Story: Turiya Consciousness

In a certain forest there was a great sage. Seeing this extraordinary sage. a hunter approached him and asked him: "O sage, a deer which had been wounded by my arrow came this way. Tell me which way it went." The sage replied: "We are holy men who dwell in the forest and our nature is peace. We are devoid of ego-sense. The ego-sense and the mind which make the activities of the senses possible have come to a rest. I do not know what are known as waking, dream and deep sleep. I remain established in the turiya. In it there is no object to be seen." The hunter could not grasp the meaning of the sage's words. He went his way. 

Rest in nirvana without movement of thought, with the mind greatly 'weakend' and the intelligence at peace; rest in the self as if you are deaf, dumb and blind.

By remaining unaware of pleasure and pain and of even that which lies between the two, you rise above sorrow. Just by this little self-effort you attain the infinite.

http://www.estudantedavedanta.net/The-Supreme-Yoga-Swami-Venkatesananda.pdf

Story:Infinite Consciousness - this creation appears momentarily

Vasistha:
There once lived a mendicant w ho was devoted to meditation. His mind, having been purified by such meditation, came to possess the power to materialise its thoughts.

One day. being tired of continuous meditation, yet having his mind fully concentrated, he thought of doing something. He fancied birth as one who was illiterate and of a non-brahmata family. Instantly, he had become, as it were, a tribes-man: there arose in him the feeling 'I am Jivata'. This dream-being roamed for sometime in the city also built of dream-objects. One day he got drunk and slept. He dreamt that he was a brahmana endowed with knowledge of the scriptures. While he was living a righteous life, one day this brahmana dreamt that he was a powerful king. He dreamt that he was a mighty emperor of unequalled glory. One day he indulged in royal pleasures and after that slept and dreamt of a celestial nymph.

Similarly, this nymph one day dreamt that she was a deer. And this deer dreamt that it was a creeper. Surely. even animals behold dreams. for such Is the nature of the mind which can recollect what has been seen and what has been heard. The deer became a creeper. The inner intelligence in the creeper saw in its own heart a bee. It became a bee and the bee began to drink the nectar in the flowers on the creeper. It became attached to the nectar in one of those flowers, surely for its own destruction!

At night an elephant approached this creeper and plucked it, along with the bee, and crushed it in its mouth. However, the bee, having seen the elephant, contemplated the elephant and became an elephant. The elephant was captured by a king. One day it saw a hive of bees and on account of the memory of its own past birth it became a bee. It began to drink the nectar of the flowers in wild creepers. It became a creeper. The creeper was destroyed by an elephant, but because the creeper had seen swans in the nearby lake, it became a swan.

One day this swan was roaming in the company of many other swans. While the mendicant was meditating upon this swan, he was overcome by death. His consciousness therefore became embodied in the swan.

That swan once beheld lord Rudra and in its heart there arose the conviction 1 am Rudra'. Instantly it abandoned its body as swan and became Rudra. And that Rudra dwelt in the abode of Rudra. However, since Rudra was endowed with true knowledge, he remembered all that had taken place!

Rudra recollected thus:
Behold! How mysterious is this Maya which deludes all the worlds: though it is unreal it appears to be real. First of all, in that infinite consciousness which was myself there arose the mind with objective consciousness, though yet cosmic and omniscient. Then accidentally, I happened to be the jiva which felt attracted to and charmed by the finest part of the cosmic elements. Therefore during a certain creation-cycle I became the mendicant who remained totally unagitated. He was able to overcome all distractions and remain immersed in the practice of contemplation.

However. every subsequent action is more powerful than a previous act. The mendicant considered himself Jivata and so did he become. After that he be-thought he was a brahmana. Surely the more powerful thought-form overwhelms the weaker one. Then in course of time and on account of persistent contemplation, he became a king: surely, water imbibed by the plant becomes its fruit! Associated with royal pleasures are nymphs: contemplating them, the king became a nymph. Purely on account of infatuation, this nymph became a deer. The deer became a creeper which was obsessed with the idea that it would be pierced and a hole would be made. Contemplating the bee, it became a bee, which then pierced a hole in the creeper. The bee became an elephant.

