Posts Tagged ‘Enlightenment’

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A Wake-Up Haiku

May 31, 2012

A koan is an unsolvable riddle meant to stop a Zen meditator’s analytical mind from thinking, and hopefully transition into a state of no-thought, the state of transcendence. There is a classic Zen koan meant to do just that, which asks the question: What is the sound of one hand clapping? Here is one tongue-in-cheek answer meant to enlighten or wake you up.

A Wake-Up Haiku

Solve this Zen koan:
The sound of one hand clapping?
A slap in the face!

© Ken Chawkin, May 30, 2012, Fairfield, Iowa

Luckily there is a simpler way—the effortless practice of Transcendental Meditation, which allows the conscious thinking mind to transcend. With the help of a mantra, a specific harmonious suitable meaningless thought-sound, together with step-by-step instructions from a qualified TM teacher, the mind naturally, effortlessly settles down to lesser and lesser states of mental activity, to the least excited state of awareness, when the thought drops off, leaving the mind without an object of attention, yet deeply restful and alert, fully awake inside. This inner unbounded wakefulness is the basis for all clarity, energy, and creativity after meditation.

TM allows the mind to experience its own essential nature beyond thought—transcendental consciousness or pure awareness, called turiya in Sanskrit, a 4th major state of consciousness at the basis of the other 3 relative states of consciousness—waking, dreaming and sleeping. With regular practice, over time, a natural integration occurs in the nervous system as it unfolds its inherent ability to live the two states simultaneously—a 5th style of functioning called Cosmic Consciousness. With continued practice, utilizing advanced techniques, including the TM-Sidhi program, the evolution of even two more states of consciousness develop—a 6th, God Consciousness, a refined experience of the 5th; and ultimately a 7th, Unity Consciousness, where the individual is truly universal.

Related posts: Words—a poem on the nature of words and mind | Upon waking uP by Ken Chawkin | Are all meditation techniques the same? | John Hagelin — “Only Higher Consciousness Can Transform Our World” — Beyond Awakening Blog and THP: How Meditation Techniques Compare.

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Posted in My poems, Poetry | 5 Comments »

New Video: Dr. Tony Nader speaks about the Ramayana in Human Physiology

May 1, 2012

Dr. Tony Nader speaks about the Ramayana in Human Physiology

This new video beautifully encapsulates Dr. Tony Nader’s paradigm-changing discovery. He shared these profound details with an audience during one of the first New Paradigm Tour events. He explained how, under the guidance and blessings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, he discovered that the sounds of the Veda and Vedic Literature, and their architectural design, are actually structured in the human physiology. He described it as “a tremendous enlightening discovery.”

After that work was done and published in his first book, Human Physiology – Expression of Veda and Vedic Literature, with further direction from Maharishi, Dr. Nader went on to find their dynamic interactions displayed in the Ramayana, revealed as the growth and evolution of the human physiology towards enlightenment. The result was the recently published as Ramayan in Human Physiology. See the 12-page book preview: http://www.mumpress.com/ramayan. Now available as an ebook on iTunes.

As a scientist, Dr. Nader said the Ramayana was a scientific treatise on the human physiology, “a precise scientific description of how our body works, how our body evolves” towards enlightenment. Dr. Nader shows events that take place in the story of the Ramayana and what they mean in terms of the growing and evolving human physiology. “Now we know we truly are wholeness.”

This video was published today, May 1, 2012, on the Tony Nader M.D. YouTube channel. You’ll also notice other videos listed there of Dr. Nader answering questions on this topic. But this clip was taken from an actual presentation in the early part of the tour, which began in California. More videos from the tour will be added as time allows.

See photos in A report halfway into the New Paradigm Tour: Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana and the Self.

See the general press release with links to some of the news coverage added at the bottom of Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana, and the Self — A New Paradigm Tour Will Visit Ten Cities.

Details of the tour can be found at: www.NewParadigmTour.org. Check out the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/VedaConsciousness. And more videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/DrTonyNader/videos.

Some relevant quotes by famous scientists on changing paradigms

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. — Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. — Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. — Max Planck (1858-1947)

Also see how one poet describes a remarkably similar understanding: What Turkish Sufi poet Yunus Emre realized — everything was found within his cosmic body and Yunus Emre says Wisdom comes from Knowing Oneself — a Singularity that contains the Whole.

