Ramana, Eckhart Tolle and Bhumis

 

Ramana, Eckhart Tolle and Bhumis

Q: Ramana and Eckhart Tolle have such a "enlightenened" way about them and still I am supposed to be more enlightened than they are

Kim: Both Tolle an Ramana have had decades to mature within their few opened bhumis, and decades to talk about it. You've opened a bunch of bhumis literally this and last year, and haven't had any time to soak in it, so you don't know what hit you... and you're still going ahead with openings. Eventually, if you haven't already, you'll open all of them and start perfecting them, if not this year, then next year. Can you see how different is your situation to theirs? You also as a young man don't have the life experiences Tolle has and that gives him confidence. 

 

-Let's think about bhumis in a different way. Is it better or more advanced to have 3 open or 8 open? 8 of course. Is there difference between someone who opened 3 bhumis 10 years ago and has kept practicing, is maybe close or has perfected them 3, compared to the person who opened 8 bhumis this year? Probably the one with 3 (close to perfected) is more settled. If both had same time to mature, then it would be the other way around. How about if we compare that same person with 3 close to perfection to someone who opened all 13 bhumis just recently? On 99% of cases I'd go with the person who opened mahasiddha bhumis because that person has stable natural state. The reason why I say 99% is because even if all bhumis are open, one can be too traumatised so that the subconscious tension just doesn't allow proper recognition. When the guard caused by trauma goes down however there is instantly a recognition, not of calmness but of the natural state. So I'd actually top it up to 100%.

-Then how about if we compared someone who has 6 bhumis perfected (arhat) to someone who has all bhumis open but none perfected, both's attainments this year. It gets a bit tricky here but I'd still go for all open. Six bhumis perfected gives a firm base but if the consecutive bhumis are closed, the whole feel and taste of it is entirely partial. Having mahasiddha bhumis open on the other hand, even in a bodymind that has none perfected, is like a continuous breeze of fresh air, and from there it is very easy, in relative terms, to integrate the rest into it. We are talking about few short years here, not decades, not even a decade. To sum it up, methods vary greatly. Hugely, in fact. Confidence comes by itself.

Kim

Pemako Buddhism

www.pemakobuddhism.com

Jarin herääminen

Jarin herääminen

Seuraava dialogi käytiin elokuussa 2019, ”Jarin” (nimi muutettu) kanssa.

Jari:

Hei. Haluaisin osallistua Heräämisohjaukseen. Vähän taustaa itsestäni: Olen 34-vuotias mies. Viime vuosina etenkin työelämään liittyvä stressi on saanut minut tutustumaan Eckhart Tollen opetuksiin sekä muihinkin vastaavan tyyppisiin henkisiin opetuksiin.

Olen joskus ennenkin eksinyt netissä Open Heart-sivustolle ja kokeillut Kaksiosaista ohjetta, mutta silloin en huomannut sillä suurempaa vaikutusta. Viime lauantaina se palautui mieleeni ja menin Open Heart-sivustolle lukemaan ohjeita ja e-kirjaa. Päätin kokeilla kohtia 1 ja 2, ensin itsenäisesti, sitten Youtube-videon kanssa.

Tämän jälkeen minulla on ollut poikkeuksellisen vapautunut ja rento olotila, enkä onnistunut kadottamaan sitä tänään töissäkään. Näyttäisi, että ajatukset ja tunteet nousevat samalla tavalla kuin ennenkin, mutta heti "savujen hälvettyä", olotila on taas tyyni. Pitkän stressikauden jälkeen tämä tuntuu hyvin kummalliselta.

Jotta en alkaisi kuvittelemaan omiani tilanteestani, niin päätin ottaa sinuun yhteyttä. Miten kannattaa edetä?

Kim:

Mukava kun pitkästä aikaa joku kirjoittelee Suomestakin.

Kertoisitko miltä kokemusmaailma ja ajatus minästä nyt tuntuu? Ja miltä minä-affirmaatio tuntuu?

Kyllähän tuo vähän heräämiseltä vaikuttaa. Voisin katsoa kuvasi tässä kohtaa. Laita tulemaan. Ohjeet kuvaa varten löydät täältä.

