Demystifind

Demystifind Has MOVED To LivingUnbound.Net

2010-02-14T22:57:00.000-05:00

Demystifind (This Blog) has MOVED to LivingUnbound.Net

Living Unbound offers the same "Advaitic Vibe", but with a more comprehensive scope regarding non-duality, and the Teachings, Techniques & Resources leading to the experience of non-duality, of Living Unbound.

Hope To See You There!

Advaitic Salvation

2010-01-01T21:02:00.001-05:00

Dualistic religion is the exception; advaitic spiritual science is original.

Can I prove this?

No.

You can prove it to yourself, though, in your own experience.

I just help point out where you make a start, if you wish.

Here's a nice comparison of the distinction between the two approaches .... and why Advaitic paths are all about experience, whereas religion is about mental prejudice ... belief ... which actually blocks the experiencing of the freedom the religion purports to offer.

Does this mean religion is bad?

Not in any way; religion can provide salvation ....... provided you are willing to understand ... to know ... what salvation actually is ... and religion's place in it.

Salvation comes from the Greek root SLV, which comes from the Sanskrit SRV ... Sarva ... "whole, entire". The connection becomes even more clear when one recalls that a "salve" helps to "heal" ... to make whole; entire.

Salvation is nothing more, nor less, than the restoration of the awareness of original wholeness .... Advaita.

Religion is a map, the symbols of which can help you get from where you are now .... to the freedom beyond imagination of true salvation.

Celtic Advaita

2010-01-01T21:01:00.003-05:00

Celtic Advaita .... you know ..... Druids.

From the root "Dru", meaning immersion, and the root "vid" meaning knowledge, in the original Sanskrit.

And so, a "Druid" is one who is immersed in knowledge; a knower - a jnani; a gnostic.

Yes .... I did say Sanskrit.

The linguistic link between Irish and Sanskrit is undeniable; the cultural similarities ... staggeringly so.

A connection acknowledged not only on the Irish side, but on the Indian/Hindu side, as well; including this overview, from the magazine Hinduism Today, which goes into quite a bit of detail.

Why is this important?

Because, to many of us raised in a European, or European-derived culture, Advaita -- non-duality -- can seem like a bit of an aberration.

Not so.

It is the control-based teachings of mainstream religion which are the aberration; advaita is original.

Does this matter? Which philosophy, view, or outlook is original?

In and of itself, no.

When connected with the fact that Advaita accurately maps and describes actuality, including the actuality of fulfilled consciousness .... yes.

When connected with the fact that Advaita can help you enjoy fulfilled consciousness; freedom beyond imagination ... in your own experiencing .... it can become very important, indeed.

The two oldest spiritual systems in the world: Kabbalah -- which pre-dates Judaism as a formal religion, and Shaiva Advaita, as discussed in other posts in this blog); which pre-dates Hinduism, and has been tracked back as far as the Indus Valley civilization .. are both advaitic, in essence, as are all the oldest spiritual systems found anywhere; Druidism in the Celtic countries, for instance.

There are hundreds of non-dual, gnostic gospels, verified as historically legitimate ... and only twenty-seven dualistic books authorized for inclusion in the Christian Bible.

A little food for thought ...... or for taking you into the infinite freedom here beyond thought, now, perhaps.

Run! It's an Egorilla!! This Way!! Within Here!! Enlightenment is the Only Escape!!

2009-11-27T13:00:00.003-05:00

Passionate Enlightenment blogger and all-around enlightened guy Wayne Wirs just posted this helpful gorillastration on his blog:

"Once upon a time a young gorilla left her baby alone for only a moment and a wolf came along and ate her baby. The mother gorilla was terribly heart-broken and filled with remorse. A few days later, still in mourning, the gorilla came upon a softly glowing orb laying on the forest floor.

Plagued with guilt and a strong maternal instinct, she promptly adopted the radiant orb. 24-hours a day she held it tightly in her arms, protecting it from all dangers. She nurtured the orb, and gave it anything that she thought it might desire. Never again would she leave her new baby! When she saw danger (or even thought about danger), she would hug the orb tightly to her breast and flee into the forest.

When she saw another gorilla with something she thought her orb might want, she would howl and scream and slap at the other gorilla until it relinquished it.

Though it was constantly tugged and pulled and jostled about in all directions by the mother gorilla’s actions, the orb continued to glow serenely.

You of course, are the softly glowing orb. An orb in which a giant, 900-pound, deranged, psychotic, and over-protective mother gorilla has adopted.

A gorilla that has you completely enshrouded in her arms–smothering you, blocking your radiant light.

All because she cares too much.

