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Nondual Highlights
Issue #2592, Friday, September 22,
2006, Editor: Mark
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep
and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring
to the over-prudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand
as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the
thist that is unquenchable?
There are those who give little of the much
which they have - and they give it for recognition
and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life,
and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain,
and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving,
nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its
fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these god speaks,
and from behind their eyes he smiles upon the earth.
It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked,
through understanding;
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive
is joy greater than giving.
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving
may be yours and not your inheritors'.
You often say, 'I would give, but only to the deserving'.
The trees in your orchard say not so,
nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights
is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life
deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be,
than that which lies in the courage and the confidence,
nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom
and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth
naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver,
and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you,
who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
And you receivers - and you are all receivers -
assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke
upon yourself and upon him who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;
For to be overmindful of your debt is to dout his generosity
who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and god for father.
- Khalil Gibran, from The Prophet, posted to DailyDharma
Dears...
Yesterday was one of the finest of all days... The Dalai Lama was
to come to give a public talk in Woodstock and i was in charge of
the VIP section... Had a table near the entrance and was to check
off names of people I had contacted earlier who were to pick up
badges to get them in that section.
We made mistake of calling the section "Special
Guests." And of course, many came up and said,
""I" am special. So, I had to end up calling out
to many, "You are all special!" again and again.. and
some would come, humbly, and find out about the list and murmur
well they knew they were not on the list... and I would ask them
their names, and they insisted they were not on any list of
special people, and they would tell me their names, and I would
check the list, write in their names and say, "But, look!
There you are! You "are" special!" and hand them
VIP badges to get in.
It was such grand fun - to be able to love so many people.. to
feel their happiness.... and love...
the day was bright sunshine and in the 60's - beautiful! after
weeks of rain and cold..
People sat on blankets on the grass in this huge field.. and some
played instruments and sang; someone else had a bubble machine at
the gate and "cleaned your karma" as the crowd came in
- well, it was Woodstock. ,^))
I ran back and forth from table to crowd for over five hours...
where comes this energy? .. and then i heard everyone applaud..
and knew "he" had come.. i made my way through crowd to
blanket we had set up 20 feet away from His Holiness.. and sat to
receive the incredible blessing of the presence of this saint..
that is what he is - a living saint! My God.. unbelievable! Such
love, such humility, such jolliness, such beauty.. such
compassion.. what a gift it was..
He decided not to sit in the chair and instead came to edge of
platform and stood while he talked.. he spoke for almost an hour
on how important it was to develop love and compassion within us
rather than try to have money and success and power - he knows a
lot of wealthy powerful people who are not very happy. And he
asks us isn't that what we really want? To be happy? And he knows
a lot of people who do not have much materially, but are very
happy. So, he urged us all to develop love and true compassion
for all beings - even animals, and told personal stories about a
dog and later a parrot who he was mean to and how they were mean
back to him.. how all beings, animals, humans from a newborn baby
onward, just want to be loved and cared for.. and if we give this
love to all beings, we ourselves will know a boundless love... it
seems so simple.
He joked and giggled a lot and the crowd fell in love with him..
there were about 2,000 people.
He spoke of how all religions have the same basic teaching - to
practice love. And told a story how he went to the Catholic site
in France that had a statue of Mary, and how after he honored
her, he looked back and the statue smiled at him! Then he went to
a Hindu site and honored a statue of the Divine Feminine there,
and when he looked back, "that" statue smiled at him!
He thinks they smiled because they were happy that he honored
them.. then he tapped his head and giggled.. "Or maybe I
have something wrong up here."
i had invited a Jewish Rabbi, a Zen priest, an Episcopalian
priest, other clergy, so it was a good message for all religions.
Oh, and he stressed that because the basic teaching of all
religions is to love one another, when someone, in the name of
religion, does violence to another, that does not seem what the
teaching is. He said, "For those who believe in God, it is
said to love God one must love your neighbor. I don't think
loving God is being violent with your neighbor. no, no, no.. not
good.. not God." Audience clapped loudly.
But generally it was speech of love, joy, from a being who exuded
those qualities plus such fun, humility, sweetness.. yes, that's
it. an intelligent, learned, powerful man who is very sweet,
unassuming, gentle.. and very very happy! Which is so infectious
you could feel the joy in each being as the crowd dispersed..
Tomorrow morning, we sit before him while he gives an empowerment
of Chenresig, the Lord of Compassion, who, it is said, he is a
reincarnation of. Empowerment means he sends his energy to all of
us to relieve our suffering - he takes on our suffering and
offers us peace. It is a great blessing. Dear Rob is with me, and
he feels he must have done something good in the past, to be able
to be here and have this blessing...
and so do i.
I hold you all dear in my heart, and to the best of my poor
ability in these matters, pass on that blessing to each of you...
may love, and compassion, and joy be yours... this day and
always...
dharma grandmother, posted to DailyDharma
When a feeling of spiritual contraction comes over you,
O traveler, it's for your own good.
Don't burn with grief,
for in the state of expansion and delight you are spending.
That enthusiasm requires an income of pain to balance it.
If it were always summer,
the sun's blazing heat would burn the garden
to the roots and depths of the soil.
The withered plants never again would become fresh.
If December is sour-faced, yet it is kind.
Summer is laughing, but yet it destroys.
When spiritual contraction comes,
behold expansion within it;
be cheerful and let your face relax.
- Rumi, Mathnawi III, 3734-3739, version by Camille and
Kabir Helminski, Rumi: Daylight. posted to Sunlight
Subtle awareness of the truth
of the universe
should not be regarded as an achievement.
To think in terms of achieving it
is to place it
'outside'
your 'own' nature.
This is erroneous and misleading.
Your nature and the integral nature
of the universe
are 'one' and the 'same':
indescribable
but 'eternally present'
Simply 'open' yourself to this ...
... ('Yourself')
- Lao Tze, Hua Hu Ching 24, translated by B.Walker, posted
to Mystic_Spirit