The TAT Forum: a spiritual magazine of essays, poems and humor.



TAT Forum

June 2023


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Convictions & Concerns

TAT members share their personal convictions and/or concerns

rescue first aid


Spiritual First Aid


When you are depressed and despairing, do not give up and swim back to shore. Learn to tread water till inspiration arrives, which it surely will. Treading water also means not sabotaging your store of energy. Think of someone who trains for weeks for a big event, but then doubts descend and they run from the stress by staying up all night partying. Their momentum is damaged and their goal is out of focus.

Never make a decision when in a mood. By “mood,” I mean the common term as in “I’m in a mood,” or “he’s feeling moody.” A person in a mood has a negative view on practically everything. Richard Rose described it as a clouded glass. Such clouded states of perception may linger for hours or days.

“Never make a decision in a mood” is a guideline that served me well. It kept me from abandoning commitments and taking actions that led to a change in priorities....

See the complete essay.

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~ Thanks to Shawn Nevins for this excerpt from the "Spiritual First Aid" chapter in Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment. Other books by Shawn are the recently published Passages: An Introduction and Commentary on Richard Rose’s Albigen System co-authored with Mike Gegenheimer, Hydroglyphics: Reflections on the Sacred featuring photograpy by Phaedra Greenwood, The Celibate Seeker: An Exploration of Celibacy as a Modern Spiritual Practice, and Images of Essence: The Standing Now with photography by Bob Fergeson.

Shawn also produces the SpiritualTeachers.org website featuring his podcasts of interviews with spiritual teachers. Image thanks to pixabayy.com. Comments or questions? Please email the TAT Forum.

 

TAT Foundation News

It's all about "ladder work" – helping and being helped

Richard Rose, the founder of the TAT Foundation, spent his life searching for the Truth, finding it, and helping others to find their Way. Although not well known to the public, he touched the lives of thousands of spiritual seekers through his books and lectures and through personal contacts with local study groups that continue to work with his teachings today. He felt strongly that helping others generates help for ourselves as well in our climb up the ladder to the golden find beyond the mind.


Call To Action For TAT Forum Readers

Nevins: knowing is nothing With the intention of increasing awareness of TAT's meetings, books, and Forum among younger serious seekers, the TAT Foundation is now on Instagram.

You can help! A volunteer is producing shareable text-quote and video content of Richard Rose and TAT-adjacent teachers. We need your suggestions for short, provocative 1-3 sentence quotes or 1 minute or less video clips of people like Rose, Art Ticknor, Bob Fergeson, Tess Hughes, Bob Cergol, Bart Marshall, Shawn Nevins, Anima Pundeer, Norio Kushi, Paul Rezendes, Paul Constant, & other favorites. (An example here is selected by the TAT member who volunteers to oversee the Instagram account.)

Please send favorite inspiring/irritating quotes—from books you have by those authors, from the TAT Forum, or any other place—to TAT quotes. If you have favorite parts of longer videos (ex: from a talk at a past TAT meeting), please email a link to the video and a timestamp.

Thank you!



Project: Beyond Mind, Beyond Death II

BMBD cover image TAT Press's Beyond Mind, Beyond Death (BMBD), published in 2008, covers selections from the first seven years of the TAT Forum, from November 2000 to December 2007.

We've had 14 additional years of monthly TAT Forum issues since then. And we're getting ready to launch a project to solicit recommendations from all readers for a 2nd volume of BMBD from the seven years of monthly issues spanning January 2008 to December 2014.

Our approach will be to have a brief, interactive survey each week for participants to rate the items in one issue of the Forum for inclusion in volume II. That will take about 20 months, during which time volunteer co-editors Abhay D. and Michael R. will arrange the selections into chapters and organize the book's contents. Within 2 years BMBD II should be available in paperback and e-book formats.

