The 'secret' of Enlightenment/Self-Realisation

"Enlightenment is a secret that very few people know about and even fewer people understand.

Why is it a secret? Because Enlightenment does not exist in time. That's why it's a secret and that's why it will always be a secret. Enlightenment is a vision that cannot be held or grasped in any way.

... It's a fire that a person is either going to jump into or run away from. This fire burns beyond the mind. No-time is the place where this secret abides. Realise that and you realise the Self you are when there's no mind and no time. Realise that, and cling to that alone as your own Self."

- Andrew Cohen

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"The Heart is another name for the Reality, and it is neither inside nor outside the body. There can be no in and out for it, since It alone is."

- Ramana Maharshi

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Presence

Being born now

as All

Not reborn as 'my''self',

but as no-thing...

No-body,

Yet, all things, all selves...

Embodying all things

and the space between them...

Yet utterly free of time

and space

Wearing them like a frown,

a smile

And releasing them like an old skin,

or a sigh.

I am nothing

I am freedom

Just like you

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"When you have come to your innermost core you have come to the innermost core of existence itself."

- Osho

"The sum total of all minds in the Univerese is one."

- Erwin Schrödinger

How will the mind become quiescent?

"By the inquiry 'Who am I?'.
The thought 'Who am I?' will destroy all other thoughts,
and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre,
it will itself in the end get destroyed.
Then, there will arise Self-Realization."

- Ramana Maharshi

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Yoga Sadhana

"The amount of happiness in life is proportional to our discipline ('sadhana')."

- Siddha dictum

"Discipline ('Sadhana') in the context of yoga, is simply to remember who we are, and to let go of what we are not."

- M.G. Sachidananda

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'Causeless' awakening

"Of course, the vast majority of people who have an experience of awakening have had some energy, some yearning, to awaken to a deeper sense of reality. That’s true, but the problem is, anytime we say “this” is necessary or “that” is necessary, there will always be examples to the contrary. Awakening is a mystery. There is no direct cause and effect, really. It would be nice if there were, but there really isn’t a direct cause and effect."

- Adyashanti

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'karma' is unconscious action (unconscious creation)

Be conscious of yourself, watch your mind, give it your full attention - What you are (at present) is the result of inattention and what you will become, will be the fruit of attention.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Nothing is required to 'achieve' Liberation or to 'become' Liberated.

It is the divided and divisive mind that makes an effort. The best it can do is place one higher on an imaginary ladder of 'steps to realisation' – but this is just self-delusion – just a way to go on restricting the definition of one's self – and it is precisely this – the definition – the delineation of one's self – that is ignorance (ignore-ance) of one's Liberated nature – one's Liberated Being.

Realisation of the Self – Realisation of the True Nature of the Self arises by all else falling away – including the search for, or striving for, the attainment of our true nature.
The one who seeks is engaged in a futile activity as long as there is any striving. The seeker does not become a Liberated being. The seeker dissolves like a dream upon awakening, and what remains is not 'a Liberated Being' – but 'Liberated Beingness'.

"There is no such thing as 'Enlightenment'.

Understanding this is Enlightenment itself."

"All paths lead to unreality."

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Be aware of being conscious and seek the source of consciousness - that is all.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

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“Anything you want to ask a teacher, ask yourself,
and wait for the answer in silence.”
-Byron Katie
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“You move totally away from reality
when you believe that there is a legitimate reason to suffer.”
- Byron Katie
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"Who would you be without your story?
You never know until you inquire.
There is no story that is you or that leads to you.
Every story leads away from you.
Turn it around; undo it.
You are what exists before all stories.
You are what remains when the story is understood. "
- Byron Katie
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“Thoughts are just what is.
They appear. They’re innocent. They’re not personal.
They’re like the breeze or the leaves on the trees or the raindrops falling.
Thoughts arise like that, and we can make friends with them.
Would you argue with a raindrop?”
- Byron Katie
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“So, how do you get back to heaven?
To begin with, just notice the thoughts that take you away from it.
You don’t have to believe everything your thoughts tell you.
Just become familiar with the particular thoughts you use
to deprive yourself of happiness.
It may seem strange at first to get to know yourself in this way,
but becoming familiar with your stressful thoughts
will show you the way home to everything you need.”
- Byron Katie
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The origin of suffering

"All suffering comes from believing our thoughts."
- Byron Katie
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Ever-present Grace

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There is nothing
for 'us' to 'do'...
There is no need
to gain favour with the Supreme Being
(for 'salvation' or 'liberation')...
When the experience of separateness
is truly enough...
when it holds no more interest,
all that will remain
is Supreme Being.
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Separateness exists until

the experience is satisfactory

and holds no more interest...

