Many Paths
Once I began to find out that there was something far greater inside of me than I had been aware of, I started the search for a way to make a connection consciously. I tried numerous different approaches and often ended up using many different techniques at the same time to make sure that I was effectively moving forward in realizing my goal for inner fulfillment.
But no matter how much I tried, there was a nagging feeling that what I was doing was not very effective after all. All the different things I tried only touched me superficially. My understanding and experience remained limited and very bound to the surface perceptions of my mind. I could see this, but I did not know how to change it.
Until I found Ascension.
There was such relief and joy that rose up in me as I attended the First Sphere. I knew I had been given a technique from a Tradition that stood self-sufficient. I knew the Ascension Attitudes were the only thing I needed to accomplish all that my heart desired. For me that meant the end of the search and the beginning of the practice. Now it would only be about the mastery of the tools I had been given by the Ishayas.
This has been so in years that have passed since that time. The simplicity of one-pointed focus that naturally comes with Ascension is a true gift. This world certainly offers many different techniques and ways to expand
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consciousness, but it is of upmost importance to stick with one. Dividing attention and focus into many different directions does not increase power or effectiveness for reaching the goal. It merely divides the mind.
There is such depth in the practice of Ascension. The surface has barely been scratched. There are a good number of people who have learned to Ascend. But many have not yet realized the value of the gift that has been given to them. Many have not yet learned to appreciate the power that awakens in the human heart through the simple choice to Ascend.
Give yourself sufficient time to dive deeply into the practice of Ascension. Bring your heart, mind, body and soul to it. The results of that choice are beyond imagining. The Ishayas have given us a simple and effective tool to unite our individual consciousness with the ever present infinite divine consciousness. The fastest way to manifest that in our lives is to commit 100% to one practice that has stood the test of time and has been proven to work universally for all people everywhere.
Nataraja Ishaya
The Teaching
When the world hears and understands this Teaching, all the age-old problems which have seemed so intractable for centuries will melt away with graceful and perfect solutions. There is no problem, mental, emotional, physical, societal, or environmental that can withstand the wholly beneficial power of the Infinite Mind. When the world hears and understands this Teaching, world peace will be assured for all ages to come. When the world hears and understands this Teaching, global health, happiness and progress will be achieved for all future time. May this day come soon!
MSI, Enlightenment
In the First Sphere course the teachers talk about eyes closed Ascending and suggest the students practice two to three times a day for twenty minutes each time. However, this is just the bare minimum. Ascending with your eyes closed for longer periods of time is an effective and wonderful way to speed up the process of your evolution into Fulfillment. There are no rules in Ascension, but a basic guideline is that you not exceed more than two to three hours each time without the guidance of a teacher. A great way to experience much longer periods of closed-eyed Ascension with guidance is to come to a Retreat.
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One Ascendant
MSI says in the Enlightenment! Book, Pada I Sutra 26: “All true instructions in the Ascendant have always come from the Ascendant. The Ascendant reveals to Itself by Itself. This sutra also says that the Ancient Teachers of enlightenment also spoke from the Ascendant. Any teaching that does not have as its basis constant contact with the Ascendant will not last long, for it has no connection to the Source of all knowledge. Without a root in the permanent, omniscient, timeless, Infinite Ascendant, any teaching will be of little value to humanity; it will wither and die before very long. But a Teaching that is rooted in the Ascendant has timelessness at its deepest root and therefore endures.
Indeed, there is in fact only one Teaching, appearing over and over at different times and places and languages in the world. Just as there is only one Ascendant, just so there is only one completely direct, automatic and natural path to the
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Ascendant; there is only one Teaching. Regardless of how very different all True Teachings appear on the surface; they unite in their common Source and Goal – in the Unbounded Awareness of the Ascendant.”
Simply put, there is only One Way to realize the Self, the Source, the Ascendant. There is only One Path, and that is to go within. There may be different vehicles or tools available to attempt to do this, but a good deal of those will actually only keep you on the surface level of the mind, the 5 to 10% level where most of humanity lives already, thereby missing the Treasure within. A tool such as the Ascension Attitudes is a gift directly from the Ascendant that effortlessly and automatically moves you inward back to Itself. It does so because the mind is always seeking greater happiness, and the greatest happiness of all is the Source of all happiness, all joy, all good, the Ascendant.
A seeker continues to seek until he/she finds. Once you find what you have been seeking, then dive wholeheartedly into it, heart, mind, body and soul. Be serious and commit fully to it, and the results of enlightenment will not be far removed.
Nandisvara Ishaya
Marvelous tools
Of the nearly Infinite number of possible upward-rising thoughts, a small handful can be considered to be truly liberating from the confines of the Waking State ego. In our experience, there are approximately 108 of these Great Thoughts (Mahavakyas in Sanskrit) that lead directly to enlightenment. Of these 108, we commonly teach only twenty-seven, because these twenty seven are the most universal, effective and easiest to use, given proper guidance.
