Spiritual Warriors

As someone said in one of the earlier posts, a "warrior" is just a metaphor for a way to lead your life. You don't become a "licensed" warrior or get accepted to a warrior group. People understand metaphors, images or parables better than words. Use Jedi, warrior, knight or hero. With that said, I consider the metaphor of a warrior to be something worth striving for. You don't have to be young, strong and able to kick someone's butt to be a warrior in my view. As an old guy I feel it has more to do with things like discipline, honor, compassion and service to others. Many people would disagree with my view but that is my understanding of the metaphor. I consider the knight Don Quixote of La Mancha to be a good example for me and I hope I'm not just chasing windmills. :) I do not prefer the "service to self" warrior metaphor that I would consider Carlos Canstaneda to be a good example.

Thanks for listening and may your path lead you to your dreams.

Last Edited by 1123581321 on 10/06/2010 06:28 PM

Nice...

Well put!

<<All posts by Michael11:11 and jk1>>

+1

You are both wise.

Cheers,
AM

nice post

i think the 11:11eners are spiritual warriors

Why?

Why thank you.

It just struck me while I was sitting there, and then later reading this thread. It's very difficult. How could I show them this????

They won't want to hear it!

Regarding Christianity, I personally do not need another 2000 years of the same shit. Try something else.

Op, Great thread! This is why I come to GLP.

Duality fascinates me and has since I was very young. I really believe it is one of the keys to finding the truth. I would very much appreciate it you would go deeper with it or direct me to books or sites with more information. Thanks.

Nine Faces of Christ (great novel)

Aquarian Gospel

The Keys of Enoch (Hurtak)

Just a beginning... best is to find a good teacher of any of the ancient arts like kung fu, Aikido, Tai chi, Chi Kung. A really good teacher will embody these things, which allows your learning to accelerate.

Your comment has really struck a nerve with me because for most of my life duality was a concept that eluded me as well, even though I studied it for most of my life.

For many years I read about duality in Buddhist teachings, yet they never made any real sense until my own awakening, and yet...

immediately after my awakening, there was no questioning. There was just total peace and acceptance towards everything. I saw that there was nothing to change, everything was perfect as it was. It was beyond understanding.

Now, many years later, I am caught back up in duality and thus have a perspective that an enlightened person wouldn't likely have (meaning that I have an imperfect POV, one based on reasoning and logic, with is an anathema to enlightenment.)

Duality in many ways equals polarity. The same polarity that is the basis for all of creation. Man and woman were created in the image of God, meaning that they are opposites. It takes the opposites (light and dark, man and woman, good and evil) to "create".

God is in a very real sense "yin and yang", positive and negative. Look at a magnet, and you are (in a vague sense) looking at God.

It takes the opposites to create, and these opposites go hand in hand with all that IS, but when we employ reason and logic, we create separation, which leads directly to DUALITY.

There really is no separation, all is ONE, but it's logic and reasoning (i.e., the ability to *think*), that caused the "fall" of man. If you're interested, I can expand on that idea.

I urge you to read these quotes, and then seek out the their teachings:

If you are attached to your thinking, then everything has name and form. This is the world of opposites.—Zen Master Seung Sahn

The sole necessity for Self-Realisation is purity of mind. The only impurity of mind is thought. —Tripura Rahasya 16:48

Thinking gives off smoke to prove the existence of fire. A mystic sits inside the burning. There are wonderful shapes in rising smoke that imagination loves to watch. But it's a mistake to leave the fire for that filmy sight. Stay here at the flame's core. —Islamic mystic Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (b.1207-d.1273)

Truth revealed [is] when the mind has stopped thinking. —Sri Ramana Maharshi

He whose thinking mind is dissolved achieves the indescribable state and is free from the mental display of delusion, dream, and ignorance. —Ashtavakra Gita 17.20

All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world...
How can a troubled mind understand the Way?
Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much
as your own thoughts unguarded.—Dhammapada

Every time a thought is born, you are born. When the thought is gone, you are gone. But the 'you' does not let the thought go, and what gives continuity to this 'you' is THINKING... Actually, there is no permanent entity in you, no totality of all your thoughts and experiences. You think that there is 'somebody' feeling your feelings - that's the illusion. I can say it is an illusion but it is not an illusion to you.—U. G. Krishnamurti

Thank you very much! I will look into all of what you suggested.

OP,
I am so grateful for your answer....just what I was looking for.

I am also interested in what you say about ego, as I have read alot of Eckhart Tolle. My awakening happened after I learned to turn off the voice in my head (temporary at best most times, but it was a start.) My whole life changed after that.

Isn't it interesting how when you are searching, the answers are laid right in your lap? That is how I know that I am on the right path for me. Amazing stuff.

Thank you for your efforts. I will look forward to reading more from you.

. .

I don't see a problem with that. ((shrugs))

.

Yesssaaaa.

