One Temple Blog

The Ultimate Goal

2008-02-10T01:07:00.000-08:00

by Lester Levenson

"The goal is unlimited happiness.

The goal is complete liberation – the attainment of limitlessness.

All are seeking complete freedom and happiness, and everyone is seeking this either consciously or unconsciously.

The goal is Self-Realization.

All we need to do is improve our knowing or the fact that "I AM THAT I AM" until our knowledge is only that. Then we see and know that we are that which we have been seeking."

"So the goal is to know that "I AM THAT I AM." This knowing, however, is not the intellectual knowing, which is but like a tape recording. This knowledge is an experienced knowledge gotten through Self realization, through stilling the mind and concentrating the mind inwardly until the Self, Itself, gives us the answer by showing Itself.

No one can be taught Truth, each must realize Truth by himself or herself. A Teacher can give the direction, the way, and the pupil may take it.

All Truth is provable. Accept nothing on hearsay. Each must prove out everything for himself or herself.

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To learn about Lester's Release Technique click here:

Distortion of Unity is Unnecessary

2008-02-10T00:59:00.000-08:00

Posted by mu

Millions upon millions of people are currently experiencing and viewing life through the prism that distorts the Reality of who they/we really are. It is a way of amusing self, chosen (consciously or subconsciously] by the person as an "alternative to understanding the Unity that binds All things."

Most humans distort Self/Being/Oneness/Unity in a variety of ways. Viewing 'other than', or different levels or hierarchies of being, etc. are just a couple of ways used to attempt to separate the inseparable Isness that we truly are.

Duality is simply a distortion of the human mind. It is a choice made by those who wish to see and experience life in dualistic terms. It is, one could say, pure folly; a conditioned habit; needing to mirror self; a way of creating drama or excitement, when one is unaware of who they really are, among other things.

The Truth and experience of Self is the most 'exciting' experience there IS; the most peaceful, fulfilling, joyful state, and it is available right here, right now. It cannot be created, nor destroyed by distorting Unity or anything else. It is Changeless. Once experienced/Realized, there simply is no desire or need for distortion, even if old habits are hard to break, the underlying awareness of Selfhood and immediate change in consciousness is irrevocably known and seen. Distortion of Unity is seen for what it is--completely unnecessary.

The following quote from The Law of One Material says it well:

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- mu

[Source: The Law of One: Book I, by Elkins, Rueckert, McCarty]

Realer Than Real

2008-02-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

“There is a theory which states that if 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, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

“The transcendent state we call Absolute Unitary Being refers to states known by various names in different cultures—the Tao, Nirvana, the Uno Mystica, Brahman-atman—but which every persuasion describes in strikingly similar terms. It is a state of pure awareness, a clear and vivid consciousness of everything as an undifferentiated whole.

“Although mystics report that this state of ultimate being cannot be understood through reason, or even rationally described, that hasn’t stopped legions from trying.

Zen Master Huang Po describes One Mind, this state of ultimate being:

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[Source: Why God Won’t Go Away, Andrew Newberg, M.D., Eugene D’Aquili, M.D., Ph.D., Vince Rause, 2001 Ballantine Publishing Group]

Two Warsaw Heroes & the Thisness of What Is

2008-01-19T22:13:00.000-08:00

Two Warsaw Heroes & the Thisness of What Is
Posted by mu on January 19, 2008

Diane Ackerman writes in an article in the March 2008 Shambhala Sun magazine: “Most people know that six million Jews were killed during World War II, but most don’t know that nearly all of the Orthodox community perished. Among them were many who had kept alive an ancient tradition of meditation and mysticism reaching back to the Old Testament world of the prophets.”

While many thousands of Jews managed to escape from the Warsaw Ghetto before the war began, some chose to stay, including two men highlighted in Ackerman’s article; Henryk Goldzmit a pediatrician and author, and Kalonymous Kalman Shapira, the ghetto’s Hasidic rabbi.

“Shapira’s Hasidism includes transcendent meditation—training the imagination and channeling the emotions to achieve mystical visions. The ideal way, Shapira taught, was to ‘witness one’s thoughts to correct negative habits and character traits…’ He also preached ‘sensitization to holiness’, a process of discovering the holiness within oneself and the natural world.”

