Prabhaker

To be in relationship is necessary to stop your questioning. To be in love is essential to get enlightenment.

May be we need to learn something, the hard way.

Ananda became enlightened when he was 82 years old, he was two years older than Buddha.

After the Buddha's final Nirvana five hundred enlightened monks convened a Council at Rajagaha for the purpose of collecting all the Buddha's teachings and committing them to memory so they could be handed down to future generations. Because he knew so much Dharma it was essential that Ananda be present, but he was not yet enlightened. Now that he no longer had to look after the Buddha's needs, he had more time to meditate and so he began to practise with exceptional diligence, hoping that he could attain enlightenment before the Council started. As the time for the Council's commencement got closer, he practised harder and harder. During the evening before the Council he sat meditating, convinced that he would not be able to attain enlightenment by the next morning. So he gave up and decided to lie down and sleep. As his head touched the pillow he became enlightened.

Mahakashyap came to Buddha, and Buddha just touched his head with his hand, and the thing happened. And Mahakashyap began to dance. So Ananda asked Buddha, "What has happened to him? And I have been for forty years with you! Is he mad? Or is he just fooling others? What has happened to him? And I have touched your feet thousands and thousands of times." Of course, to Ananda, this Mahakashyap will either look like he is mad or as if he is just deceiving. He was with Buddha for forty years, but there was a problem. He was his elder brother, Buddha’s elder brother; that was the problem. When Ananda came to Buddha forty years before, the first thing he said to Buddha was this: "I am your elder brother, and when you will initiate me, I will become your disciple. So allow me three things before I become your disciple, because then I cannot demand. One, I will always be with you. Give me this promise, that you will not say to me, 'Go somewhere else.’ I will follow you. "Secondly, I will sleep in the same room where you sleep. You cannot say to me, 'Go out.’ I will be with you like your shadow. And thirdly, if I bring anyone at any time, even at midnight, you will have to answer him. You cannot say, 'This is not the time.’ And give me these three promises while I am still your elder brother, because once I become your disciple I will have to follow you. You are still younger than me, so give me these promises." So Buddha promised, and this became the problem. For forty years Ananda was with Buddha, but he could never surrender, because this is not the spirit of surrender. Ananda asked many, many times, "When am I going to attain?" Buddha said, "Unless I die, you will not attain." And Ananda could attain only when Buddha died.

I've never heard that urine therapy is essential for spirituality. In 1978, then Prime Minister of India, Morarji Desai, a longtime practitioner of urine therapy, spoke to Dan Rather on 60 Minutes about urine therapy. Desai stated that urine therapy was the perfect medical solution for the millions of Indians who cannot afford medical treatment. Morarji Desai lived to the age of 99 years.

I think he missed meditation. In an interview Bruce Lee said, "If you want something beautiful, take modern dancing. What good would it do a boxer to learn to meditate? He's a fighter; not a monk." Words of the Dragon: Interviews, 1958-1973 by John Little

Buddhism died in India, and one of the basic reasons was Buddha’s way of putting his philosophy. All other philosophies were so positivistic, and all their positivism was turning into stronger and stronger egos. He moved to the other extreme, seeing that positivism is going to give you egoistic ideas — and that is a hindrance between you and existence. To stop this idea he became totally negative. Many came to Buddha and turned away, because nobody can make nothingness be his life’s achievement — for what? So much discipline and so much great trouble in getting into meditation just to find out that you are not… strange kind of man this Gautam Buddha. We are good as we are, what is the need of digging so deep that you find there is nothing? Even if we are dreaming, at least there is something. You are nothing. You don’t have a self because you are part of a great self, the whole. You cannot have any separate, private, self of your own.It is a tremendous achievement to understand that you are part of the whole, that the whole belongs to you, that you belong to the whole.

Forget about dictionary meaning - bliss, spiritual joy, is without excitement, it is not happiness.

Happiness depends on unhappiness. Bliss is transcendence: one moves beyond the duality of being happy and unhappy. Bliss is without any opposite to it. It is serene, tranquil, cool. It is ecstasy without any excitement. This is what meditation is all about.

It is a risk, the greatest risk; you may be lost and nothing may be gained. Buddha was asked, "What have you gained from meditation?" Buddha replied, “Nothing. I have lost much, but have gained nothing."

This path is for gamblers, it is the greatest gamble.

Efforts of 1000 hours is not much, in eastern civilizations, people sacrifice their whole life for highest levels of Truth and Enlightenment.

Yes, it is your ego working but accepting death like experience consciously , transforms you.

Most of the people believe in electrons, they trust few scientists. Do you want to become a mystic ?

@Salvijus Radhe Maa is not a spiritual teacher, charges against her were not proved in court.

@MarkusSweden At any age 40, 50, 60, 70 or 80 ; you live as you are conditioned by the society.

@Applejuice You may have lived a life without love. Why not try love? You may have lived a life obsessed with money. Why not live a life unobsessed with money? You may have lived a life which hankers to possess. Now live a life which is not worried about possessing anything. You may have lived a life of respectability - you may have always been considering what people think about you, what their opinion is. There is a life to live without bothering what others are thinking about you; there is a life to live individually and rebelliously. Don't commit suicide! Let your past commit suicide. Start living afresh, moment to moment. Don't live in desires, but live in a kind of desirelessness. You have lived a life of strain, effort, struggle. Now start living a life of relaxation, calm and quiet. And you will be surprised , you have been missing life, not because life is worthless. You have been missing life because you have been taught to live a worthless kind of life.

@moon777light You should consider opinion of Indian members too, Yoga is popular in India since hundreds of years, have they ever heard about illness of a Yoga (Ashtanga or Hatha yoga) master (I am not talking about masters of other paths).

Be careful , sometimes strange things can happen !

Enlightenment is beyond nature, It is a great disturbance for body. Buddha lived forty-two years after enlightenment because he belonged to a warrior family, his body was prepared. Every mystic has extraordinary health before enlightenment but they do not remain healthy after enlightenment. Hath yogis have extraordinary health, they can withstand enlightenment.

I think people of higher consciousness are now taking birth in western countries. East has now been imitating the West.

We are not born to this world as pure infinite consciousness. We are not born enlightened. If a child lives totally alone, he will never come to grow an ego. But that is not going to help. He will remain like an animal.

Now we live more unnatural life , we use our brain too much, our bodies are more fragile in comparison with primitive man. Enlightenment is more difficult for a modern man.

@moon777light