Heart vs. Mind – Reconciling Knowledge and Wisdom in Spiritual Practice –Part 1

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

I was always a good student in school, placing a high regard on learning and acquiring knowledge, even at a young age. My mother always wanted me to go into some kind of profession. She recognized that society placed importance on these externals. Having a curiosity about life and all of its workings, I wanted to be a scientist. I played with chemistry sets and microscopes. Instead, I became a teacher, and though life has taken me through a number of diversions, teaching remains a profession I love.

I approached my spiritual seeking through the same academic lens I viewed everything else. In the beginning, I guess like most of us, it was all about learning something. The idea of directly experiencing what I read about never really occurred to me. I felt it was out of my reach. I didn’t have a teacher, a guru, available to dispel the darkness. So I stayed in my ‘learning’ mode for a long time. The more I learned, however, the more restless I became. I began to notice that I was missing something. What was the point of all this knowledge? Nothing was really changing for me and wasn’t that the point of all this searching?  I began to ask myself, “Is that all there is?”

Wisdom as Alchemy

“the goal of yoga, union with Spirit, can only be known through experience, not through simply relying on understanding with the mind.”  ~ Upanishads

If knowledge is power, then wisdom is alchemy. It’s true that most of us get wiser as we get older, simply because living has transformed or transmuted what we know of life into something more profound.  Our experiences change us. How many of you (of a certain age) have said to someone that you are no longer the person you were 10 or 20 years ago? But if you try to describe that ‘new you’ to put words to it, you may find that difficult. You can say you are a ‘freer person” “stronger” “more compassionate” etc. but do those words truly convey the metamorphosis you know you have undergone through your life or do they fall short. Does that explain why when we try to give advice to a young person, he/she doesn’t understand anything we attempt to say, even if “it’s for his/her own good.” Young people respond to the concrete, the immediate. Wisdom is neither – knowledge is.

When I began my ‘active’ spiritual searching more than 20 years ago, I read as much as I could get my hands on. I tried to memorize the spiritual jargon thinking that if I could use those words in a conversation then I would be regarded as being on a spiritual path. If there were people who “knew “ more than I did, I felt that they were further along on the path than I was. I felt inadequate. I thought I had to “know” something. But it wasn’t long before I realized none of the mental gyrations I went through qualified me as a spiritual seeker. Listening to others explaining “this is this …and that is that….” only left me with more of an empty feeling. And words, no matter how many or valid, could not fill that emptiness.

So how powerful exactly is knowledge? Swami Muktananda said, “Knowledge of the external world is the root of all sorrow when it seeps inside and we identify with it.”  He goes further when he quotes the Siva Sutra 1.2, jnanam bandhah, “Knowledge is bondage.”  If we live steeped in our social agreements, that is to say the labels or false identities we use to define ourselves and our place on this planet, then we are missing the essence of who and what we are. The mind has created and perpetuates the illusion of separation.  Only when we free ourselves from the mind, can we begin to understand our true nature. This is when the alchemy – and real transformation – begins.  So it is only when knowledge is treated as an end in itself do we get into trouble. We need to get out of our heads and begin experiencing with our hearts. That is where wisdom lives.

Direct Experience vs. Intellect

Most of us do realize this on some level. And when we do, we usually try to augment our intellectual searching through some kind of sadhana or spiritual practice. Meditation is a common way to still the clamoring of the mind so something else (our true selves) can be acknowledged and heard. The four yogas (used to attain union with Spirit), Raja, Jnana, Bhakti and Karma are sometimes treated as separate paths, but that too is an illusion

created by the mind. When studied with the heart, separation dissolves into oneness. The idea of a “path” which has form disappears.  From that experience of oneness comes wisdom and the union with spirit we are striving to attain.  Direct experience transcends the mind and therefore thought.  As soon as we try to put words to describe our experience it seems to diminish it somehow. Something gets lost in the translation.

Something else begins to happen. I’ve noticed that I no longer care about the ‘workings’ of spirituality from a mental level. I don’t particularly care to have anything explained to me. My teacher gave a wonderful example of this. None of us are really concerned with the mechanics of how a TV works we just want to click the remote to get our programs. When you turn on the faucet to get water, do you really care where it comes from or how it gets to you? I don’t know about you, but I don’t. Indeed there was a time when I would’ve wanted to know and understand everything. The need to neatly label and file away information into mental compartments is disappearing. What is happening to me? I seem to be suffering from a shocking lack of curiosity.