Your participation to any extent practical for you will help the best formulation of Beyond Mind, Beyond Death II. If you haven't opted-in for participation notices, you can sign up at BMBD_II.htm, where you also can find links to all active surveys.

Just 6 more monthly issues to go, to survey the second 7 years of TAT Forum issues for Beyond Mind, Beyond Death II!



TAT Foundation Press's latest publication

Passages: An Introduction and Commentary on Richard Rose’s Albigen System

The latest book from the TAT Foundation Press, Passages: An Introduction and Commentary on Richard Rose’s Albigen System, is now available in print and Kindle versions on Amazon.com. Mike Gegenheimer and Shawn Nevins combined their experience with Rose's teachings to create this introduction to Rose's work. Passages highlights the tools and techniques for self-realization that Rose recommended. It is a concise yet deep plunge into these valuable spiritual teachings.

Please add your review to the Amazon listing. It makes a difference!



Random rotation of
TAT Foundation Books & Videos


2023 TAT Meeting Calendar

February Virtual Gathering: Saturday, February 4, 2023
April Gathering: Friday evening through Sunday noon, April 14-16, 2023
May TAT Talks online event: May 13, 2023 at 12 PM ET
* June Gathering: Friday evening through Sunday noon, June 9-11, 2023 *
August Gathering: Friday evening through Sunday noon, August 18-20, 2023
September Virtual Gathering: Saturday, September 23, 2023
November Gathering: Friday evening through Sunday noon, November 10-12, 2023

See June 9–11 spiritual gathering page for more details and registration. Comments or questions? Please email TAT Foundation events.


door on TAT Community Building 2010

See TAT's Facebook page.
Photo of TAT's open door by Phil Franta.



TAT's YouTube Channel

Have you seen the TAT Foundation's YouTube channel? Subscribe now for spiritual inspiration (and irritation)!

Volunteers have been updating the channel with hours of new content! They've also curated some great playlists of talks by Richard Rose, teacher talks from recent & not so recent TAT meetings, episodes of the Journals of Spiritual Discovery podcast, and other great TAT related videos from around the internet.

Featuring: Richard Rose, Bob Cergol, Shawn Nevins, Bob Fergeson, Mike Conners, Anima Pundeer, Norio Kushi, Bart Marshall, Paul Rezendes, Tess Hughes, Art Ticknor, Howdie Mickoski, Shawn Pethel, Tyler Matthew and other speakers.

This month's video is Paul Rezendes: A Session in the Now




Local Group News

Groups with new updates are featured below. Link here for a complete listing of local groups.

Update from the Central New Jersey Group Central New Jersey Self Inquiry:
The Central Jersey Self Inquiry Group welcomes serious participants. We are a small group and meet every other Sunday from 6pm to 7pm eastern time on zoom.
      One weakness of our group is that it has happened that we don’t have enough rsvp’s in order to meet. Strengths of our group are that inquiry topics are native to our own interests and that we rotate leadership of each meeting. Another strength is that we invite guests occasionally to keep our meetings fresh and productive. Here are some recent topics:
      - What is your response to uncertainty?
      - After reading a short piece on Between-ness: Does Between-ness speak to your intuition? Have you applied it/can you apply it?
Recently two members of the New Jersey Self Inquiry Group traveled to Manhattan to meet with two members of the NY City Self Inquiry Group for a one-day inquiry retreat. Retreat activities included: meditation; intention setting; inquiry questions based on "The Price of Practice" (a chapter in Everyday Zen, a book by Charlotte Joko Beck). Participants found the retreat valuable and plan to meet again in a few months.
~ For meeting info: facebook.com/groups/429437321740752. Questions? Email for more details.


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Update from the Gainesville, FL self-inquiry group:
We continue to meet at the Alachua County main library on Saturdays from 2 to 4 PM. We typically schedule meetings for alternate Saturdays with an occasional extra week between meetings due to holidays or the TAT meeting schedule and our group's associated retreats. We talk with newcomers about the objective of the group as a forum to stimulate the progress of self-inquirers and we ask them what their most heartfelt life-objective is, and then we usually listenen to each volunteer who want to talk and then be questioned about what they've said. ~ Email Nathan or Art for more information.

