Nonduality Salon (/ \)
Our real self, the soul, is immortal. We may sleep for a little while in that change called death, but we can never be destroyed. We exist, and that existence is eternal. The wave comes to the shore, and then goes back to the sea; it is not lost. It becomes one with the ocean, or returns again in the form of another wave. This body has come, and it will vanish; but the soul essence within it will never cease to exist. Nothing can terminate that eternal consciousness. (Yogananda)
A student asked a Zen Master, "Where does an
enlightened master go after he
dies? Is he reborn or is he freed from the earth?"
The Zen Master answered "Which direction does a fire go
after it is
extinguished; to the North or to the South?"
Dolores (left) with my mother, 1983.
Dolores and me, 1983.
1987
1988
Dolores, again posing with flowers, 1996
Dolores and me, with her Grandchildren, 1997
With daughter and Aunt
On her birthday, October, 1997
In her last days, Dolores kept this card on the table by her bedside. She said to me, "That card brings me comfort." She meant it so much. It was an effort for her to say it, but she wanted me to know that it meant a lot to her. Her friend Doreen mailed the card to her.
I was holding Dolores' hand when she passed away on June 16, 1998. I had never seen her look so peaceful. We stayed with her for some time, the family and our friend Dustin. Then it was time to leave Dolores to her eternal nature.
She lived a good life, loved flowers and animals, and said -- so many times, I can't count -- "I love cats (Katz) so much, I married one." She was like that. Sometimes she even wore one of those corny buttons shaped like a heart that says "I Love Jerry" on it, just for the silliness of it. I keep the button and all kinds of pictures and things, where I can see them. Dolores was kind to people and animals, and performed many hidden kindnesses. More than I'd ever know. Thank you, Dolores.
Forever,
Jerry
Dolores loved to feed the stray cats, and the birds in winter.
YOU WOULD HAVE MADE A SPLENDID OLD LADY
Taking a deeper than my usual sigh
I thought
what poem shall I write tonight
when only your face seems in sight
and all the birds have taken flight.
When emptiness invades me so
and the void
fills me head to toe
then looking at the fresh grass
makes me uneasy;
it's not hard to see
that youth and tenderness will go
like flowers blooming yesterday
and hide beneath the Christmas snow.
I console myself now and then
still inconsolable I remain
because your face always
so brightly lit
will never be seen again
by the eyes that watch
the nightly stars
to catch a glimpse
of the light of love.
The leaves are dropping
early this season it seems
and days from now on
will be less shady
but the night will still
have its moon beams
and I think you would have
made a splendid old lady.
Yes, I said it
in a round about way
what I wanted
to tell you all along
that I was in love with
the creases around your lips
and to wrinkles under your eyes
I dedicate this song.
What I cannot bring
myself to say
that since the spring
of my youth
has passed away
it comes to mind that I should
do the very best that I can
to be a nice old gentleman
and only if you could have
remained my steady
hanging on my arms
you would have
made a splendid old lady.
(c) Harsha (Harsh K. Luthar), 1998
Suzanne, by Leonard Cohen
Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.
Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.
There was a man who had a daughter, his only child.
The man loved his daughter more than anything in his life.
And the daughter was also very beautiful, talented and loving.
The man was very rich, and all the possessions in Life but the
only meaning
in his life was his daughter.
Growing up to a beautiful teenage girl, the daughter falls ill
and despite
all the treatment which money could obtain, finally dies.
The father’s world collapsed.
Mad with grief, the father closed himself to the world with tears
as his
constant companion.
Why?
And tears was only his answer.
After few years had passed in this manner, the father’s
tears could not
stop. Time could not stop his tears.
One day he saw a dream.
In the dream, he say a whole line of young girls singing some
divine song
and each of them holding a candle which was lighted.
The small flames of the candles also seemed to be swaying with
the song of
the girls.
Seeing this for the first time the father appeared to have a ray
of
happiness and in the dream the father kept looking at the girls
hoping to
find his daughter.
And there was she!
Beautiful, lovely, at peace, smiling and singing was his beloved
daughter.
The father was overjoyed.
And then he noticed that the candle held by his daughter was not
lit.
He asked his daughter, why she had not lit the candles like the
other girls.
She replied “Papa I do and every time it gets put off by
your tears”.
Quote:(from somebody who said it very beautifully)
Do not stand at my pyre and weep....
I am not there, I do not burn.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on the snow.
I am the sunlight on the ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of the quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star shining at night...
Do not stand at my pyre and cry...
I am not there, I did not die.
---contributed by Sandeep Chatterjee
Though we never know when life will take us,
I know it's just a ride on the wheel.
And we never know when death will shake us,
And we wonder how it will feel.
So goodbye my friend.
I know I'll never see you again.
But the time together through all the years will take away these tears.
Its okay now,
Goodbye, my friend.
I see a lot of things that make me crazy,
And I guess I held on to you.
You could have run away and left --
well maybe,
But it wasn't time, we both knew.
So goodbye my friend,
I know I'll never see you again.
But the love you gave me through all the years will take away these tears.
I'm okay now,
Goodbye my friend.
Life's so fragile and love's so pure,
We can't hold on, but we try.
We watch how quickly it disapppears and we never know why.
But I'm okay now,
Goodbye my friend.
Need to go now,
Goodbye, my friend.
---Karla Bonoff
Nonduality Salon (/ \)