Monday, December 22, 2008

Grasping for God

Every now and then I get a little frustrated when I feel like I am losing contact with God. In November, when I had my "experience", I thought I was enlightened. But not too long after this experience I started finding myself getting sucked back into mundane reality as my high mood cycled back downward and I could hear the echo of myself screaming, "Noooooooo!"

Last night I was reading some web pages on Meher Baba's teachings when I saw some poems by a man named Max Reif. As I read them, I felt an immediate understanding of his words, and I felt like he knew what I was going through.

Getting Drunk

Either I've spent the night
Getting drunk in the Tavern of Illusion,
Or some strange wizard
Has cursed me with
The multiple vision of a fly!

I see Your Oneness
Refracted thru a prism
of Manyness.

Frightened,
I try to stagger toward You.
I try to pull the mask
off every face I see.
I try to swim upstream
To the Source
Of this Torrent of Hallucinations
That Thunders each instant out of Non-being,

Yet I am swept by the current
And washed, again & again,
Down the Niagara of Phantasms,
Toward the Lowlands
Of the River of Kundalini.

I try to hold to Higher vision
Like a man grabbing at a limb on a bank.

Meanwhile,
Somewhere far upstream,
You sit in Silence,
And all this Maya-Show
Inscrutably comes out of You.

The Veils of Illusion
Are a heavy quilt
I cannot lift
While I dream,

Unless YOU Dissolve
The draught of Enchantment
Or the wizard's spell,
With Potions
You Alone possess.
-----

Thank you to Max for giving me permission to post his poem. Please take a look at his poetry to get some Truth-talk straight from the soul.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

You cannot find something that doesn't exist.

"Mundane reality" may be all there is.

Don't let someone tell you to sit in the corner of a circular room.

Perhaps humanity's curse was to become intelligent, not enlightened.

raymond said...

Hi Don

God might not exist. But the experience of "God" does exist. The experience is good enough for me.

ciao,
Raymond

klaus s said...

We have all felt like this at sometime in our spiritual journey.

It is the world of Mara hindering our path to Realization.

Anonymous said...

I've decided that I've been too harsh on Sophia, sort of a spoilsport. I need to lighten up on her.

I think that God and the Universe are the same, pantheism. Oddly, pantheism and atheism are similar.

donstockbauer *attt* hotmail.com

Sophia said...

Hi Don,

You are not being harsh on me by speaking your beliefs, ideas or opinions, or by disagreeing with me. :)

I will say that I think you are pretty much right on track when you say that God and the Universe are the same. That is just about how I see things, except I'm more into Panentheism, which is just a little different than Pantheism. In other words, God is the universe and beyond. God is more than the physical realm. The physical realm is only part of what God is.

At least, this is how I see things.

Sophia said...

Hi Raymond,

I'd almost say that the experience is enough of a proof to me that God exists. It's like love.... we can't see or touch love, but we can experience it.

Sophia said...

Hi Klaus,

It's nice to know I'm not alone. I guess that, as the saying goes, "Misery loves company."

Anonymous said...

Jai Baba to You,
Have your read Discourses and God's speak by Avtar Meher Baba.
Discourses by Meher Baba is available online. Search on Googel search and You will find it.
Jai Baba once again.
Dr. Chandrajiit Singh

Anonymous said...

Hi, Sophia.

I guess that panentheism confuses me a little bit. Ever since getting interested in Hofstadter's works, I've been able to see how mind, non-physical aspects of the universe can be generated from matter, from (for example) neurons communicating. You've mentioned panentheism before and I'm a little fuzzy on what you consider non-physical. Ghosts? But maybe what would help me the most would be for you to give me examples of what lies beyond the physical realm. It's just possible that I may be able to tell you how I think such phenomena really are part of the physical realm.

donstockbauer *attt* hotmail.com

Mark said...

Wonderful and profound. Thanks for sharing.

Sophia said...

