Feeding Beauty or the Beast?

-
I came across a line of Ramana's where he compared trying to solve the
problem of the mind by using the mind as something which simply 'fattens'
the mind. I loved this thought and it reminded me of an image I have had
recently of 'feeding the dream'.

Attention is very much like food. It is an energy, and where our attention
goes, that is being fed. It is one of the semi-true aspects of the 'Law of
Attraction' that has been making such a hit lately. Where the attention
goes, there is the outcome. That is what is being fed. Astavakra Samhita
also states it very well, "ya matih sa gatih" - wherever the attention
(mind, intention, etc.) there is the goal (outcome, etc.).

So...what are you feeding? This is where the razor's edge comes in. It is a
very fine line (as well as an enormous gorge) between putting the attention
on and feeding the dream, or putting attention on and feeding the
recognition of Reality. Every moment... EVERY MOMENT your attention is on
one or the other - The Beauty or 'The Beast'. There really is no neutral
ground. This is why so many verses, teachings and so forth emphasize that
it is a constant practice - something that must be done at all times. It is
not a 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening kind of
thing. If one is serious about realization is must be consistent and
constant. It is the ending of a way of life. This is often what the
initiation ceremony is about - simply a recognition that now this life is
about waking up!

Ramana said, "Abhyasa (spiritual practice) consists of withdrawal into the
self everytime you are disturbed by thought." So, when are you NOT
disturbed by thought? Every thought is in essence a disturbance. Thus he
would consistently ask people, "To whom is this thought arising?" Whether
you see it as a 'disturbing' thought or not is not the question. Every
thought that you pay attention to is a disturbance. When you give into that
thought, follow that train of thoughts, even if they are so called 'benign'
thoughts, you are feeding the dream, feeding the beast.

There is a great book called, 'The Cloud of Unknowing' written by an
unknown 14th century Englishman. He says (in essence) that one must project
oneself into this cloud of unknowing (God) and push all other thoughts and
desires into the 'cloud of forgetting'. Even though it is a Christian book,
he says that even the thoughts of Jesus' love and sacrifice, and compassion
are hindrances and obstacles and must also be pushed into the cloud of
forgetting. All must be pushed into the cloud of forgetting and one simply
projects themselves (their attention) into the cloud of Unknowing. If we
translate this into our present understanding, it means putting our
attention on simply That, the Presence of Isness, or I Am, which arises as
that which can not be known, is unknowable, but only 'Be-able'.

So, where is your attention? The body will take care of itself, the mind
will take care of itself. Attention is on that razor's edge - feeding the
Beauty or the Beast... Fattening or fasting the mind.

Which will it be?

Popular posts from this blog

Touch Starved

-
  What DOES it mean to be human? Virtually everything that you have learned is wrong. It is NOT your fault. The problem is, nearly everything you learn has somebody's agenda behind it, very often the obvious ones of making money, etc., but very often hidden. This is why our western society is so very sick. We are taught about political, social, cultural, gender, and religious correctnesses. We are NOT taught about HUMAN correctness. We are told we should follow the laws of the government, but not the universal laws. We are told we should follow the "correct-ness" laws, but not the human laws. We believe we can make up the human laws. We can not!   The largest organ of the body is the skin. In a grown man, it covers about 19 square feet and weighs about 8 pounds. A piece of skin the size of a quarter contains more than 3 million cells, 100 to 340 sweat glands, 50 nerve endings and 3 feet of blood vessels.  Many people are aware of research done with monkeys no...
Read more

A Deeper Look at Inquiry

-
For years I have spoken on, and written, about Self Inquiry, but I'd like to make a clearer distinction. There are two basic facets of Self Inquiry: 1. The direct recognition of Self, and 2. The letting go, or deconstructing of that which is NOT the Self, specifically, the beliefs. 1. The direct recognition can best be described through the teachings of Ramana (the inquiry "Who am I?) or Nisargadatta's abiding as 'I Am'. The consistent and continuous practice of these methods, point us directly at that which precedes our thoughts and beliefs. It is the discrimination between what is sat and asat, or real and unreal, or permanent and impermanent. The focus of attention is not on the objects of awareness, but on the recognition that You ARE the awareness itself, without bounds or constrictions - formless. Generally, in going through this process, we 'drop' into this recognition, realize our freedom, and for moments, hours, or even days, there is just what I...
Read more

Be As You Are

-
Many people are familiar with the phrase "Be as you are," and many are also familiar with the book of the same name by David Godman, about the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. But how many are really familiar with what it is to Be As You Are? What I'd like you to do for a moment is really explore and investigate the 'feeling' that accompanies being as you are. Right now, be as you are! Now a question might come up of what does this mean, or how do I do that. The real question is how do you NOT do that? How can you not be as you are? Primarily by trying to be something that you're not. I ran into a wonderful quote the other day. It's from the Hasidic tradition featuring Rabbi Zusya. The quote has Rabbi Zusya saying, "When I reach the next world, God will not ask me, 'Why were you not Moses?' Instead, he will ask me, 'Why were you not Zusya?'" This is exactly the problem. Everyone is trying to be a Buddha or a Jesus or an anything ot...
Read more