All posts by Dr. Robin Starbuck

About Dr. Robin Starbuck

Professor of English 1973 M.A., New York University 1989 Ph.D., New York University Linguistics

Illusion of death -SB many

“When someone we love dies, we get so busy mourning what died that we ignore what didn’t.”
~ Ram Dass

“Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die.”
~ Mary Elizabeth Frye

“Death is nothing to be sad about, it is something to be celebrated with songs and dances. It is a moment of rejoicing. Death is only the death of the body. But you will go on living in the universal consciousness, forever and forever.”
~ Osho

“A culture that denies death inevitably becomes shallow and superficial, concerned only with the external form of things. When death is denied, life loses its depth.
Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to “die before you die” – and find that there is no death.
Nothing that was real ever died, only names, forms, and illusions.”
~ Eckhart Tolle

“The real does not die, the unreal never lived.
In death only the body dies. Life does not, consciousness does not, reality does not. And the life is never so alive as after death.
In some cases death is the best cure. A life may be worse than death, which is rarely an unpleasent experience, whatever the appearances. Therefore, pity the living, never the dead.
With death the idea ‘I am this body’ dies. The witness does not.
People are afraid to die, because they do not know who they are and what death is. The moment you know your real being, you are afraid of nothing. Death gives freedom and power. The happiness of being absolutely free is beyond description.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

“The only reason why people have such a fear of death is they know nothing beyond the body.”
~ Sadhguru

“This form is just a costume for a while. But the one behind the costume is eternal. If you know this, you don’t worry about anything. When you discover yourself as awareness, the fear of death will not trouble you any longer.”
~ Mooji

“If you are afraid of death, be afraid. And then comes the hitherto unbelievable surprise: you don’t die because you were never born. You had just forgotten who you are.”
~ Alan Watts

“Death is only an experience through which you are meant to learn a great lesson: you cannot die.
The reality of your life cannot die for you are indestructible consciousness.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda

“There is no birth, there is no death. There is no coming, there is no going. We only think there is.
When we know that birth and death are together always, we are no longer afraid of dying. What you call birth and death are only transformation.
When you lose a loved one, you suffer. But if you know how to look deeply, you have a chance to realize that his or her nature is truly the nature of no-birth, no-death. Pay attention to the world around you, to the leaves and the flowers, to the birds and the rain. If you can look deeply, you will recognize your beloved manifesting again and again in many forms. You will release your fear and pain and again embrace the joy of life.
No coming, no going, no after, no before, I hold you close, I release you to be free; I am in you and you are in me.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
Death belongs to life as birth does. The walk is in the raising of the foot as in the laying of it down.
And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.
Man is immortal; therefore he must die endlessly. For life is a creative idea; it can only find itself in changing forms.
In death the many become one; in life the one become many.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore

“If thought turns its attention away from the objects which it seems to know, turns its attention back on itself, it ceases to be thought and is revealed as pure Consciousness. This open, empty, dimensionless, objectless Awareness that we essentially are, is not limited by any of the thoughts, feelings, sensations or perceptions that appear within. It was present prior to the appearance of the body-mind, it is present during the appearance of the body-mind, and it remains present after the disappearance of the body-mind. That is not something we discover when we die. We can discover it any moment.
Nothing ever disappears. Only forms are constantly transformed.”
~ Rupert Spira

“Consciousness was pre-existent and will survive the body.
The body dies, but the spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death.
When a pot is broken, the space within is not. When the body dies, the Self in it remains eternal.
The dead are fortunate. It is only those who are left behind who feel miserable.
Discover your undying Self and be immortal and happy.”
~ Ramana Maharshi

“Nobody dies. There is no such thing as death. There is only eternal life, and you are that.
You are dreaming the mortal dream! If you’re aware that you’re dreaming, are you going to react to anything? Will you react to situations if you know that you’re dreaming? Of course not. You’ll laugh! You’ll see a war going on and you’ll get in the middle of the battlefield and you’ll say, “What are you doing? This is all a dream! Throw your guns away. You’re wasting your time! Nobody dies, nobody is killed, nobody is born. It’s all a dream.” And they’ll probably shoot you for saying that! Makes no difference if they shoot you! You’re aware that you’re dreaming, so you’re the witness of you being shot, and you keep laughing. And then you wake up.”
~ Robert Adams

Many thanks to Simon Bartholomew

Old habits want to eclipse our awareness -RSpira

Working with the model that 1st there is something then there’s nothing then there’s everything…

Old habits that we have been rehearsing for decades are hard to get rid of. One glimpse of our true nature… AHA! I am the awareness with which my experience is known, in which my experience appears and out of which my experience is known…. is not enough to put an end to old habits of thinking and feeling. The old nature and habits come back to eclipse our awareness of our true nature. We need to re visit it and to take pathways back to our self over and over again. That’s what meditation is ultimately. All prayers some of which reach out to the breath or the concept of God outside – they’re all right because they are preparations for the ultimate prayer which is sinking back into our true self which is God. What is called God live at the source of the mind and can never be an object. It can never live at the destiny of the mind.

