There is a fine line between being just another guy on the net who has his own opinions, and someone who actually knows what they are talking about. I live on both sides of that line.

But when I express something that is coming from the side where I really know what I am talking about, the eternal side, it doesn’t sound like it is any different than a million other people spouting off with their version of the truth.

But… that’s not altogether true. Because there are some people out there, and it may be just a few, who can hear the difference. These are people who have trained and studied, often for many lifetimes. They have developed deeper inner discernment. They have ‘good radar,’ so to speak. In my opinion, most people, including the majority of spiritual seekers, don’t really believe they exist. But, they really do. Just not in the way we expect.

Let me share a little story that hopefully illustrates this point a little better. This story tries to quantify what it is like when a person who is very deeply centered, expresses from the deep center in their conversation, from their conscious eternal self… and how someone who is around a person like that, feels.

When I first began to realize that my teacher was doing this, it was extremely confusing. That’s because of two things: there was an unmistakable resonance that was occurring deep inside of me that told me this was deep truth, yet at the same time absolutely nothing in my teacher’s voice, tone, expression, stance or mannerisms had changed. That was disconcerting, and I really didn’t know how to process it. This confusion went on for years, diminishing as time went by, but still there.

I suppose on some level I was expecting him to sit down in a certain position, or clear his throat in a particular way, or adjust his voice up or down an octave or two. I really don’t know. Maybe I thought he was supposed to put on a turban, or go live in a cave that I’d have to climb up some impossible cliff to access him. Maybe it would have been better if he didn’t speak English, so I’d have to be granted access to him, conditioned by the presence of a translator.

But to have him do it with absolutely no apparent shift whatsoever, well, that was just about one of the most confusing things I have encountered in my entire life. Yet, when he was in the zone, so to speak, there was no mistaking it. You have to learn to dial into and trust that deep inner voice, because even when all the tangible and visible signs aren’t in any way validating what you are experiencing, well, you just know.

So, I just kept trying to improve my confidence inside of myself. But here’s the secret that finally put me over the top: I started verbally expressing from this deeper spot myself.

Now, it is important to stop here for a moment and make a point. Yes, we are all in some manner expressing from a deeper spot. And sometimes it is conscious, and often it is not. But I am talking about something that is much deeper. And unless you know what I am talking about, than you don’t know what I am talking about. And if you think maybe you know what I am talking about, then you don’t. If that sounds a bit exclusive, then I suppose that’s how it sounds. That being said…

Once I started expressing from that spot, I quickly realized that I was doing the very same thing. I was talking in my everyday voice. I had no compulsion to put on a robe, surround myself with crystals, burn incense or wear the color purple. There was no apparent change. Now it is important to put a little perspective on this.

Years ago I was with two fellow Jiu Jitsu black belts. Our teacher was trying to give us the first and most basic lesson of the Gita: realize you are an eternal being – right now, in real time.

He was having us stand in a circle, and take turns trying to express ourselves from our eternal spot. He was forcing us to make rapid fire statements by moving quickly from one student to another, to another, and so on. He was pushing the envelope in a way that we weren’t really being given time to think or deliberate. But we couldn’t make rapid fire statements. We were ridiculously tongue-tied.

When we first started the exercise, he quickly corrected each of us individually because we were talking from a much-less-than-eternal perspective. Once we each realized how NOT to play the game, we found ourselves at a loss for words. The best we could do was to get out grunts, or uncomfortable and awkward laughs. It wasn’t pretty.

Anxiety levels quickly rose, right to the breaking point. It was a very trying experience. It was so stressful that it made everyone of us consider quitting, to never return. Two of us actually quit shortly after that, never to return. These were both fine people. And while there were other circumstances involved, I am hopeful that my story is giving you a sense of perspective. This was deep and extremely difficult training.

Finally, with every bit of effort and concentration I could muster, I let out a guttural declaration. It was awkwardly loud and drawn out. The five words I said must have taken at least 10 seconds to express.