The Gainesville self-inquiry group is planning an intensive retreat split before and after the June 9–11 TAT gathering Thursday-Friday June 8–9 and Sunday-Monday June 11–12. The theme is "Home Is Where the Heart Is."

We are also planning a five-night intensive retreat at the Domincan Retreat Center in Dublin, IE on Friday-Wednesday, September 15–20, 2023. The theme is "Sitting Down Near" (from the translation of the Sanskrit term Upaniṣad: upa "by" and ni-ṣad "sit down").


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Update from the New York City self-inquiry group:
The New York City Self-Inquiry group meets by Zoom every Monday from 6-8 PM EST. You can use this link. Our format is inspired by Art Ticknor's self-inquiry retreats, giving equal time for each person to answer a spiritual, philosophical, or personal "question of the week." By asking questions, we practice being sincere and reminding one another about the great mysteries of life.
On a recent Sunday, two of us from the NYC SIG got together with two from the NJ SIG. Some takeaways for Brett:
- humor, not taking myself (too) seriously
- so many people go through such similar things
- looking away from afflictions to my sense of self
- fixating on problems is not always productive; sometimes turning my attention away from mental suffering is a better approach than trying to solve a problem that may only exist in my mind
- sometimes I may have taught myself to believe I want or need something I may not want or need
- asking for help and guidance or prayer to “not me”/not thoughts
- not letting what we think we know get in the way of taking whatever the next step may be
- the prostate is like the muscle that shoots out sperm lol
- Being grateful for having a problem, because it encourages me to look intensely and honestly.
~ More details, as well as our weekly discussion topics, are available on our MeetUp page (first link above) and via email at nycselfinquiry.


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Update for the Online Self-Inquiry Book Club:

  • The book club will continue discussion of Passages: An Introduction and Commentary on Richard Rose’s Albigen System by Mike Gegenheimer and Shawn Nevins. The meeting schedule is now on Sundays from 2:00 PM ET–3:30 PM ET with discussion topics:
  • - Conservation and Transmutation of Energy for June 4
    - Meditation for June 18

  • For more information on book club participation, see the meeting website (link above). TAT Forum readers are welcome to drop in any time (invitation to Sunday meetings).

  • gold separator orn

    Update from the Pittsburgh, PA self-inquiry group:

  • In-person monthly meetings will resume in Pittsburgh for interested parties!
  • Online group confrontation and individual contributions every Wed, 8:00 pm EST via Zoom.
  • See the e-mail link below for invitations to all meetings.
  • - Sun, Jun 4: "Conservation and Transmutation of Energy." Dan G. hosts the Online Self-Inquiry Book Club alternate Sundays at 2:00 pm ET discussion of Passages: An Introduction and Commentary on Richard Rose’s Albigen System by Mike Gegenheimer and Shawn Nevins. Here is the link to join the meeting.
    - Wed, June 7: Bob Harwood as guest.
    - Wed, June 14: Guest TBD.
    - Sun, June 18: "Meditation" Online Self-Inquiry Book Club discussion.
    - Wed, June 21: "A Study in Conflict."
    - Sun, June 25: Joint confrontation meeting 2-4pm ET with Dublin, IE group. Patrick will host.
    - Wed, June 28: Shawn N. will host

  • All Forum subscribers are welcome to join us. Email selfinquirer to receive weekly topics with preparatory notes and Zoom invitations. Current events are listed on Meetup as Pittsburgh Self-inquiry Group and on www.pghsig.org.


