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Rational Mysticism | A Wisdom Archive on Rational Mysticism |  | Rational Mysticism A selection of articles related to Rational Mysticism |  |
| We recommend this article: Rational Mysticism - 1, and also this: Rational Mysticism - 2. |
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| ARTICLES RELATED TO Rational Mysticism | | |  |  |  | Rational Mysticism:
Dealing With Negative Ego Neighbors And PeopleThe
focus of this article is how to effectively deal with people and neighbors who
are dominated by the negative ego.
To
begin, it must be understood that when life is looked at from the perspective
of the soul, everything is seen as a lesson, challenge and spiritual test.
Every interaction is seen as an opportunity to respond from a Christ
Consciousness attitude rather then a negative ego attitude, to respond from
unconditional love, rather than fear and attack, to choose oneness with God
rather than separation from God, to choose forgiveness instead of grudges.
Read more here: » Ego:
Dealing With Negative Ego Neighbors And People |
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|  |  |  | Rational Mysticism: Kundalini in different yoga philosophiesThe word Kundalini is a familiar one to all students of Yoga, as it is well known as the power, in the form of a coiled serpent, residing in Muladhara Chakra, the first of the seven Chakras, the other six being Svadhishthana, Manipuraka, Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara, in order.
Excerpt from the book Kundalini Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda. Read more here: » Kundalini and Yoga: Kundalini in different yoga philosophies |
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|  |  |  | Rational Mysticism: The
Nature of DreamsReason shows us that "belief" and
"experience" are one and the same. This understanding is crucial to
understanding illusion, and it is difficult for most people to grasp. If I
experience the pain of loss, I must be saying that such loss is not only
possible, but REAL; i.e. when I experience loss, I BELIEVE in the REALITY of
"loss." I cannot meaningfully say that I can experience something
that is unreal; that would be to say that there is no way to distinguish real
from unreal, making the word "real" meaningless.
Read more here: » Personal Growth: The
Nature of Dreams |
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|  |  |  | Rational Mysticism:
Spiritual - Theosophy
Dictionary on
Marut, Maruts
Marut, Maruts (Sanskrit) A class of spiritual or highly ethereal beings, properly classed as belonging to the middle sphere between heaven and earth. They are one of the classes of agnishvattas, and hence in strait union with the asuras -- indeed leaving mythologic legends about the maruts aside, there are times when the distinctions between the maruts and asuras vanish. In the Vedas the maruts are described as children of heaven (spiritual spheres) and ocean (cosmic space), armed with golden weapons, such as lightning and thunderbolts, as having iron teeth and roaring like lions, and residing in the north, as riding in golden cars drawn by ruddy horses -- all of which is merely mythologic elaborations of symbolic fancy. The maruts are mythologically represented as storm gods and the friends and allies of Indra. Esoterically they belong to the hierarchies of those dhyani-chohans who enlightened the early races of mankind. In one sense they are our human egos as emanations from the manasaputras, and from another viewpoint, they are the manasaputras themselves, a class of the agnishvattas. Hence the allegory of Siva transforming the lumps of flesh into boys and calling them maruts, to show senseless men transformed by becoming the vehicles of the solar pitris or fire-maruts, and thus rational beings. Again, they are the adepts who incarnate on earth to help mankind. The Vayu-Purana shows that the Maruts, "the oldest as the most incomprehensible of all the secondary or lower gods in the Rig Veda -- 'are born in every manvantara (Round) seven times seven (or 49); that in each Manvantara, four times seven (or twenty-eight) they obtain emancipation, but their places are filled up by persons reborn in that character.' " In the Ramayana Diti, the lower or manifested aspect of Aditi, "anxious to obtain a son who would destroy Indra, is told by Kasyapa the Sage, that 'if, with thoughts wholly pious and person entirely pure, she carries the babe in her womb for a hundred years' she will get such a son. But Indra foils her in the design. With his thunderbolt he divides the embryo in her womb into seven portions, and then divides every such portion into seven pieces again, which become the swift-moving deities, the Maruts. These deities are only another aspect, or a development of the Kumaras [or agnishvattas], who are Rudras in their patronymic, like many others" (SD 2:613). The maruts have their representatives on lower planes, which causes much of the confusion and apparently contradictory statements about them. "The Maruts represent (a) the passions that storm and rage within every candidate's breast, when preparing for an ascetic life -- this mystically; (b) the occult potencies concealed in the manifold aspects of Akasa's lower principles -- her body, or sthula sarira, representing the terrestrial, lower, atmosphere of every inhabited globe -- this mystically and sidereally; (c) actual conscious Existences, Beings of a cosmic and psychic nature" (SD 2:615).
