|
Peter’s Correspondence on Mailing List C Correspondent No 29
RESPONDENT: Why do all this people talk so much about silence? PETER: Well, I don’t know about you, but what I began searching for, all those years ago, was silence – a peace of mind wherein all those chattering thoughts and the resulting feelings and emotions in me would cease. I am just talking about a new way to actually achieve a personal peace – to sensately experience the actual universe as pure and silent in its vastness. On the spiritual path one merely ‘feels’ silent on those occasions when one is in a trance-like state of ‘no-mind’ or when one has the delusion of feeling ‘one with the Universe’. A synthetic silence achieved by turning away from the physical and the actual – to the metaphysical and imaginary. Two different approaches. Imagining the silence or directly experiencing it. Two choices. But it is a wonderful thing to talk about as we sit on this planet, hurtling around the sun, in the vast, silent infinitude of this physical universe. It makes it all seem so silly really – this Ancient Wisdom talk of spirits and Gods and going Somewhere Else rather than being here. What an adventure ...
PETER: Good to have another chat about what the mystics are really saying and try to make some sense of the spiritual path. After all, so many seekers are on the spiritual path. Most are seemingly attracted by the feel-good aspect or belonging to a group but some are sincere. Some are concerned about finding a personal peace, and a few of these may even be concerned about peace on earth. Basically many have opted out of Western religion and followed the swing to Eastern spirituality as the solution to the Human Condition of malice and sorrow. I would think a good honest investigation of Eastern spirituality and philosophy might be a good idea – even on a Sannyas list. At present Humanity has a lot of hope and faith invested in the Ancient Wisdom of the East – I would venture to say we have put all our eggs in the spiritual basket! Even the Western Religions are swinging to a spirit-ual interpretation and away from the ‘white bearded man on a cloud’ version So let’s see what the Ancients are saying about the Human Condition, what advice they have that is relevant to us humans on earth, here, now – 3000 years on. * PETER: The mystics all talk of an ethereal mystical world, the inner world of feeling peace and feeling God. They knew something was wrong with us human beings, but their solution was to attain an altered state of consciousness (ASC) such that the identity shifts from being a mortal, lost, lonely frightened and very, very cunning ‘self’ to become the ‘Self’ – Realizing that it is God and Immortal. RESPONDENT: Where do you get this from? PETER: Any one of the spiritual teachings – they are all variations on a common theme. Maybe you haven’t read any spiritual books. RESPONDENT: Mystics never said that something was wrong with us, human beings, they pointed out how the human condition is functioning. PETER: The ancient mystics had no knowledge at all of psychology, sociology, physiology, anatomy, neuro-science, genetics, behavioural studies, animal studies, etc. They thought that when people suffered depression or fits of rage they were ‘possessed by evil spirits’ and as a cure they used exorcisms, magic potions, used mystical rituals and prayed to the good spirits or Gods for solace or relief. Some modern mystics have tacked on a bit of therapy and other modern concepts, but at the core of their teachings is the ‘wisdom’ of ancient primitive men and women. I am not making this up – an open eyed skim through a few books will confirm the facts. RESPONDENT: The old mystics said: ‘Remember the example of an old cow, she’s content to sleep in a barn. You have to eat, sleep and shit – That’s unavoidable – Beyond that is none of your business. Patrul Rinpoche PETER: Well, it left me a bit confused for a bit. I guess he is saying it is unavoidable that we have a physical body that is animal and he sees that as gross and lower. That it is ‘none of your business’ points to the fact that ‘you’ inside the body are destined to higher things and what higher ‘business’ than the business of the mystics – becoming God or realizing you are God? It is only a guess though. Maybe they were really saying it is good to be like the cow and be content to sleep in a barn? Can you post me as to your interpretation of this mystical wisdom? I would like to know what sense you make of it?