Free yourself from illusion by letting go of the frame of reference that places you inside a bubble of temporarily manifested thought forms. It is much vaster within, because within, you are without, or you are on the outside of those limited little bubbles of perception that we all have and know so well.

Yesssaaa.

It is indicating you are neither human, nor group, but company, as in, material good.

Niceeeeee.

I hope it helps but I should warn you that sometimes sharing ideas like this can cause as much "harm" as good. Meaning, don't take them too literally or mistake them for "Truth".

It's easy to mistake the concept or idea as the "thing" - the Truth, when it's just descriptions of it and as such, very imperfect.

My ideas on the ego are I guess similar to Eckhart's. Basically, I see the the ego as (and once again, these are ideas and as such, very flawed) the "small self".

The identity we think we are. The one thing I noticed after my own awakening was that I was a totally new person, but at the same time, still felt the same - but with no sense of the small self. Really difficult to describe.

The mystics will warn you that your ego (this person you think you are) is an illusion. That the ego is part of what causes you to view yourself as separate from everyone else.

Once again, I think the mistake we can make is to get too caught up in these mental abstractions and mistake them for facts, or truth. That's why in some Zen monasteries there is little to no talking. Talking breeds ideas and thinking - which are in many ways are counter-productive to genuine understanding.

I hope that helps. Good luck. It's not an easy road, but the time is ripe for genuine seekers. Patience and fortitude are key.

I must admit, I do tend to try to rush things. I am so hungry for the truth. I am sure that is my ego trying to be a know it all. But, I am starting to know when the real truth shows up...you just KNOW it...very hard to explain.

I can relate to what you say about how you felt after your awakening....that everything is as it should be. It's all perfect and that gave me peace of mind like never before.

I think it is ok to learn from each other, but ultimately, we have to find our own way...and I do think we have guides to point us in the right direction. It just takes alot of patience. Information is given to us in bits and pieces.

Thanks and take care.

That is the process I think I am going through now.

I am with you right there. My experience happened 5 years ago, and it lasted 5 months. For 5 months I was in a state of enlightenment. I had no desires, none whatsoever. And I have never know peace like that.

I think that is why some mystics, like U.G. Krishnamurti say things like:

God or enlightenment is the ultimate pleasure, uninterrupted happiness. No such thing exists. Your wanting something that does not exist is the root of your problems. Transformation, moksha, liberation, and all that stuff, are just variations of the same theme: permanent happiness...

The peacefully functioning body doesn't care one hoot for your ecstasies, beatitudes, or blissful states.

It's not pleasure or even contentment (tho "contentment" does come closer). It's PEACE. Complete and perfect peace.

ut know that if and when you have a realization, the first won't likely last. Even after 30 years of studying Buddhism, I did not know that.

Ramana Maharshi said "the first enlightenment is always temporary". Jack Kornfield says the same in his book "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry". Philip Kapleau also said somehting similar in his "Three Pillars of Zen".

And then you will spend all of your time seeking that state again. :-)

After 5 years, I have not found it again. And from what I've read, this is true for 99%. But I do know that the time is ripe. These really are the End Times. That was revealed during the experience I had. It is part of the cycle, but at the same time, this is the greatest time to be alive.

I am also convinced by my own experience is that SEEKING is the best method.

Truly a man will ever head for destruction in his ignorance.
His salvation lies in investigation alone. —Tripura Rahasya Chp III.2-3

...the mind engaged in practical search for truth
is the surest means of emancipation. —Tripura Rahasya Chp VIII.5

If you don't mind my saying so, one should doubt *everything* - but be open minded to everything as well—this is my best advice. If one gets too caught up in believing this or that, you will close doors to awakening.

Beautiful quotes.
And so true! It is the mind and mental workings that keep one limited in perception and interpretation, belief and idea. The field of Oneness is beyond all of that. There is no conversation about who you are, or what is happening, there is simply the experience of the no-self, without thought or desire, the direct experience of Being. The trick is to hold on to that experience long enough for it to transform your human being, that your body and mind are transmuted into higher activity and realization of the oneness state within all moments, regardless of the perception of third dimensional reality.

The spiritual experience can be fleeting, or it can be cultivated in the intense will to overcome duality through awareness, mindful breath, peaceful action, right speech and thought, prayer, and seeking of the no-self. The artistic path is one which can lead to this experience as well. Many times through music creation, physically playing an instrument, or some other form of art, the "self" is lost, dissolving into an experience of the moment which supercedes the physical reality and transports the "doer" into a state of unity, selflessness, without thought or limitation, but the pure experience of consciousness, energy, and creation itself.

I had an "experience" too. Out of nowhere, I had a knowing that we are all one and with that knowing came a feeling of ecstacy. I have never felt anything like that before or since. It is so very hard to explain...NO way to put it into words. It sounds so simple and unimportant but I know in my heart that it is the most important thing that ever happened to me. It happened about 3 years ago and I still remember how it felt. It sent me on a search that I know will last the rest of my life.

