Dhyana
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Posts: 495
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« Reply #72 on: Apr 25, 2010, 09:34 PM » |
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(Revision of earlier post)
Hi Stephen, you are very beautiful and open. I love that in you!
...so, in reply--
IN REGARDS TO- the following quote...
...A Great and Most Loving, Recent Sage of India, Ramana Maharshi, once said "Self-Doubt is the Final Obstacle"
Stephen Writes- "Dhyana, Thanks for that quote! ((Does the fact that it is the final obstacle mean that you now have the courage to accept and transform the remaining obstacles??))" Stephen, please, do bear with me on this lengthy post bc I am promising that it is all leading to my specific response to the question you pose above. So again, please bare with it bc it is going somewhere.... it is a cohesive whole~
Ramana Maharshi has also been quoted to say it this way, also -"The ONLY Obstacle is Self Doubt"-
In the context of EA, and from the most clear and contemplative heart space I can write from, I will give you my experience with the quote, and I will try to overlay it with my EA experience,
--(and keep in mind, I'm no expert on the subject, but just BEING HUMAN and as HONEST as possible. While knowing how I have been resonating deeply and directly to the penetrating vibration of that quote, and a deep heart contemplation of it over the last 17 years of my life. In that, I suppose it is my duty to respond, from my own experience and share w/ out thought of how I will be interpreted or seen-- so here goes my best, from my HEART and SOUL, & humbly so )--
There is no DOUBT that ones REAL nature is SOUL(Self, in Ramana's language). I mean we know we didn't make ourselves, so even logically speaking, we must be then, THAT same stuff, from whence we came = SOURCE (Soul), isn't it?
So therefore, anything that arises that has us Doubt THAT, we must clearly discriminate(Virgo higher octave) it for what it is --a lie, a denial, about our very nature.
And surely, living this lie about our very nature, living in denial, can be, and is being experienced and lived by the majority, as if it were literally true (Virgo DENIAL)! -- That we are not from whence we came. It is almost as if, because of it's utter obviousness, and it's simplicity (although not simplistic), it can so easily be shrugged off, trivialized and denied.
-- Simply look at the state of the world; this experience of living in DENIAL of our NATURAL SELF/SOUL/SOURCE[/b]), is killing us!---All the separating desires in EA terms... And we cry "victim" (and "victimizers") (Virgo).
But in Reality, in actuality, it is a lie, a denial of our SOUL... and in living that lie, as if it were true, we perpetuate all the ills and cruelty we do here. And I believe much of this is the result of layer and layers of unconsciousness all hemmed upon an unnecessary guilt, so much so, that we don't even know it is there, it is so buried! There is so much repression from that we are all lashing out at eachother, some of us as victims and some of us as perpertators.
We could stop lying to ourselves about our REAL Nature, (break free from Virgo Denial etc. etc.) our NATURAL SELF, our SOUL SELF, what we Naturally are! As much as to stop DENYING our REAL Love Call, our legitimate Need and Deepest Soul Wanting of THIS, of what is NATURALLY SO and NATURAL TO US, and really, really embrace it, all the way! And that's what many of us here are doing. But in doing so, we also must embrace the emotional pain that is eons old, that is the result of long lived lifetimes of denial. It is still all there, whirling in our genetic make-up, to be MET! And that is not at all comfortable --so that is where we may feel these seemingly numerous "obstacles".
Let me try to get to my point with all this IMHO---
The best I can do at the moment, with words is to say that, in my own experience, I sense that the seeming obstacles come along with our choice and journey to finally know who we are -- and in OUR THAWING OUT PROCESS, or in this "merging/evolution process" as EA might put it, from the lie and our untangling of this intricate web of denial and lie upon lie, that is old and ancient.
This thawing out and unwinding this knot of identification that has been held so tight for eons, is not too comfortable, is it? Did you ever do that experiment with your fist? Where you hold it really really tight for many minutes and then slowly try to reopen it? Well, IT HURTS, and it hurts A LOT! And at times, while opening it, it actually gets stuck in one spot --try it it and see.
Well, I think the seeming many obstacles can be likened to all that pain and stuck-ness you must go through to get your hand all opened up, but the real or ONLY obstacle was actually, the realization that YOU HAD YOUR HAND CLOSED and it is meant TO BE OPEN and in that CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE you had, you made the most obvious CHOICE, consciously, TO DO SO, you know? I mean it would be the OBVIOUS OPTION, simply because, you desire your HAND TO BE AS IT IS MEANT TO BE! And you don't do it because your "a good boy" or because "it was spiritually right" or because you were "morally required" to, YOU DID IT BC IT WAS/IS NATURAL for you to do! -- Even though it hurts while opening it, and you also know it is gonna feel stuck in one spot once in a while! You still chose to open it, nonetheless, so youre obviously just going to get on with it, right?
It was/is just what WORKS!