I am Rudra who has been a Rudra during the past one hundred creation-cycles, and I roam this world-appearance which is nothing more than a psycho-logical delusion. In one creation-cycle I was Jivata, in another I was the brahmaria, in another I was the king and in yet another I was the swan. Thus have I been revolving in this wheel known as the mind and the body.

It is aeons since I slipped from that supreme self or infinite consciousness. Soon after that fall I was that mendicant who was still endowed with knowledge of the truth. Then after passing through very many incarnations, through the grace of Rudra, whom I happened to behold. I have become Rudra. When the jiva by coincidence comes into contact with an enlightened person. then its impure vasana (tendencies) turn away. This happens to that person who constantly longs for such contact with an enlightened person. Such constant longing (or abhyasa) itself materialises and becomes an accomplished fact.

This world is an optical illusion like the blueness of the sky. It is ignorance. I shall retrace the chain of imaginary transformations and restore their underlying unity.

Vasistha continued:
Thus having resolved, Rudra went to where the body of the mendicant lay. He awakened it and inspired it to remember all that had taken place. The mendicant saw Rudra as his own self, and also recollected all that had happened.

Then both of them went to where Jivata lived in the same infinite consciousness. They revived his body. The three were indeed one. These three, who were wonder-struck at this mystery, then proceeded to the place of the brahmana who was asleep, embraced by his wife. They awakened his consciousness. Then they went to where the king was asleep in his royal bedchamber, surrounded by nymphs. They awakened his intelligence, too. He too was amazed at the realisation of the truth. Thus they went to where the swan lived — the swan that became Rudra.

They roamed the world of the one hundred Rudra of the past. They realised that it was all one infinite consciousness in which all these diverse illusory events had apparently taken place. The one form had become many, as it were. These one hundred Rudra pervaded the entire universe and were omnipresent.

On account of the fact that the jiva is surrounded on all sides by the world that arises from it, the unawakened jiva do not see one another, do not understand one another. Just as all waves are of the same substance and are therefore one, the awakened jiva realise their oneness and thus understand one another. Each jiva has its own illusory world-appearance. However, even as one finds empty space wherever one digs the ground. when this world-appearance of the jiva is enquired into, it invariably leads to the same infinite consciousness.

Differentiated consciousness is bondage; liberation is its absence. Whatever pleases you, affirm that and be firm in that. There is no difference between the two, for awareness is the same in both. Who will bemoan the loss of what exists only in ignorance? That which is gained by 'being still', exists already and has therefore already been 'gained'!

All of them attained awakening of their spiritual consciousness along with lord Rudra. Realising that they were part of Rudra, they were happy. Rudra saw the play of Maya as it arose, and he inspired the others to play their roles in it once again, commanding them to return to him after such seemingly independent existence, and assuring them at the end of the world-cycle they would reach the supreme state. Rudra then vanished from sight. and Jivata and the others returned to their own respective abodes.

http://www.estudantedavedanta.net/The-Supreme-Yoga-Swami-Venkatesananda.pdf

Story: Getting hold of emptiness

Sekkyo said to one of his monks, "Can you get hold of Emptiness?" 

"I'll try," said the monk, and he cupped his hand in the air. 

"That's not very good," said Sekkyo. "You haven't got anything in there!" "Well, master," said the monk, "please show me a better way." 

Thereupon Sekkyo seized the monk's nose and gave it a great yank. 

"Ouch!" yelled the monk. "You hurt me!". "That's the way to get hold of Emptiness!" said Sekkyo.

http://spiritual-minds.com/stories/zen.htm

Story:Vast Emptiness

The emperor, who was a devout Buddhist, invited a great Zen master to the Palace in order to ask him questions about Buddhism. 

"What is the highest truth of the holy Buddhist doctrine?" the emperor inquired. 

"Vast emptiness... and not a trace of holiness," the master replied. 

