Mystical Brain
Pretty decent documentary on what happens in the brain when a religious/spiritual experience occurs. Note that the keyword there is an “experience”.
Spiritual Mediocrity
What do we do about all the people proclaiming “you are that and “do nothing”? We allow them to yell and abide in spiritual mediocrity. Our concern is not with them and we carry on examining ourselves regardless of what others say. “Who is examining?” they may well ask. A great question if ever there was one. But understand that this question is also the perfect diversion – a way of making a rigid practice and creating a perfect robot.
Instead, we turn inwards, we note that the term spiritual mediocrity reeks of spiritual elitism and that in itself may be worthy of inspection.
Levels of Consciousness
The Hindus use four levels of consciousness to help distinguish between the illusory and the real.
The first of these is considered our day to day waking reality – it is the realm of personal experiences. This form of consciousness is considered the lowest and most superficial form.
The second level of consciousness is that of the nightly dream realm. This level has less of a personal self in it but there is an awareness inherent in the dream state.
The third level of consciousness is dreamless sleep. In this realm, there is no personal consciousness, but there is a deeper consciousness hidden from the waking “I” and dreaming “I”
The fourth and highest level of consciousness is that which is aware of all the states and is aware of itself.
Most people want to make the first into the fourth, but it is the fourth which contains the others.
Conscious Control
In a world filled with many illusions, perhaps the greatest illusion is that we are in conscious control. That illusion is ego’s energy at it finest.
Glory
For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph – a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpets and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories – together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments.
The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the day’s prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children robed in white stood within the chariots or rode the trace horses.
A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning:
“That all glory is fleeting”.
George Patton
