The unborn undying mind of the Buddha

reply to post by OmegaPoint


That for me is THE BOOK that opened up my understanding of time and how it fits in with the path to enlightenment. I have read this book three times and still find new understandings in it.

reply to post by Mr Green


I agree. Eckhart Tolle's teachings had a profound effect on me as well. It wasn't what started my journey but it def deepened my understanding of everything. Another book that called to me and I recommend is "Conversations With God" - Neale Donald Walsh.

A Flower For YOU.

Originally posted by InthekNOwla
reply to post by Mr Green

 

I agree. Eckhart Tolle's teachings had a profound effect on me as well. It wasn't what started my journey but it def deepened my understanding of everything. Another book that called to me and I recommend is "Conversations With God" - Neale Donald Walsh.

A Flower For YOU.

Thanks for that other book. yes I agree Eckhart Tolle was not what started my journey but it helped greatly as I tryed to understand what was happening to me. It is a very good book for those that are starting to question "why?" and "what?" is happening to them.

reply to post by InthekNOwla


I have started reading the book you recommended "Conversations with God"

Just wanted to say thank-you.

I find it fascinating so far..although I will have to put off a few household chores today as I am going to start reading it again from the beginning, only a lot slower.

Originally posted by OmegaPoint
reply to post by The Utopian Penguin

 

Could you describe it Utopian Penguin? The unborn undying mind?

And if you cannot say what it is, can you say what it is not?

Hello, dear One!

Practice Neti, Neti. Not this. Not that.

Start with an object in your awareness. Any object. Is that you? No, because you can witness it.

Look at your hand. Is that you? No, because it is an object in your awareness and can therefore witness it.

Look at your yearning. Any thought. Any emotion. Is that you? No. Because it is an object in your awareness and you can witness it.

So after you have stripped all away through your awareness of it, have you yet figured out that which is being aware? Who is this Witness, this bald Awareness of all things? Who is that that sees all, feels all, and hears all yet cannot be seen, felt or heard? That Pure, unmoving and mountain-like Witness is YOU!

You can never turn around and see your Self because you are that which is seeing! You can never hear your Self because you are that which is hearing! You can never feel your Self because, again, you are that which is feeling! You are closer to you than these words on this monitor. There is no separation between you and these words. What's more, YOU wrote them!

Confused? Relax in that which is confused. That is exactly Spirit. Searching? Relax in that which is searching. That is exactly Spirit. There is nothing that Spirit or Mind is not. Everything you are looking at is simply you looking at it! Look before you and see your Original Face, the one you had before you were born.

When you get this, let me know and I will guide you through to the final death of duality and separation through a Dzogchen like process called Big Mind.

I Love YOU!

= ) Namaste

reply to post by redwoodjedi


Are you saying that my awareness, and, all the content of that awareness, since it is included in the awareness, are one and the same thing? But I thought you said that I am not those objects of awareness, but am the awareness of the objects, so there seems to be a contradiction here..
The moon is still there when I am not looking at it
Also, I didn't write the words of your post, you did. I am not you, I'm me. The words came alive in my awareness when I read them, and became my words in my awareness, but I did not write them.
So while I mostly get what you are wanting to communicate, I don't seem to quite get it.

Originally posted by OmegaPoint
reply to post by redwoodjedi

 

Are you saying that my awareness, and, all the content of that awareness, since it is included in the awareness, are one and the same thing? But I thought you said that I am not those objects of awareness, but am the awareness of the objects, so there seems to be a contradiction here..
The moon is still there when I am not looking at it
Also, I didn't write the words of your post, you did. I am not you, I'm me. The words came alive in my awareness when I read them, and became my words in my awareness, but I did not write them.
So while I mostly get what you are wanting to communicate, I don't seem to quite get it.

My humblest apologies = )

I have not contradicted my Self only my self as enlightenment is beyond conceptualization, it appears difficult to expound upon without sounding contradictory or to speak in nonsensical circular metaphors. However, I think the confusion may lie in the fact that my initial post on this thread above, and most kind of you for the use of space, is incomplete but with intention. What is more, for clarity, I think it would make more sense to you if you were to perhaps poke through a similar but more "finished" statement on my OP.

And to finish this post with the Heart of Spirit or Mind fully intact, I must digress in saying that neither of us wrote the afforementioned words per se, but may I go so far as to say that WE all did as a conscious collective to help one another awaken in the most gentle fashion possible. Etheric bread crumbs to feed the hungry until One is Realized as always having been...full.