PETER: You wrote in answer to my comment about silence – RESPONDENT: ...this Ancient Wisdom talk of spirits and Gods and going Somewhere Else rather than being here... not the ancient wisdom, but the ancient superstition. PETER: Ancient wisdom is ancient superstition – there is no difference. Soon you will be inventing Real ancient wisdom or True ancient wisdom. RESPONDENT: This ancient wisdom all originates from a common belief system of Gods, spirits or energies that represented both good and evil on the earth. PETER: No disagreement here. You seem to have got the gist of what they all say. RESPONDENT: The Ancient Wisdom talks about being here and now, seeing that all forms (thoughts, emotions, feelings etc) arise and vanish and are utterly empty. PETER: Ah! And now comes the slide. Ancient Wisdom in the East talks about realizing your original face, your original self, your Buddha nature, that you are That, This, God, at One with All, Divine, etc. Anything other than being ‘here’, as a flesh and blood human, on this physical earth, as it is. Further, they all talk of an after-life, Parinirvana, the Further Shore, the Ocean of Oneness, Paradise, the Cosmos, the Universe, etc. Any-time other than ‘now’ as a flesh and blood mortal human being with a terminal life span. Your second part about seeing ‘forms arise and vanish’ obviously refers to the dis-association of the watcher, and I have gone into that at length in other posts. RESPONDENT: The ancient Wisdoms says that nothing is spiritual, PETER: Now it’s getting really silly. What it is that they point to surviving the death of the body if not the spirit – or soul, atman, essence, bundle of memories, etc. and what is it that merges with, melts into, realises, becomes One with, etc. if not the ‘spirit’ – or soul, ...? RESPONDENT: that you either are awake or asleep PETER: All point to being asleep as in ‘normal’ ... or awake as in Awake, Realised, Enlightened, Self-Realised, God-Realized, Agapé-Realised, Awakened, etc. RESPONDENT: and the ancient Wisdom says that whatever the ancient wisdom says is totally unimportant and not is to be bothered about – that insight frees. PETER: So why bother to read it or take any notice of it in the first place? That insight frees the Ancient God-men from any sensible scrutiny, ensuring their followers remain in a state of ‘no-mind’-devotion. You seem to have twisted what Ancient Wisdom says so much that you can make out of it what you want, which is what everybody does anyway. I certainly did in my spiritual days. It was only when I found it wasn’t working for me, and others around me, that I began to dig in a bit deeper. ‘If all else fails, read the instructions’, as it says on the Cabot’s paint tin. When I did read the instructions, without rose coloured glasses, I saw that it was all bound to fail and why it was bound to produce only God-men and followers, why it was bound to, not only endlessly perpetuate misery and suffering, but to produce multiple Religions and continuous religious wars. Eastern Spirituality and Philosophy is nothing more than a convoluted form of Western Religion – they have the same ancient roots in the world of good and evil spirits, Gods and Demons, all from the cave-man days when the earth was flat and a horrendous place to be. Ancient Wisdom produces and perpetuates religious wars, ‘sectarian’ violence, repression, torture, persecution, enslavement – anything but silence, and certainly not peace. Still, you make of it what you will, to me it is twaddle.
PETER: Just thought I’d comment on something you said to Vineeto.
RESPONDENT: precisely how Barry Long is stating this PETER: I know a reasonable amount about Barry Long as I followed him for a while. Mr. Long puts his position quite clearly – he is not into eliminating ‘I’, the self but into transforming it into Self. He teachers the traditional technique of transcending the bad feelings and emotions and giving full reign to the good ones, finally achieving an illusionary ego death whereby one’s identity shifts to becoming the Good, Immortal and Divine. A few quotes to illustrate –
... thus the alien entity, the ‘self’, merely took on a new identity to become yet another God-man – Guru of the West. The old, ‘little self to Big-Self’ shuffle, that has ensnared genuine seekers of freedom for millennia. The spiritual path is plainly talking about men becoming Gods, the ancient ‘escape’ from misery and sorrow – from ‘bad and Evil’ to ‘good and God’. In the beginning it appears both the spiritual path and the path to an actual freedom are talking about the same thing until one digs a bit deeper and becomes aware of the desire to become Divine and Immortal which lies at the core of the spiritual search. Once this is clearly seen and acknowledged, then it is only pride that prevents one from seeking a genuine actual freedom. It’s so good to be free of both the ‘real’ world and the ‘spiritual’ world – an actual freedom from all of the Human Condition.
