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The Living Spirit Show – Authentic Self – Authenitc Spirituality
November 16, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
I am joined again for this show by Alison Miller. We start by discussing the article I wrote about new findings that support my view that a culture of always putting on a happy face and having positive thoughts is unhealthy.
We delve further into the nature of love and our relationship with it, how our ideas about it are conditioned and how we can grow into a more authentic relationship with love and ourselves and arrive at a grounded and authentic spirituality.
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“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! Scroll Down to leave a Comment
Eckhart Tolle On Relationships
July 24, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Earlier in the year I wrote an post on karma in personal relationships It was very popular and very quickly rose up the most viewed list for the site. I just came across this video of Eckhart Tolle speaking on the same kind of subject. I really like what he has to say, and I enjoy his quirky humor too. Take a look and let me know what you think and what are your own experiences.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
God & Life Tweets
July 9, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
God – Great Mystery, only fools would claim to know thee and thy ways
The Divine Mother creates the world – we just get to play in it : )
The mystery does not have limits; it is not controllable; it cannot be contained.
love is the force that animates creation and weaves this unfathomably wondrous web. Hard to see often doesn’t make it not so
Whatever we think God is can only ever be a very limited view
Your spiritual core is all that is real – the rest is a charade of mind
In the Mystery we cease to have to know or control, we trust in the perfection of each moment’s unfolding
Love by its nature doesn’t want anything, it simply IS
Life is love seeking to remember and become itself
Life is a stream, it only flows in one direction, resistance is slowly, inevitable worn away
Truth is Always Simple
We are in any moment in the flow of life- our spiritual process, or in resistance to it There are no other positions
We are all in this together, we are forging our collective future in every moment
Life will not allow inertia, resist as hard as we like it’s nature is movement and will not be denied
Life without Edge is just a Hedge
We always have one of two choices: we either contract into separation or we expand into unity.
Selflove is oft misunderstood & misinterpreted as ‘it’s all about me’ We have to dig deeper 2 a more authentic experience of love 2 get it
Where we have love and acceptance for anyone or anything outside of us is a reflection of where we have love and acceptance of ourselves
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
God, Spiritual Oneness & Separation
July 8, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
If it is that God and our true nature is One-ness, then why is it that it is not our living experience?
Indian spiritual philosophy addresses the God concept in a way that supports what I am saying. It sees God in two aspects – the manifest and the un-manifest. The un-manifest is the purest state of conscious, beyond description or comprehension Within it is all potential existence. The manifest aspect is this consciousness in expression as the entirety of manifestation. There are many similarities in the Taoist philosophy of yin and yang with yin as the un-manifest and yang as the manifest.
My perception of why Oneness or Unity isn’t our lived experience is this. In the process of entering into manifest existence as an individuated point of life within that existence, we experience separation in the transition from un-manifest to manifest. This ‘moment’ we could call the ‘birth’ of our soul. Why is this experience of separation necessary if in truth there is only One? The one word answer I see is ‘creation’. The purpose and design of the One in manifest existence, is the evolution and expansion of consciousness, or put another way, the endless creative manifesting of the One, in appearance and form.
A huge hindrance we have in embracing and understanding this is our conception of the One as God, is
Adyshanti – What Is Awareness?
June 3, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
Awareness, it’s the whole enigma, the eyeball trying to see itself, the sound of one hand clapping. It isn’t you, you can’t be it, it’s ever present and we don’t notice.
The simple timeless state of awareness is the heart of all this spiritual jiggery pokery, nothing like a good paradox to confuse the mind into believing itself. It won’t make any sense until you have direct experience, but you never know which pointing finger will finally reveal the moon.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
Go See Amma – 6 Reasons Why
May 26, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
On Thursday Amma begins her annual US summer tour. If you’ve never been to see her and wonder whether you should here are six reasons why.
1: There are spiritual teachers who have knowledge, there are spiritual teachers who have wisdom and there are spiritual teachers who have shakti, there are spiritual teachers who are enlightened. From personal experience I can tell you that Amma it’s something beyond all of these.
