[QUOTE=kareng;41613]I say get the basics in order first…kindness and understanding in all that you think and do
and when you slip up, correct yourself…And then carry on… knowing a tonne of information from books implies that people with no access to books etc don’t have any possibility of spiritual enlightenment which is absurd. So it cant be that, can it?[/QUOTE]
Knowledge it good, but being so impressed by your own knowledge about spirituality is like boasting about humility.
When one finds they seem to know all the spirituality that has been published in books, perhaps it is time they started living and really knowing.
I read once that the Hopi American Indians believe that if a person has not experienced a thing, they can never really “know” it, and cannot take at face value the words of another. It is not a “Truth” for them until they themselves have experienced it as a truth.
I find this a wonderful way to view the world. I must recognize that anything I have not personally experienced, I cannot share with others as a “truth”.
Thomas…yes I get the drift…but in it comes the lesson that we have to understand all around us, which isnt easy.
Joannna I like that…and still thinking about it!
[QUOTE=thomas;41585]I can find ten illiterate old ladies who have a superior understanding of spirituality than you, but because of their spirutuality and the humility that accompanies it, they would never make such a boast.[/QUOTE]
That is the point of the post… 
[QUOTE=CityMonk;41629]That is the point of the post… :)[/QUOTE]
Yay! I got the point (for once). I think I deserve a cookie for that.
Wait, I don’t eat cookies anymore. How about a Shredded Wheat biscuit.
Thomas, you don’t even know anything about spirituality to judge the lack of or abudance of spiritual knowledge in other people. All you know is your Christian faith, which you give in every single thread. I am having to explain the very basics of the basics of spirituality to you.
I do not have to be modest when it comes to my knowledge. I am a very knowledgable person and so many people have told me this. My knowledge of the Vedas, of Yoga, of QM, of philosopy and science is par excellence and comprehensive. Reading and and understanding this has been my pursuit for the last decade, and I have gained so much. Obviously, when I tell people this, some people react with jealousy. That is their problem. I know myself, how much I have helped people understand spirituality, how many people have personally come to me to learn about spirituality, how I have been asked by so many people to give talks and write books. They tell me I should be a teacher already, and I always humbly say, “I am still the student at this stage”
However, at the same time I very humble about my acquisitions. I do not claim them to be my own and always credit my sources. I point people to the prmary texts and then they read these texts and get similar understanding. I openly share this information, when others in the new-age would use this information to their advantage and sell it. I can name several prolific new-age authors who sell this information(in a watered down form) to others as if it belongs to them and then profit from it. They deliberatery withhold information, just so they can write more books.
I also recognise how inferior my grade of knowledge is because it is only word knowledge. I have the map, the best map, and a reasonably good compass(intellect) but I have not yet commenced the journey. The real knowledge is when I can actually make this knowledge a part of me. So I am not pretentious at all, unlike others in this community. I am very honest about my weaknesses, as well as my strengths. I know where I am in my evolution at this point, and I know where I need to go.
I have the Catechism, the writings of the saints and doctors of the Church, the Sacraments, and the Holy Scriptures, to name a few, so I don’t need an internet know-it-all Hindu fundamentalist to teach me about spirituality, though I’m not above learning from anyone, including you, though I think you need to know that you are the biggest obstacle to whatever wisdom you attmept to impart.
And I could teach you a few things if you could be humble like me, but you’re a little too full of yourself at this stage in your life. Maybe you will need a few incarnations as a dung beetle to learn some humility.
You have faith.
Nothing more needs to be said.
If I ask you what is the cause of suffering and evil, you will give me a mythological explanation that Adam and Eve ate an apple from a tree, went against the word of god and satan since has been behind everything.
If I asked you how I can end this suffering and evil, you will give me a supersitious method that I should suppress all sin and confess everytime I sin and accept and love Jesus.
Neither your explanation is spiritual or your method. It is useless and unhelpful.
And I could teach you a few things if you could be humble like me, but you’re a little too full of yourself at this stage in your life. Maybe you will need a few incarnations as a dung beetle to learn some humility.
And look even you can’t maintain what Christianity teaches. Did you turn the other cheek there? Did you love your neighbour?
Face it, you’ve got nothing to teach me. I cannot learn a thing from you that I have not mastered already.
Face it, you’ve got nothing to teach me. I cannot learn a thing from you that I have not mastered already.
@Surya Deva
Really? You might be surprised. We all have much to learn from each other.If we think we don’t, then the cycle of reincarnation is over. Somehow I don’t think that is the case, for you or any of us.
Knowledge is like osmosis. It moves from higher concentration to lower concentration.
Thomas has faith, I have knowledge. His faith cannot help me. I’ve heard it all already.
I rejected faith when I was a teenager. I am not about to return to it.
So SD, you don’t think you have anything left to learn? From others? From this forum? Are you saying Thomas does not have knowledge?
I was not specifying faith regarding Thomas.