“I… am… an e-ter-nal……….be – ing,” I stammered, with a sound in my voice that would have convinced anyone who didn’t know me that I had a voice impediment caused by rather serious brain damage or dysfunction.

Abruptly, our teacher ended the lesson.

_____________________

Talking from a truly deep point inside is not easy. Doing that with conscious awareness is even more difficult. Learning to discern when someone else is doing it is not nearly as hard.

Note: The subject of this post was one of the things that woke me from my sleep in the middle of the night. I was also experiencing strong kundalini releases. Unable to go back to sleep, I composed this post.

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“We cannot get a marble statue from clay, nor can we get wheat bread from barley meal–the end product is still going to consist of the nature of the material started with. So it is with all our bodies, gross and subtle. They will reflect the character of the food which has gone into their formation.” — Swami Nirmalananda Giri

Interested in hearing more? Read more about the Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet at Atma Jyoti, an American Hindu website. The site says the “Atma Jyoti Ashram is located in Borrego Springs, California, USA, and is dedicated to living the traditional Hindu monastic life.” The site has a lot more to it than vegetarianism. Enjoy.

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There was once a minister and his wife who were very committed to their small church. They were always the first people to “be there” when someone needed help. The hours they put in far exceeded the modest salary and benefits they were paid.

They constantly encouraged anyone, no matter how difficult or disgusting their issues, to keep coming to church. Everyone was welcome, and private problems and difficulties never stood in the way. And aside from professional ethics, they personally always went the distance to keep all conversations and problems confidential.

Then one day, this good couple made a mistake in their personal behavior. As soon as one person in the church found out, everyone knew. Within weeks, the couple had been run out of the church and the town. They were homeless and unemployed. Apparently, the spirit of forgiveness and acceptance did not extend to the church’s leaders. Apparently, they were being held to a standard of perfection that not one single person in the church could possibly begin to come close to.

Antarananda stated in a post comment that, “rapid acceleration of growth occurs in the company of the Master.”

Yes it can, and it does. It can also cause you to crawl back in your hole. A teacher who is capable and qualified to teach the deeper inner path has those effects.

But we get so quick to judge, to say nothing of our how whiny, critical and intolerant we behave. These are some of the tendencies that rear their head when we get exposed to deeper aspects of our selves.

Of course, we blame it on the teacher.

The inner path should have numerous blinking signs that say, “Caution, enter at your own risk.”

Better yet, the signs should say, “Caution, bow deeply. You are entering at someone else’s risk.”

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You cannot proceed down the deeper aspects of the inner path without a teacher. It is impossible.

This is because we have no frame of reference or sense of navigation. It’s like being set adrift in the middle of the ocean with no compass, no knowledge of stars, currents or navigation; it’s being a ship without a rudder. Actually, it is worse than that. It’s all of that, in pitch black darkness, and you are dizzy.

I think many people resent having to have a teacher. I know that I did. Sometimes I still do.

I remember a student who could no longer hold this resentment inside. She was with a group of other students, attending a lecture on the principle of balance. I could identify with her outburst.

“I just don’t understand why I can’t just GET this!!!” she shrilly exclaimed. She was extremely angry with the teacher.

She was demanding the teacher to somehow magically give her the benefits that only come about with hard work and devotion. She was asking to be given “enlightenment” now. What she never realized was that she was being given enlightenment… right now. She failed to see this because the last thing she wanted to do was look at the things that were keeping her stuck in her current position. But I understood what she meant.

So, what does having a teacher mean? What is it like, what should we be looking for?

1. You should find a qualified teacher. To do that, you need to at least have a sense of what qualities define such a teacher.

2. You must learn to devote yourself to following your teacher’s instructions, guidance, corrections and directions. If you have a hard time with this, then you have two choices: Either dig in and learn it, and by learning it start to realize the benefits and wisdom of trusting your teacher; or, be considerate and go away. Don’t waste this teacher’s time.

