Nonduality"
Nonduality.com Home Page

Click here to go to the next issue

Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nonduality Highlights each day

Digest
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4620 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-09
Subject: #4620 - Friday, June 8, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4620 - Friday, June 8, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ 
В 
В 

В 
В 

This issue features some more from the Science and Nonduality Conference (SAND)В 2012 in Doorn, The Netherlands. You may wish to attend next year, from May 29 to June 2, 2013, in Doorn. Registration is discounted at 345 Euros until July 1, 2012. If you are interested, send your request here:
В 
В 
This October 24-29, 2012,В the U.S.A. SAND is being held in San Rafael, California. It is a breathtakingly overwhelming experience. Immerse yourself in it for a unique experience of satsang as community.
В 
В 
The SAND will also be held in Pune, India, in February 2013, so stay tuned for that announcement. From what the co-organizers said, apparently you will be picked up at the airport and offered accommodations at a university dormitory. Meals will be available too.
В 
В 

В 
В 
Photos and Facebook stuff about the conference can be accessed here:
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
Manduality
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
Photo from the panel discussion entitled Taking Nonduality Seriously. Left to right: Puppetji, Jerry, David Ellzey, Tim Freke, Jeff Foster, Paul Smit. Photo by existential detective Hans Tibben.
В 
We were criticized for having no women on the panel. Near the end of the discussion, the womenВ displaced the guysВ with Vera de Chalambert leading the charge. Then the womenВ were criticized for taking a masculine approach toward knocking us guys off our pedestal. No photos of that though!
В 
Here's a better shot of Jeff, with David Ellzey showing an audience member how to be a mime. Photo by Hans Tibben.
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
Here are the primary organizers and love-spirit of SAND, Maurizio and Zaya Benazzo. Following the conference circuit with Maurizio and Zaya is as close as I've ever come to following a charismatic leader. It just so happens that our visions for nonduality are very similar. So I guess I'm really following the vision for nonduality established in the late 90s. But I'm also following these guys around:
В 
В 
В 
Photo:В Zaya and Maurizio Bennazzo. Photo by Hans Tibben.
В 
В 

В 
I want to mention a couple of Amsterdam bookstores that support Nonduality and Advaita literature.
В 

Wanuskéwin is a - body mind spirit- bookshop, situated in the Pijp neighborhood in Amsterdam, close to the Albert Cuypmarket. As soon as you step into the shop you’ll immediately find yourself transported from the busy street to an "oasis in the Pijp", as our regular customers call it. The name Wanuskéwin is a Cree word meaning "seeking peace of mind".

Here youÂ’ll find one of the largest collections of body-mind-spirit books, English as well as Dutch, in Amsterdam. Anything you might not be able to find on the shelf can be ordered and is available within a week or two. We also have a large collection of meditative and healing music, as well as incense, essential oils, crystals & semi-precious stones, tarot decks, meditation cushions, wind chimes, etc.

Learn more here:

http://www.wanuskewin.nl/home.htm

WanuskГѓВ©win hosted the conference bookstore, carrying the books and DVDs of the speakers, and providing friendly and excellent service.

~ ~ ~

I also visited Au Bout du Monde, located at Singel 313, 1012 WJ Amsterdam
Their site is http://www.auboutdumonde.nl

The manager, Pieter, was very friendly. He loves his bookstore and the customers. What I think is amazing about this shop is that as you walk in, the entire wall on the right is dedicated to nonduality in its different forms. The books on the wall on the left are about "doing" or various spiritual activities. Therefore, there is something for everyone. Significantly, this store has been in business since 1970, so they know exactly what books to order in each genre. Most or many of them are in Dutch. Here's a photo of the bookstore:

В 

В 

В 
В 
My host in the Netherlands was Anamika. She should be a tour guide. She's definitely a friend.В I think she is an emerging teacher too. I believe it is the obvious direction for her. I've been featuring Anamika's writings in recent issues and here is one related to the conference, which she attended:
В 
Necessary?
В 
Awareness is all there is,В  is what we are.
Does not need anything,В  as it is whole and complete.
В 
But for the sake of joy, for the sake of celebration its inventing for instance
conferences to happen.
В 
Recognizing itself in all and everything.
В 
In the quantum scientists who discover that emptiness is the base of all,
as 99,9999999999999 % is empty space when matter is looked at,
and who try to tell us about it.
В 
In the young man who only 2 months ago, while reading about Non Duality
finally found an explanation for his 'strange' condition. He came with so much
fire and passion to know.
В 
In the enthusiasm and openness of the young assistants helping with the organisation.
В 
In the laughter and the sharing in between the session.
В 
In the wonderful performances and movies who brought all who watched,
to tears, or gratitude and wonder.
В 
The publishers,В  the filmmakers, the seekers,В  the speakers,В  the organizers, the merely curious.
В 
В 
Someone asked:
В 'Why do we need these conferences? Are they necessary?.'
В 
How can we judge that?
And from where does this question arise?
В 
Does the fact that they happen not indicate that they are necessary.
After all they take place.
It could not have been any other way.
And they are soo much fun.
Celebrating.
Just happening..
Just This.
В 

The wild geese do not intend to cast their reflection.
The water has no mind to receive their image.
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В  Zenrin Kushu
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
See Anamika's photos and read her blog at http://noname-allthereis.blogspot.ca/
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4621 From: Mark Date: 2012-06-11
Subject: #4615 - Saturday/Sunday, June 9/10, 2012

Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights: Issue #4615, Saturday/Sunday, June 9/10, 2012





Maharaj must have been thinking about the subject as he climbed up the steps to his loft-room. He started talking about it as soon as he had taken his seat and settled himself. This was not unusual.

He said people these days are so much enslaved by the gross utilities of life that they hardly have the time to observe themselves critically. They wake up in the morning and immediately start planning the day's activities. For activity to them is a virtue and contemplative thought a sort of dead fish. If such self-imposed pressure were avoided, they would find it most interesting to watch the process of awakening. They would notice, for instance, that between the period of the deep sleep, when they are not conscious of anything at all, and the time when they are fully awake, there is an interregnum when consciousness is just stirring and the mind weaves its fantasies into a light dream that ends when they are fully awake.

"What is the first thing that happens when you are awake,?" asked Maharaj. Have you ever really experienced it? And observed it? If you were asked, Maharaj continued, about the first thing that happens when you are awake, you probably be inclined to say that you see the objects in the room. Every object has a three-dimensional form, which is perceived by a 'you'. What is it that perceives the form of an object? Whatever perceives the form of the object must surely exist prior to the object perceived. You can perceive the various objects, including parts of your own body, which are also object to whatever it is that perceives. Therefore, that which perceives is not the body, which is only an object since it also can be perceived. The perceiver is the subject and thing perceived is the object.

What is it that perceives? It is the consciousness, the being-ness, the I-am-ness, that is the perceiver. As soon as you wake up, if you were not in so much of a hurry to get up and go about your daily routine, you would notice that waking in fact means distinctively 'being present' i.e. conscious of being present, not as a particular individual with such and such a name, but conscious presence as such, which it is that gives sentience to a sentient being and enables the various senses to function.

You would then realize that there are two notional, but distinct centers. There is this spot of consciousness on behalf of which you instinctively say 'I', and there is the objective centre of the psychosomatic apparatus which acts in the world, with which you mistakenly identify yourself with a particular name. One is subjectively what-you-are as 'I', the other is a physical form which is what-you-appear-to-be as 'me'. Actually, there are no 'me's and 'you's, only 'I'.

Understand this profoundly - and be free; free of the mistaken identity.

Then there is the final step to be apprehended. This consciousness is the 'such-ness', the 'taste' of the essence of food of which the body is made and by which it is sustained. to that extent, consciousness too is time-bound like the body. When the body 'dies', consciousness disappears like a flame when the fuel is exhausted. Indeed, consciousness is duration, without which an object would not last long enough to be manifested and perceived. What then, are 'you'? So long as the body exists, you are this conscious presence within, the perceiving principle; when the body dies, 'you' are the Absolute Awareness into which the temporal consciousness merges. And then there is no longer the sense of being present. Remember, therefore, that no 'one' is born and no 'one dies, because all the forms (that appear, remain for the duration and then disappear,) are your expression, your mirrorization.

- Ramesh Balsekar from No 'One' is Born: No 'One" Dies: Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels




Just as a forest conflagration (itself a single body of flame) assumes innumerable forms, so does the formless, nondual Consciousness assume all forms that compose the universe.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels




The Mystery of Life: The indivisible pretends to
be divisible, assumes a point of view, and then
struggles to, seemingly, regain what it had never
really lost.

You're not moving through life like walking through
some kind of elaborate maze.

You're actually standing perfectly still...and "Life's
Maze" is really moving through you.

So...be "a-mazed!"

Your life is an incredible gift that you're giving to
yourself so don't squander it.

Dance the Dance!

As someone once said, "The living are few; the
dead are many."

- Chuck Hillig from Seeds for the Soul, posted to AlongTheWay




"I hate a Roman named Status Quo!" he said to me. "Stuff your eyes with wonder," he said, "live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that," he said, "shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.

- Ray Bradbury, from Fahrenheit 451, posted to DailyDharma




don't go to sleep
this night
one night is worth
a hundred thousand souls

the night is generous
it can give you
a gift of the full moon
it can bless your soul
with endless treasure

every night when you feel
the world is unjust
never ending grace
descends from the sky
to soothe your souls

the night is not crowded like the day
the night is filled with eternal love
take this night
tight in your arms
as you hold a sweetheart

remember the water of life
is in the dark caverns
don't be like a big fish
stopping the life's flow
by standing in the mouth of a creek

even Mecca is adorned with black clothes
showing that the heavens
are ready to grace
the human soul

even one prayer
in the Mecca of a night
is like a hundred
no one can claim
sleep can build
a temple like this

during a night
the blessed prophet
broke all the idols and
God remained alone
to give equally to all
an endless love

- Rumi, Ghazal 947, translated by Nader Khalili from Rumi, Fountain of Fire, posted to Sunlight




This World Which Is Made of Our Love for Emptiness

Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence. Existence:
This place made from our love for that emptiness!
Yet somehow comes emptiness,
this existence goes.
Praise to that happening, over and over!
For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.
Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,
that work is over.
Free of who I was, free of presence, free of dangerous fear, hope,
free of mountainous wanting.
The here-and-now mountain is a tiny piece of a piece of straw
blown off into emptiness.
These words I'm saying so much begin to lose meaning:
Existence, emptiness, mountain, straw:
Words and what they try to say swept
out the window, down the slant of the roof.

- Rumi, Ghazal 950, version by Coleman Barks, from Open Secret, posted to Sunlight




TEN YEARS LATER

When the mind is clear
and the surface of the now still,
now swaying water

slaps against
the rolling kayak,

I find myself near darkness,
paddling again to Yellow Island.

