Truth is One

Truth is One.

All is One. All is God. All is Self.
God is All. God is One. God is Self.

Re-read these individually until each is understood.
The goal is to realize, live, experience and be this Truth.

There is no "this" and "that." There is no "here" and "there."
There is no "you" and "me." There is no polarity.
There is no individuality. There is no "other."
There are no opposites. There is no duality.

All is One which is Self.

A More Accurate Bible

The book "Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" takes a close academic look at the Bible by going back to the original writings, which were written in the ancient Aramaic language. By doing this, the author, Bart Ehrman, discovers an astounding amount of errors, flaws and discrepancies in the Greek and English translations that we have been reading, studying and practicing for centuries.

He then goes on to explain the many reasons why there are so many mistakes, but his book was written primarily to explain these "why's", and it's by no means a new translation of the entire Bible. Far from it.

Fortunately for us there was a man named George Lamsa.

But before we get to Lamsa's work, we should understand that the many books included in the Bible weren't written until several decades, or even a century or two after the fact, often by anonymous random people who never even witnessed the teachings firsthand. Thus, the recorded accuracy of what was originally taught is highly questionable, but despite this it's obvious that the Bible still has some very important teachings in it.

So, despite the many flaws and errors that are contained in the Bible, we still want to read it to improve our lives.

While it's pretty much impossible to know what the exact words and teachings of Jesus and the various Saints were, we have to work with what we have, and what we have is the "original" texts written in Aramaic.

Unbeknownst to most people, there was a man named George M. Lamsa that translated the entire Aramaic Bible directly into the English language! Naturally, it's far more accurate than the versions that have been translated into Greek, and then later into English, by people who sometimes had hidden intentions and agendas.

If you enjoyed the immensely popular "Misquoting Jesus", "The Holy Bible: From the Ancient Eastern Text" is a perfect compliment to it. You could say that Ehrman gave us step one by explaining that our Bible does indeed have flaws, and Lamsa gave us step two by giving us a proper translation, except Lamsa's Bible has been available since 1985 while Ehrman's book is only 2 years old.

Is the LOA Spiritual?

Practicing the "law of attraction" as taught by the movie The Secret basically breaks down into "my will be done."

Practicing the spiritual teachings as taught by Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Jesus, Krishna, and so on, breaks down into "Thy will be done."

That's a huge difference.

So, is practicing the LOA really a spiritual practice if it's constantly fueling the desires of the ego instead of surrendering the ego and its workings to God/Truth/Love?

When looked at in this light, the LOA is all about the me, mine and I, while true spiritual practices are all about losing the me, mine and I.

It's no wonder that it's said that "God laughs at our plans". We're all too eager to try to control every aspect of our life, but where does that leave the perfect infallible Will of God that always knows what's in the best interest of All? (That which is everything, knows everything.)

A Zen Master once said "Don’t try to win. Go out with nothing in your mind. Give up the thought, 'This is how I’m going to win.'"

Aurobindo taught that "None of us are here to 'do as we like', or to create a world in which we shall at last be able to do as we like; we are here to do what the Divine wills and to create a world in which the Divine Will can manifest its truth no longer deformed by human ignorance or perverted and mistranslated by vital desire."

It's important to remember that the word "spiritual" refers to the non-material and non-physical, so the practice of spirituality is the evolving beyond the material & materiality.

A Course in Miracles says "Those who perceive and acknowledge that they have everything have no need for driven behavior of any kind." Since this quote is taken out of the context of the whole I should make clear that by "have everything" it means "are everything". And that's what Oneness is; all of existence is Oneself. What's there to get, gain or obtain when you are already the Allness of Existence?

Dante is Daunting

I say, reading Dante is a bit daunting,
though no longer in native tongue,
the great Comedy remains haunting.

Many weeks will be spent reading,
entranced in the beauty and grace,
it urges one's soul to sing.

Though just beginning, I already sense
that words are just words,
and of value is the primal essence.

The message is timeless and true,
turning from vice, and toward virtue,
transcending inner hell are the few.

Clinging to beliefs and desires,
ruled by the mind and rarely the heart,
chasing illusions till the body expires.

Experiencing within, feelings of all sorts:
Of inferno, purgatorio or paradiso,
whatever it be, the mind distorts.

"Leave the mind behind" say the wise,
and with this I must agree.
Stay true to the heart and thou shall rise.

The heart thinks too, but not with words,
it just knows, innately, intuitively and always.
Adopting love and peace has many rewards.

When pushing on and reaching towards
a heart of perfect wisdom,
just know that your heart is the Lord's.

For years now I have been led,
and thanks to the graceful Lord in my heart
there are few illusions left to shed.

I know Dante's message before it's all read,
far from my first spiritual book,
I've almost lost my head.

