Gaia: What Is Enlightenment? - Articles, Links, and Resources

Enlightenment (Buddhist)

http://exploreTeam.gaia.com — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:17:58 GMT

We'd like to share a short video, taken from a conversation with a monk at the Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet.

In it, we ask him to explain the Buddhist notion of enlightenment.

Re: Sadhu Stories

http://ADLIAC.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:26:34 GMT

Thanks for the mini-education, Bill. My personal response is that all those perspectives, approaches, and practices, were for a different Earth, a planet in a different vibrational frequency, than where we are now. Things are faster and easier now.

And if Realization is of what always already is -- and if in fact the human self is not in charge of when that happens, and never was in charge --- then we can relax from all the effort, eh? Many teachers define THE key to Realization as: Relaaaaaax !!!!!! Stop!!!! Be still !!!!! If what is is, then ceasing the effort to avoid awareness of it, is all we need to "do." And when "we" "do" that, "who" is "doing" it, anyway?

Blessings, OM

Sadhu Stories

http://telesterion.gaia.com — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:30:41 GMT

I came across this page in metafilter the other day.

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/stories/rampriya.html

And the whole site is truly fascinating, a really great look into the actual sadhu culture in the India subcontinent. The navigation is a little wierd - to see the stories you click on the little orange boxes in front of the text of the links.

Here's the index:

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/index.html

Here's another 'foreigner sadhu' story:

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/stories/holysmoke.html

from the 'foreigner sadhu' page:

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/falang.html

And female practicioners, called sadhvis:

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/sadhvi.html

The overall message of the site is that as India transforms into a modern industrial state, the agricultural city-state traditions of the sannyasin and the sadhu are disappearing.

----------

Sadhana - "practice"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhana

Sadhana (Sanskrit साधना), is a term for "a means of accomplishing something"[1] or more specifically "spiritual practice".[2] It includes a variety of disciplines from Hindu and Buddhist traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives. The word is also used in the same connection within Sikhism.
The historian N. Bhattacharyya provides a working definition of the benefits of sadhana as follows:

"... religious sādhanā, which both prevents an excess of worldliness and moulds the mind and disposition (bhāva) into a form which develops the knowledge of dispassion and non-attachment. Sādhanā is a means whereby bondage becomes liberation."[3]

Iyengar (1993: p.22) in his English translation and commentary of Patañjali's Yoga Sutras defines 'sadhana' in relation to 'abhyasa' and 'kriya':

Sādhana is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhana, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies...mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal.[4]

Sadhu - 'practicioner - one who does practices or tapas (asceticisms or austerities)'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhu
In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for an ascetic, practitioner of yoga (yogi) and/or wandering monks. The sadhu is solely dedicated to achieving the fourth and final Hindu goal of life, moksha (liberation), through meditation and contemplation of Brahman. Sadhus often wear ochre-colored clothing, symbolizing renunciation.

Re: Enlightenment Teaching

http://sourceconnection.gaia.com — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:47:12 GMT

Few more words about the Transmission. Actually Transmission is an energy present in everything that exists all of the time... But as there are different kinds of Transmission teachings (with different teachers) this one has to do with Enlightenment!

Enlightenment Teaching

http://sourceconnection.gaia.com — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:43:32 GMT

Are you looking for real Enlightenment Teaching and Teacher?

Here´s good news to you!

Enlightened Spiritual teacher Dave Oshana, who currently lives in Finland, teaches seekers of Enlightenment and guides souls in there journey to Enlightenment via live online classes. Currently there is summer break, but in the Autumn Dave will come back with new online classes and I can say from my personal experience that these online classes can be life changing events!

At the moment it is possible to listen to a free AUDIOcast ´The Moment of Enlightenment Transmission´ at daveoshana.com . In this Audiocast Dave Oshana talks about his Spiritual Enlightenment that happened on June 19th year 2000 at five o´clock in the morning when Dave first became aware that he was Enlightened. Recommend it!

To find out more about Dave Oshana and this unique Teaching and effective Transmission go to enlightenment-now.com and below you can see a list of other addresses. Transmission is the word Dave uses when he speaks about the energy that is send to the Earth at this time from the Source of all creation. Transmission is an intelligent energy that seeks to enlighten souls and razes awareness and can bring positive change to people´s life in various ways. Dave channels this energy 24 hours a day and in these online classes Enlightenment seekers around the world can make contact with the Transmission and personally know the life changing power of the Transmission in their everyday lives not having to spend time traveling!

