A way of being...

[aWanderer91]

Hi all,

I'm slowly discovering that my purpose here on earth is "to just be". I feel we all share this common purpose on some level, to move from doing to being.

But my main point here is this, structured and timed meditation just doesn't work for me. To set a timer and to force myself to sit, routinely, just doesn't work for me. It scrambles me as a mind/body/spirit complex and causes tremendous resistance in my life.

Since my awakening at 20 years old (I'm now 30), I have intensively studied the spiritual path and its various techniques of meditation. But since being awake, awareness is activated and one knows they can never fully go back to sleep, and to allow fluidity and let go to happen on its own seems to be a form of endless meditation for me.

Has anyone else found that their life has, or will become, a way of being in contrast to having a structured meditation routine? I feel many more releases during the day, and experience much more clarity when I am in the shower or doing the dishes for example, compared to forcing myself to sit and meditate. I do sit, sometimes the need to close my eyes or to go into a room in silence is helpful, but without the timer and the thought of "I'm meditating".

[Margan]

All that could have been written by myself
I can so relate to what you wrote!!! and for a while I was so depressed because I thought I would never be able to get "enlightened", due to not being able to meditate regularly.
It was only when I discovered some vedantic teachings, that emphasize other ways - like for example bhakti which will surrender oneself to god. It works quite well for me, you can do it with every little thing you do during the day - if you go for a walk, surrender that walk to god. If you go shopping surrender that.... anything!
Or if there is something I am afraid of I will surrender that and it usually works wonderfully and some solutions which I could not have envisioned pop up....
And my former therapist once remarked that all one has to do, is constantly focus one's mind on god or the divine or whatever you will call it, that alone should suffice - "what you hold in mind that you will eventually become".....
Actually I think doing it at all times during the day, as much as possible might actually be better than meditating only in the morning and for the rest of the day forgetting about the spiritual and being engaged in mundane activities.
So do not feel guilt if you cannot meditate regularly, there are definitely other ways and from what you wrote you already seem to have a good grasp and are well on your way at your young age

[aWanderer91]

All that could have been written by myself
I can so relate to what you wrote!!! and for a while I was so depressed because I thought I would never be able to get "enlightened", due to not being able to meditate regularly.
It was only when I discovered some vedantic teachings, that emphasize other ways - like for example bhakti which will surrender oneself to god. It works quite well for me, you can do it with every little thing you do during the day - if you go for a walk, surrender that walk to god. If you go shopping surrender that.... anything!
Or if there is something I am afraid of I will surrender that and it usually works wonderfully and some solutions which I could not have envisioned pop up....
And my former therapist once remarked that all one has to do, is constantly focus one's mind on god or the divine or whatever you will call it, that alone should suffice - "what you hold in mind that you will eventually become".....
Actually I think doing it at all times during the day, as much as possible might actually be better than meditating only in the morning and for the rest of the day forgetting about the spiritual and being engaged in mundane activities.
So do not feel guilt if you cannot meditate regularly, there are definitely other ways and from what you wrote you already seem to have a good grasp and are well on your way at your young age

Thank you for your response Margan! It's very reassuring to hear and I love that we are on the same page.

I completely agree that surrender at all times of the day must surmount the spiritual accumulation gathered with a morning and evening meditation practice.

"What you hold in mind will eventually become" is analogue to what my guides told me only a couple of days ago. It was "this is the quality of faith (referencing what I need to hold onto to fulfill my goals on earth), and faith always finds fulfillment".

Great stuff, and may god's will be done through us

[IndigoSalvia]

I can relate to meditation woes. 

I studied a bit of Buddhism, and along my journey, found numerous approaches and tips/tricks to meditation. But, still I struggle(d) with my relationship with meditation: how to quiet and settle this erratic race-car mind o' mine?!?

Some call it a monkey mind, which brings up an image for me of a monkey jumping and swinging from branch to branch, zipping through the jungle landscape of our mind.

I studied Thich Nhat Hanh who opened my mind to the concept of what I might lump together as "active" meditations: walking meditation, cleaning meditation, etc. 

Whatever one is doing, one does it with a genuine sense of presence, devoting and focusing one's mind to the task at hand. It is a practice exercise for me. It is a stretching and strengthening of a muscle that frankly defies my mind's natural inclinations to run amok. 

If I am washing dishes, for instance, I can allow my mind to wander and zip all over the place. Or, I can gently bring my mind to focus on the dish in my hands, the warm water on my skin, the gleam of the water on the dish, etc. It gives my mind something to focus its seemingly erratic energy on. Again, I practice at this. 

I find that when I focus and am present in the moment, no matter how mundane, I am filled with a sense of marvel at this incarnation. 

