Ultimate texts

[Operacast]

A question for the board:

We may have touched on this more than occasionally, but I'm wondering -- regardless of whether or not we view the ultimate truth of things as indeed summed up in a god as traditionally understood or in something more intangible instead -- if there are any texts, ancient or modern, that any posters here now view as coming especially close to ultimate reality, whatever that is. And if so, which texts would posters here choose, and why?

Thanks,

Operacast

[wil]

So, I take it you mean other than the Gita, Vedas, Torah, Tanakh, Sutras, Bible, Koran, Tao te Ching, Te of Piglet, Ocean, etc...??

[Operacast]

Originally Posted by wil

So, I take it you mean other than the Gita, Vedas, Torah, Tanakh, Sutras, Bible, Koran, Tao te Ching, Te of Piglet, Ocean, etc...??

Oh, nothing's off the table. But perhaps -- if you're interested -- you might want to specify which passages in such texts especially convince you.

Up to you,

Operacast

[JosephM]

To me it seems there is no ultimate text. All attempt to point to that which text cannot contain. Utimately there is self inquiry and that alone takes one to source. Everything else becomes meaningless. Just a view to consider.

Love and Peace,
JM

[Operacast]

Originally Posted by JosephM

To me it seems there is no ultimate text. All attempt to point to that which text cannot contain. Utimately there is self inquiry and that alone takes one to source. Everything else becomes meaningless. Just a view to consider.

Actually, I feel there's much to what you say. I'm not really looking for "that one text". An assemblage of three or four, each of which seem to the reader to reflect some aspect of deeply critical inquiry, would do just as well.

Cheers,

Operacast

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,

if there is one text which, possibly, expresses my view it would be the Way of Virtue and Its Power a.k.a the Tao Te Ching, to wit:

the Tao that can be taoed is not the True Tao.

metta,

~v

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Vajradhara

Namaste all,

if there is one text which, possibly, expresses my view it would be the Way of Virtue and Its Power a.k.a the Tao Te Ching, to wit:

the Tao that can be taoed is not the True Tao.

metta,

~v

That's about as close as you can get.

[AndrewX]

The closest texts (most helpful) for me include those which first started opening doors to my own Soul, or Intuition. This took me beyond a frame of reference (the Judeo-Christian) which kind of fit when I was a child, but one which never really made sense once I started asking questions.

I recall opening Thich Nhat Hanh's Being Peace, just out of curiosity as to why it was called `Being' Peace, rather than attaining peace, or finding peace. The Zen Buddhist approach immediately resonated with me, and struck a chord deeper inside philosophically than anything else had.

Soon I found my way to books ranging from Mysticism and the psychic, to the Paranormal & parapsychology (Duke Univ. is just down the road, with J.B. Rhine's Research Center nearby). I looked into the New Age ... also Native Traditions, and even things like Scientology. But the teachings which most drew me like a Magnet ... were Theosophical writings from the 19th, or early 20th Century. I could relate to the mode of expression of the authors, perhaps because of a great interest in Romanticism.

As I read these books, I often felt as if I was in touch with the author(s) of the work, and that I understood what they were trying to say. Everything just made sense!

So, the basic teachings of Eastern traditions have resonated strongest with me: Karma, Reincarnation, Meditation, the other levels of our being (astral-emotional, mental, Soul & Spirit, as taught in every esoteric school in one form or another) ... and the importance of taking complete Responsibility for our lives and living with Purpose (Dharma).

Since the formation of the Theosophical Society in 1875, and the writing of Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine, I think there have been several sets of teachings, each most appropriate for a different type of student, but each an equally valid Spiritual Revelation. They are, in a sense, complementary, but each is a complete study unto itself. And the only prerequisite for studying any of them ... is that a student earnestly desire to be of Service to his fellow man. The key is Right Motivation.

None of these texts, as folks have pointed out, can encapsulate the Truth ... as God (or the Tao) cannot safely be put into a box. The Singularity, I suppose, might be such a `box,' but we've a few trillion years to wait before we experience what living together in such cramped conditions will mean ...

... and right now, I think there are more pressing matters to sort out, just living here on planet Earth!

(And besides, we must - in the distant future - first pass through the Star (on my Siriusly avatar pic) long before we reach the Innermost Centers ... and the Singularity. Have you ever pondered the entire Galaxy as a BEING, whose essence is mirrored into every lesser being contained therein? Constellation, Solar System, Planetary System, Nation, Human Being, atom ... leaving quite a few obvious gaps in between - yet One Great Being, every last QUARK of whose Existence has a Purpose, and an animating Life. Or is our world a dead one? Sorry, I refuse to believe this - no matter how the lie is packaged, or no matter how tempting it may be sometimes to lose optimism, to lose hope!)

~Andrew

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by wil

So, I take it you mean other than the Gita, Vedas, Torah, Tanakh, Sutras, Bible, Koran, Tao te Ching, Te of Piglet, Ocean, etc...??

I found the Tao of Pooh to be a more profound exposition.

What do you mean by Ocean please? (we'll take the large body of wet salty stuff jokes as read, thanks)

s.

[wil]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

I found the Tao of Pooh to be a more profound exposition.

What do you mean by Ocean please? (we'll take the large body of wet salty stuff jokes as read, thanks)

Yeah, the Te was definitely a sequel...

The Bahai have provided a nice library with great search features, which allows you to throw in a word and pick a variety of texts to search...most of them considered Ultimate by someone... Ocean - World Religions Free Research Library

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by wil

The Bahai have provided a nice library with great search features, which allows you to throw in a word and pick a variety of texts to search...most of them considered Ultimate by someone... Ocean - World Religions Free Research Library

Groovy. Actually, I think I may have seen this before, maybe pointed out by your own good self.

s.

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by wil

Yeah, the Te was definitely a sequel...

The Bahai have provided a nice library with great search features, which allows you to throw in a word and pick a variety of texts to search...most of them considered Ultimate by someone... Ocean - World Religions Free Research Library

You can also add more texts and bookshelves to it. Copy the texts you want to add into notepad, and save a copy in the appropriate Ocean bookshelf. You can make as many folders within each bookshelf as you want to organize your texts. Ocean won't keep the chapters in the correct order, though.

[Eric H]

Greetings and peace be with you all,

I believe the greatest commandments in the Bible are most profound. If they are really the greatest thing we can do then this must also be a greatest truth.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36 NIV). Jesus replied, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments"

If the greatest commandments where owned by God before he gave them to us, they would read…

God loves all that he is with all his heart, mind and soul.
God loves each and every one of us as he loves himself.

Can God love us more than he loves himself?

These words are pure speculation to meditate on and to challenge the mind to find something greater.

Namaste Vajradhara; nice to see you again

In the spirit of searching for a greatest truth.

Eric

[Operacast]

I want to thank those who have responded so far. I just wanted to add that I can only hope for more of the same from others here.

With my appreciation,

Operacast

[Operacast]

Originally Posted by Operacast

I want to thank those who have responded so far. I just wanted to add that I can only hope for more of the same from others here.

With my appreciation,

Operacast

Since this thread has been quiet for a while, I figured I should shed my own laziness and share my own (provisional) choices as well. There are six in all:


Digha Nikaya 13
Tevijja Sutta
On Knowledge Of The Vedas

Digha Nikaya 22
Maha-satipatthana Sutta
The Great Frames of Reference

Plato's Apology

Plato's Crito

The Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Luke


Best,

Operacast