A lecture by Dr. Tony Nader, International Head of the Transcendental Meditation Organization, was recorded in Silicon Valley at the Indian Cultural Center, April 10, 2014, later posted Oct 4, 2019: Unfolding the Mysteries of Veda: How Ancient Knowledge Influences Your Life.

Here is the same talk, but with the formal introductions and final credits posted 3 1/2 years earlier, April 5, 2016, by the Silicon Valley TM Center. Actual title: VEDA Discovering the Structural Relationship Between Consciousness, Natural Law, Physiology, and the Universe.

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Posted in Education, Health, Videos | 3 Comments »

Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana, and the Self — A New Paradigm Tour Will Visit Ten Cities

April 12, 2012

NEW PARADIGM TOUR VISITS 10 NORTH AMERICAN CITIES

“Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana, and the Self”

Science and spirituality merge as leading scientists, artists and business leaders present cutting-edge knowledge to Indian Communities Throughout North America

A team of leading scientists, artists and business leaders will tour 10 North American cities this spring, delivering a series of cutting-edge presentations entitled “A New Paradigm: Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana, and the Self.” The tour includes visits to San Diego; San Francisco; Vancouver; Fairfield, Iowa; Chicago; Toronto; Montreal; Boston; New York; and Washington, DC. www.newparadigmtour.org

The event will explore the meeting point of science and spirituality by presenting pioneering research that reveals the Veda and the Ramayana as blueprints of our body and the entire universe. Extensive research on these breakthrough discoveries has also documented collective benefits for society, including the potential for creating world peace. The event will feature a video presentation of 1,000 Vedic Pandits in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa, chanting the Veda. Listen: http://bit.ly/vedicpandits.

SPEAKERS

The speakers at this event come from diverse backgrounds. Tony Nader, M.D., Ph.D., neuroscientist and researcher, will headline the event as the keynote speaker with his presentation, “Embodying Totality”.  Dr. Nader received his Ph.D. in the area of Brain and Cognitive Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and completed post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Nader’s desire to gain a deeper understanding of the human mind and body—of consciousness and physiology—led him to the study of Vedic Science under the guidance of the Vedic sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the worldwide Transcendental Meditation movement (TM) http://www.tm.org. Dr. Nader’s discoveries have inspired medical doctors and scientists throughout the world by demonstrating the effectiveness of Vedic sound to heal mind, body and society (for example: Enlivening the Healing Ability of the Body through Maharishi Vedic Sound).

John Hagelin, Ph.D., is a world-renowned Harvard-trained quantum physicist, educator, public policy expert, and leading proponent of peace. Winner of the prestigious Kilby Award, Dr. Hagelin was recognized for his achievements as a scientist in the tradition of Einstein, Jeans, Bohr and Eddington. He is Chairman of the Physics Department at Maharishi University of Management (www.MUM.edu) and will speak on “Consciousness and the Unified Field.”

Ramani Ayer was the first Indo-American CEO of a Fortune 100 company. He was Chairman of the Board and CEO of Hartford Financial Services Group for 13 years, retiring in 2009.  Mr. Ayer will speak on “Enlightened Leadership and World Peace.”

For more information on the speaker profiles see: http://www.newparadigmtour.org/speakers.html

SPECIAL HOLLYWOOD AND BOLLYWOOD GUESTS

Joining these speakers via videoconference will be special guests, Hollywood director, David Lynch, and the Sagar family, of Ramayana fame, from Mumbai. David Lynch is acclaimed as one of the most creative minds in film, art, and music today.  He is also the founder of the David Lynch Foundation www.davidlynchfoundation.org. Ramanand Sagar created the original epic Ramayana series in 1987, inspiring all of India while preserving Vedic values in the culture.  The next generation of Sagars—Prem, Anand, Shiv and Shakti of Sagar Arts—created the 2008 remake of this timeless saga.

THEMES

The speakers will explore three primary themes in the presentation. The first theme explores the cosmic nature of the individual. The sounds of the Veda have been found to be blueprints that structure the physiology on every level.  The brain, the heart and the whole physiology are seen from this perspective as a replica of Veda and the Vedic literature. The practical application of this has been documented by original research conducted by medical doctors and scientists that demonstrates the effectiveness of these Vedic sounds for creating brain coherence and for the treatment of chronic disorders.