  • Members-Only Area

    A password-protected section of the website is available for TAT members. (Note that there's an occasional glitch that, when you try to link to the members-only area or a sections within it, you'll get a page-not-found error. If you try the link a second time, it should work.) Contents include:

    Latest recordings:

    TAT's Novemeber 2021 online gathering, titled What Do You Really, Really Want From Life?: 3.5 hours of selected sessions.

    TAT's February 2021 online gathering, titled In Thought, Word and Deed : 2.5 hours of selected sessions.

    TAT's August 2019 Workshop was titled Beyond Mindfulness: Meditation and the Path Within and included three guest speakers who each led separate workshops. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

    TAT's June 2019 Spiritual Retreat Weekend was titled Between You and the Infinite. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

    TAT's April 2019 Spiritual Retreat Weekend was titled Once in a Lifetime is Now. The following audio recordings are now available in the members-only website area:

    Please email us if you have questions. (Look here for info on TAT membership.)


    Amazon and eBay

    Let your Amazon purchases and eBay sales raise money for TAT!

    As an Amazon Associate TAT earns from qualifying purchases made through links on our website.

    TAT has registered with the eBay Giving Works program. You can list an item there and select TAT to receive a portion of your sale. Or if you use the link and donate 100% of the proceeds to TAT, you won't pay any seller fees when an item sells and eBay will transfer all the funds to TAT for you. Check out our Giving Works page on eBay. Click on the "For sellers" link on the left side of that page for details.


    Your Contributions to TAT News

    TAT founder Richard Rose believed that working with others accelerates our retreat from untruth. He also felt that such efforts were most effective when applied with discernment, meaning working with others on the rungs of the ladder closest to our own. The TAT News section is for TAT members to communicate about work they've been doing with or for other members and friends. Please email your "ladder work" news.

     

    Humor {(h)yo͞omər}

    "One thing you must be able to do in the midst
    of any experience is laugh. And experience
    should show you that it isn't real, that it's a
    movie. Life doesn't take you seriously, so why
    take it seriously." ~ Richard Rose, Carillon

    Extroverted


    extroverted


    sun icon


    ~ Thanks to BH for this tweet by Tom and Lorenzo @tomandlorenzo.



    Relief


    stay in car

    sparkle3

    ~ Thanks to an unknown traveler. Image source unknown; appears across the web.

    Unobservant


    unobservant

    sun icon


    ~ Thanks to Zach at SMBC Comics for permission to use this comic suggested by Sergio F., who wrote: "In the final scene, humans' investment of their energy in science allowed them to create a technology that allowed them to reach heaven and conquer it. Just a humorous way to show that humans were able to create something very complex and advanced with all the energy they saved by not having sex. The caption could be transmutation."


    We enjoy presenting humor here from TAT members and friends. Please email your written or graphic creations. Exact sources are necessary for other submissions, since we need to make sure they're either in the public domain or that we have permission to use them.

     

    Inspiration & Irritation

    Irritation moves us; inspiration provides a direction

    Achieving Your Childhood Dreams



    Dying 47-Year-Old Professor Gives Exuberant "Last Lecture"

    "Almost all of us have childhood dreams: for example, being an astronaut, or making movies or video games for a living. Sadly, most people don't achieve theirs, and I think that's a shame. I had several specific childhood dreams, and I've actually achieved most of them. More importantly, I have found ways, in particular the creation (with Don Marinelli), of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center (etc.cmu.edu), of helping many young people actually *achieve* their childhood dreams. This talk will discuss how I achieved my childhood dreams (being in zero gravity, designing theme park rides for Disney, and a few others), and will contain realistic advice on how *you* can live your life so that you can make your childhood dreams come true, too."

    ~ Thanks to Tess Hughes for suggesting this video. The "Last Lecture" was given in September 18, 2007. See also Randy Pausch's 6-minute commencement address to Carnegie Mellon University graduates on May 19, 2008. Randy's story in book form is available at Amazon and other booksellers: Last Lecture.



