How I found oneness.

[l_net]

Before coming to the realization of nonduality... I felt a constant struggle within myself.  A lot of things pushed me along the path to where I am today, but it was a public access show I stumbled upon at just the right moment that really kickstarted the "whole" thing.

Just thought I'd share... I wonder if anyone here is aware of this guy.  Please

Comments

[baal_kriah]

Well, I suppose there are worse ways to make a living.

[l_net]

There sure are!

But what do you think about his message/ideas? Or did you not bother with that part?

[baal_kriah]

I must admit that when he described himself as "knowing everything without any trace of doubt" he lost me. The only thing I know without trace of doubt is that I'm aware of existing. The experience of oneness is powerful enough to inspire people with many megalomaniacal delusions. It all works out in the end.

[l_net]

Haha... I feel you on that.

He's just a person... and I don't subscribe to any point of veiw but my own, what else is there... but he did help open me up to other ways of thinking at a time when my veiw of life was fairly limited.

I appriciate his ideas, that's all. :)

[taikyoyo]

It might have done that for me too, Jimmy Carter aside. I was raised with Judaism-lite, so the doctrines I was exposed to were mostly mainstream ethics and morals -- a fuzzy belief system -- Religion actually fascinates me, but non-duality is not a religious belief (and a good thing too!) Once beliefs are stated there are always counter-beliefs that appear -- it perpetuates duality.

Mystical traditions in all religions eventually cross into non-duality as far as I can tell --

Duality just appears to be the way our human minds work. So, unless we have a deep experience of non-duality, we just perpetuate it.

[baal_kriah]

non-duality is not a religious belief

Now, there's a religious belief if I ever saw one ;-)

[taikyoyo]

Oops, I'm showing my bias...

I once attended a retreat with Mark Epstein right after 'Thoughts Without a Thinker" came out, and mentioned that his perspective seemed to take up the themes of reality and realization, but without taking up religion, but where did he see the place of religion and religious 'practice' in realization? He didn't seem to want to answer the question (as a well-trained therapist I'm sure he easily keeps his beliefs to himself).

There doesn't need to be religion in realization but it seems to me it will always bump up against beliefs, religious and otherwise, because its so imbedded in our language and culture.

and I adhere to that religiously...

[baal_kriah]

That's the problem with discussing nonduality, the idea of "no concepts" is itself a concept. We can talk all about our dualistic experiences of nondual realization, but the nondual itself cannot be sensibly talked about. Perhaps this is what David Byrne was referring to when he implored us to "Stop Making Sense" :-)

[mr_goose]

well, a few things come to mind here. thought i'd put them down before i forget all about it

oops!

[mr_goose]

must have been thinking about my health issues. not andrew weil, the doctor, but andrew cohen, the 'what is enlightenment' guy.

[l_net]

Thanks for sharing your ideas... I feel like I'm just at the very beginning of filtering all this through my perception of "reality" so I haven't really delved too deeply into non-duality like most of this community.

Before seeing Ishvara on public access T.V... I read a book that really opened me up to these types of ideas. It's called THE SELF-AWARE UNIVERSE How Consciousness Creates the Material World by Amit Goswami. I'm not highly "educated" so it was a hard read for me, but I really feel I got a lot out of it.

Right now I'm reading a book my Dad recommended/lent me... A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle and although I tend to make fun of "new-age" self-helpy stuff, I have to admit... I like it. I tend to accept the parts of writings that jive with my perceptions of "reality" rather than seeking what doesn't... so in that sense, I'm extremely open-minded... I'm the type that likes to "believe" everything until it simply doesn't fit into my brain anymore, for example... most religion in general.

[l_net]

To clarify... most religion in general does NOT fit into my brain anymore, which complicates a lot of friendships I have. I bite my tongue a lot these days, lol.

[healingdrysuits]

I read his site over and have the following completely dualistic perspective on him, that in no way reflects anything about him...and everything about me

[healingdrysuits]

My response has man;y typp's Sorry...me am really really sleepy...it's 3 Am after all.

real dualism

[baal_kriah]

I like chocolate AND peanut butter!! Coffee and water!!

Aww, those are easy. How do you do with agony and ecstasy?

Re: real dualism

[healingdrysuits]

Good question...for me they are the same, the beautiful same experience. The same side of a single coin, but both on both sides. Flip it and call it in the air and you always get both and are always so grateful, so very grateful to be alive and breathing and in agony and ecstasy. God, I love that question!! Oddly enough, or not, I was literally just going to start a poem about that very subject earlier today. I was going to call it The Agony and The Ecstasy. Is that already the title of something though? A movie or book?

On another note:
that thing you and Taikyoyo had going up there...(snicker)...had me thinking (laughter) that you all were having...(dare I say it?)

A NONDUALITY DUEL!!

Okay maybe it isn't that funny, but couldn't it be coined or something and everytime it's used...like on a comm board having to do with ND and people get to going at it...I could make a penny or something?

[l_net]

I just wanted to say... I read all your comments and stuff... and I really appreciate it all. :)

I actually tried commenting on individual posts... but the machine wasn't cooperating, so I figured none of it was really very important, lol... so I gave that up, but wanted you guys to know I enjoyed reading and thinking and replying...

ok, that's it.