Hi Dr. Singh,

I have only read small parts of Discourses. I have found some of his books online. His words are waiting for me like treasure waiting to be discovered. :)

Thank you for your pleasant visit!

Sophia said...

Hi Don,

I'm not a scientist. Whatever proof I have of the existence of non-physical realms are purely through inner experiences.

I am also not a world-renowned philosopher, however, I agree with the idea that the physical realm is a realm within a spiritual realm. This means that the physical realm is spiritual. The physical is just a more condensed form of spiritual.

Sophia said...

Hi Mark,

I am very glad to! :)

Anonymous said...

Ok. If two people speak different languages, they can do little communication.

Sophia said...

Hi Don,

Happy Holidays to you, too. ;)

I have to disagree with you on your last statement.

My cats and I do not speak the same language yet we communicate very well.

You are frustrated with me because you and I see the world differently and you want me to see it the way you see it. I do not know if any two people can ever see the world the same way even if they seem to agree on everything.

Please don't get frustrated just because we have differing ideas or beliefs. One of the pleasures of Life is looking at the world through the eyes of someone else every now and then.

You are my friend! :)

Anonymous said...

My cats and I do not speak the same language yet we communicate very well.

You do speak the same language. You both speak "Cat". :-)

You are frustrated with me because you and I see the world differently and you want me to see it the way you see it. I do not know if any two people can ever see the world the same way even if they seem to agree on everything.

Please don't get frustrated just because we have differing ideas or beliefs. One of the pleasures of Life is looking at the world through the eyes of someone else every now and then.

You are my friend! :)

Sophia,

You are still my friend and I am not frustrated with you. I'm just trying to figure out how to respond whenyou talk about the "non-physical" world but do not go into any detail or explanation. I can see for myself where a lot of it can be explained by it being emergent phenomena, such as one's soul or mind automatically emerging from the body from experience. It would help me to know what aspects of the Universe you consider non-physical. There's been a lot of advancement in explaining much of this in physical terms by many different thinkers.

Anonymous said...

Sophia,

I found a good writeup on it in Wiki, so that's all I need.

Wiki - our new one, true God.

Sophia said...

Hi Don,

I think the Wiki is an Oracle. :)

Anonymous said...

Sophia,

An Oracle tells you what will be. I see Wiki as more of a "what is now".

When I was growing up I conceived of God as being an entity that you could ask any question of and get a correct answer. I suppose we're still far from that.

Then of course there's the "train schedule" effect. A train schedule can tell you where you can go, but it can't tell you where you want to go.

All this information available and peole still trying to figure out what they want to do.

Unknown said...

I think the whole of the internet contains most of writable/viewable/hearable human experience. Maybe that makes it the Collective Conciousness of humanity...

As for solid proof extra-physical existance (or would that be supra-physical?)...its akin to proving a certian shirt is blue to someone holding their eyes shut...perhaps one must first be open to the possibility (that doesn't mean accepting it...merely not negating it...allowing it a definate maybe :-P ) that they have eyes, and can open them, AND can behold a wonderous array of colors....before you can speak of blue shirts

In short, if you're open to the possibility, and activly explore, you will find something...unfortunatly I'm as yet unwise enough to say what, how, or in what sequence you'll find things

Nameste

Sophia said...

Don,

If we ask God a question, perhaps if we didn't look for an obvious answer, we could find responses in our surroundings through signs or synchronicities. To open up to receiving these answers we'd of course have to increase our awareness.

Or, you could always just consult the I Ching. :)

Sophia said...

Hi Nate,

Thanks for the visit! :)

I meant to tell you, that the day you posted this comment I had just before been talking with a friend about a blue shirt that I had received the day before. So your comment caused me to experience a synchronicity.

You are already wise enough because you at least are open to the possibilities. :)

Anonymous said...

Or, you could always just consult the I Ching. :)


That would be fine, if it had some sort of magical lock on The Truth.