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Post by laughter on Jun 29, 2017 0:59:07 GMT -5
I'm familiar with some of the negative reaction to Osho, and a few of the trappings of his appearance and some of the stories about his spending suggest to me that I might have the same reaction if I took the time to familiarize myself with him. But every quote I've read has been deep and truthful. I wouldn't have guessed that about Buddhism as your first interest. Sounds like there's a story there about a turning point.  I'm interested in how you got introduced to both Buddhism and Advaita, and by whom. But first, to bring this full circle to our conditioned responses to the beliefs of other peeps ... did everyone you knew back in your early 20's react the same way when you told them about what you'd gotten interested in? I wasn't introduced by anyone. I had the heart and mind of a seeker and looked around at what was available. I had a simple view of Hinduism (Vedanta was unknown to me) that seemed polytheistic, but Buddhism seemed more consistent. My contemporaries, including myself I might add, were usually surrounded by a haze of cannabis smoke, so I didn't find much rapport there. Mahesh Yogi who introduced TM to the west really came from the yoga tradition rather than pure Advaita. I didn't discover Ramana and Niz until many years later. Agree about Osho. He just wanted the ashram in Oregon to work so he didn't mind if he was given twenty Rolls Royce's. People focus on that. He didn't care about the trappings of materialism. I'm sure about that. It was just part of the show. Did you ever run into someone who sneered at you for an interest in Eastern culture and religion? Did you ever have a discussion with someone who thought your interests were just whack-0? I get the impression from what you've written over the years that at some point your interests shifted away from Buddhism. Did your interest in TM mesh with your interest in Buddhism or did you perceive some sort of discord between the two at the time? Did your interest in Shankara and Astravakra and similar sources of bare nonduality begin before or after the event you describe when you stood up and found yourself with meditation mind? |
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Post by esponja on Jun 29, 2017 1:01:26 GMT -5
I'm not at all interested in what you talk about, but you are free to talk about it. But this thread is supposed to be about Nisargadatta. Can you start your own thread on your subject. Thanks. I think I was responding to someone else when we tangented off satch. Maybe you're directing this at the wrong person. You may have been responding to me? Apologies, all, I didn't realise we had to stay on topic of OP all the time 😬😬 I'll struggle to chime in anywhere now, it's hard enough as it is with all you intellectual folk!😂 |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 2:20:37 GMT -5
I wasn't introduced by anyone. I had the heart and mind of a seeker and looked around at what was available. I had a simple view of Hinduism (Vedanta was unknown to me) that seemed polytheistic, but Buddhism seemed more consistent. My contemporaries, including myself I might add, were usually surrounded by a haze of cannabis smoke, so I didn't find much rapport there. Mahesh Yogi who introduced TM to the west really came from the yoga tradition rather than pure Advaita. I didn't discover Ramana and Niz until many years later. Agree about Osho. He just wanted the ashram in Oregon to work so he didn't mind if he was given twenty Rolls Royce's. People focus on that. He didn't care about the trappings of materialism. I'm sure about that. It was just part of the show. Did you ever run into someone who sneered at you for an interest in Eastern culture and religion? Did you ever have a discussion with someone who thought your interests were just whack-0? I get the impression from what you've written over the years that at some point your interests shifted away from Buddhism. Did your interest in TM mesh with your interest in Buddhism or did you perceive some sort of discord between the two at the time? Did your interest in Shankara and Astravakra and similar sources of bare nonduality begin before or after the event you describe when you stood up and found yourself with meditation mind? I don't recall anyone thinking my interests were weird. There was quite a lot of interest at the time as there is now in "spirituality" of the New Age variety. In any case I didn't really speak about it much. You're making more of any potential discord between Buddhism and Vedanta than actually existed. I saw it all as the same fundamental wisdom. But the real point is that as much as these texts were interesting for the mind I kept asking myself, how do I actually achieve for myself what is spoken of here. I only know it as a concept. What do I practically do? And that led me to meditation. After that I didn't look elsewhere. I listened to everything Mahesh said. At one stage I stopped meditating altogether for seven years and then came back to it sporadically until one day I woke up in the middle of meditating. What led me to meditation was the realization that direct knowledge and not conceptual knowledge was required. I already knew that was true after only practising for a short time, but after waking up, there was no doubt whatsoever. |
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Post by lolly on Jun 29, 2017 5:01:14 GMT -5
(**doubts the honesty of that**) A joke is never really a lie!  "I'm not an actor. I lie for a living" - J. Depp |
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Post by preciocho on Jun 29, 2017 12:41:59 GMT -5
I think I was responding to someone else when we tangented off satch. Maybe you're directing this at the wrong person. Oh maybe. It's not a big deal preciocho. Just trying to keep things tidy. I think your stuff has also morphed from the Hicks thread. I don't mean to disparage what you discuss about cloaking. It's totally unfamiliar to me and I wouldn't have a clue about how to contribute sensibly to such a discussion. It's really quite alien to me. I've never heard of Seth or Abraham - Hicks. Is that two people? Why the hyphen between the names? Never mind. Aliens. Ahhhh! |
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Post by preciocho on Jun 29, 2017 13:12:48 GMT -5