Jari:

Ollessani vapaa-ajalla - tai tilanteessa, jossa minua ei haasteta millään tavalla - olotila on pääasiassa rauhallinen, levollinen, usein jopa riemuisa. Silloin kun haastetaan, olen rauhallisempi ja rennompi kuin aiemmin vastaavissa tilanteissa. Kun pudotin tänään kännykän jalkakäytävälle ja osat levisivät ympäriinsä, minä vain rauhallisesti keräsin ne, enkä häpeillyt ohikulkijoiden katseita. Normaalisti siitä olisi riittänyt häpeiltävää ja mielessä kerrattavaa ainakin pariksi tunniksi.

Aiemmin minulla on ollut vapaa-ajallakin taipumuksena murehtia ja projisoida esimerkiksi seuraavan päivän työasioita tai kerrata mielessä jotain, mitä olisi tänään pitänyt tehdä eri tavalla. Tämä taipumus on ollut kateissa viimeiset 3-4 päivää. Vaikuttaa siltä, että alitajunnastani on romahtanut pois jokin rakennelma, joka on sitä ylläpitänyt. Arkipäiväisiin tapahtumiin liittyvät ajatukset ja tunteet nousevat samalla tavalla kuin ennenkin, mutta en reagoi niihin yhtä voimakkaasti, enkä jälkeenpäin kertaile asioita mielessäni niin paljon kuin ennen.

Toki kyllä minulla on edelleen minään liittyviä ajatuksia ja reaktioita, tässäkin viestissä olen käyttänyt minä-sanaa jo monta kertaa. Ajattelen edelleen melko paljon turhuuksia ja mieleni on turhankin innoissani tästä "uudesta olotilasta". Minään liittyvä taakka on kuitenkin kevyempi kuin ennen.

Minä-affirmaatiolla en saa aikaiseksi kovinkaan kummoista minä-tunteen vahvistumista. Ensimmäisessä moodissa sisäisen kehon skannailu tuntuu aina hyvin miellyttävältä, minkä jälkeen minä-affirmointi, jos se jotain vaikuttaa, niin tuntuu lähinnä vahvistavan ensimmäisen vaiheen tunnetta.

Kim:

(Valokuvien analysoinnin jälkeen)

Kiitos kuvauksesta ja kuvista. Herääminen on tapahtunut. Tämä on selvä homma, ei epäilystäkään.

Sinulla on jo selvä käsitys tapahtuneesta muutoksesta. Tulevina päivinä ja viikkoina se tulee vielä tutummaksi ja sitä kautta ymmärrät paremmin mitä herääminen on ja mitä se ei ole. Se mitä se ei ole, voikin olla mielenkiintoista varsinkin jos olet saanut heräämisestä lennokkaan ja epärealistisen kuvan.

Lukaise What's Next-kirjani, jos vaan englanti sujuu. Se kertoo Open Heart Bhumi Modelista, joka on meidän harjoitustapamme maastokartta (engl. path map). Herääminen on ns. 1. bhumin avautuminen. Tämän jälkeen on vielä liuta heräämisiä jo heränneen mielen sisällä kunnes ns. mielen luonnon tai tietoisen mielen tila vakiintuu. Se tapahtuu 11. bhumin avautuessa. Tämä kaikki on selitetty kirjassa yksityiskohtaisesti.

Jos olet kiinnostunut jatkoharjoituksista niin suosittelen Open Heart Joogaa. Siitä löytyy jotain tietoa suomenkielisiltä sivuilta mutta niitä ei ole päivitetty vähään aikaan. Englanninkieliseltä löytyy enemmän. Elokuun lopulla on mahdollista oppia OH-joogaa netin kautta seuraavan kerran, pvm löytyy kalenterista.

Onnittelut vielä! Se kävi sinulta helposti. Jotkut puurtavat viikkokausia.

Ramana and Nisargadatta In a Pickle

Ramana and Nisargadatta In A Pickle

The following quotes are about Nisargadatta's inability to help his students to awakening. I'm yet to find out how many people might have awakened directly through Ramana Maharishi's instructions but apparently, they seem like a very small group of people. This text gives the idea that Nisargadatta had the same problem.