When we have the idea that enlightenment is some kind of completion it is very difficult for us to comprehend anything beyond it. I am convinced by my own experience that enlightenment is the beginning of a whole new experience in consciousness evolving. As such I do not believe it its possible comprehend just what or who Amma is, and i don’t advise trying.
2: Amma Has been a touring the world and hugging people for decades now, she has made the analogy that a life of service is like an incense stick burning to ash to offer its fragrance of the world. My point is that it won’t last forever, so if you’ve never been make sure you do while you still can.
3: The analogy I will offer Re: number one and two is this. if Jesus or Buddha were alive and you could go and just be with them, even for a day – wouldn’t you go? And if Jesus or Buddha don’t inspire you just replace them with whatever spiritual figure does. Well, would you go?
4: If you are sincere about your desire to spiritually evolve, then Amma can help you, all you have to lose is your pride.
5: After spending years with her in India and other parts of the world, it seems to me that Amma cam to Earth on a mission – it’s us – humanity. We can be as positive as we like (and I’m not saying not to be) but we are walking a tightrope through a pivotal time in earth’s history and we may not make it. At it’s core the outcome will be decided by our level of consciousness. (Read more of my thought on this here)
The point is, we are all in this together, we are forging our collective future in every moment, and as I see it, if we are conscious of this we can best serve by doing everything we can to raise our own consciousness.
6: It’s free. All public programs are completely free, all you have to do is show up, and if you want a hug be willing to wait. If you go and want a hug, go early. Whatever you do, stay as long as you can as close as you can and be as receptive as you can – to the energy of Amma’s consciousness. This is especially true when you go for darshan (hugging).
| Seattle | 05.28-05.31 | |
| San Ramon | 06.03-06.13 | |
| Los Angeles | 06.15-06.19 | |
| Albuquerque | 06.21-06.25 | |
| Dallas | 06.27-06.28 | |
| Iowa | 06.30-07.01 | |
| Chicago | 07.03-07.04 | |
| New York | 07.07-07.09 | |
| Washington DC | 07.12-07.13 | |
| Boston | 07.15-07.18 | |
| Toronto | 07.21-07.24 |
Visit the US Amma website for details of public programs and retreats – Go and Enjoy!
If you aren’t in the US check the main site for other Amma world tours.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreRam Dass – Still Hip
May 23, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Many times over the years I meet someone, usually in the baby boomer generation who tells me that Ram Dass was their first introduction to Eastern spiritual ideas. Now, nearly 40 years after the landmark publication of his book ‘Be Here Now’ he is still going strong.
For those of us who have grown up in later generations it is hard to imagine a world where the richness and diversity of spiritual knowledge from the great land of India are not readily available. Maybe because of that it is harder for us to appreciate just what a trail blazer Ram Dass was on his return from India in 1969, inspired by the teaching of his Guru Neem Karoli Baba and Baba Hari Dass.
Admittedly, he was slowed down over the last decade by a stroke in 1997. That life change became a deepening of Ram Dass’s spiritual journey and not a hindrance to it.
Hidden deep within all of us is a primordial fear of death. Despite his many years of work with the dying through the ‘Dying Project’, his stroke brought Ram Dass to direct experience of his own mortality.
Of that debilitating event Ram Dass later said, "I had been superficial and arrogant and the stroke helped me to be humble. I had gotten power from helping people and now I need help for everything. That was the grace. The stroke happened to the ego, and when I could witness the pain, my life got better."
Now 79 and with a new hip replacement Ram Dass is still teaching on retreats and giving satsangs. Recently some of these activities are being made available to those outside Hawaii through the internet as Ram Dass continues to inspire new generations of spiritual seekers.
This Sunday May 24th, renowned spiritual teacher will give satsang with guest speakers Lei Ohu Ryder and Lama Gyaltsen at The Studio Maui.
Find out what else Ram Dass is up to in the near future and how to sign up for online satsang at http://www.ramdass.org
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
Karma And Relationships
May 22, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 3 Comments
In relationship, more accurately with intimate/committed relationship there is karmic compatibility. This means that both people have the same unresolved/unhealed/incomplete energy (not in every way of course – but in significant areas).It’s that pesky Law of Attraction again.