Even though you want nothing, she is constantly trying to acquire new and exciting things for you.

Even though you fear nothing, she is constantly trying to protect you from imaginary dangers.

She is smothering you. She is choking off your life force.

See the gorilla. Feel her. Recognize when she is pulling and tugging and jostling you. See her clearly and you’ll soon be free of her.

You are not the gorilla.

You are the orb.

You always have been."

How does this story fit in with the theme of this blog? Very simply: the only Advaita (Non-Duality) that truly matters .... is the Advaita in your own experiencing.

All of the illustrations, and pointers to the advaitic teachings of various spiritual systems can be useful .... but only if they're used to help you escape the psycho-mama gorilla ... rather than to feed her.

PS- The gorilla in the image at the top of this post .... kinda scary, huh? You know *why* that gorilla is baring its fangs in that manner? Rage? Dominance? Battle? Nope. *Yawning*. Things are not always as they seem .............

Christian Enlightenment

2009-11-23T23:50:00.001-05:00

What if Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Christianity & Advaita were all maps to the same truth?

What if an enlightened teacher articulated the way there, and the experience of actual enlightenment, self-realization and Christ-consciousness ... drawing elegantly and eloquently from all these traditions?

It might look a lot like ..... this (the Sophian Gnosticism forum, and the teachings of author Tau Malachi, author of Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ, and other Gnostic Christian Kabbalah texts).

Interesting Dialog on Enlightenment

2009-11-16T23:16:00.003-05:00

An interesting dialog on enlightenment (its true nature, and experience), at the AYP (Advanced Yoga Practices) Forum (I'm Kirtanman, there).

Non-Dual Sages of HINDUISM

2009-11-16T19:55:00.000-05:00

All of the world's wisdom traditions have produced, and do produce the condition of living consciously from inherent fulfilled awareness, aka enlightenment.

However, if you're not familiar with non-dual teachings, aka advaita ("non-dual" in Sanskrit), it might be a bit difficult to discern "who's who".

And so, I'm going to be providing a series of posts with links to the great non-dual sages from each wisdom tradition.

In this post, I'm providing links to the non-dual sages of India/Hinduism.

These are the sages, gurus and teachers you can trust to (literally) tell it like it is; no dogma, no doctrine ... just esoteric symbolism (if any), and/or straightforward statements, to guide you to the experiencing of how consciousness actually operates, and thereby, to be able to experience enlightenment in your own life.

Adi Shankaracharya
India, 8th Century
Founding guru of Advaita Vedanta

Abhinavagupta
Kashmir, 10th Century
Leading guru of non-dual Trika Shaivism

Ramana Maharshi
Arunachala, 20th Century
Non-dual sage

Nisargadatta Maharaj
Maharashtra, 20th Century
Non-Dual Sage, best known for the book I AM THAT

Paramahamsa Nithyananda
Tamil Nadu, 21st Century
Non-Dual Paramahamsa

Please Note: if you are not at all familiar with the essence of Hinduism and advaitic philosophy, you may want to start with Paramahamsa Nithyananda, Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj.

There's Something FISHY About ALL THIS!! (The Advaitic Miracle of The Vesica Piscis)

2009-11-07T22:56:00.000-05:00

"De-Fractured Fairy Tales" .... or the Sacred Geometry of Genesis, "times One" ... the Advaitic miracle of the Vesica Piscis.

The Vesica Piscis is one of the most simple, elegant, and geometrically (not to mention gematrically - the mystical letter-number system of the Kabbalah) sophisticated consciousness symbols ever created ... and one of the most mysteriously global.

Known primarily in Christianity and Western esoteric traditions, the Vesica Piscis is also popular under a different name, in the Advaitic yogic-tantric traditions of India:

Vesica Piscis literally means "bladder of a fish" (a fitting name, considering the image, above .... and one strangely reminiscent of the Sanskrit term matsyodara ... "fish belly" ... which gave name to the famous guru Matsyendranath).

"In his monumental work Tantraloka, Abhinavagupta cryptically refers to the term matsyodara:

'On the level of the highest kundalini is the emissional power which is beautiful because it contains within itself the vibration; there the yogin should repose in the condition of the belly of the fish.'"

Source: The Alchemical Body : Siddha Traditions in Medieval India by David Gordon White

The following excerpt outlining the embedding of the Vesica Piscis into the Torah (Bereshith), aka the Old Testament (Genesis), along with the unified field of awareness to which it points, was published originally at Masoncode.com:

"We can consider, for example, a Vesica Piscis - one of the most important figures in sacred geometry. A vesica with a width of 26 - IHVH (the Creator), has a height of 45, which is the gematria value of the man he created ADM - Adam. The difference between God and man is 45 - 26 = 19. This is the value of the woman created as a companion for Adam, ChVH - 'Eve'. In this way the sacred vesica defines the relationship between the Creator and mankind.