(See also: Marut, Maruts , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)
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|  |  |  | Rational Mysticism: The Three Selves, Qualities of HeartHuna does a great deal of work on developing
qualities of heart and character. Important goals are enthusiasm, saying yes to
life, courage and the ability to give and receive unconditional love. The huna
practitioner becomes more and more aware of the nurturing and loving aspects of
the Earth, and feels loved and supported by nature and connected to all of
life. He or she is also able to direct energy to assist the Earth in return for
that support.
Read more here: » Huna: The Three Selves, Qualities of Heart |
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|  |  |  | Rational Mysticism:
Spiritual - Theosophy
Dictionary on
Soma
Soma (Sanskrit) In Hinduism, the moon astronomically; mystically, a sacred beverage of initiates, "made from a rare mountain plant by initiated Brahmans" (TG 304). As the moon, Soma is an occult mystery, for the moon as a symbol stands for both good and evil, yet more often a symbol of evil than of good. Astrologically, Soma is the regent of the invisible or occult moon, while Indu represents the physical moon. "Soma is the mystery god and presides over the mystic and occult nature in man and the Universe" (SD 2:45). Soma or lunar worship was once purely occult and its rites were based upon a minute and profound knowledge of nature. According to Hindu tradition, Soma as a sacred juice gave mystic visions and trance-revelations, the result of which union was Budha (esoteric wisdom). This sacred beverage was drunk by Brahmins and initiates during their mysteries and sacrificial rites. "The 'Soma' plant is the asclepias acida, which yields a juice from which that mystic beverage, the Soma drink, is made. Alone the descendants of the Rishis, the Agnihotri (the fire priests) of the great mysteries knew all its powers. But the real property of the true Soma was (and is) to make a new man of the Initiate, after he is reborn, namely once that he begins to live in his astral body . . .; for, his spiritual nature overcoming the physical, he would soon snap it off and part even from that etherealized form. . . . "The partaker of Soma finds himself both linked to his external body, and yet away from it in his spiritual form. The latter, freed from the former, soars for the time being in the ethereal higher regions, becoming virtually 'as one of the gods,' and yet preserving in his physical brain the memory of what he sees and learns. Plainly speaking, Soma is the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge forbidden by the jealous Elohim to Adam and Eve or Yah-ve, 'lest Man should become as one of us' " (SD 2:498-9&n). "A 'soma-drinker' attains the power of placing himself in direct rapport with the bright side of the moon, thus deriving inspiration from the concentrated intellectual energy of the blessed ancestors. . . . "This which seems one stream (to the ignorant) is of a dual nature -- one giving life and wisdom, the other being lethal. He who can separate the former from the latter, as Kalahamsa separated the milk from the water, which was mixed with it, thus showing great wisdom -- will have his reward" (BCW 12:203-4). "This Hindu sacred beverage answers to the Greek Ambrosia or nectar, drunk by the gods of Olympus. A cup of kykeon was also quaffed by the mysta at the Eleusinian initiation. He who drinks it easily reaches Brahma, or the place of splendor (Heaven). The soma-drink known to Europeans is not the genuine beverage, but its substitute; for the initiated priests alone can taste of the real soma; and even kings and rajas, when sacrificing, receive the substitute. . . . We were positively informed that the majority of the sacrificial priests of the Dekkan have lost the secret of the true soma. It can be found neither in the ritual books nor through oral information. The true followers of the primitive Vedic religion are very few; these are the alleged descendants from the Rishis, the real Agnihotris, the initiates of the great Mysteries. The soma-drink is also commemorated in the Hindu Pantheon, for it is called King-Soma. He who drinks of it is made to participate in the heavenly king, because he becomes filled with it, as the Christian apostles and their converts became filled with the Holy Ghost, and purified of their sins. The soma makes a new man of the initiate; he is reborn and transformed, and his spiritual nature overcomes the physical; it gives the divine power of inspiration, and develops the clairvoyant faculty to the utmost. According to the exoteric explanation the soma is a plant, but, at the same time it is an angel. It forcibly connects the inner, highest 'spirit' of man, which spirit is an angel like the mystical soma, with his 'irrational soul,' or astral body, and thus united by the power of the magic drink, they soar together above physical nature and participate during life in the beatitude and ineffable glories of Heaven. "Thus the Hindu soma is mystically, and in all respects the same that the Eucharist supper is to the Christian. The idea is similar. By means of the sacrificial prayers -- the mantras -- this liquor is supposed to be transformed on the spot into real soma -- or the angel, and even into Brahma himself" (IU 1:xl-xli). The mystical drink has been known in all ages and among all peoples. The ancient Teutonic tribes, whether of the Germanic or Anglo-Saxons, spoke of their divine mead, the drink of the gods. The Hindus spoke of Soma, the direct distillation from the moon and from the overseeing and guiding eye of the sun; the Greeks of the Homeric age spoke of ambrosia or nectar, a drink of the gods which renewed their understanding and gave