Carla, in one of her writings, comments that as much as she meditates, she has only achieved scant moments of quiet, deep, still meditation. I laughed: me too, Carla. 

I have come to a place where I marvel and laugh joyfully at this very busy mind o' mine. We were gifted with it, endowed with it to help us along our journey. It has much to offer us. I observe the meanderings of my mind, the thoughts that flit from branch to branch. 

And, when I randomly feel up to it, I gently say to my mind (like a parent to their toddler's energetic and enthusiastic attention): hey, look over here, look at this beautiful leaf, look at the tiny little bug crawling on it, look at the venation. Just practicing with focus: from the broad and energetic, to the focused and present. 

Sitting quietly in lotus position ... well, that's just a practice in futility and frustration for me. I exercise and practice at a different "edge" so to speak: my own "edge." I have danced and practiced yoga, and when I look about, I see everyone doing the same general thing - like, getting into an asana/posture - but everyone is doing their own version of that dance or asana. I see meditation similarly. 

Like dance, or anything we do with our bodies, how does one find that one can be comfortable and enjoy interacting with (consciously or unconsciously), exercising, stretching and strengthening one's mind? At one's own edge ... no one-size-fits-all. 

When I start to wrestle with, cajole, self-judge my abilities, that's my cue to back off of myself and find a different, more gentle "edge."  

I have found that my inner-chats with my spirit guides have provided me a gentle mirror, or opportunity. This inner-dialogue can be quite fast and flitting from topic to topic, and it allows me the opportunity to practice my focus. The inspiration to focus is that I want to explore some topics deeper so I want to slow down and stick with a particular topic.

[aWanderer91]

Beautiful stuff, Indigo, and it seems you have quite the wisdom upon navigating yourself and gently nudging your mind it takes plenty of awareness just to do this.

I don't have any issue with my mind, in terms of sitting and feeling extremely frustrated etc, it's more that forcing myself to sit takes me out of my flow and natural soul stream. It creates blockages rather than unblocking the love/light of the creator. I wanted to make a post as I can't be the only soul who experiences this, and it seems I'm not.

I've heard Mooji say before that lots of resistance is caused on the meditation cushion, I know Eckhart Tolle lives as a way of being in contrast to structured meditation and I've heard Adyashanti say that "just sitting" is all he can endorse as that way one will know when to get up. (He clearly doesn't think much of having a timer).

We are all unique and meditation and its benefits are quite clear for all to see, I'm certainly not against it, but ultimately we are meditating to become aware. I'm aware already and find it much more helpful to allow life to take its course, against the structure and routine of meditation.

[flofrog]

I feel too, the inner dialogue that IndigoSalvia speaks about is so useful.
I think mediation happens in all kinds of different ways to each one. But for me because most of my meditations go through at the end a blissful moment of gratitude, I find it incredibly nourishing, but you know, all paths lead to Rome.. lol well let's say rather to gentle Infinity.. lol lol

[Margan]

Aww gentle infinity I like that! can i borrow it or is it patented, dear Flo
I have debated with me whether to share that or not but here we go.... I was also a big fan of Moojis back in the day. In fact he was the first "living" advaita teacher I discovered (I started with Ramana Maharshi and Anandamayi Ma and for whatever reason I believed that all vedanta Advaita teachers were dead and there was no one alive anymore   ... until youtube once gave me Mooji as a suggestion)
So I was hooked and i even went to a week of satsang in Portugal in 2016.
It was definitely a very loving and peaceful vibe at that camp and Moojis is very charismatic in person but something felt "off".... the way his followers acted towards him was a bit too cultish for my taste. I remember joking with the girl I shared a cabin with about "Mooji always being surrounded by his beautiful young groupies".... I later found out there was more to it indeed.
One of the former followers spoke out about how he sleeps with the young gorgeous devotees and tells them "it is for their spiritual advancement" and how people going to the ashram to do seva were exploited and controlled by the inner circle.
Moojis people tried to discredit her and Mooji himself spoke out about the allegations.... he looked like a boy caught red-handed and spoke like a politician trying to damage control.... that sealed it for me.
I just could not watch his stuff anymore. I still think most of what he said was good and I could not find fault in it but that is such a no -go ....