Christianity, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen:
There remains little I haven't read.
Love & truth are universal, Amen.

Inspired by

The Divine Comedy, Translated by John Ciardi

Prayers of Deep Devotion

Only when one sees the vast limitations of the intellect/brain/mind, that is based on seperateness...
Only when one learns of the automatic biological consequences (disease) of stressful negatives and selfishness...
Only when one sees the errors of their current way of being...
Only when one feels stuck, is tired of suffering, or has hit rock bottom...
Only when one is attracted to being kind, respectful, compassionate, accepting, and forgiving...
Only when one is curious about the true nature of reality, versus one's perceptions of it...
Only when one questions the validity of one's own thought processes, opinions, attitudes, and emotions...
Only when one contemplates if there is something more to the universe than the physical...
Will one finally surrender to that which is beyond a personal "me", "myself", "mine", or "I".

If you've reached any of those points, these prayers/meditations are yours to practice:

Please provide unwavering focus, concentration, and strength, my Lord.
Please give me undying faith and trust in you, my Lord.
Please help me see the perfection of absolutely everything, my Lord.
Please help me forgive all others, and myself, for absolutely everything.
Please help me overcome the emotions of the mind.
Please give me strength to overcome all wants of the mind and body.
Please give me utter peace of mind, my Lord.
Please make me totally whole and complete, my Lord.
Please spread your Love through me, to All.
Please use me to my utmost potential for the highest good of All.
Please use me as your instrument in whatever ways you see fit.
Please do as thy will with this mind, body, and spirit, my Lord.
Please guide me, every moment, every second, always.
Please do as thy will for the good of All, my Lord.
Please take over this life wholly and completely.
Please fill me and become me, utterly and completely, my Lord.
Please make me as pure and holy as you are, my Lord.
Please make me exactly as you are, my Lord.
I am yours for all Eternity, my Lord.

God is Formless

When you experience something, can words and descriptions even come close to doing it justice when explaining it to somebody else? Of course not.

Nobody can deny that the experience of Love is beyond all words.

As far as Silence is concerned, it's the absence of mental activity, and therefore, Silence is also beyond all manmade symbols, concepts, ideas, perceptions, thoughts, words, and form.

Awareness/God/Divinity/Reality/Love/Truth/Peace is shapeless, formless, timeless, and beyond physicality altogether.

The Bible says repeatedly that "God/Spirit/Divinity" is "unseen", Buddhism says that "Buddha/Reality/Awareness/Absolute" is "formless" and "void", and Hinduism says that Brahman/Atman/Self is "unmanifested".

Considering that none of our ancient texts were originally written in English anyway, there is certainly no point in nitpicking about which English words are used. Those who have silenced the mind permanently (Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Zen Masters, Plotinus, etc.) all speak of, and teach, the exact same thing.

All concepts, perceptions, ideas, notions, images, thought processes, thinking, neural functioning, and mental associations of the mind fall short of the Truth of Reality. The intellect, and science, are simply the wrong tools for the job. They can only take us so far in the search for understanding the nature of Truth/Reality/Universe/Existence. We can't know formlessness by means of using form. That's like trying to figure out the weight a rock by using a ruler that measures distance. It can't be done.

The Infinite Reality of Love is always present, and the simple fact is that this is in actuality, our true nature. All that is necessary to discover this for oneself is to remove the barriers (the thinkingness of the mind) that stand in the way, because Existence/Reality/Truth/God/Love already is what it is, and it has nothing to do with the mind's perceptions of it.

But, if your mind has a hangup about which word is used in describing that which is beyond words, this information is perhaps not for you at this time. Or if you're not wanting to put things to practice for yourself in order to discover the truth, again, this information may not currently be for you.

God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. - I John 4:16
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. - St. John 14:20

"Only awake to the One Mind and there is nothing whatever to be attained. This pure Mind, the source of everything, shines forever and on all with the brilliance of its own perfection. But the people of the world do not awake to it, regarding only that which sees, hears, feels and knows as mind.... If they would only eliminate all conceptual thought in a flash, that source-substance would manifest itself like a sun." - Huang Po

No Secrets

In actuality, there are no secrets. The truth reveals ITSELF when we stop thinking we already know it (humility & surrender). Absolute Truth reveals itself when we stop thinking and conceptualizing altogether. No matter what level of truth we currently live/are, it's a complete illusion that it's the highest one. Because Awareness is Infinity, the evolution of becoming Self-Aware is also infinite. "Throughout history, mankind has been impressed with the state of enlightenment, but from the viewpoint of the ultimate possibility of God, it is only a beginning." - David Hawkins

"The part always has a tendency to reunite with its whole in order to escape from its imperfection." - Leonardo DaVinci