On the path to ‘enlightenment,’ be careful you don’t become a ‘follower’

The is the third part of an extended series of explorations on “enlightenment” as a human experience. The first and second entries in this series may be found in the archives.

At the conclusion of Part One I said that the danger of this business of enlightenment is two-fold.  The first danger is thinking that there is something specific that you have to do in order go get there.  And that if you don’t do that, you can’t get there.  The second danger is thinking that your way to get there is the fastest, the best way to do it.

At the conclusion of Part Two I wrote of when Paramahansa Yogananda, or Master, as he was called, came to America bringing a technique for “self-realization” — which was his phrase meaning “enlightenment.”  Self-realization declares that when you realize who the Self is, you become enlightened. And Master described himself as having been enlightened.  And, by the way, he was enlightened. He was enlightened because he said that he was and, I hate to break the spell that someone may be under, but to be enlightened is to say that you are.  It is quite as simple as that.

People heard Paramahansa Yogananda give his talks and explain his technique for enlightenment, which involved a process that included, among other things, deep meditation for many minutes and sometimes many hours, every day.  And the process was one that Paramahansa Yogananda taught to his students, and that his students taught to their students, and their students taught to their students, on and on, until a very large number of people all over the United States and around the world were involved in this Self-Realization Fellowship, which to this day continues to function and has now many, certainly hundreds of thousands of, followers.

And if you talk to some of the followers and some of the members of the Self-Realization Fellowship, they will tell you, “This is the way.  This is the path.  Master has shown us the path.   There are many other paths, this is not the only path, and this may not be the best path, but it is the fastest path that we know of, and so come and join the Self-Realization Fellowship.”

In even more contemporary times a wonderful man named Maharishi surfaced on the earth and Maharishi invented yet another path to enlightenment.  His path was called Transcendental Meditation — or, for short, “TM.”

Maharishi began teaching around the world and became very popular and began creating temples and meditation centers all over the place. He established huge universities. There is a university in Fairfield, Iowa right now, called the Maharishi International University. And there are other universities that he established around the world.  And many, many so-called TM centers.

Now, I learned Transcendental Meditation and I learned it from other students who learned it from other students who learned it from other students who learned it from other students, who learned it from the Master.  And there is a gentle sense of urgency on the part of some of the people who are in this movement, because they will tell you that Transcendental Meditation is a tool that can bring you to enlightenment in a very short period of time.

And they, like the students of Paramahansa Yogananda, like the participants in the est program, turn a large part of their lives over to this program. They see their job as enrolling as many people as they can in their  movement, because it changes peoples lives.  And when you have a life-changing technology you naturally want to  share it with as many people as you can.  And there is nothing wrong with that. That is very exciting and it is very wonderful. But it can be difficult if you are not careful, if you allow yourself to become so urgently wrapped up in it that nothing else matters to you in your life. Then it can become not enlightenment, but dis-empowering to you.

Now there are many other programs as well.  Like Maharishi and Transcendental Meditation, like Paramahansa Yogananda and the Self-Realization Fellowship, like Werner Erhard and the est program.  There are many programs.  Many approaches, many paths developed by many masters.  There was a book written called Many Lives, Many Masters, written by my friend Brian Weiss, and he talks about the fact that there are many ways to reach the mountaintop.

Which way, then, should we recommend?  Which way, then, should we encourage others to take?  Or should we simply encourage others to investigate for themselves the many paths that there are, and empower them to know that inside their heart and soul they will pick the right path if their intention is pure and if their desire is true.

God says, “No one calls to me without being answered.”  And each of us will be answered by that which we call divine, in the way which most effectively responds to the vibration that we hold and create from the center of our being.

That is, to put it another way, God or Divinity or Enlightenment, if you please, appears in a form in the lives of every person that is most appropriate to their background, their culture, their level of understanding, the level of their desire, and their willingness.  And there are many disciplines: physical disciplines, mental disciplines, spiritual disciplines, and some disciplines that involve all three—the body, the mind and the spirit.

In our next entry here, we’ll look at the path that was taken by the Buddha. In the meantime, what path are you taking? Have you found “enlightenment” yet?

