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Highlight #1233 - Sunday, October 20, 2002 - Edited by Gloria
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VIORICA WEISSMAN MillionPaths

Anything is one of a million paths.

Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep
in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not
follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have
such clarity you must lead a disciplined life.

Only then will you know that any path is only a path and
there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it
if that is what your heart tells you to do.

But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free
of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and
deliberately.Try it as many times as you think necessary.

Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead
nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush.
In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I
am not anywhere.

Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it
doesn't, it is of no use.

Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One
makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one
with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you
strong; the other weakens you.

Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have
a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must
choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and
when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a
heart, the path is ready to kill him.

At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the
path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work
hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy;
it does not make you work at liking it.

I have told you that to choose a path you must be free from fear and
ambition. The desire to learn is not ambition. It is our lot as men
to want to know.

The path without a heart will turn against men and destroy them. It
does not take much to die, and to seek death is to seek nothing.

For me there is only the traveling on the paths that have a heart,
on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only
worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length. And
there I travel--looking, looking, breathlessly.


~~~~~~ from ~~~~~~~
A Journey to Ixtlan
Carlos Castaneda
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FRANCES HUNTER DailyDharma

"It takes courage
to do what you want
Other people
Have a lot of plans for you.
Nobody wants you to do
What you want to do.

They want you to go on their trip,
But you can do what you want
I did.
I went into the woods
And read for five years."

~Joseph Campbell.

~~~~~
From the book, "Reflections on the Art of Living,"
published by Harper Collins.
~~~~~
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KHEYALA "Adventures at Rasa Ranch"

**SIGH**

That is a big sigh of great relief.

Ever since the baby was born there have been moments and episodes of great
stress for me...when both children are needing their mother at once. Almost
always, because of necessity, I must tend to the littlest first and this has brought
great pain to our daughter (who will be five soon), and, of course, her pain is
also mine.

I had allowed myself to get exhausted in the attempt to keep Ananda from
feeling the pain of this form of separation by trying to keep things the way they
were before the baby came, like by playing with her, reading with her, taking
her for walks and to the playground, etc. It wasn't working. Exhaustion never
works!

Then, recently, something clicked, like a fingersnap.

All I need to do is to BE THERE when she looks to me. I do not even need to
get up from my chair or speak a single word, let alone tire myself in the various
attempts to give her something I think will make her happy. All I need to do is
be fully present, fully aware, and fully in love when she is hurting and she looks
into my eyes.

This is a tremendous gift for us both, you know. Some people call it satsang. And
it Gives life and it Gives energy, and it magnifies the peace and the love and the
joy that we know is always available.

Ever since this fingersnap, Ananda and I have been feeling free and unburdened
again. I have had more energy to do things with her for the sheer joy of doing
them and for no other reason, and she responds to this with squeals of delight
and sparkling laughter at the littlest provocation. Also, I have found that both of
us are resting deeper.

**SIGH**

Now I have tears in my eyes, because I feel so grateful and truly wish this deep
rest, this sweet restful peace, for every(single)one.

With so much love, Kheyala

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JULIANA allspirit

Maharaji (Extract Sept 2001)

Life is not one of those things where you can come up with a theory, or a
philosophy about what it is all about. Somebody once asked me, "Are you a
motivational speaker?" Of course not. I am motivated, but I'm not out there to
say, "Oh, yes, yes, yes have a positive attitude and everything will happen
positively." Because it doesn't work like that. Not for me anyway. Maybe it
works for you fine. Go ahead, have a positive attitude.

But for me, I need to be in a very clear space. The outcome of this life can never
be in question. My clarity has to be as absolute as is my life. My understanding
has to be as clear as this breath. My certainty has to be as certain as my
existence. Not a philosophy, not a theory. If somebody comes along and says,
"What did you do in your last lifetime?" All I can say is, "Don't bother me, I'm
concentrating. I've got a job to do here. I've got something incredibly important
going on. Do not disturb. Life in progress." Maybe someone could say, "You
cannot just be centered around yourself. You must have an open view." No, this
is my life in progress. Do not disturb gift being received. Do not disturb. I am
busy receiving the gift of my breath, I am busy receiving the gift of existence.
Do not disturb appreciation in progress. I'm busy admiring what I have been
given. This is life. This is powerful, this is sweet.

Maybe the journey has been tough, maybe the journey has been rough, but it
has been happening, has it not? Hard times have come, and good times, and they
will come again. Why don't you see that it's just the flip side of the same
equation, and that there is another possibility? The possibility is not about the
good times and the bad times, but what affects me, my source. If you are 45,000
feet up or in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, or whatever, and start chanting the
mantra, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay ... ," is that going to help? If you're feeling
real hunger, and you start to chant the mantra: "Food, food, food, food..." is it
going to help? No. You have got to find food.

You need skill to walk in this garden of life. You need to reconvert ignorance to
knowledge, hate to love, arrogance to humility. Set the right sails. Lash down
the loose items. Don this beautiful life preserver of Knowledge. Look at the
winds, look at the weather and make heading towards the least of that storm.
And steer true. Not with stubbornness, but with great skill. And wave by wave,
make your passage good even across the storm. And you would have broken all
the odds because for that person who has ushered consciousness into their lives,
the odds have just turned in their favor. Otherwise, this is a very peculiar
situation indeed.

And when the Master says, "Can I help you?" don't be shy. Say, "Yes," and
begin your dance, begin your oration. There's a beautiful poem in your heart
waiting to express itself. The video is rolling, the camera is on. There is no
"on-off" button, there is no "pause" button, but so what? Live your life in such a
way that you don't need a "pause" button.. Then you won't miss it. Live your life
in a way where you don't need an "on-off" button. Then you won't miss it. It's
not necessary. It's okay. It's your life. Do not disturb. And let me say one other
thing which is more important than, "Do not disturb." When somebody disturbs
you, don't be disturbed. People will disturb you not because they want to, but
because they don't know any better. But don't be disturbed.

Walk, but remember your home. Wherever you go, in your heart of hearts, you
carry your home. And those who have found that home shall never be homeless.
They will always have a shelter. Everything else comes, goes, comes, goes.
What does your storm look like? Oh, it's not gray skies and big ocean, no.
Sometimes it's just a storm of right and wrong, of good and bad, of indecision, of
ignorance.

With every breath, remember what's important. And you be the judge of the joy
that comes in your life. Don't look at other people. No. This time, it's you. This is
about you.

Maharaji Copyright © 2001

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JAMES TRAVERSE DirectApproach

Hello Folks,


The nature of Truth is paradoxical. There is no path
'to' Truth and
yet there is the path 'of' Truth - the path is formed by
walking it.


