Understanding What Matters
“Understanding what matters you shall be free from the bondage of the world: — Through information, digging, and casting aside the stones, a treasure may be found, but not by calling it to come forth.”
–Shankara (a.k.a. Adi Shankaracharya, Indian Sage, Spiritual Teacher and Author of the Crest-Jewel of Discrimination, Dates Uncertain, but c.A.D. 686-718 or 788-821)
“Shankara’s Crest Jewel of Discrimination” (Swami Prabhavananda, Christopher Isherwood)
Irrational Authority
Some of the big barriers to regaining your Innate Freedom:
“Power on the one side, fear on the other, are always the buttresses on which irrational authority is built.”
–Erich Fromm (German-born American Psychologist and Philosopher, 1900-1980)
“Man for Himself: An Inquiry Into the Psychology of Ethics” (Erich Fromm)
A Cause of Disease
“Disease of the body as we know it, is a result, an end product, a final stage of something much deeper. Disease originates above the physical plane, nearer to the mental. It is entirely the result of a conflict between our spiritual and mortal selves. So long as these two are in harmony, we are in perfect health: but when there is discord there follows what we know as disease.”
–Edward Bach (English Physician and Creator of the Bach Flower Essences, 1886-1936)
Innate Freedom and Consciousness
“Each field of awareness in its boundaries constitutes a prison, and…the objective of all work of liberation, is to release the consciousness, and expand its field of contacts. Where there are boundaries of any kind, where a field of influence is circumscribed, and where the radius of contact is limited, there you have a prison. Ponder on this statement for it holds much truth.”
–Alice A. Bailey (English Writer, Spiritual Teacher and Founder of the Arcane School, 1880-1949)
How Should Water Know?
You have a purpose: or rather tow of them that are interlinked. One is your personal purpose, and the other your Higher Purpose. An important part of attaining your Innate Freedom is to find and realize them. Yet many of us have no idea that they even exist!
“And how should a beautiful, ignorant stream of water know it heads for an early release – out across the desert, running toward the Gulf, below sea level, to murmur its lullaby, and see the Imperial Valley rise out of burning sand with cotton blossoms, wheat, watermelons, roses, how should it know?”
–Carl Sandburg (American Writer and Poet, 1878-1967)
The Silent Pulse
One of the fruits of recognizing and unleashing your Innate Freedom is an ever increasing awareness of the subtle rhythms that underlie your life. If you can sense and synchronize with them, your life begins to change in wonderful ways.
Here is a beautiful expression of what I am talking about:
“At the heart of each of us, whatever our imperfections, there exists a silent pulse of perfect rhythm, a complex of wave forms and resonances, which is absolutely individual and unique, and yet connects us to everything in the universe. The act of getting in touch with this pulse can transform our personal experience and in some way alter the world around us.”
–George Leonard (American Aikidoist and Writer, 1923-2010)
The piece comes from a wonderful book that I recommend most highly.
“The Silent Pulse: A Search for the Perfect Rhythm that Exists in Each of Us” (George Leonard)
Awareness
One of the steps towards reclaiming your Innate Freedom: ever-increasing awareness:
“And when each day is the same as the next it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.”
Paulo Coelho (Brazilian Writer, 1947-)
This is form a favorite book: The Alchemist
Being Like a Star
This may sound like a recipe for disaster, but actually it is not. If you really feel your path, then you don’t infringe on others and you certainly don’t descend into a pit of selfishness! Crowley wrote this after years of studying – and understanding – Daoist philosophy.
“Every human being should be like a star and follow his own path. A star is free so long as it follows its trajectory. The loss of freedom only begins with departure from the path.”
–Aleister Crowley (English Writer, Poet and Occultist, 1875-1947)
Recognizing Your Own Power
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
–Alice Walker (African-American Writer, 1944-)
You’ve Gotta Dance…
“You’ve gotta’ dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.
(And speak from the heart to be heard.)”
–William Purkey(American Author and Emeritus Professor at the University of North Carolina, 1929-)
