The Spiritual Path

[Starving Buddha]

I am interested in finding others who have started on the spiritual path towards enlightenment. Who may have had the experience of being in the Divine Presence; those who have experienced a moment of rapture that erased all doubt about the Divine. This is not necessarily about any particular religion, but a religious experience that is beyond any denomination. I am interested in finding those who have come to the realization that there is only one spiritual message that is broadcast through every religion and mystical practice. I am interested in finding others who see themselves as teachers, as lightbearers to bring to the world of darkness the beacon necessary to guide others onto the path...

[Pensive]

This for some unknown reason got me laughing. No offence meant to the thread-starter, by the way. It just reminded me of a scene from Midnight's Children.

As for this:

I am interested in finding others who see themselves as teachers, as lightbearers to bring to the world of darkness the beacon necessary to guide others onto the path...

Umm I guess not....but wait. I already am a light-bearer and a holy person (if that's what you mean), why would I need a path to take me somewhere?

[jon1jt]

I am interested in finding others who have started on the spiritual path towards enlightenment. Who may have had the experience of being in the Divine Presence; those who have experienced a moment of rapture that erased all doubt about the Divine. This is not necessarily about any particular religion, but a religious experience that is beyond any denomination. I am interested in finding those who have come to the realization that there is only one spiritual message that is broadcast through every religion and mystical practice. I am interested in finding others who see themselves as teachers, as lightbearers to bring to the world of darkness the beacon necessary to guide others onto the path...

I think you're interested in finding simply people who in some shape or form consider themselves to be Unitarian Universalist. religious experience, when shared as a single expression of the cosmos, is denominationalizing.

Unitarianism Universalism is an unusual religious organization. Unlike most religions in North America, it does not require its adherents to adhere to a specific set of beliefs. Its membership includes individuals who identify themselves as Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Humanists, Wiccans, or other religious tradition. Many inter-faith couples find it to be a comfortable religious home. UUs view the main function of the congregation as facilitating the spiritual quest of its members.

Major concerns of the UU religion include social justice and service to humanity. Most UUs readily adapt their beliefs to the findings of science. Thus they were very active in the abolition of slavery, gaining of equal rights for women, and the attainment of equal rights, including the right to marry, for homosexuals and bisexuals. They have an influence on the culture that is far beyond what one would expect from their numbers.

religioustolerance.org

I am interested in finding others who see themselves as teachers, as lightbearers to bring to the world of darkness the beacon necessary to guide others onto the path...

in the words of Whitman, "When I give I give myself."

[NikolaiI]

I think I agree with you Starving that there is one message broadcast. I had an interesting and revealing experience in meditation last night. In most Buddhist writings on meditation, at least for beginners, emphasis is placed on stilling the mind, or coming to peace, or rest, from discursive thoughts. Well, that isn't exactly how I meditate anymore. Now I meditate for the highest spheres. What I felt last night was my chakras being in alignment, and this is necessary to be conscious, I've read. Meditation can be transforming, you know. That's what I meditate for. If you do it right you can actually see the effects of it immediately, of which you won't find too many other people speak. The divine, that I felt last night; I felt it as another world- the other shore, Heaven on earth; or some kind of energy. I felt it enter my mind as I focused, and expand. Anyway that's all I have to say about this right now.

[blazeofglory]

What you call a spiritual path is indeed not that carved out and it is something you can say or show. It is personal. It is something one can get anywhere, yet no where, and we must seek it not collectively, congregationally or concertedly .

Spirituality is something I can not say what it is. It can not be translated into thoughts or can not be worded.

People take outer things, sheer veneers for spirituality.

It is the kernal.

People get entangled or chained to sets of ideas and get beguiled.

[B-Mental]

Starving Budha, your post relates to me in so much as I am the son of teachers and entertainers...creators...but for many years my creativity, my spirituality or what will you was held in check by my questions of belief, and faith. What some will call rapture others will try to prescribe a drug for. The journey you talk about requires the stripping away of all doubt, and then when you have broken the mold, and given away everything that you no longer require you find this radiance that is very pleasant to be in the presence of. It is a state of the mind that you seek. I don't address this topic in any of the religious threads, because I've been insulted by persons that really have never taken a step along the journey as anything other than a student...they will give name to that which they have never experienced, while I cannot give it a name and experience it through waking moments, while sleeping, and while meditating.

[kiz_paws]

I don't address this topic in any of the religious threads, because I've been insulted by persons that really have never taken a step along the journey as anything other than a student...they will give name to that which they have never experienced, while I cannot give it a name and experience it through waking moments, while sleeping, and while meditating.

That is tragic, really (the inability to just talk about something).

I have nothing worthy to contribute to this thread, but I want to follow it, as this is a very intriguing one indeed. Thank you for posing it, Starving Buddha.

[B-Mental]

Its not the inability to talk about it, its the inability to share the sensation with others correctly...I think blaze of glory has put it much more accurately than I have.