 

Comments

28 responses to “On the path to ‘enlightenment,’ be careful you don’t become a ‘follower’”

  1. sunseed Avatar
    sunseed

    beautiful, ty…
    another funnel for followers, & I do not mean this negatively but as an observation, could be the new (as of UCC filing on dec 25, 2012)
    OPPT ‘movement’…
    have you had a chance to look into that @ all yet, neale?

  2. Ionic Breeze Avatar
    Ionic Breeze

    God answers every heart that calls a true call. I called to God and he answered. He asked, “I see you praying. Did you think I would not answer?” I was glad God answered my call, but, boy, oh boy, was I a little fearful, for what I saw was strange beyond belief. I found God, life, energy, love, when I was trying to help another. What led me to know I know I found God, life, energy, love in a palpable way? It was a Christ heart, I guess you would call it, a Christ heart that tried to help another heart. I put myself aside and tried to help another love of God. that’s all. That’s all I know I can say for sure.

    I never knew the meaning of the word enlightenment. That’s for sure. I never studied enlightenment. that’s for sure. I never did any of that. I never tried to know enlightenment. I guess that’s why enlightenment scared the bajeebies out of me. When I saw the pen move and words form that I knew I knew I knew I didn’t consciously create, I jumped. When I saw light light a board, I thought I had a ghost on my hands. I couldn’t believe this energy, when I saw so many things move, so many lights turn on, so many radios, televisions go on and off. Energy grooves and moves as energy moves and grooves in love, and God knows how to groove. God loves to move in love, and I love God’s movements in love. That’s all I know. I love God and God loves me. I love Jesus and Jesus loves me. I love every ascended master, white cloud included. I love all people, every rock, every mineral. sigh. I do have questions though, like how am I supposed to love the likes of Charles manson, hitler? My only answer is from afar, from waay afar.

    Here is a question that I am pondering today. I am asking this room this today. If you’ve been in enlightenment circles, you know you are considered enlightened when you know you are God, Goddess and when you see love in everything, every particle, every leaf, everyone. Okay. That’s fair. I know I am Goddess. I know I love, but I do have a problem somewhat with this belief. I don’t know what to think. Does this mean I embrace Charles manson? Somehow I don’t think so. no. Not up close. Not even from a distance do I want to embrace him. I don’t even want to embrace Charles manson from a distance, so am I unenlightened or not? I wonder. Okay, I’m back.

    Where was I? I was interested in intuition, knowing things. I opened my mind by living love for another in a Christlike way, because I put myself aside, and said, okay this is a loss, a sacrifice for another love, but I’ll do it. I will give them my time, my valuable time and energy, and I did and it was for a great cause, but it did take a lot, on my part. God told me straight up it would, but I didn’t really know, until I did. Then things happened pretty quickly, pretty darn quickly, actually. I saw a lightening bolt on a clear day, I saw a pen move, a board light, love groove in ways I never saw before. I saw healing with a simple change of mind. I saw life change course with a simple perspective change. Life is a perspective of many as one.

    What is this perspective, the perspective that says all life is one love? That’s the real deal line, the line we need to approach, as we approach enlightenment. When I first started seeing this energy, I thought One Love was just a pretty saying. Still, even after seeing energy move objects, I thought One Love was a pretty saying. Oh how nice. I’m one love. We are one love. Hey. It’s real. We come together in oneness, and that energy melds and merges in the body of us. We are one body. I know I can heal, as I heal my body. As I heal my body, I heal yours, because you are my body, too. I just can. I know words are energy and energy can move across the world in the blink of an eye to heal another love of God.

