What's In Your Mind?

As you think, so you become

Thought Power could be renamed: The 1,001 ways to say "As you think, so you become" ;-), but the author’s insistence on that one idea actually gives me an incredible insight about what to do next, how to progress on the spiritual path. I must say that until now, my general feeling was that I was a pretty accomplished individual, having excelled in the educational system and being somewhat of a good athlete, i.e., in my words, having "mastered the intellectual and the physical". So it never occurred to me that anything additional was needed, that there really was any way to grow further.

What I realize is that, the same way I have learnt to master my intellectual capabilities in school, and my physical capabilities through exercise, something I need to gain control of (because I can see that I have very little control over it!) is… my thoughts! i.e. what is going on in my head all the time, the little voice in my head saying "this sucks", "I am bored", "this guy is an idiot", "I’m a loser", "Is love fading away?", etc, as I move through life. I realize that, indeed, most of the time I have no control over what is going on in my head! Shattering realization!

The work is within yourself and nowhere else

As an astute twist in the dialogue we started a few days ago, Francois recommends that I read Tony Robbins (it shows that he somehow got the hint that I was trying to give him that the work is within oneself and nowhere else). I send him the link to this great interview of Tony Robbins that I found. A few excerpts (Tony speaking):

"Life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret."

"Ultimately, the only way to be fulfilled is to constantly grow and to contribute in a meaningful way to other people, to the world. And in order to grow, all of us have to be willing to let go of our fear and let go of who we are, and we've got to set standards and we've got to challenge ourselves. What makes people leaders in life is their willingness to say, "Raise your standard. Demand more from yourself." That's what all leaders of any sort do: They call people to a higher standard. I think that causes people to grow. And we must grow. (…) If you don't feel like you're growing, even if millions of people love you, you've got nothing. (…) You're either growing or dying—there's no in-between."

"Growth does not come from having an intellectual discussion with yourself. Growth only comes when you transform. And you must take that growth and convert that to something meaningful so that the world becomes better, so that the heaven on earth that we were talking about earlier actually becomes a possible reality—and I think it ultimately will. It already is for many people. It's just a matter of making your peer group become humanity instead of your peer group being a small number of people that you have influence over or impact on in your lifetime."

"I believe that ultimately my life is guided, but I also believe that along the way, I have a conscious choice whether to listen to that inner guidance or not. And if I listen to it, then my life turns out very differently than if I don't. And knowing when it's really your inner guidance and when it's your fear speaking is very important."

"When I'm being my spiritual best, I don't know what's happening. It's just coming through me. I put myself in a place. I ask for guidance. I pray and then I trust that it's there and it shows up."

"I believe the ultimate path to enlightenment is the cultivation of gratitude. Because in a state of gratitude, real gratitude, deep spiritual, emotional, physical and definitely soul-level appreciation, there is no fear."

"I think that anything we can do to more thoroughly understand how we function as human beings, what really drives us, and how we can utilize that understanding to be better human beings and better spiritual beings, is definitely a part of our evolution. And I think it has to happen rapidly because our technology is multiplying in its capacity and its strength and its diversity more rapidly than our technology for the management of human emotion, which is what drives all human action. And I think that's the part that has to be focused on. We need to develop the emotional and spiritual muscles to deal with whatever challenges show up."

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make

I'm in Paris today on a business trip, hanging out with my oldest friend David. David has been a fan of the Beatles forever, and, together, we watched Anthology, the 10-hour-long video documentary on the Beatles. We couldn't stop! This documentary is a breathtaking dive into the soul of the 60's, rock 'n' roll, psychedelics, hippies, etc. I realize for the first time how "spiritual" their whole endeavor was, especially after Bob Dylan had them try marijuana for the first time in August 1964. A few excerpts:

"It's getting better all the time"

............

"There, there's a place
where I can go
when I feel low
when I feel blue
And it's my mind
and there's no time
When I'm alone"

............

