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Highlights #174

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JERRY

Added Timothy Schoorel and Don Quixote de la Mancha to the
Nondual Realizers/Confessors list.

http://www.nonduality.com/new.htm

Thank you,

Jerry Katz (de la Halifax)
________________________________________________________________________

KRISTI

What treasure to be remembered. Thank you.
Never enough time with my children...who should be drunk until utter
intoxication...however....the time I do see them is wonderful and we are
moving through the grief and anger, doing good work, getting clear and
setting foundations for celebration in the here and now and planting
seeds for the future. Thank you for holding us in your heart. Many
blessings to you and those you love.

Love, Kristi
________________________________________________________________________

MOZOX Quotes Sarara Devi:


" I cannot see others' faults. I am simply not made that way, There are
enough people always ready to criticize others. Surely the world will
not come to an end if I refrain from doing so."

"let me tell you how to love all equally. Do not demand anything of
those you love. if you make demands, some will give you more and some
less. In that case you will love more those who give you more and less
those who give you less. Thus your love will not be the same for all.
You will not be able to love all impartially. "

"As you progress in your spiritual practice you will see the same Being
in you as in me, and that He is in all Men, be they of the lowest
castes. Then only can you get humility."
________________________________________________________________________

XANMA quotes ROBERT Rabbin:

"This silence is of utmost importance, much more
so than anything I or anyone else can say. The
mysticism I know, I can only point to: an exquisite
silence within the deep core of each human being
which can be directly experienced. This inner silence
is itself the true seat of power and teacher of wisdom.
I learn from this silence. I see from this silence. Silence
opens the heart and clears the mind. I trust this
silence to provide clarity, courage, and truth. This
is what I trust, and this is what I know inheres in
each person: a clear mind and an open heart. It
is not enough to agree or disagree; in order to be
authentic, the indwelling silent beauty must be
realized by each one of us. "
___________________________________________________________________________

RICK introduces himself:


Howdy everyone~
Jerry your site is awesome it has been the lauching pad of my every web
exploration. I guess its finally time to share some thoughts thats been
rolling through this head so thanks for the warm atmosphere that makes
this possible. Most of my understanding of non-duality is intellectual,
havent yet been able to practice much. My understandings are mostly a
product of Alan Watts, Nisargadatta, and Ramesh to let you all know
where i am coming from. To some extent it feels like i have become more
authentic, whereas my thinking mind was at one time so active trying
unsuccesfully to control myself, it seems more and more that i am just
being. There is a certain peace that comes with even just an
intellectul surrender. Sure, the
description of mystical experiences are so beautiful that i desire these
with all my heart, but i can accept that this 'me' may never have them.
Its not in my control, and its a selfish pursuit anyways. But there is
no one here to deny selfishness either. For so long i have hated ego,
thinking there had to be a way to kill it. But there isn't, part of
surrendering is accepting the fact that it is in this nature to be
selfish at times. I guess what worries me is that whereas before i may
have acted out of concern for what 'others' thought about me or whether
i was
offending anyone, now things just come out that can be nasty at times.
This doesnt seem to be right at all. Shouldn't a greater love come with
detatchment or does is this just a purging process where hidden things
are coming to the surface to be looked at and witnessed? Do things
sometimes get worse before they get better? It seems that questions are
irrelevant in non-duality, i guess anything is possible. The have said
there is no controller of this body/mind, events just happen so what
there should be no concern at all if these acts are an expression of
love or not? There is no one here to try to be loving, will true
spontaneous love come about in due time?

Confused as can be
Rick
__________________

JERRY

Hello, Rick. Thank you. I try to make the site a place I'd
like to stumble upon myself. It consists of the works of
others and all I do is collect those works as though they
are shells on the shore, and then I put them on display.