For clear and effective instructions about awakening, read and download for free: Awake! Handbook of Awakening.

*

Another morning, Nisargadatta Maharaj started speaking though in a very weak voice.

"You people come here wanting something. What you want may be knowledge with a capital 'K' - the highest Truth - but nonetheless you do want something. Most of you have been coming here for quite some time. Why? If there had been apperception of what I have been saying, you should have stopped coming here long ago! But what actually has been happening is that you have been coming here day after day, identified as individual beings, male or female, with several persons and things you call 'mine'. Also, you think you have been coming here, of your own volition, to see another individual - a Guru - who, you expect, will give you 'liberation' from your 'bondage'.
Do you not see how ridiculous all this is ? Your coming here day after day only shows that you are not prepared to accept my word that there is no such thing as an 'individual'; that the 'individual' is nothing but an appearance; that an appearance cannot have any 'bondage' and, therefore, there is no question of any 'liberation' for an appearance. Do you even now realize that if the very basis of your seeking is wrong, what can you achieve? Indeed, is there anything to be achieved? By whom? By an appearance?"

Nisargadatta Maharaj.

 
David Conway reports about Nisargadatta:

One morning Maharaj seemed to be more-than-usually frustrated about our collective inability to grasp what he was talking about.

"Why do I waste my time with you people?" he exclaimed. "Why does no one ever understand what I am saying?"
I took my chance: "In all the years that you have been teaching how many people have truly understood and experienced your teachings?"
He was quiet for a moment, and then he said, 'One. Maurice Frydman.' He didn't elaborate and I didn't follow it up.

From "Last teachings of Nisargadatta": http://sri-nisargadatta-maharaj.blogspot.pt/…/the-last-days…

*

Teachers or gurus not being able to deliver their messages and life-changing experiences is a universal problem. In my analysis (see Awake! Handbook of Awakening, pg. 124) I have come up with five key factors that create an ideal situation for anyoneto wake up. 

1. The teacher is awakened and knows exactly what it is and how it happens.  
2. He has clarity and skills to convey it through exact verbal pointers. 
3. He has particular techniques that are succinctly meant for generating awakening.
4. There is enough one-on-one exchange between the teacher and the student so that the processing can be finished quickly. 
5. The student has recognised that his problems are essentially caused by self-delusion. Therefore he is motivated to go through the process. 

The opposite of these five key factors are: 

1. The teacher does not exactly understand what awakening is or how it happens, even if he himself is awakened. 
2. He doesn't have clarity and skillfulness to convey it through exact verbal pointers.
3. He does not know distinct techniques for generating awakening. In fact his techniques might be completely irrelevant or only vaguely relevant.
4. There is not enough one-on-one exchange between the teacher and the student which is why getting to the result is needlessly delayed. 
5. The student doesn't have correct motivation, no real need for awakening.

If the problem lies in the teacher and his whatever methods that do not work, and he blames the students for that, that simply is a very unfortunate state of affairs. Regardless how approved and highly regarded the tradition in question might be, this is professional incompetence, plain and simple. In all other fields of pedagogy, such teachers would be fired for the lack of professional skills.

We don't hear about the tantrums of professionally educated teachers because they have learned pedagogy and possess a solid set of teaching skills. For this reason, secular education is effective. Without the skills of the teacher it would be a very different situation. It would be considered amateuristic of the teacher to not get the young students reading or writing. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens in the spiritual scene on regular basis. 

Gurus, lamas and teachers who are expected to pass on the light of knowledge (jnana, prajna), can not deliver because they lack basic understanding of pedagogics and set of techniques to aid the learning process. Even if it is the teacher's very job to get her or his students awakened, even this low standard is not met. Because the teacher doesn't understand her or his own awakening, he cannot effectively pass it on to others. This happens in all traditions. This is very unfortunate. 

"Forget 'I am That*'. 

I realised so much more since then. 

It's so much deeper." 

- Nisargadatta before his death, reported by Jean Dunn 

*Nisargadatta's best selling book.