The second theme explores the applications of this discovery on the collective level of society.  The presentation will review evidence that large groups of thousands of peace-creating Vedic pandits are capable of changing the destiny of mankind by applying Vedic technologies of consciousness from the deepest level of consciousness—the common unified source of both science and religion. Demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach, the Global Peace Initiative has already established 1000 Maharishi Vedic Pandits in Maharishi Vedic City in Iowa, and 2500 at the center of India in Madhya Pradesh. www.vedicpandits.org

The third theme covers Dr. Nader’s latest book, “Ramayan in Human Physiology,” which will be released on this tour. It describes the profound correlation between the characters, details and happenings of the Ramayana with every part of the human physiology. “It will serve as a revelation to those who desire a greater understanding of the unity underlying all that makes us human,” says Gary P. Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology at Hofstra University School of Medicine. http://www.newparadigmtour.org/ramayan

RAMAYAN in HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY SEMINARS

In addition to the ‘New Paradigm’ presentations, Dr. Nader will also offer an “Introductory Seminar on the Ramayan in Human Physiology” at each of the locations for those who desire a more in-depth treatment of the correlations between the eternal story of the Ramayana and the structure and function of the human physiology. http://www.newparadigmtour.org/seminars.html

OPRAH, TM, FAIRFIELD, AND VEDIC PANDITS

Oprah Winfrey and her staff all practice Transcendental Meditation. For Oprah’s Next Chapter, she visited Fairfield, Iowa, America’s Most Unusual Town. She also went to Maharishi Vedic City to see the Maharishi Vedic Pandits.  Oprah and her crew were the first ones allowed in to film the Vedic Pandits chanting.

Oprah completed her visit by meditating with the ladies in their Bagambhrini Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge. “It was a powerfully energizing yet calming experience. I didn’t want it to end.” You can see a photo of Oprah meditating in the dome with over 400 ladies and read what she had to say about her experience in the February issue of O Magazine in her column “What I Know For Sure.”

This press release was published in Pravasitoday under Events: http://www.pravasitoday.com/new-paradigm-tour-visits-10-north-american-cities | INDIAWEST: New Paradigm Tour: ‘Veda, Consciousness, The Ramayana, and the Self’| India Tribune (page 4): Meet on ‘Veda, Consciousness, Ramayana and Self’ in 10 North American cities | India Post (page 9): Science & spirituality tour in 10 cities | LoKvani: In Conversation With Ramani Ayer | Chicago Tribune: New paradigm North American tour visits Chicago with pictures from Asian Media USA | India Post: IOWA scholars give scientific exposition of Ramayana (page 13) | hi INDiA: Special Report: Ramayan; A New Vision in Vedas (cover story on pages 20+24) | NewsIndiaTimes: Hundreds Attend Program to Promote Vedic Learning

See website for more details: http://www.newparadigmtour.org, Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/VedaConsciousness, and videos of Dr Nader at: http://www.youtube.com/drtonynader. Also see A report halfway into the New Paradigm Tour: Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana and the Self. See this New Video: Dr. Tony Nader speaks about the Ramayana in Human Physiology.

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Posted in Articles, Education, Health, Peace | 2 Comments »

Singing Image of Fire, a poem by Kukai, with thoughts on language, translation, and creation

January 2, 2012

We read in Genesis that creation came into being with the first utterance: “Let there be light.” So sound came first, then light, followed by forms. Interestingly, the seemingly nonsensical phrase, abracadabra, a magician says when performing a trick, derives its meaning from the ancient biblical language, Aramaic: abraq ad habra, which means, “I will create as I speak.” I discovered that on page 170 of Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, a delightful book on finding and writing poetry in many creative simple ways, by Susan Wooldridge, writer, poet and teacher.

This poem by Kukai says a lot about language, creation, consciousness, and our integral relationship to things.

Singing Image of Fire

A hand moves, and the fire’s whirling takes different shapes,
Triangles, squares: all things change when we do.
The first word, “Ah,” blossomed into all others.
Each of them is true.