This autumn Dave Oshana will also be teaching in Minneapolis, USA, so all you American Enlightenment seekers reading this, find out more about this teaching now!! Dave Oshana is a real Enlightenment teacher with real Spiritual Enlightenment and Transmission.

The Enlightenment Teaching and Transmission is coming!

Love to you all!

Dave Oshana websites:
Dave Oshana enlightenment-now.com
Dave Oshana spiritual-teacher.org
Dave Oshana daveoshana.com
Dave Oshana oshana-energywork.com
Dave Oshana the-transmission.com
Dave Oshana spiritual-teacher.com
Dave Oshana oshana.org

Easy to read short page on Carvaka, Indian nontheist materialism

http://telesterion.gaia.com — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:09:39 GMT

An interesting little read...

http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2009/05/atheistic-materialism-in-ancient-india.html

The Carvakas mocked religious ceremonies, calling them inventions of the Brahmins to ensure their own livelihood. The authors of the Vedas were "buffoons, knaves, and demons." Those who make ritual offerings of food to the dead, why do they not feed the hungry around them? Like the other two heterodox schools, Jainism and Buddhism, they criticized the caste system and stood opposed to the ritual sacrifice of animals. When the Brahmins defended the latter by claiming that the sacrificed beast goes straight to Swarga Loka (an interim heaven before rebirth), the Carvakas asked why the Brahmans did not kill their aged parents to hasten their arrival in Swarga Loka. "If he who departs from the body goes to another world," they asked, "how is it that he comes not back again, restless for love of his kindred?" Carvaka thought also appears in the Ramayana. In the epic, Rama is not the god that he later became, but an epic-hero, who, as Sen notes, has "many good qualities and some weaknesses, including a tendency to harbor suspicions about his wife Sita's faithfulness." In the epic, a pundit named Javali "not only does not treat Rama as God, he calls his actions 'foolish' ('especially for', as Javali puts it, 'an intelligent and wise man')". Echoing Carvaka doctrine, Javali even asserts that "there is no after-world, nor any religious practice for attaining that ... the injunctions about the worship of gods, sacrifice, gifts and penance have been laid down in the [scriptures] by clever people, just to rule over [other] people."

Re: Sexual Enlightenment

http://telesterion.gaia.com — Fri, 08 May 2009 22:36:14 GMT

Sounds true enough.

No question - sex is one of the 'keys'.

I think you could present it better - it's a bit hard to follow.

Sexual Enlightenment

http://one-luv.gaia.com — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:02:48 GMT

---(excerpt from MysticConsciousness.com)

Cosmic Orgasm

As two become one in the unison of now, full emergence into love occurs… for it is seen that two really is not, and only One actually is.

.
.
.

“uh, yo dude, wut does that mean?”

full emergence into love, i.e. the cosmic orgasm that is occurring ~right now~
So check it out, take a moment to witness the moment…
observe as it manifests right before the eyes.

Do you know what the Universe is doing right now? Having sex.

“wait a sex dude, er, I mean… wait a sec, the Universe is doin what?”

Well, as the Mother/Father Creator come together to create Child, the course through which that creation occurs is inter-course… its actually a trinity…
so check it… the Universe is goin at it right now, and you know what, You are Its Creation… (read the rest of the article here)

----

Do you like questions?

Perhaps you don't...perhaps you do, who know?

The fact is, you have just asked been asked two questions and you are still continuing to read, so apparently, in some way you don't care... that being the case... here's another question for ya... have you ever stifled your sexual energy?

For instance, say you were in a board meeting, you looked over and saw another director and you started to get this sensation, you know, down there...then you thought to yourself, "that's not appropriate, i'm in a board meeting, these are important people, stop that mr. willy, i gotta focus on the board meeting."
Maybe it wasn't like that, but you get the idea... what is so damn important about the people you think are important that your sexual liberation should be stifled?

Maybe you don't understand the importance of your sexual liberation?

What is sexual liberation?

well, how about this...

Sexual: 1. relating to and involving the most basic energetic impulse grounding a Being (as in human being, horse, dog, cat, tree, etc.) in the dimensional reality of physical life. 2. dealing with the root/base chakra. 3. the connection to the Mother Nature.

Liberation: 1. being completely devoid of any limitations and inhibitions. 2. Following the sense of knowing in the heart as to engage the physical body in physical actions. 3. being free to let the basic energy of cosmic potential course through beingness

Sexual Liberation: 1. Seeing that all life is inherently energy and allowing the energetic impulses of eros, pathos, logos and agape to flow freely regardless of physical action.

this state of existing is a state that is akin to being experienced as a highly charged orgasm that does not involve fluid secretion or any necessary physical action to enter into this state. The residual effects of this state of existing reverberate into the surrounding resonate frequencies, thus raising the overall energy of the experiential environment one finds one's self engaged in.