    Dostoyevsky: Talk Nonsense


    Dostoyevsky

    “What do you think?" shouted Razumihin, louder than ever, "you think I am attacking them for talking nonsense? Not a bit! I like them to talk nonsense. That's man's one privilege over all creation. Through error you come to the truth! I am a man because I err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen. And a fine thing, too, in its way; but we can't even make mistakes on our own account! Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense, and I'll kiss you for it. To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's. In the first case you are a man, in the second you're no better than a bird. Truth won't escape you, but life can be cramped. There have been examples. And what are we doing now? In science, development, thought, invention, ideals, aims, liberalism, judgment, experience and everything, everything, everything, we are still in the preparatory class at school. We prefer to live on other people's ideas, it's what we are used to! Am I right, am I right?" cried Razumihin, pressing and shaking the two ladies' hands.” ~ Crime and Punishment

    ~ Thanks to Dan McLaughlin for the "Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense...." Dostoyevsky quote. The image is from Wikimedia Commons.



    More Hartmann Quotes


    Franz Hartmann

    “Do not believe that there is anything higher in the universe than your own divine self, and know that you are exactly what you permit yourself to become.”

    deco9

    “The knowledge of God and the knowledge of man are ultimately identical, and he who knows himself knows God.”

    deco9

    “True religion and true science are ultimately one and the same thing.”



    Franz Hartmann (1838–1912) was a German medical doctor, theosophist, occultist, geomancer, astrologer, and author. Hartmann was an associate of Helena Blavatsky and was Chairman of the Board of Control of the Theosophical Society Adyar. He collaborated with the mystic Carl Kellner. He published the journals Lotusblüthen (1893-1900) and Neue Lotusblüten (1908-1913). He wrote articles on yoga and popularized the subject within Germany.

    He has been described as "one of the most important theosophical writers of his time". His works include several books on esoteric studies and biographies of Jakob Böhme and Paracelsus. He translated the Bhagavad Gita into German.
    ~ This Hartmann bio and image are from Wikipedia. Richard Rose recommended Hartmann's Magic, White and Black to his students.



    fractal wrongness


    fractal wrongness description

    ~ Thanks to Jesse Sheidlower @jessesheidlower.



    Please email your thoughts on the above items.

     


    Reader Commentary

    Encouraging interactive readership among TAT members and friends


    A reader wrote that what would make the Forum more interesting would be:

    Hearing from people who are searching—and have questions instead of those providing endless advice and "answers." What challenges they are facing. What their doubts and questions are. How they perceive their path is going. What they are doing in their lives. Where they think they will end up. Etc., etc.

    Can you help make the Forum more interesting?



    We're trying something a little different this month. Referencing a 9-minute YouTube video of Hermann Hesse’s Quotes You Should Know Before You Get Old, the Reader Commentary question is:

    Which one of Hesse’s quotes do you like best (or worse), and why?

    Responses follow:



    From SK:
    Best: "The true profession of a man is to find his way to himself" and
    "The deity is within you, not in ideas, and books. Truth is lived, and not taught."

    These quotes seem to point out well for self-realization.


    From Shawn Nevins:
    "Loneliness is the way by which destiny endeavors to lead man to himself."

    That instantly reminded me of the misery of failed relationships pushed me into attending a lecture by Mr. Rose and launched my spiritual path. The feeling of being alone in the universe and desperately wanting another person to "share my life with." Only later did I understand that I so desperately wanted another person because I was terrified of facing the emptiness inside myself.


    From Alex:
    About half way through the video, awareness/attention moved on. There is really no one here for these quotes to resonate with. They’re just more empty words / thoughts arising and falling. Cliches, parodies, heuristics.

    Attention gravitates towards the non verbal, or silent, unfolding of what is ... in other words, life itself, reality itself has the best quotes; speaking to no one, on no one’s behalf.


