Issue #13, Aug. 18th 06

 

Personal Growth - the Negative Way

What is personal growth? For me as a therapist, this is my stock in trade so I guess I need to know what it is. In this edition of my newsletter I am going to attempt to define "personal growth."

To set the stage for this I want to ponder a quote from one of the greatest Realized Masters of modern times. His name is Ramana Maharshi and he said this: "There is no greater mystery than this: Being Reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality." What does this mean? The essence of it is that we are that which we seek. This hints strongly to what Jesus is quoted as saying in Luke 17:21 ". . . behold the kingdom of God is within you."

If we ponder what truths are being explained by those two quotes, it becomes increasingly obvious that the perfection, fulfillment, and ultimate peace and happiness we seek are already at hand. So what's the problem and why to we need personal growth? Obviously the problem is that we cannot appropriate that which is within us since it is still waiting to be discovered. It is only logical to conclude that the reason for the misery of our un-awakened condition is that there are obstacles in the way. Personal growth then becomes the process of removing obstacles to knowing ourselves as the truth which we seek.

This leads to the knowledge that we are not experiencing our true Self. How can the Self be found? By removing obstacles, in other words, eliminating everything that is false. Then and only then will what is true be revealed as that which remains.

Along the path of personal growth we eliminate our thoughts. We realize that we are not our thoughts. We also must eliminate the little "me" that lives in the head. The feeling of "me" or what Maharshi called the "I thought" wraps itself around each thought giving us a sense of ownership and identification. Intense scrutiny reveals that there is in fact no little "me" in the head.

Essentially everything we can identify as an object can be eliminated since we learn that the true Self cannot be anything that is perceive to be separate. This shockingly includes the physical body - it included anything physical. This makes sense to Quantum Physics since observation creates the particle filled universe. We even eliminate the subjective observer since close observation of the "mind" that is supposed to be the subject of the world's objects reveals that it itself is an object - nothing more than a concept.

Finally, we are left with the inescapable conclusion, that all that is left is the presence of  awareness. Awareness itself is the substrate of all manifest phenomenon and that is the Self.

Personal Growth involves the work it takes to remove obstacles; the ego, our thoughts, anything physical. It is a process of negation from which the truth emerges as completely obvious. Personal growth is the negative way.

 

 

 

 

New Wine in Old Wine Skins

Witnessing thought brings with it a new level of consciousness. With this comes a "knowing" and innocent perception. But after the initial detachment from the world of identified thought, it takes about two years of practice to stabilize. During that time it is imperative to read and study and practice. This helps the experience of Witness Consciousness grow and expand. During this time, one must be wary of the lure of  the old life; the old philosophies, affiliations, religions, etc. One must look at everything from the old life in the light of the new illumination shining inside. To do otherwise is like putting new wine in old wine skins.

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September  Awakening Group meets on Sunday Sept. 10th at 1 pm. 

 

 

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