MSI, Enlightenment! Commentary Pada I Sutra 6
The mind reflects whatever is put in front of it. What that usually means is thoughts of past or future that are triggered by sense perceptions. Fortunately there are a small handful of thoughts that take us beyond the loops we create in our own heads. The Ascension Attitudes are such thoughts.
Each Ascension Attitude is a fundamental statement of reality from the very highest level of enlightenment. By repeatedly introducing them into the mind and letting nature take its course, the mind becomes more and more familiar with the deeper levels of truth they express. It’s a very simple mechanical process much like sight or hearing. Only in this case the object of attention is a thought in the mind rather than something seen or heard. It is very much like having something new to look at and explore. At first glance the mind gets only a superficial experience of the most obvious and noticeable aspects of the new object. It picks out what is most familiar to it and most similar to other things it has experienced. But with repeated attention, the mind begins to notice subtleties it could not notice before. In time it begins to appreciate more directly and fully what is really there. This is where innocence is key. It’s important not to use our old labels for our new experience, but to allow the new experience to unfold and reveal itself.
The Ascension Attitudes also have the unique quality of being more pleasing to the mind at each deeper level of thinking. Since this is so, the mind very naturally follows them all the way back to where they came from-- the very source of creation itself. This is so very pleasing to the mind that it stops to rest. It has finally found the one true source of satisfaction. Two remarkable things happen at this point. One is that the structure of our negative beliefs and destructive behavior patterns is shaken. They simply cannot stand in the light of pure truth. The other is that the body settles into a state of rest which is about twice as deep as the deepest sleep at night. This makes it possible for the body to heal itself much more completely than it usually does in sleep. The body heals and the nervous system clears itself. And the clearer nervous system becomes, the more clearly we can experience the increasing charm of Ascension at deeper levels. This creates a positive feedback loop. The more we Ascend the more we can appreciate the value of Ascending.
This realization may not come right away. There is a certain amount of clarity required to see that the benefits of Ascending are worth the time spent practicing it. This is one reason we ask students to commit to doing it for a while before making a decision about the value of the practice. It also may take some time before students realize that they don’t need other practices to supplement Ascension. From the surface level of the mind it is impossible to determine which thoughts are liberating and which simply feel good.
There are many thoughts that are pleasing to the surface level of the mind. Some may even expand conscious awareness a bit. But there are only a very few that free the mind from the accumulated mental, emotional, and physical debris of a life time of experience. It is necessary to take the mind back inward to the Source in order get out of the loop created by going outward with the senses of perception and getting lost in thoughts. Very few practices do this; none as quickly and easily as Ascension. Most everything else we might try simply moves the surface bits around a little or offers a bit of distraction for a while. This may be entertaining, but if we are interested in freedom, regular practice of Ascension is what is needed.
Sankara Ishaya
Excerpt from Ascension! By MSI
Another way to find no answer is to try a little of everything available and deeply experience nothing. We occasionally have such people come and learn some of the Ishaya Techniques. These have a habit of trying everything they find, thrashing about wildly, seeking everywhere for truth, finding it nowhere. This grab-bag approach to enlightenment is never successful. Only by diving deep into one’s own heart can progress ever be made. Only by seeking within are answers ever found. Adopting someone else’s belief system is no answer. Blindly following yet one more teacher or teaching is ultimately pointless. The True Teacher will always point the finger of understanding back at the heart of the seeker. There only is progress possible. The True Teacher always seeks independence in his/her followers, never slavish devotion. Growth comes from the inside out. Always. Always.
Within each of us lies a treasure house of undiscovered wealth. Beauty greater than human eyes have ever beheld is hidden inside our hearts; wisdom greater than human minds have ever known is cached within the secret jeweled chamber within our breasts. Safety, security, freedom from fear of every kind lie there, as do fulfillment of every desire, calmness from every storm, a loving hand to dry every tear, a peaceful balm to soothe every hurt.
Lying inside each of us is a magnificent reservoir of creativity and brilliance. It is not difficult to learn how to tap this inner repository. What stands in the way is just habit. It is habit that restricts the use of our minds; it is habit that keeps us believing in a limited life of ups and downs, of pleasure and pain, of success and failure. Any habit can be broken or retrained. If it is our beliefs that keep the mind chained to a tiny fraction of its full potential, these beliefs can be changed.
Ascension is a systematic procedure for re-educating the mind to free itself from judgment and condemnation. This is a completely automatic process; once begun it continues much by itself.
--MSI
Summary
Gathering up techniques from many different teachings proves confusing to the mind. Such an approach to higher consciousness will never be effective. If we try to cross a river standing in more than one boat at the same time, we are bound to find ourselves getting wet and never reaching the far shore. There are many paths that result in the growth of consciousness, but for safety’s sake it is better to stick with one. It is not possible to understand the power of a teaching without studying it deeply for some time.
--MSI
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