be alert to what is in the mind...

~ Acharya Shri Prashant:

made in the usa, zafu cushions

🔥Here and now does not really pertain to an objective reality because there is no objective reality. Here and now pertains to the state of mind that the mind is in. All that here and now means is that when the mind is in a particular state, then that state is all that there is. Mind is in temptation; then temptation is all that there is. Mind is anger; anger is all that there is.
🔥Here and now is meaningless. Even though we all are sitting in this physical location right now yet here and now means different things to all of us.
🔥Here and now simply means that, 'be alert to what is in the mind'. That's it.
🔥And whatever is in the mind, that is in the mind. Now do not try to suppress it and do not try to find justifications for it. Just know that this is what is there in the mind and that we said in the beginning is the appropriate mental activity.
🔥The mind is the machine, well tuned, nicely designed for both analysis and observation. Use it for observation. You use it only for analysis and comparisons. And if the observation is honest then the object of observation will drop.

"You do not attain God, you dissolve and all that remains is God."

"begonia blossoms"

🔥 Somebody roams around for ten years, twenty years, thirty years, somebody goes to ten masters, twenty masters, and then we are told that there is an event called ‘Enlightenment’. That’s what your story is. How do you know that what you call as ‘Enlightenment’ is the effect of the cause called ‘wandering’ or ‘seeking’ or ‘searching’?

🔥 When you don’t know anything about Enlightenment, when Enlightenment is something that by its definition cannot be thought of, cannot be conceptualized, cannot be put in images, then how can the Buddha be searching for it?

🔥It pleases us greatly, there is deep ego in this assumption, and mankind will hold this assumption close to itself, that God is within my reach. ‘It was not due to His grace, but due to my effort,my effort yields enlightenment.’

🔥Enlightenment is returning to the source, and the source is outside all cause-effect. You do not get there by doing something, you do not get there as a result of some sadhana. Twelve years or twelve thousand years, nothing will suffice. How can time lead to the timeless?

🔥You do not attain God, you dissolve and all that remains is God. Buddha did not attain Enlightenment, buddha dissolved and all that remained was Enlightenment. That dissolution can happen in a fraction of a second, it is instantaneous, or it may never happen.

~ Acharya Shri Prashant

~)(~

posted by zafuChi - purveyor of USA made zafu meditation cushions

The power of now cannot be a spiritual utterance...

   The Present is not the now. The now is a point in the stream of time. The now is that which is preceded and followed by the past and the future. The Present is that in which the past, the now and the future, simultaneously co-exist. The now is a point in the stream; the Present is the vast infinite land, in which that stream is flowing.

   There are as many streams of time as there are minds. The past is not one object, the future too, is not one object; even with the so-called person, the past and future keep changing. So, infinite rivers of time keep flowing in this vast land called the Present. The Present is that which is Present; it is the Truth.

   The word power is meaningful only in the presence of something else against which the power may be used and applied. Present has no power. The Present is so absolutely powerful, that the word power does not apply to it. Against whom will the Present apply its power? How to say that it is powerful? It is meaningless.

   But the ego is searching for power all the time. Have you noticed that? Who wants power? – The ego. So, it becomes a very catchy thing to say, ‘The power of now’. This cannot be a spiritual utterance. No spiritual mind looks for power. It’s only the ego that is insecure, and hence looking for power.

~ Acharya Shri Prashant

Acharya Shri Prashant

 posted by owner of zafuChi - online sales of zafu meditation cushions