I think confusion is good as long as one doesn't fall in
love with it and refuse to let it give way to clarity. If
you are feeling more authentic, that can only mean that
falseness is falling away. The movement has to be toward who
you really are. When you know who you are that is the end of
your life and the beginning. Keep attending to what you know
is real. The names you mention above are hardly surpassed.
Once the Self is known, or the nature of Being is known, it
is known in others, and this is a kind of love, perhaps the
one you question above.

Jerry
_____

TIM G.

Intellectual understanding *is* a form of practice (jnana yoga). You
can
use this knowledge to negate ignorance. But when that ignorance is
negated, it is then time to throw ALL knowledge overboard. In other
words,
the jnana practitioner uses a vast knowledge of Advaita as a "boat" to
cross the ocean of the world. Once the ocean is crossed, the boat
itself
is discarded as useless.

However, it's greatly helpful to combine some meditation along with
jnana,
as you also need to experience the Self directly. If you integrate some
meditation into your practice, I think you will find much of that
confusion
clearing itself up.

HariH OM,

With Love,

Tim
___________________________________________________________________________

LYNNE

Truth is plain
Words are not always true
Persuasion is unnecessary
Whether by argument or skill
Courses or degrees

Don't fixate on unpossessed possessions
What you possess - give away
So to possess more

Fulfillment lies in attentiveness
In accepting the Whole
While doing our Part (D.K. Reynolds, paraphrased)

Love,
Lynne
___________________________________________________________________________

DAN responds to CHRISTIANA:


>>Christiana:
<snip>
>I've notice that we are often quick to confront and quick to defend.
>There is, in this, also an enormous opportunity to pause and observe...
>really observe through the portal of no defense.

Thanks for your thoughtful comments on this, Christiana. It seems to me
that As long as there is something to defend, it will be defended
one way or another. How else can it be? There are different ways
to defend - some emotional and some intellectual,
some spiritual in a rote way,
some ways divert energy into confrontation, whereas
other ways divert energy into sidetracks.

Who is to be the judge of
whether someone is being defensive or open? Only the person himself
or herself can really ascertain this clearly. There is a saying
that when a pickpocket meets a sage, only the sage's pockets are
noticed by the pickpocket. Each one will color how
words are heard and understood through
the "lens" of each one's awareness. We can learn about ourselves by
looking at our defensive reactions in clarity. Hopefully, our clarity
about defensiveness will itself open into awareness. If we try too hard
to
be open, we end up defending ourselves through our very
"attempt to be open". In other words, it seems to me that openness
doesn't
involve effort; it's more a matter of readiness and seeing no other way
than a matter of believing that we must be open and not defend
ourselves.

Love, Dan
___________________________________________________________________________

DAN

...For me, I do have concerns, and I do have feelings. Now, who is this
"me" who "has" these concerns and feelings? That "me" turns out to be
an assumption, a linguistic artifact, and a cultural imposition. And
that's okay. My concerns and feelings don't block awareness - they
simply appear in awareness. So what is this awareness? It's "not a
thing", and calling it awareness is also a linguistic artifact and
assumption. And I celebrate the beauty of this moment, of this awareness
in which you and I share these comunications.
-- with love --
___________________________________________________________________________

GREG

*Found! Western how-to text!*

Called THE BOOK OF PRIVY COUNSELING, this is a remarkable 14th guide to
contemplation from the anonymous English author of THE CLOUD OF
UNKNOWING.
PRIVY COUNSELING has what we had been discussing earlier in this thread
but
hadn't really found - an authentically Western non-dual vision, a very
direct step-by-step method, and a description of the unspeakable joy
that
is revealed as the fruit. This is all simpler, more explicit and more
direct than I've ever seen in a Western text. I can only suspect that
there are likely many more such texts out there, lying around monastery
libraries and English country-house attics.

[[This paragraph's info comes from editor William Johnston's Forward.
The
author was an English churchman, mystic and theologian. He remained
anonymous. One of his influences was the great 6th century Syrian
(Christian) mystic Dionysius the Areopagite, who wrote Mystical
Theology.
Our English author translated it as Hid Divinity.]]

