On the whole, scientific methods are at least as important as any other result of research: for it is upon the insight into method that the scientific spirit depends: and if these methods are lost, then all the results of science could not prevent a renewed triumph of superstition and nonsense. Clever people may learn as much as they wish of the results of science—still one will always notice in their conversation, and especially in their hypotheses, that they lack the scientific spirit; they do not have that instinctive mistrust of the aberrations of thought which through long training are deeply rooted in the soul of every scientific person. They are content to find any hypothesis at all concerning some matter; then they are all fire and flame for it and think that is enough. To have an opinion means for them to fanatacize for it and thenceforth to press it to their hearts as a conviction. If something is unexplained, they grow hot over the first notion that comes into their heads and looks like an explanation . . .
Nietzsche, Human, All-Too-Human, 635
Last night was the last in the series of Tolle’s DVD presentation. The first two installments are here and here. Following are a few brief thoughts from the session:
“Who is becoming aware of awareness?” Our language produces duality. A better wording is: “The awareness that is the essence of who I am becomes aware of itself.” I.e. self-realization.
Consciousness is no longer trapped in the form.
Tolle talked about reincarnation but from a different spin. Our sense of self gets mixed up with forms of thought and emotion and you are reincarnated in that form. That is, there is no awareness in the background—there is only the form. Therefore, desiring to end reincarnation means to free oneself from identifying with form.
Of course, you cannot reject all forms altogether. The goal is to see something hiding in every form that is one with my essence.
He talked about labels and how we slap a label on something and then go on to the next thing. Once we label something, we think we know it. But, all we really know is a word—the label. We can’t go any deeper than the label to know the thing more deeply. Perception is much closer to the unmanifested, to being, than thought. Whenever something new enters our awareness, there is a second or two of no labeling and pure perception. After that, we slap a label on it and think about it and the perception is gone.
“True love is the recognition of the formless in the other—the recognition of yourself in the other.”
Death is the dissolving of a form. What’s left is the formless. Similarly, all endings are a form of death so we should embrace endings as they help us let go of forms.
There was a question about laughter and Tolle had a great quote: “Beware of any spiritual teacher who is dreadfully serious.”
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