Then, only Beingness remains.

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Every 'soul'

is a point of consciousness

in the kaleidoscopic hall of mirrors

that is the 'self-reflexive' universe –

The One Being

Meditating

upon its Infinite Nature.

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Every perspective has its own 'truth'.
'Spriritual' truth is what remains
when we drop all postures and perspectives
and experience the nameless and wordless...
'That' which simply 'Is'.
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Here is a link to an article about the various ways to relate to the 'Absolute' or 'God'...

Click here

A quote on Enlightenment (from Andrew Cohen)

"Traditionally, enlightenment has been defined as a profound awakening to the Ground of Being - an awakening in which the seeker finds liberation through transcending the world of time and space.

But in the new enlightenment, which is redefined in an evolutionary context, the discovery of this primordial ground is not an end in itself. It becomes the essential foundation from which the individual is freed to participate wholeheartedly in the evolutionary process.

What arises out of that ground is an impulse to evolve, which I call the Authentic Self, and the goal of Evolutionary Enlightenment is to liberate this creative principle in human consciousness so that it can transform us and the world around us."

- Andrew Cohen

Integrated spirituality

If you open yourself to inspiration in all that you do, you will realise that you can be at peace with life, without resorting to the renunciate life of a monk, a nun or a sadhu.
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The 'Mystique' and 'Mystification' of Enlightenment and Liberation - Enlightenment in 'No Time'

The mystification of spirituality has left us culturally-conditioned to believe that spirituality is something that requires special and different conditions from the ones that we have here and now.

Enlightenment is not about developing, or improving yourself or attaining some state…

Enlightenment is an idea… that falls away when we drop the search, in peace and acceptance of the fullness of all that Is.


"There is no such thing as 'Enlightenment'... Understanding this is Enlightenment itself."
- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
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Union through whole-hearted surrender

Usually we may live experienceing the dualities of Love and fear, Union and separateness, Compassion and lack of empathy...

But giving oneself fully to anything - wholeheartedly - i.e. true devotion, leads to Union ('Yoga', in sanskrit). Anything less than a full surrender keeps us experiencing duality.

A divided mind has space for thoughts of self/'Ego'. An undivided mind is selfless...
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Spirituality and the future of Religion

Nowadays there is some reservation concerning anything that is associated with religion and it is often stated that religion is responsible for war and the abuse of human rights. It ought to be pointed out, however, that it is the misrepresentation of religious teachings for selfish purposes that has led to justification for wars, persecution, abuse, etc.

We live in an age when the nature of religion and the nature of its spiritual foundations are being re-evaluated, but let’s not ‘throw out the baby with the bathwater’. New understanding can lead us onwards to new levels of global spiritual culture and to a new vision of the ‘brotherhood’/ ‘sisterhood’ of humankind and of all beings.
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Meditation, Spiritual Awareness, Personal Transformation & Cultural Transformation

Forms of meditation have existed in all spiritual traditions as there is a clear connection between a state of receptivity and a state of Inspiration. ‘Inspiration’ means literally: ‘the inflow of Spirit/Divine Breath/Divine Awareness’. The word ‘inspiration’ has been used to describe all sorts of manifestations of ‘genius’ – from art to prophecy and even spiritual healing. Inspired individuals often experience deep personal transformation and have sometimes been responsible for great social, cultural transformations and even technological innovations.
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Living with 'karma' and 'samsara'... or, 'abiding as the Self'

As the Self, you are free.
As anything else, you are just a character in a story that you are making up again... and again... and again...


"It is you that decides which 'I' you refer to, when you say 'I'"
- Ram Dass
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"Connectedness"

The feeling of "connectedness" is an energetic resonance with the truth that transcends material/physical appearances, and leads naturally to 'virtue' and 'selflessness'.
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'From Relationship to Relating - Love as a State of Being' (quote from Osho)

“The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love. It may look paradoxical to you, but it is not. It is an existential truth: only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core of the other person – without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without reducing the other to a thing, and without becoming addicted to the other. They allow the other absolute freedom, because they know that if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be taken by the other, because it is not given by the other.

Then why do they want to be together? It is no longer a need; it is a luxury. Try to understand it. Real persons love each other as a luxury; it is not a need. They enjoy sharing: they have so much joy, they would like to pour it into somebody. And they know how to play their life as a solo instrument.

The solo flute player knows how to enjoy his flute alone. And if he comes and finds a tabla player, a solo tabla player, they will enjoy being together and creating a harmony between the flute and the tabla. Both will enjoy it: they will both pour their richness into each other.”

(Osho – from the book ‘Being In Love’)