Every spring wildflowers
cover the grey rocks.

Every year the sea breeze
ruffles the cold and lovely pearls
hidden in the center of the flowers

as if remembering them
by touch alone.

A calm and lonely, trembling beauty
that frightened me in youth.

Now their loneliness
feels familiar, one small thing
I've learned these years,

how to be alone,
and at the edge of aloneness
how to be found by the world.

Innocence is what we allow
to be gifted back to us
once we've given ourselves away.

There is one world only,
the one to which we gave ourselves
utterly, and to which one day

we are blessed to return.

- David Whyte from The House of Belonging



Group: NDhighlights Message: 4622 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-11
Subject: #4622 - Monday, June 11, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4622 -В Monday, June 11, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
В 
В 
As Monty Python was wont to say,
"And now for something completely different."
В 
Dear Readers,
If you have never tried to write a book review, let me say how much I highly recommend that you do so. If for no other reason, just to watch your mind come up with the most outrageous excuses to put it off. In my case, I had to wash the dust off my houseplants, fill the bird feeders, get last year's sourВ cherries out of the freezer to make a pie later. Oh it goes on and on.В I even thought about going through all the shoes in my closet to get rid of some, not that I did it. I suppose if you are that rare bird for whom writing comes easily, you might just sit down and do it. But under no circumstances look at someone else's review, except perhaps of a different book. So here's my confession, instead.
В 
Yes,В I didВ read Fred Davis's review of Louis Brawley's new book from Non-Duality Press. HeВ nailed it. It'sВ just what I wish I could write in my wildest dreams. And to top that, he has an interviewВ withВ the author onВ Fred'sВ amazing website, Awakening Clarity, plus moreВ links galore.В When I readВ  Goner: The final travels of UG Krishnamurti, it created more conundrums about UG than it solved. Fred articulates whatВ those conundrums are about so well. It's doubtful that anyone could actually "explain" UG, but Louis Brawley makes him real and gives you as wellВ theВ experienceВ of what it was reallyВ likeВ forВ the peopleВ who lived with UG the last five years of his life.В You will not onlyВ feel you are there, but UG will encounter youВ through these pages in some way.В Reading GonerВ totally changed my opinion of UG, not that it was based on muchВ to begin with.В AndВ by the endВ I understood why people wanted to be there, however implausibleВ that first appeared. В I have immense appreciation and gratitude for what Louis Brawley has given us, especiallyВ his unusuallyВ brutal honesty withВ his ownВ reactions to living with UG. How rare it is to find such an intimate account of anything. Read it, precisely because UG is so completely different.
В 
В 
Here is the review by Fred Davis on Amazon:
First things first: this book is beautifully written. Louis Brawley, who has always wanted to be an artist, has found his medium: ink and paper. Mr. Brawley sees and feels as a poet sees and feels and he takes us with him. There are descriptions here of people and events, spiritual insights and mental movements that are so good we would expect to find them only in the best written novels by our very finest writers. Brawley has found his subject, too: a larger than life U.G. Krishnamurti, who can only be described as stark, raving sane.

Another apt title might have been No Fear and Much Loathing All Around the World. Brawley spent five years with UG and a weird, wonderful, rather madcap group touring from India to California to Switzerland and Italy, always on the move; flying, driving, and always, always talking. Well, there's a lot of hollering here, too, but there's damn little silence. UG has a lot to say, he's not shy about saying it, and all of "those bastards" better know it. I got to where I would laugh every time I saw "those bastards" appear.
If you are a fan of the other, more famous, far more pastoral Jiddu Krishnamurti, approach this book with caution. I'd advise you to come absolutely as open minded as you can stretch. UG, and Brawley too, assail JK, as they refer to him, with scorn and venom. I'm never quite clear why. Brawley sounds victimized and UG sounds enraged, but then, curiously, as we come to the later pages, there are hints of gratitude and devotion as well, from both author and subject. If that sounds like some kind of complex paradoxical combination, you are dead on it. If there ever was a spiritual puzzle, UG is it. He carried his own gravitational field, and nothing works quite the same once it has entered that field. It extends into this book.

I got an interesting tip from someone I respect about all this anti-JK stuff. My friend said, "I wonder if UG, by being so scathing of all supports and gurus, was actually trying to free people from dependency, and, indeed, continuing the work of JK? Louis said that UG often saved his most scathing comments for those that he actually honored. Confusing but possibly true." I liked this story so much that I didn't care if it was true or not. I adopted it and it allowed me to drop my own proper defenses and lay myself bare to the red hot sabre of sanity wielded by this strange little man, who was easily Twentieth Century spirituality's best-kept open secret,and strangest enigma.
В 
review continues:
В 
В 

В 
The Invisible Man
By Louis Brawley
В 
В 
AGREEING OR DISAGREEING had absolutely no place in my interactions with U.G. Krishnamurti. Teaching or not teaching was irrelevant. There came a time when I saw that there was nothing there to argue with, no entity promoting or defending any idea, rather it was life attacking all ideas as false. After that happened I was thrown back on the idea of control, supposed to spring from will and understanding. I can testify that my understandings were totally, utterly useless, what he called “empty words and empty phrases”. Around U.G. this fact hit me with all the force and indifference of nature. Usually it came in the form of one of his 'blasts'. Before I met him I’d heard the expression 'blast' used to describe one of his rants. I assumed it was an exaggeration until I witnessed it for the first time. One evening we were sitting around while U.G. was talking to Mario about his job. The two were sitting face-to-face discussing Mario’s affairs after he'd just arrived after a long day of work and a six-hour drive from Cologne to Gstaad. U.G. teased him quite a bit then suddenly an angry tone ripped into the exchange like a sudden tide, taking us all by surprise and focusing all of us on one point like a hot poker. Mario’s face turned red with the force of it. Because of his dynamic energy, the effect was like sitting inside a thunderstorm as we sat watching. It went on intensifying until it seemed unbearable, then suddenly it broke and he patted Mario on the arm after telling him to “Getoutofhere!” gently as a lamb. Later Mario told me he knew exactly why it happened and was grateful for it.
В 
AFTER A LONG OBSESSION with the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti, I discovered the books of U.G. Krishnamurti. When what U.G. said started to sink in I knew I was dealing with something far more immediate. His was the expression of a man who had touched life directly, rather than through ideas or practice. There was never a question of his talking from a platform to a crowd or charging for that service. 'Shop closed! No wares to sell!' he repeated to friends over the years, while making himself available free of charge to whomever made it to his door. His time was spent in a one-on-one attack on the false "ideation" in others, his closest friends. The intimacy of his company was so immediate that when one of his 'blasts' was directed at me for the first time it felt like death. It must have been the death of the familiar, because nothing he ever did threatened my life. On the contrary, whatever he did, if there was an effect, it was to make me feel less invested in bullshit. Sometimes it looks like all U.G. did was knock the wind out of my pretentious ideas about things every waking minute of the day for the five years I knew him. It was more refreshing than I can describe, and painful at times in exactly the way healing is painful.
WHAT BECAME CLEAR as I ‘hung around’ U.G. was that my body is operating just fine with no problems, and this was the case no thanks to my ideas about it. Rather, the stress these ideas put on my body is the only problem I have. I am absolutely at the mercy of life, yet I carry on as though I have a say in it. As I understand it now, any and every idea at my disposal has come to me from society. I do not own a single one.  Over thousands of years of human existence the ideas used by society to impose fictions like ‘happiness’ on us get more and more predominant, causing increasingly unnatural stress. Handy for doing a job or getting to a train on time, thought is a great tool, but what idiot cooked up this idea of happiness? A very clever one indeed because this classic model of self-improvement sets up the dynamic for a business of human exploitation in the name of spirituality that has been thriving for thousands of years. U.G. was serious when he called it criminal to partake in a business like this where the goods cannot be delivered but the ass of the exploiter is covered with the idea of ‘faith’. In nature if something doesn’t work, it dies. There is no place in the natural order for faith, which operates only when there is uncertainty in the area of results. With happiness, or better yet, permanent happiness known as ‘enlightenment’, when the practice doesn’t produce results we are instructed to have faith or work harder rather than question the teachers. So we pay them and blame ourselves for not having enough faith or working hard enough. What a racket!
В 

Continued: (and don't forget there's moreВ links!)

http://awakeningclarity.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/invisible-man-guest-memoir-by-louis.html?utm_source=BP_recent
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4623 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-12
Subject: #4623 - Tuesday, June 12, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4623 -В Tuesday, June 12, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ В 
В 
Over the years I've published writings on nonduality and schizophrenia. Laura Burke received a diagnosis of schizophrenia in 2005. She is currently completing her Masters Degree in Drama Therapy at Concordia University. She healed and heals by livingВ one day at a time. My understanding is that she never took medication for this diagnosis.
В 
A couple years ago I had the opportunity of meeting Laura on a city bus and we chatted for about a minute before she had to get off. She strikes you immediately as one of those smart, articulate, humaneВ people you rarely meet and never forget. She recites the following poetry in the third video listed below:
В 
"My rebirth happened when I decided to acceptВ what I'd been given in my own way, to plant myself on my own turf and say, 'So what. So I do my job well. So I've got an interesting story to tell. Everytime I hear your condescending approval you instigate the removal of my dignity. And I am tempted to say, '"
В 
I'm pleased to add this issue of the Highlights toВ the collection of nonduality and schizophrenia on nonduality.com which may be accessed here:
В 
В 
Laura Burke's visual poem is called Superhero and may be viewed here
В 
В 
If you watch no other video on this page, watch Supehero.
В 
It begins with the words, "Wake up!" Somewhere you'll hear her say, "So look not to those who suffer as pillars of strength born with the ability to swim the length of the channel of hope. Look to your self and how your acceptance of their stubborn self-pity and humanity might help them to cope." ... "Hold your loved ones and take in their suffering. Don't make them be heros." ... "I used to own memories, but because of you I sold them... for a future."
В 
On the following YouTube video it reads, "Laura Burke, theВ 2009 Inspiring Lives Award recipient, shares her experiences of living with mental illness and the importance of talking about mental health. A skilled writer, Laura describes how tapping into her creativity continues to help her recovery." See
В 
В 
Here is Laura Burke talking about mental healthВ and reading a poem about it:
В 
В 
I hope a session on Nonduality and Psychosis could be presented at one of the Science and Nonduality conferences soon, or perhaps the Paradoxica Conference. Actually a conference on Nonduality and Psychiatry would be perfect, if there were one.
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4624 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-13
Subject: #4624 - Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4624 - Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ 
В 
В 


Ramesam Vemuri writes
В 
Thank you for the interesting Post (issue #4623)

I would like to comment on your note at the end: "Actually a conference on Nonduality and Psychiatry would be perfect, if there were one."

Yes, there were several!