"If there is no holiness," the emperor said, "then who or what are you?" 

"I do not know," the master replied.

http://spiritual-minds.com/stories/zen.htm

World is an Idea

A young boy asked his nanny to tell him a story. and the nanny told him the following story to which the boy listened with great attention: 

Once upon a time in a city which did not exist, there were three princes who were brave and happy. Of them two were unborn and the third had not been con-ceived. Unfortunately all their relatives died. The princes left their native city to go elsewhere. Very soon, unable to bear the heat of the sun, they fell into a swoon. Their feet were burnt by hot sand. The tips of grass pierced them. They reached the shade of three trees, of which two did not exist and the third had not even been planted. After resting there for some time and eating the fruits of those trees, they proceeded further. 

They reached the banks of three rivers; of them two were dry and in the third there was no water. The princes had a refreshing bath and quenched their thirst in them. They then reached a huge city which was about to be built. Entering it, they found three palaces of exceeding beauty. Of them two had not been built at all, and the third had no walls. They entered the palaces and found three golden plates; two of them had been broken into two and the third had been pulverised. They took hold of the one which had been pulverised. They took ninety-nine minus one hundred grams of rice and cooked it. They then invited three holy men to be their guests; of them two had no body and the third had no mouth. After these holy men had eaten the food, the three princes partook of the rest of the food cooked. They were greatly pleased. Thus they lived in that city for a long, long time in peace and joy. My child this is an extremely beautiful legend; pray remember this always, and you will grow up into a learned man. 

O Rama, when the little boy heard this he was thrilled. 

What is known as the creation of the world is no more real than this story of the young boy. This world is nothing but pure hallucination. It is nothing more than an idea. In the infinite consciousness the idea of creation arose: and that is what is. O Rama, this world is nothing more than an idea; all the objects of consciousness In this world are just an idea; reject the error (dirt) of ideation and be free of ideas; remain rooted In truth and attain peace. 

-Yoga Vasista, The Supreme Yoga, translation by Swami Venkatesananda
http://www.estudantedavedanta.net/The-Supreme-Yoga-Swami-Venkatesananda.pdf

Story:True Generosity

Once Krishna and Arjuna were walking towards a village. Arjuna was pestering Krishna, asking him why Karna should be considered an unparallelled Donor & not him ?

Krishna, turned two mountains into gold.

Then said, "Arjuna, distribute these two gold mountains among villagers, but you must donate every bit of it ".

Arjuna went into the village, and proclaimed he was going to donate gold to every villager, and asked them to gather near the mountain. The villagers sang his praises and Arjuna walked towards the mountains with a huffed up chest.

For two days and two nights Arjuna shovelled gold from the mountain and donated to each villager. The mountains did not diminish in the slightest.
Most villagers came back and stood in queue within minutes. Now Arjuna was exhausted, but not ready to let go of his Ego, told Krishna he couldn't go on any longer without rest.

Then Krishna called Karna and told him to donate every bit of the two gold mountains.

Karna called the villagers, and said "Those two Gold mountains are yours. " and walked away.

Arjuna sat dumbfounded. Why hadn't this thought occurred to him?

Krishna smiled mischievously and told him "Arjuna, subconsciously, you were attracted to the gold, you regretfully gave it away to each villager, giving them what you thought was a generous amount. Thus the size of your donation to each villager depended only on your imagination.

Karna holds no such reservations. Look at him walking away after giving away a fortune, he doesn't expect people to sing his praises, he doesn't even care if people talk good or bad about him behind his back. That is the sign of a man already on the path of enlightenment".

Giving with an Expectation of a Return in the form of a Compliment or Thanks is not a Gift, then it becomes a Trade.

Give without expecting anything in Return. 

https://www.facebook.com/DoctorsHangout/posts/10155295245895099

Gurdjieff Quotes

A man can only attain knowledge with the help of those who possess it. This must be understood from the very beginning. One must learn from him who knows.

Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.

Knowledge and Understanding are quite different. Only understanding can lead to being, whereas knowledge is but a passing presence in it.

