Hiffingtonpost article : " A Living Universe " ( with book link)

Jon Kary posted this article link on Face book, from which I got. I shared this on my profile page. 

Why We Need to Believe in a Living Universe

A common assumption of the modern world is that we live in a universe comprised almost entirely of inert matter and empty space. Regarding the universe as dead at its foundations is basic to the industrial revolution: It makes sense to exploit what appears dead for the benefit of what seems most alive -- ourselves. This assumption is now being questioned as a more ancient view is reconsidered. Plato put it this way: "The universe is a single living creature that encompasses all living creatures within it."

Is the universe alive or dead? We can explore this fundamental question by turning to both science and the world's wisdom traditions. Science now regards our universe as: 1) almost entirely invisible (96 percent of the known universe is comprised of invisible energy and matter), 2) completely unified and able to communicate with itself instantaneously in non-local ways that transcend the limits of the speed of light, 3) sustained by the flow-through of an unimaginably vast amount of energy, and 4) free at its deepest, quantum levels. While not proving the universe is alive, these and other attributes from science do point strongly in that direction.

When we turn to the world's wisdom traditions and ask how they regard the universe, we find a stunning consensus that the universe is a continuously regenerated, living presence:

"God is creating the entire universe, fully and totally, in this present now. Everything God created ...God creates now all at once."
-- Meister Eckhart, Christian mystic

"My solemn proclamation is that a new universe is created every moment."
-- D.T. Suzuki, Zen teacher

"The Tao is the sustaining Life-force and the mother of all things; from it, all things rise and fall without cease."
-- Tao Te Ching, Taoism

"God keeps a firm hold on heavens and earth, preventing them from vanishing away."
-- Islam, Koran

"Evolution presupposes creation ...creation is an everlasting process -- a creation continua."
-- Pope John Paul II

These quotes just begin to describe the profound aliveness of the universe as seen through the lens of the world's wisdom traditions.

What difference does it make if the universe is dead or alive at its foundations? When children are starving, climate is destabilizing, oil is dwindling, and population is growing, why put our attention here? Here are a few reasons why aliveness makes a profound difference:

Consumerism or Simplicity? Materialism is a rational response to living in a dead universe. In a material universe, consumerism offers a source of identity and a measure of significance and accomplishment. Where do I find pleasure in a non-living universe? In material things. How do I know that I amount to anything? By how many things I have accumulated. How should I relate to the world? By taking advantage of that which is dead on behalf of the living. Consumerism and exploitation are natural outcomes of a dead universe perspective. However, if we view the foundations of the universe as being intensely alive, then it makes sense to minimize material clutter and needless busyness and develop the areas where we feel most alive -- in nurturing relationships, caring communities, creative expressions, time in nature, and service to others.

Indifferent or Welcoming? If we regard the universe as dead at its foundations, then feelings of existential alienation, anxiety, dread, and fear are understandable. Why seek communion with the cold indifference of lifeless matter and empty space? If we relax, we will simply sink into existential despair. However in a living universe feelings of subtle connection, curiosity, and gratitude are understandable. We see ourselves as participants in a cosmic garden of life that has been patiently developing over billions of years. A living universe perspective invites us to shift from indifference, fear, and cynicism to curiosity, love, and awe.

Biological or Bio-Cosmic? Are we no more than a bundle of chemical and neurological interactions? If so, the boundaries of our being are defined by the extent of our physical body. However, in a living universe, our physical existence is permeated and sustained by an aliveness that is inseparable from the larger universe. Seeing ourselves as part of the unbroken fabric of creation awakens our sense of connection with, and compassion for, the totality of life. We recognize our bodies as precious, biodegradable vehicles for acquiring ever-deepening experiences of aliveness.

Separate or Inter-Connected? If we are no more than biological entities, then it makes sense to see ourselves as disconnected from the suffering of other living beings. However, if we are all swimming in the same ocean of subtle aliveness, then it makes sense that we would each have a direct experience of communion with, and concern for, the well-being of others. If we share the same matrix of existence, then the rest of life already touches me, co-creating the field of aliveness within which I exist.

Pull Apart or Pull Together? If we see the universe as mostly barren and devoid of life, then it is natural to see our time on earth as primarily a struggle for material existence, and it makes sense that we humans would pull apart in conflict. However, if we see the universe as intensely alive and our journey here as one of discovery and learning, then it makes sense that we would pull together in cooperation in order to realize this magnificent potential.

Our view of the universe as either dead or alive creates the context within which we understand who we are and where we are going. Where a dead-universe perspective generates alienation, environmental destruction, and despair, a living-universe perspective generates feelings of communion, stewardship, and the promise of a higher pathway for humanity. Although the idea of a living universe has ancient roots in human experience, it is now radically new as the frontiers of modern science cut away superstition and reveal the authentic mystery, subtlety, and aliveness of our cosmic home.

