Evil
In duality i perceive much evil
In duality i perceive much
sickness and suffering
In duality i perceive much death
this i must
as this is part of me in duality
and all i can perceive out there
is what i believe is within me here
to fight against evil, sickness,
suffering and death
is to make them real
is to make them strong
in my consciousness...
more of the same
will show up for me
only 'now' by my blessing
of these mistaken realities
only 'now' knowing the source
behind them all
is my creative power as the divine
only 'now' can i transcend duality
only 'now' can i transcend 'i'
by loving all before me as but
a distorted reflection of Love
this is the 'new now'
this is the only true 'now'
this is the only way
out of the trap of 'i'
michael
--- On
Sun, 6/21/09, dan leibert <Acuqidml@yahoo.com> wrote:
The seeking of the Path usually begins for us when we reach that place when we think that life is not quite giving us what we want and, we feel there is more or we need to escape the pain of mess we are living in. Wherever we start from it is from the sense of "I" and that "I" wants something it feels it doesn't have. Yet
mystical teachings usually share one thing in common - the process is one of dissolution of the "I" that seeks to become the "I" or Self we are in Truth. Here is the fundamental paradox of the spiritual search. The "I" that seeks is the the "I" that must go. This problem has come up in many mystical teachings when a teacher is attempting
to free the disciple from the bondage of identification with the "I" we believe is real that isn't. I want to illustrate this problem with a story that comes out of the Hasidic tradition. If one remembers the terminology of "conceit" means the centrality of identification with the ego than I think this story will touch you:
The
Baal Shem Tov did not appoint anyone to take his place when he died. Instead, he instructed his Hasidim to
seek out his successor among the teachers of his day.
"But how will we recognize him?" his disciples asked.
"You will ask him this question," the Besht (another name for the Baal Shem Tov) said. "How might one be
rid of conceit?"
"And if he knows the answer, he is our teacher?"
"On the contrary," the Baal Shem Tov said. "Anyone who claims to know how to be free of conceit is a
liar.
Conceit comes with having a sense of self, and the self cannot get rid of itself. And thinking otherwise is the
height of conceit."
"Yet," one Hasid said, "is it not true that we are created in the
image of God? Do we not reflect the Divine
within ourselves? God is not filled with conceit, so how can we be?"
The Baal Shem Tov replied, "In Psalms we read: `God reigns clothed with majesty. God's `majesty' is in fact
humility, and the Infinite God wears robes of infinite humility. Now it is true that humans mirror God but just as
a mirror reverses what it reflects, so the human world often reverses the godly. Thus, if the humility of God is
infinite, the hubris of humanity is no less so."
When the Baal Shem Tov died and the time of mourning had passed, his senior students went out in search
of his successor. They spoke to many great teachers and saints, and from each one they inquired how they
might remove conceit from their hearts. Each tzaddik (holy sage) offered words of wise counsel. Finally, they
came to Reb (Reb or
Rebbe are affectionate terms for rabbi) Pinchas of Korets and posed their question.
The tzaddik shook his head and said, "I, too, stand in fear of this, and I know of no way out."
"This one," the Hasidim said, "is our new rebbe."
Reading from many spiritual paths I, at times, thought that the Path of Liberation consisted of ridding or killing off the Ego. I am a student of the
Course In Miracles and it never teaches anything about killing the Ego - only, not making it your teacher and guide. It has a gentle approach of leading from illusion to Truth by
undoing the perceptual beliefs stemming from the Ego. Once we
experience God just the way it is then the state of realization takes care of this problem but not because we made it happen. If we try to get rid of the Ego as a step towards realization, what we are doing is strengthening it, as a force in our lives and its illusions will have a stronger hold. For there is no way for the Ego to become enlighten although our journey starts from that point.
What the Baal Shem Tov was pointing to is the same paradox – the Ego experienced in our conceit of relying totally on our own powers, cannot claim the Truth because the Ego would be claiming that it owns the "non-Egoic" state or in other words, the impossible cannot happen. The Ego cannot become enlightened because
the Ego must fall away for us to know our real Self. Like the folk tale of the tar baby, if we try to free ourselves
from the Ego we just get more wrapped up in it. That is why I think the Baal Shem Tov tells his disciples is to
find the teacher who knows the problem (ego identity or conceit) and knows that at the level of the Ego or
dualistic world, you are not going to free yourself of the Ego. The Teacher is one who knows the Truth of this from any tradition.
to love
our self
home...
this is the only way...
denisa