It is a great pity that spiritual traditions often lack reason. When we go to school we know there is a system to follow, a syllabus, and our learning is according to that. We know what we are going to get. If the school teacher said, 

"We're just going to iprovise it and teach the kids something vague with a random outcome",  the parents would chase the teacher out!

In dharma we are told, "Oh yes, of course, you will get awakened and enlightened. Of course!" but we aren't explained what it means and how it happens. We might get laughed at for asking such questions. The teacher might say, "Don't be such a silly child asking such a silly question because you cannot understand awakening". The crowd, all biased to this view, might join the laughter of the teacher. This is all wrong. 

It is the teacher's fault if she or he cannot explain and transmit his teaching and his realizations. All things can be verbally explained, in detail. Words, concepts and terms are not the realization itself, of course, but they are an indispensable and skillful way to convey the teaching. Verbal means are as important as non-verbal ones. This should be understood. If and as it makes perfect sense in all other fields of learning, why wouldn't it in the field of dharma?
 
I recommend people to be critical about a teachers who are unable to explain things clearly. Many people end up going to meetings and teachings, travelling on the other side of the world, year after year, dollar after dollar, not getting things right, just learning false concepts that they then carry around with them, still being miserable and confused about their true being. I've seen this over and over. Demand quality from your teacher as you do from the mechanic who fixes your car. You would never accept a car that was still broken after some time at the carage while still having to pay!







- Kim Katami, 1.2.2016
Helsinki, Finland.




For clear and effective instructions about awakening, read and download for free: Awake! Handbook of Awakening.

Open Heart,
www.en.openheart.fi
 

Nondualismi

Nondualismi

Nondualismi. Se mitä sillä tarkoitan ja miten sen itse koen tarkoittaa olemista, elämistä ja toimimista ilman mentaalisia referenssipisteitä. Tarkoitan sillä sellaista mielen ja tietoisuuden tilaa joka on ilman kiinnekohtia, jotka luovat (mielen tasolla) erillisyyden kokemuksen. Referenssipisteellä tarkoitan siis jotain tunnetilaa tai ajatusta, joka valtaa mielen ja kehon itselleen. Näin tapahtuu jonkin ajatuksen tai tunteen todeksi uskominen koska on syntynyt illuusio, että tämä kyseinen ajatus on jotain kiinteää ja konkreettista, jotain todellista. Näin syntyy "referenssipiste", jonka pohjalta jatkotoiminta tai reagointi sitten syntyy. Kaikkein merkittävin referenssipiste ihmisen mielessä on piintynyt käsitys minuudesta, minästä kiinteänä todellisena olentona.

Nondualismi-termillä tarkoitetaan monenlaisia asioita mutta minun selitykseni on melko yksinkertainen ja se koskee yksinomaan olemassaolemista, eksistenssiä. Määritelmäni liittyy suoraan ihmisen psykologiaan ja sen ehdollistuneeseen tai ehdollistumattomaan toimintaan. En ainakaan toistaiseksi ole kokenut olennaiseksi sisällyttää määritelmääni muuta kuin mielen toiminnan koska olemassaolon eli eksistenssin ongelma koskee ensisijaisesti mieltä, eikä esim. fyysistä kehoa tai muita kaksinaisuuksia. Jos meillä on siis tämä olemassaolon ongelma niin se johtuu siitä, että mielemme on täynnä referenssipisteitä, tutkimattomia ajatuksia ja tunteita, joita pidämme totena ja jotka luovat asetelman siitä kuka "minä" olen ja mitä minä ajattelen suhteessa siihen mitä "sinä" olet, mitä sinä edustat ja niin edelleen. Jos katsomme mieltämme voimme hyvin todeta, että mielemme on monien ehdollistumien sumentama. Tämä kaikki tapahtuu mielessämme, jota se sitten heijastuu tapaamme toimia ukomaailmassa. Buddhalainen harjoitus on tie ulos kaiken kahtena kokevasta mielestä.