    From Patrick K:
    I liked many of these quotes. I resonated a lot with his definition of passion as not being spiritual force but a friction between the soul and the outside world. (I am very wary of passion when it arises in me.) Also, I liked his definition of strength being in letting go as opposed to “holding on”, although he said only sometimes it is more strong when we let go. I would say letting go of my holding on is always the stronger thing to do (although this is paradoxical, letting go when it “happens to me” is always stronger as opposed to me “choosing” to let go, which would be me choosing to avoid the tension of carrying the pain or friction a problem causes that is actually a weaker option). Letting go doesn't mean I give up responsibility, but it sees the inner mechanism in me that is grasping and that “inner grasping” is futile. Someone said related to this that “we suffer to the extent that we believe we are in control”. But for me I'll guard control to the death it seems; it has to be taken from me, through life experience and ladderwork (working in groups), and can be helped along by meditation/contemplation.

    My favourite quote is “To achieve the possible we must attempt the impossible again and again”. I find this inspiring. In this work chasing self-realisation it seems pie in the sky, yet the more I try, the more I make incremental movements toward that end, clearing away a lot of debris in my way. However, even without self-realisation as a goal, I benefit a lot just from following the processes of self-inquiry and trying to uncover what truth is, by backing away from the untruth. I'm pretty taken just by the process itself to be fair. To ask for more seems greedy, so I'm happy to follow where my vector is taking me and allow whatever happens to take place. My intuition, vector, longing and curiosity will lead me accordingly it seems, and just like what Jim Burns would say, when something falls away, there is always the next thing to be dealt with that arises, and so on and so on. But dealing with the low-hanging fruit gives encouragement that the impossible may one day be faced in a determined, clear-headed and focused way.


    From Carsten R:
    "The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived, not taught"

    The real work is about going within. Of course books may offer excellent and much needed guidance on the journey, but time is generally better spent practising than reading.

    So for me this quote is a reminder to choose practice over reading. Reading is the easy, less demanding choice but will not give me what I'm really looking for.


    From Mark Cr:
    I was not familiar with Hermann Hesse so I did a small bit of reconnaissance to gain an introductory familiarity. There were several quotes that struck me but I chose this one as a like:

    "Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud."

    Due to my changes in mindset and thought processes in pursuit of Truth, I have been forced into silence among family, friends and business for many years. I am new to TAT, and looking forward to developing exchanges more in line with my life focus. All this time I have been thinking, connecting dots and feeling I knew what I wanted to say if given the chance. Well, my day is now here and I find myself enjoying the opportunity of meeting like-minded people, but when attempting to communicate what I thought I knew, I seem to have realized how much I don't know. Also I don't think I am alone in that challenge. That is why I have chosen this quote above the others, as the quote becomes relevant in every "here and now" of my progress.


    From Anima Pundeer:
    My favorite quote from Hermann Hesse: “Love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is only your aversion to it that hurts, nothing else.”

    Suffering is an integral part of life; this is a truth that can’t be denied to me. The Sooner you accept it, the easier life becomes. My attention toward Divinity becomes laser focused when my perceived suffering increases. Once, Krishna asked Kunti to ask for a wish from him. She had lived a hard life. She said, please let me suffer more because I only think of you when I suffer.


    From Art Ticknor:
    I had starred six of the quotes, and three of those have already been cited by other responders. Of the other three, I'll pick "Solitude is independence" as my favorite.

    I always had the feeling that if Self-Realization was going to occur for me, it would have to be when I was alone. Solitrary retreats were highlights of my life during my search, and Self-Realization occurred after sunset on the final evening of what turned out to be my last solitary retreat.


    From John L:
    My general style is pattern-recognition. My favorite book might be Huxley’s “The Perennial Philosophy”, where all the world’s religions are boiled down to their common features. I own a first edition copy; the pride of my library. So, my M.O. is to hear something and see how that compares to some Zen writing, or Gurdjieff/Ouspensky, or Evola/Guenon or Rose, or C.S. Lewis, or Chesterton, Ellul, Alan Watts, Dogen, D.T. Suzuki, Swedenborg, Rumi, etc.