I’m not diminishing intellectual curiosity, I’m just warning against giving it too much credit. It is a known fact that the greatest spiritual beings that have walked this planet were not Ph.d.s. Some never had any traditional schooling. The East does not recognize this as an impediment to spiritual growth or the attainment of wisdom. Only here in the West do we still hang on to outward forms. We always need to know a person’s credentials before we will even listen to what they have to say, much less judge it as acceptable.  (Part 2 will follow in my next post…)


 

Imagine

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

I almost posted this on the anniversary of John Lennon’s birth, but thought it was better suited as an end of the year post.  That is the time when, I feel, we are all most likely to be reflective.

This song’s lyrics together with the images in the video describe non-duality perfectly. I love the contrast of the opening as John and Yoko are walking down a path that is shrouded in mist and darkness (ignorance) and then enter an all-white house (love the sign “This is not here”).  As John plays the piano and sings the lyrics, Yoko is opening the drapes letting the light into the dark room, which is seen now to be completely white (the color of pure consciousness).  Fabulous!

I hope the lyrics will resonate with you as we move into yet another troubled year.

Enjoy and ….Imagine….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7qaSxuZUg

The Idea of Guru

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

People bristle when I tell them I have a spiritual teacher. They probably think I’m part of some cult and half expect me to talk about the flavor of Kool-aid I was given to drink. Can you imagine what people would think if I use the word ‘guru?’ Actually, I do use that word. What the heck, they think I’m over the edge anyway. Why disappoint them? And besides, I’m finding I like ruffling a few feathers.  I enjoy challenging people’s perspectives.  Nevertheless, the idea of a guru is a concept that many find disturbing.

There are valid points to this argument. Jiddu Krishnamurti strongly opposed the idea of a guru and he rejected organized religion and spirituality as well.  He did this most publicly in 1929, when he gave a speech in which he stated, “…Truth is a pathless land.”  Krishnamurti felt that the spiritual search for enlightenment can only be found in one self and if we follow a guru or church we become enslaved by the authority and power they wield over us.  And, of course, he is right.  You just have to look at the hypocrisy that is rampant these days among certain organized religions and so-called spiritual leaders. But there have been spiritual Masters through the ages, who have had gurus and have themselves acted in that role.  There have also been followers of organized religions, saints in the Catholic Church for example, who attained to realization (enlightenment). St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila both reached enlightenment and they endured great hardship because of people’s reactions to their experiences. So how do you know who or what to trust?

The guru/student relationship is demonstrated beautifully in the first (and best) Matrix movie, a film that is remarkable in its parallels to non-dualistic philosophies. Morpheus puts Neo through a series of difficult trainings with the purpose of showing Neo his true identity. “I’m trying to free your mind Neo,” Morpheus tells him, “but I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it.”  Morpheus never told Neo, “Do what I say or you’re going to hell.”

So, let’s take a look at the qualities of a true guru or teacher.  A true teacher doesn’t demand you ‘follow’ him/her. He/she doesn’t have ‘teachings’ but will help you know the Truth.  A true teacher is one who will help you navigate the unfamiliar territory of the spiritual landscape without an agenda, without judgment, and without demanding anything from you, until the veils of illusion are stripped away and you realize who you really are.  Remember, it’s your sadhana; you are the one who has to walk through the door.

There is the Buddhist proverb, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” This is a true statement. I know this from personal experience, as do many people I know.

Celebrate Oneness with Music!

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

In the midst of all the divisive rhetoric polluting the airwaves these days, I found myself gravitating toward this you-tube video a friend sent me a while back. It’s sounds like these I hope we can fill our spaces with instead of the fear and hate that is so rampant in our world right now.  Here is a little back-story…

Several years ago, a well-known street musician in Santa Monica named Roger Ridley was singing, “Stand by Me” when he was overheard by the crew for the small group, Playing For Change.  This began a whole new direction for the group whose mission now is to unite the world through music. They are uplifting and wonderful and a reminder that there is room for peace and love in our lives.  You can learn more by checking out their website: www.playingforchange.com

Here is the link to the song that started it all…..”Stand By Me”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

The Question of Free Will

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

Ever say or do anything the whole time thinking, “why am I saying (or doing) this?” We have all experienced those moments when we question our words or actions. We are told we have free will, the ability to choose what we say or do. Well, then, how do we explain those times when we just couldn’t keep ourselves from speaking or acting in a certain way?