    I know I started by being interested in these weird but wonderful things that can’t be explained with science, old science, of course, not the new stuff. The new stuff explains a lot. I was taken with astrology first, then other things, psychic awareness, intuition. . all that stuff goes waaay back in my family. My grandmother was so psychic she told my grandfather don’t get on an airplane, because of a dream. Just don’t she told him. So, he slipped a note under a door, heeding her word and let his life follow her intuition. He knew. He knew he better listen. he knew he better listen and never ignore her intuition. He silently listened and heeded and lived a little longer. It turns out everyone on board died. My grandmother, my great grandmother levitated. They were psychic beyond belief. My grandmother could predict and heal by touch. Many were healed by her touch, including herself. I was with her at church one day. . .not that I went much. ..don’t get me wrong. .. in fact, I really just liked the ceremony, the ritual, the bending and kneeling, the God be with you and also you, the shaking of the hands, the stained glass windows, but never would I think a priest could come between me in a more authentic way to speak better for God than God himself.. . .anyway. . where was I? when my grandmother couldn’t read the misselet one day, she said, “I wish, dear God, I could read this misselet,” and right then, right there her sight suddenly got better, and she never needed glasses again. She was holy, holy and all knew it, her family, I mean. She saved my grandpa many times and her children, us, the grandchildren all know an angel when we see one. All of us owe everything to her. My mom sees dead people. It’s weird. She can look through a pin hole of light in her third eye and see other realms and people that have passed, even as she’s talking to you. She can travel by simply willing herself there. She has flown to me many times, just to check on me. anyhoo.Where was I, again I ask? I’m here with you trying to know Us, trying to move love to love.

    Anyhoo, the best way to enlightenment, in my view, is to be open. Be open to knowing there is more, Horatio. There is more than what mankind has dreamt up in this realm. Be open to knowing life lives according to this. Love Is. Love Is. Love is the Isness, and the Isness moves freely in and out of all things, all people, all plants, all animals everywhere. We are light and light travels. We are sound and sound moves in waves. We are waves, waves of love swooshing in and out of each other, bringing us to each other as we call out to each other. We are love calling love. We are life calling life here now. We are God calling Goddess. We are life, calling love to us, as we exchange love energy. Energy, love energy, travels faster than the speed of light.

    We can create a heaven right here right now by simply being who we are, which is love sweet love. We can do this only if we are who we are as we live life freely as God and Goddess and Chista live life, freely, lovely, open love, open to the lovely heart of love, open to the lovely love of the open heart of the Christed One, and that lovely openly lovely heart of love lives in us, in our body of bodies, right in the heart chakra. Every lovely heart is unique, uniquely beautiful, uniquely unique and uniquely beautifully unique. Your aspect of God, Goddessness is different from my aspect, yet the same heart. Your heart is mine, if it is love of God and Chista, yet different. We are the same, yet not. Another divine dichotomy. All life is one heart of hearts, one life of lives, one of many of one.

    All of us are aspects, yet one. We are Many, yet we are Many of One. We are life. We are love. We are the high heart of God, which is many faceted, multifaceted. We are the open heart of God living love for all aspects that live the open heart of Christ for all life. Hi Hi Hi and Ho Ho Ho We are life itself, which means we are home in each other’s heart of life. All life contains each other. I am all of me, yet I am a heart that is different from every other heart. We are the same heart, yet unique. I don’t know everything. That’s for sure.

    I only know we are love, and love lives freely . I am different, yet the same. You are me, yet you are you. We come together in oneness, yet we separate to express. We are love, sweet love. We come together and marry energies, when we exchange love sweet love. We are one love, but we are all of it. We are separate love, yet we are oneness.

    I don’t follow anyone. I just follow my heart, and my heart leads to yours. My heart is yours, if we are living love together. My heart knows what I need to know love at a given time, when I speak to my heart in open love, and when I need to heed my heart that is open in love, it leads to yours. Your heart, your open heart, knows you best, so let this be life, love, a heart of one, a heart of all hearts of one heart that guides us to life to home to the open heart of home, sweet love. A home of love is the open heart of God, and the open heart of God is always home in the sweetheart of life as us.

    Love to all,

    ionic breeze

  3. ionic breeze Avatar
    ionic breeze

    sorry this post was long. I’m just looking at it and it looks a little long. Sorry. Sometimes I get carried away with words. I guess I should get a life, in addition to a life of a love of words 🙂

  4. Inger Lise Avatar
    Inger Lise

    Enlightenment will be where I Am.
    But never-the-less of what have become by listening, and what of to have done.

  5. mewabe Avatar
    mewabe

    We will keep thinking that we need a path, that we need to climb to the mountain top, until we realized that we are the mountain, we are the path.

    ALL THAT EXISTS, HAS EVER EXISTED AND WILL EVER EXIST is here and now, there is no path, ONLY A DOOR, and the door is within.