Although they are in print, these two English books are little known in
the
West, overshadowed by the more lyrical St. John of the Cross' DARK NIGHT
OF
THE SOUL. In fact, Bernadette Roberts wrote a lot about non-dualism
from
the Christian tradition, and used St. John as her guide. I never saw her
mention PRIVY COUNSELING.

Before the quotations, here is the bibliographical info:

THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING and THE BOOK OF PRIVY COUNSELING.
Edited by William Johnston, Image Books, Doubleday, c1973,
30th printing, 1996. ISBN 0-385-03097-5

Here are excerpts of THE BOOK OF PRIVY COUNSELING showing both aspects,
(I.) the author's non-dual vision, and a (II.) bit about the fact that
he
had a method. All emphasis in the original (denoted by asterisks like
*this*)

I. THE NON-DUAL VISION
======================

>From Chapter 1
==============
He is your being, but you are not his.

...

"That which I am, I offer to you,
O Lord, for you are it entirely."

>From Chapter 2
==============
In any case, do not think *what you are* but *that you are.*

>From Chapter 13
===============
I did not say that you must desire to un-be, for that is madness and
blasphemy against God. I said that you must desire to lose the
knowledge
and experience of self.

>From Chapter 21
===============
Finally, the mind which sees and experiences God as he is in his naked
reality is no more separate from him than he is from his own being,
which,
as we know, is one in essence and nature. For just as God is one with
his
being because they are one in nature, so the spirit, which sees and
experiences him, is one with him whom it sees and experiences, because
they
have become one in grace.


II. EXCERPTS FROM THE HOW-TO'S
==============================

Chapter 1
=========
When you go apart to be alone for prayer, put from your mind everything
you
have been doing or plan to do. reject all thoughts, be they good or be
they evil.

Chapter 2
=========
It is not hard to master this way of thinking. I am certain that even
the
most uneducated man or woman, accustomed to a very primitive type of
life,
can easily learn it.

Chapter 3
=========
If you begin to analyze thoroughly any or all of man's refined faculties
and exalted qualities (for he is the noblest of all God's creatures),
you
will come at length to the farthest reaches and ultimate frontiers of
thought only to find yourself face to face with naked being itself.

Chapter 4
=========
All this you can verify with the authority of the Scriptures, the
example
of Christ, and the scrutiny of sound logic.

Chapter 5
=========
You have reached a point where your further growth in perfection demands
that you do not feed your mind with meditations on the multiple aspects
of
your being. ... For there is no name, no experience, and no insight so
akin to the everlastingness of God than what you can ossess, percieve,
and
actually experience in the blind loving awareness of this word, *is*.
[emphasis in the original]

Chapter 12
==========
But now I want you to understand that although in the beginning I told
you
to forget everything save the blind awareness of your naked being, I
intended all along to lead you eventually to the point where you would
forget even this, so as to experience only the being of God.
_____________________________

OLD HAG

Thanks so much for posting from this book. i have enjoyed parts of it
for many years on my own spiritual journey. My experience has been
different than yours re exposure to this text, however. i have found it
mentioned, and quoted from, very often in books on Christian mysticism.
In fact, i would say more often than St. John of the Cross, only second
to St. Theresa's autobiography. So, never know, eh?

Here are some more:
...."See that nothing occupies your thoughts except a naked intent to
reach out to God: no special thought about what he is, or how he works,
but only that he is as he is. Let him be himself, please, and nothing
else.

.....Therefore, at this stage, you are to think of God the same as you
think of yourself, and of yourself as you do of God, namely that he is
as he is, and you are as you are.

....Just as nothing can exist without him, so also he can not exist
without himself.

....Look up cheerfully, and tell your Lord, aloud or in your heart,
"What I am, Lord, I offer you, for it is yourself." And keep in mind,
simply, plainly, and unashamedly, that you are as you are, and there is
no need to inquire more closely."