I’ve always questioned the idea of free will. Sure, I thought I was the one making all the decisions, but I realized that some of those decisions were just a product of certain behavior patterns, dictated by psychological, biological, sociological and perhaps even theological conditioning. For example, think of someone close to you. Now imagine a choice that they will have to make. It could something as simple as what they will choose to eat in a restaurant or what color shirt they will buy. You don’t have to be the amazing Kreskin to know what they will choose. If my mother were given a choice between a blue sweater and a green one, she would choose the green. I know this because green was her favorite color.  If you know your significant other hates broccoli, it’s not a leap to know he/she won’t order it in a restaurant. But to the ego, it was its free will to choose the corn over the broccoli. Even if we do recognize that our conditioning may dictate (or dare I say predetermine) our actions, we are still hesitant to ask the question,  “Just how free is our free will anyway?”

Spiritual and religious traditions stress the notion that everything that happens is a result of the will of God.  But there seems to be a caveat to this idea. When things go well, our egos take the credit – “I did that” or “didn’t I make a good choice?” When things don’t go so well, we say, “It wasn’t meant to be,” suggesting that a Higher Power is in control. So in other words, we pat ourselves on the back in good times and blame God in bad ones. Christians will say, “It’s in God’s hands,” or “Let go, let God” – another hint that we reach a point where we are forced to loosen our illusory grip on what we perceive as reality. The key word here is ‘forced.’ It seems that it is only when we think we can’t ‘do’ anything about a situation do we relinquish our imagined control.

As students of non-duality, we are taught that we cannot be the doer of anything. We are also taught that the only control we have is where we put our attention.  As St. Teresa of Avila said so eloquently in her poem, As I Found The Source, “…Nothing on their own have your arms ever done, the movements of your feet are caused by the waves He stirred…”

This is not an easy concept to get, because we are so entrenched in duality, in separateness.  And really it’s supposed to be that way. That is how our egos are wired. But, even if you not on a non-dualistic path, you can still catch glimpses of non-duality. Meditation, prayer, being out in nature, are all tools you can use to experience Oneness.

So maybe you didn’t really choose to have that pizza, but you can choose the focus of your awareness. You can make it one of love and compassion or you can make it one of fear, which gives rise to all the hatred, competitiveness and greed we see in the world. You have the free will to choose.

Harvest Moon

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

I don’t look up anymore.  I noticed that when I crossed my apartment courtyard the other morning to get my mail.  The first light was just coming through, but the sky was still dark enough to see the stars.  I remember because on that occasion I did look up. Just as the day was dawning, it dawned on me that I don’t look up at the sky anymore.  I blamed it on urban living: too many city lights to truly appreciate the night sky, but I suspect there is more to it than that.

When I was kid, you couldn’t stop me from stargazing. And I grew up in the Bronx, so there goes the ‘urban living’ excuse.  “Starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight,” I’d chant and make my magic wish.  And it wasn’t just gazing up at the night sky that consumed my evenings as a child.  I’d lie in the grass during the summer and watch the clouds travel across the sky catching a glimpse of a dog before it changed into a dragon.

No matter what is happening ‘down here,’ nature is ever constant. Oh sure the seasons change, the weather changes, even the constellations that are visible change, but whatever is going on in my life, or your life, doesn’t affect any of this.

I never realized how comforting that is.  I remember a PBS special from years ago featuring Audrey Hepburn. She was walking through a garden and said something that I remember to this day, “Whenever you’re feeling upset or sad (or words to that effect), go outside…” She knew.

Being outside and letting nature just ‘wash over you’ is its own kind of meditation. It connects you to that part of yourself that is bigger than yourself.  The simplicity of that moment when I stood alone and lifted my eyes above the fray of what I call ‘my life,’ was alchemical.  It instantly changed my mood and hence my day– for the better.

This morning, as I drove to work, I enjoyed the last of the full moon from the autumnal equinox of the other day. A Harvest Moon and it was magical……

The Cardinal T-Square of 2010 – An Update

by nondualmind, posted in Astrology

Let’s take an accounting of how the cardinal T-square of 2010 has played out so far.  The biggest punch of this aspect, from late July into mid-August, is over because Mars is no longer part of the mix.  We still have Pluto squaring Uranus-Jupiter opposing Saturn.  Saturn, though, is beginning to move out of aspect now.

In my posting of July 7th,  I suggested that possible manifestations could be:

The Cardinal T-Square of 2010

More economical turmoil – we are still seeing this, but it’s a “more of the same”  kind of situation that we’ve been experiencing – nothing really new here, except that people are getting more exasperated. Some of us are definitely re-defining our financial ‘identities’ as well as our material attachments.  By the way, the financial meltdown began as Pluto entered the sign of Capricorn.

Natural disasters, such as more powerful earthquakes – there has been more earthquake activity during this period, though no very large quakes, except for the one in New Zealand earlier this month.  There was also the unprecedented flooding in Pakistan and reports of volcanic activity in Indonesia and Columbia.

