photo: John Taylor
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#2980 -
Nondual
Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
One: Essential Writings on
Nonduality: http://snipurl.com/1rycd (Amazon.com site)
Check availability of One: Essential
Writings on Nonduality at your local Borders Store:
http://www.bordersstores.com/locator/locator.jsp?tt=gn
In this issue a link to a beautiful reading
by Dustin. And excerpts from the Choose To Be
Free website of John Taylor.
Dustin
reads selections from the Nisargadatta Song of Beyond I
Am:
http://lindensmith.com/nonduality/nisargadatta_beyond_i_am.mp3
The entire text is at http://nonduality.com/beyond.htm
photo: John Taylor
The following is
excerpted from John Taylor's website: http://www.choosetobefree.com/index.htm
The Four
Principles... (edited version)
Close the Gap
The words known as:
Self-Realization, God-Realization, The Absolute,
Moksha, Liberation, Freedom, Truth, GOD, Enlightenment, Nirvana
and
any word that hasn’t been mentioned, are all pointing to the
same
thing. The question is what are they pointing to?
We use the word
“Unconditioned” to refer to all of the above. The
Unconditioned is none other than you minus the Conditions.
Some of us see the Gap
quite easily and for others it’s more subtle.
The Gap is in believing that God, Enlightenment or the
Unconditioned
is somewhere other than where I AM.
Most teachings agree on
the word Omnipresence. Omnipresence being
true, the question that arises is: Where Can I go where GOD is
not?
The obvious answer is nowhere. There is nowhere I can go where
GOD is
not! That is a most profound statement to be realized. If there
is
nowhere I can go where GOD is not, then God must be right where I
AM.
If we truly embrace
Omnipresence then that will Close the Gap quite
nicely.
Three statements on
closing the gap
You are you and you are
THAT which is Significant.
There is nothing for you
to do in order to be you because you are
already you.
You are already you
because you have never been anyone else.
Please ponder the three
statements deeply. Doing so will Close the
Gap.
Cultivate
Awareness of the Unconditioned
Most of us have been
focused on the Conditioned since birth and we’ve
had quite a bit of help to have that focus. Our parents,
siblings,
friends, schools and any thing else that we call society is one
big
condition.
Birth and Death and every
thing in between are a Condition.
The Ego believes that it
can create conditions that are favorable to
it and having done that, it will be happy.
The difficulty is that
this is only a belief and one that the Self
Improvement people are trying to sell to us. Yes friends you can
have
it
all times! You can have a love relationship that exceeds the love
of
Romeo and Juliet!
The above is what Ego
wants and what society is trying to sell to it.
Please stop buying into this. Even if the Ego could acquire these
things it will then need to maintain them or they will be lost.
No matter how well they
are maintained and that of course assumes
that one acquires them to begin with, they are destined to
perish.
The reason that they are destined to perish is because they are
conditions. Conditions do not unfold. Conditions always collapse
in
on themselves.
The Ego is actually the
opposite of the Four Principles. The Ego does
not close the gap it creates gap. Ego does not cultivate
awareness of
the Unconditioned. It prefers to cultivate awareness of the
Conditioned. The Ego doesn’t attempt to deepen in wisdom and
compassion because it’s too focused on itself to care about
others.
The Ego does not trust or rest. The Ego does not unfold it
collapses
in on itself as does all other conditions.
Be Willing to
Forever Deepen in Wisdom and Compassion
Wisdom and Compassion are both necessary. There cannot be one
without
the other. Wisdom relies upon Compassion for a true understanding
and
Compassion relies upon Wisdom for a true expression.
Wisdom without Compassion
leads to arrogance and Compassion without
Wisdom has no direction.
Most people seem to favor
one over the other. Some find Wisdom comes
more readily than Compassion and others will find the opposite to
be
true. Therefore, we focus on that one which does not come so
easily.
If Wisdom comes easily,
then focusing on Compassion is most wise. If
Compassion comes easily, then focusing on Wisdom is most
compassionate. This is true simply because we need both together
as
one.
A very good example of
Wisdom and Compassion being together is found
in the Heart Sutra. In the Heart Sutra there is Avalokiteshvara
Bodhisattva which is the highest emblem of compassion within
Buddhism
and the Bodhisattva is speaking about Wisdom.
We would have a tendency
to expect an expert on Compassion to speak
about compassion, but it so happens that the Bodhisattva of
Compassion speaks about Wisdom.
It is actually quite
natural that the epitome of Compassion would
speak about Wisdom because that is a very compassionate thing to
do.
Wisdom and Compassion are
not something that we create. They are
qualities of the Unconditioned. Engaging the Unconditioned is to
engage wisdom and compassion. As we Cultivate Awareness of the
Unconditioned, then we are also deepening in Wisdom and
Compassion.
Trust and Rest in
the Unfolding
Trusting and Resting in
the Unfolding is the culmination of the other
three principles. To the degree that we Trust, it is to that
degree
that we Rest. The more we Trust, the more we Rest. The more we
Rest,
the more we Trust.
Trusting is not based on
blind faith. What has caused you to be
interested in Truth itself? That is what you Trust. It is
important
to point out how rare it is to attend Satsang. Approximately one
percent of the human population attends Satsang. That means there
is
a 99% chance that a person will not attend Satsang and yet you
are
attending. How do you explain that? Learn to trust that which
brought
you to Satsang.
Do not believe anything.
Believing is something we do when we don’t
know. When we know directly then believing is non existent.
Believing
is something we use to fill the Gap because the gap is
uncomfortable.
It is much better to be honest by saying “I don’t
know” then to
insert a belief in order to be more comfortable.
Honesty is a
characteristic of the Unconditioned. When we honestly
don’t know then we are much closer than we would be if we
inserted a
belief. Believing is an illusion of knowing. Do not settle for
anything less than knowing directly for yourself. Being honest
about
not knowing opens the door to knowing. Inserting a belief closes
the
door to knowing.
Trusting and Resting are
based only on KNOWING. Before you say that
you know nothing, you MUST know something or otherwise you would
not
be at Satsang.
~ ~ ~
Summary of the
Four Principles
The Four Principles are
Universal. They are applicable to all people
at all times and in all places.
They are a modification
of Self Enquiry. With just a small amount of
practice we are able to see ourselves. Whatever we think, say or
do
can be seen to Close the Gap or not. We see if we are Cultivating
Awareness of the Unconditioned or not. We can see if we are
Deepening
in Wisdom and Compassion or not. We can see if we are Trusting
and
Resting in the Unfolding or not.
The Four Principles are
in harmony with whatever teaching or
spiritual practice you may have. Please put them to use and then
you
will know for yourself. If you find that your practice goes
against
the Four Principles then you may want to consider making an
adjustment.
There is a rumor that so
far no one has encountered the Unconditioned
and has regretted it.
Living only within the
conditioned is filled with regret.
Be Interested – Be
Willing – Be Honest and the Unconditioned will
take care of everything else.
We look forward to seeing
you at Satsang.
In Absolute Love,
John
John Taylor's
website: http://www.choosetobefree.com/index.htm