Mind and Soul

2008-3-19 02:41:00

Dan wrote:

"As Susan said (I think), Tolle's teachings are experiential, yours are primarily informational -- there is NO competition between the two sets of teachings IMO -- you simply teach different things.

"C'mon JJ, this is not the first time you have heard this - Bryan used to bring up quite regularly the fact that while you teach ABOUT stuff, when it comes right down to PRACTICING it, putting it into practice and DOING it that there either ARE no 'techniques' or 'exercises' or if there are some, you certainly haven't given out many.

"In fact, I thought you had addressed this in the past and specifically said that HOW was not your function but that disseminating the teachings (information) WAS. I must have misunderstood.

"But DOING is ALL Tolle is about and not only does he not encourage learning ABOUT more stuff (dogma, beliefs, etc.) he says that intellectualizing about such stuff teach can just bind you up and interfere with you EXPERIENCING what he IS trying to evoke in you."

JJ:

You just relate one of the problems of Tolle's teachings. He encourages people not to learn about "stuff" but then you must learn about his stuff presented in an intellectual way through the use of the mind he tells us to discard.

In the past I have encountered many people with his basic approach who have been very dogmatic in their presentation. Who is the one cheering you and Tolle on the most? The most dogmatic member of the group -- Dean. His posts have been very negative and attacking toward me and patting you on the back. I have had to reject most of them and I think his are the only posts that have needed rejection over the past few months.

I find it interesting that the most attacking posts since the beginning of this forum have been from those who have claimed to have had this Tolle experience with the "Unmanifest." I can't think of one believer who was not dogmatic, attacking, accusing, distracting and a problem to the list.

What is it about this doctrine of peace that makes people so unpeaceable, aggressive for insisting we agree with their views? I am speaking generally here and not picking on you Dan.

Dan quoting JJ:

"Whereas the purpose of Tolle's writings seem to be to assist those who are mired down in negative thinking mine are not for that purpose at all."

Dan then wrote:

"Maybe for you looking upon the Christ within (beyond/thru/over the personality) is just something you were born doing as a given. But I wasn't.

"That is one thing Tolle's teachings have already given me that yours have not. Not only a way/technique/exercise for HOW to do it, but the reasons behind why it is sometimes so hard, how it all works and why the personality (people) usually SEEMS to almost PURPOSELY mis-understand, mis-lead, lie, mis-perceive, mis-etc., etc., etc."

JJ:

Actually, you seemed like a very peaceable fellow until you came across Eckhart Tolle's teachings. But if anyone is going through inner turmoil then the thing they need to do is experiment with different techniques to help them. I have personally found that when you join in a labor of service, following the highest you know, that it is almost impossible to have inner turmoil. No breathing exercises are necessary.

Dan:

"From your (and other) teachings I have understood that I SHOULD overlook the personality and I understand WHY I should but never before have the mechanisms behind how it all works ever been explained.

"Having that (an explanation for how it all works) has ALREADY, just within the past 2 weeks, helped me give my fellowman more of a break rather than condemn him (inwardly if not outwardly).

JJ:

Hopefully, giving your fellowmen a break applies to me also -- as it has for years in our past.

Dan:

"JJ teaches ABOUT soul contact so you can understand it -- what it is, how it works, etc. -- basically 'EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about soul contact but were afraid to ask' but DOES NOT teach HOW, does not give the PROCESS for how YOU can actually achieve/experience it for yourself (other than just very generally). Tolle does (or at least seems to)."

JJ:

Let me clear up one more misunderstanding on soul contact. It cannot be taught through a black and white step-by-step process or exercise program. Exercises like those given by Tolle, mystics, yogis and others can produce effects, some positive and some negative. They can increase awareness of the inner self, still the mind, help the student enter a peaceful meditation and sometimes lead to a down pouring of the kundalini where an overwhelming amount of energy flows through the body as happened in Tolle's experience. This should not be forced, however or problems can be created.

None of the yogi exercises produce soul contact. The best they can do is help the student stabilize so he can direct his undistracted attention toward the soul.

To attain soul contact the student must use the mind which Tolle tells us we need to set aside in his program. Because the mind is needed on the path to soul contact this means that Tolle is actually leading students away from it.

He does correctly say that we must not identify with the mind and indeed realizing we are not our minds is an important step. BUT with this realization we must then use the mind as an instrument assisting us toward higher contact.

The best exercise to achieve soul contact is the process called "seed thoughts." Find words and teachings that inspire you and let them be seeds planted within your mind. Reflect on them again and again until a flashing forth occurs. This flashing forth is then a downpouring through the soul aligning the mind with the intuitive plane.

Another exercise is to just read the scriptures, writings from DK [Djwhal Khul], me or others and attempt to see principles involved by using your mind. As you do this a flashing forth will occur when you are ready for soul contact. Then sometimes you will hear the still small voice in your quiet moments giving further light on what has been planted in your mind.

Those who attempt to put the mind aside as an instrument are only delaying soul contact. Instead they will have intense emotional experiences, but not accompanied by any new understanding of higher principles. Intense emotional experiences without accompanying mental progression can produce a lopsided evolution. This is why the "nothingness people" that have come on board in the past seem to be such troublemakers. The same can happen with the person with too much emphasis on the mind and data. Balance is one of the keys to soul contact.

The bottom line is there is no easy path to soul contact. Achieving it takes a long struggle, but when attained a link is made with the intuitive plane and the Oneness Principle then opens up to his higher mind.

"Measure not the work until the day's out and the labor done."
-- Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)