  6. Alan Avatar
    Alan

    I truly believe that God created us humans because he loves stories. Each of us provides God with an experience on this physical level. Without these experiences, God would be rather bored I believe. And my belief is yet another theory…. So God must love our theories as well!

  7. Sponge Bob Avatar
    Sponge Bob

    Sir Neale,
    so we don’t need to buy all your books to be spiritual ?
    Is buying your one book enough..

    well just check out your advertisements you do the same as EST trainers do. !

    you show the people that they need your book to be happy,spiritual etc.

    Whereas Authors like Eckhart or Rhonda say that their all the books have the same thing written in different format, you don’t need to buy other if you have read and practiced one. 🙂

  8. ARMANDO C. DAEL Avatar
    ARMANDO C. DAEL

    This is great!…a real Godsend! Thanks, Neale.

  9. Inger Lise Avatar
    Inger Lise

    Hello “Sponge Bob”……Thanks a lot of to be reminding me about Meister Eckhart….. (and have read Rhonda Byrnes` book “The Secret”, but it never “caught me” in the same way as the books by Eckhart thou).

    And thank you Alan as well. It is true, it is no end to the creation/creator.

    Once upon a time in Bulgary lived “The Master” called Peter Denuov. And the famous “follower” of him, moved to France before WWII broke loose; and he is called Omraam Michael Ivanov(he died in the 1980thies).

    And I have the book by Brian Weiss titled: Many Masters, many lives.

  10. Cal Avatar
    Cal

    I second Spongebob’s thoughts.

    Care to reply Neal???

  11. mewabe Avatar
    mewabe

    There is a HUGE problem with the idea of enlightenment, and one that, perversely, perpetuates our systems of social separation and alienation:

    Enlightenment is understood to be an INDIVIDUAL accomplishment. It’s you and God, or you and Buddha, or you and the Big Turtle in the sky, whatever your belief is.

    And then, when you are enlightened, you are ABOVE the world, detached, floating on clouds, and no longer interested in the lowly, pedestrian, gross aspects of earthly life.

    Curious how this way of “development” works so very well with the self-centered, selfish ways of ruthless capitalism…which place you as “number one”, and not only ignores the collective good but works against it.

    The same goes with those Christians who think that they will go to “heaven” because they deserve it, having been so righteous, while the rift raft goes to hell…here again we have the same mentality: the winners take all and to hell, literally, with the losers.

    The new age is not and will never be a revolutionary force, a force of social change, as it fits perfectly with a perfectly sick system.

    There is more revolutionary content and potential in environmentalism, and in Native American spirituality, than in any new age teaching that focuses exclusively on individual growth and thus perpetuates alienation and self-centeredness, and defines individual awakening as yet another individual accomplishment, another ego trip.

  12. Marko Avatar
    Marko

    “There is more revolutionary content and potential in environmentalism, and in Native American spirituality, than in any new age teaching that focuses exclusively on individual growth and thus perpetuates alienation and self-centeredness, and defines individual awakening as yet another individual accomplishment, another ego trip.”

    Well that’s one way to look at it Mewabe. I see individual growth as letting us move at our own pace. When we are at peace & growing spiritually, our energy does touch & effect others who are ready & receptive. As we grow individually we help elevate the collective to move & inch closer toward peace & prosperity.

    Selfishness is not a bad thing, when our needs are met, we desire to give to others less selfishly don’t you think? When we are wounded, damaged & hurt we do not benefit as much as when we are healed. We are much less alienated when our woulds are healed.

    Some fundamentalists churches are moving away from seeing Genesis as promoting a dominater society to a more environmental stewardship of earth. They are using solar power, rain barrels & community gardens.

    This I feel is both from the influence of environmentalism as well as spirituality. I love the Native Americans approach to earth & animals. Yet they are also often overly romanticized selectively leaving out their more brutal practices.

    As we evolve more, I personally believe we will take an eclectic approach, taking the best of all these systems & creating from the best they have to offer & leaving behind what doesn’t serve us & what doesn’t work.

    Magically,
    -Marko

  13. mewabe Avatar
    mewabe

    I understand your points and agree, Marko, but you have to look at the context of my last paragraph which you quoted.

    Believe me, I know about individual growth, and how essential it is, for healing, to resolve personal issues, etc.