"We were talking
about the space between us all
and people who hide themselves
behind a wall of illusion,
never glimpse the truth
then it's far too late
when they pass away"

............

"Turn off your mind, relax
and float down stream (...)
Lay down all thought
Surrender to the void (...)
That you may see
The meaning of within (...)
That love is all
And love is everyone"

............

"All you need is love"

Etc, each and every song is literally soaked in Spirit! Their last words:

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make".

More on the Beatles and spirituality, and George Harrison and spirituality. But better still: listen to their songs...

What you see is what you are

Buddhists say: when you have jaundice, the world appears yellow. What you see is what you are. The world is the color of the glasses you’re wearing, etc.

Sages of all times have expressed that truth in many ways. Jesus said "The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness." (Luke 11:34) He also said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8), etc.

This is a very basic spiritual truth. Inside world = outside world. One can see outside only what one has inside.

Gardening

Another recurrent Buddhist metaphor is that of planting seeds. In yourself, in people: if you want flowers (good qualities), you first need to plant seeds. In a fertile soil, hopefully. Then you need to be patient. And water from time to time. And be more patient. This is especially what a spiritual teacher will focus on.

Jesus used the exact same metaphor (Mark, 4:3-8):

"A farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn't have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty."

The spiritual significance of human relationships

I just found on the internet a great text on relationships, from spiritual teacher Eva Pierrakos (a WOMAN spiritual teacher – rare encounter!). It corresponds very much to my experience in the last few weeks (waking up from sleepwalking my relationship with Richard). I strongly recommend this read, as well as all other Lectures from Eva Pierrakos.

From that same spiritual organization Pathwork, here is also a map of spiritual growth that I find quite helpful.

Excerpts from The spiritual significance of human relationships:

"Relationship represents the greatest challenge for the individual, for it is only in relationship to others that unresolved problems still existing within the individual psyche are affected and activated."

"The illusion can sometimes be maintained that the problems arise from the other person when one feels disturbance only in his or her presence, and not when by oneself."

"The friction that arises out of relating with others can be a sharp instrument of purification and self-recognition if one is inclined to use it."

"One's contentment and fulfillment in relationship is a much neglected yardstick for one's own development. Relationship with others is a mirror of one's own state and thus a direct help to one's self-purification. Conversely, only by thorough self-honesty and self-facing can relationships be sustained, can feelings expand and contact blossom in long-term relationships. So you can see, my friends, that relationships represent a tremendously important aspect of human growth."

"When people whose spiritual development is on different levels are involved with one another, it is always the more highly developed person who is responsible for the relationship. Specifically, that person is responsible for searching the depths of the interaction which creates any friction and disharmony between the parties."

"The more developed one will always be willing and able to search for his or her own involvement whenever he or she is negatively affected, no matter how blatantly at fault the other one may be. A person of spiritual and emotional immaturity and crudeness will always put the bulk of the blame on the other. All this applies to any kind of relationship: mates, parents and children, friendships, or business contacts."

"If the more highly developed person refuses to undertake the appropriate spiritual duty to assume responsibility for the relationship and look for the core of dissension within, he or she will never really understand the mutual interaction, how one problem affects the other. The relationship must then deteriorate, leaving both parties confused and less able to cope with the self and others. On the other hand, if the spiritually developed person accepts this responsibility, he or she will also help the other in a subtle way. If he or she can desist from the temptation to constantly belabor the obvious sour points of the other and look within, he or she will raise his or her own development considerably and spread peace and joy. The poison of friction will soon be eliminated. It will also become possible to find other partners for a truly mutual growth process."

"When a man and a woman stay together in a more enduring and committed relationship, maintaining and even increasing bliss depends entirely on how the two relate to one another. Are they aware of the direct relationship between enduring pleasure and inner growth? Do they use the inevitable difficulties in the relationship as yardsticks for their own inner difficulties? Do they communicate in the deepest, most truthful, self-revealing way, sharing their inner problems, helping each other, rather than placing mutual guilt on each other and whitewashing themselves? The answers to these questions will determine whether the relationship falters, dissolves, stagnates -- or blossoms."