The 11th Conference of Non-duality and Psychotherapy was held at CIIS from 9 to 11 Sept 2011.

Further, as you yourself know, there are many psychiatrists and psychologists teaching Advaita for patients of addiction, depression and other psychological sufferings.

You have already made a mention of Prof.В  Gary Nixon (at Lethbridge University in Canada) who teaches Non-duality for de-addiction.

Psychiatrist Richard Young of Pathways Counseling Center, Riverside, Calif., Psychologists John Astin, Santa Cruz, Calif., Peter Fenner, Palo Alto, Calif., Buddhist and Neuroscience Prof. Zoran Josipovic of NYU are some of the others who are deep into Advaita in helping people for de-addiction and tackling depression and related matters.

Susan Kahn is a nondual therapist and licensed clinical therapist.

Trauma Specialist Dr. Jim Kowall in Illinois, Jordan Shafer of Dallas, Texas, Psychologist Joel Friedman are a few more examples of Board certified psychotherapists and consultants applying Non-dual wisdom to alleviate suffering from addiction, trauma, depression etc.

Other notable names are : Dr. Robert Saltzman is a non-dual teacher and psychotherapist in Baja California, Mexico. Prof. Daniel Siegel, Clinical professor of Psychiatry, UCLA codirects the Mindful Awareness Research Center. Frank Echenhofer of California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA. Brian Theriault MEd. CCC of Winnipeg, Canada, John Prendergast, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief,В  Nondual Wisdom and Psychology Institute, Mariana Caplan, Simon Crosby :В  a life can be had merely through quite simple practices.

Jerry Katz responds
В 
В 
Hi Ramesam,
В 
Thank you.
В 
I would like to state my understanding of some of the differences between psychiatry and psychotherapyВ and how nonduality could be useful to psychiatry.
В 
Psychiatrists are medical doctorsВ who are allowed to prescribe medications and often find themselves in positions ofВ dominance andВ authority within a health care system. To my knowledge, neither of those attributes apply to the typical psychotherapist in North America.
В 
The psychotherapist may have a supporting role in the management of psychoses, such as helping with collateral psychological issues.В For serious mental health problems such asВ schizophrenia and otherВ psychoses, psychotherapists typically send their clients and patients to psychiatrists.В 
В 
Nonduality and psychiatry are starting to come together but the two fields are not asВ intimately relatedВ as they are with psychotherapy.
В 
A nondual psychiatry might promote drug-free options for healing from psychosis while alsoВ recognizing that for some people diagnosed with mental illness thereВ is a need to use medication for part or all of one's life.В Psychiatry informed by nonduality would likely inspire the living of a full life rather than the settling for a life of merely surviving with very limited opportunities for expansion of one's potential.
В 
Daniel Fisher is an MD, PhD, psychiatrist who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He speaks of the goal of recovery from serious mental illness and living a full life rather than the goal of experiencing remission and living at a welfare/survival level.В He would be an ideal speaker for a conference on nonduality and psychiatry. HereВ he is on youtube:
В 
В 
В 
Fisher says that when he was in the hospital he did not speak for a month. "I went through the very, very depths of my being. I spent one month not talking at all. Not a word did I speak. Because I felt I had to go to the deepest part of myself, to peel away all the layers and find who was I there. And what I found was that deep down I think we are all healthy. Deep down we are all whole. And if we can just recognize that and find people who recognize that in us, we'll find that health and wellness and recovery are possible. It's what every person needs. It's not unique with people who have been diagnosed [with a mental illness]. Everyone needs to be understood."
В 
Nonduality isВ the realization of what one actually is. It could be helpful in uncovering the path of recovery when one has been diagnosed with a mental illness.
В 
People such as Laura Burke and Daniel Fisher and many others in full recovery are not special. They are the new normal. In the community of nonduality we are aware of many people, ourselves included, who have seen the clouds of addiction, neurosis, and conditioningВ give way to the clear sky. The same is true for psychotic experiences, and that's where psychiatry can be useful.
В 
В 

В 
В 
I am is a donkey.В 
Self identity is an ass.
Mind, name, form, feelings
Emotions, cravings, hopes and fears
All includedÂ… see: apparently 
We all are donkeys,
Whether considered most intelligent
And revered as such
Or the dumbest of the dumbÂ…
Plain asses, subject to birth, decay and death.
But the remember,
Lucky seeker after truth,
That the master is peerless.
Ghost rider directing and guiding all donkeys,
The herd owner and sustainer
Is the same resplendent one and only.
RealityВ 
There is no other. So
Wake up from dreams of selfhood, oh fortunate!
Unless you want to remain an assÂ…
В 

*****************************************

braying unconditionally,
yosy
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4625 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-15
Subject: #4625 - Thursday, June 14, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 



Gloria, I am so pleased to announce our first publication...

Real
                                                    Thirst, Poetry of
                                                    the Spiritual
                                                    Journey, Ivan M.
                                                    Granger Real Thirst
Poetry of theSpiritual Journey

Poems & Translations by Ivan M. Granger
$14.95
PURCHASE

Also through
Amazon.com
Real
                                                      Thirst US
В Real
                                                        Thirst UKВ Real
                                                        Thirst FRВ Real
                                                        Thirst DER

Fall 2012:
Kindle & iBook
The poems in Real Thirst are an exploration of the spiritual journey viewed through the mystic's eyes. This collection is a delightful blend of word and silence, presenting moments of contemplation punctuated with bursts of ecstatic insight.

Real Thirst combines original poems by Ivan M. Granger with new translations of works by visionaries from both East and West: John of the Cross, Francis of Assisi, Symeon the New Theologian, Hakim Sanai, Tukaram, Sarmad, Bulleh Shah, Sachal Sarmast, Vladimir Solovyov, Tulsi Sahib, and Antonio Machado.



“I found Real Thirst to be a slow, cool and refreshing drink. The deep singularity present within each poem, evokes a kind of felt suchness, and that is a real gift. I believe you will find these poems an antidote to the rush of your days.”
В В В В  ~ JOHN FOX author of Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making





Hi Gloria

Today I feel like a proud father! The Poetry Chaikhana has published its first book!

Real Thirst: Poetry of the Spiritual Journey is a collection of my own poems along with several translations of works by other visionary poets, from John of the Cross to Bulleh Shah.

This book wouldn't have come into being without the encouragement and help of the Poetry Chaikhana community -- so first and foremost, I want to thank all of you.

As satisfying as it is to have a book of my own poems and translations in print, my ultimate goal is to publish an anthology of sacred poetry, possibly a series of anthologies: a treasure trove of the great sacred poets, accompanied by commentaries. That's always been the heart of the Poetry Chaikhana.

Before I could commit to such a large publishing project, however, I needed to learn the basics of the process. I had to educate myself step-by-step on every aspect of publishing: editing and proofreading (with the help of several excellent volunteers), page layout and formatting, cover design, print specifications, distribution channels, even marketing. It occurred to me early on that it would be best to go through the learning process with my own work first in order to be well prepared as I move into the bigger projects. Thus, Real Thirst was born.

And, I have to say, I'm very pleased with how this first book turned out.


I do hope you will buy a copy of Real Thirst... and I hope it's a book you'll love.

Not only does your purchase support the Poetry Chaikhana, you will also be encouraging future publications. Good sales of this first book makes future books possible. If you are eager to have an anthology of sacred poetry from the Poetry Chaikhana on your bookshelf, purchasing Real Thirst is the best way to help.


Purchasing Real Thirst

You can purchase Real Thirst directly, here. It is also available through Amazon.com.

Since the Poetry Chaikhana is a global community, I managed to also make Real Thirst available through some of Amazon's international sites, including Amazon UK and Amazon Germany.


eBook Formats Coming in Fall

For those of you with a Kindle or iPad, Real Thirst will be available in both formats later this year. I'll be sure to let everyone know when the ebook formats are available.


Reader Reviews

If you like Real Thirst, another wonderful way you can help is to post your own review of the book online at Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. People do read those online reviews -- I know I do. It is a great way to expand interest outside the Poetry Chaikhana community.


Read More

If you'd like to read a few more samples from Real Thirst click here. You can also see a bit more of the book by clicking the "Look Inside" link on Amazon.com.


And please feel free to send me an email or post a note on the Poetry Chaikhana Blog to tell me what you think. I'd love to hear your responses. The publication of this book -- the first of many, I hope -- was made possible by the outpouring of love and encouragement from all of you.


Have a beautiful day!

Ivan




“Ivan M. Granger has thrown open the doors of his body, heart and mind to the Infinite’s expressions of Itself in this world… These poems touch all the heart-strings. I laughed, I shed tears, I fell into contemplative states, I felt awe and wonder, love and longing as I read his offerings… You’ll want to return to this wellspring to quench your thirst over and over again.”
     ~ LAWRENCE EDWARDS, Ph.D. author of The SoulÂ’s Journey: Guidance From the Divine Within and KaliÂ’s Bazaar




Sample Poetry




First dawn. Even the
birds in the tallest pines are
surprised by the sun.




Parched

The parched know –

real thirst
draws rainwater
from an empty sky.




Every Shaped Thing

Sighing,
every shaped thing
turns
heavenward.

Your altar
cannot seat
the thousand thousand
idols.

Holding them,
what do you have?

Each gilded god
says:

"I am
impoverished
by the sun.

I can only
point
up."




Medusa

Medusa says –

I was wisdom
once,
black as night.

Now they call me:
В В В В В monster,
В В В В В gorgon,
В В В В В hideous-faced.

So I hide
behind this hissing curtain
of hair.

Lost
little ones,
breathe easy;
you are free
to not see.

But
what is a lonely
old lady to do?

I still wait
for some daughter,
В В В В В some son,
so wounded by the world,
to seize these snakes
and part my locks wide.

I still wait
for some bold, tired
В В В В В wild child of mine,

determined to die
seeing whatÂ’s reflected
in my unblinking eye.

* See comments on this poem below





“A delightful prism through which we see a delicate dance of fireflies and countless other wonders – poems, haiku and translations to illuminate the heart and the world.”
В В В В  ~ GABRIEL ROSENSTOCK author of Haiku Enlightenment

Real
                                              Thirst, Poetry of the
                                              Spiritual Journey, Ivan M.
                                              Granger Real Thirst
Poetry of theSpiritual Journey
Poems & Translations by Ivan M. Granger

PURCHASE $14.95
Also available through Amazon.comВ  Real Thirst US
В Real Thirst UKВ Real Thirst FRВ Real Thirst DER






John of the Cross

1542 – 1591
SPAIN


John of the Cross was born Juan de Ypes in a village near Avila, Spain. His father died when he was young, and he was raised in poverty with his two brothers by his widowed mother. His intellectual gifts, however, were recognized by a patron who provided for his early education at a Jesuit school.

In his early 20s, John entered the Carmelite order and moved to Salamanca to further his studies. Among his other teachers was the well-known mystic and poet Fray Luis de Leon.