This poem on language, translation, and creation, the pictorial/written representation of vocal sounds and meanings, was written by Kūkai (空海), also known posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi (弘法大師 The Grand Master Who Propagated the Buddhist Teaching), 774–835, a Japanese monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, artist, and founder of the Shingon or “True Word” school of Buddhism. He allegedly developed the system using Chinese characters to write Japanese words. The word “Shingon” is the Japanese reading of the Kanji for the Chinese word Zhēnyán (真言), literally meaning “True Words”, which in turn is the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word mantra (मन्त्र). The concern was to be as true as possible when translating texts, to have and use the right word when describing something. The Sanskrit language had this perfect one-to-one correspondence between name and form.

The poem was mentioned in Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (HarperCollins, 1997) by Jane Hirshfield, a classic collection of essays about the mysterious ways poetry comes to us. In her chapter, The World is Large and Full of Noises: Thoughts on Translation, she highlights this theme with What Rainer Maria Rilke inscribed on the copy of The Duino Elegies he gave his Polish translator.

When I read that line in Kukai’s poem, about the first word, “Ah,” blossoming into all others, and each of them being true, it reminded me of what Maharishi Mahesh Yogi says about the first sound of creation, “A”, how it represents infinity collapsing to a point, “K”, and through its own sequential self-interacting dynamics, creates the whole alphabet, words, verses of Rk Veda, the whole Vedic literature, and their subsequent forms, the universe. This is part of Maharishi’s Apaurusheya Bahashya, the unwritten commentary of the Veda, unfolding itself and commenting on itself to itself. Apaurusheya Bhashya: Rk Veda is said to be nitya, eternal, and apaurusheya, uncreated. Maharishi explains that the sequential unfoldment of Rk Veda is its own uncreated, or unmanifest, commentary on itself, rather than that of an individual making an ‘external’ commentary on Rk Veda.

See Maharishi’s Apaurusheya Bhashya discussed in Everything is made of Vedic Sounds by William F. Sands, PhD. Also see Modern Science and Vedic Science: An Introduction by Kenneth Chandler, PhD.

In his Introduction to Maharishi Vedic University, Maharishi gives us a comprehensive cosmic perspective on the role Sanskrit, the language of Nature, plays in the process of creation. Through the self-interacting dynamics of pure consciousness, the Self, or Atma, reverberates within itself and creates the eternal uncreated sounds of the Veda, its own language, which in turn express themselves into forms—the individual body, Sharir, and the cosmic body, Vishwa. The eternal Silence and its own inherent Dynamism, evolve all parts of itself constantly referring them back to their source. He says it’s a start-stop process of Infinity collapsing to a point, referring it back to Itself, and evolving the next sequential sound, and subsequent form. Full realization, or enlightenment, comes when one comprehends all of creation: Atma, Veda, Sharir, Vishwa, Brahman, or Totality, as the full potential of one’s own consciousness. Aham Brahmasmi. I am totality.

On Page 65 Maharishi writes, “The basic process of change, this basic process of transformation, continuously maintains the momentum of evolution of different levels of expression, creating different levels of manifestation upholding the process of evolution.

“It is this that promotes the eternally self-referral dynamics of Samhita into the sequential evolution of sound, speech, forms of speech in alphabets, words, phrases, verses etc., with corresponding material forms. This process continues eternally, resulting in the ever-expanding universe.” (Samhita is the togetherness of Rishi, Devata, Chhandas; knower, process of knowing, and known.)

I’ve written a poem about this process in Coalescing Poetry: Creating a Universe, (into haiku forms).

To learn more about the source of words, creation, both literal and literary, and their connection to consciousness, read: The Flow of Consciousness: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on Literature and Language.

Also see: Before He Makes Each One by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Nine years later I posted: Japanese culture: poetic aesthetics, artistry, and martial arts, inspired me to write haiku and tanka.

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Posted in Other poems, Poetry, Writing | 11 Comments »

God? ~ Dr. Evan Finkelstein

December 7, 2011

God? ~ Dr. Evan Finkelstein

Some say there is one God; some say there are many Gods, some that there is no God at all.

What does this have to do with the price of beans in China? Not much. Unless you were God, then, according to some, You would be the beans, You would be the price, and You would be China. And, even when people referred to You as “You” they would have to capitalize the Y. That’s pretty special treatment.