This ‘karmic’ energy usually manifests as a polarity, one person holds one end of the spectrum and the other person the opposite. In manifest behaviour/characteristics, it then looks very different – opposite in fact. The relationship then dances around the ‘appearance’ of this duality as the two people seek resolution within themselves.
When one steps out of this dance and chooses to find healing within themselves and without the drama of the
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreRamana Maharishi – His Life Story
May 2, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 1 Comment
Ramana Maharishi is one of the giants among 20th Century spiritual masters. One of the rare people to spontaneously awaken to truth almost instantly without any prior spiritual practice, or even interest.
Today there are many Ramana wannabe’s with some spurious claim to connection with him as a lineage teacher. Ramana was the lived embodiment of Advaita Vedanta, it wasn’t a ‘philosophy’ he studied and then espoused, it was the truth of his living experience.
I recently found this full length film on Ramana’s life and Saturday seemed like a good day for a movie. There are days when I really miss India and some part of my heart is always there. Movies like this give a little fix to that part of me and while Arunachala didn’t really do it for me like it does for many this film stirs good memories.
There are many books of Raman Maharishi’s teaching, my personal favorite is..
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
Time Of Great Spiritual Change
April 29, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
There is at this time a massive effort going on to raise the collective vibration of human consciousness and more help available than we imagine.
It is important that we ask for help, in many cases it is only when we do that it can be forthcoming in all the ways possible. It is also advantageous if we are really clear on exactly what we want help with. For example if we have an area in our psyche where we experience contraction, fear or any kind of limitation, that is a good thing to ask for help with. As I have written about all over this site we evolve by unwinding and transmuting these energies of limiting past.
There are very real and disastrous potentials if we don’t. So all spiritual endeavor at this time is for the good of all. The ‘reward’ for reaching a certain degree of spiritual evolution is that we then actively begin transmuting collective karma as well as our own. Pain is pain and fear is fear whether it’s experienced in your body or mine and at a certain level there is no difference if it is experienced here or there.
The potential to Awaken to Truth is also greater than it has ever been, right now. Many many souls evolutionary process has been focused on being at the point of Awakening in THIS life for this reason. There is an unimaginably vast intelligence at play behind all of this. And we have been given this enormous gift of free will, we get to choose, and we collectively have brought ourselves to the brink of destruction.
Let’s be very honest about this and not go all positive thinking head in the sand. We collectively have been systematically destroying the planetary ecosystems that sustain life on earth. If that isn’t the definition of insanity I don’t know what is. I am sure that many of you reading this are not actively participating in this destruction and are probably making choices from a position of sustainability.
This is a collective issue and not an individual one. We can’t believe in Oneness and Unity as some spiritual concept that we then separate from life and aspire to like the idea of heaven.
As I see it there is a single energy at the root of all negative tendencies. It is fear. Fear limits us, and the presence of fear in us allows our emotional manipulation on every level from the personal to the collective. It is also the root cause of our own efforts to manipulate life to our own ends. So probably the greatest good we could do is to identify where and how it vibrates in us and to use all the tools that we have, and ask for all the help available, to heal and release it.
We don’t need to do this to the exclusion of anything else, it is of course equally important to give attention to and express what in us aligns with our true nature, expansive, joyful and creative. Invariably when we open into these places in ourselves through our spiritual practices, or the expression of our spirituality in whatever form, new layers of fear will sooner or later present themselves. It is a process, it’s all process. The process is Consciousness evolving, through us, as us.
We are only just beginning to understand life in vibrational terms. The long dominance of fear in the human psyche has also been borne by mother Earth and there is stress in the entire system as a consequence. The increasing number of natural disaster is a direct consequence of this stress. On the other side of the equation more ‘light’ is being held in the planet than ever before and we are engaged in a precarious act of maintaining equilibrium in the midst of transformation.
It is my belief that there is nothing more important or responsible than our engagement in our spiritual evolution, a process of healing and awakening. It is also my belief that to fully embody this we have to live it and express it in how we live, what we say, what we think. Every single choice that we make increases or decreases our vibration, and never before in the Earths history have the consequences of that ever been greater.