God's primal act of creation is encapsulated by the first verse of Genesis. The Hebrew words here - BRAShITh BRA ALHIM ATh HShMIM VATh HARTz - have a value of 2701. Among the many interesting properties of this number is the fact that it comprises the sum of 26 squared (676) and 45 squared (2025) - hence the combination of God and Adam. This means that the 26 by 45 rectangle enclosing the vesica of creation has a diagonal of the square root of 2701.

In addition to this, the circle within which the rectangle may be precisely drawn has a circumference of 163, and by this means can symbolise that which was created: AaVLM HZH - 'This World'. It is also a fact that the area of the rectangle is equal to that of a square with a perimeter of 139: the value of - GN ALHIM - the Garden of Eden. Furthermore, the difference between 2025 and 676, gives the value of GN ALHIM when the final letters N and M are counted high - 1349. At the same time, the area of the rectangle is equal to that of a circle with a radius of 19 - ChVH - Eve.

There are unfathomable mysteries in the gematria of Genesis and this but a gleam from the crest of the tip of a very large iceberg."

Why is this important?

Because it highlights the reality that one of the best-known symbols of both Christianity and esoteric mysticism, was encoded into the original Torah, aka the Old Testament of the Bible, in a manner that inescapably illustrates the reality that the symbolism of God and Man, of Adam and Eve, and of the relationship between God and the single couple represented by Adam and Eve .... was never intended to be be understood as anything other than facets of a single, non-dual awareness-self.

Wholly Moses! The View From Atop Mt. Spine-I

2009-11-07T22:08:00.007-05:00

And so, it came to pass that Moses-self reached the top of Mount Spine-I, where God-self invited him to enjoy the One Serving Suggestion (Knowing Self = Creating Liberation) ... divided into ten bite-sized pieces .... one each for the ten sefirot-chakras of the Tree of Life ... the One Tree in the Garden, the human Central Nervous System ... mistaken for two trees of a very different type when Adam-Eve .. cursed him-her-self with a wicked case of spectacular double-vision ("Silly First Person, there can't be duality, there can only be conception of duality ...!").

Am I making this up?

Not exactly.

There's a lot of Gematrically enticing evidence to support my hypotheses ... especially the God-self = Moses-self aspect(s).

Much of the rest, too ... but that'll have to be a topic, or set of them for another post-or-few .... or your own "random Googling" ... try keywords kabbalah gematria .... followed by whatever Biblical symbolism you'd like to know about ... Adam and Eve, snake, satan, moses, sinai, egypt, red sea, etc. etc. etc. ... and see what you get. If that doesn't yield results you like, or that you feel are comprehensive enough, you can always mix it up by adding the word Hebrew into the keywords.

And this site makes an excellent jumping-off point (if nothing else, it'll give you a ton of other useful search terms, to dig into the ultra-sophisticated user's guide for realized consciousness, that the Torah/Bible (Old Testament) actually is, originally.

And now ... back to the future-now of our God-Self/Moses-Self symbolism ....

Very simple.

When Moses-self asked God-self for God-self's name, God-self replied (and I quote) ...

AHIH AShR AHIH

I AM THAT I AM

AHIH AshR AHIH, as any Gematria student knows, or can find out in about three minutes ("Google is our friend" ...) ... adds up to:

543

... as opposed to Moses (aka MSh, unified awareness .... Mem-Shin ... Water-Fire) ... which adds up to ...

345

You see?

543
345

Like a .... mirror ..... the self of unified awareness (Water represents objective consciousness; fire represents subjective consciousness; the six-pointed star represents awareness, unified ... the Heart of the Self) .... meeting creating its creator-self creating itself ....

543
345

888

... the number of Mashiach; Messiah ... the manifested union of Water (Mem) and Fire (Shin).

... the holy whole being wholly whole, now.

PaRaDiSe Regained: The Brilliant Kabbalah-Key to the Non-Dual Bible

2009-11-07T21:39:00.002-05:00

Yes, you read correctly.

Non-dual Bible.

As you may have heard, much of the allegedly applicable story starts in Paradise.

What you may not have heard is that Paradise is an acrostic (where each Hebrew letter, PRDS .. represents a word), pointing to the same three-in-one-in-all model of consciousness encoded in all the great sacred writings of the world.

In the Hindu/Tantric/Yogic traditions, this same model of consciousness is symbolized by AUM. (including the dot " . ", the point or bindu, indicating infinite original eternal silent awareness now), and the four levels of speech (Kashmir Shaivism) -- Paravak, Pasyanti, Madhyama and Vaikhari.