Still in his 20s, the young John of the Cross first met the woman who would become his mentor, Teresa of Avila, who was in her 50s at the time. Teresa of Avila was a mystic, a writer, a social activist, and the founder of several monasteries. She had begun a reform movement...



La Suma de la PerfecciГѓВіn

Olvido de lo criado,
memoria del Criador,
atenciГѓВіn a lo interior
y estarse amando al Amado
The Sum of Perfection

Creation forgotten,
Creator only known,
Attention turned inward
In love with the Beloved alone.






Notes

Medusa
I was surprised by something I discovered a few years back: Medusa, the quintessential monster of Greek mythology, was originally a much loved goddess. Her name comes from the Greek word "metis" (related to the Sanskrit "medha") meaning "wisdom." Her worship is thought to have originated in Northern Africa and been imported into early Greek culture. She was black-skinned, wore wild, matted hair (with, of course, snakes), stood naked, wide-eyed, and embodied the mystery of woman, the wisdom of the night, the truths too profound or terrible to face in the daylight. Medusa is, in effect, a Mediterranean version of the Indian Goddess Kali. Medusa was eventually subsumed into the safer, patriarchal worship of Athena, who carries MedusaÂ’s head upon her shield. This discovery inspired me to look at the figure of Medusa more deeply. What is the wisdom that terrifies? Why the snakes? Why the petrifying open-eyed stare? And how does such a bringer of terrible wisdom feel about being rejected by her children as a "monster"?


Thief of Hearts
Let's face it, from the ego's point-of-view, the relationship with the Divine is a problematic one. What the heart recognizes as liberation, the ego sees as theft. So what is the ego to do when that master thief...






Ivan M.
                                                    Granger About the Author

Ivan M. Granger is the founder and editor of the Poetry Chaikhana, an onlineresource of sacred poetry from around the world. He has lived inOregon, California, and Hawaii. He now makes his home in Colorado withhis wife and two dogs.

"Poetry has animmediate effect on the mind. The simple act of reading poetry alters thoughtpatterns and the shuttle of the breath. Poetry induces trance. Itswords are chant. Its rhythms drumbeats. Its images become the icons ofthe inner eye. Poetry is more than a description of the sacredexperience; it carries the experience itself.”

Read More About Ivan M. Granger




“Every page of this book is a luminous portal through the details of this world into the vastness of pure being. I will turn to these poems again and again for transport to the ineffable, for medicine to heal my restless mind, for a fierce and tender dose of the Beloved.”
В В В В  ~KIM ROSEN,author of Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words



Real Thirst, Ivan M.
                                        Granger, Poetry of the Spiritual
                                        Journey


Your purchase supports the Poetry Chaikhana and encourages future publications.

- Thank you! -

Share Your Thoughts on this note...






Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!
Original poetry and commentary © 2012 Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.

Friday Only: If you want to receive only one poem email each week, reply to this email and change the Subject to "Friday Only".
Canceling: If you wish to stop receiving these poem emails, reply to this email and change the Subject to "Cancel".
Poetry Chaikhana


Poetry Chaikhana's First Book!

Real
                                                      Thirst, Poetry of
                                                      the Spiritual
                                                      Journey, Ivan M.
                                                      Granger
Real Thirst
Poetry of the Spiritual Journey
Poems & Translations
by Ivan M. Granger

Read More / Purchase

Purchase this book and support future Poetry Chaikhana publications!



Support the Poetry Chaikhana
Donations to the Poetry Chaikhana in any amount are always welcome. Thank you!

Click here

Click here
A small amount each month makes a big difference. Become a voluntary Subscriber for just $2/mo.

Click here
Help the Poetry Chaikhana reach more people. Become a Supporter for just $10/mo.



Poetry Chaikhana on
                                      Facebook Poetry
                                      Chaikhana on Twitter Poetry Chaikhana on
                                      YouTube
3/6/12
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4626 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-15
Subject: #4626 - Friday, June 15, 2012 - Jerry Katz's Blog
#4626 - Friday, June 15, 2012В -В Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
The Nonduality Highlights -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
В 
В 

В 
В 
A new issue of John Prendergast's Undivided Journal is available at
В 

Volume 1, Number 2: Table of Contents

  1. Editorials

    В 

  2. Nondual Teachers and Teachings

    В 

  3. Contemplative Essays

    В 

  4. Clinical Theory and Practice

    В 

  5. Audio

    В 

  6. Video

    В 

  7. Columns

    В 

  8. Graphic Art

    В 

  9. Poetry

    В 

  10. Book Reviews

    В 

  11. Dissertations of Note
Read Undivided Journal here:
В 
В 
В 

В 
'Tatvamasi - You Are That' is the first major documentary produced in India on the life and teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj. В It is now online.

Synopsis: The film narrates the brief life history of Shree Nisargadatta Maharaj & also the core teaching of Non-Duality (Advaita). He was an awakened sage, who rose from the by lanes of Mumbai, India (1897 - 1981). Nisargadatta is known worldwide mainly through his book I AM THAT which is translated in more than twenty international languages. Nisargadatta spoke relentlessly on Advaita & Vedanta for more than 30 years and on the only question worth pondering - "WHO AM I?" and "WHO IS THIS ME?” With the spontaneity of his words & expressions, thousands have been transformed. His teachings connect with each & every person who is in search of eternal peace & happiness. Through the film, Nisargadatta exposes the reasons for the psychological sufferings to the viewers so clearly and then sets them free for further search, investigation, pondering and absorption. His teaching unfolds through an archival footage which gives glimpses of what he taught. Nisargadatta would say to the seekers, "No path, no instruction,no method,no technique. You are full, you are all one. If you feel you are two, itÂ’s alright. Understand...you are not two, Advaita.”
В 
В 

В 
В 
Read Scott Kiloby's latest newsletter:
В 
В 
Scott's upcoming appearances:

Denver, CO - July 13-15, 2012
Location: Rocky Mountain Miracle Center, 1939 S. Monroe, Denver, CO 80210
Google Maps Link
Friday: 7:00-9:00 PM (FREE- come meet Scott!)
Saturday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (1.5 hr. Lunch Break)
Sunday: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Registration:
www.scottkilobytalks.com
Contact: For questions about the venue and locale, please contact Colette Kelso
colette.kelso@..., 303-885-9251

Registration, scholarship, or other questions, please e-mail Bart at
scottkilobytalks@...

www.kiloby.com www.livingrealization.org

В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4627 From: Mark Date: 2012-06-17
Subject: #4627 - Saturday June 16, 2012

Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights (Justin's Nutritious Groat Clusters and Other Nondigestable Tasty Treats) Issue #4627, Saturday, June 16, 2012





No Way by Ram Tzu

You want your purveyors of Truth
To look and act special.

You want them different
And separate
And powerful.

You prefer to imagine them
Cloaked in light
Than sitting on the toilet.

You like them passionless, sexless, Mellow, gentle and kind.

You like the idea of miracles
And will invent them when necessary.

Your strategy is to keep them
Out there
Far away from you
Exotic and mysterious.

You revel in the myth
Of the Enlightened individual
Hoping to someday be so empowered.

What you can't tolerate
Is for them to appear
As ordinary as you.

Ram Tzu knows this

You always miss the Truth
Because it is too plain to see.

Ram Tzu knows this. . .

You have tasted ecstasy
Drunk deeply of its nectar.

So you embrace it
Or reject it.

What does it matter?

Addict or ascetic
You are caught in the web
Of your own ego.

The harder you struggle
The more surely you call the spider.

- Ram Tzu




NDM: So where has all this intense suffering brought you to? Do you feel healed, whole and complete or is there something still missing?

Vicki Woodyard: These days I am at peace. Wholeness is my experience. Ups and downs arise from within like the heartbeats on a monitor, the experience of thoughts rising and falling away. All great teachers say the same thing in different ways, "I am. Vernon Howard once said he gave the same talk just using different words. As a writer, that is what I am now doing.

If anything is missing, I chalk it up to the fact that I have momentarily fallen asleep. Having a sense of humor is a great help to me. As I said on my website, "Every guru is trailing toilet paper on his shoe." I have stepped in enough "you-know-what" (Ed note... groat clusters...) to not mind it so much anymore. That is the way of the warrior. You just plow ahead until you reach the still point.

Ultimately nothing is missing, but Lord knows, we have heard that enough times. Hearing it intellectually is one thing. Living it from the heart is quite another. Living it from wholeness demands a surrender that arises from rock bottom.

- Vicki Woodyard, Excerpt from Interview with non duality magazine.




Tribute to Ram Txu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8InPJYj7Vs



This Is It (Charlie Hayes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abq9OvHM9To&feature=related



Wayne Liquorman Total Acceptance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d2mR2Dje1E&feature=related



There is no object external to the self. What you call the object is self itself. Let us take the example of a dream in which a tiger chases a man. He runs in fear and finally climbs up a tree. The tree, the tiger, the chase, etc., are all a projection of his own mind and his dream-personality also is a process of his mind. So the one mind becomes everyone of these in the dream. It is subjective as well as objective. This is what is happening in the waking condition also; and, even as the one single mind became all objects in the dream, the universal mind has become all these external objects around here even in waking life. They are nothing but the universal mind ultimately.

- Swami Krishnananda from Facets of Spirituality compiled by S. Bhagyalakshmi




In the ninth century, there was a Tibetan king named Langdarma who tried to eradicate the Dharma in Tibet.He destroyed many temples and tried to stamp out the Dharma,but he did not succeed.

The lineages of the Dharma and instructions were preserved through that period.If we look at recent history, there was the cultural revolution in Tibet. But even during the cultural revolution, the Dharma did not disappear. They destroyed temples, tore down statues, and burned sacred texts, but the lineage of the Dharma was not lost.

That lineage of the Dharma still exists and you as a Dharma practitioner have the great fortune to read these teachings.You have the opportunity to practice and should remember this great fortune.

- Khenchen Thrangu from Vivid Awareness, posted to DailyDharms.


Group: NDhighlights Message: 4628 From: Mark Date: 2012-06-18
Subject: #4628 - Sunday, June 17, 2012

Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights: Issue #4628, Sunday, June 17, 2012





Ed note: This issue is dedicated to all who have ever been parents, have had parents, or perhaps are caring for elderly parents.



Ever since a child is born, from infancy through adolescence to maturity, a parent is primarily responsible for the development of a child's mind. Whether a person becomes a useful citizen or not depends mainly on the extent to which its mind has been developed. In Buddhism, a good parent can practice four great virtues to sustain him or her and to overcome the great frustrations, which are so closely related with parenthood...

Loving Kindness
Karuna (Compassion)
Symapathetic Joy and
Equanimity

When parents practice these four virtues towards their children, the children will respond favorably and a pleasant atmosphere will prevail at home. A home where there is loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity will be a happy home... This is the greatest legacy any parent can give to his child.

- Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, posted to DailyDharma




Conscious Caregiving: Am I a Caregiver or a Caretaker?

The word caregiver can be defined as: "one who cares for someone with a condition that challenges his/her ability to care for their own daily living needs. " The level of care taking varies from person to person as does the responsibility. A caregiver often awakes in the morning with a sense of a looming awareness of someone who is dependent on them. In a way, it can feel like having an additional child. How we approach that feeling of connection and viewing the experience as both at times a burden and a blessing, also becomes a choice of becoming a caretaker or caregiver.

To rise in the morning and resolve to consciously care for another requires thought and intention to maintain healthy boundaries. When the person we care for is a family member this choice becomes more difficult, but remembering that our own needs can't be consumed by another is essential.

A young mother once shared with me about her struggles in caring for a child with a special health need who was immune suppressed and had to remain indoors most of the day. This amazing mother said her life was becoming all about her daughter and she would wake every morning with such a depressed outlook that she could barely get out of bed. Once she realized her need to have her own life aside from her caregiving of her daughter, she made a decision to leave every day for "mom time."

After a few weeks of struggling with guilt over her decision to leave her daughter with a family member while she took a walk, or a drive or visited a friend, this young mom began allowing herself to enjoy this time. Her cup was being filled and she was becoming reenergized. She was more patient, more thoughtful, and ultimately better able to meet her daughters needs.

Often when we deny ourselves what we need in our own lives in sacrifice for another, the very intention of selflessness results in selfishness. We can't help but build up resentment if we martyr ourselves as caregivers. Then we become caretakers, expecting to receive payback for our caring vs caring unconditionally.

Establishing boundaries that define ourselves as separate and equally deserving of daily love, nurture and affection while we provide care to another is vital. We can still thrive in the midst of giving of ourselves as long as we don't lose ourselves. Exercise, eating well, time spent pursuing a passion regularly , and continuing our own relationships, allows us to maintain that boundary.

One of the greatest challenges in caretaking is time spent in a hospital. Preparation is important, having a "me bag" packed for unexpected last minute stays with a loved one makes a major difference. Packing a bag for ourselves is as important as what we pack for a loved one. Inspiring and entertaining books and music on tape allow us to put headphones on and escape. A pair of good walking shoes worn on long walks outside helps energize us after long hours of sitting. A bag of healthy snacks and a water bottle keep us hydrated and avoiding vending machines. Setting a watch or alarm on a phone reminds us on a regular basis to take walks, take breaks and return revitalized after a short time, better equipped to give.

Giving ourselves permission for this time can stretch our beliefs about responsibility and sacrifice and move us away from unhealthy conditional caretaking towards healthy caregiving.

Questions: am I overly connected to my role as caregiver? Do I wake with gratitude or resentment? Am I fatigued most of the time or do I find a way to reenergize?

Choices:

1. Today I choose the following healthy choices for myself
2. Today I will choose "me time" throughout my day
3. Today I choose to observe the times I feel I am making sacrifices and discover blessings

Enjoy today!

- Katie Eastman

.




Learning to recognize our unmet real needs and nurturing ourselves from the fountain of Divine energy that is stored beneath our defense and negative intentions heals the habitual response to care take. Nurturance from the divine core, self-acceptance and self-love opens us to examine our lives, our choices and awakens our courage to bring forth creative longings. It may be the Key that unlocks the door to bringing our authentic potential into fruition and freeing our spirit to love and create unabashedly.

- Donna Evans Strauss from http://www.livingfromgrace.com/wpa/the-caretaker-within/



Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.

- Lao Tzu from the Tao Te Ching




Stephen Levine with Jeffrey Mislove on Healing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxY0_RXq04E



If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

- Pema ChГѓВ¶drГѓВ¶n




Within the great silence of the unborn, Spirit whispers a sublime secret, an otherwise hidden truth of ones very essence: You, in this and every moment, abide as Spirit itself, an immutable radiance beyond mortal suffering of time and experience. Spirit itself is the very heart of one's own awareness, and it has always been so.

- Ken Wilber, The Simple Feeling of Being: Embracing Your True Nature




... feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we'd rather collapse and back away. They're like messengers that show us, with terrifying clarity, exactly where we're stuck. This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it's with us wherever we are.

- Pema ChГѓВ¶drГѓВ¶n




People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all. The idea of karma is that you continually get the teachings that you need to open your heart. To the degree that you didn't understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to stop armoring your heart, you're given this gift of teachings in the form of your life, to give you everything you need to open further.

- Pema ChГѓВ¶drГѓВ¶n



Group: NDhighlights Message: 4629 From: Gloria Date: 2012-06-18
Subject: #4629 Monday, June 18, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4629 Monday, June 18, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights

by Ed Muzika on Facebook

PREFACE TO PRIOR TO CONSCIOUSNESS, BY JEAN DUNN:

In one way the core of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's teaching is easy to grasp, and extremely difficult in another. It is easy if we are willing to be completely honest with ourselves, to look at the concepts of others with which we have built our own prisons. To investigate for one's self can be extremely difficult because we are very attached to our concepts - we don't want to give them up. But if the desire to KNOW is a burning desire, then we will set forth on our course. We can only know who or what we are by personal experience, not from books or others.

Maharaj urged us to find out what this "I" is. He was like a surgeon with a sharp scalpel, cutting away all inessential things. His questions often left one out in "left field," not knowing what to say. His answers, were never what was expected. He would not allow any quoting of scrip­tures - only personal experience - and he could get quite angry about this. Once when someone quoted Dakshinamurti, a Hindu deity, Maharaj responded: "Hang Dakshinamurti! What about you? What is your experience?"

Most of us identify ourself with the body-mind and so he insisted that we find out what this body-mind is. Did it not come from the sperm of the father and the ovum of the mother? The body then is a product of the food consumed and is sustained by food, which is the essence of the five elements. Can we be this? Without consciousness the body is dead material. When consciousness leaves the body there is no individual, no world, and no God.В Consciouslivingmentorusness can only be conscious of itself when it has manifested in a physical form. Consciousness is latent in every grain of food, in all the five elements - it is universal, non-personal, all-pervading. Everything is consciousness, and that is what we are, presently.В 

Consciousness acts through the forms according to the com­bination of the gunas, satwa (being-light-purity), tamas (inertia­ passivity-darkness), rajas (activity-passion-energy), and to the condi­tioning received. What happens when one of these forms "dies?" The form again becomes part of the five elements and the consciousness merges with the universal consciousness. This is all a process happen­ing, the play of consciousness.

Before this form came - what was I? That is what one truly is. That Absolute Parabrahman - these are only words which we have invented to name the Unmanifest, Unnameable. The eternal "I," absolutely un­conditioned, timeless, spaceless Being, not aware of being (because there is no other). I am as I Am, as I always was, as I ever will be, eter­nally.

During the last two years of his life Maharaj did not entertain any questions pertaining to this worldly life and its improvement. He taught only the highest truth, and due to the weakened condition of his body, on some days there was very little discussion. But even one sentence of his was like an Upanishad. He was very blunt and sharp in his answers and did not cater to anyone's ego - in fact, his stated purpose was to destroy this "psuedo-entity." To be in his presence was to feel the vibrant truth, impossible to describe. He was amazing to watch: that "personality" could be happy, angry, sad, gay, sarcastic, or gentle, and a variety of emotion played through that "bundle" like sunlight on water. There was never any attempt to change any of it ... let it do its thing, it was not him. Suffering there was in abundance, due to the cancer, but in this human picture I have never seen anyone braver. Never did a whimper leave his lips. That body carried on when it seemed impossible that it could do so. One could only gaze at him in total love and awe.В 

Although there was no doubt that the form of Sri Maharaj was suffering from cancer, he carried on just as usual with the daily routine of bhajans four times a day, question and answer periods twice daily, although as the body grew weaker these periods were often cut short. It was enough to be in his presence. It was only toward the end that he rarely spoke.

The repetitions in the text are necessary, as Maharaj hammered continuously at our concepts, each time bringing us back to the root when we tried to stray to the leaves and branches. When we tried to hang on to words, even words which he had used, he shot them right out from under us. As someone once said, "I am tremendously grateful to Maharaj. What is most different is that, regardless of anything, he answers what is most helpful and right, but people want to make the teachings into a system, which ultimately ruins them. But Maharaj doesn't worry.В 

He just says on Wednesday that red is black, and on Fri­day that red is white, but the answer is correct at the time, because it changes the orientation of the questioner. It is tremendously valuable and unique." The reader should take only a few pages at a time and ponder and meditate over them.

If you read this book it is assumed that you have, as Maharaj said, "Done your homework." If you are ready to give up your identity with this pseudo-entity, read on and happy journey.
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4630 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-21
Subject: #4630 - Tuesday/Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4630 -В В Tuesday/Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 

FINDING THE LIONÂ’S ROAR THROUGH NONDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY: Leaving the spiritual teacher behind to directly embrace nondual being.

Written by Gary Nixon – Paradoxica: Journal of Nondual Psychology, Vol. 4: Spring 2012

Summary

This article is a summary of a nondual psychotherapy session with a long time spiritual seeker of 40 years who had worked hard on a meditative path with a guru, but had not experienced an awakening. In the session, he is introduced to some nondual pointers to help him realize that it is all available right here, right now, he has to only see it. Over reliance on another, letting go of effort, embracing no knowing, realizing nothing can be done, coming to the end of seeking and stopping, sitting in oneÂ’s own awareness, abiding in consciousness, and taking the ultimate medicine are all reviewed to invite the long term seeker to see "this is it."

Gary Nixon, Ph.D.

is a nondual transpersonal psychologist and an Associate Professor in Addictions Counselling at the University of Lethbridge. He was drawn to eastern contemplative traditions after an existential world collapse in the early 1980Â’s. After a tour through many eastern teachers such as Osho, Krishnamurti, Nisargadatta, and Papaji, he completed his MasterÂ’s and doctorate in Counselling Psychology and embraced the work of Ken Wilber and A.H. Almaas. He has had a nondual psychology private practice and been facilitating nondual groups over the last ten years. 2

Deconstructing Reliance on the Awakened Other

I received the call from Tim (a pseudonym). He reported 40 years of intense Buddhist meditation in a Buddhist community with an enlightened teacher, all of the years trying to become enlightened, but still no awakening. He was desperate, so he booked a nondual psychotherapy session with me for the next day.