Kun puhun koko psykologian kattavasta minättömyydestä (anatta, sunyata, emptiness, selflessness) niin se tarkoittaa, että ajatusta minuudesta ja siten erillisyydestä (dualismi) ei nouse lainkaan. Tämä ei välttämättä tarkoita, että mieli olisi ilman ajatuksia tai tunteita. Niitä voi olla mutta jos koko psykologia, koko mielen maisema kaikkine sisältöineen on minättömyysoivalluksen läpäisemää niin ei ole väliä sillä onko mieli ajatukseton vai ei tai ilman tunteita vai ei. Tässä hyvin kypsässä harjoitusvaiheessa olotila on referenssipisteetön, sijainniton ja olennoton, kokonaan ilman käsitystä minästä, joka olisi suhteessa sinuun tai johonkin muuhun. Kun mieli on tällä tavoin läpivalaistu (vipashyana) kauttaaltaan niin tämä minästä tyhjä olotila on ihmisen olotila koko ajan, ja silloin henkilö on kokonaan valaistunut, buddha. Tähän ei voida päästä ilman kattavaa harjoitusta. Jos meillä on otollinen karma saada syvällisiä opetuksia ja harjoittaa niitä niin se on mahdollista. Totta kai.

- Pema, 1.2.2016

Open Heart
www.openheart.fi

Awakening by Reading a Book

Awakening by Reading a Book

Read also:

Awakening by reading a book

Mark's Awakening

T's Awakening

Shane's Awakening

The following text is a diary of a friend of mine, "M", who was scheduled to take Guidance to Awakening. Guidance turned out unnecessary as awakening already took place when she was preparing for it by reading Awake!-ebook (available for free). Upon careful investigation of her diary and close up photos, I verified her awakening. There has been several other similar cases who awakened by reading the book and the materials.

- Kim, 1.2.2016

M's diary

Hello, Kim. I have been keeping a little journal since I started reading “Awake!”, because something unexplainable happened. Would appreciate your view on this matter.

24.01.16

I was laying on the couch reading from your e-book Awake.  As I was reading the first dialogue with ‘VM’, my body felt funny and my heart started racing, as if it was opened up or somehow activated. I stopped reading at page 12. I sat up and looked around the room. I repeated “Me, me, me, me..” several times, but I could not find that little annoyed bossy victimized monkey anywhere. I had to laugh.

I do not feel impatient. Just strange and like nothing could knock me over. I feel steady, like a rock or a tree. Thoughts bubble up and disappear like dew in the morning sun. I do not feel particularly happy or sad, just very neutral. Not in a passive way, but in an alert attentive way. I do not feel the need to prove anything to anyone like I have my whole life. It is like a beginning, not a destination.

There are a lot of vibrations in my head and sometimes the rest of my body. A pressure on the “third eye”, in the forehead. For the past 2 weeks, I have been trying to ground myself more to not get too much anxiety and energy in my head, but now I am grounded without much effort. The energy in my head and body can do its thing. I don`t feel like seeking to get anywhere, but whatever may come, I am curious about it. 

 

Going to bed now. Will see how I feel in the morning.


25.01.16

Getting used to this new perspective. Still feels strange. Things don`t seem to bother me as much. I just deal with it. Still have to see how I react around people/being social.

When emotions and memories pop up, I don't get so invested. I do, however, still have many strong emotions, but there is more space around them and I breathe more easily. In addition, I have noticed my jaw is not chronically tense anymore. Like it`s not “chewing” on any stressful thoughts. So I have less of a headache!

26.01.16
The cat threw up on my carpet. I just cleaned it up without getting involved. I didn`t get angry with him like before, just curious about if he is okay.

It would take me a lifetime to describe this moment. But that is a paradox, because there is no lifetime. I say “Me” several times a day, but the inquiry disappears into nothingness. Nothing to be understood; this is not logical. It`s almost annoying how OK I am.

I still see patterns in my behavior. It comes up like mud from the bottom of a lake, and it flourishes so that I can see it for what it is. It wants me to defend it, but it won`t survive long in the sunlight, because it`s like a troll in the old fairy tales; it turns to stone and breaks. I rest in humbleness and gratitude. Sometimes I have to smile or laugh or cry, even at the smallest of things. I want to thank everybody for being here.