Kashmir Shaivism also has the four spheres, or anda in Sanskrit (Shakti, Maya, Prakriti, Prthivi), as the Kabbalah, the mystical/esoteric (yogic) path within Judaism has the four worlds:

Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, Assiyah

Emanation, Creation, Formation, Action

... which bring us right back to Paradise.

PaRaDiSe .... Orchard ... or ... Garden ... in Hebrew.

Also, a potentially infinitely helpful mnemonic:

PaRaDiSe ... PRDS (Hebrew) ....

Peshat
Remez
Derasha
Sod

Literal
Allegorical/Intellectual (first level of metaphor)
Exposition (deeper level of metaphor)
Secret (inner intuitive understanding)

Here's an excellent overview of PRDS from respected Gnostic Christian Kabbalah author, Tau Malachi, at the Sophian Fellowship Forum.

And, no, of course ... it's not like every word of the Bible is encoded with a sophisticated schema of four perfectly interlacing and complementary levels of wisdom pointing to how consciousness actually operates.

It's like every syllable of the Bible is encoded with a sophisticated schema of four perfectly interlacing and complementary levels of wisdom pointing to how consciousness actually operates, supported by Gematria, the one-corresponding-number-for-each-letter schema, wherein the three-in-one-in-all model is formulated with a level of sophistication and elegance that causes the modern mind to drop its conceptual jaw in awe ... and realize that maybe "advanced in external technology" .... doesn't always mean "advanced".

The Hebrew Aleph-Beyt consists of:

27 letters (22 primary, 4 final)
9 representing the Archetypal
9 representing the Existential
9 representing the Cosmic/Supernal

If you're interested, check out this hypertext index of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet, offering a detailed overview of the sophistication of the letter-number symbolism, utilized to encode the entire (originally Hebrew) Torah ... aka the Old Testament of the Bible.

Just how deep and sophisticated is this letter-number symbolism of Hebraic sacred science?

Deep and sophisticated.

And I understand ..... for some rational minds ... equating deep and sophisticated with:

"In the beginning God created heaven and earth" ... is a bit of a stretch.

And rightfully so, considering that ""In the beginning God created heaven and earth" is an utter mistranslation.

The original Hebrew reads:

"Bereshyt Barah Elohim et Ha Shamaim Vay et Ha Eretz"

To begin to get how deeply and fully the original Hebrew points to the actual operation of consciousness, click on the link, above (the word Bereshyt).

And, if you want to go all the way into the rabbit hole ... and/or be catapulted right *out* of the matrix ... click here.

Excerpt:

(from "The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah", linked above)

"With this understanding of the basic geometric processes involved in the construction of the circle and the hexagram, we should be better able to appreciate the geometric descriptions of creation in the Zohar. At the start of the section called Bereshit, the progression from point, through line, to circle, and then to the marking of radial arc points, is described in relation to the first processes of creation:

"The Most Mysterious struck its void, and caused its point to shine. This 'beginning', then extended, and made for itself a palace for its honor and glory...

... From this point onwards, Bara Shith -- he created six."

Six.

Six directions; the cube of space defined by the field of original unified awareness.

Six days ... three points comprising the basis of a triangle pointing up ... fire ... shin; three points comprising the basis for a triangle pointing down ... water ... mem.

And the seventh ... the original, the first ... Aleph; spirit, pure creative awareness, resting in eternal repose at the center ... at the heart of it all.

The two triangles united, forming a six-pointed star .... the Star of David (DVD, Dalet Vav Dalet ... two formerly-resisting facets of consciousness, unified and harmonized by the life-force, Vav, the "copulative principle" as Kabbalistic sages would have it); the satkona in Hinduism and tantric/yogic traditions.

The union of Shiva and Shakti in Hinduism and related yogic/tantric traditions, such as Kashmir Shaivism.

The union of Yahweh (YHVH) and Elohim (ELHM) in Kabbalistic Judaism.

In Genesis, there is a perplexing line:

"Let us go down and make man in our image."

... causing the myopically monotheistic to wonder aloud: "who is God talking to?"

... which is only too easy to understand, when it's learned that Elohim is a feminine noun, with a masculine plural ending .... as in:

Not that many decades ago, a woman married to a Mr. John Smith would be known as Mrs. John Smith ... her identity subsumed in the identity of her husband.

Somehow, the relationship between male and female principles became twisted to represent woman as "less than", because of this "subsumed identity" ... whereas in ancient times, the Goddess acted, literally, as the very power of the God ... She arises from him; She is His emanation.