    Do I live what they write? I try and I fail, over and over again, and I don’t even understand why I am interested in all this. But I keep returning to it.

    FAVORITE: “Theory is knowledge that doesn’t work. Practice is when something works and you don’t know why.” Dogen and others of the Zen school admonishing those who study the sutras. Just sit. Just practice. The answers are within, not within books. I think one of the strangest things I’ve noticed recently is how problems are not solved by the mind, but rather, through some mysterious means, the answers simply arise. Self-remembering and zazen led me to this minor realization. It reminds me of Jacques Ellul’s work “The Technological Society”, where we have taken society and sliced it up into ever thinner slices, and somewhere along the way, we lost sight of the whole. And the whole matters more than the details, but we’ve forgotten that.


    From Anonymous:
    "Everything becomes a little different as soon as it’s spoken out loud" - Herman Hesse

    I love this quote. I feel like I am often "fast-forwarding my karma" lately. Sensing what the magician (my ego) has behind its back this time. By speaking it, I can get to the hidden crevices more easily. I sometimes blurt an embarrassing insight I realized out loud in my car in a fashion that involves profanities or "I can"t believe I didn’t notice that before" and then laugh, or cry, usually both at the same time. Often, I think it’s the last time that particular scenario will try to teach me something, but that is seldom the case.

    Also, for example, when I try to write "beautiful" poetry, and then read it out loud, I see how desperate it is, and then also see that the poetry actually sucks. When I really dig deep and dare myself to say the polar opposite of what I feel comfortable saying, then poof "my own wisdom" flows. That insight penetrates more deeply when written or spoken rather than simply kept as a thought. Just more of the same with my ego staying on top of the situation. Which never bodes well for anyone partaking in those snippets of shenanigans.

    This brings me to the next quote by Hesse: "Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom” (shortened version). Spiritual wisdom itself causes the highest level of learning. Just not the typical book-learning, more the heart-opening kind. This is not as quantifiable as what’s on your typical American resume, yet still super valuable. This wisdom can only be taught by example, born from absorption or transmission. Surreal actually, much like a sci-fi movie. For anyone who has sat with someone who is dwelling in that higher realm, you know what I mean. For those who don’t, they are not like any regular person we meet. Wisdom flowing so strongly within them that as you physically travel to see them there’s an energy field coming through even the fan in your car a few miles away from their location. You in turn intuitively float toward them like a magnet which is also very wise of you, and sci-fi like. Then in front of this person, your heart explodes open and you find yourself mind erased, stunned, often uncontrollably crying, and for no clear reason. At the same time with a happiness you did not think was possible.

    Stuff is just plum going down in your soul, even in the air that’s breathed around that person. It feels like something weird is being distributed, and you’re now being infused with love and nectar. Then your mind goes more blank, which you didn’t know was possible, and now you’re off in long stare at a wall contemplating the Bible (which of note, now instantaneously intrigues you, for the first time ever). "What the heck is going on?” (G-rated version of what was actually said) seems to be the only thing you can repeat to yourself, like a consoling mantra, yet the calming down eludes you. It’s beyond words maybe, but at least I know from experience that in that atmosphere, although traditional knowledge escapes us, something most exquisite enters. This kind of wisdom does not just teach, it annihilates you, and when you come up for air again, all that’s left is love. Now that’s unveiled wisdom, real knowledge imparted. Communed, although not typical, but nonetheless…ultimate union.


    From Bill K:
    “In every truth, the opposite is equally true. A truth can only be expressed and enveloped in words if it is one-sided.” As I can see, compared to the rest of the assembled quotes, this one suggests he had an insight into life as if he gained a view from up high. It would have taken such an elevated perspective to recognize first that every truth has a paradoxical, opposite truth—paradoxical because it could not be seen as such from "'"down here." Second, he recognized that in this relative dimension, both a fact and its opposite could never both be conceived as true; hence, in our medium, all truths must be one-sided. Until we, too, ascend to gain better clarity.

