Words to live by

[nistake]

You don't want to accept the ordinary. It's like: "This can't be it. Is this all there is to it?" That's what keeps you from recognising what it is - the expectation that it is not this, but it's over there somewhere, it's going to get better, brighter - whatever the expectations are, whatever you have been conjuring up in your mind.

[nistake]

The universe is providing exactly what you need at every moment, even though you may not like it.

[nistake]

When you walk through a forest that has not been tamed and interfered with by man, you will see not only abundant life all around you, but you will also encounter fallen trees and decaying trunks, rotting leaves and decomposing matter at every step. Wherever you look, you will find death as well as life. Upon closer scrutiny, however, you will discover that the decomposing tree trunk and rotting leaves not only give birth to new life, but are full of life themselves. Microorganisms are at work. Molecules are rearranging themselves. So death isn't to be found anywhere. There is only the metamorphosis of life forms. What can you learn from this? Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.

[nistake]

The brain does not create consciousness, but conciousness created the brain, the most complex physical form on earth, for its expression.

[nistake]

I’ve been operating according to the idea that it is almost impossible to let go of mental patterns that operate unconsciously and that I have to know such a pattern of thinking first in order to let go of it and abide in my true nature. Leave all those mental habits and patterns alone. The self that is apparently operating, that seems to know these patterns and that would ‘let go of them’ is itself simply one such pattern. These patterns of thinking and feeling have taken their shape, over the years, from the belief that we are a separate self, without our making any particular effort. In just the same way, as our experiential conviction that we are not a limited, located self deepens, so our thoughts, feelings and subsequent behaviour will slowly, effortlessly and naturally realign themselves with this new understanding.

[nistake]

Feelings, by themselves, do not create problems. It is rather the tendency to interpret and analyze them. When out of habit you believe those interpretations, it is there that the suffering begins.

[nistake]

Investigate your reasons for the goals you have in life and see if you can be completely okay or not if they never become fulfilled.

[nistake]

[nistake]

That when you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You appreciate it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.

The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying “You’re too this, or I’m too this.” That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.

Edited June 16, 2021 by nistake

[nistake]

Spirituality is not the renunciation of life; it is the art of living fully.

[nistake]

Nonduality is NOT solipsism.

But the ego-mind may not see it that way at first.

It is true that you are the only thing in existence. You created every human being that exists. Of course the trick is, we're talking about the universal YOU, not the personal you.

It's very simple logic: if nonduality is true, there is no division between anything. There is certainly no division between you/other. You are your own mother. You created Actualized.org to help you awaken. You even wrote this sentence. You are God in every literal sense.

The ego is of course afraid of this. And it may be a shock to the system when you first start to realize how radical nonduality really it. It may feel like madness. Of course it's not madness. It's TRUTH. But TRUTH is a radical thing. It requires a very deep surrender.

In the end, once you fully surrender, it will be fine. Great even.

Nonduality, at the highest degrees of it, is extremely radical. It will shock and terrify the ego-mind. That is the #1 obstacle which keeps people unenlightened. You have to surrender to the radicalness of it. You have to surrender to the madness. It's not really madness. But it will appear to be madness relative to the normie paradigm you are used to.

Enlightened people are basically insane by all conventional standards. They just happen to be insane in a functional way. And they don't frame it that way because it would scare off newbies.

The lite degrees of nonduality can feel pleasant and nice.

The deepest degrees of nonduality can feel downright terrifying and depressing.

And the final stage is peace and wonder.

[nistake]

[Barbara]

Resonates so much! And beautiful art work. 

[nistake]

@Barbara Exactly!

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Spirituality is the ability to to be satisfied with whatever is and to be conscious of it and to cultivate love for existence itself.

 

[nistake]

Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective. It does not make one person special. It is not exclusive. Exclusivity is not the love of God but the "love" of ego. However, the intensity with which true love is felt can vary. There may be one person who reflects your love back to you more clearly and more intensely than others, and if that person feels the same toward you, it can be said that you are in a love relationship with him or her. The bond that connects you with that person is the same bond that connects you with the person sitting next to you on a bus, or with a bird, a tree, a flower. Only the degree of intensity with which it is felt differs.

[nistake]

How satisfied can I be with nothing special?

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True happiness is nothing other than being satisfied with exactly what is happening right now whatever that might be.

[nistake]

People who knew Ramana always spoke of the peace they experienced in his presence. How when they all sat together their mind would become quiet, their doubts would dissolve, and their emotional wounds would heal. Ramana did nothing, there was just an unmistakable energy that came from his awakening. I practice to have that same presence - it is how I shall help bring peace to the world.

[nistake]

When you wake up from your story, guess what you realize about everybody else? They are not their story. They are spirit, too. And that spirit is totally independent of their story and your story about them. So you not only lose your center, you lose their center, that box you would put them in. You see they are the same. This is why it is said the enlightenment is never a personal matter. You can't realize you are enlightened and still believe that others aren't. You can't see your true nature without seeing the true nature of everything. It is literally impossible. This is a tremendous act of compassion, an act of love.

[nistake]

When you get out of the driver’s seat, you find that life can drive itself, that actually life has always been driving itself. When you get out of the driver’s seat, it can drive itself so much easier—it can flow in ways you never imagined. Life becomes almost magical. The illusion of the “me” is no longer in the way. Life begins to flow, and you never know where it will take you.

[nistake]

We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.