His Shakti; his very power; his capability.

Or, as Hebrew has it .... his Shekinah.

The true power of which all shines very clearly in any language, once it's seen that there's only One Awareness.

"Let us go down and make man in our image" ...

... "let this unified awareness magnify this light throughout the full field as awareness now" ....

It's never been about simplistic fairy tales, or pissed-off old guys in the sky.

It's all and only about this one awareness we each and all are ever-emanating as, now, really.

Enlightenment: It's Not What You Think!

2009-11-07T20:17:00.000-05:00

Thinking makes duality.

Thinking *IS* duality.

Non-duality is reality.

How so?

Here's an excerpt from The Stanzas On Vibration by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski (original text written in Sanskrit, in 11th century Kashmir), which outlines it all quite nicely:

"True enough, God and the individual soul are one in the state that arises when the latter makes contact with his own innate power. Even so, he is subject to the "impurity of attachment" which gives rise to the notion "I am the body", etc., in the sense that it is born along with him, when consciousness contracts down from the universal level.

It is due to this impurity that he is full of desire, greedy for a few short moments of fleeting happiness, and thus rendered helpless in the action he takes in order to gain those objects that are the means to it.

He is, in other words, poor in power, for although he may wish to, he cannot achieve his goal.

Such a person's supreme state, the absolute, beyond which there is nothing higher, would manifest according to its true nature, the moment the disruption of the negative effect of Maya, that is, egoity that takes its support from the conditioned body, etc., ceases and is destroyed.

It melts away like a heap of snow by coming into contact with the light of the sun of the authentic ego that transcends all fictitious supports."

It's not a matter of "attaining enlightenment" ... it's a matter of ceasing the making-up of unenlightenment.

The wholeness of awareness is original.

Only the ongoing reinforcement of the conceptual conditioning of duality can make it seem otherwise.

Please see the Recommended Resource Sites list on the right-hand side of the screen, for some excellent resources that can help you know actual enlightenment in your own life.

Enlightenment is real.

Enlightenment is all that's real.

Liberation is real.

Liberation isn't special, or exotic or supernatural.

But it is liberation.

And it is how consciousness actually operates, once the veils of conceptual conditioning have dissolved.

Abhinavagupta In The News!

2009-10-23T19:09:00.000-04:00

Here's a comment (below) I made to a post by Matt Browner Hamlin on Huffingtonpost, discussing the "fundamentalist atheism" of author Christopher Hitchens.

That post (linked above) points out that certain spiritual systems, such as the non-dual Kashmir Shaivism of Abhinavagupta, are every bit as scientific or more so than so-called "modern science".

I wholeheartedly concur, per my comment below.

**

Excellent article. Kudos on the mention of Kashmir Shaivism and Abhinavagupta. There is actually no conflict between science and religion; there is only misunderstanding between mistaken understanding of science and mistaken understanding of religion. Fundamentalist scientists are as blinded by their prejudices as fundamentalists of the religious persuasion are by theirs. Scientists claim to be interested only in reality … but so do religious adherents. However, as soon as a fundamentalist of any variety runs up against information their prejudices won’t allow them to consider … their prejudice wins by default, and the blindness remains. As you likely know, Kashmir Shaivism is much more a template than a specific system; any aspect of the consciousness-reality spectrum fits neatly within it. And, as with all other yogic/tantric disciplines, Kashmir Shaivism has a basis for verification that even science can’t match: the replicable experiencing of anyone who cares to test its premises for themselves. Good job; thank you for this post … I never expected to see Abhinavagupta make the news!

The Tao Which Can Be Spoken Of Is Not The Tao

2009-10-21T21:48:00.001-04:00

All bondage is conceptual.

Enlightenment is the releasing of attachment to form.

Advaita Round The World

2009-10-11T21:56:00.000-04:00

Advaita literally means "not-two", or "non-dual", in Sanskrit. It's about engaging in practices and study which awaken us to the reality of our interconnectedness with all-that-is by consciously experiencing the openness of natural awareness as a single field.

This is the way it is anyway --- but this is usually obscured by the cloud-cover of conceptual thought, including the "thought called 'Me'".

Every major religion has one or more non-dual facets to it, and it seemed like a list of these might be useful:

Christianity

Mystical Christianity
Gnostic Christian Kabbalah
Gnosticism

Judaism

Kabbalah

Hinduism

Tantric Yoga
Advaita Vedanta

Islam

Sufism

Buddhism

Dzogchen
Vajrayana
Zen

Western Mystery Traditions

Hermetic Alchemy
Celtic Druidism (certain schools)
Golden Dawn (or derivative paths)
Rosicrucianism (or derivative paths)
Freemasonry

Taoism

Largely or completely non-dual

That's just a quick list off the top of my head .... but there's a lot more non-duality out there (and "in here") than meets the eye, so to speak.

