Click here to go to the next issue
Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nondual Highlights each day
#2780 - Friday, April 6, 2007 - Editor: Jerry Katz
Nondual Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights]
This is a Good Friday/Passover issue. It begins with some down home emails from people we know and love, then a mystical nondual revelation of Passover, and finally Eric Chaffee reveals nondual teaching in tremendous verses from John 17 as set forth in The Message Bible.
It is said that on this day,
the
ideal of the good man, and
of total surrender met total
cruelty on a cross. And, so,
the archetype of the perfect
heart was born.
His death more than any other
symbolizes liberation. Not only
the giving up of the body, but
also the giving up of the spirit.
On the cross of renunciation we
not only surrender the flesh, but
our beliefs, and spiritual hopes,
as well. In this way, we die to our
past, and to the future, and, so, we
are resurrected to this very moment
that floats in emptiness like a star.
Pete
That is lovely. Starr Daily reminds
me of this. A convicted, hardened
criminal, he found Christ in his jail cell. His writings are as
lucid
as that of any Christian mystic that ever wrote. You might enjoy
listening to one of his talks. I believe the url is
http:www.starrdaily.org.
His innate intelligence is a breath of fresh air. When you hear
him,
you know he is not dissembling.
Vicki
afterlife
today is
yesterday's tomorrow,
and this is
the only afterlife
i know.
we chose
heaven and hell
and all
in between
with each
and every
breath.
surrendering to grace
instantly
burns all karma
to ashes;
god's infinite mercy
manifests
in a blink
of an eyelid.
so die right now
ya yosy!
and thus
live
forever.
_()_
yosy
Oh ! I'm happy to be among you ! --forget heaven..
Era
This week's section opens with an
interesting 'Holy-Temple' commandment
called Trumat HaDeshen; to remove the ashes of the previous day's
sacrifices from the Altar before beginning the next day's
service.
At first glance this is not so clear. First of all, what
difference
does it make if the altar is cleaned each day or not. and why
make it a
commandment.
Why not just clean it whenever it's necessary.
But most important. what do we care what was done thousands of
years ago
in the Temple? And even when the Third Temple will be rebuilt by
Moshiach, only the priests would do this work. what does it
mean to us
today?
Finally, in a few days will be the holiday of Passover: the
Holiday of
Freedom (Z'man Chay'ru'say'nu).
Is there any connection?
Here is a story to help us understand.
Over one Thousand years ago lived a great and Holy leader and
teacher
called Rabbi Saadia Gaon (Gaon means Torah Master). This Rabbi
had many
hundreds of pupils and all of them had a great thirst to learn.
Even a
casual movement or word from their revered teacher provided them
a
lesson for life.
Once two of his pupils happened to be walking in the mountains
early one
winter morning when they heard a strange noise on the other side
of a
hill, when they approached the top they saw, to their great
surprise,
their great master rolling in snow (an act of penitence not in
practice
today)! Later that day they asked the great Rav Saadia why he was
repenting and heard the following explanation.
"Several months ago I decided that all the honor and
attention I was
receiving from everyone around me was interfering with my service
of the
Creator. G-d must be served with joy, and without complete
humility, joy
is impossible. So I decided that I would spend several months in
a place
where no one recognizes me.
"I put on simple garments and began my self-imposed exile,
wandering
from town to town. One night I was in a small inn run by an old
Jew. He
was a very kind and simple man, we spoke for a while before I
went to
sleep, and early the next morning, after I prayed 'Shacharit'
(morning
prayer), I bade him farewell and was again on my way.
"What I didn't know was that several of my pupils had been
searching for
me, and several hours after I left the inn they appeared, hot on
my
trail. 'Did you see Rabbi Saadia Gaon?' they asked him, 'We have
reason
to believe that he was here.'
"'Saadia Gaon?' replied the bewildered old Jew, 'what would
the great
Rav Saadia be doing in a place like mine? Rav Saadia Gaon in my
inn?
No.I'm sure that you are very mistaken! There was no Rav Saadia
Gaon
here!'
"But the young men explained to him how I look and why they
were
searching, when suddenly the old Jew held his head and began
yelling:
'Ooy! Rav Saadia, Rav Saadia was here! You were right!! Ooy,
Ooy!' and
he ran outside, jumped into his wagon and began urging his horse
to go
as fast as possible in the direction that I took. After a short
time
when he caught up to me, he jumped from his carriage and fell at
my feet
moaning: 'Please forgive me, Rav Saadia. Please forgive me, I
didn't
know that it was you!'
"I made him stand up and brush himself off, and then said to
him,
'listen here, my friend, you treated me very well, you were very
kind
and hospitable. Why are you so sorry? You have nothing to
apologize
for.'
"'No no, Rabbi' he replied, 'If I would have known who you
are, that you
are the great Rav Saadia, I would have treated you COMPLETELY
differently!'
"Suddenly I realized that this man was teaching me a very
important
lesson in the service of G-d, and that the purpose of my exile
was
fulfilled. I thanked and blessed him and returned home.
"Now, every evening when I say the prayer before sleeping
(called Kriat
Shma al ha Mita) I go over in my mind how I served G-d the entire
day.
But when I think of that old innkeeper I say to myself 'Oy! If I
had
known about HaShem in the beginning of the day what I know now, I
would
have treated Him COMPLETELY differently!'
"And that is why I was repenting this morning."
This is the commandment of Trumat HaDeshen, to remove the
'leftovers'
i.e. the unnecessary attitudes, thoughts, speech, actions, habits
etc. we had
yesterday in order to make today a little better.