them inspiration as well. Another branch of the Greeks belonging to the Dionysian and Orphic branches of mystical thought, spoke equally mystically of the mystic wine, and also of the mystic cereal, partaken of during the Mysteries, and it is from this last that the mystical wine and cereal or bread of the Christians was taken over almost completely from the Dionysian Eucharist, only among Christians even from quite early times it became degraded into actual blood and flesh of Jesus. The evident meaning must be connected with the old occult thought that wine, or the mead of the northern peoples where the grape and soma were unknown or uncultivated, all had the meaning of the inspiration of initiation, a kind of ecstasy of vision and knowledge brought about through initiation, of which the physical intoxication of wine, mead, or the soma juice has all the lower and materialized aspect, every spiritual thing having its material counterpart, every right-hand thought or rule in occultism having its left-hand or sorcerer perversion or counterpart. Thus in the highest initiation, even today and from immemorial time, the holy drink or potation was entirely mystical, and had a dozen of these significances, all bound up together; yet despite this fact, for some of the lower initiations where a student found difficulty in throwing off the physical and astral influences, a harmless -- when administered rightly -- drug or drink was given which temporarily stupefied the lower quaternary; but it is to be noted that this substitute of the physical drink came about when neophytes began to find it very difficult to do what their more spiritual forerunners had done: raising themselves solely by inner aspiration up to inspiration, by inner insight up to the epopteia or vision. Thus the question whether the mystical drink was an actual drink, or merely a mystical one, cannot be answered by a simple yes or no. Originally it was entirely mystical, later it remained as mystical as ever, but the body with its grossness, and the astral influences with their terrible power over the men and women of the time, were temporarily reduced to quiescence by a preparation known to initiates to have the power of bringing about the condition required, without any permanent or even long after-effect, very much as a sedative will be given by a physician today. It is of course true that if this drink, however relatively innocent in a single instance, were to be constantly repeated, it would have developed into a drug habit. Some of the later peoples in their initiations actually did use a kind of physical soma which had the effect of bringing about a dulling of the restless brain-mind for the time being, so that the inner powers were temporarily freed from the clogging influences of the astral light and the body. The use of drugs in initiatory ceremonies of any kind, however, is a relatively late and degenerate practice, and has never at any time been, nor will it ever be, introduced by the Mother-Lodge coming down to us even from the middle of the third root-race. With it the old tradition burns more brightly than ever that the true soma, the true mead of the gods or wine of the spirit, is the raising of the human into the spiritual by aspiration, training, and strict following of the traditional laws of discipleship, so that finally the neophyte feels the sunlight from above stealing through the moon of his mind. So strongly is this the case, that even today in theosophical occult studies, drug taking of any kind is strictly forbidden, including alcohol, for alcohol is a drug, a product of natural decay and decomposition, and while less spectacular and violent as a rule than drugs such as opium and its derivatives, it is far more easily procurable and is therefore more specifically pointed to as objectionable. The idea of the occult student is to have the body absolutely normal, healthy, clean, and functioning in the smoothness of health, so that even overeating is seen to be a harmful thing, because it clogs the body, dulls the mind, and could even actually lead to physical disability. There is and has been a great deal of confusion, not only at present but throughout the ages, about these matters, and several mystical schools have even chosen the language of the tavern and drinking house as the cloak for conveying occult or semi-occult teaching. A noted example is the Sufi school with its poems lauding the flowing bowl and the joys of the tavern and the bosom friends therein, and the beloved's breast. Here the tavern was the universe, the flowing cup or wine was the wine of the spirit bringing inner ecstasy, the bosom of the beloved was the raising oneself into inner communion with the god within, of which the Jewish bosom of Abraham is a feeble correspondence. The friends of the tavern are those perfect human relations brought about by a community of spiritual and intellectual interests, and the associations of the tavern are the mysteries of the world around us with their marvels and arcana. Nevertheless in various countries as the fourth root-race ran toward its evil culmination, the mystic became translated into the material, the spiritual degenerated into the teaching of matter, so that indeed in later Atlantean times the drugging of initiates was common, and the results always disastrous, this being one of the sorceries for which the Atlanteans in occult history have remained infamous. Yet even in the fifth root-race, due to the heavy Atlantean karma still weighing on us, many nations as late as historic times employed more or less harmless potations to bring about a temporary dulling or stupefying of the brain and nervous system -- a procedure always vigorously opposed by the theosophic occult school which has never at any time allowed it.