Some people destroy in the name of “their” God and are convinced that they are doing the right thing. Others think those people are crazy and that God (“their” God, not the God of the crazy people) will certainly punish the destroyers for their wicked deeds.

Obviously, the God of those people can’t be as great as “our” God; if He/She were, then those people wouldn’t be doing those insane things. Why can’t they just come over to our God? And see the “true” Light? Then, everything would be so much better (at least, from that point of view).

For thousands of years, there have been arguments, wars, inquisitions, trials, immolations, excommunications and on and on, related to the existence and nature of God: what is the right way to envision God?

Does He, or maybe She, sit on a large fancy throne high up in the clouds somewhere in heaven surrounded by angels and other assorted celestial beings? And, how did they get that heavy throne to stay up in the sky? Well, it’s God, man, He/She can do anything!

Well, if He/She can do anything why can’t my team get into the Superbowl? Is He/She deaf? Can’t God hear my prayers? Is Green Bay, Wisconsin closer to heaven than Chicago, Illinois? Or, do they just yell louder? Does this mean that God has preferences? Does He/She just like some of us better than others of us? Is it the way we dress? Our cologne? Our mouthwash? Was it something we said?

And if God is omnipresent why can’t we see Him/Her?

I mean God should be a lot easier to find than our glasses or car keys. Some saints claimed to experience God; others said those saints were nuts and that God is a just a hallucination of their imagination. Some contend God doesn’t exist at all. Life just came into being of its own; we don’t know exactly how it first started; it just did that’s all, just be quiet and pass the chips.

And some say that God is supposed to be omniscient about the past, present, and future. He/She knows everything you’re going to do before you do it. So, do we have free will or not? If God already knows, then isn’t everything already predestined? So is free will fake? An illusion? Are we just a bunch of wind-up toys that can’t find the key nor meet our winder? Some of us fall off the table and some of us don’t, but there’s no rhyme or reason why? Or is there rhyme and reason, but few, if any, can figure it out? Not poets, nor logicians. Maybe, those that think they figured it out start religions or, at least, health spas.

And, what is this whole thing about suffering? Some say that God is all merciful and all loving and omnipotent. If He/She is that way, why is so much of the world in turmoil? Why are there so many tears and fears? Can’t God control His/Her own show?

If not, then where’s the omnipotence? If God can, then where’re all the love and the mercy? Or, do we bring the suffering on ourselves by doing things we shouldn’t and perhaps God’s just shaking His/Her cosmic head thinking: “I really wish they’d stop doing that! Well, in time they’ll learn; if I do it all for them, they’ll never develop.”

And what about Justice? Some say God is like a completely fair and impartial judge. He/She rewards the just and punishes the wicked. Well bad things certainly do happen to good people. At least, many would say they are good people and the things that happened to them were bad. Would God not agree? Does He/She perhaps see things we don’t? Or, is reincarnation true and these good folks are just currently reaping what they have sown in some past not so good life? This could explain a lot of seeming inequities, if it were true.

Maybe there is order and justice in the world; maybe it is being run by an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving and intelligent existence, but who really knows?

Maybe it’s all just an empty nothing that came from nowhere and is going to nowhere, but it sure, sometimes, dresses fancy and makes a lot of noise trying to figure things out and find its way! Maybe that’s what God is, the actual process of living.

During my life-search, in 1969 I learned the practice of Transcendental Meditation and something opened up to me inside; it was an experience of simplicity, peace and a sweet feeling of “knowingness,” it felt very good and it occurred many times during my years of practice. These days, when my mind rumbles on, as it sometimes will, about all these theological and philosophical questions, I just have to laugh because it’s just so funny that one can know without knowing. Yes, as strange as it may seem, one can know without knowing.

Lao Tzu put it this way in part of Verse 1 of the Tao Te Ching:

A mind free of thought,
merged within itself,
beholds the essence of Tao
A mind filled with thought,
identified with its own perceptions,
beholds the mere forms of this world.

Buddha put it this way:

Then Subhuti asked: “What does enlightenment mean?”

The Buddha replied: “Enlightenment is a way of saying that all things are seen in their intrinsic empty nature, their Suchness, their ungraspable wonder. Names or words are merely incidental, but that state which sees no division, no duality, is enlightenment.” Prajnaparamita

Subhuti asked: “Is it possible to find perfect wisdom through reflection or listening to statements or through signs or attributes, so that one can say ‘This is it’ or Here it is?’”