Nobody on this forum can teach me anything new about spirituality. Do they think they they have better knowledge than the Vedas, Upanishads, Gita etc? This is nothing against anybody on this forum. Not even books by the Dalai Llama have anything to teach me. It is just perpetual de ja vu. I have read about 100 spiritual books. There is no more knowledge I need.
Look it all boils down to one thing once you’ve gathered all the spiritual knowledge - Practice. I am open to learning about peoples practical experiences, learn tips and advice from them on how to practice better and be inspired by their own journeys. But when it comes to the knowledge portion - the chances are I know it better than the vast majority of people here tens times over.
I’ve said it before. I am a very powerful jnana yogi 
You are basing your spiritual knowledge, in part, on the # of books you have read…materialistic SD! And I want you to remember something young Surya Deva. Does the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hahn and the # of Hindu masters, go around saying they have all the knowledge? Nope. They have humility. They know there is always something to learn. You cheat yourself by thinking you don’t. That is a shame. You could learn much from them.
Hindu masters cannot teach me anymore new knowlegde either. They have themselves learned from the same texts I have learned from: Gita, Yoga Sutras, Vedas, Brahma Sutras, Samkhya Karika, Yoga Vasistha, Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Upanishads, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Shiva Samhita.
You fail to see the humilty in what I am saying. I cannot have anymore in knowledge because it is very clear to me already. Anything new I learn is just echoing what I already know.
I have read all the main ancients texts and all the main modern texts. In the modern I have read: The Power of Now, A New Earth, The Celestine Prophecy, 7 Habits of Highly effective people, The Master system, Holographic universe, 7 spiritual laws of success and other Deepak Chopra books, the Art of Happiness, the Peaceful Warrior, Kabbalh for Dummies, Sufi books, the Gnostic Gospels, the Tao of Physics, Ken Wilbers books, the RA Material/Law of one, The Secret and tons of others.
I have done Anandamarga Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Satyananda Yoga, Theosophy and soon will add Vipassna Meditation to my group of techniques.
I have read the bible, quran, Torah, the Bardo.
I have read the discourses of Swami Rama, Swami Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Ramana Maharishi, Swami Yogananda Paramhansa, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Chinmayananda.
I have read the discourses of many modern gurus and yogis.
Really, I am being honest, I don’t need anymore knowledge. What I need now is a guru to initate me into a spiritual tradition, where I can practice and turn all this knowledge into my direct experience.
And they have done the same! They have read all the same books. Still, they have humility and understand the importance of continual learning. They never stop. I understand you think you are being honest here, but in reality you are not. You are young SD, and have much to experience and learn in life. Again, don’t cheat yourself out of these wonderful experiences. It is during those experiences that you begin to connect the dots with all that you have so far learned. If you are lucky, those dots keep connecting.
Might I suggest a book that you might find helpful in your journey? It’s by the Lama Surya Das called “Letting Go Of The Person You Used To Be”. A very insightful book. This is, unless you have already read it.
And Vipassana Meditation is my favorite. You will enjoy it.
Continued learning of what? How much more can you learn about the same thing? I get it already: There is this Self, this great state of being that is pure bliss, absolute transcendence. We were once abiding in this state of self, but then we fell from grace because we wanted to experience life in its infinite dimensions. Since, we have been evolving from organism to organism, experiencing life in all its colours and now in human form we are returning back to that Self. In order to achieive this we must practice Yoga to still the mind and lift the veil of maya to return to the same state of Self.
As we practice Yoga we begin to pass from gross reality, to subtle reality to causal reality and finally reach the Self. This is turn is reflected in our physio-energetic body as the movement of the cosmic energy up from the base of the spine into the cranium.
What more do I need to learn? There is nothing more to learn. The rest is practice.
Lotus girl, if you feel you need to learn more then you go do that. I know I have nothing more to learn. No more books to read. I am ready to move onto the real spiritual part of my life. I have mastered the knowledge part. I am moving on now.
I wish you luck.
I also wish you luck in your quest to learn more. When you are ready you will do exactly what I am doing. Renounce the world, find a guru and spend the next bit of your life dedicated to spiritual practice.
http://www.amazon.com/Letting-Person-You-Used-Transformation/dp/0767908732
I checked out the book you recommended. I've already got it. What I'm meaning to say, I've already read the same stuff in this book, in a dozen other books that have said the same thing 
A trap new-age people fall into a lot is reading and talking about spirituality. I have a friend whose done everything Astral projection courses, crystal healing, Reiki, A Course in Miracles, The school of Philosophy, EFT, NLP and read everything. She probably has a bigger library than I do. But she does not practice anything. She simply reads about it, talks about it, goes to groups that talk about it. Gets every new book in the market on it.
Eventually you need to throw away the books and start practicing. Spirituality is only 1% theory and 99% practice.
You fail to see my humility. I am saying I know the 1%, and claim to be ignorant of the 99%.