Blanchflower

I still do not understand this. If we are all One, does that mean we created the universe? Is it more accurate to state that we are part of One (God) and not God? If it is the case that there is Oneness, then we also crated the universe. The ant also created the universe. This does not make sense.

Ok, Teja Anand is active on Quora. Anyone here heard of him? He has also published a few books if I am not mistaken. Any insightful opinions on him would be appreciated. He claims full blown enlightenment has found him by the way. Thanks. He published a book: Watching Your Life: Meditation Simplified and Demystified

It is said that even the "gods" or higher entities do not fully comprehend the mechanics of karma....

Sorry, Big Crunch should have meant Big Crush. Big Bangs and Big Crushes.

From a previous Big Bang. So it is Big Bangs and Big Crunches. This ocissilition of universes go on forever with no beginning nor end. The breathing in and out of "God"

From a previous Big Crush. ?

You are right! But just for speculation sake, if he had chosen to study philosophy at Harvard or Cambridge, is it a fair assessment to say that he would have flunk his course? A philosophy course at university level is the closest subject to encourage original thinking. At least at the undergraduate level.

I really don't understand this. Despite his intellect being just garbage, I wonder how he earned a cum laude degree from Harvard law school. I guess being intelligent and being intellectual are 2 different things altogether.

Any thoughts about this video? Please share your views! Your opinions matter!

True. It is like asking a 1st grader in maths to tell the difference between post-graduate level mathematics and PhD level mathematics.

I know this is an old post but I want to add something. I think Mahavatar Babaji is the most enlightened person alive today on planet Earth. Some advanced yogis have even claimed that they themselves cannot fathom Mahavatar Babaji's spiritual stature. This may seem all hyperbole but I would like to hear all of the different viewpoints on the statement I just made. Jesus's spiritual attainment seems minute compared to Babaji's spiritual attainment. Like to hear your thoughts on this!

In reality, optimism does not work in the short term. Pessimism holds true. However, in the long term, pessimism does not exist and it is not a valid viewpoint. Optimism holds true. This applies to all beings in the universe, from viruses, demons, angels and highly evolved beings. Everything that happens serves us and all types of creatures well in the long term. No one can lose in this game called existence. Of course, most of us can't see this in the short term when there is an immense amount of suffering and pain. But let's trust existence. All that happens to us, whether we label it as good or bad, serves the greater good of the entire universe as well as other infinite universes. Even if a planet gets destroyed by a supernova, a galaxy collapses or a particular universe ends in a Big Crush.

Not possible in this life. But it may be possible in subsequent lives

I have a question to ask you guys. If a person is born without legs or have serious deformed legs, is it possible for that individual to break the 100 meters world record? This is a hypothetical question but some people who can't walk actually have this dream. The question is, can that individual do it? The answer is yes! But not in his/her current lifetime due to some karmic conditions. If the person is very determined with an extraordinary sense of self-belief, it is possible for him to break the world record in his next earthly incarnation or the next one thereafter. It may take a few or many lifetimes. People like Ulsain Bolt just don't happen in a random single incarnation. This particular soul took perhaps some or many lifetimes to have this consistent determination to become the greatest runner the world have ever seen so far. Another example under the umbrella of spirituality is Ramana Maharishi. He took many lifetimes of sheer determination and spiritual effort to reach enlightenment just like that without any effort in his last incarnation. These things just don't happen by chance. In short life is fair. It also depends on what you do between physical lifetimes. This concept also applies to lottery winners. They don't just get lucky in a single lifetime. Anyone has any thoughts on this?

No that does not count because he will only be able to compete in the Paraolympics. He will not be eligible to compete at the Olympics for able bodied men.

"Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramhansa Yogananda.

As the title says, is there an end to spiritual evolution? If one reaches the highest states of samadhi, is that the end? Or is there something more in evolution? Thanks.

OK, the reason I asked this is because in "Conversations with God" by Neale Donald Walsch, "God" states (can't remember in which part of series) that there is no end to spiritual evolution. Furthermore, in "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramhansa Yogananda, Sri Yukteswar states that a normal human being can't comprehend the depths of Mahavatar Babaji's spiritual evolution. I suspect that this sentence also implicitly applies to Yogananda, Sri Yukteswar and Lahiri Mahasaya. Although these 3 beings have reached a high level of spiritual evolution, their attainment cannot be compared to Mahavatar Babaji's spiritual state. Lastly when Neale Donald Walsch expresses his doubt that the physical body can live on indefinitely, "God" told him, "Hvae you heard of Babaji?" I would like to hear your thoughts about this. Thanks.

