curious offerings
from Nick Turner & some friends
who? -
what? -
where? -
when? -
how?
gallery -
email -
donate
|
|
curious offerings |
|
Ben Cypress Joy says: Some teachers talk about a coming "great transformation of consciousness," a sudden event of awakening that will happen virtually overnight. They say there will be a kind of tidal wave of enlightenment that will draw everyone into it and a vast number of people will suddenly become fully liberated. It is true that a time of rapid change can trigger more people to find enlightenment, but nobody ever finds the light until they are actually ready. To be ready, you must have reached a point on your spiritual path where you are genuinely and passionately willing to completely let go of your personal ego-self. This kind of surrender is impossible for most seekers. There is no compromise allowed -- you must dive completely into the void, without beliefs or expectations, entirely ready to fully accept total self-annihilation. To the ego, it seems like (and is) death, which is the one thing that the ego fears most. The vast majority of spiritual seekers in the world today are far from ready for final liberation. They pursue the spiritual path like a self-improvement exercise, motivated by a desire to escape from fear and find bliss or even simple physical pleasure, without feeling much (if any) deeper passion for truth. Their lives still center almost entirely around themselves, and they are still trapped by the idea of their own existence apart from the rest of the world. They have little perception of the greater reality in which they swim. How much are you willing to give up in the interest of Truth? It is unlikely that more than a tiny fraction of humans will find enlightenment as a direct result of the experiences of the Cusp. There will be a temporary increase in the rate of new liberations on this planet, possibly as much as a tenfold jump in the number of illuminations per hour, but even a hundredfold speedup would not result in more than a tiny fraction of the population becoming enlightened during the short but intense Cusp itself. The people who find liberation during the Cusp will be those who have already become ready, either through a suitable long-term dedication to a genuine spiritual path, or through simple inner aptitude within a humble self. However, it is quite likely there will be a different kind of "tidal wave" that will hold great promise for the future of the human race. What will almost certainly happen is that a vast number of people will suddenly become much more ready for illumination, and many of these will find the light in the years and decades following the Cusp, provided that they continue to be sincere in their spiritual practice. How will this happen? As a result of the various deep shocks and sudden changes that take place during the Cusp, many people's old beliefs and world-models will be crushed, dismembered, and clearly exposed as comforting lies. There are two ways a human can respond to this kind of disruption. The more likely response is to seek a new set of beliefs, to try to recreate some kind of comforting illusion-net so that the blindingly black, infinitely luminous Void Of Unbeing is covered by self-sustaining ideas that allow one to return to some kind of "normal" life. Most people will probably take this road, back into false complacency. Through the Cusp, it is likely that a vast number of "teachers" will emerge who peddle just these sorts of pseudo-spiritual comfort beliefs. If you seek true liberation, you must avoid these teachers of false "spirituality." A more powerful way to deal with disruption of beliefs and world-models is to face the chaos, address it directly, and look boldly into the Truth. Release yourself and fly in the limitless space of unknowing. Trust the universe and realize that You Are That. Give yourself to Great Mind and Great Heart and find that you are the Whole, all of it, the entire universe is you. Do you want to be one of the transformed ones? Then start now to be serious about spirituality. Start now to look away from the illusion. Look to the heart of your own being, and ask incessantly "Who am I?" Remember that anything that can be said or explained is not who you are. Find out who you are by realizing who and what you are not. Only through sincere practice, right now and in all future nows, do most of you have a chance of finding illumination. Do it now! It is only right now that enlightenment can come. If you are completely in the moment during the Cusp, you will have a tremendous opportunity for final transcendence.
|