The Buddha answered: “No, Subhuti. Perfect wisdom can’t be learned or distinguished or thought about or found through the senses. This is because nothing in this world can be finally explained, it can only be experienced, and thus all things are just as they are. Perfect wisdom can never be experienced apart from all things. To see the Suchness of things, which is their empty calm being, is to see them just as they are.” Ashtasahasrika

Maharishi Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras put it this way:

“Yoga is the complete settling of the activity of the mind.”

David put it this way in the biblical Psalms:

“Be still and know that I am God.”

The Sufi Farid Al-Din ‘Attar expressed it like this:

The heart is the dwelling place of that which is the Essence of the universe within the very heart and soul is the very Essence of God. Like the saints, make a journey into your self; like the lovers of God cast one glance within. As a lover now, in contemplation {sustained experience} of the Beloved be unveiled within and behold the Essence. Form is a veil to you and your heart is a veil. When the veil vanishes, you will become all light.

The Sufi Mahmud Shabistari put it this way:

“In that presence “I” and “we” and “you” do not exist. “I” and “you” and “we” and “He” become one: since in the unity there is no distinction, the Quest and the Way and the Seeker become one.”

The Christian mystic John Ruusbroec said it like this:

“There the soul is simple, spotless, and pure, empty of everything. In this pure emptiness the Father reveals his divine resplendence, which neither reason nor senses, neither rational observation nor distinctions can attain.”

The Cabbalist Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla expressed it this way:

The depth of primordial Being is called Boundless. Because of its concealment from all creatures above and below, it is also called Nothingness…. Its existence cannot be grasped by anyone other than it. Therefore, its name is “I am becoming.”

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi put it this way:

“Once the mind gets to the transcendence, it knows Itself. It’s not the mind that knows Being; Being knows Itself. As long as there is some activity, we say “mind”; when activity subsides, it’s pure awareness. It is not knowing; it is Knowingness.”

“Being is known on the level of Knowingness, not the level of thinking.”

Anyway, some thoughts about God and going beyond them—happy journey!

_______________________________________________________________________

Dr. Finkelstein is professor of Comparative Religion and Maharishi Vedic Science at Maharishi University of Management. He has written articles that identify the common ground inherent in many of the ancient wisdom traditions. He has taught numerous courses on the universal principles that can be located in Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

God? was first published in on Nov 30, 2011.

Also see: Buddha and Meditation by Dr. Evan Finkelstein. And this related article: You Are God: Who? … Me? By William T. Hathaway.

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Posted in Articles, Writing | 4 Comments »

Seeing Is Being

January 14, 2011

“The sight occupies the seer, transforms seer into sight.”
—Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Life Magazine, November 1990)

Seeing Is Being

Seeing outside the Self
Forgetting the Inner Light
The Seer becomes the Sight
Transforming Day to Night

Living Night for Day
The Seer can’t find The Way
Mistaking Sight for Seer
Becoming what’s on the Mirror
Forsaking what’s truly Dear

When Self is finally Clear
We Remember How we’re Here
It’s the One Becoming the Three
The Way To See Is To Be
Since Seer Sight and Seeing
Are All Three Ways of Being
And Being Is Being Being Being*

© Ken Chawkin

————————————–

*From a Q & A session:
Course participant: Maharishi, What is Being?
Maharishi: (laughs) Being? Being is Being Being Being.
Then Maharishi and everyone laugh.

I read that poem at a World Peace Assembly in Maharishi University’s Golden Dome in the early 90’s. It was followed by The Enlightened Heart, a poem by Ken Chawkin.

Also relevant: Maharishi describes the nature of inner life: bondage and liberation, and gaining bliss consciousness through Transcendental Meditation.

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Posted in My poems, Poetry | 8 Comments »

David Lynch in Reykjavik, Iceland

March 5, 2010

David Lynch Answers Grapevine Questions On TM

He also thinks Icelanders are, in fact, very hip.