And, by the way, I do know I've omitted a couple of well-known religions (Sikhism and Jainism, specifically) - which is simply due to the fact that I don't know if they have a non-dual facet within that religion, or not. "Ditto" with respect to any others (Native American spirituality, for instance) from around the world, as well.

I think I'm familiar with all major religions and spiritual groups - I'm just not familiar with whether or not they all have a non-dual facet within them. My sense of it is: they do ... but I'm still researching this.

Non-Duality seems to have been original (as a teaching), in every religion - with all the symbolism and mythology of religion being a map back home to the reality of non-duality -- and all the sense of glaring difference between religions being due to comparison between various misunderstandings, not comparison between the original, non-dual teachings.

There is no inherent conflict between various religions and various religious teachings; there is only conflict between misunderstandings of various religions and various religious teachings.

The same is true regarding science and religion: there is no inherent conflict between science and religion; there is only conflict between mistaken understanding of science and mistaken understanding of religion.

Non-Duality is simply one term for fulfilled human consciousness, along, usually, with various practices and philosophical views which can help anyone to experience non-duality for themselves.

And please understand: I'm not referring to thinking about non-duality; I'm referring to experiencing non-duality -- which is always cited as the ultimate state, within every spiritual tradition. It has been called everything from enlightenment and self-realization, to God-realization and nirvana, to samadhi, to the ground of being, to the supreme state, to salvation, to heaven ... and by many other names, as well.

The rewards are unimagineable -- and they are available, for all of us.

And per this post, if you're interested -- and you're religious -- you don't even have to change religions, to fulfill your consciousness and fulfill the deepest promises of your religion, at the same time.

Despite many ridiculous statements to the contrary, over the course of history -- enlightenment, or salvation ("Salvation" comes from a Greek root, which comes from the Sanskrit root for the word "Sarve", meaning Whole or Entire; the same Greek root for "Salve" - which helps to Heal; to make Whole) -- is available for all, and contrary to so many statements that are even more ridiculous -- you don't have to accept anyone else's crazy ideas about anything.

Engage in the right practices (sitting silently for a little while every day, in efficacious ways -- we'll be discussing specifics, and/or pointing to them, as this blog proceeds), and experiencing applicable perspective shifts -- and before long, not only will you "win the ultimate prize" ... you'll realize (that you've already ... One).

And so, if anyone knows of any other non-dual paths I may not have included in my list above, please let me know.

Thanks!

What Does Mystical Mean?

2009-10-11T21:50:00.000-04:00

A lot of us have heard the terms mystical, esoteric, occult and mystery tradition ... but what do they actually mean? Basically, they're analogous to "yogic" - and they mean: experiential -- they mean that the given tradition is about practice, as opposed to belief; about doing the things that will give a person the experience of that which is discussed in sacred writings.

Esoteric simply means "inner", as opposed to exoteric (about outer form, churches, temples, books, organizations, clergy, etc.).

Occult simply means "hidden" ... hidden because it's "inner", which is the last place people tend to look ... despite nearly every spiritual tradition emphasizing the need for this, repeatedly ("Be still and know that I am God", "The kingdom of Heaven is within you", "Know the truth and the truth will set you free", etc.)

Ultimately, every sacred tradition teaches about one thing, at essence: how consciousness actually operates, and how to enjoy its fulfillment.

Could this possibly be true?

You might want to find out.

Is it worth the effort?

It's worth everything.

Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol, 33 Little Steps To Enlightenment

2009-10-11T15:57:00.000-04:00

Some of you may remember just how popular and how controversial Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was, a few years back. For most people, Brown's newest endeavor, The Lost Symbol won't be as "Earth-shattering", primarily due to the lack of amazing disclosures about Jesus' personal life. However, this book actually digs deeper into the potential benefits of esoteric symbols, but in some very "pulp fiction"-y ways. The book is not that well-written (standard top-forty fiction type of thing), the story is okay, but kind of formulaic.

However, the esoteric symbolism itself, and what Dan Brown indicates it points to -- goes pretty deep, but stops just short of "full disclosure". Is this because Brown doesn't know ... or because he doesn't want to disclose more? I'm guessing it's the former.

Fortunately, I don't have that same constraint ... so I'll give you an example:

In The Lost Word, Brown mentions that the reason the Masonic tradition has 33 Degrees (levels of initiation), is because the spine has 33 vertebrae. So far, so good. He indicates that Heaven actually refers to "higher" mind, and that the Masonic symbolism of the staircase represents the journey from animal nature and base instincts, up the spine, to the Heaven of higher mind.