Hope you are well and happy.

love,
oh
___________________________________________________________________________

RAINBO+XANMA+OLD HAG


<The one thing I find will really take my kundalini down is
a glass of wine, which once in awhile I'll drink intentionally
to bring the k down. But usually not.

<On the other hand, music will bring the k up, as will the Sun for
some reason I haven't figured out, but have several cds with
beautiful songs and mantras which in certain keys bring the
k up, not all mantra songs do, I think it is dependent on ourselves
as to which musical key effects us. I think it is different for
each one of us and we have to discover which combinations
work for ourselves... it's something i stumbled upon rather
than read or learned, something that just happened ... :-)
LOL doesn't sound very learned or researched, but it does
work and it is beautiful, I am so happy with my Puccini tonight.

Rainbo

---
Oh my, how I love Puccini ! Also Rachmaninof, Chopin - on and on.

I have come to feel that the use of sanscrit terms can be
a hindrance to our coming to recognize what is already
intimately present. It took me years to realize that kundalini
was not something exotic, but the variety of movements of
life energy through my body that I never named. There has
also been a growing understanding that I did not need to do
something difficult and foreign to me to cultivate awareness
of my essential nature. Those things that naturally attract
me are my path, my practices, my yoga. As I follow my
longing for pure beingness/love - there it is.

I am grateful that I no longer need the identity of *a spiritual person*
in order to know the One Self. The moments of profoundest
presence come as spontaneous gifts. The opening of my
heart and mind occurs in the simplest ways.


xan
_____________

Hi, Bo darlin'

Know what you mean about certain songs affecting k. Years ago, when k
very active, Gayle what's her name - country singer, had a song, "Don't
It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue"....i was NOT a country fan, but sure
enough, every time that dern song came on, ole k started shooting up,
hitting bliss buttons and all on old woman, in every crazy place -
Burger King, K-Mart, the "Mall." Woulda been so much more dignified if
it happened with Debussy or somebody - Puccini very impressive. Way to
go, girl! ,^)) Well, sharing little memory - not worth much.

Hope you are mighty well tonight.

love,
oh
___________________________________________________________________________

XANMA

excerpts from A Recipe for Bliss
Kriya Yoga for the New Millennium
by Carl Schmidt

A genuine philosopher [aspirant] must learn how to *stop*. If he
never stops, he is carried on by the noise and the activity of this life
and does not attain the perspective needed to unveil the deepest
understanding. He feels the activity and hears the noise, but he has no
reference point for the Whole Truth. That reference point is complete
Stillness, Silence, Transparency. When we are silent and still, we
begin to perceive our Self. Meditation is the art of becoming utterly
Transparent.

The Divine Life is the only Life that yields permanent satisfaction.
Every
other life is destined to pass away. This physical life will pass
away.
Every specific physical condition will undergo ceaseless change and
eventual dissolution. That to which we might cling today, will vanish
tomorrow. There is no permanent physical support anywhere. There can
never be such a support. There are only temporary havens. The Divine
Life, however, has a permanent Quality.

We are Unborn and Formless. Our true nature is Everlasting
Consciousness, not form. We may appear to be a solitary, physical
being, mysteriously extracted from Spirit, separate and vulnerable…
but we are not what we "appear" to be. We are visiting a world of form
to make a discovery. We have come here to uncover a mystery that has
plagued our consciousness for a time that curiously predates our present
memory. We are here for a reason, to find out exactly who we are.

The basic assumptions and choices we make play a definite role in the
discovery of our Self. If we persist in believing that the material and
separate aspects of our experience are the "real thing," our prison will
seem essentially material and, in a deep way, we shall feel alone and
fundamentally helpless. We will hardly notice that this appearance is
assumed. However, if we make no limiting assumptions at all and look
intently and continuously into the life that is given, a delightful
Wonder
begins to unfold. Gradually, or quite suddenly, our seemingly mundane
environment becomes extraordinary. The physical appearance begins to
evanesce. In its place emerges the Primordial, Resonant Heart.
___________________________________________________________________________

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