PETER: When I saw your posting of Ancient Wisdom, I wondered whether you were going to answer my question below ... or whether you are simply going back to business. RESPONDENT: The old mystics said: ‘Remember the example of an old cow, she’s content to sleep in a barn. You have to eat, sleep and shit – That’s unavoidable – Beyond that is none of your business. (Patrul Rinpoche) PETER: Well it left me a bit confused for a bit. I guess he is saying it is unavoidable that we have a physical body that is animal and he sees that as gross and lower. That it is ‘none of your business’ points to the fact that ‘you’ inside the body are destined to higher things and what higher ‘business’ than the business of the mystics – becoming God or realizing you are God? It is only a guess though. Maybe they were really saying it is good to be like the cow and be content to sleep in a barn? Can you post me as to your interpretation of this mystical wisdom? I would like to know what sense you make of it? RESPONDENT: ... PETER: Just curious ... I always had a bit of trouble understanding what they meant.
PETER: I’ll try and be brief but you have raised many points – RESPONDENT: This ancient wisdom all originates from a common belief system of Gods, spirits or energies that represented both good and evil on the earth. These are not my words!! PETER: You posted them as though they were, so I thought you were agreeing with them in order to make your next point. It is hard to know where you stand on Ancient Wisdom, other than your endless denying of what they clearly state. * PETER: Ah! And now comes the slide. Ancient Wisdom in the East talks about realizing your original face, your original self, your Buddha nature, that you are That, This, God, at One with All, Divine, etc. Anything other than being ‘here’. RESPONDENT: Why is my original face anything else than ‘being here’, did any mystic say so? PETER: The term original face refers to ‘that which was there before you were born, and will be there after you died.’ This is an obvious reference to something which exists independently of the physical mortal body. The common word for this is soul. It is who I feel myself to be. Who I feel myself to be is the very ‘me’ who feels separate from the world. From what I remember, I thought I was the centre of the everything around me but I always felt as though I didn’t belong – a bit like an outsider, even in a group. I was anywhere but here and anytime but now – always an alien. On the spiritual path one develops feelings of love and oneness towards a mystical God or God-energy – one shifts one’s identity into the mystical spirit world such that one is even more remote or aloof from the physical-only world. To identify with one’s original face’, or soul, is to be ‘here’, but in the spiritual world only, not the actual world. Hence it is impossible – a plain and obvious contradiction – to be here in the actual physical world, if one has one’s head in the clouds of the spiritual, meta-physical, psychic world. There are no souls, spirits, Gods, demons, psychic entities or psychic energies, ghosts, good or evil, in the actual world. RESPONDENT: And the ancient Wisdom says that whatever the ancient wisdom says is totally unimportant and not is to be bothered about – that insight frees PETER: So why bother to read it or take any notice of it in the first place? RESPONDENT: Indeed, why are you so preoccupied by it, you keep talking about ‘the ancient wisdom’ PETER: Because the belief in God’s, spirits and an after-life have resulted in the formation of over 6,000 religions on the planet, with all the resulting wars, ‘sectarian’ violence, tortures, persecutions, repressions and bigotry that still are rampant on this fair earth. This does concern me as it is all so pointless to battle over which God is the Only God, which master is the only Master and which Truth is the only Truth. For me personally, Ancient Wisdom is of no concern as I am free of it, but I do care that the all-encompassing universal belief in it perpetuates the malice and sorrow on this fair planet. So I write about it so that others may get a chance to consider another alternative to the ‘Tried and True’.
Peter’s & Richard’s Text ©The Actual Freedom
Trust: 1997-. All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer |
