TO TELL THE TRUTH, OR NOT TO TELL THE TRUTH..

  

 

We are oscillating between these options....To tell the truth, or to keep silent, or to say something that is not truthful....

Sometimes, telling the truth seems to be the right thing to do, especially if it’s for a good cause :

 

“Truth never damages a cause that is just.”

Mahatma Gandhi

 

And also:

 

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion, against injustice and lying and greed.

 If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth.”

William Faulkner

 

There are situations when the truth will do no good at all:

 

“There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth.”

Doris May Lessing

  

Life could be simpler , if people would speak about the true facts, about their true feelings, thoughts, emotions:

 

“Don’t beat around the bush “(Get to the point)

 

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”

Mark Twain

 

  But, we also have to keep in mind that:

 

“Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.”

Mark Twain

 

Decisions, decisions....

EGO QUOTES

1) “Ego takes everything personally.”
Eckhart Tolle

2) “Every ego wants to be special.
If it can’t be special by being superior to others,
it’s also quite happy with being especially miserable.”
Eckhart Tolle

3) “My opponent is my teacher, my ego is my enemy.”
Renzo Gracie

4) “No matter what we talk about, we are talking about ourselves.”
Hugh Prather

5) “Our ego and emotions get in the way of seeing the problem clearly. Detachment is the key.”
George Mack

6) “The more awake we become, the less we need the ego.”
Steven Pressfield

7) “Every discussion which is made from an egoistic standpoint is corrupted from the start and cannot yield an absolutely sure conclusion.
The ego puts its own interest first and twists every argument,
word, even fact to suit that interest.”
Paul Brunton (1898-1981, British theosophist) 

8) “Your ego is your self-image created by thought.
It’s your social mask requiring validation because it lives in fear of losing its sense of identity.”
Thibaut

9) “The Divine Light is always in man, presenting itself to the senses and to the comprehension, but man rejects it.”
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600, Italian Dominican friar , philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist)

10) “Enlightenment is ego’s ultimate disappointment.”
Chogyam Trungpa

11) “Ego is constantly attempting to acquire and apply the teachings of spirituality for it’s own benefit.”
Chogyam Trungpa

12) “Is there a meditation that is not the ego trying to become?
Is meditation conscious if every effort implies time?”
Jiddu Krishnamurti

13) “Meditation is a state of mind in which the “me” is absent.
And therefore that very absence brings order.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti

14) “The greatest prison of all is the one our ego puts us in.”
Shane Parrish

15) “When you are upset because someone doesn’t like you, it’s your ego operating:
you validate your experience based on their approval.”
Thibaut

16) “Self-awareness is not self centeredness, and spirituality is not narcissism.
‘Know thyself’ is not a narcissistic pursuit.”
Marianne Williamson

17) “Comfort and luxury are usually the chief requirements of life for your ego – its top priorities tend to be accumulations, achievements, and the approval of others.”
Wayne Dyer

18) “There is nothing that strengthens the ego more than being right!”
Eckhart Tolle

19) “Receive without pride, let go without attachment.”
Marc Aurelius

20) “When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind, beautiful.”
Harbhajan Singh Yogi (1929-2004, spiritual teacher, yogi)

21) “The ultimate aim of the ego is not to see something, but to be something.”
Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938, Indian poet, philosopher, politician, academic barrister)

22) “All you need to know and observe in yourself is this:
Whenever you feel superior or inferior to anyone, that’s the ego in you.”
Eckhart Tolle

23) “Complaining is one of the ego’s favorite strategies for strengthening itself.”
Eckhart Tolle

24)“Let us be more simple and less vain.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778, Genevan philosopher, writer, composer)

25)“When the ego dies, the soul awakes.”
Mahatma Gandhi

TOLERANCE, AS RESPECT AND UNDERSTANDING

We are a world of very different individuals, different minds, different opinions....and this is manifesting as the entire range, from “tolerance”, to severe opposition, violence and deadly conflict.

 

 

We can’t ignore or “tolerate” the worst people and situations: there are real bullies out there, there is predator behavior among humans, there are immoral or criminal acts:

 

 

“Tolerance becomes a crime, when applied to evil.”

Thomas Mann

 

 

Acting blindly, in the name of “Tolerance” , will lead to the worst results:

 

 

“The man who is most aggressive in teaching tolerance is the most intolerant of all:

he wants a world full of people too timid and ashamed to really disagree with anything.”

Criss Jami, “Killosophy”

 

 

Sometimes, telling the truth is quickly labelled as “intolerance”:

 

“It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”

Noel Coward, “Blithe Spirit”

 

 

 Leaving aside the really intolerable situations, we could think about the meaning of “tolerance”, as it relates to the day to day things, or people that may bother us.

 

 

We have to understand this word: “TOLERANCE”....because it can be insulting, it implies that we “tolerate” something that bothers us, that upsets us, or somebody who is bad, or inferior to us.

 

 

“If you accept others as equals, you embrace them unconditionally, now and forever.

But if you let them know that you tolerate them, you suggest in the same breath that they are actually an inconvenience,

like a nagging pain or an unpleasant odor you are willing to disregard.”

Arthur Japin, “In Lucia’s Eyes”

 

 

Are we always entitled to assume that the others are wrong?

 

 

“Tolerance implies a gratuitous assumption of the inferiority of other faiths to one’s own.”

Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

We are, in fact,  offending those that we are “tolerating” , because we establish, without any proof , or judgment, that they are wrong:

 

 

“Tolerance should, strictly speaking, be only a passing mood;

it ought to lead to acknowledgement and appreciation.

To tolerate a person is to affront him.”

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, “The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe”

 

 

“Tolerance” should not become an act of arrogance:

 

 

“He who would practice the art of tolerance must quard well against an attitude of superiority, smugness, indifference and coldness.

These qualities are tolerance turned wrong side out.”

Wilfred Paterson

 

 

“Tolerance” should not become an act of compliance, we still need to “make waves” , for positive change:

 

 

“Tolerance is for cowards. Being tolerant requires nothing from you but to be quiet and not to make waves, holding tightly to your views and judgments without being challenged. Do not tolerate each other. Work hard, move into uncomfortable territory and understand each other.”

Randall Stephenson

 

“Tolerance” is not about accepting something wrong, it’s about understanding and accepting others:

“’Tolerance’ is the wrong word.

It means you are putting up with something , and that’s wrong.

Living with others – that’s what it is.”

Ted Bender 

 

 

“Tolerance is seen as a virtue because of its concern for the common good.

Once tolerance is cut loose from this larger moral vision, however, and becomes shackled to notions of political freedom to do what one pleases absent much consideration of the common good, it becomes quite a different sort of beast.”

D. A. Carson, “The Intolerance of Tolerance”

 

 

What we are tolerating remains an important factor, and that’s why “Tolerance” must be replaced with a better virtue, based on justice, respect, truth and understanding:

 

 

“Let us not speak of tolerance. This negative word implies grudging concessions by smug consciences.

Rather, let us speak of mutual understanding and mutual respect.”

Dominique Pire

 

 

 “Tolerance” is necessary and beneficial for us:

 

 

“Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.”

Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

There is a deep spiritual truth that justifies “Tolerance” as acceptance:

”We need to move beyond tolerance to acceptance.

And realize that we are many, but we are also one.”

 

 

“Tolerance” means power over our own ego:

“Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.”

Tenzin Gyatso

 

 

We should not impose the rule of the many over the few:

 

 

“The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.

The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.”

Ralpf W. Sockman

 

 

The best definition of “Tolerance” that I could find is:

 

 

“Tolerance  is giving to every human being every right that you claim for yourself. “

Robert Green Ingersoll

 

The true Self - Sri Ramana Maharshi

”The Self is the one Reality that always exists, and it is by the light of the Self that all other things are seen.

We forget it and concentrate on the appearance.

The light in the hall burns both when persons are present and when they are absent, both when persons are enacting something, as in a theatre, and when nothing is being enacted. It is the light which enables us to see the hall, the persons and the acting.

We are so engrossed with the objects or appearances revealed by the light, that we pay no attention to the light. In the waking or dream state in which things appear, and in the sleep state in which we see nothing, there is always the light of Consciousness or Self, like the hall lamp which is always burning.

The thing to do is to concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them.”

Ramana Maharshi

EMPATHY

The Good Empathy and The Wrong Empathy

We learned to join those in distress, hoping to alleviate their suffering, but we have to observe ourselves carefully, because there are two kinds of empathy.



When we join in someone´s suffering and we become sad ourselves, we only amplify their sadness and depression.
It´s like we certify their distress to be worthy of staying upset. This solidarity in sadness is the wrong kind of empathy.


There is a better alternative that will really help them.

We understand their suffering, but we do not copy their sadness and distress.
We maintain our good emotional state.
We bring them peace and joy.
They will join us in our peace and joy, and they will feel better.

This is the right kind of empathy, the good empathy.
This is empathy with a purpose and with a good result.
This is real empathy.

Awakened

 

“Not seeing Self, the world is materialized. Seeing Self, the world is vanished.” Ashtavakra Gita 

 

 

 

 

“In the limitless ocean of Myself the winds of the mind roil the myriad waves of the world.”

But when the wind subsides in the limitless ocean, the ark of personhood is swallowed up, along with the universe it carries.”  Ashtavakra Gita

The next short video is full of symbolism that will give us an intuitive understanding of what Awakening is :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=84vMdZCOKX4

It starts with the sinking of the mind in the “water” of Consciousness.

Why is the girl shown swimming under the water , wrapped in plastic foil ?

The plastic wrap suggests the placenta, the Unborn Consciousness, without duality, the One.

This is the infinite, the eternal Ocean of Consciousness, the substratum of our perceived world.

Notice how our perceived reality is shown to be superimposed on the Absolute reality.

She is swimming continuously under the water, in absolute bliss, and her stressful life is superimposed on this, like reflections flashing on the surface of the water.