3. You must learn to trust your teacher’s insight more than your own, because this is the only way you can learn how to find your own, deeper inner connection. For all of your posturing, this is an unavoidable truth. It is part of the process of learning to tune and fine-tune deeper inner discernment. This doesn’t mean that your teacher knows more about certain things than you do; it means that your teacher knows more about the deeper path than you do.

4. Your teacher represents the greatest manifestation of the divine in your life. The teacher is a brighter light, and should be respected as such.

5. The teacher should always be respected. This should be deeply sincere. The depth of your sincerity will limit how deep you will be able to go on the path. There are other limitations, but this is a basic one. If you are not sincere, than you need to work on sincerity.

6. At times, your teacher will make you feel uncomfortable, apprehensive, fearful, doubtful, angry, frustrated, nervous, upset, embarrassed and ashamed. This is because you are too hesitant to deal with the causes of underlying issues without the teacher’s guidance. By working through these issues you will experience genuine progress along the path of harmony and eternal awareness.

7. If you find yourself in a situation with your teacher, where you are thinking that it would be better if you just have a heart attack or stroke and die, because there is nothing you want to avoid in life more than this particular lesson, you should reconsider. Because it is possible that you may find your teacher looking you straight in the eyes when you emerge on the other side of death.

8. You cannot possibly repay your teacher, but you should always strive to value and appreciate your teacher. The word ‘appreciation’ is used in the sense of money in a bank account collecting interest or growing in value: your teacher’s investment should be appreciated.

9. If after being a student for a few months or years or decades, you decide that you no longer need a teacher… you still need a teacher.

10. If you are uncertain what to do, think of your teacher.

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I am sick of people who write and pose as though they have a lock on understanding deeper truth… when they really don’t. It makes me want to puke.

“All I can write is the truth,” says one blogger.

Is that so? That’s all you can write? It is not even remotely in your ability to write false, or wrong, or inaccurate? You live so purely that you have virtually no distortion, no bias, no error? You are so far down the path that you can only live and write the truth? Ah, I get it: you have arrived. You are perfect!

I am certain that the blogger, upon reading my criticism, would protest by saying, “But that’s not what I meant.” Yes you did.

Let me tell you something about this. The farther down the path I go, the more I see that the center of all things includes all things. That includes falseness, wrong, inaccuracy, distortion, bias and error.

These aren’t just words and concepts to me. Because the more I go inside of myself, the more of that kind of stuff I see. So, in my opinion, it is not even remotely possible for anything anywhere to only be truth. That’s because there’s more to life than just truth. And all things are in all things. Right?

Here’s another one. A blogger rhetorically asks, “What is enlightenment?”

They answer, “Enlightenment is love, eternal bliss.”

What kind of crap is this? I acknowledge it is a popular mindset, but so is eating food that makes you fat.

Enlightenment does not put you into eternal bliss, forever. I know someone who is highly enlightened, and he is certainly not in eternal bliss. He struggles everyday just like everyone else, and in some respects even more so. One reason that he struggles more is because he has certain understandings of what’s going on – from an eternal perspective. And when he looks around he sees the pathetic conditions we all have to work through. So, tell me, who has a right to say that enlightenment puts you into eternal bliss? That is an incredibly naïve statement.

These kinds of positions and attitudes remind me of those snobby, snot-faced brats that we all run into here and there – the ones whose parents would never correct or scold, because dear little junior and sweet little miss are so perfect. You can’t begin to hint anything even slightly in the direction of clarity or course correction without setting off howls of protest, indignation and resentment.

Here’s another one. I’ve come across people who say, “Don’t follow a teacher. That is a distortion. You need to be true to your own self. Following someone else is allowing them to tell you what to do, how to behave, how to be you.”

Fine. Then when you have children, make sure you don’t enroll them in public, private or any kind of home schooling; because you will distort them by teaching them how to behave and interact with life. Don’t instruct them to not walk in front of that moving car. Also, if you have advanced educational degrees and certifications, be sure to mail them back because you have been influenced by those evil teachers.

How about this one? “Enlightened masters who have ascended never return to a human body.”

Oh really? And how do you actually know that? What, exactly, are your qualifications to make that kind of statement?