    But I was looking at one extreme aspect of the personal growth movement: one that does not question the world or society, and is only concerned with changing the individual. This aspect does not threaten the status quo, and is consequently perfectly aligned with an abusive, exploitative, destructive system that over-empathizes ruthless selfishness over the collective good.

    This has precisely been the failure of the 60’s generation…at first they were “hippies”, they wanted to change society, forming communes, etc.
    Then they turned inward and decided they wanted to change themselves, and then became yuppies, and…..surprise! They rapidly climbed the social ladder and became part of the system (the “establishment”) they had first wanted to reject.

    And that’s the point I was trying to make: the danger of focusing exclusively on the self while not looking at and addressing what is wrong with the world.

    That’s the main problem with the new age. I think Neale addressed it, and I agree with him.

    On the other hand to be completely focused on the outer world without becoming conscious of one’s own inner landscape is just as bad, and is the mistake of most “revolutionaries”, of most people who have a cause and give their lives to such a cause without understanding their real motivations. This unconscious way can lead to all sorts of abuse and violence as well, and often does.

    Insight AND action are the better way…which means FULLY CONSCIOUS action, rather than unconscious reaction.

    I am not romanticizing Native American cultures, I am emphasizing what resonates with me, namely their relationship with the earth and their general understanding of the interconnection and interdependence of all things.

    But they were not perfect people, they engaged in torture and other practices, just like Europeans and Americans who called themselves civilized and Christians.

    50 million dead in WW2 is extreme brutality, it is savagery, is it not? water boarding is torture, is it not?…”Shock and awe” is brutality, is it not? At least Native Americans no longer scalp people, but we still bomb them to oblivion with ever more lethal and sadistic weapons, such as white phosphorus.

    No human culture has ever been perfect yet. The human male still behaves like a mad monkey.

    But as far as the spiritual aspect, Native Americans were, in my opinion, on the right track and far ahead of us, and if they hadn’t been stopped dead in their track, literally, by the Euro-American invaders, they might have gone a lot further on their own path of evolution, instead of ending up where they are today, ravaged by despair.

  14. Inger Lise Avatar
    Inger Lise

    Hi folks, please have you read Carl Young and the “Theory” within the book of his` titled: How to connect Heaven and Earth ?

    Peculiar as it is….but both Marko and Mewabe will be easy of “to understand.”

    And do you know What of to Have Learned by Neale in “participating” upon this web-site the most……Guess WHAT ? Not to judge, or to be judgemental.
    It is Lovely. Thank you, Thank you very much to Neale and to all of you.

    And now am reading a book by Stewart Edward White titled: The Unobstructed Universe.

  15. Marko Avatar
    Marko

    “But I was looking at one extreme aspect of the personal growth movement: one that does not question the world or society, and is only concerned with changing the individual.”

    Mewabe, I did not catch the extreme you were talking about & I don’t think I would have unless you pointed it out, or originally stated it as you did above.

    “And that’s the point I was trying to make: the danger of focusing exclusively on the self while not looking at and addressing what is wrong with the world.”

    I would hope that if that is the case with some people that if they truly grow in awareness, this can’t happen, at least not indefinitely. But it’s certainly possible.

    “Insight AND action are the better way…which means FULLY CONSCIOUS action, rather than unconscious reaction.” Yes I fully agree.

    “But they were not perfect people, they engaged in torture and other practices, just like Europeans and Americans who called themselves civilized and Christians.”

    Correct, all peoples & countries have blood on their hands, it may be a matter of degree but I think this is simply part of evolution & moving from primitive consciousness to more advanced. I have compassion on our primitive ways & gratitude for our advancing ways.

    Now the exception to this may be some non violent friendly primitive tribes & people. Yet interestingly they don’t seem to advance in the way more so called civilized people do. That’s not a right or wrong thing, just observation.

    I read an academic article on some Native American tribes who had gays, cross dressers, transgenders & they were simply accepted. Where as we saw it as evil & primitive.

    “No human culture has ever been perfect yet. The human male still behaves like a mad monkey.”

    Well as CwG book 3 states. It use to be the other way around that women ruled & men were simply used for sex & heavy lifting. I agree we have too much dark fearful male energy & that true balance of each sex is the healthiest. That’s where I feel we are heading.