As a nondual psychotherapist, I looked forward to a session with an end of the line client. I recognized the seekerÂ’s dilemma of having a wonderful guru. People have been enchanted with Krishnamurti (1954), with Nisargadatta (1973), with Osho (1979, 1994, 2002), with Papaji (Poonjua, 2000), with Adi Da (1978), with Trungpa (1973), and now lately, Adyashanti (2008). I smiled as I had been enchanted myself with Osho at one time. Somehow, a person thinks the connection with the wondrous being is going to take you "home." So, over and over a person goes, repeating the same paths. In OshoÂ’s repertoire of over 650 books and thousands of taped discourses, there is always another book to read, another discourse to listen to, another meditation to try. And when the whole routine is concluded, the mind loves to start all over again expecting different results. Exhaustion settles in. The path begins to appear hopeless but a person may avoid processing this (Sylvester, 2005), particularly after investing so much time and effort with the guru. The longer the commitment, the larger the projection relating to the guru, and the more insurmountable the whole awakening process looks for the ordinary person. Like Tim, I know the story, "I have a wondrous guru, I could never be like him." This sets up a perpetual double bind. You believe your guru has the answer for you, but he/she is so wondrous you could never exist as he/she does. The result is bewilderment and dependency.

To get unstuck from this sticky place, if a person realizes nobody is awakened, or "only nobodies are awakened", a whole deconstruction process can occur. Awakening is not, after all, a personal thing, it is simply tuning into an awakened existence. Awakened beings, no matter how grand they appear, are actually just nobodies: nobodies inviting nobodies to realize they are nobody. This is all that is going on. To see awakening as the simple realization that there is no separate self here completely demystifies the whole process. It takes the throne away from all gurus. The open secret, Tony Parsons (2000) reminds us, is all available to us right here, right now. There is no such thing as an inner sanctuary or a privileged few. The invitation is in this moment. No amount of meditation or effort or discipline is necessary to recognize who I already am in this moment. It merely takes a seeing or recognition right here right now. The gateless gate means, that the gate is only an illusion of a boundary, in fact no gate actually exists as "the goose is already out" meaning awakening is already here, it is our own nature. Now all of this, which I could have laid out for Tim in about 2 minutes, would be too much for him, so I decided to break it down a little bit, and take my time with him and spread it over an hour.

Read the entire article here:

http://paradoxica.ca/images/volume4/ParadoxicaNixonfinal.pdf

Group: NDhighlights Message: 4631 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-21
Subject: #4630 - Tuesday/Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4630 -В В Tuesday/Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 

FINDING THE LIONÂ’S ROAR THROUGH NONDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY: Leaving the spiritual teacher behind to directly embrace nondual being.

Written by Gary Nixon – Paradoxica: Journal of Nondual Psychology, Vol. 4: Spring 2012

Summary

This article is a summary of a nondual psychotherapy session with a long time spiritual seeker of 40 years who had worked hard on a meditative path with a guru, but had not experienced an awakening. In the session, he is introduced to some nondual pointers to help him realize that it is all available right here, right now, he has to only see it. Over reliance on another, letting go of effort, embracing no knowing, realizing nothing can be done, coming to the end of seeking and stopping, sitting in oneÂ’s own awareness, abiding in consciousness, and taking the ultimate medicine are all reviewed to invite the long term seeker to see "this is it."

Gary Nixon, Ph.D.

is a nondual transpersonal psychologist and an Associate Professor in Addictions Counselling at the University of Lethbridge. He was drawn to eastern contemplative traditions after an existential world collapse in the early 1980Â’s. After a tour through many eastern teachers such as Osho, Krishnamurti, Nisargadatta, and Papaji, he completed his MasterÂ’s and doctorate in Counselling Psychology and embraced the work of Ken Wilber and A.H. Almaas. He has had a nondual psychology private practice and been facilitating nondual groups over the last ten years. 2

Deconstructing Reliance on the Awakened Other

I received the call from Tim (a pseudonym). He reported 40 years of intense Buddhist meditation in a Buddhist community with an enlightened teacher, all of the years trying to become enlightened, but still no awakening. He was desperate, so he booked a nondual psychotherapy session with me for the next day.

As a nondual psychotherapist, I looked forward to a session with an end of the line client. I recognized the seekerÂ’s dilemma of having a wonderful guru. People have been enchanted with Krishnamurti (1954), with Nisargadatta (1973), with Osho (1979, 1994, 2002), with Papaji (Poonjua, 2000), with Adi Da (1978), with Trungpa (1973), and now lately, Adyashanti (2008). I smiled as I had been enchanted myself with Osho at one time. Somehow, a person thinks the connection with the wondrous being is going to take you "home." So, over and over a person goes, repeating the same paths. In OshoÂ’s repertoire of over 650 books and thousands of taped discourses, there is always another book to read, another discourse to listen to, another meditation to try. And when the whole routine is concluded, the mind loves to start all over again expecting different results. Exhaustion settles in. The path begins to appear hopeless but a person may avoid processing this (Sylvester, 2005), particularly after investing so much time and effort with the guru. The longer the commitment, the larger the projection relating to the guru, and the more insurmountable the whole awakening process looks for the ordinary person. Like Tim, I know the story, "I have a wondrous guru, I could never be like him." This sets up a perpetual double bind. You believe your guru has the answer for you, but he/she is so wondrous you could never exist as he/she does. The result is bewilderment and dependency.

To get unstuck from this sticky place, if a person realizes nobody is awakened, or "only nobodies are awakened", a whole deconstruction process can occur. Awakening is not, after all, a personal thing, it is simply tuning into an awakened existence. Awakened beings, no matter how grand they appear, are actually just nobodies: nobodies inviting nobodies to realize they are nobody. This is all that is going on. To see awakening as the simple realization that there is no separate self here completely demystifies the whole process. It takes the throne away from all gurus. The open secret, Tony Parsons (2000) reminds us, is all available to us right here, right now. There is no such thing as an inner sanctuary or a privileged few. The invitation is in this moment. No amount of meditation or effort or discipline is necessary to recognize who I already am in this moment. It merely takes a seeing or recognition right here right now. The gateless gate means, that the gate is only an illusion of a boundary, in fact no gate actually exists as "the goose is already out" meaning awakening is already here, it is our own nature. Now all of this, which I could have laid out for Tim in about 2 minutes, would be too much for him, so I decided to break it down a little bit, and take my time with him and spread it over an hour.

Read the entire article here:

http://paradoxica.ca/images/volume4/ParadoxicaNixonfinal.pdf

Group: NDhighlights Message: 4632 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-21
Subject: #4630 - Tuesday/Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4630 -В В Tuesday/Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 

FINDING THE LIONÂ’S ROAR THROUGH NONDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY: Leaving the spiritual teacher behind to directly embrace nondual being.

Written by Gary Nixon – Paradoxica: Journal of Nondual Psychology, Vol. 4: Spring 2012

Summary

This article is a summary of a nondual psychotherapy session with a long time spiritual seeker of 40 years who had worked hard on a meditative path with a guru, but had not experienced an awakening. In the session, he is introduced to some nondual pointers to help him realize that it is all available right here, right now, he has to only see it. Over reliance on another, letting go of effort, embracing no knowing, realizing nothing can be done, coming to the end of seeking and stopping, sitting in oneÂ’s own awareness, abiding in consciousness, and taking the ultimate medicine are all reviewed to invite the long term seeker to see "this is it."

Gary Nixon, Ph.D.

is a nondual transpersonal psychologist and an Associate Professor in Addictions Counselling at the University of Lethbridge. He was drawn to eastern contemplative traditions after an existential world collapse in the early 1980Â’s. After a tour through many eastern teachers such as Osho, Krishnamurti, Nisargadatta, and Papaji, he completed his MasterÂ’s and doctorate in Counselling Psychology and embraced the work of Ken Wilber and A.H. Almaas. He has had a nondual psychology private practice and been facilitating nondual groups over the last ten years. 2

Deconstructing Reliance on the Awakened Other

I received the call from Tim (a pseudonym). He reported 40 years of intense Buddhist meditation in a Buddhist community with an enlightened teacher, all of the years trying to become enlightened, but still no awakening. He was desperate, so he booked a nondual psychotherapy session with me for the next day.

As a nondual psychotherapist, I looked forward to a session with an end of the line client. I recognized the seekerÂ’s dilemma of having a wonderful guru. People have been enchanted with Krishnamurti (1954), with Nisargadatta (1973), with Osho (1979, 1994, 2002), with Papaji (Poonjua, 2000), with Adi Da (1978), with Trungpa (1973), and now lately, Adyashanti (2008). I smiled as I had been enchanted myself with Osho at one time. Somehow, a person thinks the connection with the wondrous being is going to take you "home." So, over and over a person goes, repeating the same paths. In OshoÂ’s repertoire of over 650 books and thousands of taped discourses, there is always another book to read, another discourse to listen to, another meditation to try. And when the whole routine is concluded, the mind loves to start all over again expecting different results. Exhaustion settles in. The path begins to appear hopeless but a person may avoid processing this (Sylvester, 2005), particularly after investing so much time and effort with the guru. The longer the commitment, the larger the projection relating to the guru, and the more insurmountable the whole awakening process looks for the ordinary person. Like Tim, I know the story, "I have a wondrous guru, I could never be like him." This sets up a perpetual double bind. You believe your guru has the answer for you, but he/she is so wondrous you could never exist as he/she does. The result is bewilderment and dependency.

To get unstuck from this sticky place, if a person realizes nobody is awakened, or "only nobodies are awakened", a whole deconstruction process can occur. Awakening is not, after all, a personal thing, it is simply tuning into an awakened existence. Awakened beings, no matter how grand they appear, are actually just nobodies: nobodies inviting nobodies to realize they are nobody. This is all that is going on. To see awakening as the simple realization that there is no separate self here completely demystifies the whole process. It takes the throne away from all gurus. The open secret, Tony Parsons (2000) reminds us, is all available to us right here, right now. There is no such thing as an inner sanctuary or a privileged few. The invitation is in this moment. No amount of meditation or effort or discipline is necessary to recognize who I already am in this moment. It merely takes a seeing or recognition right here right now. The gateless gate means, that the gate is only an illusion of a boundary, in fact no gate actually exists as "the goose is already out" meaning awakening is already here, it is our own nature. Now all of this, which I could have laid out for Tim in about 2 minutes, would be too much for him, so I decided to break it down a little bit, and take my time with him and spread it over an hour.