11.5.2009
Words by Haukur S. Magnússon

As you probably know by now, Grapevine cover-star (and awesome director) David Lynch ventured to Iceland this month to preach the gospel of Transcendental Meditation and announce a nationwide project to bring “enlightenment, prosperity and peace to the people of Iceland.” We were of course intrigued by all this, and set up an interview with the man who’s self-portrait graces the cover of our latest issue. However, his answers didn’t make it back to us in time to run it in the print-edition of Grapevine, so we just did a little article about our experiences at his lecture (as well as a side-bar explaining TM) but they’re here now, ripe for your reading.

Grapevine: Can you explain shortly what Transcendental Meditation means to you personally?

Personally, Transcendental Meditation is a way to bring great bliss from within.

Does the practice affect all areas of your life – or does it inhabit its own special corner? Is it, for instance, reflected in your art in some way (for instance thematically or in the process of creation)?

Transcending, they say, is a holistic experience so it does affect all areas of life in the most positive way. With brain research, they see on the EEG machine a most wondrous phenomenon. When a person truly transcends (i.e., experiences the deepest level of life – the ocean of pure totality of consciousness within) the entire brain is engaged.

Transcending is the only experience in life that engages the full brain – total brain coherence it’s called. For me, it serves the work in the following ways: I have found that i have much more happiness in the doing. I have found that ideas flow more freely. I have found intuition (the #1 tool of the artist) growing more and more and i feel the heavy weight of negativity (anxieties, nervousness, worries, fatigue, depressions, angers, fears) lifting and therefore much more freedom in life and work.

Are there times where you are more involved in the practice, where you lean on it more heavily?

I have meditated twice a day for 36 years.

How did your brief visit to Iceland come about? Is this something that has been in the works for a while, or was it a spontaneous idea? Have you made such visits to other nations or regions over the years?

The visit to Iceland came about seemingly spontaneously. My Icelandic friend, Joni Sighvatsson [producer Sigurjón Sighvatsson], and I were talking on the telephone a month before my visit. We were both speaking of Iceland’s bankruptcy and thought Iceland could really use Transcendental Meditation and a peace creating group to bring peace, security, affluence and prosperity.

A whole bunch of things came together and it was really great to feel the receptivity and the growing determination of many to get these programs going in Iceland. Iceland is the 20th country i have visited talking about meditation and peace.

If I understand you correctly, you are presenting TM as a failsafe way to bring ones life to harmony. Does TM, then, offer “complete freedom from the world’s strife and confusion” or is it rather a “useful tool” for maintaining a well-balanced life?

Enlightenment does bring complete freedom from the world’s strife and confusion. But balance is the thing. Balance doesn’t mean a compromise. I think true balance brings totality – the full potential of the human being. Full potential of the human being is called enlightenment. Enlightenment answers all questions, ends all suffering and all negativity. Maharishi calls supreme enlightenment having 200% of life – 100% of all that which is unmanifest and 100% of all manifestation – totality, unity.

At your Háskólabíó event, as well as in press releases sent out prior to it, the word “science” got thrown around a lot. For instance, you emphasized that the project was “not an experiment, but rather a scientific demonstration of 50 years of research verifying the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation program for the individual and entire society.”

Furthermore, the TM program’s official web-site enshrouds itself very much in an “air of science,” if you will, taking on the appearance of a major pharmaceutical company rather than a foundation that’s presenting the ancient, spiritual act of inward meditation with possible religious connotations.

Appearances aside, i think many of our readers are interested in knowing whether you consider TM to be:

A) A plain, scientific method (something purely physical

B) An exercise program for the mind)

C) A religion

D) A form of spiritualism without any religious affiliations.

This is a very interesting and good question you have asked. For me, i started Transcendental Meditation for this thing called enlightenment and this thing called bliss. And i saw it as a spiritual path. We live in what they call a “scientific age” and many people think meditation is some kind of mysticism, some kind of Eastern religion, or some kind of path that requires renunciation or giving up of worldly pleasures.

Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation is for what they call the “householder.” that means men and women in activity. Nothing needs to be given up when practicing Transcendental Meditation. One just adds 20 minutes of meditation in the morning and evening and that does everything.

Maharishi wanted Transcendental Meditation to be researched from a scientific point of view and that’s why there have been the 600 or 700 research studies over the years. Many people find a comfort knowing that TM and its benefits have been objectively verified by science.