[read more]

[Source: Diane Ackerman - Shambhala Sun Magazine, March 2008]

On The Bible & Women

2008-01-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

On the Bible & Women

Posted by mu on January 9, 2008

“Given the depth and scope of patriarchy in human history, we need to entertain the possibility that the negative attitude toward women in the Bible is symptomatic of something far deeper. That realization forces us to enter the realm of the unspoken and perhaps the unconscious, for that is where taboos are born.”

The Apostle Paul’s written instructions to the churches in the Bible are most often used [misused] to promote inequality and separation, to keep women in a submissive and inferior role, and patriarchy thriving in societies, churches, homes and relationships.

As former bishop of Newark and author, John Shelby Spong points out, it is very clear that Paul was a man who was in constant conflict and inner-turmoil, which was never reconciled. Paul himself wrote that there was a constant war going on inside of him between his mind and his body, and between his past and present. He came from a “rigid patriarchal background” and had obvious anti-female and other biases, yet--and this is a very important point, in the midst of his passionate and ecstatic proclamation of his Christ experience, what did he say without taking the time to think about or edit his words as he did with his instructions to the churches?

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On Advaita [Non-Duality]

2008-01-10T21:26:00.000-08:00

On Advaita [Non-Duality]

Posted by mu on January 2, 2008

Advaita:

Non-duality is the doctrine that nothing exists apart from the Spirit, but everything is a form assumed by the Spirit.

“The doctrine of Non-duality, taught by the ancient Rishis… is the simplest as well as the most profound, being the ultimate truth beyond all the complexities of cosmology."

"Non-duality means that only the Absolute is. The entire cosmos exists within the Absolute, having no intrinsic reality but merely manifesting the Absolute which, however, remains eternally unchanged and unmanifest, as the people and events in a man’s dream exist within him and have no reality apart from him and yet add nothing to him by their creation and subtract nothing from him by their disappearance. This means that the Absolute is the Self of the cosmos and of every being…” [Osborne, pg. 81].

“Some may fear that the doctrine of the One Self deprives them of a Personal God to Whom they can pray, but there is no need for such fear, because

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On Renunciation

2008-01-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

On Renunciation

Posted by mu on Janurary 1, 2008

Let’s talk a little bit about renunciation; the idea or belief that one must give up, relinquish, abandon, reject, leave, surrender, disown etc. home and all personal ‘worldly’ attachments in one’s spiritual quest. It isn’t necessary.

The idea of “well, that didn’t work, it is a distraction to my leading a truly spiritual life; it is a hindrance to finding that which will work for me or to my finding what I am seeking, so therefore I will/must give it up” or something along those lines is just a mind game. For some it is viewed as a rite of passage to travel to India or some other far off land in their ‘quest for enlightenment’. People are abandoning their relationships and lives either temporarily or permanently (or thinking they must] in the name of this quest or the search for their teacher, guru, or spiritual community. In the western world this is becoming a popular trend, especially in certain circles. For many, it happens after having achieved goals and/or attaining material wealth or possessions that did not serve to give the inner-peace or happiness the attainer sought through the achievement of such things, and thus they have become even more depressed and disenchanted with life.

Embarking on a quest or journey with or without renunciation is the belief that the ‘it’ sought lies out there somewhere – outside self. It is like substituting one addiction for another. If the material possessions, job, partner, house, or whatever didn’t do it, a trip to India, a pillow, guru, or renunciation might. For some renunciation or the actual physical journey is part of one’s Dharma or path, but either way, it is still simply a matter of inner-Realization. No physical journey or renunciation of anything physical is necessary.

As Ramana Maharshi said, “True renunciation is in the mind” and is “neither achieved by physical renunciation nor impeded by the lack of it.” It is as the Zen saying goes: ‘Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood carry water.’ It is having the change of mind and awareness and bringing it into the ‘real’ or everyday world with you, or as you.

That is the blessing and the challenge of it. I have often said it is easy to find ‘enlightenment’ sitting on a rock in a cave somewhere; away from civilization; away from the noise, crowds, and myriad of distractions and responsibilities. It is more challenging to uncover the enlightened mind right where you are, in the midst of everyday life with all of its distractions, and is perhaps more impenetrable when done so.

Having renounced his home and life at the age of 17, Sri Ramana was often asked about renunciation. His answer was usually unexpected. It was a matter of ‘Do as I say, not as I did’, which surprised many people and went against common thinking.

