Yoga of Radiant Presence
Yoga of Radiant Presence with Peter Brown
https://www.facebook.com/groups/987254385402454/
The Texture of Being – Explorations in Peter Brown’s Work
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1714135629525745/?ref=share&_rdr
Rob Matthews
https://www.facebook.com/groups/987254385402454/user/679381516/
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You Are This: The Certainty of Radiant Presence
A Talk from the Retreat of March 23, 2020
We’re here to explore the yoga of radiant presence.
Radiant presence is reality.
Radiant presence is this immediate actuality – right here, right now.
Comprehensive. It’s what is.
Ordinarily, the presence of your reality may seem very complex.
It may seem to be you. It may seem to be your world, your body, your personality, other people, other things –
a vast array of conditions and things that appear separate from each other.
But in actual fact, there’s only one thing present:
This radiant presence – this reality right here – is the one thing that is.
Its nature is peculiar, because it seems to be all these different things.
It seems so complex, with many implications, many situations, many problems.
But that complexity is only how it’s interpreted by intelligence.
In truth, it is one thing.
One system.
One being.
And this being is you.
This being is God.
This being is the Atman.
This being is reality.
And it is nothing other than this – right here, right now.
So, there is a process of being with this, exploring this, discovering that it is not the complexity we think it is.
It is not the partialization we assume.
You are not the limited being you may be used to imagining.
By exploring the present actuality of experience, right here, right now,
you discover this one condition – this radiant presence –
this is what is present, this is what you are.
And as you discover this, the implications of what’s occurring – of what you are – change drastically.
We’re all familiar with the normal human worldview:
You are a limited person in a vast environment,
in a more or less precarious position,
struggling to survive, to succeed, to be happy, to secure your needs.
Right now, we seem to be in a precarious social situation.
People are uncertain about what’s going to happen,
unsettled by implications and possible problems.
But the implication of radiant presence is one of eternal fullness, richness, completeness, meaningfulness, profundity –
Beyond space and time.
And this is the actuality that is here.
This is what you are.
As you discover this through your own exploration,
you come to appreciate – and enjoy – the lusciousness of this implication,
by contrast with the paltriness of personal identity and consensus reality.
And the beautiful thing is:
you get to have your cake and eat it too.
You don’t lose your human personality.
You don’t lose your life.
You don’t lose your identification.
But you discover that all these are partialized modes
within this transcendental completeness that is actually present –
modes through which it expresses itself.
So –
Feel your being.
You are.
This is – right here, right now.
Feel this.
Notice that you are feeling it.
Notice that you cannot not feel it.
You know this is.
You know you are.
Feel this knowing.
Feel its richness, its certainty.
This is undeniable.
It is self-verifying.
It doesn’t depend on belief.
It doesn’t depend on ideas.
This is certainty.
Notice that you know this.
That you feel this.
That you are this.
That’s the implication:
What does it feel like?
What does being feel like?
What does your presence feel like?
It’s comprehensive.
It includes everything.
It supports everything.
Being supports you.
Being supports your world.
Being supports itself –
and yet, it is supported by nothing.
By nothing.
Being seems simple – we take it for granted.
We know we are, but we don’t attend to it.
It seems boring, hidden, uninteresting.
But in fact, it’s the other way around.
Being is the most important thing.
Being is fullness.
Being is richness.
Being is what everything is,
and where everything comes from.
It’s what you are.
It’s what your intelligence is.
It’s what your power is.
It’s what your functionality is –
just simply this being, right here.
And the way that’s so is known directly:
by feeling it.
By exploring it.
It will show you what it is.
It will show you how it is what it is.
Radiant presence is a very strange condition.
Unlike anything we are used to thinking of.
It is one thing – completely and entirely itself –
yet infinitely differentiated within itself.
But those differentiations don’t depart from it.
They don’t add to it or subtract from it.
They are flavors of apparition,
occurring within it as its expression, as its being.
But in itself, it is unaffected by what appears within it.
This is very difficult to think about.
It’s paradoxical.
It’s unthinkable.
Illogical.
Irrational.
But it doesn’t need to be conceived.
Simply feel it.
And you will have it for yourself –
the way that this is so.