ALL the overlay of patriarchal spirituality is almost designed to have you feel like there is this big battle inside you about this OPENING to your SELF or SOUL, but the crux of it is based on something that is "moral" rather than something so NATURAL, and this has led to such UNECESSARY GUILT, (layers and layers of guilt, on top of an ancient denial of such OBVIOUS NATRUAL-NESS). It's just so crazy to me! I believe JWG said that over 80 or 90% (not sure exactly) of guilt is CONDITIONED! ... I almost wonder if it is even more?
Anyhow, IMHO, it is really NOT some moral thing here to BE TRUE to YOURSELF, it is simply NATURAL to you and IT is the only thing that REALLY WORKS! It's FUNCTIONAL, but not always COMFORTABLE!
Now, coming back to the quote, and the word "SELF" in that quote --it is not like we are talking about some "transcended existential "Self" to remove us from the whole mess & escape into, or something! That is 'old hat' --and part of the undiscriminated mind ( Virgo lower vibration), and hence, still part of the lie....It also denies the EARTH, our MOTHER, hence still very patriarchal, in theory. It is not like we are supposed transcend the pain and take off in some exalted higher self or something --you know? It is not that kind of thing that the "Self" in the quote above is referring to (at least not in my direct experience). My point with this paragraph is this -- There is no longer an ESCAPE ROUTE from the rawness of LIFE, as it is --but at least it is REAL --at least it isn't a lie! And that's not comfortable, but it sure is HONEST. (And I must acknowlege my dear teacher for her relentlessly pointing me into this clarity!)
So, the uncomfortableness that is occurring as one claims back their Natural Soul/Self, (or with the hand example 'When One Realizes The Hand Is To Be Opened) can be what you are referring to as "remaining obstacles", But Stephen, keep your EYE ON THE BALL which is obviously,YOUR NATURAL NATURE, Your SELF/SOUL/SOURCE; or whatever you call it - and ESPECIALLY NOTE YOUR NATURAL LOVE of IT, NEED for IT, WANT for IT, AND this DIVINE LONGING FOR IT! )We/you don't need to DOUBT it and second guess it because IT'S obviously the only real thing about us/you! . And in my experience this lifetime, that's what I try to do-- "keep my eye on the ball", and yea, it is not always obvious either, but the more I do it when it is obvious , the more I can do it when it is not!--You get what I mean there? And just expect that in this unwinding, everything under the sun, often in the most sublte, surprising and undetectable ways, is going to occur, especially when we get too comfortable for our own good, hence static and resisting our continuous and precious flowering of our NATURAL SELF.
...Why? Why would we be thwarted etc. --I would humbly say, so that we can KNOW, beyond a shadow of a DOUBT -- the true Heart Knowledge, that this IS REALLY SO!
what we ARE is, just the SAME as REALITY is! And there is nothing that can truly get in the way of REALITY, now is there? But this has to be HEART KNOWLEDGE, not theoretical, not even in the subtle states of the mind, you know --and this challenging process, I sense, is designed to ANCHOR such! And to do so, SO COMPLETELY that there is no longer the ability to DENY it! And so how else can that happen without being RIGHT HERE IN THE DANCE, FULLY ENGAGED and fully challenged, on the very fabric and tapestry of our existence? Wow, what a SACRED DANCE! We are so lucky to have a human incarnation!
In having Reality dawn on us, we can choose to no longer DOUBT what is Real, as us -- just because IT IS. Even if we have to choose 100,000 times a day, over and over.
"The ONLY Obstacle is Self Doubt".
SO--- best we stop trying the control game to feel "all better"--it isn't gonna work anymore.
--Let what is REAL,simply be REAL for us. --- IT IS WORTH THE Uncomfortableness. Let us have the courage to BE OUR SELF, NATURALLY!
Again, your question was-
"Does the fact that it is the final obstacle mean that you now have the courage to accept and transform the remaining obstacles??" I would say ,Yes. And there is really NOTHING ELSE TO DO at this point, if we tell the truth about it! Keeping your eye on the ball, on YOUR SELF & on YOUR UNDENIABLE LOVE FOR THAT --this will muster up all THE COURAGE u need! Is it not the very FOUNTAIN OF STRENGTH, the Strength of Pure LOVE of DIVINE MOTHER (and remember, SHE GIVES BIRTH to LIFE through her agonizing birthing pains!)? Is it not also the Strength of your very LIFE FORCE, hence the same thing that has given rise to the COSMOS?
So, I would say that this courage is NATURALLY available in this, even if we don't always "feel" it at the moment, we somehow KNOW in our HEART it is there.. would'nt you agree? Oh, and remember the other way it was quoted "THE ONLY OBSTACLE IS SELF DOUBT"
So YES, I would say,yes -- how about you?
This is not a theory I write or anything --it is words that have sprung from my own direct experience, nakedly, as this moment, from the depths of my SOUL.
I hope it was useful and in service to REALITY.
3~ Know Thyself 3~
Dhyana
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