome to the agnostic forums.

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If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing

GX

I felt the same way after reading "conversations with god" by Neale Donald Walsch. It posits that the "divine" is not a deity to be worshipped but an omnipresent benevolence and that you do not need any religion or religious intervention to experience this divinity. On this we can both agree

Now for the questions...

Is this the book of which you speak?:
The Path of the Masters: The Science of Surat Shabd Yoga & The Yoga of the Audible Life Stream by Julian Johnson

In a nutshell, what are the specific instructions to this "science like approach"? Is it some form of meditation along with sound? Im sure you will say that I will have to read the book to get the full extent of this but please at least give us a summary.

I believe this ride will be interesting as well. Lets get started! I have come to realize that need is an illusion and that all other illusions spring from this main illusion of need. We may however use the illusions to create and to experience the divinity within. What say you?

xexon

The book is the correct one.

Radhasoami is built around meditation on the inner sound. This sound is actually a current which feeds energy to the lower realms of creation. It is also possible to travel up and down this current like a highway.

The master/disciple relationship has great importance. The master is not deified, but rather is looked upon as a guide who has walked the path before and knows the way. Meditation upon the guru is not the same as worship, although most outsiders will see it as such.

What you are doing is making the mind sit still by offering it something to play with. A pacifier. You no longer allow it to run here and there. You put a short leash on the mind and make it go where you direct it to. It becomes a servant rather than a master.

Once you have put your mental house in order, you are now in a position of greater sensitivity. Life has an amazing complexity to it's structure that is not seen with the physical eyes. But your inner vision, so long ignored, has begun to open.

Although you see the same world as before,you now see it with a kind of xray vision. Whatever your awareness illuminates, it reveals that thing in great detail.

This ability to see with the heart has no boundries or limitations. You can take it wherever your skill at using it can go.

Compassion and empathy are what you get to practice with in this world. Your true nature, spirit, is already fully endowed with these things. Your human self must rediscover them.

In this path, meditation is the centerpiece. Adherance to some restrictions in diet. And you're right, you will have to read the book.

For now, I'm out of time. I'll return later.


x

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Destroyer of Worlds

xexon

Illusion.

To understand the nature of illusion, you must first understand the nature of reality. Most have never done so. Illusion is all they have ever known and therefore never attempt to think outside of the box.

You've heard the old saying that we create our own reality? Its true. And it happens on a scale that boggles to the mind to even think about it.

Before you became a human with a physical body, you were in a spirit state. Your "soul" is an independent point of awareness within an ocean of conscious energy. It is endowed with the same power of creativity that others might attribute to God. And in essence, you are just a little drop of God.

Having this power of creativity enables you to hide a part of your awareness away from yourself, so that it can experience the thrill of discovery. That hidden part, is you. You are what experiences this world, and in doing so, your own watered down power of creativity helps you shape it according to your desires and attachments to it. As you can tell, people have a real hard time with this one. The state of the world is clear evidence that its children who run this world. Spiritual children.

Part of this fun game is you trying to get back to full awareness of who you REALLY are, behind your human identity. You must wade through all the diversions that your 5 senses can deliver. They're feeding a mind which cannot feel. It reasons according to the evidence it has in front of it. It weighs one thing against another to determine worth. In other word's, its a calculator.

Now, what does your mind contain? When you get a physical body, it comes with an onboard computer called a brain. It maintains bodily functions, but it also contains a user interface with the outside world called the ego.

The ego, is who you believe yourself to be. This persona is how you talk with people, what color your paint your house, what car you drive, etc. It contains all your likes and dislikes, which are shaped according to belief.

The ego is the problem.

This thing believes itself to be independent of anything outside of it's sensory range. Because the brain/mind are physical creations themselves, they have no range in the spiritual realms. They can't see it. The mind can understand the concept, but has no ability to experience it. (The mind is the real Satan of religious lore)

The mind is not alone.

The awareness that you had before taking on a body is still in there. We'll call it the heart. For a long time after one incarnates, this mind runs the show. It is very selfish. It only thinks of it's self.

With many reincarnations, this has a maturing effect on the mind. It is now able to reason that maybe there really is something "beyond", so a spiritual thirst begins to develope. This is the beginning of the end for the ego, because in God realization, the ego dissolves in favor of regaining one's true nature. Many trials and tribulations before you get there though.

Back to illusion. The mind has another talent. One that is beyond belief. It projects the world around you like movie on a screen. Just like in a Star Trek holodeck. It creates this world according to your personal attachment to the things in it. Most people will spend many lifetimes creating things that will only make their lives more difficult. Creation has to be mastered, therefore desire must be mastered first.

Its real easy to be a hedonist. Addicted to sensation. It takes more effort to turn your attention to the matter that none of it is real. Its little more than a dream that you're awake inside of. When you really wake up, none of it has any further value.


x

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Destroyer of Worlds

GX

X, though what you are saying is not particulary new to me, you have a very eloquent way of putting it and it sounds as if you have achieved a certain degree of mastery in regard to these beliefs.

As far as the meditation is concerned, I have come to the point where I am able to "quiet the mind" i.e. stop all random thought from occurring but I am alway interested in hearing pointers and new methods.

What you are describing about the inner sound meditation sounds a lot like the "grounding" process described by many "chakra practitioners" (for lack of a better term). It involves grounding your 1st, 3rd and foot chakra with the energy of the earth. Is this of which you speak?

Also, please explain this a little further:
What do you specifically mean by pacifier? Give me an example of this process. Also, where exactly do you (or would you prefer to) "direct" your mind to go? Meditation for me is about clearing the mind and feeling the soul and source energy.

Agreed, however, why would one wish to "master" desire? Need and desire are different concepts. Need being a desire that creates a negative discord in your being if that desire is not met. Whereas pure desire being merely a preference. It would seem to me that overcoming the feeling of need is what is desirable to be mastered. Is this what you mean?