For instance, the board meeting, allowing the energy to rise and flow and gifting that energy to all present adds a noticable degree of resonating vibration to the enviroment, and maybe, just maybe, the board meeting becomes less dull, less loathsome and the board members begin to loosen up and creativity begins to be nourished upon which the board can "step outside the box" and have fun creating with the business structure...

so, anyway, just something for consideration...

~loving you now~

Living Oneness Chef: Uncooking for Enlightenment?

http://onegoal.gaia.com — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:20:08 GMT

I am redefining many things in my life and i came up with this:

Living Oneness Chef Part 1
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hCHAXmU3u8

Re: Metaphysical manifesto

http://Domus-ulixes.gaia.com — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:23:45 GMT

haha

Re: Metaphysical manifesto

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:41:37 GMT

As a pyrrhonist I don't believe it is possible to know these things. Actually I don't believe it is possible to know that it is not possible to know these things.

Metaphysical manifesto

http://Domus-ulixes.gaia.com — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:31:10 GMT

Physicists, mostly, are realistic reductionist Copernicist mathematicists.

Realism is the prejudice that there is a universe out there, distinct from, but in communication with the physicist(1), and that understanding of this universe ought to be obtained by careful observation(2).

Reductionism is the prejudice that in order to understand complicated thingsit helps to understand its simpler parts(3).

Copernicism is the prejudice that the universe doesn’t care about the physicist’s tastes and preferences(4): the universe will keep going its own way as physicists fall for fads and fashions. In short, you are neither the center, nor at the center, of the universe.

Mathematicism is the prejudice that we can describe and, with luck, predict phenomena using the rules of the mathematical game(5); and that the universe deigns to conform to the rules of human mathematics(6).

All these prejudices may be wrong(7), but I will stick to them until they are clearly wrong.

By: Prof. Dr. R.H.P. Kleiss

From: 'The physics of Spacetime' - R.H.P. Kleiss - 12-04-2006

Footnotes at text:

1: Denying this is solipsism: the solipsist cannot be proven wrong by logical argument, but is, perhaps for that very reason, not a nice person to be with.

2: Denying this disqualifies one from doing physics (but not from doing mathematics); in extreme forms it can lead to revelationism and religious fundamentalism.

3: Do not be misled by fashionable slogans like ‘holism’, ‘complexity’, or ‘self-organization’. In the language we are using here, holims just states that the simplest part of a thing may happen to be the thing itself; complexity just states that simple things obeying simple rules may actually result in something pretty complicated-looking; and self-organization just states that the complicatedlooking result may actually be pretty robust. The Pseudo-Scientific New Ager will sit back and be impressed by the complicated-looking result; the scientist will be impressed by the simplicity of the parts and rules. The science of complexity is not the antithesis of reductionism, but an extreme case of it.

4: Do not be misled by fashionable slogans like ’observer effect’,’collapse of the wavefunction’, or ’the measurement problem’. Observer effect just states that the physicist, after all, is unavoidably part of the universe, and a separation between self and the universe is an idealization; collapse of the wavefunction just states that as the status of the self changes because of information gained
from the universe, it should not come as a surprise that the status of the universe also changes; the measurement problem just states that at present it is not yet completely clear how these status changes are to be explained reductionistically.

5: After centuries of brainwashing by physics’ successes, it is extremely hard for us even to conceive of any other way of doing it.

6: An undeserved but very fortunate condescension! This behaviour cannot be proven, but so far we have been succesful. On the other hand, it may mean that our mathematics has hit upon some fundamental actual properties of the world—in that case, an alien thechnology-based civilization on a distant planet would probably do mathematics the same way.

7: An open mind is a good thing, but a prejudice such as ‘do not jump out of this high window, because gravity always works’ sees you safely through the day.

Re: Who or "What" is Transforming?

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:42:38 GMT

You can ask "who" or "what"...
"Who" is intended to uncover the habit
or programming,
of identifying with the body/mind
as who one is....

Re: Kind of Pretty - "Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism"

http://keciabaldwin.gaia.com — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:35:20 GMT

I love Thich Nhat Hanh. He has such beautiful Presence. Thanks for sharing this, Bill. I found precept 3 most interesting. That is my parenting style....but sometimes it is very challenging! =)

Love,
Kecia

Kind of Pretty - "Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism"

http://telesterion.gaia.com — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:29:03 GMT

It devolves into the merely religious quick enough, but especially at the beginning has a beauty worth looking upon. A nice reminder.

http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/resources/14_precepts.html

Here's a few snippets - read the rest at the link.