(See also: Soma , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)
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| | |  |  |  | Rational Mysticism: We Know too Much, Feel
too LittleEmotions: We Know too Much, Feel
too Little
A telephone operator in a small town
would receive a daily call from a man who asked for the exact time. Finally,
the operator asked him why he called every day. "Because", he said, "I
am the man responsible for blowing the whistle at noon each day."
"Well, that's strange", the operator replied: "Every
day, exactly at noon, I set my clock by your whistle".
Individual lives cannot be compartmentalised; through our
actions, we impact each other more than we realise. It follows that there is a
profound relationship between the individual and the universe. So it's
important for us to understand one another better. One way is to learn more
about emotions, a key to understanding human behaviour and relationships.
Read more here: » Emotions: We Know too Much, Feel
too Little |
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|  |  |  | Rational Mysticism: Path of Powerful Dharma BeingsDharma: Path of Powerful Dharma
Beings
One takes refuge in the Buddha's path
because it allows the freedom to modulate it to one's self-awareness, provided
one takes responsibility of one's own suffering. Buddhism's view of dependent
origination and the inherent emptiness of all phenomena is a profound and
radical one.
It dispenses with the existence of a Creator God or a
Superior Being. The view is taught not as an article of faith or an exclusive
revelation to a messiah or prophet, but is one that can be ascer-tained by
study, debate, and direct experience.
Read more here: » Dharma: Path of Powerful Dharma Beings |
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| |  |  |  | Rational Mysticism: Sanctified SexualityTantra: Sanctified Sexuality
The TANTRIC philosophy
itself includes in its theory all the levels of the Universe and gives a
paramount importance to astronomy, biology, parapsychology, anatomy,
meditation, medicine, music, art and even sexuality. In fact, the sexual
experience, considered to be a unification of the Everlasting Male (+) and
Everlasting Female (-) principles, has a very important place in TANTRIC
techniques and procedures which are often profoundly erotic.
Read more here: » Tantra Yoga: Sanctified Sexuality |
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| |  |  |  | Rational Mysticism: Agni and the Fire of
Self-InquiryAgni and
the Fire of Self-Inquiry
Self-inquiry
(Atma-vichara), such as taught by Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, is regarded as the
simplest and most direct path to Self-realization. However, Self-inquiry is
also very subtle and can be hard to accomplish even after years of dedicated
practice. It depends upon a great power of concentration and acuity of mind
along with an intense longing for liberation. One might say metaphorically that
Self-inquiry requires a certain flame. It requires that we ourselves become a
flame and that our lives become an offering to it. Without such an inner fire,
Self-realization may elude us whatever else we may attempt. Therefore, it is
important to look at Self-inquiry not simply as a mental practice but as an energetic
movement of consciousness like the rising up of a great fire.
Read more here: » Agni: Agni and the Fire of
Self-Inquiry |
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|  |  |  | Rational Mysticism:
Serve, Love, Meditate, Realize - The Inner Teachings of Yoga The word "yoga" often brings to mind a classroom of students
attired in exercise clothing attempting to stretch their bodies into different
postures. A more traditional yoga class will even include instruction in
breathing techniques, concentration, meditation, and positive thinking. In the
media today, yoga is often associated with health benefits such as stress
reduction, lower blood pressure, and an overall decrease in illness and
hospitalization rates. This is the Western idea of yoga. If we look to the
Eastern approach, where yoga is a part of the great Hindu and Buddhist
traditions, we find that yoga is all of these things but much, much more as
well.
Read more here: » Yoga:
Serve, Love, Meditate, Realize - The Inner Teachings of Yoga |
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