Category: Omnibus

The good of religions and faith
The good of Muhammad and Moses
The good of Jesus and Buddha
The good of Brahma and Tao
The good of God and all
The good of life and love
The good of sound and light
The good of spirit and soul
The good of being conscious
The good of silence and words
The good of thoughts and feelings
The good of seeing and hearing
The good of being you and me
The good of reality and illusion
The good of conflict and peace
The good of body and mind
The good of here and now
The good of duality and unity
The good of breathing in and out
The good is my religion and faith!

“Be here now – ༀ་ཨཱཿ་ཧཱུྃ – Ōṃ āḥ hūṃ” — meditation anchor

Concentration on the good of religions and teachings

“Concentration is of three kinds: the concentration practiced [ordinarily], concentration which clearly discerns and the excellent concentration of the Tathāgatas.
The concentration practiced [ordinarily]. When you are attached to the experience of bliss, clarity and absence of thought in meditation and intentionally seek them, or your practice is colored by any affinity for experiences, that is called the concentration practiced [ordinarily].
Clearly discerning concentration. When you are free from any attachment to meditative experiences and are no longer fascinated by concentration, but still cling to emptiness as an antidote, that is called clearly discerning concentration.
The excellent concentration of the Tathāgatas. When you no longer have any concept of emptiness as an antidote, but remain in a concept-free concentration on the nature of reality, that is called the excellent concentration of the Tathāgatas.”

“Find the essential point common to all the teachings and practice that way.”

— Words of my perfect teacher by Patrul Rinpoche, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, pp. 250-251 & 259

The good of constellations hidden behind clouds

Depersonification
of the divine
and then self
first loneliness
with exclusion
then unification
through inclusion
seeing gods in all
finally embracing
the rejected self
opening a door
of completion
and non-self
acceptance
letting go
detached
at long last
in returning
to the start
now all new
an abundance
of expressions
mostly individual
but also collective
beyond self-centered
freedom within life
the gift of love
and courage.

“कुम्भक Kumbhaka” — between in and out, out and in

Depersonification in leaving a congregation

“Whoever leaves a congregation initially has to face a solitude which often makes him soon miss the community. Only at the end of his solitary journey will he realize that he has joined a great, new, but invisible community which encompasses all cultures and all religions. He will be stripped of everything rational and dogmatic, but will instead feel enriched by the spiritual brotherhood of all times, all nations and all languages.”

From The seasons of the soul, a collection of poetic expressions by Hermann Hesse

Depersonification — like deicing or dicing?

May you, and I, and all — may we be free and happy!

The experiment of
Depersonifying God
Seems to antagonize
Most all the religions
As they often appear
With personifications
To at least some extent
Many most pronounced
With a central master
Savior or cult leader
To be respected
And appreciated
For what they do
And are for so many
Having experienced
This first hand myself
They may open doors
Trigger consciousness
To discover new worlds
But sooner or later then
One will let go and stand
On his or her very own feet
So I started the experiment
Of depersonifying the divine
Actually to let go of myself
Seeing spirit in everyone
In you and me and in all
Not an easy letting go
But as far as I can tell
A huge step forward
In spiritual freedom
That works indeed.

“ॐ मणिपद्मे हूँ Auṃ maṇi padme hūṃ — blues”

Heart treasures of the truth experiment

All the joy the world contains
Has come through wishing happiness for others.
All the misery the world contains
Has come through wanting pleasure for oneself.

Relative and ultimate,
These the two truths are declared to be.
The ultimate is not within the reach of intellect,
For intellect is said to be the relative.

By examining relative truth, establish absolute truth;
Within absolute truth, see how relative truth arises.
Where the two truths are inseparable, beyond intellect, is the state of simplicity;
In the view free of all elaboration, recite the six-syllable mantra.