THE FOURTEEN PRECEPTS OF ENGAGED BUDDHISM
By Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh (From the book Interbeing)

==============================
1
Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

2
Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout your entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.

3
Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrow-mindedness.

4
Do not avoid suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, visits, images and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.

...
14
... In sexual relations, be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.
===============================

Who or "What" is Transforming?

http://profundity.gaia.com — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:13:06 GMT

By asking "who" are we not making an artificial assumption? Would it not be more appropriate to ask "what" is transforming instead? I come from a computer programming background and when I evaluate the brain/mind it appears to me as "circuits" or "areas of operations" going on (agents, subagents, etc.). So, by saying "who" are we not anthropomorphising a computer program-like function? If a person's personality or thinking process transforms into a better "operating system" then by acting like it is a "who" are we not superimposing an artificial construct upon the evaluation? Adding an unnecessary layer on top of what is being evaluated? Should we not ask "what" instead of "who" (or whom)?

Integral and Evolutionary Leadership

http://voyager.gaia.com — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:49:57 GMT

Hi Tom and editors,

you know I am an enthusiastic reader of WIE since 1999. Tom, enjoying again and again your article "History of Evolutionary Enlightenment"

Since I am Bureau Chief of Integral Leadership Review of Russ Volckmann for German speaking countries I would appreciate to initiate some communication about Integral and Evolutionary Leadership for the ILR. Do not know how but i am sensing the creative urgency -and hell, especialay from Germany! - to connect the discoveries in Andrews Blog about new dimensions with new insights about leadership.

I am in exchange with a leading McKInsey Man in Germany who will write for one of the next issues. And with Russ (Nancy Roof from Cosmos JOurnal is endorsing it)I am considering an interview with KLaus Schab, Chairman and founder of World Economic forum in Davos/Geneva.

The German Center for HUman Emrgence will be launched in Autumn of this year. So I feel the field of European and global emergence might be ready to connect with this new stage some call third tier.

Maybe right now not...just a suggestion for the next months...

Very best, to all the team members of WIE STaff,

Albert

Carl Jung in the Feb - April 2008 Issue 39

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:23:01 GMT

must admit it is frustrating, at times, being both a Jungian scholar and an Integral scholar. The Integral minions discount Jung's work as pre-modern fantasy. The Jungians just plain hate Ken Wilber, (shadow work anyone?). For those of us (Tweener Jungians = between boomer and xer) who have deep respect and awe for Ken Wilber and his profound work, we keep it to ourselves, discussing it in the shadows of the Boomer Jungians still running the place.

I just finished reading Carter Phipps article, "The Cosmos, the Psyche & YOU", in What is Enlightenment? Issue 39, Feb-Apr 2008. I am delighted to see Carl Jung take such a prominent position in this magazine, both in this article and Elizabeth Debold's article, "The Divine Feminine Unveiled: Will embracing woman-centered spirituality take us beyond patriarchy"? However, his work is misrepresented per usual. Jung's work is nearly impossible to penetrate. He did not layout his work like Wilber, he did not name the evolution in his thought throughout his writings i.e. Wilber-1, Wilber-2, Wilber-3, Wilber-4. And so the average, and the avid reader of Jung misses the developmental shift into integral consciousness that Jung makes later in his life.

While I agree wholeheartedly with Debold casting Jung's cultural context as horridly Victorian, I disagree with Phipps' interpretation of Jung's archetypes as being fixed as first principle and "not toward the new, the novel, or the unknown". This very point is the reason Jung left Freud. Freud buried the instincts in the mechanical body, and Jung rescued them by connecting them to the archetypes. For Jung the instinct and the archetype are two expressions of the same phenomenon, one in body and one in psyche. For Jung psyche, made up of archetypal constellations layered by personal and collective complexes, guides one on her path of conscious evolution which he called the way individuation. What this means is the archetypes direct the flow, the force of evolution within each individual's life. Jung never posited the archetypes as fixed. Perhaps he made a mistake in using a term already fixed, but all pioneers are challenged with how to bridge the gap linguistically between what is known and what is unknown. Jung spoke of the archetypes as directing the flow, more in line with today's field theory.