~~~

The Observer is the Observed.

Who or what can be apart from this statement to
make the observation
of the Truth that the observer is the observed...and if
that someone
or something is found, then the question is 'who or
what is making
this new observation?', and so on ad infinitum...

The paradox is resolved by 'Seeing the paradox'.
The paradox is that One (Truth) is 'Two in One' - it
is recursively
self-similar.

One appears as 'the observer' and 'the observed' - these two are One
AND 'not two' - the Observer is the Observed.

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JOHN METZGER allspirit

good link:

http://www.escapefromwatchtower.com/

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ROBERT HarshaSatsangh

Fire and Smoke

"Love is represented by fire, and reason by smoke.
When love comes reason disappears. Reason cannot live with the folly
of love; love has nothing to do with human reason. If you possessed
inner sight, the atoms of the visible world would be manifested to
you. But if you look at things with the eye of ordinary reason you
will never understand how necessary it is to love. Only a man who has
been tested and is free can feel this. He who undertakes this journey
should have a thousand hearts so that he can sacrifice one at every
moment."

Attar

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JOSEPH RILEY Panhala



What’s In The Temple?

In the quiet spaces of my mind a thought lies still, but ready to spring.
It begs me to open the door so it can walk about.
The poets speak in obscure terms pointing madly at the unsayable.
The sages say nothing, but walk ahead patting their thigh calling for us to follow.
The monk sits pen in hand poised to explain the cloud of unknowing.
The seeker seeks, just around the corner from the truth.
If she stands still it will catch up with her.
Pause with us here a while.
Put your ear to the wall of your heart.
Listen for the whisper of knowing there.
Love will touch you if you are very still.

If I say the word God, people run away.
They’ve been frightened--sat on ‘till the spirit cried "uncle."
Now they play hide and seek with somebody they can’t name.
They know he’s out there looking for them, and they want to be found,
But there is all this stuff in the way.

I can’t talk about God and make any sense,
And I can’t not talk about God and make any sense.
So we talk about the weather, and we are talking about God.

I miss the old temples where you could hang out with God.
Still, we have pet pounds where you can feel love draped in warm fur,
And sense the whole tragedy of life and death.
You see there the consequences of carelessness,
And you feel there the yapping urgency of life that wants to be lived.
The only things lacking are the frankincense and myrrh.

We don’t build many temples anymore.
Maybe we learned that the sacred can’t be contained.
Or maybe it can’t be sustained inside a building.
Buildings crumble.
It’s the spirit that lives on.

If you had a temple in the secret spaces of your heart,
What would you worship there?
What would you bring to sacrifice?
What would be behind the curtain in the holy of holies?

Go there now.

~ Tom Barrett
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Gloria adds




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