Modern Mystic

Diary of a Spiritual Explorer

[modernmysticblog]

The Good in You

Kahlil Gibran writes: "Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil. For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst? Verily, when good is hungry, it seeks food even in dark caves. And when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters."

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The Gift

Terence McKenna writes: "Ideology is an insult to the gift of human free thinking." Winding things down, my friends. The end is near :)

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The Power That Made Them

Marcus Aurelius writes: "Every tool, instrument, or vessel is good if it performs well that function for which it was made. And yet in such cases, the maker is external to it.

"But for those creatures who are made by Nature, the power that made them is within and remains there. Because of this, you must honor that power all the more and understand that if you conduct yourself and live your life in accordance to Nature's will, then everything will be in accordance with your intelligence."

[modernmysticblog]

Many-Faceted Crystal

Edwin Schrodinger writes: "The plurality that we perceive is only an appearance, it is not real. Vedantic philosophy has sought to clarify it by a number of analogies, one of the most attractive being the many-faceted crystal which, while showing hundreds of little pictures of what is in reality a single existent object, does not really multiply that object."

All is one.

Beneath the appearance of multiplicity lies an unbroken unity, of which you and I and everything are seamless portions.

Spoken thus, it is an empty platitude.

Intellectualized, it is a clever talking-point.

Felt, it is the lightning bolt that brightens every nook and cranny, reveals the hidden, dispels the shadows of ignorance.

Seek the experience of unity, first within yourself, then with the universe as a while.

You do not become one with the all; you are already that.

You simply remove the obstacles that obscure your true nature.

[modernmysticblog]

The Least Among Us

Terence McKenna writes: "We have the money, the power, the medical understanding, the scientific know-how, the love, and the community to produce a kind of earthly paradise. But we are led by the least among us; the least intelligent, the least noble, the least visionary."

[modernmysticblog]

Mystery and Suffering

Ramana Maharshi writes: “There is nothing wrong with God’s creation. Mystery and suffering only exist in the mind.”

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The Greatest Discovery of any Generation

William James writes: "The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude."

[modernmysticblog]

Absolutes

Isaac Asimov writes: "The basic trouble is that people think that right and wrong are absolute, that everything that isn't perfectly and completely right is totally and equally wrong."

[modernmysticblog]

Spiritual Exploration - Unified Theory (with Greg Ferguson)

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93BSspHH0HQ

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcZHQAk3YJA

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nEwRotKix8

In the final installment of our exploration of Greg's system method, our trusty guide ties the previous three parts together with a flourish :)

I will undoubtedly record more videos with Greg as I enjoy our conversations tremendously. I particularly like the way he casts all of this familiar stuff in a new light, putting his own personal twist on things.

I also appreciate his emphasis on the role of beliefs in our life, and his approach to questioning (and sometimes even dissolving) those problematic beliefs that cause us to suffer needlessly.

Greg doesn't have a book or website yet, but he does have a YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5mKrRvKX0g7ej99HGMtrrw

If you like his approach, I encourage you to visit his page and pester him to make videos of his own. He has a ton of wisdom and insight to offer, and I hope he will pursue his calling.

[modernmysticblog]

Rest in Reason, Move in Passion

Khalil Gibran writes: "Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite.

"Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody. But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.

Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.

Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows—then let your heart say in silence, “God rest in reason.”

And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky—then let your heart say in awe, “God moves in passion.”

And since you are a breath in God’s sphere, and a leaf in God’s forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion."

[modernmysticblog]

The Enemy Within

"When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you."

So says an African proverb, and this falls in line with all the other stuff we've been talking about lately.

The Ego.

The Shadow.

The Animal.

Whatever you choose to call it, know that it is not inherently evil or antagonistic. It doesn't set out to undermine and sabotage but ends up doing it due to lack of supervision.

You can't kill the enemy within because it is an essential part of yourself. The way to get rid of it is to make it your friend.

Good luck!

[modernmysticblog]

Insane Species

Hubert Reeves writes: "Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping."

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Disowning the Shadow

Alan Watts writes: "The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body--a rational soul and an animal soul, a rider and a horse, a good guy with better instincts and finer feelings and a rascal with lusts and unruly passions.

"The more it sides with itself, the more the good soul reveals its inseparable shadow; and the more it disowns its shadow, the more it becomes it.

"Thus for thousands of years, human history has been a magnificently futile conflict, a wonderfully futile panorama of triumphs and tragedies based on the resolute taboo against admitting that black goes with white."

[modernmysticblog]

Praise and Approval

Marcus Aurelius writes: "Do you desire to be praised by a man who curses himself three times every hour? Do you desire to gain the approval of people who do not even approve of themselves?" 

A worthy question. 

Another question: when you receive praise or approval from the people Marcus describes, what does that actually say about you? 

About your values? 

About the motivation behind your desire to impress and obtain approval? 

I don't have any answers, as per usual--my job is to ask the right questions. I leave the answers to you, my friends.

[modernmysticblog]

Unity of Being

Marcus Aurelius writes: "Consider often the connection of all things in the Cosmos and their relationship to each other. For in a way all things are mutually intertwined, and thus there is a natural inclination, or love, that links everything together.

"For things follow another by reason of their attunement, the common spirit that breathes through them, and the unity of all being."

[modernmysticblog]

Bridge

Alan Watts writes: "Your skin doesn't separate you from the world. It's a bridge through which the external world flows into you, and you flow into it."

[modernmysticblog]

Original Impressions

Marcus Aurelius writes: "In this way then, always remain with your original impressions. Add nothing else from within yourself, and nothing will happen to you; or rather, add to them only as one would who truly knows what happens within the universal order of the Cosmos."