Edit: I like him, Swami Sarvapriyananda of NY Vedanta Society, and with him I am pretty sure he does not sleep with groupies since he is a monk


 

[aWanderer91]

Thank you for you sharing Margan

[Margan]

Uhhh I feel like such a party pooper but there is some info a bout Shunyamurti as well.... in fact I was thinking whether I should include that in the Mooji post. I didn't but since you mention him now.... lol I will tell you my experience with him.
Like you I felt drawn to him as well and for a while found no fault. However there was some stuff which was a bit off, he seems quite apocalyptic at times and often speaks about atomic annihilation, which he seems to be pretty sure is going to happen any time soon (even in the older videos)
Then I saw that someone who had also been at his ashram in Guatemala (or was it some other central American state... not sure) talked about how he had to attend a psychology session with Shunya (before he was allowed to do anything else, satsang ) and charged quite a sum for it (maybe you have heard that Shunya is a hypnotherapist, his voice can sound a bit hypnotizing lol) and that those who reside permanently in the ashram have given him more or less what they own and that Shunya expects them too.... and all the devotees living in the ashram seem to be pretty paranoid about the atomic annihilation issue and think Shunya is their only way out...
there were no allegations about sexual abuse, he is married and his Asian wife also at the ashram, with him it seems to be the money issue (and maybe control, but then money and control are usually linked).
So those were the alarm bells that rang for me
Wow I still think it is interesting how similar we are in the spiritual approach and are (or were) drawn to the same teachers

PS : have you heard of Robert Adams?

[aWanderer91]

Uhhh I feel like such a party pooper but there is some info a bout Shunyamurti as well.... in fact I was thinking whether I should include that in the Mooji post. I didn't but since you mention him now.... lol I will tell you my experience with him.
Like you I felt drawn to him as well and for a while found no fault. However there was some stuff which was a bit off, he seems quite apocalyptic at times and often speaks about atomic annihilation, which he seems to be pretty sure is going to happen any time soon (even in the older videos)
Then I saw that someone who had also been at his ashram in Guatemala (or was it some other central American state... not sure) talked about how he had to attend a psychology session with Shunya and charged quite a sum for it (maybe you have heard that Shunya is a hypnotherapist, his voice can sound a bit hypnotizing lol) and that those who reside permanently in the ashram have given him more or less what they own and that Shunya expects them too.... and all the devotees who living in the ashram seem to be pretty paranoid about the atomic annihilation issue and think Shunya is their only way out...
so those were the alarm bells that rang for me
Wow I still think it is interesting how similar we are in the spiritual approach and are (or were) drawn to the same teachers

there were no allegations about sexual abuse, he is married and his Asian wife also at the ashram, with him it seems to be the money issue.

You're not a party pooper, don't worry haha. I too find he does talk a lot of doom, and was wondering whether to post him here for that reason. Ok, question, do you not think he's talking of our current timeline and trajectory, and that it may never manifest but he is talking from the present moment? (I'm not justifying him, I'm genuinely interested to hear what you have to say as I've been sitting on the fence and have slowly been drifting apart from his teachings. Yet I'm still on the fence, so to speak).


And yes, very similar in our approach to spirituality and the teachers we have come across, it seems I haven't heard of Robert Adams, is he someone I should check out?

P.s I'm not backtracking, I really love the overriding message Shunyamurti brings and he does talk about a lot of controversial subjects, which I enjoy. He does also talk a lot about the end of 3rd density and the start of 4th density.

[Margan]

Haha I bet "controversial subjects" - you mean the vaccine?
because I liked that he actually seemed skeptic about it which confirmed my own biases and yet he made one very very good little snippet about it where he basically said it was a way for us to realize that "we are not this body" and thus transcend whatever poisons might be in there - which is what I thought about it as well when trying to view the vaxx thing from a positive pov.
when you speak "it may never manifest" you are again talking about the atomic issue? that he mentions it only as an example for like 4D neg?
I seem to recall that he seemd quite adamant about it and treat it as something inevitable, if I remember correctly.... and apparently he was member of some doomsday cult before he decided to split and open his own cult and that doomsday cult also had the apocalyptic atomic issue in its "Constitution" and that maybe he took it over from there....
Lol yeah those eyes, he def has some charismatic magnetic side to him, you are right.

[aWanderer91]

Ahh controversial as in he talks about a lot of now censored subjects. Extraterrestrials, angels, being born into a system etc.

It may never manifest as in it could be our current timeline, but with enough people waking up it could be transcended.

I didn't know about the "dooms day cult" and you've given me lots of food for thought here. Thank you

[Margan]

Robert Adams to me is the "gold standard" of Advaita teachers died in the late 90s, lived in LA and had a couple of followers with whom he held satsangs in private homes.
Some good soul posted all his satsangs one by one on youtube, I listened and it made me feel as I was right there with them in their circle - unfortunately he had to take them down because the descendants of Ra (his initials are Ra lololol) do not want this stuff out in the public domain "for free".... totally contrary to what Ra himself stated, he always said this information should be free of charge.
Imo he is the twin soul of Ramana Maharshi (just my personal opinion lol) whom he visited in India, and Ramana played a part in his awakening insofar as he appeared in visions and spoke in gibberish to him when Robert was a boy.
If you want more info feel free to drop me a pm

[aWanderer91]

Ok, when I go to bed tonight I'll tune in I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say now.