Atman = self not subject to death -SS

Sat = Self, Existence, pure being. You are are existence itself. Krishna says that in the Baghavad Gita, 16th verse. Everything that is not me doesn’t exist. It borrows existence from Atman or Brahman (pure existence). We experience it as not-self. It’s only an appearance. You are eternal and indestructible. The snake is the appearance of the rope. All is Brahman. Chit = awareness. Ananda = Self??? Consciousness??? Consciousness and its objects is all that there is. Chit and Sat = CONSCIOUSNESS AND AWARENESS. AWARENESS DOES NOT CHANGE. You are Sat Chit = pure being and pure awareness.

The Awareness, Atman is also all-pervading. Self-luminous. Rama Krishna is reincarnation of God. Authored Baghavad Gita. Soul = Atman = eternal. This chair, bench, doesn’t exist but I exist. I have intrinsic existence. Karma = cause & effect. Atman, though, is ever free. Know that! With body and mind, đo what must be done. You are the WITNESS. You’ll avoid laws of karma.

  1. This ATMAN. I am. I am immortal. The subtle body gets embodied with the birth of the physical body. I am not born with the body and I do not die with the body. I am indestructible.
  2. I am the reality of this universe. Everything apart from me, the Atman, is an appearance.
  3. The absolute nature of this ATMAN pervades the entire world of appearance just as the dream mind pervades the entirety of your dream world You the consciousness, you pure being, pervade this world = This world borrows its existence from you. You pervade everything and everyone! There’s no one to criticize or to blame.
  4. The atman is not an object of the senses. It is not a thing out there. It’s not even a thing in your mind. In here and out there Both of them are appearing in you the atman. Atman is not an object so do not objectify it. You are the light. You, shining, all else shines with you. By your light, consciousness, everything is lit up. It’s not poetry it is literal.
  5. You are free of karma but you have to recognize it. Whatever happens on the screen whatever is in the movie the screen is free of the plot. Not only is the screen free of it but The screen is what enables it to happen. You are the atman. You are free from samsara but you are what is making it happen.

You should take this very seriously this is the essence of all religions in the world. This is the teaching of Vedanta. Each soul is potentially atman. Why potentially? Because we have not manifested or realized it yet. The goal of life Is to realize this divinity in us and to manifest it in our daily life. That means to live it by becoming – without trying – a saint in your life. Our lives will transform very quickly. Great relief will come. Great light ness comes upon us and our fear of death diminishes. OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI SRI RAMA KRISHNA.

You are the world – Francis Lucille -FL

I was raised as an atheist so all religions were a no-no. After Krishnamurti, my discontent reduced 90%.
“Who am I?” “What am I” “Neti-neti, neti-neti ….” Something is missing with this approach. I would be catching myself red-handed BELIEVING THAT I’M A SEPARATE SELF AGAIN!!! That would be the end of it because I had investigated this separation business long enough.
I AM ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE FOR THIS SEPARATION BUSINESS ANYMORE SO I HAVE NO MORE ATTACHMENT TO IT. That’s why it would be 100% satisfactory. It wouldn’t leave any leftovers. It would be the end of it. Truth and personal comfort are entirely different goals so we have to ask ourselves are we looking for truth or personal comfort.
Questioner: I thought they were pretty much the same thing….
Silence. …
Questioner: I guess not …?
Francis: Certainly not!

Mental healing vs spiritual healing -rjs

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MENTAL HEALING AND SPIRITUAL HEALING

When one person endeavors to heal another by convincing them that they are perfect and that THEY KNOW IT, this is healing by mental suggestion. The danger in this inferior method is that it’s employing the use of the human mind to contact another human mind to effect a change. Who’s to say the motive is entirely pure here?

There is no battle to be waged between two perceived powers. Spiritual healing is of God alone and entails opening up to His perfect realm of Spirit and realizing that this is the realm of the real.

In other words, it’s not YOUR “GETTING IT” that healed you: it’s still God that did the healing. Your role was merely to apply the principles which included understanding spiritual healing.

Dr. Robin Starbuck 2017