nirvana | Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog

All Posts Tagged ‘nirvana’

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Nirvana Enlightenment

February 2, 2023

I would like to mention — especially to those who have followed my blog for quite some time and who are appreciative of some of the things that i have written about — a bit about what may be (in a limited way) called nirvana. Nirvana being — as i describe it — a visitation to one by that sacred and indefinable timelessness. I am writing about it here as it pertained to me (in the past). I am not trying to impress anyone by writing about it, and i don’t really care if you are impressed or if you think that i am a nutty nut who is totally off of my rocker. It doesn’t matter. I am writing about it to possibly help show that some truly amazing and sacred things are possible if we are very serious and if we keep our minds in great order.

It can occur at different intensities. Words are very inadequate in terms of explaining what occurs when it happens. The most intense form of it occurred many years ago (around 1972 or so). When it occurred, one’s mind was in an empty, meditative state (though in no way was i practicing meditation). Besides the meditative (empty) state of mind, one was also (at times) feeling very compassionate about others. Suddenly, it occurred, and — i kid you not — its energy made me feel thousands of times more alive than i have ever felt before. Words cannot explain the immensity and beauty of what it was. My hands, as it occurred, were contracting and it was a bit difficult to move around fluidly. Additionally, my visual field changed and depth (visually) was replaced by a “nearness of everything.” One continued to smile from ear to ear… as the joy of it was so intoxicating. As it occurred, thought was in abeyance (with what seemed to be some sort of assisted suspension). It seemed so sacred and timeless; it was direct, beautiful, holistic energy (and not mere thinking about energy). After a good while, it left as quickly as it came. A day or so later, deep insights occurred; for instance, one figured out some profound things about how the cosmos functions.

Craving for this nirvana (or whatever you wish to call it) — it really is a nameless, immeasurable thing — never helps to bring it into being. It comes uninvited. What may be prudent is having an orderly mind that often exists beyond fragmentary symbolism (of thought/thinking) and existing as a mind that exists beyond the norm. Maintaining a healthy body, free of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, and adulterated foods is essential. But being an orderly mind that often exists beyond the fragmentary symbolism of thinking… is a blessing of its own; it is (then) real intelligence, integrity, and holistic, keen perception.

**Remaining Open … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2023**

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Beyond the shadows of thought/thinking…

September 22, 2022

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Beyond the shadows of “thought/thinking” exists a sweet openness wherein what most people would call “the sacred” can come pouring through for a visit (if you are very lucky). Thought/thinking is incapable of describing or inviting that eternal sacredness. That immensity is too ineffable, too extraordinarily and profoundly beyond what limited, fragmentary words are capable of. Words — all words — are only about energy; they are never the actual eternal energy. Yet we human beings exist in (and “as”) transitory words… and what we see is dictated by a screen of potty-little words and learned mental accumulations. Words are intrinsically like empty shadows. Words are concocted, representative symbols that are essentially empty and void of real life. (Words are often necessary but many times words need not exist.) Merely existing in (and “as”) words is a kind of death… a mental death/decay situation that isn’t good. Most people, unfortunately, are stuck in that little, psychological hole (habitually) and are extremely uncomfortable about going beyond it.

Note: (Below is a short excerpt from one of my earlier blogs about Socrates’ Cave. It may shed some light on our current dark situation… if you are perceptive.)

In Socrates’ parable of the Cave — within Plato’s Republic — people were born in a cave, and they were fettered with chains… and forced to merely see and learn the details about shadows cast on the cave walls from puppets and a fire that they didn’t see behind them. One of them was taken — at one point, by force — first to see the fire… and then out of the cave into the true light of day… into a more genuine reality; then he came back down into the cave with the others. When he — the man who returned back — pleaded with them to look beyond the shadows, they called him a fool and continued giving prizes to those who could best guess which shadows came before or after.

**Shadows and Sunlight … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2022**

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Awareness vs. Conditioned Responsiveness…

November 19, 2017

21 comments

It is very difficult for people to fundamentally change. One realizes, all too well, that whatever is written here, and in my other posts, will likely not have much of a meaningful impact for most who are reading this. People cling to their traditions, to what they have absorbed in school and to what they swallowed from others in the distant past; they cling to deeply ingrained conditioning, and (though they claim that they are changing) they are unwilling to really drop all of that baggage. It is unfortunate that most people cannot radically and fundamentally change.

If one merely reads these posts, accepts much of what is written, and builds a bunch of mental constructs out of it… it is not what is truly blossoming whatsoever. Awareness flowers when there is a flowering beyond mere conditioned responsiveness. That flowering has nothing to do with effort, agreement, absorption, practice, or dead tradition. (There, of course, remain to be oodles of religions, armies, and experts who are all too willing to give you more of those essentially unflowering falsities.)

Most people are very good at responding and reacting. That is what they were trained (i.e., indoctrinated) to do… and it is what they were trained to remain as. Practicing something to “be” in some state beyond that may be a foolhardy waste of time. As was written in the “Being and Becoming” posting: “Being and becoming are essentially the same thing. Being, as does becoming, reinforces the self, the center, with its dependence on sensations, pleasure, and time.”