    “But as far as the spiritual aspect, Native Americans were, in my opinion, on the right track and far ahead of us, and if they hadn’t been stopped dead in their track, literally, by the Euro-American invaders, they might have gone a lot further on their own path of evolution, instead of ending up where they are today, ravaged by despair.”

    Yes it’s all part of our evolutionary journey. My understanding is all societies & cultures, even HEB worlds, started out primitive & violent. Some even blew them selves up & had to start over. There may be exceptions of course, but I don’t know of any at this time.

    Thanks for qualifying what you said. I understand better where you are coming from. I think you might benefit to qualify your posts more with less general statements. That’s just me of course.
    Be well & God bless.

    Magically,
    -Marko

  16. mewabe Avatar
    mewabe

    Thanks Marko…I agree with you, except on the CWG3 part. I never agreed with Neale on this, I do not believe it is accurate at all, and the reason is this, beside intuition:

    Some Native tribes were matriarchal and matrilineal among Native Americans…but the women never “dominated” the men, they cooperated, there was balance, even within a matriarchal system.

    If you think about it, domination is a male issue, a male pathology, to use coercion to get one’s way. Most women, psychologically healthy women that is, would rather communicate and cooperate than dominate, than subjugate, than use force.

    Conquest, control, subjugation and domination are male obsessions, even within the animal kingdom. Yet our western culture is so completely engulfed in such unintelligent pursuits that I have noticed that when I speak of matriarchy to people, most understand it as meaning “domination by women”…it’s absurd! Because of such distorted worldview, they cannot imagine a society without such domination by either gender.

    The Native American way was the way of the circle: ruling by consensus, through equality and cooperation. This is how many intentional communities are trying to organize themselves today. That’s what matriarchy is about, circular power, meaning equality.

    Among Indians every person counted, each individual was sovereign, and there was no coercion of any kind exercised on anyone, chief were merely counsellors.

    Because of this most influential individuals were extremely eloquent, because their spoken words were all they had to convince the people when the group had to make a decision.

    Yet common sense won the day on most decisions, which were always made by taking the collective good into consideration (rather than exclusive self interest as in our cultures) and the good of the future generations.

    That’s a more intelligent way of life in my opinion, the matriarchal way.

    Our way has been the way of the pyramid: hierarchy, dominant power, the subjugation of the people who are always made to live UNDER something (a king, a government, a system of laws). That’s the patriarchal way, the way of dominance and control, of force rather than persuasion.

    That’s the way I see and understand it. Yes, some women can become dominant, but I believe that it is simply an individual reaction to what women have been made to endure for centuries: abuse, disrespect, dominance by men. Again if we look at the animal kingdom, we can see that dominance is, more often than not, a male issue. Females cooperate, males dominate (case in point: the lion).

  17. Marko Avatar
    Marko

    Well you could be right on that.

    You may also be like many of us brainwashed by the history & our own societal conditioning. It’s not possible to say at this point what really happened in the history of the world. And it would not surprise me to see a time when women dominated society over men.

    I believe it possible, but you make good points. Perhaps women still unfairly dominated men & found no need to be war like. Only time will really tell I guess.

    Magically,
    -Marko

  18. Marko Avatar
    Marko

    Neale asks “Have you found “enlightenment” yet?”

    No, but I’m not entirely sure what enlightenment is. Does anybody? If you define it, I can let you know better. Some say it can’t be defined & that may be true in a very strict sense. But like happiness we can find general helpful definitions that we resonate with.

    I know I’ve moved into a majority of good thoughts when I wake, move through my day with them, go to sleep with them. A Master Appreciator I can admit & claim to be. Not enlightened.

    I wonder how many of that at least hundreds of people that have worked & played more closely with Neale in the last 3 to 15 years have found & sustained a mostly peaceful, joyful, prosperous, loving advancing life?

    Where are the voices of such people?

    Magically,
    -Marko

  19. mewabe Avatar
    mewabe

    Marko, just another quick point about Neale’s assertion of a supposed past domination by women:

    The thing that really bothered me about it, beside the fact that I believe it to be totally inaccurate (again just by looking at the animal kingdom) was the implied idea that the centuries-old domination of women by men (and their abuse) was a sort of karmic thing, a “pay back”, a justified reaction.

