Runaway Realization Part Two
A. H. Almaas returns for a second interview with Rick Archer on Buddha at The Gas Pump.
Unity and Interconnectedness of Existence
- Realization is about being what we truly are, living our fundamental nature in a non-dual way.
- The individual soul is not an illusion or a construct, but rather an expression of pure consciousness and true nature, allowing reality to have experience and know itself.
- Being in a state of realization allows one to simultaneously experience the vastness of existence and the simple pleasures of everyday life, without the need for comparison or distinction between the two.
- The universe expresses itself as a grain of sand, connecting all objects through a time-space wormhole, collapsing everything into a single realization.
- Each soul is indivisible and contains all other souls within it, just like a star contains all other stars and a planet contains the whole universe.
- We are individual expressions of the same tendency as nature itself, reflecting endless, explosive, diverse creativity.
- Our individual existence is both a manifestation of the whole and an expression of the non-dual, allowing us to recognize ourselves as the entirety of reality within our individual lives.
- "There's bliss, there's happiness, there's lovingness, there's appreciation, and there is, you know, the different ways of connecting and being that we are expressing the same reality."
Nature of Realization and Self-Discovery
- "Realization never ends, discovery never ends, awakenings, degrees of enlightenment never end." - Hameed Ali emphasizes the continuous nature of spiritual growth and self-realization.
- The enlightenment drive is intrinsic to the entire universe, orchestrating and evolving everything to the point where human beings can have conversations about reality based on living the experience of it.
- The main obstacle to self-realization is the belief in and identifying with the separate self, which includes the belief in having one's own will and choices.
- Continual practice for even the greatest masters is about continually seeing more of reality, not because they need to, but because they love to and it drives their enlightenment.
Diversity of Spiritual Experiences
- The experience of emptiness in Buddhism is distinct from the experience of pure consciousness in Vedanta, highlighting the diversity of spiritual experiences.
- The non-dual view emphasizes that there is only the eternal now, where past, future, and time itself are concepts, while Dogen Zenji's perspective suggests that the present moment contains all other moments, making it a more expanded unity.
- Pure consciousness has the potential for self-recognition and awareness, leading to a process of knowing and diversification.
- Knowing adds a dimension of love and opens the heart, leading to a pervading sense of sweetness, goodness, and joy in conscious awareness.