Jung's idea of evolution is best reflected in his particular method of dream interpretation. Where Freud was apt to find the meaning of dreams in frustrated sexual instincts, Jung found that each dream had a teleos, a way forward out of the repetitive madness of one's psychological patterns. I believe where the post-modern mind loses interest in Jung's work, judging it pre-modern, is his move into symbology away from the language of words. While the post-modern mind for the past 20 years or so has been locked in the madness of a linguistically-constructed world, Jung's work seeped below and past this quandary. He posited psyche speaks in symbols.( Today's physicists say the same thing because mathematics is their symbology.) For Jung the image (archetypal expression) and its associated value (instinctual expression i.e. feelings) could lead us out of our epistemological contexts with its known signs, into a world of unknowns. As we spin in the amazement of a new symbol given to us in our dreams, this symbol points to our evolutionary futures. It is then that we begin to participate with psyche in "Eureka-like events" launching into a new worldview, a new context.

I salute this issue of What is Enlightenment? with hand to heart, hoping souls are sparked to go deeper into the world of dreams and symbology sharing with me the wonder and novelty of Jung's innerspace.

Kabbalah as a Modern Science

http://ariberlin.gaia.com — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:51:40 GMT

Kabbalah as a Modern Science

Many people are not quite sure whether Kabbalah can be considered a science.

Even if it is considered a science, is it a natural science that investigates the nature of the surrounding world, like physics, chemistry, or biology; or is it similar to semi-sciences like philosophy and psychology, etc.? Or perhaps it is a special science, that can’t be submitted to traditional classification and that requires from the researcher not only knowledge, but a special property not given at birth.

We regard a science as a research of the surrounding reality, which can be registered, repeated, reproduced. As we research the world in our five senses and with the help of the devices that broaden the range of their sensitivity. Kabbalists maintain that studying according to the method of Kabbalah allows one to acquire the sixth additional sense (screen or soul). This additional sense allows Kabbalists to explore the perceived disturbances, as we do, using our five basic senses. Kabbalists register, analyze, and summarize these perceptions into a single system. These observations, as well as the observations in natural sciences, have been conducted through many centuries and have been confirmed by hundreds of researchers-Kabbalists. The difference between the Kabbalist and non-Kabbalist researchers lies in the fact that the Kabbalists research the reality in the additional sense, which can be acquired by anyone who desires it.

On the other hand, the scientists have lately discovered that the picture of the world is completely subjective, is fully determined by the observer. According to the famous postulate of Niels Bohr, a researcher doesn’t observe the surrounding world, only his own reactions to it. If this is so, all the natural sciences can be defined as the knowledge that the person attains in his or her innate five senses. Kabbalah is a supernatural science, because it can only be comprehended after the person acquires this additional sense.

It is somewhat unusual to suddenly find out about a potential opportunity to acquire an additional sense and to receive in it some complementary information about the world, which one is normally used to feel in his five senses. Yet, as soon as the person is ready to accept this supposition, all the rest looks quite natural and the research of the world in the additional sense will certainly be called a science.

The Kabbalist’s attainments are real, repeatable and reproducible both by him and by others. In actual fact, all the Kabbalistic books represent the means of tuning the sense of perception and describe the perceived information. This is similar to the account given by a physicist or a chemist. Anyone can repeat the same experiment and receive similar results.

From this we may conclude that Kabbalah is a much more real science than the others, because it initially takes into consideration the fact that the person’s attainment totally depends on his senses.

Mastering a sense that perceives the surrounding reality in accordance with its own properties is absolutely new for the person. This elevates him to a higher level of attainment, turns him into a researcher, because by changing his properties he perceives absolutely new pictures. All of them are quite real, and only the gradual adjustment of this sense reveals the differences between them.

Due to misunderstanding of what the Kabbalists feel and attain, people erroneously attribute to them: various miracles, sorcery, manipulating with supernatural forces; use of red bracelets, exorcisms, “holy water” and other kinds of witchery.

From the aforesaid we clearly see the mistake of associating Kabbalah (the science of the surrounding reality) with religion, mysticism or any other sphere of human activity.

Author: Rav Michael Laitman, PhD

You can download all the eBooks, all the video lectures(all 7,000 of them), all the articles(if you wish). It is all for FREE. If you are truly wanting to know what the meaning of life is, then know it for FREE...

Re: A small contribution to SECOND LIFE

http://friendsofabc.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:36:13 GMT

Will
I cannot say with complete confidence that this is the correct answer but, it is like a virtual realm where people can create themselves again, living I life virtually, with an avatar, house, etc. All I have heard about it are bad things though so I don't totally know the truth about it.