At Christmas Time, Part 1

[Guest guest]

Namaste All,

 

At this Christmas season I

want to bring you a message about the gospel of Jesus. Jesus, Ramana, Shankara,

Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and many, many other persons have realized the same

Self, and taught the same message; but in different cultures and through

different words and styles.

 

Some modern day Advaitic

teachings do not actually express the meaning of the teachings of Shankara or

Jesus. Jesus, Ramana, and Shankara experienced a Being that is the Essence

of All, the true ONE. It is the unborn and the undying ever blissful

source of the Universe - an unbelievable Ocean of Life.

That is the Self and the experience of Self - realization.

 

“Pure consciousness”,

“nothingness”, “mental quietude” are wonderful

attributes of Consciousness; but they are aspects of the Self; but not the

source ItSelf. Words can barely begin to even allude to the wondrous nature

of Self. I would trade lifetime after lifetime of “pure

consciousness” if instead I could be immersed in Brahman for even one

second.

 

There is a living Being

which is in everyone. It is in everyone and everyone is in it; but it is unknown

by most. It is an Living

Ocean, an Ocean of unborn,

undying Life. It is the living inner universe that is nothing short of

the source of All. I could spend my entire life trying to explain what I

mean; but there is no way to do It justice.

 

It is considered to be the

highest realization according to many, including Jesus, Ramana, Shankara and

others.

 

 

 

The following are verses

339 and 355 from the Vivekecudamani by Sri Shankara:

 

12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">To realize the whole universe as the Self

is the means of getting rid of bondage. There is nothing higher

than identifying the universe with the Self. One realizes this state by

excluding the objective world through steadfastness in the eternal Atman.

12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">

12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">The Sannyasin, calm, self-controlled,

perfectly retiring from the sense-world, forbearing, and devoting himself to

the practice of Samadhi, always

reflects on his own self being the Self of the whole universe. Destroying

completely by this means the imaginations which are due to the gloom of

ignorance, he lives blissfully as

Brahman, free from action and the oscillations of the mind.

12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">

 

 

This truth, the Identity

of Brahman as the Universe is taught by the Great Masters. But it is

learned through an experience. Before we go on, I would like to say that

I know that some persons believe that experiences are to be ignored and not to

be dwelt upon. And I almost completely agree with that. But one instant

immersed in The Awesome Ocean of the Universal Brahman, means more than anything.

Shankara states in verse 339, “To realize the whole universe as the Self

is the means…”.

 

This is also the message

of Jesus.

 

Part 2 to follow

 

 

michael bowes

[Guest guest]

,

"OMShanti" <omshanti@q...> wrote:

>I would trade lifetime after lifetime of "pure consciousness" if

instead I could be immersed in Brahman for even one second.

 

 

Good Evening, Michael!

 

It seems to me that the belief that one is not indivisibly immersed

in Brahman creates, among other things, the conditions for an

internal conflict, otherwise known as seeking. Could it be, however,

that this belief is actually the result of an innocent

misunderstanding -- as Jesus, Shankara, Ramana, and Buddha suggest --

when consciousness identifies with form, forgets its original nature,

and imagines itself separate, and in need of some salvation by divine

immersion, extrusion, collution, or any kind of re-distribution?

 

"When you don't require anything from the world and nothing from God,

when you don't desire anything, when you don't strive for anything,

don't expect anything, the divine will enter you, unasked and

unexpected. The wish for truth is the best of all wishes, but it's

still a wish. All wishes must be given up, that the truth can enter

your life."

 

~ Sri Nisargadatta

 

 

LoveAlways, Shanti Om