There Must Be Complete Integrity

There must be complete integrity.

Complete honesty.

Complete openness.

Complete truthfulness.

Complete seeing of what is.

Humility.

Peacefulness.

No troublemaking.

No attempt to put anyone down.

Not putting someone on a pedestal.

No self-promoting beyond the truth.

No exaggerations.

Knowing one’s weaknesses.

Knowing one’s dark secrets.

Looking into every corner of one’s mind with the flaming light of observation.

Hiding nothing from oneself.

Being humble in accepting advice.

Being grateful for any help offered.

Knowing the difference between right and wrong.

Always being on the side of life.

Avoid all heroic feelings.

Avoid all over-stimulations.

Always seek out peaceful solutions.

Be as non-hurtful as possible.

Don’t be aggressive.

Don’t be insensitive.

Be respectful towards all.

Don’t be wasteful.

Be appreciative.

The Stillness is Bubbling Over:

From nothing comes something. Ideas form in the mind and then become something in the external world. Expressions follow inspirations. Consciousness underlies all of it. There is awareness of it all. This awareness “knows” it all. It makes the world go around. Without this awareness, nothing would ever happen.

The primordial substance has awareness. All mysteries are revealed in this awareness. All mysteries are contained in this awareness. I am revealed in this awareness. You are revealed in this awareness.

Intelligence springs from this awareness.

The primordial substance also contains the drive to create. This drive becomes the will in all living things. The will to live. The will to move forward. The will to accomplish tasks, and so on.

It all originates from the stillness of the mind. The stillness of the mind is always watching, listening, being aware. There is awareness of your actions and your thoughts. Awareness of outer manifestations and inner manifestations: Actions and thoughts.

There is awareness of the intentions. Intentions to support or intentions to tear down. The force of will behind the intentions brings about the results. Strong will – clear results. Weak will – uncertain results.

From "The Nectar of Self-Awareness" by Jnaneshwar Maharaj

(From the Nectar of Self-Awareness, Changadev Pasasthi - letter to Changadev, page 96, sutra 16)

Quote:

Consciousness always remains in its pristine state,
Unmoved by feelings of sorrow or of joy.
Even though It may suddenly become aware of Itself,
Its state and Its unity remain forever undisturbed.

End of Quote

This quote illustrates what I have been saying frequently: Awareness sparks itself into Consciousness when it finds Itself in the manifestations of this creation; the sudden burst of the "I am"; the finding of one's Self, one's true identity in Consciousness.

Synonyms for Awareness

From the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Penguin Classics, Deluxe Edition, page 50)

[Synonyms for Awareness]

This Awareness, free from the eight extremes, such as eternalism and nihilism [and so forth],
Is called the “Middle Way”, which does not fall into any extremes.
It is called “awareness” because mindfulness is uninterrupted.
It is given the name “Nucleus of the Tathagata”
Because emptiness is [naturally] endowed with this nucleus of awareness.
If one understands this truth, one reaches perfection on all respects,
For which reason, this [awareness] is also called the “Perfection of Discriminative Awareness”.
Furthermore, it is called the “Great Seal” because it transcends the intellect and is atemporally free from extremes,
And, further, it is called the “Ground-of-all”,
Because [this awareness] is the ground of all joys and sorrows associated with cyclic existence and nirvana –
The distinction between theses being contingent on whether or not this [awareness] is realized.
[Further], this radiant and lucid awareness is itself referred to as “ordinary consciousness”,
On account of those periods when it abides in its natural state in an ordinary non-exceptional way.
Thus, however many well-conceived and pleasant-sounding names are applied to this [awareness],
In reality, those who maintain that these names do not refer to this present conscious awareness,
But to something else, above and beyond it,
Resemble someone who has already found an elephant, but is out looking for its tracks [elsewhere].

Though one were to scan the [entire] external universe,
[Searching for the nature of the mind], one would not find it.
Buddhahood cannot be attained other than through the mind.
Not recognizing this, one does indeed search for the mind externally,
Yet, how can one find [one’s own mind] when one looks for it elsewhere?
This is like the fool, for example, who, when finding himself (or herself) amidst a crowd of people,
Becomes mesmerized by the spectacle [of the crowd] and forgets himself (or herself),
Then, no longer recognizing who he (or she) is, starts searching elsewhere for himself (or herself),
Continuously mistaking others for himself (or herself).

