Everything appears fresh,
Fresh, crisp and clear;
A sparkling mirror,
everything perfectly reflected.
Body, mind and senses function by themselves,
As they have always done,
Light! Sensations! Movement!
Is reality impersonal?
This is a question that often comes up, and many teachers often state that reality is impersonal. I myself have written a piece stating just this (complete with an impersonal looking image). However, like so many things we can write and say about reality, it is often correct in one way but false in another. As I’ve stated many times before, reality cannot be captured in words.
We could say that reality is impersonal or both personal and impersonal, or we could say that it is neither personal or impersonal. All these statements would be correct in the correct context.
But are these statements helpful? To say that reality is either personal or impersonal is ultimately besides the point. The essential point is to see things as they are, or rather to stop believing in all our concepts about reality – then reality shines, as it always has done. Who cares if it’s personal or impersonal?
The Sun and the Moon
The sun
Bright, bold, clear, unchanging,
The masculine principle.
The moon,
Mysterious, shape-shifting, temperamental,
The feminine principle. Continue reading
Krishnamurti: How to solve our problems
“I am not speaking as an Indian, nor do I believe that any particular philosophy or religion is going to solve our human problems. No human problem can be understood or resolved through a special way of thinking, or through any dogma or belief.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Hamburg, Germany, 1st Public Talk 5th September 1956
This magical sparkling life
Not trying to get somewhere,
Not clinging,
Not letting go,
Not renunciating,
Not ‘staying in the moment’,
Not ‘being present’,
(This is just more trying to get somewhere,
more clinging),
Just this.
Sufi mystic Abol-Hasan speaks
Here are some gems from Sheikh Abol-Hasan, a Sufi mystic from the 11th century AD. His words continue to astound me. I have followed each quote with my commentary in italics and hope this does not detract from the quotes themselves.
One may speak of those absent,
but one who is Ever Present,
one can say nothing of
Sheikh Abol-Hasan, saying 92
How can we speak of Him? How can we talk of Him? All talk of Him is fanciful, all the more so if we take our descriptions and theories about Him seriously. Continue reading
Blasphemy
Krishnamurti: Redefining religion, finding God
The following is an excerpt from a talk of Jiddu Krishnamurti that took place in Hamburg, Germany on 5th September 1956
“Religion is not to be found in a set of dogmas, beliefs, rituals; I think it is something much greater and far beyond all that. Therefore it is imperative to understand why the mind clings to any particular religion or belief, to any particular dogma. It is only when we understand and free the mind from these beliefs, dogmas, and fears, that there is a possibility of finding out if there is a reality, if there is God. But merely to believe, to follow, seems to me an utter folly…
Continue reading
Eckhart Tolle: Your true self
‘You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.’
Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle p. 52
The truth is that you cannot know your true self. You are your true self – already. It’s difficult to put into words, but when you know who you really are, it is not the same as knowing how tall Mount Everest is or knowing what your favourite colour is. These worldly things are known with the mind, with thought, with the intellect. These things are known by ‘you’, the ego who knows, the false non-existent self. Your true self is not known in that way.
Continue reading
What are the health benefits of yoga really?
As someone who has practiced yoga since being a young child, I would highly recommend it. There are so many benefits – even a relatively superficial physical practice can be transformative.
However I do get tired of reading about the endless benefits of yoga as a cure-all for everything from cancer to haemorrhoids.
Tom Das 