This is all fine, but the impression the book gives is that this is purely a symbolic representation -- that the spine simply "represents" the distance, or steps, between animal nature, and the spiritual awakening of higher mind.

The "little detail" that he fails to mention in his book, is that there's a daily practice you can do, which actually facilitates the neurobiology of spiritual awakening.

It's been around for thousands of years; it's one of the eight limbs of yoga, and is well understood by other mystical traditions around the world, as well; it's known as pranayama, or breath control.

One specific type of pranayama practice is known as "spinal breathing".

It's amazing, and it works -- and the results are beyond description, literally. Once I integrated this practice with daily meditation a few years back, I experienced more results, in terms of spiritual awakening in a few short months -- than I had experienced in years, without it.

It's all about knowing how to integrate and balance -- and there's at least one group I know of (which I participate in, and recommend highly and without reservation) who can help you do exactly that -- even if you've never meditated or done yoga before (and no, "yoga" doesn't mean "making like a pretzel" - if you can sit and breath, you can do this practice.)

And, as I can and do attest, it can change your life.

All that interesting esoteric symbolism is ... well, interesting ... to some .... but once you realize that spiritual awakening, much like physical exercise and nutrition, has literally been a (somewhat hidden, partially lost and/or misunderstood but still one hundred percent actual) science for thousands of years ... and that the results of practicing this science are the promises of all the great spiritual traditions (peace beyond all understanding, freedom beyond imagination, nirvana, spiritual liberation, self-realization, enlightenment; whatever else it's called ---- it's the fulfillment of human consciousness, it's real ... and you can have it.)

For more information, please visit the Advanced Yoga Practices Community.

Tell 'em Kirtanman sent you.

Christian Shaivism / Christian Advaita

2009-08-01T12:14:00.000-04:00

One of the aspects of inter-religious dialog and understanding which makes communication between religions difficult, is that the teachings of religion or philosophy can seem to say that reality is dualistic (i.e. God is God, and you are not), while spiritual experiences, especially the deepest ones, are experiences of the formless non-dual reality underlying the distinctions of day to day life and conceptual mind.

And so, Advaitic schools within Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism (Kabbalah), Islam (Sufism), or any other "ism" can seem to be teaching something inherently and radically different than "mainstream Christianity" (or even the "mainstreams" of those religions, as well) teaches -- which, in the minds of many Christians, would therefore mean that these systems, at best, have nothing to offer Christians -- and at worst, could be harmful to Christian faith.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Literally.

Paying serious attention to this could be useful, because ... well .... knowing the truth *is* what makes you free.

Are you free?

If so, you're knowing you're free, right now.

If there's any doubt ... this post may be very, very important for you, in terms of ... well, everything that can possibly matter in your life.

No kidding.

And, yes, of course --- I could hypothetically be: lying, delusional, influenced by dark forces, messing with you, simply yet actually wrong, etc. etc. etc.

How to know whether I am (any of those things listed above) or not?

Find out.

Know the truth; be free.

Drop all ideas -- especially all Christian ideas (and before you respond, please just read/listen ... I'm here to help enhance faith/relationship/knowing truth .... not to diminish or challenge or debate).

And I'm most certainly not "picking on" or singling out Christianity in any way -- the reason for the focus in the rather amazing, revolutionary article, linked at the bottom of this post.

I'm not saying to discard all ideas or beliefs -- I'm just saying to drop preconceptions, for now. It's not ideas that will save you -- it's knowing.

And - cutting to the chase, so to speak - there's a parish priest in Australia, by the name of Rev. Dr. John R. Dupuche who has noticed some beautifully deep, and deeply beautiful correspondences between the teachings of the philosophy of non-dual Kashmir Shaivism, and Christianity - correspondences which he finds so meaningful, that he says he is hoping to facilitate the start of a Christian Shaivism (Shiva is not actually different from Christ; Shiva is simply a different term for Christ).

How deeply has Father Dupuche gone, in order to develop his views?

He's been a parish priest for quite some time, he has written several books on related matters -- and, he has his Ph.D. ... in Sanskrit.

He has written a brief (10 page) paper outlining his views on Christian Shaivism // Christian Advaita; I highly recommend it.

NOTE: The link below opens the PDF article by Rev. Dr. John R. Dupuche, directly.

Renewing Christian Anthropology In Terms of Kashmir Shaivism

http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/research/theology/ejournal/aejt_4/dupuche.pdf

Is That Atemporal Tantra You're Having?