And it is very meaningful to us today.
We are approaching the holiday of Pesach. called in our prayers
"The
Holiday of Freedom" Z'man Chay'ru'tainu.
But according to Chassidic teachings the purpose of this holiday
is not
just to remember what happened over 3,300 years ago.
Rather this holiday is a window into the infinite and an
injection of
new power and inspiration to constantly free ourselves (Tanya
Chapt. 47)
from the attitudes etc. that separate us from complete joy and
selflessness in serving the Creator. That is true freedom!!
That is why we mention leaving Egypt in our prayers several times
a day,
every day; because it is a constant process; we constantly have
to
tap-in to this power.
And that is exactly what Rabbi Saadia Gaon was doing in our
story. As
holy and pure as he was . he realized that leaving one's
limitations
(the word for Egypt; "Mitzriam' also means narrowness) meant
leaving
even limitations of holiness.
As the mystical work 'The Zohar' teaches; that Moshiach will
bring even
Tzadikim; completely pure and righteous Jews, to do 'Teshuva'
(return to
G-d).
But it's not so easy. Indeed it was one of the main causes of the
opposition of 'orthodox' Judaism to the Baal Shem Tov. Just as
the Jews
resisted leaving Egypt.
The Besh't taught that even 'Tzadikim' must do 'tshuva'. in order
to
leave their personal 'Egypts' now.
This is the true meaning of 'removing the ashes'. to remove all
selfish
traits and feelings and it is a commandment for each and every
one of us
at all times.
But we get this power from celebrating Pesach each year; eating
the
Matzot, drinking four cups of wine, telling about the miracles of
the
Exodus, and by learning the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov and
his
pupils (called Chassidut. especially Chassidut Chabad) the rest
of the
year.
May this Pesach give us the power and courage to do all we can to
desire, think, talk about and do all we can to bring...
Moshiach NOW!!
Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel
Eric Chaffee http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NonDualBibleVerses
Easter greetings to all, on Good Friday,
the near near side of the cross.
The passages below, centered on John 17, are deeply instructive
and comforting. They
demonstrate amazing courage in advance of the cross. The major
portion is from Eugene
Peterson's paraphrase of the Bible, The Message Bible. For me,
John 17 contains some of
the deepest nondual teachings I've found anywhere. Of special
interest is the penultimate
paragraph. But the whole prayer builds to a crescendo of love
that is unequalled in
literature.
It is worth noticing that this prayer, which Jesus offers for the
oneness of all, is said
in advance of his proving it on the cross. Truly, therefore, it
is a prayer of faith. He knows
it to be already so, even though the aggressive challenge of
separation will attempt to
assert itself in the ultimate cruelty of execution by torture,
simply for daring to claim the
oneness of all of creation. (His accusers demanded to know:
"Art thou the Christ, the Son
of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of
man sitting on the right
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high
priest rent his clothes,
and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the
blasphemy: what think
ye? And they all condemnded him to death." -Mark 14:61-64
kjv.)
Jesus knew what awaited him, yet he did not detour. He faced
death and grave with
utter disregard and total submission, in order to show us that
the utter inability of those
mere suggestions of separability could somehow eclipse God's
everpresence.
When he spoke those words from the cross, which hint to some that
God might have
abandoned him, he was quoting the first verse of David's Psalm
22. Surely he knew the
rest of the Psalm, which recounts David's victories of the past,
while David was yet in
turmoil. Jesus was doing the same! -- not lamenting separation,
but remembering
deliverance.
How sublime it is that he calls to all of us from the other side
of this great divide, as
if to say: "It's ok guys! Come on over. You're safe, and
always have been. The lie and the
liar have now both been exposed as a delusion. They've been
defeated. Welcome home.
Your fears were groundless. It is I. Be not afraid."
Surely his resurrection has plenty of room in it for anyone
longing for a dwelling
place of peace and comfort. (Consciousness without fear!) The
world threatens and asserts
separation. Jesus has demolished it, and teaches us how to live
without fear, in the
oneness which he has illustrated -- in the oneness which is ours,
if we will have it. This is
the church which he established. It's a unity, not an
organization. One awareness in many
places, inseparable from the unending Source of all Being. 'I in
you, and you in me.'
~eric.
John 16:24
. . .Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things
I've revealed to you. Ask in my
name, according to my will, and he'll most certainly give it to
you. Your joy will be a river
overflowing its banks!
25-28 "I've used figures of speech in telling you these
things. Soon I'll drop the figures
and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can
make your requests directly
to him in relation to this life I've revealed to you. I won't
continue making requests of the
Father on your behalf. I won't need to. Because you've gone out
on a limb, committed
yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly
from the Father, the Father
loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the
world; now I leave the world and
travel to the Father."
29-30 His disciples said, "Finally! You're giving it to us
straight, in plain talk—no more
figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it
all comes together in you.
You won't have to put up with our questions anymore. We're
convinced you came from
God."
31-33 Jesus answered them, "Do you finally believe? In fact,
you're about to make a run
for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I'm not
abandoned. The Father is
with me. I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be
unshakable and assured,
deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to
experience difficulties. But take
heart! I've conquered the world."
John 17
1-5 Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he
said:
Father, it's time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.
6-12 I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world;
They'll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19 Now I'm returning to you.
I'm saying these things in the world's hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn't join the world's ways,
Just as I didn't join the world's ways.
I'm not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I'm consecrating myself for their sakes
So they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
20-23 I'm praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me.
24-26 Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.