Unity Consciousness and Enlightenment

[doodle]

I was reading a variety of postings on my Facebook page this morning from some of my friends who happen to be Muslim regarding this article in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/2 ... 68460.html

Most of the comments were less than positive...and I'm sure the same things would have been said by practicing people of other faiths if the article were placed in the context of their religion. What is so astounding to me is the way in which the worlds major religions seem to cause a de-evolution in the process of enlightenment in so many people. The most important messages of the worlds faiths seem to get drowned out by utter nonsense and divisive delineations.  

The most important basic message from all of the worlds faiths seems to me to be that there are no delineations between any matter in the universe...rock, tree, human (straight, gay, woman, man), carrot, water etc. (and science corroborates this). We are all just manifestations flowing out of the same pool of matter and energy (call it God, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). Instead of focusing on unity consciousness, religion as an organized institution has been and continues to be one of the most effective forces creating separation between people.  

[doodle]

Good definition of enlightenment or unity consciousness...

Enlightenment is an impersonal understanding that there is no 'one' being enlightened. It is an understanding that there is no comprehender; there is no longer a separate entity or a doer. It is a surrender to the fact that there is nobody surrendering to anything. It is a vertical impersonal experience. It now becomes an awareness witnessing the functions of the psychophysical complex. The witnessing is like a mirror with no separate entity mirroring the events or actions of the individual. He still functions in duality for the rest of his life, but he does not experience dualism anymore. Duality is a condition of the phenomenal world in which the opposites are mandatory, but dualism is the delusion that one is separate. There is only Consciousness acting through everything in all the universes. Nothing is separate and there isn't an 'I' or 'me'.

The enlightened realises that Totality or Cosmic Consciousness is the same as individual consciousness, and therefore he is not a separate entity. He and the myriad of entities, vegetation and insects are activated and powered by the same Consciousness. However, the unenlightened does not know this, and he identifies himself with his psychosomatic organism with its attendant suffering. He has the erroneous view that he is separate and that he controls his life. That is why some sages deem the entire world as unreal, because the trillions of ‘things’ are merely the manifested shadows of the Unmanifested, Cosmic Consciousness. These diversity of beings and other ‘things’ are the ripples on the surface of the ocean: everything is part of the ocean. Everything in the universe is powered or activated by the same electricity (Consciousness). All there is, is Consciousness. Every mineral, vegetable, animal and human has the same Consciousness. It is only the human that has ‘self-consciousness’, and therefore he suffers the most, because of his thinking mind. With enlightenment and the destruction of the thinking mind, there are no more concepts with its trail of fears, doubts and worries, because the ‘me’ is not present.

Good definition in video form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5EDktQz5cM

Being someone whose beliefs must be persuaded by rationality, Unity Consciousness is the only form of "religion" that makes any sense to me.

[MediumTex]

An important question to ask about any religion is whether, on balance, it provides a rationale and set of organizing principles for hatred or love.

When I look at what has been done in the name of religion through history I see plenty of what looks like nothing but pure hatred, while there are also lots of expressions of love.

I always visualize the young man with a bomb strapped to his body nervously waiting the right moment to detonate it.  I would love to ask him at that point why he was doing it.  If he said it was because of his religious beliefs I would ask him what kind of religion or what kind of God would ask a follower to demonstrate his faith in such a way.  If God made all of us, what satisfaction could God possibly take in seeing one of his creation destroy others based upon what are essentially political disagreements? 

I picture God doing an endless forehead slap as he watches the things people do in his name.

[jackely]

What is so astounding to me is the way in which the worlds major religions seem to cause a de-evolution in the process of enlightenment in so many people.

Sorry, didn't mean to hit the submit button before finishing my thought. Will try to get back to it...

[Gosso]

I have recently come across this same quotation from both Joseph Campbell and Alan Watts, and I think it applies perfectly here:

Those who cannot see beyond the symbols are like diners going into a restaurant and eating the menu, rather than the meal described.

There is so much wisdom and beauty in these myths and religions, but they are not meant to be taken literally, they are meant to describe something that cannot be described by words.  The best way to pass on this wisdom is through stories, since this grabs our attention and imagination.  It is really sad when people take these stories as being literally true, and in some cases can be quite dangerous.

the map is not the territory
the menu is not the meal

thanks gosso, that is one of my favorite quotes/concepts to express a meta understanding of how words influence our perception. and are not the reality itself..


another that i like to repeat to my self to help remember is....

- interactive processing - interactive processing - interactive processing