Ok thanks. But I have a slight doubt. If there is no end to spiritual evolution, does that mean that Ramana Maharishi's spiritual evolution has a room for evolving higher? Yogananda's spiritual attainment has the potential for going even further? Thanks

Your answer shows that indeed Nature is truly compassionate!

OK, I wonder if any of you guys have gone through the website, "Unveiled Secrets and Messengers of light". Most of what they state resonates with me but there is a particular paragraph which has been intellectually disturbing me for a long time and I have not yet reached the required state of enlightenment to verify this statement. The webpage is here: https://unveiledsecretsandmessagesoflight.blogspot.com/2009/10/johnakan-ur-el-17mar2000.html Please allow me to quote the relevant paragraph in this topic: "Interlocutor: Another of the questions I have scheduled, is if the human spirit evolves from the unicellular animals, going through the mineral Kingdom, then the vegetable Kingdom, later on the animal Kingdom and finally as a man. Johnakan Ur-El: The spirits embody in the whole matter of the universe, but - and this is important to clarify it-, “transmigration of the soul” doesn't exist. What exists is reincarnation of the soul, a completely different concept. There is a tendency of Buddhism . And I spoke personally to my brother Siddhartha. which was misinterpreted. Interlocutor: Even at the present time? Johnakan Ur-El: Correct, the Tibetan Buddhism even at the present time keeps using it mistakenly. The animal spirit evolves as animal. The vegetable spirit evolves as vegetable. The mineral spirit evolves as mineral. The human spirit evolves as human. That is, it doesn't change, for example, from a goat to a man. This sounds beautiful because there is a fable that tells the story of how a goat becomes man, but reality is different. The transmigration of the souls doesn’t exist, I repeat, but the reincarnation of the souls. Interlocutor: The human spirit never embodied in a unicellular being , for example. Johnakan Ur-El: No, the human spirit embodied directly in a man or a woman, and it will always evolve as a man or a woman, as well as the animal embodies in an animal and it will continue evolving as animal. This doesn't mean an evolutionary stagnation, because the current chimpanzee is much more evolved than the chimpanzee of two million years ago..........." OK, the question is, then why I have not been created as a cockroach or an elephant? And what about the soul of a cockroach? (I am purposely using this example because most humans as far as I am concerned detest cockroaches!) So is creation unfair? Does the soul or spirit of a virus or bacteria have no chance to embody into a human body in a distant future to attain enlightenment? I have read Hindu and Buddhist scriptures with regards to this and they generally state that all creatures will eventually attain enlightenment or be embodied into a human form. There is a popular saying in Hinduism that it takes about 8 million years for a simple bacteria to embody into a human body. Of course, I am aware that the time taken could be longer or shorter as well. I love to hear your thoughts on this. This paragraph which I have quoted at the beginning of this thread has been bothering me for a long time. Thank you.

Yes, that is true in Ultimate Reality but most beings are not aware or have realized Ultimate Reality. It is like teaching graduate maths to a grade 1 maths student. You get my drift? So I need a more practical explanation in the context of relativity, not in the context of Ultimate Reality.

Well on a very deep level, I just know that Life is fair. We may not have the understanding on why some babies get tortured or raped (to use an extreme example) or why some creatures are being embodied in a body of an ant or cockroach who have no chance to reach an higher level of consciousness at the current time but I remember a saint stating empathetically that "LIFE IS FAIR!" Well, those of us here on this forum could have embodied as a virus or an ant many billions (not millions) of years ago in different planets because the earth is only about 4.6 billion years old and our universe is approximately 13.7 billion years old. If that is the case, then the opening post of my thread is categorically false and does not make sense to Creation. Moreover, this group states confidently that the age of a universe is approximately 40 billion years old and a Big Crunch would happen in about 25 billion years. But according to ancient rishis, an age of a universe is approximately 300 trillion years before a Big Crunch happens. The timeline difference is way off and to put things in perspective, 40 billion years is a short time. Considering that it is a popular statement in Hinduism which states that a soul who embodies into a human body takes about a million births to attain enlightenment or even have a desire for it. Well I am being too technical here but I hope you get my point. But I would like to hear more views from other members of this forum.

Yes, saying it not true satisfies my intellectual understanding and makes me intellectually happy but that statement is not enough. Why do you say it is not true? Have you reached a certain level of enlightenment to disprove that a virus has no chance to embody into a human body? Thanks.

I would like to know whether you felt any pain when you were in coma. Did you?