A person can go out in nature and then be a series of mere reactions… seeing everything through a screen of images and mental compilations that one has “absorbed” from previous others in (and “as” the past). Then, a separate image of self is projected as a learned reaction, as an obtrusion of thought/thinking, and seemingly and pretentiously identifies that with images and with other mental compilations involving nature; it then claims “I am one with nature.” Unfortunately, however, mere reactions and obtrusions of thought may not be “one” with much of anything. Seeing with (and from) the past (i.e., from stuffy, old memory and imagery) is existing in (and “as”) the past.

As was written in the “Being and Becoming” posting: The intelligent mind does not try to be in a state of being, does not try to be what is non-becoming, nor does it try to be in a state of non-being. Such trying would be a further extension of becoming and would reinforce the self and its dependence upon time. In (psychologically) not trying to be or not be… the mind may naturally blossom as what is beyond greed, dependence (on others for how to get there), and measurement.

Awareness involves a depth, love, and a total perception that the limited domain of mere reaction cannot fathom. Such awareness, such love, and perception — though they are not separate things — go beyond being, beyond becoming, beyond measurement. Eternity is involved in such awareness.

Beyond words (1) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017

Beyond words (2) Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2017

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(Multi-Photo)*** Enlightenment…

February 10, 2015

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There are innumerable charlatans out there — claiming all kinds of ludicrous things — so take the following with a grain of salt. Don’t believe anything; find out for yourself.

A being who truly experiences enlightenment is someone who is visited by that immeasurable, holistic energy which, if anyone would be filled and visited by it, would make one feel a trillion times more alive than what occurs as regular consciousness; and one so visited would feel the undeniable, sacred quality of that indescribable, eternal energy. Thoughts (being symbols) are always “about” energy; they are virtual (in a big way), are symbolic representations, and are never the actual energy. (If one continues to crave enlightenment — turning it into a mere desire — it will never happen. Just be open, orderly, and passionate about life, and it may happen.)

Stepping Stones (2). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015

Stepping Stones (1). Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015

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Meditation: How not to Meditate

December 5, 2012

2 comments

from Thomas Peace

True meditation is not something that one can know that one is engaged in. Like humility, true meditation occurs to the mind unawares; it is not something that can be recognized. One can not “know” that one is humble. Likewise, one cannot “know” that one is meditating. True meditation and true humility are both beyond the field of “the known.” Therefore, both are beyond the realm of recognition by the self; for recognizing is in the field of “the known,” whereas humility and meditation are of “understanding” and not “knowing.”

To practice meditation is folly. For one cannot practice what is beyond causality. One can practice what is within a cause and effect continuum — such as learning to play a man-made instrument — but true meditation is an all-encompassing, non-conditioned, non-fragmentary thing. Therefore, it is beyond the realm methodology within phenomena involving common causality. Interestingly, a lot of people claim that they practice a form of meditation. However, true meditation, being beyond what can be mechanically “practiced” within causality, does not exist for such erroneous individuals. You can practice something rather dead and mechanical… but you can’t practice “aliveness,” “awareness,” “insightful compassion,” and “holistic understanding”… and that (despite what many so-called experts say) is what meditation may really involve.

A wise, sagacious mind is (in itself) meditation. However, such meditation is not something that it practices as part of some methodology. A wise, sapient mind goes beyond the clutches of practice and methods… because such a mind intelligently goes beyond the field of the “known.” Such a mind goes beyond the realm of mere symbols and representations that words and labels are a part of. Such a mind goes beyond mere symbols… but not by any process of practice or methodology. True insight is instantaneous: no time is involved for it to (finally) come about. All methods and forms of practice take time. A wise mind (of true meditation) exists beyond what takes time in order to manifest. Interestingly, true meditation, being beyond mere practice and being beyond mere methods… is, in a significant way, beyond the causality of time.

Beware of those charlatans who offer a concrete form of meditation to you (for you to practice). What they give you may make you feel happy or comfortable for a limited time. However, what is not true meditation is merely a crutch. It is not the indelible gem of many indescribable facets. So, regarding those that offer you some form of methodology or prayer to attain enlightenment: run from them and do not fall into their clutches. Meditation is only what can occur for the individual of (and by) his (or her) own accord. It is a harmony that others cannot bestow upon you. Read my book (about self-awareness) at http://www.eternalfountainofyouth.com. The book will not provide you with mechanical methods to practice (like some kind of robot); it will not give you methodologies to follow like some kind of lemming. It will, however, encourage you to wake up and realize that what you do in infinitely important. However, if you are merely a “follower” and a lemming, then what you do will always be limited and confined. True meditation never blossoms forth from what is always merely limited and confined. True meditation is an explosion of infinite awareness and understanding… an awareness and understanding that no one can merely regulate out to you.

from Emily Dickinson:

A COUNTERFEIT — a plated Person —

I would not be —

Whatever strata of Iniquity

My Nature underlie —

Truth is Good Health — and Safety, and the Sky,

How meager, what an Exile — is a Lie,

And Vocal — when we die —

*************************************************************************************************

www.eternalfountainofyouth.com

Warm Regards,

Thomas Peace (author)

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