All the things that truly matter — beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace — arise from beyond the mind … You cannot be both unhappy and fully present in the Now.
~ Eckhart Tolle ‘The Power of Now’
Another interesting cloud morning … The upper layer clouds were almost like jelly fish, with tentacles reaching down towards the sea.
I skipped my yoga practice this morning, as I have a full day of villa cleaning to do, and I’ll practice and stretch this afternoon.
So, while I waited for the sun to rise, I read an interesting article that I happened across yesterday entitled ‘Ordinary People Can Get Enlightened’ by Kenneth Folk.
He describes in exquisite detail his spiritual journey, which began at the age of 24, when having done several hits of LSD, he had a life-altering experience that put him squarely on the path of seeking. Much like Eckhart Tolle, he was at a place where he was ready to die, unhappy with life, and was laying there trying to will himself to death.
“As he was going about dying, a very scary thing happened. It occurred to him that if he did die, he would be opening himself up to whatever forces were out there. It occurred to him that this evil was so evil that this must be what Satan is, this religious notion of the devil. Now, he wasn’t the least bit religious. He thought that anything religious was ridiculous. He didn’t believe in God. He didn’t believe in the devil. But somehow here he was thinking the Devil’s gonna get him. But it then occurred to him …. Well, if he didn’t believe in the Devil, but if there is such a thing as the Devil, there must also be such a thing as God. In which case, if he opened himself up entirely, then it would either be a wash, or God would win. And somehow that gave him just enough courage to go ahead and take the leap. He opened up entirely and surrendered to death and set about the business of dying once again. And something really extraordinary happened.”
For anyone interested in meditation, this is a great read …
As a lifelong practitioner, Kenneth very clearly discusses the various states of awakening.
“It became ever more apparent to me, as I worked my way up through this system, that I was not becoming a superman and I wasn’t becoming a saint and my morality was not becoming perfected. And what was happening here was a very organic process that I’ve more recently come to think of as what I call a physio-energetic process. There is some energy that arises in the body and can be developed in stages. And that’s what’s happening. All of the stuff, all of the stories that we layer on to that, that if you reach this stage, you’re going to act a certain way or you’re going to be incapable of committing various immoral acts, that’s just fantasy island.”
I once asked a friend, and fellow meditator, if he thought it was possible that I could become enlightened. He said it was doubtful. You know what … After reading Kenneth’s article, I do believe that anyone dedicated to the practice does make progress. It doesn’t matter if I’m at Stage 1 or Stage 4. Any stage is better than no stage …
“There are these very precise accounts of what happens when a Yogi meditates, and these things happen in invariable order and it doesn’t really matter who you are. This is a remarkable thing that your mind is actually set up, it has the structure and even if you don’t tell a Yogi what to expect, that you will go through these stages just like thousands and millions of Yogis have in the past.”
Once again, I hope you’ll join me in the Chopra (and Oprah) 21 Day Meditation Challenge beginning next week …
http://www.chopracentermeditation.com
To read more of Kenneth Folk’s story:
http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/01/bg-156-ordinary-people-can-get-enlightened/
Have an awesome Saturday everyone. Peace ….