2009-07-17T21:18:00.000-04:00

A lot of people associate the term Tantra with sex; vastly improved sex, if the marketing materials are to be believed (and some of them are definitely not to be believed!)

As one respected academic who researches and writes about the esoteric depths of Tantric philosophy (David Gordon White) notes:

(Phony, modern) "Tantra is about ritualizing sex", whereas original Tantric practices where about "sexualizing ritual".

Beyond the standard "beats filling your sinuses with oily incense" .... what's up (pun fully intended) with that??

Are sex and spirituality mutually exclusive?

Au contraire -- Tantric philophies and systems are arguably the most ancient spiritual systems in the world ... and were developed long before sex stopped being seen as a natural aspect of life - every bit as natural (strange as it may sound to social conditioning; obvious as it will seem to anyone paying attention and willing to drop social conditioning) as breathing, eating or sleeping.

And, per the meaning of Tantra (from the Sanskrit "Tan" - to expand, and "Tra" - means of saving) -- Mantra is a tool which can be used to be "saved" (back into original consciousness) by mind ("Man", in Sanskrit) -- Yantra is a tool which can be used to be saved by form ("Yan", in Sanskrit), and Tantra is a tool-set which can be usedto be saved by expanding ("Tan", in Sanskrit) awareness via various methods, utilizing body-mind ... including, but not limited to, practices involved breath, bodily position (yogic asanas), mudras, mantras, sex, and whatever else proved useful.

Hence, a conventional meaning, in ancient India, for "Tantra" was also instruction-set, or, if you will: user's guide.

For instance: the Vijnanabhairava Tantra - 112 techniques for accessing conscious awareness of the true natura of Self (just one example amony many).

Which includes, quite actually, becoming aware that awareness itself precedes, supersedes, succeeds, comprises, creates, maintains and dissolves space-time itself.

And, *SAUH* - here's intending All Full-Blown Atemporal Tantra!

Advaita, Already!

2009-07-17T20:18:00.000-04:00

I Give Up!

Hey, I One!

How simple; how true -- who knew??

Okay, so .... a lotta people are into Advaita these days (which is kind of ironic, considering the originally Advaitic/Tantric views pre-date recorded history, and were codified by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century C.E. (Advaita Vedanta) in India, and by Abhinavagupta, and those who came just before and after him, in the 9th-11th centuries C.E. (Kashmir Shaivism, aka Advaita Shaiva), in (as coincidence would have it), Kashmir (and yes, Kashmir is part of India today - I'm not sure if it was in those times).

What is Advaita?

Advaita is simply and literally the Sanskrit term for Non-Dual (from Dvaita - "of two", or "from two", aka "dual"; the application of the "a-" prefix negates the meaning of the word - just as the prefix "Non" does, in English -- so Advaita literally means Non-Dual).

Saying that reality is non-dual can seem either obvious, mystifying or utterly crazy, depending on how long and thoroughly one (pun fully intended) has been meditating and/or engaging in other mind-inquiry practices.

There are some (so-called) neo-advaita teachers who say "This is it!" - but say this from the standpoint of limited, dualistic mind ... which can literally obscure the experiencing of advaita.

There are others who say the duality of the world is illusory, either because all appearance is illusion (Advaita Vedanta), or because the mistaken, conceptually-limited views of the ego-mind (aka the "thought called me") is illusory (Advaita Shaiva).

Advaita cannot be understood with the thinking mind, which is inherently based in thought-construct, language and dualistic perception-conditioning .... and therefore, unable to understand/know advaita, using these means/methods.

Advaita can be realized in experience, once it is intuited that non-duality is quite literal and available, and simply refers to the (scientifically validated fact) that everything which appears in consciousness, is appearing with/as/from a single, contiguous field of awareness.

This moment is usually experienced as: thought-called-me-->thinking-conceiving-->thought-called-world.

As practices/inquiry expand, it comes to be known that "all of the above" are actually objects in awareness .... arising, displaying, dissolving .... in the pure experiencER ... the true nature of the self, which doesn't change moment-by-moment as the thought-self, and everything the thought-self thinks, does.

Have you noticed?

Then, ultimately it is noticed that even the most cosmic, infinitely expanded sense of mind-body-self ... is yet and object in the greater field of meta-awareness ... the pure still, silence which simply has nothing to do with what goes on in any level of the awareness-manifestation spectrum (aka mind-body, aka body-mind) -- yet ever is.

Advaita is real.

Advaita is all that's real.

Have you realized?

Watch This Space!

2009-07-17T20:14:00.000-04:00

The nature of existence is space.

The nature of space is existence.

And stuff.

Have you noticed?