Remember yourself always and everywhere.

By teaching others you will learn yourself.

Conscious love evokes the same in response.
Emotional love evokes the opposite.
Physical love depends on type and polarity.

Faith of consciousness is freedom.
Faith of feeling is slavery.
Faith of body is stupidity.

Hope of consciousness is strength.
Hope of feeling is cowardice.
Hope of body is disease.

Awakening begins when a man realizes that he is going nowhere and does not know where to go.

He who has got rid of the disease "Tomorrow" has the possibility to attain what he is here for.

Don't judge a man by the tales of others.

If you help others, you will be helped, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in one hundred years, but you will be helped. Nature must pay off the debt... It is a mathematical law and all life is mathematics.

There is only one kind of magic and this is ‘doing.’

You must understand that ordinary efforts do not count; only super-efforts count.

In the river of life suffering is not intentional. In conscious life suffering is intentional and of great value.

Man is given a limited quantity of experiences; being economical with them lengthens his life.

Man is refreshed not by the quantity but by the quality of sleep—sleep little without regret.

Men have their minds and women their feelings more highly developed. Either alone can give nothing. Think what you feel and feel what you think. Fusion of the two produces another force.

Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity of self-change. And in observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening.

The only type of sexual relations possible are those with someone who is as advanced and capable as oneself.

We attract forces according to our being. 
We have good and bad angels. The good angels work by way of our voluntary, active nature and the bad through our passive nature.

What is possible for individual man is impossible for the masses.

You should understand, and establish it as a firm rule, not to pay attention to other people’s opinions. You must be free of people surrounding you, and when you are free inside you will be free of them.

Only help him who is not an idler.


Man's possibilities are very great. You cannot even conceive a shadow of what man is capable of attaining.

 By Teaching others you will learn yourself.

Life is real only then, When 'I am'

We are sheep kept to provide wool for our masters 
who feed us and keep us as slaves of illusion. 
But we have a chance of escape and our masters 
are anxious to help us, 
but we like being sheep. It is comfortable.

Do not be affected by externals. 
In themselves they are harmless; 
it is we who allow ourselves to be hurt by them.

Unconscious sufffering will have no result; 
it is better to have bread and voluntarily not eat it. 
Unconscious suffering, in one center only, l
eads to lunatic asylum. 
Only conscious suffering is of value.

Self-observation is an instrument of selfchange, 
a means of awakening. 
By observing himself he throws, as it were, 
a ray of light onto his inner processes 
which have hitherto worked in complete darkness. 
And under the influence of this light 
the processes themselves begin to change. 

Man has no individuality. 
He has no single, big I. 
Man is divided into a multiplicity of small I’s.
A man decides to get up early beginning from the following day. 
One I, or a group of I’s, decide this. 
But getting up is the business of another I 
who entirely disagrees with the decision 
and may even know absolutely nothing about it. 

The more a man understands what he is doing,
the greater will be the result of his efforts.
This is a fundamental principle of the Fourth Way.
The results of his work are in direct proportion
to the consciousness of the work.

All new powers and capacities of realization 
come always in one and the same way. 
At first they appear in the form of flashes 
at rare and short moments; 
afterwards they appear more often 
and last longer until, finally, 
after very long work 
they become permanent. 

A man sees the faults of others more easily than he sees his own.
At the same time on the path of self-study he learns that 
he himself possesses all the faults that he finds in others. 
But there are many things that he does not see in himself, 
whereas in other people he begins to see them. 
But, as I have just said, in this case he knows that 
these features are his own. 
Thus other members of the group serve him as mirrors 
in which he sees himself. 
But, of course, in order to see himself in other people's faults 
and not merely to see the faults of others, 
a man must be very much on his guard against 
and be very sincere with himself.

I ask you to believe nothing that 
you cannot verify for yourself.

In the river of life suffering is not intentional.
In conscious life suffering is intentional and of great value.

Laughter relieves us of superfluous energy, 
which, if it remained unused,
might become negative, that is, poison.
Laughter is the antidote.