 

This Blogger's Books from ( amazon book linx)

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Universe-Where-Are-Going/dp/1576759695%3FSubscriptionId%3D0JJEH4PKQM4ZHS8QY102%26tag%3Dthehuffingtop-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1576759695

The Path and purpose of Life

The Path

Soul Sign 

To follow The Path in life is to take the soul journey; it is consciously becoming the soul that you are in essence and infusing your personality with its beautiful, loving energies. 

Reflection 

The experiences in following the Path and becoming the soul in actuality are very diverse so that it often appears that there are many paths to wholeness. The form the Path takes varies, but the essence is the same, just as all humans appear differently but are essentially one. 

Identify and describe your Path. Does it give you meaning and purpose in your life? 

Soul Expresses Quality

Soul Expresses Quality

Soul Sign 

Soul always serves with a quality of consciousness that is supportive and loving. 

Reflection 

Without soul consciousness, there is no vehicle for service. Even if our intentions are good, but do not come from soul, the most we can do is act, but without real quality. Without soul consciousness our actions do not come from the soul nor do they respond to the soul of those being served. In short, our ‘service’ is soulless. This means that the service is motivated by personality desires, judgments and feelings, and our action is in some way a projection of what is needed rather than an accurate reading of what the soul of the other truly requires for its immediate expression. 

Personality based service has expectations attached to it; there is a desire to get something out of it - good feelings, love, appreciation, gratitude, praise, indebtedness, equality, superiority, satisfaction, etc. 

What do you do that you call service? Is it soul based or personality based? 

Lethargy of custom blocks the soul !

The Lethargy of Custom Blocks Soul

Soul Sign 

Soul is always new, always fresh, always in the present, and never repetitive. So to be soul oriented and soul centered in our daily life we need to let go of our repetitive ways of experiencing life. 

Reflection 

To be willing to shift our perspectives and identity to soul we need to risk being open and vulnerable, to have adventures outwardly and inwardly, to shake ourselves up from the lethargy of custom and our habitual ways of perceiving and interpreting. Let soul inspire you.

Identify some area of life where you appear to be stuck or always repetitive and try to shift perspectives to a soul level where you see other, more authentic ways, of being and experiencing. 

2 Sutras from Osho

People often make me feel stupid, how can I change this?*
 **   **   **  **


First Sutra : " Take responsibility for your Life ! "
--------------------------------------------------------------*The ordinary mind always throws the responsibility on somebody else. It is
always the other who is making you suffer. Your wife is making you suffer,
your husband is making you suffer, your parents are making you suffer, your
children are making you suffer, or the financial system of the society,
capitalism, communism, fascism, the prevalent political ideology, the social
structure, or fate, karma, God...you name it!

People have millions of ways to shirk responsibility. But the moment you say
somebody else — X, Y, Z — is making you suffer, then you cannot do anything
to change it. What can you do? 


When the society changes and communism comes
and there is a classless world, then everybody will be happy. Before it, it
is not possible. How can you be happy in a society which is poor? And how
can you be happy in a society which is dominated by the capitalists? How can
you be happy with a society which is bureaucratic? How can you be happy with
a society which does not allow you freedom?

Excuses and excuses and excuses — excuses just to avoid one single insight
that “I am responsible for myself. Nobody else is responsible for me; it is
absolutely and utterly my responsibility. Whatsoever I am, I am my own
creation.” This is the meaning of the sutra.

Drive all blame into one

And that one is you.

Once this insight settles:

“I am responsible for my life — for all my suffering, for my pain, for all
that has happened to me and is happening to me — I have chosen it this way;
these are the seeds that I sowed and now I am reaping the crop; I am
responsible **— once this insight becomes a natural understanding in you,
then everything else is simple. Then life starts taking a new turn, starts
moving into a new dimension. That dimension is conversion, revolution,
mutation — because once I know I am responsible, I also know that I can drop
it any moment I decide to. Nobody can prevent me from dropping it.

Can anybody prevent you from dropping your misery, from transforming your
misery into bliss? Nobody. Even if you are in a jail, chained, imprisoned,
nobody can imprison YOU; your soul still remains free. Of course you have a
very limited situation, but even in that limited situation you can sing a
song. You can either cry tears of helplessness or you can sing a song. Even
with chains on your feet you can dance; then even the sound of the chains
will have a melody to it.

Next sutra: Be grateful to everyone

Atisha is really very very scientific. First he says: Take the whole
responsibility on yourself. Secondly he says: Be grateful to everyone. Now
that nobody is responsible for your misery except you — if the misery is all
your own doing, then what is left?

Be grateful to everyone

Because everybody is creating a space for you to be transformed — even those
who think they are obstructing you, even those whom you think are enemies.

Your friends, your enemies, good people and bad people, favorable
circumstances, unfavorable circumstances — all together they are creating
the context in which you can be transformed and become a Buddha. Be grateful
to all — to those who have helped, to those who have hindered, to those who
have been indifferent. Be grateful to all, because all together they are
creating the context in which Buddhas are born, in which you can become a
Buddha. *



*Osho, The Book of Wisdom, Talk #5*
* *