    Next Month

    We're using the theme of the June 2023 TAT Meeting as the Reader Commentary question for the July TAT Forum:

    The Search for Self-Definition: What's Taking So Long?

    Please email your responses by the 25th of June. and indicate your preferred identification (the default is your first name and the initial letter of your last name). "Anonymous" and pennames are fine, too.

    PS: What question(s) would you like to ask other TAT Forum readers?



    Q: What are your thoughts on this month's reader commentary? Please email your feedback.



    Richard Rose described a spiritual path as living one's life aimed at finding the meaning of that life. Did you find anything relevant to your life or search in this month's TAT Forum?

    by John Hain


    Image by John Hain on pixabay.com.


    We like hearing from you! Please email your comments, suggestions, inquiries, and submissions.

    Sign up for notices of TAT's four annual events and free monthly Forums by email on our .

     

    Founder's Wisdom

    Richard Rose (1917-2005) established the TAT Foundation
    in 1973 to encourage people to work together on what
    he considered to be the "grand project" of spiritual work.


    Quotes and Notes IX from Richard Rose Audiotapes


    * Ohio State University *

    • Each person has their own trauma which will lead them if they allow it.
    • God exists in the heart of every person.
    • You should not be trying to be more aware. The type of consciousness you should have before an experience is trauma.
    • The Process Observer is the last self.
    • The ego cannot be relinquished.
    • Most people are looking for truth as they define it.
    • I equate euphoria with placidity.


    sep


    ~ Shawn Nevins, who commented: "Notes I took from several Rose audiotapes. This must date to 1994-95. Direct quotes are in quotation marks, but the rest I assume is paraphrasing." There are quotes and notes from 20 audiotapes. The first set appeared in the July 2022 Forum, the second set in the August Forum, and so on.




    Definition of Terms

    cherries separator

    Index of many of the key terms and principles in Rose's work, with brief definitions, from Richard Rose's Psychology of the Observer: The Path to Reality Through the Self by John Kent.




    Jacob's Ladder (Richard Rose diagram)

    Jacob's Ladder © 2001 Richard Rose. See this transcript of a talk on the topic by Rose.


    Homing Ground Update

    … A spot on earth where people can do retreats and hold
    meetings; where the emphasis is on friendship and the search.


    Hurdle Mills new home for TAT


    June 2023:

    We're now 6% of the way to meeting our 2023 fundraising goal of $15,750, all of which donations came from our stalwart monthly contributors. Thank you! However, for those of you that are not monthly contributors, yet read the Forum or attend meetings, know that at our current 1% rate of increase per month, we won't make our goal. A few dollars a month from just a portion of you who read this each month would make a big difference, so please consider helping out.

    Thanks to all of you for making TAT the extraordinary organization it is.

    Sincerely,
    Shawn Nevins

    PS: Monthly contributions are a great way to support the TAT Center if making a larger one-time donation seems too much. If you're so inspired, click the Donate button below, then check the box for "Make this a monthly donation" as in the example below:

    donation example



    expanded meeting room exterior finished

    Let's bring this to life! "The job is upon us," Richard Rose said, "and it is worthwhile." To contribute to the TAT Center, mail a check made out to the TAT Foundation to:

    TAT Foundation
    PO Box 3402
    Roxboro, NC 27573

    Big checks, little checks, all are welcome. Or use the PayPal link above (though we lose 2.2% of your donation to PayPal fees).

    * See photos and more on the Homing Ground page. *

    In friendship,
    Shawn Nevins
    on behalf of the TAT Trustees


    TAT gathering


    Did you enjoy the Forum? Then buy the book!
    Readers' favorite selections from seven years of issues.
    Beyond Mind, Beyond Death is available at Amazon.com.

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