Jnana Yoga
Jnana Yoga
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnana_yoga
Jnana yoga (IAST: Jñāna yoga), also known as jnana marga (jñāna mārga), is one of the three classical paths (margas) for moksha (liberation) in the Bhagavad Gita, which emphasizes the "path of knowledge" or the "path of self-realization". The other two are karma yoga (path of action, karma-mārga) and bhakti yoga (path of loving devotion to a personal god, bhakti-mārga). Modern interpretations of Hindu texts have led to the a fourfold classification to include Raja yoga, that is, meditation as described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Jñāna yoga is a spiritual practice that pursues knowledge through questions such as 'Who am I?' and 'What am I?' among others. The practitioner studies usually with the aid of a guru, meditates, reflects, and reaches liberating insights on the nature of one's own Self (Atman, soul) and its relationship to the metaphysical concept called Brahman in Hinduism. The jñāna-mārga ideas are discussed in ancient and medieval era Hindu scriptures and texts such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.
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Jnana is knowledge, which refers to any cognitive event that is correct and true over time. It particularly refers to knowledge inseparable from the total experience of its object, especially about reality (non-theistic schools) or a supreme being (theistic schools). In Hinduism, it is knowledge which gives Moksha, or spiritual liberation while alive (jivanmukti) or after death (videhamukti). Jñāna yoga is the path towards attaining jnana.
It is one of the three classical types of yoga mentioned in Hindu philosophies, the other two being karma yoga and bhakti. In modern classifications, classical yoga, being called Raja yoga, is mentioned as a fourth one, an extension introduced by Swami Vivekananda.
Classical yoga emphasizes the practice of dhyana (meditation), and this is an element of all three classical paths in Hinduism, including jñāna yoga. In the Bhagavad Gita, jnana is equated with samkhya (yoga), the discernment of purusha, pure consciousness, as different from prakriti, matter and material desires. This discernment is possible when the mind has been calmed by the practice of dhyana, meditation.
According to Jones and Ryan, jnana in jnana yoga context is better understood as "realization or gnosis", referring to a "path of study" wherein one knows the unity between self and ultimate reality called Brahman in Hinduism. This explanation is found in the ancient Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. This is typical for Advaita Vedanta, where jnana involves the recognition of the identity of jivatman and Brahman. According to Bimal Matilal, jnana yoga in Advaita Vedanta connotes both primary and secondary sense of its meaning, that is "self-consciousness, awareness" in the absolute sense and relative "intellectual understanding" respectively. While contemporary Advaita Vedanta and neo-Vedanta incorporate meditation, Adi Shankara relied on insight alone, based on the Mahavakya. Neo-Advaita also emphasizes direct insight.
Of the three different paths to liberation, jnana marga and karma marga are the more ancient, traceable to Vedic era literature. All three paths are available to any seeker, chosen based on inclination, aptitude and personal preference, and typically elements of all three to varying degrees are practiced by many Hindus.
The path of knowledge is intended for those who prefer philosophical reflection, and it requires study and meditation.
Jnana yoga encourages its adepts to think and speak of themselves in the third person as a way to distance themselves from the Ego and detach their eternal self (atman) from the body related one (maya).
Illeism
Illeism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illeism
Illeism (/ˈɪli.ɪzəm/; from Latin ille: "he; that man") is the act of referring to oneself in the third person instead of first person. It is sometimes used in literature as a stylistic device. In real-life usage, illeism can reflect a number of different stylistic intentions or involuntary circumstances.
Accordingly, in certain Eastern religions, like Hinduism, illeism is sometimes seen as a sign of enlightenment, since through it, an individual detaches their eternal self (atman) from their bodily form; in particular, Jnana yoga encourages its practitioners to refer to themselves in the third person.
Known illeists of that sort include:
Anandamayi Ma (1896–1982)
Buddha sometimes referred to himself as either "The Buddha" or "The Tathagata."
Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011)
Mata Amritanandamayi (born 1953)
Swami Ramanagiri (1921–1955)
Swami Ramdas (1884–1963), Indian saint, philosopher, philanthropist, pilgrim
Rama Tirtha (1873–1906), Indian teacher of Vedanta
Ma Yoga Laxmi, the secretary of Osho
Jesus Christ is found referring to himself as "Jesus" (as well as the "Son of Man"), as in John 17:1–3