#2670 - Wednesday,
December 13, 2006 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nondual Highlights
When you behold the void
nature of Mind,
Analyze it not as one or many
Lest you fall into the void-of-annihilation!
Son, rest yourself without wandering thoughts.
--Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
It is essential that our
understanding be translated into practice, not with
an idealistic vision that we suddenly will become totally loving
and
compassionate, but with a willingness to be just who we are and
to start
from there. Then our practice is grounded in the reality of our
experience, rather than based on some expectation of how we
should be.
But we must begin. We work with the precepts as guidelines for
harmonizing our actions with the world; we live with contentment
and
simplicity that does not exploit other people or the planet; we
work with
restraint in the mind, seeing that it's possible to say no to
certain
conditioned impulses, or to expand when we feel bound by
inhibitions and
fear; we reflect on karma and the direction of our lives, where
it is
leading and what is being developed; we cultivate generosity and
love,
compassion and service. All of this together becomes our path of
practice.
--Joseph Goldstein,
Seeking the Heart of Wisdom
How to make
our lives an embodiment of wisdom and compassion is the
greatest challenge spiritual seekers face. The truths we have
come to
understand need to find their visible expression in our lives.
Our every
thought, word, or action holds the possibility of being a living
expression
of clarity and love. It is not enough to be a possessor of
wisdom. To
believe ourselves to be custodians of truth is to become its
opposite, is a
direct path to becoming stale, self-righteous, or rigid. Ideas
and
memories do not hold liberating or healing power. There is no
such state
as enlightened retirement, where we can live on the bounty of
past
attainments. Wisdom is alive only as long as it is lived,
understanding is
liberating only as long as it is applied. A bulging portfolio of
spiritual
experiences matters little if it does not have the power to
sustain us
through the inevitable moments of grief, loss, and change.
Knowledge and
achievements matter little if we do not yet know how to touch the
heart
of another and be touched.
--Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield,
Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart
There are
three integral factors in Buddhist meditation--morality,
concentration, and wisdom. Those three factors grow together as
your
practice deepens. Each one influences the other, so you cultivate
the
three of them together, not one at a time. When you have the
wisdom to
truly understand a situation, compassion towards all parties
involved is
automatic, and compassion means that you automatically restrain
yourself
from any thought, word, or deed that might harm yourself or
others. Thus
our behavior is automatically moral. It is only when you don't
understand
things deeply that you create problems. If you fail to see the
consequences of your own action, you will blunder. The fellow who
waits
to become totally moral before he begins to meditate is waiting
for a but
that will never come. The ancient sages say that he is like a man
waiting
for the ocean to become calm so that he can take a bath.
--Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English
Here's
a message for the faithful
what is it that you cherish
to find the Way to see your nature
your nature is naturally so
what Heaven bestows is perfect
looking for proof leads you astray
leaving the trunk to search among the twigs
all you get is stupid
Oh the sisters of mercy,
they are not departed or gone.
They were waiting for me
when I thought that I just can't go on.
And they brought me their comfort
and later they brought me this song.
Oh I hope you run into them,
you who've been travelling so long.
Yes you who must leave
everything
that you cannot control.
It begins with your family,
but soon it comes around to your soul.
Well I've been where you're hanging,
I think I can see how you're pinned:
When you're not feeling holy,
your loneliness says that you've sinned.
Well they lay down beside
me,
I made my confession to them.
They touched both my eyes
and I touched the dew on their hem.
If your life is a leaf that the seasons
tear off and condemn
they will bind you with love that is
graceful and green as a stem.
When I left they were
sleeping,
I hope you run into them soon.
Don't turn on the lights,
you can read their address by the moon.
And you won't make me jealous
if I hear that they sweetened your night:
We weren't lovers like that
and besides it would still be all right,
We weren't lovers like that
and besides it would still be all right.