I remember that I have been in this state before, but that anxiety and fear took over then, so it did not last for long. Now it feels like it`s here to stay. Or rather, the fearful self is not here to stay and to control the situation.

 

27.01.16

I spend hours sitting on the couch looking through the room, at my paintings, at the cats, my legs, the lamp, everything. The only thing I "really" need to do is eat. This state of being feels endless and it only intensifies. The questioning mind is going in loops; asks questions, not receiving an answer, gives up, lets it go, asks again. “You have no power here”, I say, and laugh.

I am in great physical pain, but it`s okay. Being chronically ill is strangely okay now. Not having a job or going to school is okay. Not having my family`s support is okay now. Is this true acceptance? It just feels like peace.

Open Heart,

www.openheart.fi

Demand quality from your Guru

Demand quality from your Guru

Muzika wrote:

>Like Krishnamurti he blames his students for not getting what he offers. It just takes a long time, perseverance, and earnestness on a path of self-exploration...He needed to emphasize that there is no truth in words, including his, because words cannot convey his state. All words cause problems until and even after one has entered emptiness... The exact same criticism can be leveled at Ramana. He had a simple and clean awakening to the nature of his existence, but because he did not see through words and concepts...

Baba wrote:

- The criticism of teachers or gurus not being able to "deliver" is a universal problem. The factors of this are quite simple:

1. Teacher does not understand what awakening is or how it happens, even if he (or her) himself is awakened. Therefore,

2. He has no clarity and enough skillfulness in his ways to convey it through exact verbal descriptions and

3. The particular techniques aimed to generate awakening might be altogether irrelevant or only vaguely relevant.

- So if the problem is in the teacher and his methods... and he blames the students for not getting awakened... What does it tell about the teacher? This is professional imcompetence. In every other profession, they'd be kicked out for not being able to do their job. Right?

- Imagine a school teacher shouting at the kids that, "I have been talking about learning to read for you for so long but you idiots are not learning any! What kind of idiot basterds are ya!?" That doesn't happen because the teachers know the basic methods of pedagogy and the ways how reading is taught to kids. It would be considered completely amateuristic on behalf of the teacher not being able to get the kids reading, writing or whatever. This happens all the time in the spiritual scene because of the incompetence of the teachers. Incompetence of the teachers is caused by there being no valid training system to produce teachers. It is not OK for spiritual teachers not being able to get their students awaken because that's the most basic thing! It's the teachers job! And responsibility.

- This problem, which crosses right through the whole spiritual/nondual/mind training scene, covering thousands and thousands of people all over the world. There is lack of clarity in thinking and analysis here (2.). Because the teacher don't understand his or her own awakening, he cannot pass it to others. This happens in all traditions. I am not blaming any of them, as I have also done training under several teachers of various traditions. I am just saying that hello, we ought to do better. Much better!

- It is a pity that there is no culture of rationality within spirituality. I mean, when we go to school we already know the syllabus. We know what we are going to get. If the syllabus said, "We're just going to wing it and teach the kids something vague with a vague outcome", people would tell us to take a hike. In spirituality we are told, "Oh yes, of course, you will get awakened and enlightened. Of course!" but we aren't explained what it means and how it happens. We might be laughed at for asking such questions and the guru might say, "Don't be such a naive child asking that question because you cannot understand awakening". And then the crowd laughs together at such silly question. Wrong! It is the teacher that does not understand awakening if he can't explain it. All things can be verbally explained, in detail. The words, concepts and terms are not the thing itself, of course, but an indispensable and skillful (or skill-less) way to convey the teaching. Verbal means are as important as non-verbal ones. This should be understood. And this all makes sense.

- Be cautious about a nondual/spiritual teachers who don't clearly explain you things. Many people have ended up going to meetings and teachings, year after year, dollar after dollar, not getting anything right, just learning distorted concepts that they then carry around with them, still being miserable and confused about their true nature. I've seen this happen over and over. Enough of that. Demand some craftmanship from the teacher as you do from the guy who fixes your car. You'd never accept a car that is still broken after a while at the carage while still having to pay!

- Baba Kim Katami,

Helsinki, Finland.

Open Heart,

www.openheart.fi