"Difficulties that arise in a relationship are always signals for something unattended to. They are a loud message for those who can hear it."

"Whenever there is friction or deadness, something must be stuck, something that ought to be seen. Some interaction between the two people remains unclear. If it is understood and brought out into the open, growth will proceed at maximum speed, and, in the dimension of feeling, happiness, bliss, profound experience, and ecstasy will become forever deeper and more beautiful, and life will acquire more meaning."

Tao Te Ching

I discover the Tao Te Ching – one of the most beautiful (and shortest!) spiritual texts ever written. The text is available online here (I recommend Stephen Mitchell's translation, as some other translations do not render the mystical/spiritual nature of this text as well). I love every single word of it, it melts in your mind like pure candy. A taste:

"The master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
The people say: "Amazing:
We did it, all by ourselves!""

In the notes at the end of the book, there is this delicious quote from Ramana Maharshi:

"Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes."

The Power of Now

Despite being turned off by the cheesy title, I finally get to read The Power of Now, after a couple of friends have recommended it. What a surprise: it is the best book about "enlightenment"/"higher consciousness" encountered so far. The author Eckhart Tolle does an incredible job at conveying the spiritual message without tying himself to any religious system or tradition. Quite a – o so painfully needed – accomplishment!

I write to a friend: "Nothing written in this book differs from my own experience. I could have written about every sentence of it". A few excerpts:

"There is and always has been one spiritual teaching, although it comes in many forms."

"The word God has become empty of meaning through thousands of years of misuse. By misuse, I mean that people who have never even glimpsed the realm of the sacred, the infinite vastness behind that word, use it with great conviction, as if they knew what they are talking about. Or they argue against it, as if they knew what it is that they are denying."

"Just because you can solve a crossword puzzle or build an atom bomb doesn’t mean that you use your mind. Just as dogs love to chew bones, the mind loves to get its teeth into problems. That’s why it does crossword puzzles and builds atom bombs. You have no interest in either."

"The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter – beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace – arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken."

"The predominance of mind is no more than a stage in the evolution of consciousness. We need to go on to the next stage now as a matter of urgency; otherwise, we will be destroyed by the mind, which has grown into a monster."

"The pollution of the planet is only an outward reflection of an inner psychic pollution: millions of unconscious individuals not taking responsibility for their inner peace."

"Anything that is done with negative energy will become contaminated by it and in time give rise to more pain, more unhappiness. Furthermore, any negative inner state is contagious: Unhappiness spreads more easily than a physical disease. Through the law of resonance, it triggers and feeds latent negativity in others, unless they are immune – that is, highly conscious."

"If a fish is born in your aquarium and you call it John, write out a birth certificate, tell him about his family history, and two minutes later it gets eaten by another fish – that’s tragic. But it’s only tragic because you projected a separate self where there was none. You got hold of a fraction of a dynamic process, a molecular dance, and made a separate entity out of it."

""Water? What do you mean by that? I don’t understand it." This is what a fish would say if it had a human mind."

"Don’t get stuck at the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It’s an abstraction. Not unlike a signpost, it points beyond itself. The word honey isn’t honey. You can study and talk about honey for as long as you like, but you won’t really know it until you taste it. After you have tasted it, the word becomes less important to you."

"You find God the moment you realize that you don’t need to seek God."

"The down cycle is absolutely essential for spiritual realization. You must have failed deeply on some level or experienced some deep loss or pain to be drawn to the spiritual dimension."

"The most essential kind of knowledge is not yet widely accessible."

"All evils are the effect of unconsciousness. You can alleviate the effects of unconsciousness, but you cannot eliminate them unless you eliminate their cause. True change happens within, not without."

"As more humans awaken, the word work is going to disappear from our vocabulary, and perhaps a new word will be created to replace it."