Tell me, who has a right to make these kinds of statements?

“Well, Mark, I’ll tell you who has the right. We all do, because we are all equal and we have equal rights.”

Nope, not so; we are not all equal. We are no more all equal than an acrobat is equal to a steel worker. A child is not equal to a parent. A student is not equal to a teacher. Try again.

I recently read a blogger comment that said one of our problems is that “you consider yourself … yourself. Like Wei Wu Wei said:”

Why are you unhappy?
Because 99.9 per cent
Of everything you think,
And of everything you do,
Is for yourself-
And there isn’t one.

So what’s the point of this? Show me where it has a practical purpose. Granted, this saying can be an interesting thing to think about. But, generally speaking, it is not practical in everyday life applications. Why? Because, practically speaking, we are individuals.

I see me as me. When I look in the mirror, I see me. I don’t see “not me.” Can I see “not me?” Yes, but it really depends on how you define seeing “not me.” Anyway, while on the one hand it is true we are eternal beings, on the other hand we are eternal beings having individual experiences in a human body.

I can hear someone responding to me (using a patient and tolerant tone), “Mark, you just have to understand that you just created separation when you made that statement. You made a distinction between your eternal and earthly self. You just need to understand that you are one and the same. Then your struggles will stop.”

My response is, “The problem is that I DO understand, at least to some degree. And one thing I understand is that my struggles do not stop.”

These attitudes are everywhere, not only in words and writing, but in attitude – immature attitudes that are not all that well hidden in the so-called secret chambers of weak and insecure hearts and minds. We would do well to self examine ourselves, or better yet, allow ourselves to stand before someone who has the eyes to see. But no; considering themselves to be spiritual seekers, these posturers would rather promote their pathetic positions, piously pandering to ego, not truly seeking what it takes to become eternally aware.

These types of distortions of important spiritual concepts are just as harmful to gaining deeper eternal awareness as those religious fundamentalists of any religion, who shout with shrill and indignant voices, while wagging their fat or bony fingers that their way is the only way.

We live in denial, and rage and lash out at anyone who confronts us with it. To justify our position, we build and maintain all kinds of structures to substantiate and validate our denial.

Denial needs to be acknowledged. We have to realize our denial and reconcile ourselves with it.

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How are you wearing eternal a-wear-ness?

Check out this repeat offender.

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How do you go about finding out your eternal purpose?

I don’t consider myself a teacher on this subject, so I am just going to share my personal perspectives. In my opinion, the best way is to remember. Actually remember why we came here in the first place. But that isn’t necessarily all that easy to do. So, if we aren’t remembering, we need to use different tools and methods. An example could be the phrase, “as above, so below.”

This phrase is an abridgement of the longer expression, “That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above.” The Corpus Hermeticum of Hermes Trismegistus began with these words. It purports to reflect what came down from the Egyptian Hermes of far earlier times. The second half of the phrase, which is less well known, can provide us with a useful methodology to look at our everyday life. By looking at our everyday life we can find some cross relationships that may give us insight and clarity regarding our eternal purpose.

I have what might be considered a small advantage by some people, because I have a few memories, including past lives and time between lives. Because of that I’ve looked to see if there is a relationship between my memories and what I do for a living and/or in my extra-curricular activities. This modest advantage is not something that I was given and others were denied. I have worked hard to earn it. Even then, it’s a struggle. But it qualifies me, at least to some small degree, to provide a little insight and to make statements that perhaps validate or invalidate Hermes declaration.

I earn a living as a project manager, running a variety of engineering-related projects around the nation. Project managers (PM), particularly on larger projects, should generally tend to take the macro view of things, striving to manage or operate their projects from that perspective.

The best PMs are nearly always the ones who are able to see the bigger picture. But they also need to have the requisite skills that allow them to get down into the nitty-gritty details without getting lost in them. That’s revealing, because it shows us where we are at. As a race, we are undoubtedly lost in the nitty-gritty details of being human. We aren’t in macro view.