Lovingkindness and Blessings Bountiful,

Erik

= ) Namaste

reply to post by tribewilder


No thanks necessary :-). The book can read a little slow, however, I really enjoyed the audiobook version. Id sync it to my ipod and listen to it while doing all kinds of stuff. The way it plays gives the sense that Neale is really having a conversation with God. God's voice also oscillates between male and female so that the mind has trouble labeling.

But could it be, that as part of life, we are fundamentally life itself?

Yes, we are the embodiment of life. Look at a flower...its is life...it lives...effortlessly.

Is not a person's life, more like a wave on water, which though the wave appears to be an individual piece of water moving along the surface, it is not in fact a single wave at all, but just water endlessly moving up and down and then hitting the shore time and again, continuously. Can such a wave said to be destroyed when it arrives at the shore, or was there even a real wave to begin with? And are not the shoreline, and the wave, both part of one and the same phenomenon ie: existence.

Nothing is ever truly destroyed...the form changes...or transmuted. The wave was real...however the shoreline and the wave...exist as they are. Do you mean the phenomenon of life as existence? The shoreline and the wave shows us existence...a contrast what is.

Oh I know about NDE's and OBE's and the quantum holographic universe as a sea of consciousness and how there is evidence that the consciousness of the individual can live outside of the body - but without getting into any sort of subject/object viewpoint, how can I achieve this state of mind Buddhism refers to as the unborn, undying mind? I'm sure it is already there, but how to uncover it, and integrate it..?

To die before you die...as though you are already there. Unhinge the questions because the answer already lies within you. Are you asking yourself the right questions?

From a philosophical perspective, we can see that life meets life in cycles with continuity, and that death is a, part of, life, and is therefore contained within life, and not the other way around, since if death contained life, everything would be annihilated in death. So life meets life beyond the end of each life cycle - which would suggest that if my true nature is that of life, as part of life, then that most fundamental "I am" of being, cannot be cleaved from life at the point of physical death.

But the Buddhists are talking about something else here, about a non-duality which does not even consider the physical/non-physical aspects of the self, but of a no-self self and a no-mind mind, which is the unborn undying mind of the Buddha.

I want it, have caught fleeting glimpses of it in the past. At one point I really had it and said out loud to myself "I am the end of time", but then made myself wrong for it, suspecting that if I'm a part of God, and "the end of time" that at some point in the recurrence I might somehow bring an end to everything, but that's not right either, or someone, somewhere would have done that at some point and again, there would be nothing.

Western and Eastern perspectives are looking at different side of the same coin...but yet the very same thing. However...Buddha's journey ended at the source...his choice...extinguishing back to the source...nothingness. Christ's journey showed both...but more so on the continuation...the kingdom of heaven...the duality...on going...

Any help in getting this, this unborn undying mind would be much appreciated. It's a very difficult thing to grasp - ah, but there's the rub, that it cannot be grasped at or "achieved" just realized instantaneously.

When you come to this...you'll know...seek hard and it may slip by... but allow it...and you'll be presented a gift...

Wow, can't believe I haven't stumbled upon this thread until now. I guess you could say all the mindfulness all stars are in attendance. Some very good pointers for the road towards being mindful.

Once you make the decision to follow the path of conscious living, there is no going back. Once you have a taste and experience a moment of complete clarity and presence, you will know that that is all there is.

The majority of humans on this earth have been trained through years of conditioning to fill their lives with distractions, and to not acknowledge the egoic mind that has taken over. The voice that constantly judges your actions and everything that happens to you.

Through presence/awareness/conscious living, you recognize that this voice is not you. It is a part of you, but as with everything, it needs to be balanced.

When you are living in the present moment, it is easy to get caught up with something that happens to you and slip out of it. Say your in the car, and you are consciously breathing, completely in the moment and then BOOM you get a flat tire. This is when the ego says "oh god why did this happen to me, this is terrible, I dont deserve this!"

This is where trust in the universe/faith comes in. There are no good or bad things that happen Have faith, remain present, accept what is, and change that tire. The love of your life might stop to help you change that tire if you can remain in good spirits!

Once you start down this path, you will notice that you are being challenged more often. Can you handle it and stay present? The universe all around you is conscious and we are presented with situations all of the time for our highest good and learning. You are challenged more because the more you can stay present in the face of adversity and respond rather than unconsciously reacting, the closer the Buddha mind you will be!