"In the state of surrender, you see very clearly what needs to be done, and you take action, doing one thing at a time and focusing on one thing at a time. Learn from nature: See how everything gets accomplished and how the miracle of life unfolds without dissatisfaction or unhappiness. That’s what Jesus said: "Look at the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.""

"It is true that only an unconscious person will try to use and manipulate others, but it is equally true that only an unconscious person can be used and manipulated."

"The amazing and incomprehensible fact is not that you can become conscious of God but that you are not conscious of God."

"How much more time do you think you will need before you are able to say "I will create no more pain, no more suffering?" How much more pain do you need before you can make that choice?"

"— How will I know when I have surrendered?
— When you no longer need to ask the question."

You must be the change you wish to see in the world

Maybe the most sensible thing ever written? Definitely my new mantra. More quotes from this great Master, Gandhi:

"There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e. the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being."

"The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience."

"Human society is a ceaseless growth, an unfoldment in terms of spirituality."

"Hate the sin and not the sinner."

"To lose oneself in all, is the only way to find oneself."

"Non-violence is not a quality to be evolved or expressed to order. It is an inward growth depending for sustenance upon intense individual effort."

"Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position."

"Breach of promise is a base surrender of truth."

"Commonsense is the realized sense of proportion."

"Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men."

"An ounce of practice is worth more then tons of preaching."

"I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others."

"A really self-restrained person grows every day from strength to strength and from peace to more peace. The very first step in self-restraint is the restraint of thoughts."

"We should meet abuse by forbearance. Human nature is so constituted that if we take absolutely no notice of anger or abuse, the person indulging in it will soon weary of it and stop."

"Everyone has faith in God though everyone does not know it. For everyone has faith in himself and that multiplied to the nth degree is God. The sum total of all that lives is God. We may not be God, but we are of God, even as a little drop of water is of the ocean."

"The hardest metal yields to sufficient heat. Even so must the hardest heart melt before sufficiency of the heat of non- violence. And there is no limit to the capacity of non-violence to generate heat."

"We do not need to proselytize either by our speech or by our writing. We can only do so really with our lives. Let our lives be open books for all to study."

Words from Rumi (1207-1273)

Here are a few excerpts from my favorite poet, probably the greatest mystical poet of all times (from The essential Rumi). Rumi lived in Afghanistan (then the Persian Empire) in the 13th Century.

"ONLY BREATH

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu,
Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or the next,
did not descend from Adam and Eve or any

origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being."
…………

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn't make any sense."
…………

"Objects move from inorganic to vegetation
to selves endowed with spirit through the urgency
of every love that wants to come to perfection."
…………

"WEAN YOURSELF

Little by little, wean yourself.
This is the gist of what I have to say.

From an embryo, whose nourishment comes in the blood,
move to an infant drinking milk,
to a child on solid food,
to a searcher after wisdom,
to a hunter of more invisible game.

Think how it is to have a conversation with an embryo.
You might say, "the world outside is vast and intricate.
There are wheatfields and mountain passes,
and orchards in bloom.

At night there are millions of galaxies, and in sunlight
the beauty of friends dancing at a wedding."

You ask the embryo why he, or she, stays cooped up
in the dark with eyes closed.
                                        Listen to the answer.

There is no "other world."
I only know what I've experienced.
You must be hallucinating."
…………

"THE GUEST HOUSE

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond."
…………

"(...) What is the mirror of being?
Non-being. Always bring a mirror of non-existence
as a gift. Any other present is foolish.

Let the poor man look deep into generosity.
Let bread see a hungry man.
Let kindling behold a spark from the flint.

An empty mirror and your worst destructive habits,
when they are held up to each other,
that's when the real making begins.
That's what art and craft are.

A tailor needs a torn garment to practice his expertise.
The trunks of trees must be cut and cut again
so they can be used for fine carpentry.

Your doctor must have a broken leg to doctor,
Your defects are the ways that glory gets manifested.
Whoever sees clearly what's diseased in himself
begins to gallop on the way. (...)"