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#3272 - Thursday, August 28, 2008 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
Democracy of Non-existent Selves
Shakyamuni Buddha's revolution was without
warfare; without provoking violent opposition, he defied
prevalent Brahmanic conventions to teach not only rulers and
wealthy merchants but outcasts, the disinherited, street punks,
even--eventually--women. He then went on to guide his diverse
followers on the path of liberation. In the Buddha's teachings,
the source of absolute liberation is internal, a state of mind
that is not dependent on external circumstances--not on race,
class, or gender. In dharma, democracy is the birthright of our
own Buddha-nature, the democracy of being that goes beyond all
culture, all concepts.
--Helen Tworkov, Tricyle: The Buddhist Review, Fall 1994
Metaphysical Questions
The Buddha always told his disciples not to
waste their time and energy in metaphysical speculation. Whenever
he was asked a metaphysical question, he remained silent.
Instead, he directed his disciples toward practical efforts.
Questioned one day about the problem of the infinity of the
world, the Buddha said, "Whether the world is finite or
infinite, limited or unlimited, the problem of your liberation
remains the same." Another time he said, "Suppose a man
is struck by a poisoned arrow and the doctor wishes to take out
the arrow immediately. Suppose the man does not want the arrow
removed until he knows who shot it, his age, his parents, and why
he shot it. What would happen? If he were to wait until all these
questions have been answered, the man might die first." Life
is so short. It must not be spent in endless metaphysical
speculation that does not bring us any closer to the truth.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, in Zen Keys
Eckhart Tolle Omega 2002
And that's all that's required this week is that; To know yourself as that space. The arising of inner spaciousness, which I sometimes call 'space-consciousness.' That sounds like science fiction. Outer space, inner space. Space-consciousness as opposed to object-consciousness. And that is amazing because if you consider that on the planet even though the shift is happening, the majority of human beings are totally trapped, totally absorbed by object-consciousness. Objects. Things. Object-consciousness of course is thinking. The arising of an object in the space of your consciousness, a thought which draws you in completely. So people's lives are consumed by, absorbed by objects, the objects of their thought processes but on an external level it manifests as a continuous preoccupation with things, that need to be dealt with. Material things. Events. You know how life is, your normal existence. The world making demands on you. 'This matters, this is important,' then the next thing is it, then you have five things that are all important. And this is what consumes people's lives but it comes down to being consumed by, totally absorbed by the objects that arise because really it's not the external world. It really is an inner phenomenon. Philosophers argue whether there's actually anything out there because all we know is the inner world where sense perceptions get translated into the nerve impulses that reach the brain. Then the impulses become decoded and some kind of image emerges of what the external world is like. What is that relationship between that image and the actual external world? Is there an external world at all? Is it all a dream that's happening in consciousness? Leave that! You were waiting for an answer.
(laughter, pause)
So your attention being totally absorbed by thoughts because it comes down to thoughts, even the things that matter so much in your life, are not really the things that matter, they are thought-forms. Each thing becomes a thought-form, a mental image, and that absorbs your attention. Even if only you might be concerned about your shares on the stock market these days, or maybe you've given up already. And so you are not really concerned about the stocks, it's the thought-form of stock that absorbs your attention. There may be no stock market there at all, it may be a figment of your imagination. It could be the collective dream of Wall Street. But whether it is or not we don't need to take a position here and say "Yes, it's real." And then half the audience would say "It's real, Wall Street exists!" and the other half says "No, it does not exist!" Whether or not it exists out there, what really one cannot argue with, what absorbs your attention is not the shares, it's the thought-forms that have many associations that are to do with me, and my future, and my security, and my old age, and what's going to happen to me? So it's the thought-form absorbs your attention.
posted to Wisdom-l by Mark Scorelle
Psychological inquiry is about content, and
it's directed towards solving some problem.
Spiritual inquiry, however, is about context,
and it's more directed towards discovering
who has the problem.
- Chuck Hillig
posted to Along The Way
~ The Simplicity
of Being ~
Since we are so conditioned and attuned
to define who we are by particular activities,
we spend our lives overlooking the vast ground of stillness
that is the simplicity of being.
When I speak of the
"heart," I am speaking of this same being.
When I speak of the core of every phenomenon,
being is what I am referring to.
When I speak of what is met
in self-inquiry,
I am also speaking of being,
whether it is emotional self-inquiry,
such as meeting fear, anger, despair, or mental self-inquiry,
such as inquiring into the actual I-thought.
To inquire fully into
anything
is to discover this vast, simple, presence of being -
yourself, as you are.
Being is not a practice.
A practice involves some technique,
a right way and a wrong way,
a belief in getting someplace,
and a reward or attainment. I
n the truth of absolute stillness,
none of that applies.
~ Gangaji from: The Diamond In Your Pocket
posted to Wisdom-l by Mark Scorelle_