As long as our ideas are the same,
we will never be apart.

You are in prison.
If you wish to get out of prison,
the first thing you must do is to realize that
you are in prison.
If you think you are free, you can't escape.

A miracle is not the breaking of physical laws,
but rather represents laws which are 
incomprehensible to us.

Remember yourself always and everywhere.

Awakening is possible 
only for those who seek it and want it,
for those who are ready to struggle with themselves
and work on themselves 
for a very long time
and very persistently in order to attain it.

Conscious faith is freedom.
Emotional faith is slavery.
Mechanical faith is foolishness.

Two things in life are infinite;
the stupidity of man 
and the mercy of God.

Without struggle, no progress and no result.
Every breaking of habit produces a change in the machine.

You can never awaken using the same system
that put you to sleep in the first place.

Don't judge a man by the tales of others.

What is possible for individual man
is impossible for the masses.

A considerable percentage of the people 
we meet on the street are people 
who are empty inside, that is, 
they are actually already dead.
It is fortunate for us that we do not see and
do not know it. 
If we knew what a number of people are actually dead 
and what a number of these dead people govern 
our lives, we should go mad with horror.

Self-observation brings man to
the realization of the necessity of self-change. 
And in observing himself a man notices 
that self-observation itself 
brings about certain changes in his inner processes. 
He begins to understand that self-observation
is an instrument of self-change, 
a means of awakening.

By grounding our awareness 
in the living sensation of our bodies the 'I AM', 
our real presence, can awaken.

Love of consciousness evokes the same in response.
Love of feeling evokes the opposite
Love of body depends only on type and polarity.

Without self knowledge, without understanding
the working and functions of his machine,
man cannot be free, 
he cannot govern himself and
he will always remain a slave.

One must do everything one can and then say 
'God have mercy!'

Better to die than live in sleep.

Only super-efforts count.

man lies to himself a lot.

A man will renounce any pleasures you like
but he will not give up his suffering.

It is the greatest mistake to think that 
man is always one and the same.
A man is never the same for long.
He is continually changing.
He seldom remains the same even for half an hour.

Patience is the mother of will.

Humanity is moving in a circle.
The progress in mechanical things 
of the past hundred years has proceeded
at the cost of losing many other things which
perhaps were much more important for it.

Practice love on animals first;
they react better and more sensitively.

A man can only attain knowledge 
with the help of those who possess it.
This must be understood
from the very beginning.
One must learn from him who knows.

The key to happiness is not to be identified with 
what is impermanent.

Only help him who is not an idler.

Rest comes not from the quantity 
but from the quality of sleep.

The only type of sexual relations possible are those
with someone who is as advanced and capable as oneself.

Awakening begins when a man realizes that 
he is going nowhere
and does not know where to go.

Love without knowledge
is demonic.

Begin with the possible;
begin with one step.

A miracle is not the breaking of physical laws,
but rather represents laws which are 
incomprehensible to us.

14 Precepts

1
Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

2
Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout your entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.

3
Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrow-mindedness.

4
Do not avoid suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, visits, images and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.

5
Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.

6
Do not maintain anger or hatred. Learn to penetrate and transform them when they are still seeds in your consciousness. As soon as they arise, turn your attention to your breath in order to see and understand the nature of your hatred.

7
Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing both inside and around you. Plant seeds of joy, peace, and understanding in yourself in order to facilitate the work of transformation in the depths of your consciousness.

8
Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

9
Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things of which you are not sure. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.

10
Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit, or transform your community into a political party. A religious community, however, should take a clear stand against oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.

11
Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realise your ideal of compassion.

12
Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and prevent war.

13
Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others, but prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.

14
Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect. Do not look on your body as only an instrument. Preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realisation of the Way. (For brothers and sisters who are not monks and nuns:) Sexual expression should not take place without love and commitment. In sexual relations, be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.

http://viewonbuddhism.org/resources/14_precepts.html

Transforming Emotions - Guided Meditation

You Can Heal Your Life