One thing, however, that popped out at me that I hadn’t considered was the overturning of Prop 8 in California. This fits right into this T-Square. Quoting from my previous blog,   ”This T-square is in Cardinal signs, which include Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorn suggesting an identity crisis of some sort. Whatever happens you can be sure that how we identify ourselves within the structure of society is going to be challenged.”

Every aspect of this T-Square was highlighted here:

Libra’s symbol is the scales representing balance and justice.  Libra squares Capricorn (where Pluto is residing right now) upsetting the way we’ve been identifying ourselves within the structure of society.  Also, these aspects occurred at what astrologers call ‘the Aries point,’ which thrusts whatever is happening out into the open in a very public way.  I feel that the overturning of Proposition 8 is a perfect manifestation of the themes suggested by the energies of this powerful astrological aspect.

One thing is for sure – I don’t think there is anyone that these energies haven’t touched. We are all blazing new trails for ourselves these days. Some of these trails may be external – new jobs, no jobs, new perspectives on the job. Some of these trails are internal – how do I define myself? If our identity is wrapped up in the material – what we do and what we have – then these energies will be difficult to handle. However, there is a great opportunity here to recognize what is truly important, real, and indestructible; the love we have in our lives. If we let the love in our lives direct our thoughts and actions, then we will have nothing to fear.

9/11 Remembered

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

Below is a link containing a poem I remember receiving after 9/11.  At the time, it was thought that this poem was written by Thich Nhat Hanh, but it was actually written by a couple who were inspired by Hanh’s writings. This poem has a new meaning for me now than it did when I first read it. Back then, it was consoling because the events of 9/11 were so traumatic, even though they didn’t touch me personally.  But now I am reminded that peace begins within one self.  As Gandhi said, we need to “…become the change we want to see in the world.”

Nine years later it still packs a punch…..

http://www.spiritofmaat.com/messages/oct21/nhathanh.htm

The Dalai Lama and “The Global Community”

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

To continue along the same vein as my last post, I would like everyone to take a moment and read the following message from the Dalai Lama. It addresses the path on which we, as citizens of the world (not just individual and separate nations), should direct our focus and attention in this new century. It speaks eloquently to the notion of interconnectedness, which is what non-dualism is all about….

http://www.dalailama.com/messages/world-peace/the-global-community

Stop the Madness

by nondualmind, posted in Thoughts

Let me start this post by saying that I’m not interested in getting into politics on this site, but sometimes something comes along which, in the interest of continuing to address non-dualistic ideas, I simply can’t ignore.

There has been an e-mail circulating the internet lately entitled, “e-mail of the year” suggesting how wonderful it would be if a president of the US (from either party) would give a speech that would begin with detailing two lists of countries. Those that stood by us during the Iraq war would be on one list and the countries that didn’t on the other. The speech goes on to inform those countries that didn’t stand with us that they will no longer receive foreign aid from the US. Well, the rest of the e-mail goes on in pretty much the same vein, promising to hunt down those who dare to hurt us and kill them, guarding our borders with guns, all in the ‘noble’ purpose of solving our country’s problems. Really distasteful stuff. Below was the response I sent back. I thought I’d share it here. If anybody has any ideas on how to stop the madness, please let me know….

“There are many reasons why I think this e-mail is terrible. It perpetuates the “if you’re not with us you’re against us” mentality, which, I feel, is juvenile. I get that people are fed up with a lot of things, but this is an angry knee jerk reaction, which is divisive and puts us in danger of losing our humanity.

Whether we like it or not, countries are made up of people not governments and to deny humanitarian aid to people because they’re not important to our so called agenda or because we don’t like their government is wrong. You can compare that (sort of) to boycotting BP and putting their employees at financial risk because you don’t like the corporation (although it’s time for these BP workers to start re-evaluating their principles and make changes to get away from this corporation – or work to change it, or maybe going to work towards greener forms of energy – but I digress…)

And to make matters worse, people who consider themselves good Christians probably put this e-mail together, which is completely hypocritical. We can’t consider ourselves apart from the rest of humanity – everyone and everything is connected, that’s just the way it is.  I have come to view the world and the people in it as one, not separate entities. What we do to each other we do to ourselves. Separation is an illusion and e-mails like this stir up hateful emotions, which I can never condone. So you see, my problem with this e-mail goes way beyond politics.

(I know I’ve used this quote before on this site, but I can’t help myself, so here it is again) Albert Einstein said, “A human being is part of a whole… (but) he experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”  I’d rather live my life this way than the way suggested in that e-mail.”