Knowledge and Religion

Why ethics don’t work

I think that in order to understand ethics we have to look to something more fundamental than ethics and that is the nature of desire. Whether people desire an object or they are afraid of an object, what are they looking for? In reality they are looking for lasting happiness. They are looking for a sense of being at home that will not come to an end.

Objects cannot provide what they don’t have
But the problem is that the objects that people look for such as wealth, relationships and security cannot provide the happiness that they just don’t have. Happiness comes from the place where you actually experience it and you don’t experience it in objects, you experience happiness in your own Self-Nature. Understanding this is the beginning of spiritual practice, which can go incredibly deep, deeper than words can describe.
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

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Not understanding this is the beginning of suffering, which is intolerable, because it goes against our nature. And so we inexorably run towards things that we think will provide us with happiness and run away from the things that we think will make us miserable.

We make the best decisions when we stand in our true nature
With this background let’s talk about ethics. The only way to have ethical behavior is to know where happiness really lies. This does not tell you how to act. Rather it tells you where to come from so that you can make the best decisions that are beneficial to all. In other words when you already have the happiness that you need, you are in the best position to make ethical decisions.

We often hear about the virtues of living an ethical life. And yet so few of us can actually do it. Even if we don’t kill people or rob our neighbors, we find ourselves slipping up here and slipping up there. We tell little white lies that make us look better than we really think we are. We notice that the store clerk gives us more change than is due, but we don’t say a thing.

Ethics has many extenuating circumstances
And even if we try to do the little things right, when applied, ethics can become very confusing. For instance if the Roman soldiers come to your doorstep and ask, “Is Jesus there?” do you lie to them and say “No!” or tell the truth and send him off to his death?

Is a doctor unethical if he or she tries to earn more money rather than save the life of someone who couldn’t possibly pay him, so the doctor can send his kids through college? Or is a stockbroker unethical who intentionally sells his client a bad stock so that he can enrich his self? And that’s because the broker’s wife is sick and needs an expensive operation.

And then what about ethical wars?
When is a war just and when is it unjust? After World War Two it might be easy to see that the German cause was unjust while the Allies cause was just. But during the war it was hard for many millions of people to distinguish between what was ethical and unethical.

This is because our desire for fulfillment is much stronger than our ability to live by some ethical rules. And so people are willing to fight to gain the things they think they want, and to destroy all the people that they think are obstacles to obtaining these things.

Lasting happiness comes from within and is not in the world
But the thing that people really want is to find the lasting happiness and that only comes from one place: your own Self-Nature. If you can find this place, you will automatically live an ethical life, regardless of your circumstances. And most important you will discover the real purpose of life.

Feel free to ask questions
Now I want you to experience happiness right at its source. So please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend
                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                        Best Wishes,

                                                                        Michael Gluckman

Is the World Spiritual or Material?

Even though this is just February, it is a beautiful time here at the California coast. The plum trees are blossoming with delicate pink flowers. Other flowers are showing their full range of colors and the trees are just starting to wake up. On this beautiful sunny day it is time to ask the question: What is this world anyway?

At first glance this world seems to be an aggregate of materials with many different properties. And of course we have five different senses so that we can sense these different properties. I am amazed by the harmony that the senses make. That we have eyes and there are things to see, ears and there are things to hear, a tongue and things to taste, etc.

The world depends on our senses and state of mind
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

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If we did not have senses, how would we even know that the world was there? If we were born without any senses, we would not have a way of experiencing the world. In fact, for us the world would not exist.

The world also depends on our state of mind as it is through our mind that we interpret what we see. For instance with a slight change in our mind, we enter a completely different world called dream. Remember when we are in the dream, the dream seems like the waking state.

In fact, to the dream character it seems like the dream is made of many different materials. But from our perspective we can see that the dream is really made out of one substance, the mind of the dreamer. We can see that the dream character and everything that he or she sees is nothing but the one mind.

Is the truth behind the world based on separation?

Enlightenment the doorway to real adventure

The key to any adventure is that it is unknown. You don’t know what you are about to experience. You are surprised by how it looks, sounds, feels tastes and smells. You have no reference point on which to anticipate how the experience will go. Because of this, all you can do is be present and aware.

As an aspirant for liberation advances in his or her practice, the same thing happens. You don’t know what’s around the next corner or how your life and thoughts will change. In some ways the process is out of your control. So the only thing you can do is be present and aware.
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

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Find the cause of limitation and it is gone
However, if you notice suffering or limitation, it is time for you to take over and find out what conceptual framework is causing your suffering. That’s because suffering always has a cause while freedom is just your natural state. The mystery of spiritual practice is when you find the cause of your suffering it is gone. That’s because at that moment you are standing beyond your suffering in your natural state.

In this respect spiritual practice is like a roller coaster ride. You slowly roll up a large incline and as you reach the top you lose sight of where the tracks go. But you have a wonderful view of everything around you. Then it feels like the bottom drops out as you rush down the other side. It seems like everything is out of your control. But you feel happy and free. The bottom dropping out is the disappearance of the limited identity that you thought was you.

Leave lots of room for surprises in your practice
Many people conceive of enlightenment as changing the state of their mind, and some people think of it as changing the state of your body too. But the problem with this is that they try to anticipate how they are going to change; but this isn’t a real adventure, is it? Moreover how can you anticipate the vast expanse of freedom with the limitations of your mind?

For instance, if you have a tendency to get angry you may feel that enlightenment will come when you don’t get angry. The same is true of fear or any other emotion that seems to take you over. But you should know that a state of mind is not the enlightenment that you are looking for. It is too limited.