Read the entire article here:

http://paradoxica.ca/images/volume4/ParadoxicaNixonfinal.pdf

Group: NDhighlights Message: 4633 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-22
Subject: #4633 - Thursday, June 21, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
#4633 - Thursday, June 21, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 

All that is necessary to awaken to yourself as the radiant
emptiness of spirit, is to stop seeking something more or better
or different, and turn your attention inward to the awake
silence that you are.
В 
~ Adyashanti
В 
How do I integrate spirituality into my everyday life?
Throw out the concept of " spiritual life" and " everyday life".
There is only life undivided and whole.
В 
~ Adyashanti
В 
Great Spangled Fritillary On Lantana Blossom
by Peter Shefler
В 
В 
В 
В 
Years are needed before the sun
working on a Yemeni rock
can make a bloodstone.
В 
Months must pass before cotton seed
can provide s seamless shroud.
В 
Days go by before a handful of wool becomes a halter rope.
В 
Decades it takes a child
to change into a poet.
В 
And civilizations fall and are ploughed under
to grow a garden on the ruins,
the true mystic.
В 
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В  ~ Sanai
В 
В 
В 
Colman Barks translation from
"The Hands of Poetry"
В 
В 
The Rescue Remedy (Ruby-Throated Hummingbird in a Trance, Halcyon Gardens, Pennsylvania
by Peter Shefler
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
The first lesson to learn is to resign oneself to the little difficulties in life, not
to hit out at every- thing one comes up against. If one were able to manage this
one would not need to cultivate great power; even one's presence would be
healing. Such a person is more precious than the branch of the rose, for that
has many thorns but only a few flowers.
В 
~ Hazrat Inayat Khan
via Along The Way
В 
Snowy Egret Fishing From Rocks ~ Miles River, Far Away Point, Maryland
by Peter Shefler
В 
В 
В 
В 
Even if you go through all the stages of a BodhisattvaÂ’s progress towards
Buddhahood, one by one; when at last, in a single flash, you attain to full
realization, you will only be realizing the Buddha-Nature which has been within
you all the time; and by all the foregoing stages you will have added nothing at
all. You will come to look upon those aeons of work and achievement as no
better than unreal actions performed in a dream. That is why the Buddha said:
"I truly attained nothing from complete, unexcelled Enlightenment."
В 
~ Rinzai Zen master Huang-Po
The Zen Teachings of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind
В 
В 

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar on Milkweed Leaves, Halcyon Gardens, Pennsylvania
by Peter Shefler
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
If You Want
By Dorothy Walters
(1928 - )
В 
If you want to feel
the sweet light
flow over your body,
then give yourself to light.
В 
If you want
to taste the secret honey,
you must allow your throat
to open.
В 
Moth to candle,
straw to flame,
you are nothing but
materials for burning.
В 
-- from The Ley Lines of the Soul: Poems of Ecstasy and Ascension
В 
Looking Up ~ Antelope Canyon, Arizona
by Peter Shefler
В 
В 

В 
В 
A Ritual To Read To Each Other
В В В 
If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.
В 
For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dyke.
В 
And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.
В 
And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider--
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.
В 
For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give--yes or no, or maybe--
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
В 
В 
~ William Stafford
В 
(The Way It Is)

В 
В 

Group: NDhighlights Message: 4634 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-22
Subject: #4634 - Friday, June 22, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4634 -В В Friday, June 22, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
I apologize for sending three copies of my last issue. My email program went haywire. That glitch messes up the numbering of the issues, since YahooGroups, the host of the Nonduality Highlights, assigns a number to each issue regardless of the content.
В 
So when we reach a milestone, such as issue number 5000 in the next year, about a dozen or so of the issuesВ will actually have been goof-ups of one sort or another.
В 
But disruption can have its own value, so who am I to judge.
В 
For example, I received the following letter fromВ Highlights readerВ Ron, reprinted with permission:
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Hi Jerry, I just had to write to inquire about your posting of the Lion's Roar three times yesterday.В В This is not to complain, I love looking for synchronicity (or miracles) in my life and thisВ seemsВ toВ be oneВ of thoseВ events that presented itself to me.В  You see, I have been writing for three years on the process that most would know as "Life Review."В 
В 
My inquiry has brought meВ fully into the ND arena and to the concept of synchronicity.В В I have discovered much in my three years of search and research and I will admit to finding myself aВ bit concerned about my symptoms ofВ seek-but-do-not-find.В  There always seems to be one moreВ book or one more expert I need to check out.В В 
В 
The message in the article from Dr Nixon on "Finding the Lion's Roar" was timed perfectly.В  I have never posted on your site nor have I sent e-mails to you but I had to inquire as to what possessed you to send this out three times...enough to ensure it caught my attention?В  While I often look for your posts, and thoroughly enjoy them, many do fall-through-the-cracks along with hundreds of other messages we all get daily.В  This one (or rather, these three)В  got my attentionВ and I thank you for that.В  Synchronicity at it's best.В  I'll look more closely in the future for your singleВ posts.В 
With a SmileВ В В  ron
~ ~ ~
Thanks for your letter, Ron. We love to get letters from our readers.
В 
В 

В 
В 
Nonduality State Park
В 
Speaking of sychronicity, the following blog entries are written by another person named Ron and they were selected prior to my receiving the above letter from a different Ron. What is it with all the Ron's?
В 

One-ness and Mr. Mobius

Once, on a visitВ to the Los Angeles Museum of Science, I came upon a curious object known as a Mobius Strip. A Mobius Strip is essentially a loop, but with only a half twist in the surface. This half twist is the feature that gives a Mobius Strip it's most peculiar characteristic. It may look like a loop, but it only has one side and one edge. If you try to paint only one side of it, you will inevitably paint all of it. If you try and draw a line down the middle, of one side of it, you will end up drawing a line that meets itself;В  because it only has one side. If you try to color what looks like the outside edge, you will soon find yourself coloring the inside edge; because it only has one edge. The Mobius Strip gives you no choice about which surface to paint; because it only has one surface; this makes itВ the perfect metaphor, for the concept of choosing One-ness.

Choosing to see the One-ness of all things can be a very daunting task, if the mind is still filtering through the divided lens of duality. Years and years of conditioned thinking from a dualistic perspective, will not easily yield to a simple suggestion, that all is one. It is especially hard to see this, when the object you see is manifesting as aversion; something or someone you have no desire to be one with. We only want to be one with people or things, that pass a certain standard. Beauty, pleasure, joy, in all their variations are welcomed; ugliness, pain and sorrow are not. One-ness, like the example of the Mobius Strip,В doesn't give you a choice, if it did it would not be One-ness. To choose, to make any kind of distinction, to show any preferenceВ intrinsically promotes the exclusion of one over another. Choice, distinction, and preference are antithetical to One-ness.

TheВ elements of choiceВ arise simultaneously, and cannot stand independently. There is no chooser, without a chosen; no chosen, without a chooser; and no choosing without both a chooser and a chosen. Eliminate any one of the elements and there is no conceptВ called choice.

Where in One-ness is there room for choice? There isn't; there can't be. That would be like saying all leaves room for more. All means all; not less than, not more than. A circle has 360 degrees not 359, not 361. All is complete. One-ness isВ complete; it can't be added to nor subtracted from, and from this standpoint, gives you no choice. If there is no choice then, by logic, there is nothing to choose, not even One-ness.

Labels are all we have to express the inexpressible. Duality, non-duality, One-ness, choice, all are just labels; one more thing to cling to, one more thing to transcend. You can't choose One-ness because you are One-ness; you are an aspect of the Absolute One-ness, and so is every other person, and every other thing in all creation.

So, cut yourself a strip of paper; give it a half twistВ and tape the ends together. Take a highlighter and start coloring what appears to be a side. When you have finished coloring your, "chosen side", you will have colored the entire strip. There was no choice in the matter, there was only One-ness. Thank you, Mr. Mobius.

Peace be with you,
Ron
В 
Nonduality State Park:
В 
В 

В 
В 
Here's another one:
В 

Remodeled Reality

They remodeled the Carl's Jr. , by my house, recently. I often go there to have a coke and read or write. Sometimes when I'm there the Devil makes me eat chili fries. He sure comes in handy sometimes. No...I'm not going there; put your holy water away.

Like I was saying, they remodeled it. Gave it a 50'ish look and feel. The part that got my attention was the new booths. They lowered the back rests. Now any two-year old miscreant can repeatedly stick a ketchup- covered french fry in your ear while his mother.... Never mind. I like kids. Moms, too. I'm just getting old.

So I'm sitting there and find myself staring at this mirrored strip on the top of the back rest across from me. I'm trying to figure out just what it is behind me that I'm seeing in the mirror. I can't make anything out, so I turn around and look behind me. Nothing there. I turn back and time stops!

There was no image in the mirror, in fact there was no mirror! В All along I had been looking at a silver refractive strip that was doing exactly what it does by it's very nature. It was bending light! Creating an illusion. Seen from one angle, you see half circles; from another you see cones; from still another you see vortexes. As the light and angle change in relation to the viewer, so do the images. A refractive strip. A light bender. An illusion maker. Maya!

In that moment of timeless clarity, I understood the nature of non-dual reality.

The illusions only existed because it was the nature of the reality to allow for their existence!

The mirror never existed. The cones, half circles, and vortexes never existed. They never had a separate reality apart from the refractive strip, and yet it could not be said that they did not exist.

One reality, one essence, manifesting as the many.

This world that we experience is like the above example. It is ever changing moment to moment, a fact that cannot be denied. A perception dependent on a perceiver for it's apparent reality. The twist is that the perceiver is also a perception!
An illusion observing an illusion, В believing in В the reality of both.

In Advaita, this is referred to as "ignorance". Ignorance is not our "natural state".

When the Self is realized, ignorance is overcome: we see that we are Consciousness, limitless Awareness, The Absolute, One without a second.

In this seeing is the understanding that even the illusion of the many is nothing more than an aspect of the The One.

Unity manifesting as duality.

Peace be with you,

Ron В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4635 From: Mark Date: 2012-06-25
Subject: #4635 - Saturday/Sunday, June 23/24, 2012

Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4635, Saturday/Sunday, June 23/24, 2012





Treading along in this dreamlike, illusory realm,
Without looking for the traces I may have left;
A cuckoo's song beckons me to return home;
Hearing this, I tilt my head to see
Who has told me to turn back;
But do not ask me where I am going,
As I travel in this limitless world,
Where every step I take is my home.

- Eihei Dogen, English version by Steven Heine




The acceptance of the unreal as real is the obstacle; to see the false as false and abandon the false brings reality into being.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels




What I teach is the ancient and simple way of liberation through understanding. Understand your own mind and its hold on you will snap. The mind misunderstands; misunderstanding is its very nature. Right understanding is the only remedy, whatever name you give it.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels




By knowing what is not, the sage knows what he truly IS.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels




Identity dream

Dear friend
Futilely you believe
"I am that" or "This is me"...
Abandon the empty dreams of identity
Give up all beliefs & thoughts,
Ideas "I am he" or "it" or "she".
Watch, enquire for yourself and see:
In truth you are not... nor this nor that.
There is no particular "I" or "me"
All self is one, all containing... Silence.
Boundless, whole and indivisible.
So
Just let yourself
Be!

- Yosy Flug, posted to allspirit




Remove all becoming, you are Being.
Becoming is effort, Being is not effort.
You are always That so be like the breeze
that is attached to neither the garbage nor
the garden that it blows over.