It is such an interesting time because quantum physics for instance has now discovered and verified the existence of the unified field at the base of all matter and mind – at the base of anything that is a thing. This unified field is the same field that one experiences when transcending. Quantum physicists says that everything that is a thing has emerged from this field of unity in a process they call “spontaneous sequential symmetry breaking.” ancient Vedic science – the science of consciousness – has always known about this unified field. And Vedic science knows precisely the numerous steps consciousness goes through from the unmanifest level of unity to all levels of manifestation. It is so great to see that with each step forward modern science takes, it verifies the ancient Vedic science.

The unified field is for quantum physics – and Vedic science – the home of all the laws of nature. These laws hold everything and we’re coming to a point where the spiritual aspects of life can be written in a physicist’s equation.

Transcendental Meditation is not a religion, it’s a mental technique that opens the door for any human being to the unified field – the deepest level of life. It is an ancient form of meditation and a real gift because it gives “effortless transcending” because the mantra Maharishi gives turns the awareness 180 degrees within. And once pointed within, one naturally and effortlessly dives deeper because each deeper level of mind and intellect has more happiness. The human mind always wants to go to fields of greater happiness, so it effortlessly dives, and at the border of intellect, effortlessly transcends and experiences the ocean of totality of consciousness, infinite happiness, bliss, unified filed, transcendent, home of all the laws of nature, constitution of the universe, etc, etc.

It is the experiencing of the unified field that does everything for the human being. Intellectual knowledge is great, but it will never bring total fulfillment. It is this profound experience of unity – of bliss – of pure consciousness that is missing from our lives. Once a person gets this experience on a daily basis – reestablishes his or her connection with this oneness, then things really begin to change for the better. Every time we experience this deepest level of life, we infuse some of it and we begin to rapidly unfold our full potential

This ocean of consciousness within has qualities; it is an ocean of infinite intelligence, creativity, happiness, love, energy, peace. All these qualities begin to expand. The side effect of the expansion of consciousness is negativity begins to recede. Things like tension, anxieties, stress, sorrow, depression, hate, anger and fear begin to lift away. This brings freedom, and those all-positive qualities expanding bring great benefits to all aspects of life. So it is a scientific and spiritual path. People from all religions practice Transcendental Meditation as well as agnostics and atheists.

Experience this field of unity and watch things get better.

Is there a system of ethics connected to the practice of TM?

No.

Aside from the above, are you yourself a man of religion? If so, does TM in any way affect your religious practices, or are the two completely separate?

Religious people who practice TM say that because understanding grows, they understand their religion more. And because appreciation for all things grow, they appreciate their religion more.

What about the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi? How closely did you follow his teachings, especially those unconnected to TM? I am referring, for instance, to the Maharishi Vedic sciences, in terms of their approach to health, architecture, agriculture and music.

Maharishi, among other amazing contributions revived the ancient Vedic knowledge and put all the Vedic texts back together into a systematic science of consciousness. Veda means pertaining to total knowledge. It is a huge science – so beautiful – telling us so many things for a life to flow with mother nature. But again if Maharishi had only brought Transcendental Meditation, that effortless technique that allows us to experience pure consciousness, that would have been amazing in and of itself. Get that experience and all the rest will follow.

Did you consider any of the cult allegations that were widespread in the seventies and eighties?

Of course I experienced the discomfort of this false accusation. I always wondered why people called TM a cult. I never felt I belonged to some group. I took this technique as a personal thing. I never wanted to be in any club or group. I wanted to go my own way, make my own decisions.

Expanding consciousness actually glorifies differences. All diversity is appreciated fully in the light of total unity. Meditators do not all become the same, on the contrary they each become more and more themselves. However i have found a common link between meditators – I like being with them as they all reflect a great deal of happiness.

These days, all of these misconceptions about TM are disappearing and only a few strange voices rail against this meditation for reasons unknown to me. So many varied human beings have benefited from this technique that anyone with even an ounce of intelligence can see that it is the most positive of practices.

Finally, can you share your favorite memory of your brief visit? What stood out, if anything?

I was very impressed by the numerous paintings I saw in almost every building I entered. It seems that everyone in Iceland is an art collector and appreciates art. This was very impressive to me and the rapidly changing weather was astonishing also. I was also impressed by the camaraderie among Icelandic people – and their hipness.

Source: The Reykjavik Grapevine – Life

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