I think I was responding to someone else when we tangented off satch. Maybe you're directing this at the wrong person. You may have been responding to me? Apologies, all, I didn't realise we had to stay on topic of OP all the time 😬😬 I'll struggle to chime in anywhere now, it's hard enough as it is with all you intellectual folk!😂 Welp, let me bring the cloaking discussion back around to old Niz, so all can be vindicated! I mentioned some interesting experiences related to the spirit of grandmaster Niz. I turned my back on the soul walk in/walk out scenario, but last night something interesting happened. As I drifted off into a relaxed state, the spirit of Mooji took hold of my mind, and I could immediately see an image of Niz through what some might call the third eye. I just call it the reflective conscious mind. And the two had a dialogue, and Mooji said, if he was you how come I'm here and why can you see him? He then asked Niz why he was still hanging around, and accused him of taking my body. Niz replied that I gave it to him (sad but true). After some bargaining and the exposition of some grief, the hook Niz had to my thoughts has been released. I am still influenced by his spirit, of course, but would call my former relationship to Maharaj a 'spiritually guiding cloak'. I previously said cloaking is not a loving thing, and I'm slowly backing away from this statement. It's not always unloving to cloak someone. If none of this makes any sense, and you're interested in exploring further, I would check out the soul walk in and walk out phenomenon. It shows the workings of these types of interactions, but the expression of what's actually taking place is generally misguided due to the nagging fear of identity loss. |
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Post by laughter on Jun 29, 2017 20:03:13 GMT -5
A joke is never really a lie! "I'm not an actor. I lie for a living" - J. Depp  |
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Post by Reefs on Jun 30, 2017 0:52:39 GMT -5
I think I was responding to someone else when we tangented off satch. Maybe you're directing this at the wrong person. You may have been responding to me? Apologies, all, I didn't realise we had to stay on topic of OP all the time 😬😬 I'll struggle to chime in anywhere now, it's hard enough as it is with all you intellectual folk!😂 There is no such rule. And after 182 pages, I don't think it's even reasonable. So post whatever you feel inspired to post as long as it is somewhat related to spirituality. |
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Post by esponja on Jun 30, 2017 18:01:07 GMT -5
You may have been responding to me? Apologies, all, I didn't realise we had to stay on topic of OP all the time 😬😬 I'll struggle to chime in anywhere now, it's hard enough as it is with all you intellectual folk!😂 There is no such rule. And after 182 pages, I don't think it's even reasonable. So post whatever you feel inspired to post as long as it is somewhat related to spirituality. Ok that I can do. I had my group meditation this week. First one. Was a little out there, the meditator talked us through staying with the breath and talked in a v non dual way, which was cool. She then did some singing/chanting to open the chakras. She had a beautiful voice actually and as soon as she started, my (what I now know to be 3rd eye) started pulsating like crazy. I almost had to hold my head. Anyone have any views on this? Anyway, other than that my mind was fairly chatty still but it was an interesting experience. I think her chanting was trying to wake the Kundalini (she said that word a lot). I don't feel anything from it though... |
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Post by Reefs on Jul 2, 2017 10:35:54 GMT -5
There is no such rule. And after 182 pages, I don't think it's even reasonable. So post whatever you feel inspired to post as long as it is somewhat related to spirituality. Ok that I can do. I had my group meditation this week. First one. Was a little out there, the meditator talked us through staying with the breath and talked in a v non dual way, which was cool. She then did some singing/chanting to open the chakras. She had a beautiful voice actually and as soon as she started, my (what I now know to be 3rd eye) started pulsating like crazy. I almost had to hold my head. Anyone have any views on this? Anyway, other than that my mind was fairly chatty still but it was an interesting experience. I think her chanting was trying to wake the Kundalini (she said that word a lot). I don't feel anything from it though... About strange kundalini experiences, you'd better ask Enigma, hehe. |
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Post by enigma on Jul 4, 2017 13:53:56 GMT -5
Ok that I can do. I had my group meditation this week. First one. Was a little out there, the meditator talked us through staying with the breath and talked in a v non dual way, which was cool. She then did some singing/chanting to open the chakras. She had a beautiful voice actually and as soon as she started, my (what I now know to be 3rd eye) started pulsating like crazy. I almost had to hold my head. Anyone have any views on this? Anyway, other than that my mind was fairly chatty still but it was an interesting experience. I think her chanting was trying to wake the Kundalini (she said that word a lot). I don't feel anything from it though... About strange kundalini experiences, you'd better ask Enigma, hehe.  |
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Post by esponja on Jul 4, 2017 18:32:06 GMT -5
About strange kundalini experiences, you'd better ask Enigma, hehe. I did vaguely remember something to do with a Kundalini awakening??? |
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Post by enigma on Jul 4, 2017 20:27:20 GMT -5
I did vaguely remember something to do with a Kundalini awakening??? |
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Post by Reefs on Jul 6, 2017 6:04:22 GMT -5
As far as what Ramana said about I-I, it's actually a bad translation from the Tamil but it seems to have stuck as so many quote it from what's been published. What Ramana said in Tamil was I am I. In the Tamil language the am is implied and not written so in Tamil it appears as I I, but it was translated literally. Interestingly Ramana thought there was nothing better in Vedic scripture to compare with the Old Testament, I am that I am. (Exodus 3.14). I've checked out Ramana's talks about the I and the I-I and it is the equivalent to Seth's outer ego and inner ego. So your explanation seems somewhat bogus to me. |
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Post by Reefs on Jul 6, 2017 6:19:04 GMT -5
About strange kundalini experiences, you'd better ask Enigma, hehe. Now, don't be shy!  |
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I'm interested in how you got introduced to both Buddhism and Advaita, and by whom. But first, to bring this full circle to our conditioned responses to the beliefs of other peeps ... did everyone you knew back in your early 20's react the same way when you told them about what you'd gotten interested in?