Adyashanti too? What are your thoughts on him? I've always loved the simplicity of his teachings, and he gives the ego zero food, there's nothing to go on except the purity of his message which is basic, simple awareness.

I think I stray from Advaita teachers to teachers like Shunyamurti because they don't give my mind anything to go on, as such, nothing to grip onto. I've just learned this today so it's something I won't be doing again

And thank you, I'll get back to you via PM once I have checked out Robert Adams.

[IndigoSalvia]

While I know nothing of the teachers you mention above, I studied (for a bit) a branch of Buddhism that had scandal linked to it. I drifted away for other reasons. 

Scandals seem to be linked to many human-led religions; and here, discernment and wisdom can serve one well.

It reminds me of this quote from Ra: "The adept, then, is working with the power of hidden things illuminated by that which can be false or true. To embrace falsity, to know it, to seek it, and to use it gives a power that is most great. This is the nature of the power of your visitor and may shed some light upon the power of one who seeks in order to serve others as well, for the missteps in the night are oh! so easy." (80)

I wonder: could these spiritual teachers fall prey, like any of us may, to the allure of falsity? 

I consider religious and spiritual philosophies as a buffet presented to me. I sample a bit of this dish and that dash; I enjoy what I like and leave the rest, based on my resonances. I patch and quilt together.

Having said that, Law of One presents a tapestry that most resonates with me. It synchs up (overlays) very well with the patchwork that I had quilted together thus far. Beyond this, Law of One also provides new avenues of exploration and discoveries for me. 

It seems that we are each endowed with what I might graphically refer to as a "BS detector." It's unique for each of us; it's that place where we become uneasy, skeptical, or turned-off with something that's presented to us ... some catalyst that we encounter. 

My body says, "whoa, Nelly!" I get a queasy feeling in my stomach, for example. When I override, or disregard this internal warning, I usually find myself on a rocky and difficult path. 

This is not intended to be a remark on those teachers mentioned above, for I know nothing of them. It's, instead, a general observation of my personal experiences of having listened to my own resonances, and also, having ignored or over-riden them.   (ha ha) There has been some rich catalyst down those hard roads. 

Perhaps others have similar sensations, experiences ...

[Margan]

I wonder: could these spiritual teachers fall prey, like any of us may, to the allure of falsity? 

I consider religious and spiritual philosophies as a buffet presented to me. I sample a bit of this dish and that dash; I enjoy what I like and leave the rest, based on my resonances. I patch and quilt together.

Yes they can! and I wondered a bit about that too, since they seemed to be very advanced and i always admired how for example Mooji seemd so often to have exactly the right words for those who asked him questions during satsang. 
The answer was shown to me like that - even after "enlightenment" there needs to be constant vigilance bc of those pitfalls and as long as the ego has not been TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY annihilated there is always the possibility that the "loyal opposition" may sneak back in and the two most common allures indeed seem to be sex and money.... and the ego being the false entity it is it will hook on to other falsehoods such as those

And yes, same here... it's a buffet and I pick and choose what resonates and leave the rest

[aWanderer91]

I really like the way you described that indigo, like a buffet, and I have always chosen this way up to now. I could never be dedicated to one teacher in the sense of becoming their desciple or something (I don't think I could anyway) as I like to dabble in different religions, different cultures and learn from the different teachers ways of seeing things.

Taking what resonates, leaving what doesn't, keeps discernment up to a maximum while also allowing us to learn and gather to achieve our highest potential

[flofrog]

I wonder: could these spiritual teachers fall prey, like any of us may, to the allure of falsity? 

I consider religious and spiritual philosophies as a buffet presented to me. I sample a bit of this dish and that dash; I enjoy what I like and leave the rest, based on my resonances. I patch and quilt together.

Yes they can! and I wondered a bit about that too, since they seemed to be very advanced and i always admired how for example Mooji seemd so often to have exactly the right words for those who asked him questions during satsang. 
The answer was shown to me like that - even after "enlightenment" there needs to be constant vigilance bc of those pitfalls and as long as the ego has not been TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY annihilated there is always the possibility that the "loyal opposition" may sneak back in and the two most common allures indeed seem to be sex and money.... and the ego being the false entity it is it will hook on to other falsehoods such as those

And yes, same here... it's a buffet and I pick and choose what resonates and leave the rest

I agree, but I think the ego has its utility at first... lol