    He did not state this exactly, but it seems to be implied…that men merely reacted to free themselves from a terrible tyranny exercised by women, and took their power back.

    I find this extremely offensive…when taking into consideration the horrible abuse women have been subjected to for centuries (and still are in many nations) under men.

    But the fact that it is offensive is not the reason why I see it as being inaccurate. Logic tells me that it is inaccurate. There are other minor inaccuracies in Neale’s books, such as about the US-Japanese situation in WW2.

    We each have our own God…or rather our own filters through which information can be distorted (even among the very best psychics), and the pitfall for many teachers is to attempt to have an answer for everything.

    It is better to say “I don’t know” that to struggle to answer all questions on all topics in order not to disappoint.

  20. Marko Avatar
    Marko

    Well your points are well taken.

  21. Erin/IAm Avatar
    Erin/IAm

    What ‘path’?
    Hmmm…I do believe that common avenue is called ‘Life’…It’s direction flowing North, South, East, West, & all points in be-tween All of those.
    Does the ‘path’ matter, or perhaps does the ‘walk’? mewabe…you know this as ‘in Beauty’, yes? 🙂 I sooo love the name of that beingness!

    “…found enlightenment yet?”
    Didn’t realize it was ‘lost’…Is this something to be ‘looking for’ or ‘experiencing of’?

    I See Amazing…Never-ending, Amazing forms & re-forms of Life. ‘This’ works well for me…One (or one) can ‘be’ unlimited ‘things’ of This. If such would be considered as ‘enlightenment’, fabuloso!

    Self is always & all ways ‘in light’, is it not? It just seems that when I ditch the worry of outsides, the dimmer switch of insides disappear quite ‘naturally’.

    These worries are exposed constantly, with inspiration of Neale’s, collaborators here, experiences there…Every Now moment an opt to adjust in the process of ‘being’ brighter as the walk moves one (& One) onward.

    I will not say “I Am ‘enlightened’.” (Whoa! ‘I Am’ IS this!) UhhOhhh…I said it anyway, didn’t I? Amazing! God, this stuff just cracks me up! 😀

  22. mewabe Avatar
    mewabe

    Yes Erin…

    With beauty may I walk
    With beauty before me may I walk
    With beauty behind me may I walk
    With beauty above me may I walk
    With beauty all around me may I walk
    In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk
    In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk
    It is finished in beauty
    It is finished in beauty

  23. Inger Lise Avatar
    Inger Lise

    Thank you Mewabe it is very beautiful.

    And to be “listening” to Marko and you are a pleasure indeed.

    This time around “felt” in the same way as of Marko`s when it comes to the views upon the men and the woman.
    In the Edgar Cayce readings it is told; “all of us” have lived the lives alternately as both sexes(with the many “mixes” in-between). And to me it is “felt” as true.
    And one of the readings telling about “The Amazones”…the female warriors, where the males became more or less their “slaves.”
    I have not read the CWG3 part.

    As the physical world will be more or less the symbolism of ourselves….and then of course(one way or the other), all about us will be “the mirror.”

    Such as the statement of “no man is your enemy.” Well, if to consider another Theory….then the socalled “terrorists” does nothing else than of to “terrorize” themselves or ?(which of they are convinced of to be us, as their enemy-ies).

    Edgar Cayce also have another reading(s) which will be confirming of what you are telling Mewabe, the many readings telling of what to be the most important “message” of to do…..of us in “to be helping our neighbours at first “…. the first and the foremost important priority.

    In the first chapters of “The Search for God” series…..is it in the first chapter about Meditation, and in the next “chapter,” where it is about COOPERATION.

    It is quite a long time since of to have studied E.C., but am to try of to have a look at all “angles.”

    It took quite a while of not to become “judgemental.”
    Hopefully it will last(smiling) !

  24. Marko Avatar
    Marko

    Hi Inger & blessings. A tip or consideration on not being judgmental.
    Good luck!!! 🙂

    I say this both lightheartedly & with seriousness too.

    The best tip I can give on being less non judgmental is to simply practice suspending your judgment. That’s it.

    Judging is too well conditioned in us to be taken out at this time. It’s also like the police, it’s there to serve & protect us in certain cases.

    We are not very concerned with positive “Your brilliant!” or “Your hair looks awesome!” judgments. We are talking about negative judgments that may not be true. Or even if valid, carry more of a negative non beneficial energy to them.

    To suspend your judgments, you first acknowledge them, don’t deny them, otherwise it may only amplify them. So acknowledge them & say, “Oh that’s just a judgment, I wonder what’s really going on?” Thus you move into wonder & curiosity. Plus you tone down greatly any negative energy charge behind it.

    Personal examples I use. “Wow that person is really fat!” To “I wonder what’s really going on with that person, to be that huge.” — & I move into compassion & curiosity.

    I use to have negative judgments toward smokers. What I often say silently (especially to young people who smoke) is “I bet that’s just a phase they’re going through, in fact they may become the best anti smoking person ever & help many stop or never start.”

    So the negative charge from the past is now suspended, toned done considerably.

    Magically,
    -Marko

  25. mewabe Avatar
    mewabe

    Aren’t asserting that certain judgments are “negative”, and perceiving so-called “negativity” to be undesirable (or we can use any other term), also judgements?

    When we strive to defeat or go around human nature, we chase our own tail indefinitely…just as those gurus who profess to have conquered their egos or to have achieved detachment yet reveal in their status as gurus and in the admiration and devotion of their followers, and cannot, evidently, live without them.

    When it comes to “negativity”, I look at it as I look at the weather…sometimes it is unpleasant…yet there is always something very good that comes from even the worst winter weather, and it passes, as everything does rather smoothly and easily if we do not struggle with it, if we do not attempt to stop it.

    I have a feeling that most people fear what they call negativity because it stirs some inner feelings, emotions and thoughts (and often memories) that they would rather not experience, that they fear and have judged, that they have locked up and that they want to keep suppressed and buried deep within.

    But just because there is no stirring, just because the surface of a lake is still, and there is no stirring of the muddy bottom, does not mean that the bottom of such lake is clean…stirring is necessary to clean up the gunk that is hidden within each of us.

    Only when we are no longer affected by “negativity” do we know we no longer have gunk inside…only then are we “clean”.

    I welcome stirring, this is how I get to know myself!

  26. Marko Avatar
    Marko

    I stand by what I said. Use what works for you.

    Negativity can be beneficial & if we decide to out grow it, that’s fine with me. To desire to change things is part of perfection.

    My advice above is practical & transitional to what doesn’t work & play for many people desiring to be less judgmental to what may be more beneficial. I walk my talk & it feels good to me.

    For more, check out this link on Negativity below.

    http://www.theglobalconversation.com/blog/?p=1827

  27. mewabe Avatar
    mewabe

    Thanks for sharing your views on negativity Marko…

    Out of rotten matter and decay comes life, and the most perfect decay creates the most fertile ground!

    Back to being a follower…

    Apart from someone who lives in the bush in Alaska, everyone is a follower.

    And yes, that’s a huge problem…people learn this early in school, and gradually abandon critical, individual thinking in favor of group thinking, which is no thinking at all, as the decisions, in our societies, always come from the top, made by some authority, some expert, some “professional” (even decisions about fashion and what to wear, or about what to eat).

    People who are thus conditioned are always seeking someone to tell them what to think and what to do, whether it is a priest, a political blog, a new age teacher, a professional of some kind, a psychic or some television personality.

    It seems very few people are what is called “independent thinkers”, which is an oxymoron, as “independent thinking” is the only kind of thinking that is actual thinking.

    Yet, in our cultures of followers, independent thinkers are not very well liked, because they tend to rock the sleepy boat of the indoctrinated masses.

  28. chris Avatar
    chris

    Hi, My thoughts:

    I think “enlightenment”, to borrow Thich Nhat Hanh’s phrase “grows”. you know when you’re in a state of enlightenment because all “Enlightenment” means is living any given moment in harmony with your soul. I suspect most spiritual seekers drift in and out of enlightenment depending on whether they are living from fear or love. When we are living from love, we are enlightened, when we are not, we’re not. The more consistently we live from our soul’s agenda, the more enlightened we are. “Enlightenment” is therefore relative and every human being is always potentially enlightened. It simply depends on the degree to which we listen to ourselves.

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