Humility

I've just started reading the centuries-old book The Dark Night Of The Soul, by Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross). Seems interesting so far.
One of the points he brings up is that people who consider themselves less than others are further in their journey towards Source/god than people who consider themselves more than others.
I wonder if it's true. Isn't that kind of humility just inverted pride?

I think it's much more true to recognize that if you feel pride or humility, it doesn't matter. It's just the ego's games, and will blow over in time. The truth is neither, since any separation and differences between yourself and others is an illusion.

Source is Source.
God is.
The rest isn't.

The Translucent Revolution

If you sometimes feel a connection, in your life or work, to "Something Great, Beyond It All", and you feel this has happened more in the last twenty years and not just for you, you might be interested in the book The Translucent Revolution.

Anon commented:

I know this book, explaining the spiritual journey as three steps:
1. ego-bound state,
2. translucent state,
3. enlightened state.

It reminds me on Osho, explaining the spiritual journey also as three steps:
(Quote, as far as I remember)
"Enlightement comes in three steps:
1. the Buddha is following you like a shadow,
2. you are following the Buddha like a shadow,
3. you have dissolved into the Buddha - now you ARE the Buddha."
(/Quote)

I'm not shy to out me as a long-year sannyasin of Osho; BTW the author Arjuna was also sannyasin.

And I'm also not shy to out me as a long-year "dirty old man" - enjoying much your DOMAI site, Eolake ... many thanks to you for doing that. IMO without a sense of beauty and humour any spiritual journey is simply not possible. In tantric tradition the whole universe is seen as "Leela" = Shiva and Shakti enjoying the erotic play of male and female forces, this game of hide-and-seek, of parting and unifying again. Basically a big YES to all what is, meaning: Tantra is basically non-dual, which is necessarily always misunderstood and misinterpreted by the dual mind. But you can live it, stepping out of your mind (the literal meaning of "ecstasy"), transcending it - remember your "DOMAI-moments" ...

Back to the book: In a way it is very comforting for anybody on a spiritual journey to know about being part of some "global alternative movement", so you don't feel alone anymore ... but on the other side it is also very much hindering your journey out of this very reason: Nobody can eat for you, nobody can drink for you, and nobody can do your spiritual journey for you, except yourself. A very simple and basic fact. So, you HAVE to be alone and to go alone into the darkness of knowing nothing, stripping away finally ALL your ego-feeding attachments (doesn't matter whether "negative" or "positive" ... ALL). Very painful, agonizing, a death in all aspects except your body. Very few people are doing this consequently, most people are avoiding this with all one's strength, even if they say: "I'm on a spiritual journey" - especially then. I see it all around.

In my experience, much more helpful in this way are the books of Jed McKenna (www.wisefoolpress.com, or look at amazon.com), who also describes three states of development:
1. Human Childhood,
2. Human Adulthood,
3. Spiritual Enlightement
(aka abiding non-dual awareness,
aka Un-truth Un-realization).

His books are true masterpieces, plain English without guru babble, humorously in a subtle way. I would like to quote something of the epilogue of "Spiritual Warfare":

"There are two emotions that inform and animate the human animal; fear, and a gratitude-love-awe mix that might best be called agapé. As fear goes out, agapé comes in. More accurately, a pure white light of consciousness hits the prism of self and splits outward to become the universe as we experience it. If the prism is gray and murky with ignorance, choked with fear, contaminated with ego, then so becomes the universe that radiates out from it. It's that simple. As the prism becomes free of such flaws, then the whole universe changes with it. It resolves into clarity, becomes brighter, more playful and magical. Because we are the lens through which it is projected, we are participants in its shape and motion; co-creators of our own universe.

That's Human Adulthood. Spiritual Enlightement is just the same, except you take the final step in purifying the prism of self: You remove it."

So, I recommend everybody: Have a sincere look at it, and review your life "dealing with your shit honestly" ...

Thanks for your comments, you have some good points.
Indeed The Translucent Revolution, while a good book, is limited. It firmly sticks around in the area where you still regard the Self and the Ego as real.
I recommend The Disappearance Of The Universe to augment it.

Peace Pilgrim

"I began to realize that it's as though we have two selves or two natures or two wills with two different viewpoints. Because the viewpoints were so different, I felt a struggle in my life at this period between the two selves with the two viewpoints. So there were hills and valleys - lots of hills and valleys. Then in the midst of the struggle there came a wonderful mountain-top experience, and for the first time I knew what inner peace was like. I felt a oneness - oneness with all my fellow human beings, oneness with all of creation. I have never felt really separate since. I could return again and again to this wonderful mountaintop, and then I could stay there for longer and longer periods of time, and just slip out occasionally. Then came a wonderful morning when I woke up and knew that I would never have to descend again into the valley. I knew that for me the struggle was over, that finally I had succeeded in giving my life, or finding inner peace. Again this is a point of no return. you can never go back into the struggle."
-- Peace Pilgrim
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Nonessentials

One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.
-- Henry Miller

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is a nobler art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.
-- Lin Yutang

Self-development

Article on my other blog, about openness and outer and inner worlds.

Talking about houses...

Until a couple of years ago I was quite occupied for a while with what kind of home I'd ultimately like to have. Would it be a cool self-built house for instance?

I sort of lost interest, mostly. And reading DU it was confirmed to me that this is because your external circumstances are of no consequence.

Of course if one recognizes that, one can still do what one wants.

I think as humans we tend to try to change our external circumstances (like get a bigger home) in order to change our spiritual life (feel better). The thing is this does not work.

However I think one could change one's external circumstances to *reflect* one's inner state. Have an inner affluence spill over into an outer one.

But I suspect that if it feels *important* to do so, probably one is not so happy and free as believed, and needs to work on the Inner life some more.

Dream of a house

I dreamed that I moved into a room in a big, old house. (From 19 til 36 I lived in a succession of rented rooms, since I didn't care to spare the attention or money yet to get a real home, I was too busy with my spiritual development.)

The house was really huge, and it was in a city. It had many floors, and lots and lots and lots of interconnected room and stairs and halls and spaces. For some reason it had been built with very uneven floors, some dramatically slanted, especially high in the house. Very eccentric, and very interesting and pleasing, and solid.

It turned out many of my old friends lived there already. Some even from back in school.

I walked around and up and down, it was evening, and I saw people/friends occupied with doing the dishes and such. Everything was open, I saw no closed doors. I thought I'd love to hang out here, but right this moment I was too excited to sit down, I wanted to see everything at once.

After I woke up I was in an odd but highly pleasant glow, an intense high that lasted for hours. This was just fantastic.
(I've had that a couple of times before, one of them after self-therapy. If I could get it in pills I'd be rich. And hooked :-)  .)

Success

Look at what your idea of success would be. The more that you take in external motivators, the more it reduces your ultimate satisfaction because it doesn't come from inside.
-- Chris Messina