“If you were a wave on the ocean and you started thinking of yourself as a separate individual, you would live on the surface and be whipped about this way and that, and you would lose touch with your reality, which is the water that you are made from.”  Nisargadatta Maharaj

The surface of the infinite ocean of Consciousness is our passing, changing, troubled world of duality.

The couple is shown fighting in front of a window , the reflective surface of the water is also shown outside of the window, and the swimming under the water is also shown.

Both states of reality occur simultaneously, one is transient, the other is eternal.  

She exists in both layers of reality, but she does not know this, and she considers herself to be just a person.

“Mind always takes you out of the reality.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

The Absolute can not be known as a concept by the mind or as an object by sense perceptions.

We are the Absolute , we are looking for It and we can not find It outside of ourselves.

“Don’t look for me in human form.

  I am inside your looking.”    Rumi

The Awakening is the realization of our true Being, possible only by being It.

Suddenly, she raised her head over the water and opened her eyes  - she realized what she Is – she Awakened.

“In me, the shoreless ocean,

let the waves of the universe rise and fall as they will.

I am neither enchanced nor diminished.”

                                      Ashtavakra Gita

 

                                                                                                                                                                                            

Bad relationships - See the real cause !

Some of us keep repeating a pattern of bad relationships and blaming it on others.

We forget that we can’t change others, we can only change ourselves.

We lost touch with ourselves, so, is it to wonder why relationships won’t work ?

We covered our Beingness with a mental image about who we are.

A real connection between human beings is more than a match of mental opinions.

The real connection exists already , between us all.

To be able to see this, we must, first, reconnect with our own real Self, our Beingness.

The lack of connection with our own Self is the Cause.

The disappointing relationships are only the Effect.

Only when we'll identify with the real, only then our relationships will be real.

Stay Happy!

We forgot how full of life and joy we were,as children,just happy to be.

For many of us,our waking state dreams turned into tragic and absurd nightmares.

We discovered suffering,and we learned suffering.

We were conditioned to assume that it is appropriate to be stuck in the “sadness mode”.

To remain happy and at peace,seemed somehow...  not decent.

We became too good at suffering,we became professional sufferers.

We imagined that we will be happy,sometime in the future, but only after our problems will be solved.

Who is the one that suffers?

Is it truly me?

Who am I?

I have been playing many roles in my life and I fully identified with them, and all those roles had their share of suffering.

They should have teached us,from an early,age that we are not what we appear to be.
 We should have been told not to identify with body,mind,emotions,feelings,past experiences,social roles,personality.

We should have been made aware that we are the eternal,infinite Consciousness that temporarily took all these forms.

We limited ourselves,we identified with the form,with the person.

And the one who suffers is the person.

“We are not really experiencing suffering,but rather we are suffering our experience.” Mooji

We suffer as persons, from the limited perspective of our life roles.

By understanding this,we can detach ourselves from our individuality and from our suffering.

It is a necessary first step,but running away from suffering is not enough.

We have to unveil our true happiness from under the superimposed person.

Pure Consciousness is the infinite,eternal substratum of all reality.

It is our substratum too,and we couldn’t be without it.

The Pure Consciousness is formless , it is not a thing, this is why it is described as “No-thing”.

It is not affected by anything,so we are free and happy too, not affected by anything.

To be truly happy, you must recognize who you are with nothing."  Gangaji

Now and then, we seem to be happy for some reason.That “happiness” passes away.

Happiness is our true eternal nature,it should not pass away.

If we stop identifying with something,if we can accept the idea that we are “No-thing”,we are on the right path.

Our words and our minds can’t go further than this.

The infinite,eternal,pure Consciousness,our own true Self will guide us to itself,to happiness.

Until then, in times of despair,treachery,disaster,loss,war,injustice,hate,sickness,death,separation or other adversities, remember to stay as your true Self, remember to stay happy!

Stay Happy!

Love and the Limitless Love

         “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus

This does not sound quite right for the Ego ,and even many of those who agree with this statement ,may not really see it’s profound existential revelation.

The reason why we should love everybody like ourselves is found in the makeup of the reality itself.

We are all ,beyond the illusory individuality,the same Self.

When we love others,we love our true Self,because there are no others.

“The Self is one,though it appears to be many.”    Chandogya Upanishad

“The Self is that which is limitless,imperishable and unchanging.It is that which gives all beings existence and resides within them as their innermost essence.”    Bhagavad Gita

“I am the other person,the other person is myself; in name and shape we are different,but there is no separation.At the root of our being we are one.”    Nisargadatta Maharaj

“There is no “my self” and “his self”.There is the Self,the only Self of all.Misled by the diversity of names and shapes,minds and bodies,you imagine multiple selves.We both are the Self.”    Nisargadatta Maharaj

This seems to be the story told in the music video “Reflektor’ by Arcade Fire   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E0fVfectDo&feature=share                             

“Love is not selective,just as the light of the sun is not selective.It does not make one person special.It is not exclusive.Exclusivity is not the love of God but the “love” of ego.”   Eckhart Tolle

And the question that will fit this part of the existential puzzle is:

“When a man sees God in all beings and all beings in God,and also God dwelling in his own soul,how can he hate any living being?”      Isha Upanishad