Your life will become fresh and new
If you make an attempt to eliminate everything that is too small for you, you will find that your life will change in ways that will completely surprise you. Life will once again become fresh and new. You will have regained the adventurous feeling that life is supposed to have. You will also find the real purpose of life. Life is here so that you can discover that which is beyond limitation, and that's where you find freedom.

Feel free to ask questions
Now I want you to experience your true identity in its full glory. So please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend
                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                        Best Wishes,

                                                                        Michael Gluckman

On facing disasters

The feeling that we own things is really just a misnomer. In reality we only borrow them to use while we are here on the earth. When we die or face a disaster, we get to give everything back. So we should treat all of our possession as if they are on loan and the lease could run out at any moment.

Most people think of renunciation as some horrendous feat that they could never accomplish. That’s because they think they are supposed to give up the good stuff. Even monks and priests, who try to renounce the world, feel like they are giving up the things that are really valuable. And thus they spend their time thinking about the stuff that they gave up, instead of making an effort to find God or their own Self-Nature.
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself and to others when you get Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

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Renunciation is seeing things the way they are
But this is because they misunderstand what renunciation really is. In reality renunciation is just recognizing the way things are anyway. Whether you give up things or not, the truth is that you are automatically renounced. Anything that you have can be taken away in a second.

If you don’t recognize this you have the stress of attempting to cling on to something that you just can’t hold onto. But when you let go of possessiveness, you will find a wonderful sense of freedom in your life. You find joy that does not depend on what you have or what you don’t have. It feels like life becomes very natural; more and more you find yourself abiding at the source of happiness, and not relying on things to give you what they don’t have.

Renunciation is not giving up objects; it’s finding happiness at its source
Remember in order to feel this joy you just have to give up your attachment to an object. You don’t have to give up the object itself. To find this joy, just meditate on where you feel the happiness: is it in the object or is it in your heart?

The place where you experience happiness is the place where it actually comes from. Once you find this place of happiness, it will make very little difference if you give up the object or not. If they are meant to, the objects will fall off; if not, even though you retain them you will be free of them. That’s because you will know that happiness comes from your nature and not from an object that you have or don’t have. This is renunciation without the image of renunciation.

The depth of your being is unaffected by the storm above
If you can find this place of happiness, no matter how bad your outer circumstances become, your peace will not be shaken. This does not mean that you will have a big smile plastered on your face. It just means that you will discover that your place of existence is deeper than the body, mind and world. Your suffering is tiny compared to the depth of your being.

When you abide here it will be like the depth of the ocean unaffected by the storms above. Like Christ, I call this: “The peace that passes all understanding.” My wish is that you will discover this peace and abide here too.

Feel free to ask questions
Now I want you to experience your true identity in its full glory. So please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend
                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                        Best Wishes,

                                                                        Michael Gluckman

Finding God in Haiti and Natural Disasters

When we read about and hear about natural disasters like the earthquake in Haiti, we can rightfully ask: “Why would God do such a thing to a poor country like Haiti? Where is justice anyway?” Here is a country that is really poor and now they lost just about everything they had.

And of course if your aim in life is Self-Knowledge, this would provide a challenge. How could a person find peace and happiness when they lose everything: their family, friends, house and all of there possessions. That many nations in the world have come together to help is definitely a good thing, as it reflects the oneness and compassion that comes right from our own being.

Can we find an answer for this much suffering?
But in order to meditate and find a real resolve for this situation, we would have to put ourselves in the place of the people in Haiti. The question is: Can we find a place in our meditation that is deep enough to resolve this much suffering?

Our answer would have to be deeper than the person who is hungry, homeless, and in pain; and deeper than the reaction of the mind, saying ouch! That is a shift of identity from the limitations of the mind and body, to the ever-present Consciousness, which is at our core.

By resting in our being we find what is true about the world
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Give the gift of enlightenment to yourself or others when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

For more information go to: Amazon.com

___________________________________________________________________

From here we would not have to the change the person going through the crisis. All we would have to do is rest in the still reference point that sees change. In that way we would see clearly that the “me” who lived in Haiti was not me at all, and the lost everything was never really mine. The person and the mine were just  objects that I saw and not my real identity.

But the thing that made this nightmare seem so real was our own Consciousness, and by returning our Consciousness to its source, we return reality to its source, which is our being. That resolves the suffering completely.

The illustration of night's dream will make this clearer. The real resolve for the tragedy that happened was to find the reality behind the dream, which is the mind of the waking one. Working in the dream would only provide temporary relief for the suffering. But when you wake up the relief is permanent. The same is true for this waking state.

Even in death the stillness of our being does not change
And if we were crushed under one of the houses that collapsed and died, all of these objects would pass away; but our identity would remain the same as the still Consciousness that was never born and will never die.

So we can use this destruction as a reminder that if we connect our peace to objects in the world, then as the objects change, our peace and happiness will seem to disappear. But if we look within and find peace at its source, our real identity, we will find that which can never be destroyed.

So the lesson here is rather then getting enamored in the things that we see, to continue our search until we find that which is free from limitation. It is the source of Consciousness and Bliss which, found at our center, is the truth of the universe. The real lesson of change and destruction is that we should continue our search until we find the changeless background. That is, “The peace that passes all understanding.”

Feel free to ask questions
Now I want you to experience your true identity in its full glory. So please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural freedom.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friend
                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                        Best Wishes,

                                                                        Michael Gluckman