Be grateful for your life on this earth, remain present, accept what is, and nothing will stop you on your quest for the Buddha mind!!

Namaste and Godbless

edit...something fell on my space bar and knocked half of my post to the bottom and I diddnt see it!





[edit on 30-7-2009 by bringthelight]

reply to post by bringthelight


Excellent post. Everything you say is correct, your right the more present we become it seems the more testing it seems.This may be because we become more aware of testing situations that seem to divert us from the ever present Now.

Very good examples of day to day ways of remaining in the Now.

reply to post by Mr Green


I think that you are on to something there.

The more aware one becomes, the more aware one is.

Instead of sleepwalking through life, you see what has always been there.

hope that makes sense..it does to me anyways..



edit cuz my y sticks

[edit on 7/30/2009 by tribewilder]

reply to post by Mr Green


Yes, I have found this to be very true in the past few weeks. The universe has been very trying. But if it were all easy, then we would never evolve! So I say the worse off and crazier things get, the happier you should be because you are right on the brink of an amazing realization or discovery!


[edit on 30-7-2009 by bringthelight]

reply to post by bringthelight


Thank-You for that post.

Very well written and a great way to start my day.

reply to post by tribewilder


Your welcome tribewilder. Glad I could help.

Love the avatar btw, beautiful eyes on that cat.

Best,
BTL

reply to post by bringthelight


I couldn't have said it better my friend. Glad to see you made your way here :-)

A Flower For YOU.

One thing to consider is that suffering is part of life. If you wish to achieve enlightenment you have to be able to embrace this. If you learn to handle the unfortunate things that we all experience everyday, then you will be able to be content in almost every scenario. When your heart is happy you can share this with other people, just by your actions. By doing this they will learn to see a different point of view on things too.

Originally posted by bringthelight
Wow, can't believe I haven't stumbled upon this thread until now. I guess you could say all the mindfulness all stars are in attendance. Some very good pointers for the road towards being mindful.

Haha. All stars? Or is it the globe trotters?

Once you make the decision to follow the path of conscious living, there is no going back. Once you have a taste and experience a moment of complete clarity and presence, you will know that that is all there is.

Something I don't like being reminded of. I try to get out and they keep pulling me back in.

When you are living in the present moment, it is easy to get caught up with something that happens to you and slip out of it. Say your in the car, and you are consciously breathing, completely in the moment and then BOOM you get a flat tire. This is when the ego says "oh god why did this happen to me, this is terrible, I dont deserve this!"

Forget flat tires. Try being in a car chase, Bullitt style with who knows who after you for who knows what reason, then laughing that off. I guess I've been laughing at it since I still don't know what the purpose is other than to have something completely ridiculous happen that looked more like something out of the movies than reality.

The strange thing is that shortly before it commenced I saw a vanity plate on a car that read "URAOK". Spooky!


[edit on 7/30/2009 by EnlightenUp]

reply to post by EnlightenUp


Thank you for the laugh, that was a very funny post. Globetrotters it is!

And yes the flat tire was just a minuscule example to make a point, recent events of my life could be compared to your car chase. That does seem pretty wild though, and you even got a little wink from the universe in the form of a vanity plate! Very funny stuff. The higher intelligence does seem to have a sense of humor like yourself.

I guess the lesson it that there is no half assing enlightenment, once your in your in.

Originally posted by InthekNOwla
reply to post by bringthelight

 

I couldn't have said it better my friend. Glad to see you made your way here :-)

A Flower For YOU.

Thank you for the kind words and the flower!

I was actually in my local Barnes and Nobles today and picked up Conversations With God. They only had book 2 but I ended up staying for a couple hours and banged out the first 9 chapters...That book was connecting all sorts of dots in my head. He did a really good job explaining time and even deja vu. Very amazing stuff and I thank you for the recommendation. I will definitely be reading all 3 books when I get the chance.

Its funny how so many people around me, and so many different authors are all coming through with the same message. The power of now is enveloping my life like nothing ever has before. Presence or mindfulness surely does bring you closer to God/The Source/The infinite. I never liked calling it God because of the patriarchal/jealous God view from my christian upbringing, but the God in the book was everything I expected him/her to be.

Thanks again for the suggestion and a flower for YOU!
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