— The way of the Bodhisattva / Bodhicharyavatara, Shantideva (685-763), #8-129 & #9-2
— The heart treasure of the enlightened ones, Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887), #41
(translated from the Tibetan by the Padmakara translation group)

The experiment of following your very own path

A lion’s roar

That all is as you are
That all is you
That you are
You are all
You are as all is
That is something that is

That nothing is as you are
That nothing is you
That you are
You are nothing
You are as nothing is
That is something that is

That this is as you are
That this is you
That you are
You are this
You are as this is
That is something that is

That all you fight against you are
Therefore stop fighting and you are

(In 1973 Ulrico wrote the original version of this poem in German.)

“As God Realizes the Moment” — the beginning of Tonalibus

A lion’s roar on a path with heart

“You may have heard of ‘out-of-the-body experiences,’ full of lights and visions. A true spiritual path demands something more challenging, what could be called an ‘in-the-body experience.’ We must connect to our body, to our feelings, in our life just now, if we are to awaken.”

“Spiritual transformation is a profound process that doesn’t happen by accident. We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training, in order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and sustain a new way of seeing. To mature on the spiritual path we need to commit ourselves in a systematic way.”

“Great spiritual traditions in every age offer many vehicles for awakening… It is crucial to understand that there are many ways up the mountain — that there is never just one true way… and each of us must choose a practice that feels true to our heart. It is not necessary for you to evaluate the practices chosen by others. Remember, the practices themselves are only vehicles for you to develop awareness, loving-kindness, and compassion on the path toward freedom.”

“The Buddha said, ‘People with opinions just go around bothering one another.'”

“Sri Nisargadatta [said], ‘The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it.’ Many of the great sorrows of the world arise when the mind is disconnected from the heart… The heart allows for the stories and ideas, the fantasies and fears of the mind without believing in them, without having to follow them or having to fulfill them. When we touch beneath all the busyness of thought, we discover a sweet, healing silence, an inherent peacefulness in each of us, a goodness of heart, strength, and wholeness that is our birthright.”

“Kalu Rinpoche [said]: ‘You live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality, but you do not know this. When you understand this, you will see that you are nothing, and being nothing you are everything. This is all.'”

— A Path with Heart, Jack Kornfield, pp. 27, 31, 32-33, 50 and 52

Way sign on a path with heart

Life, love, and the divine
Is my lineage of teachers
Yes, it’s possible to be free
Of personalty ties as such
Though exchange is helpful
If not even necessary for all
To make steps in unfoldment
But then comes measurement
That does become more or less
And questionable what is real
Or personally just perceived
Wishes give one past focus
And future realizations too
Thou all that matters now
Is life, love, and the divine
Personalities, characters
Beings of various kinds
Humans claim to know
And observe ourselves
Every day and moment
Learning another lesson
From each other I hope
Life and love for sure
Ultimately the divine
Give it faces for ease
For a stretch of the way
Manifest to better relate
And again let go completely
As life, love, and the divine.

“Querencia” — the place where one’s strength is drawn from

Is a path helpful and liberating for you?

Criteria “according to which one could judge whether a path, a practice was helpful and liberating or not. At that time, as today, there are numerous gurus who claim to have the truly liberating, the only, or at least the fastest way. [Someone like a] Buddha suggests that one should not believe what is taught simply because it comes from an ancient tradition or because the person teaching seems to be an authority or because their speech sounds poignant and convincing.

“Rather, one should proceed in the same way as when testing gold: it must be scratched, rubbed, and tested with acid and fire. What ultimately withstands all these tests can be regarded as genuine. This means that we ourselves must seriously and thoroughly examine what is right for us by applying what we have heard and finding out whether it is wholesome and leads to blessings and well-being. This is an invitation to self-responsibility and requires interest, courage, independence, self-confidence, and great honesty, especially towards oneself. Of course, it requires more from us than listening to a few teachings or attending a few meditation evenings. We have to really tackle the practice and apply it consistently over a prolonged period of time. Then we will know for ourselves whether it can take us where we want to go.”

Buddhas tausend Gesichter, Fred von Allmen, pp. 39-40

Life, love, and the divine reach heaven