One of my professional specializations is control systems, which has a subset inside of it called programming. This could be the writing of code to control Building Automation Systems (BAS), which are the systems that control single-building or campus-wide air conditioning, heating, lighting, security, and life safety systems.

From the macro perspective, I have memories that we have a project going on here on earth. I recall a few elements of it. But even if I didn’t remember anything at all, I could still look at what I do – managing projects – and perhaps deduce that I have a role in a project on Earth. I could look at my job and interests and theorize that maybe I am somehow similarly involved from a macro point of view.

If we used that as an assumption, we could extrapolate that I may have to program or reprogram some of the controls that are part of a control system. But that’s pretty vague, I really wouldn’t have much definition.

Switching to a more micro mode, it would be as though I had to program or re-program something as big as an entire university campus all at once. If we had to program an entire university campus’ control system, for example, we’d need to break it down into some smaller elements, lay out some priorities and schedule out the project to be completed one building at a time. Or maybe we’d form a bigger team and do a lot of buildings in phases or all at once.

So how could we cross relate our insight up to this point? How could we extrapolate what we do for a living with an eternal purpose perspective?

As a controls guy, I know that there is already a program written and in place for us humans. It’s no different than when I walk into a building and and take a look at its control system. Just as it is easy for me to see that the current control system is doing or not doing a good job of turning on air handlers, chillers, boilers and lights, the same is true about us: we eat, breath, work, sleep, have babies and die. Parts about us are working good, and parts aren’t.

So because a lot of what we do is working, we could then theorize - using my job as an example - that this is less about a brand new programming job and more about a re-programming job. Maybe we need to add some modules, change some control panels, or upgrade sommething that’s become obsolete.

That could lead me to say something like this: “I need to do some re-programming – not of all of humanity because, heck, I’m just one guy. But something a lot simpler and much more manageable, starting with myself, organized in phases or steps that successively allow me to become more eternally aware.”

Or, I could say, “I may be a part of a large team of people who are here to do some re-programming. Maybe each member of this programming team just works on their own individual self, and our individual efforts end up having a collective impact.” That’s a popular view. But I am not saying this is what it is; I’m just doing an exercise.

If I kept exercising, I could run different variations. The more of them I could play out, the clearer things might become, because I am building multiple and hopefully higher perspectives.

I could wonder, for example, if the programming changes are massive or subtle, or whether there were different sub-routines that different people or teams were working on, and so on. I could be a loner or maybe I’d want to try to plug into other team members.

If I were a master gardener or a truck driver, my terminology and perspectives would be different, as would perhaps my role. But this is the idea.

I have learned perspectives like these from my teacher, and have followed his recommended methods for quite a while. It may sound overly simplistic, but there is a lot going on with this.

All along the way I have experienced positive, measurable, practical improvements. And I’ve seen a lot of other people from a many different walks of life similarly improve. The practicality of these kinds of methods have been a big help in bringing into focus what the actual experience of deeper eternal awareness feels like.

I’ve learned that the experience of eternal awareness is not some giddy, glazed-eyed, pie-in-the-sky, space-cadet, cloud floating, self-deluding, unrealistic posturing. From the point where I am at, for better or worse, I see it as a practical, down to earth extension of our eternal selves as we go about eternity’s affairs and projects, here and now, in our everyday lives.

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This is a new post, but of all my blog posts I rate this one fairly high up on the list of difficulties we encounter along the path. It’s expressing a problem that any persistent spiritual seeker is going to experience along the way. If it was written “back in the day,” and discovered in an ancient clay pot in China, I think it might qualify as a pretty good koan…

Years ago I first heard these sentiments, stated numerous times from a variety of people. Expressed in an assortment of ways, they continue to be repeated.

“Mark,” she said tolerantly, her pity dripping out from behind a thin slice of smugness, “of course you think he’s this great teacher. You are so eager to please, so quick to jump at anything he tells you to do, and so quick to agree with anything he says. You’ll do anything your almighty teacher tells you to do.”

Well now; that’s quite a problem to overcome.

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