[Similarly], since one does not discern the abiding nature,
Which is the fundamental reality of [all] things,
One is cast into cyclic existence, not knowing that appearances are to be identified with the mind,
And, not discerning one’s own mind to be buddha, nirvana becomes obscured.
The [apparent] dichotomy between cyclic existence and nirvana is due to [the dichotomy between] ignorance and awareness,
But there is [in reality] no temporal divide between these two, [even] by a single moment.

Seeing the mind as extraneous to oneself is indeed bewildering,
Yet bewilderment and non-bewilderment are of a single essence.
Since there exists no [intrinsic] dichotomy in the mental continuum of sentient beings,
The uncontrived nature of the mind is liberated just by being left in its natural state.
Yet if you remain unaware that bewilderment [originates] in the mind,
You will never understand the meaning of actual reality.
So you should observe that which naturally arises and naturally originates within your own [mind].
[First], observe [the source] from which these appearances initially originated,
[Second, observe the place] in which they abide in the interim,
And [third, observe the place] to which they will finally go.
Then, one will find that, just as, for example, a pond-dwelling crow does not stray from its pond,
Even though it flies away from the pond,
Similarly, although appearances arise from the mind,
They arise from the mind and subside into the mind of their own accord.

This nature of the mind, which is all-knowing, aware of everything, empty and radiant,
Is established to be the manifestly radiant and self-originating pristine cognition,
[Present] from the beginning, just like the sky,
As an indivisible [union] of emptiness and radiance.
This itself is actual reality.
The indication that this is [the actual reality] is that all phenomenal existence is perceived in [the single nature of] one’s own mind;
And this nature of mind is aware and radiant.
Therefore, recognize [this nature] to be like the sky!
However, this example of the sky, though used to illustrate actual reality,
Is merely a symbol, a partial and provisional illustration.
For the nature of mind is aware, empty and radiant in all respects,
While the sky is without awareness, empty, inanimate and void.
Therefore, the true understanding of the nature of mind is not illustrated by [the metaphor of] the sky.
[To achieve this understanding], let the mind remain in its own state, without distraction!

I am

There is stillness inside my being. A comforting stillness. A loving stillness. A love to be alive and a certain pride over the experience of consciousness. I must maintain this consciousness with all my power. This consciousness has arisen somehow out of the manifestations of this world and come to the fore. It exists within me and within every other thing.

The striving to be fully conscious propels all of the expressions of life. The search for consciousness is the search for absolute clarity, to know. “I am, therefore, I exist.”

There is only the moment

Today was such a “moment.” Today was a moment to be alive, to be on this planet, amongst the glorious surroundings offered so freely to the senses and mind. The freedom to walk down the sidewalk on a sunny day, feeling alive and appreciating the entirety of the spectacle.

Breathing in and out, setting one foot in front of the other, observing the passing houses and gardens, listening to the air that brings occasional sounds to the ear, feeling truly at peace.

The moment is here, now. Precious moment. All-glorious moment. Now is the giving birth of my thoughts and feelings, my aspirations. To be in the now is peaceful, without the chatter from the mind looking for a justification for its happiness. The mind just is in a place of freedom. No calls for it to look for something more somewhere else.

The fluctuations of the thinking mind have stopped, and the witnessing mind has emerged like a glorious flower opening its magnificent petals and revealing its true inner beauty. True peaceful stillness of the mind has descended upon me.

I walk on the pavement, yet I am floating on air. I glance at buildings and cars, yet I only perceive the marvelous manifestations of life I am gliding by so effortlessly. I am alive in this universe of colors and shapes, truly alive and I am thankful for being here, in this moment, to experience it all in this marvelous body of mine.

My Thoughts on Life

Having read and studied various thought systems (philosophical, religious, political, scientific), I have somewhat formed an understanding of my own.

I am not refuting any of these other systems. They are valid for those who adhere to them faithfully. I accept certain things, based on my own experiences. These things are varied and don’t belong to one system exclusively.

Some of my insights might be my own creations, but I may only think so, because I have not yet come across them in any other system in the way I fathom them.

>. Something exists.

>. This “something” is a subtle energetic substance.

>. This “something” is the cause and support of all that can be perceived through the senses.

>. This “something” is behind the life force that is the cause of all the expressions of life.

>. Within this “something” there is the spark of life that finds its expressions in this phenomenal creation.

>. Time is the measurement of movement of objects in space.

>. The expressions of this life force develop over time in space.

>. Our universe is not the only “spacetime bubble” in existence.

>. Intelligence means to support what works most efficiently.

>. Wisdom/proficiency results from experiences gained over a prolonged period of time dealing with the same or very similar issues.

>. Whatever exists now has always existed in some form or another.

 >. Whatever exists has form.