I know this is a process. I know I am being led to certain things by someone or something. When I ask a question...sometimes I get the answer before I finish asking the question...sometimes the answer comes later, but it ALWAYS comes.

And to read about others and that they are going through similar things just blows my mind and makes it even more real to me. End times? Maybe, but I think it is more of an upgrade...that we are graduating to bigger and better things.

Would love to hear about your experience, but understand if it is a private thing for you.

Take care.

I enjoy hearing your experience as well, because through others experiences I am able to gain greater understanding.

I do use the phrase "End Times" even though I agree with you - it is really an upgrade. But what came to me strongest during the experience was the idea / phrase "End Times". Tho it wasn't any more specific than that, it is my belief that the world is dying. And it will die and so will all the living creatures on it.

But as bad as that sounds, it is not a terrible thing at all. It's the natural part of a cycle.

The destruction of the world is implied in the very event of the creation and follows a reverse process of the thoughts of the Creator. —Lingä Purânä 1.4.36

But no matter what, a new age is indeed coming, the age of Aquarius (this too was revealed to me - and it was something that I had totally rejected as being worthy of contemplation)..

My experience happened while reading the Hopi prophecies. After I first read them, I was deeply skeptical that they were truly ancient. But they were so compelling, that I wanted to prove one way or the other if they were truly ancient. So I started researching them.

In any event, I kept being drawn again and again to those prophecies. I honestly couldn't help reading them every day. I was almost powerless, feeling completely compelled to read them. In hindsight, I am certain that my "higher self" (for lack of a better word), knew that there was truth there.

Then one evening, it all hit me hard. It happened in an instant and many "memories" flooded back and answers came flooding in.

This is one of the reasons why I feel its important to pay attention to synchronicities and research anything that strongly grabs your attention. But all the time, remainied skeptical. Hold out for 100% proof.

My own awakening was my proof.

One other point, probably not important to mention, but my belief that the world will be destroyed is only that - a belief. The final outcome wasn't revealed - other than we are about to experience the liberation of the mind.

Those exact words were revealed.

As for my own experience, it is not really possible to go into it all here, since it is an entire lifetime, but I can summarize with some highlights. Regular OBE's when I was a child kept me awake, connected to my spiritual self and guides, realizing the spirit within. I remember Archangel Michael primarily, and journeys to temple in high mountains where I was surrounded by monks, chanting and doing special breath practices. My mother would find me standing at the window at night talking to them in my sleep. A Kung Fu/Tai Chi sifu kept me focused through schooling and gave me the tools to continue my practice and retain my essence through the conditioning. I "stayed on the path" as I had been instructed in dreams from a child, and travelled the world after college, simply to experience, follow my heart, and continue to know the truth. Many spiritual experiences ensued, leading me to shed my former self, the remaining attachments to patterns, identity, family and genetic conditioning, and finally leading me to The Law of the One. This was not taught to me. In fact, Masters indicated that it would have to be realized within, and from there to share with others. It is not to be confused with Ra material.

Specific elements of my journey include: OBE's (spontaneous, then generated), Reiki, Buddhist meditation, Sweat Lodge and native american training, Healing and Massage practice (great way to practice loving kindness and reach higher states of divinity through healing/divine love), raising children, Living in many of the worlds sacred places (intentionally), and creating music.

The key to my journey lies in constant striving to live authentically, in the moment and be present with breath and awareness. Each breath is the experience of the moment. Lose the breath, you lose the moment. If you are breathing, you are living. You are present. Thus, the gift is there. The more you breathe, the more you become alive. The deeper you breathe, the more vitally you live, and feel. Breathe enough, and your body will tingle from head to toe. Try it. When the body is open, the energy flows. Mind and emotion are at peace. Hold on, judge, repress, and it slows, stops, stagnates, and turns to illness.

When you breath correctly, as we used to (Lemuria), through the top of the head, one breath will send streams of light and energy through the body. A clear field will generate instant goose-bumps as the cells resonate and chi flows through and across the skin. This stimulates the lymphatic system. The immune system is strengthened, and illness is transmuted. The ancients say that one breath can take you to the ninth heaven, samadhi.

I hope that inspires.

One other thing. A lot of GLP is all about the mind, belief, thought, religion. What is true or not true, what's going to happen or not happen, who said what, etc.

We all meet in that place where there is no mind. Only there are we able to see each other as we are, brothers and sisters, of one heart and mind, sharing experience. The path teaches us to do away with analyzation and thinking and seek the pure mind, the empty mind that is the empty cup, ready to be filled by the momentary experience of wholeness. The breath is also the key to this, as it allows one to be more aware of everything, and it also allows one to transcend the mind and the experience of the moment, because breath is the key to bridging consciousness and dimensional existence. It can keep you here, breath can, but it also is the vehicle to higher states of awareness and understanding. The breath is the key to consciousness itself. Once you go home you remember, but have to stay in that remembrance in the world of duality, ascending through each moment.

I cheated.