[Scheherazade]

I find this tendency on behalf of human beings to trying to justify their existence in spiritual terms, adding "deep" meanings to it a little presumptuous. I am not sure if there is an "enlightenment" or a nirvana to be reached (no offence to any religions or their followers) even though we try very hard to persuade ourselves that there is and that our existence is not altogether futile.

[NikolaiI]

On the spiritual path,
there is no enlightenment, and there is nothing which is enlightened

how can there ever be that which never was?

[kiz_paws]

I find this tendency on behalf of human beings to trying to justify their existence in spiritual terms, adding "deep" meanings to it a little presumptuous. I am not sure if there is an "enlightenment" or a nirvana to be reached (no offence to any religions or their followers) even though we try very hard to persuade ourselves that there is and that our existence is not altogether futile.

I don't see it as presumptuous but rather as a delicate journey to reach complete peace of mind, and I admire those who can attain such a thing. I look around and see chaos most of the time, so peace and tranquility are truly worth being sought for.

OK, sorry if I am off topic but anyhow...

As for "our exitence not being altogether futile" I will agree with you there. I have always thought that I was born with a proverbial bag of tools, and it is my quest in life to find out What those tools are.....then to find out HOW and WHEN to use them.... know what I mean?

[NikolaiI]

Spiritual knowledge itself clears perplexity and insecurities. The person is not trying to become immortal, but knows that existence is very fleeting. They have peace of mind and their knowledge teaches them to value others' peace of mind. If you truly perceive what your nature is, then you should know that if you are true to it, you would liberate people and if people knew your heart and the liberating songs in it, they would revere you as a great teacher; if one were true to their buddha nature, they would be a buddha of this age.

Truly we are in a dream and as soon as we awaken from that dream we have an ultimate peace of mind, we see that the entire dream is just a person waking, in a room, with absolutely no knowledge of anything, but experiencing full bliss, and reading one sentence over and over, which they also are the author of, with the pencil: "I don't know who you are, but by the time you finish reading this." Because the sentence and the situation is entirely accurate for our existences; the repeating day is our coming into and out of our dream; and the writing of the same sentence over is our creating reality for ourselves; if we truly awaken from the dream we see we are the same as the person in bed spending countless eternities with the pencil and the sentences. We have absolutely no obstacles to our enlightenment, and only continue out our continual being until we've fully understood our situation, and the sentence we keep writing for ourselves in our room, until we awaken from the dream again.

The sentence is reality; we've written the sentence, and knowing the writer of the sentence is bliss. We read the sentence but we don't know who wrote it, we don't know anything- that is fully ignorance. We keep coming back to the knowledge that we are the author of the sentence, so that becomes all we know. We also know the reality around us. We are at peace knowing we are the shapers of our own reality, and through non-attachment, we've realized that there is nothing to be attached to. Reality is outside the dream.

[Scheherazade]

As for "our exitence not being altogether futile" I will agree with you there. I have always thought that I was born with a proverbial bag of tools, and it is my quest in life to find out What those tools are.....then to find out HOW and WHEN to use them.... know what I mean?

I am not sure I follow you because I personally believe that we don't have the "bag of tools" you mention; just dumped into this piece of the universe and condemned to get on.

In my opinion, our attempts to prove that there is a deeper meaning (if any) behind our presence and all the suffering in this world are only to make the pain of it all a little more bearable to ourselves.

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

[kiz_paws]

I am not sure I follow you because I personally believe that we don't have the "bag of tools" you mention; just dumped into this piece of the universe and condemned to get on.

I don't know if we are 'dumped' then 'condemned', hmmmm intriguing..... But anyhow my bag of tools analogy came about as I looked around and saw in any group of humans, that some humans were good at organizing, some were peacemakers, some healers, some this and some that. Each of the aforementioned samples had a good head on their shoulders and knew where they were going. And I got to thinking. Do people just happen into a circumstance and just KNOW what to do for the group as a whole? OK, this is getting weird, sorry, people. But anyhow, those thoughts led me to my postulation of "the Bag Of Tools".

In my opinion, our attempts to prove that there is a deeper meaning (if any) behind our presence and all the suffering in this world are only to make the pain of it all a little more bearable to ourselves.

Perhaps. Afterall, if we can see the reason, then the ends seem a little more bearable, or somethin' like that...

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

This seemed to be so bleak. I dunno, I think that there really is something greater out there. All is NOT for naught.

[blazeofglory]

Spirituality is indeed an unknown path, and we do not know where it leads us to in point of fact, and to me spirituality means it is indeed to be nothing at all. It is in the here and now and of course what we do properly and dutifully is spiritual, and not ideas and accumulated notions of things, and God i not an entity you can understand through words or can you frame it within a particular set of theories or definitions.

Spirituality has nothing to do with otherworldliness at all. If you want see God's forms or shapes we are them and nothing is there like heaven and hell as mythologies relate.