The following is part of a conversation between a devotee who questioned Sri Ramana about abandoning life to live as a sannyasin [One who has renounced home. property, caste, and all human attachments in the spiritual quest. The renunciation is permanent.]

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On Expansiveness & Inclusion

2008-01-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

Alice Bailey on Expansiveness & Inclusion

Posted by mu on December 25, 2007

Alice Bailey wrote in The Unfinished Autobiography:

"I was discovering that the only thing that was wrong [with 'the old theology' as she called it] was man-made interpretations of the truth and it dawned on me how silly it was just because some learned preacher or scholar said that God meant this or that we should accept it.

He might be right and if so, intuitively one would know it; but the intuition does not work unless the mind is developed and that has been a lot of the trouble. The mass of people do not think and the orthodox theologian, no matter what he says, can always get a following. With the best intentions in the world he exploits the unthinking. It dawned on me, too, that there was really no reason because a priest or teacher six hundred years ago interpreted the Bibile in one way - probably suitable for his time and age, that it should be acceptable now in a different time and age, under a different civilisation and with widely different problems. If God's truth is truth then it will be expansive and inclusive, and not reactionary and exclusive." - end -

Awareness

2008-01-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

Awareness

Posted by mu on December 18, 2007

Q: What is this awareness and how can one obtain and cultivate it?

A: You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you. Since you are awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is give up being aware of other things, that is of the not-Self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi, excerpt from Be as You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Arkana)

OT Welcome Article

2008-01-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

One: Undivided. The Ultimate Reality; a Source of Being by whose emanations all entities have their existence; characterized by Unity.

Temple: Any place in which God dwells; a place where something Holy or Divine dwells; something regarded as having within it a Divine Presence. [Used here, the word 'Temple' is all-inclusive = not only a physical place of worship, or physical body, or the body of a group, but the entire Wholeness or Unity of All as ONE Temple.]

OneTemple.org is dedicated to Unity - not merely 'tolerating' so-called 'diversity', but realizing our inherent interconnectedness and expression as Beingness. ALL are welcome! It is all about inclusiveness. Please know that although we may include or highlight various people, opinions, and resources here, it is not a recommendation of any particular teacher, belief, religion or practice; nor is it a rejection of any. In ONE, nothing is excluded.

There is One Divine Eternal Essence in and through ALL Creation. This includes and is not limited by us or anything else. This Divine Essence is known by many names, including "God", "Spirit", "Isness", "The Christ", "Brahman", "Creative Force" "First Cause", "Being", "It", "Suchness", "That which has no beginning and no end", "Love", "Allness", "the Tao", and many others. Whatever name we ascribe to this Infinite Creative Energy, it is in and through everything in the Universe; It animates all Life and is ever-changing. In dualistic terms, we are made up of this Divine Essence and vice versa. It simply IS, and we ARE that Isness. The I AM that I AM. When we say "We are ONE" this is what it means. All creation is 'connected' by, and lives in and from this ONE Source of Energy, or whatever attributes one wishes to give It/I. It/I is infinite. Its/I-s manifestations are Infinite; unlimited by any limitations our mind or thoughts impose on It.

On the so-called 'material' level, we know (through our own science] that we are all made up of the same Cosmic DNA - the building blocks of all life as we perceive it. Essentially we are made up of Stardust! Everything in the Universe is made up of this Cosmic DNA - the elements that are birthed through the stars and create life. This is no small matter or coincidence. This cosmic connection is quite profound. We are connected with everything in the Universe through our DNA. Furthermore, we ARE everything, including the Divine Source of All. That can be very difficult to wrap our physical mind around. Our mind is 'keeper of the veil'- of the misunderstanding, the "illusion" so-to-speak, that we are simply human beings in individual bodies separate from everyone and everything else. The Absolute Truth is that 'no man is truly an island' unto himself. Our True state, which is evidenced not only by what our living mystics and masters have told us since earliest recorded times, but also by what science has uncovered and will continue to uncover about the nature of Reality and our interconnection with all that IS.

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ONE,
Mu

[For active links to sites within this article, please go to: http://www.onetemple.org/intro_1.html]

One Temple Blog

2007-12-28T03:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new One Temple Blog.

Stay tuned for posts...

-mu