- Papaji from The Truth Is, posted to AlongTheWay




Presence is a quality of welcoming, open awareness, which is dedicated simply to "what is." There can still be someone who is aware and there is that of which they are conscious- the sound of running water, the taste of tea, the feeling of fear, or the weight and texture of sitting on a seat." And then there can be a letting go of the one who is aware, and all that remains is presence. All of this is totally without judgment, analysis, the wish to reach a conclusion, or to become anything. There is no mentation and no expectation. There is simply "what is."

- Tony Parsons from As It Is - The Open Secret of Spiritual Awakening, posted to AlongTheWay



Group: NDhighlights Message: 4636 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-26
Subject: #4636 - Monday, June 25, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
#4636 -В Monday, June 25, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
Compassion does not arise from ideals of perfection but from a
recognition of and concern for our own fallibility. At the heart of our
potential for health and wholeness is the need for a fundamental quality
of acceptance, an unconditional compassionate presence. Without this
capacity either for ourselves or for others, even our spirituality can
become harsh and uncompromising.
В 
Rob Preece -The Wisdom of Imperfection
via Daily Dharma
В 

An Interview with Venerable Pannavati Karuna

В 
Profession: Co-Abbot, Embracing Simplicity Hermitage; Founder of My
Place; Age: 60 Location: Hendersonville, North Carolina
В 
В 
Where did you grow up? I grew up in Washington, D.C., and the
surrounding Maryland area.
В 
What was your religious upbringing? I was raised as a Baptist Christian.
В 
How did you get from the Baptist church to Buddhism? I felt the love of
Jesus enter my heart when I was 6. But, when I was 13, I had an
experience that the Baptist church said was not real, so I had to look
outside of the church for an explanation: I began speaking in tongues,
and we didnÂ’t even believe in that in my church! I ended up going to a
Pentecostal church—we called them “Holy Rollers”—against the wishes of
my mother. Sometimes I would have to sneak out the window to go to
services. And my faith deepened.
Eventually I became a Christian pastor, but in 1985 I had a vision that led
me away from the church onto my own path, and I entered into a
15-year dark night of the soul. I was really trying to find out who I was,
what the meaning of life was. WhatÂ’s the world all about? Exactly who
and what is God? Finally, that path led me to Buddhism.
В 
In 2009 you went to Thailand to ordain Theravada nuns as bhikkunis.
How did that trip come about?
After becoming a Theravada nun I began
to look around me—I could really see the patriarchal aspect of
institutionalized Buddhism, and I became very disenchanted with it, I saw
that this was the same system as institutional Christianity. When the
masters come to the West from the East they bring what good they have
to share with the world, but itÂ’s wrapped in culturalism. I had been on a
spiritual path my whole life. Still, the teachers want to take you back to
grade school—“Let me dress you like me.” Why should I learn Tibetan?
IÂ’m not Tibetan. Why should I learn Chinese? IÂ’m not Chinese. Why
should I speak Pali? The Buddha didnÂ’t even speak it. I needed to walk
my own path, so I just did what I felt that I had to do, and I found
support from senior Thai monks and Western nuns to convene the
platform. Actually, because I did not have the “required” years to serve as
a higher ordination master, Venerable Karuna Dharma gave me written
permission to act in her stead so there would be no problem in the
future.
В 
I understood when these women, some of whom had lived unofficially as
nuns for well over a decade, sought higher ordination, and I was asked to
officiate over that higher ordination. (I had previously given them
samaneri [novice Buddhist nun] vows.) I wanted very much to do it,
because although it is not allowed in Thailand, ordination is an act of the
heart—not the country. I was not afraid. It was really, really wonderful.
And now itÂ’s done. Nothing more to talk about. Just quietly doing what
needed to be done and helping each woman who had a desire to step
into the life with her whole heart and full confidence. ThatÂ’s it.
В 
В 
Tell me about My Place—the center you founded for homeless youth in
the Asheville area
. I found out that there were hundreds of homeless kids
in the city, and I heard that they were sleeping in laundromats and under
viaducts and in cars, and couch surfing. This town is basically an affluent
retirement area, and virtually no resources are available to older
homeless or at-risk teens except jails. I talked to my sangha and said,
“We have this monastery just sitting here most of the time—no one
spends the night. Would you mind if I opened up the space to homeless
youth?” And, they said “OK.”
В 
How did the community respond to a Buddhist nun taking in homeless
kids? ItÂ’s been very rough financially. We get virtually no support from
local foundations or agencies. My Place is an unbelievable concept to the
people who live here. When we opened in 2009, we started off with
about 14 kids, ages 17 to 20 years old. Can you imagine being in the
Southern Bible Belt, having youth in this age bracket living in a Buddhist
monastery? Yet with the help of a few dedicated supporters Ven.
Pannadipa (co-abbot of Embracing Simplicity Hermitage) and I have
parented more than 60 teens over the past two years. We even have our
own accredited high school! I didnÂ’t realize the backlash that would come
from it. People asked, “What are you gonna do with them? You gonna
teach them Buddhism?” I said, “No, we don’t have to teach them
Buddhism. We’ll just live like we live.” Some things are better caught than
taught. No need to give a good teaching— just live it, and people will
catch it. And thatÂ’s what happening.
В 
WhatÂ’s next for you? Recently, My Place received $1 million in stock from
the vice president of an environmentally engaged company, Reshoot
Productions. We canÂ’t trade it yet. There are conditions. One is that to
continue working in this Appalachian region, the donor would like to see
the buy-in of the community. So IÂ’m trying to raise $100,000 over the
next 60 days that will be matched 10 to 1 by the corporation over the
next few years. We need this to stay afloat. The other condition is that
heÂ’d like us to include a formal meditation program. If weÂ’re dependent
on local funds, that may not be possible. So IÂ’m asking the national
Buddhist community to help me raise the funds. Hopefully I will be able
to turn this work over to others within two years. Then, along with some
other 21st-century yoginis and yogis, IÂ’ll become more active in the
mission of the Sisters of Compassionate Wisdom, an alternative to
traditional lineage sisterhood that will support individual nunsÂ’ journeys.
Actually, IÂ’ll be doing more by doing less! It will provide a place for
solitary retreat, supported by the fourfold sangha, where nuns and
laywomen can come in for a period of time for cloistered living and go
out with skills and encouragement for compassionate service to the
world. I am grateful to have found this simple buddhadharma. I
understand that not clinging to anything—bad or good—is the real
liberation.
В 
—Rachel Hiles
В 
For more information about My Place, visit myplacewnc.org
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4637 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-26
Subject: #4636 - Monday, June 25, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
#4636 -В Monday, June 25, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
Compassion does not arise from ideals of perfection but from a
recognition of and concern for our own fallibility. At the heart of our
potential for health and wholeness is the need for a fundamental quality
of acceptance, an unconditional compassionate presence. Without this
capacity either for ourselves or for others, even our spirituality can
become harsh and uncompromising.
В 
Rob Preece -The Wisdom of Imperfection
via Daily Dharma
В 

An Interview with Venerable Pannavati Karuna

В 
Profession: Co-Abbot, Embracing Simplicity Hermitage; Founder of My
Place; Age: 60 Location: Hendersonville, North Carolina
В 
Where did you grow up? I grew up in Washington, D.C., and the
surrounding Maryland area.
В 
What was your religious upbringing? I was raised as a Baptist Christian.
В 
How did you get from the Baptist church to Buddhism? I felt the love of
Jesus enter my heart when I was 6. But, when I was 13, I had an
experience that the Baptist church said was not real, so I had to look
outside of the church for an explanation: I began speaking in tongues,
and we didnÂ’t even believe in that in my church! I ended up going to a
Pentecostal church—we called them “Holy Rollers”—against the wishes of
my mother. Sometimes I would have to sneak out the window to go to
services. And my faith deepened.

В 
Eventually I became a Christian pastor, but in 1985 I had a vision that led
me away from the church onto my own path, and I entered into a
15-year dark night of the soul. I was really trying to find out who I was,
what the meaning of life was. WhatÂ’s the world all about? Exactly who
and what is God? Finally, that path led me to Buddhism.
В 
In 2009 you went to Thailand to ordain Theravada nuns as bhikkunis.
How did that trip come about?
After becoming a Theravada nun I began
to look around me—I could really see the patriarchal aspect of
institutionalized Buddhism, and I became very disenchanted with it, I saw
that this was the same system as institutional Christianity. When the
masters come to the West from the East they bring what good they have
to share with the world, but itÂ’s wrapped in culturalism. I had been on a
spiritual path my whole life. Still, the teachers want to take you back to
grade school—“Let me dress you like me.” Why should I learn Tibetan?
IÂ’m not Tibetan. Why should I learn Chinese? IÂ’m not Chinese. Why
should I speak Pali? The Buddha didnÂ’t even speak it. I needed to walk
my own path, so I just did what I felt that I had to do, and I found
support from senior Thai monks and Western nuns to convene the
platform. Actually, because I did not have the “required” years to serve as
a higher ordination master, Venerable Karuna Dharma gave me written
permission to act in her stead so there would be no problem in the
future.
В 
I understood when these women, some of whom had lived unofficially as
nuns for well over a decade, sought higher ordination, and I was asked to
officiate over that higher ordination. (I had previously given them
samaneri [novice Buddhist nun] vows.) I wanted very much to do it,
because although it is not allowed in Thailand, ordination is an act of the
heart—not the country. I was not afraid. It was really, really wonderful.
And now itÂ’s done. Nothing more to talk about. Just quietly doing what
needed to be done and helping each woman who had a desire to step
into the life with her whole heart and full confidence. ThatÂ’s it.
В 
В 
Tell me about My Place—the center you founded for homeless youth in
the Asheville area
. I found out that there were hundreds of homeless kids
in the city, and I heard that they were sleeping in laundromats and under
viaducts and in cars, and couch surfing. This town is basically an affluent
retirement area, and virtually no resources are available to older
homeless or at-risk teens except jails. I talked to my sangha and said,
“We have this monastery just sitting here most of the time—no one
spends the night. Would you mind if I opened up the space to homeless
youth?” And, they said “OK.”
В 
How did the community respond to a Buddhist nun taking in homeless
kids?
ItÂ’s been very rough financially. We get virtually no support from
local foundations or agencies. My Place is an unbelievable concept to the
people who live here. When we opened in 2009, we started off with
about 14 kids, ages 17 to 20 years old. Can you imagine being in the
Southern Bible Belt, having youth in this age bracket living in a Buddhist
monastery? Yet with the help of a few dedicated supporters Ven.
Pannadipa (co-abbot of Embracing Simplicity Hermitage) and I have
parented more than 60 teens over the past two years. We even have our
own accredited high school! I didnÂ’t realize the backlash that would come
from it. People asked, “What are you gonna do with them? You gonna
teach them Buddhism?” I said, “No, we don’t have to teach them
Buddhism. We’ll just live like we live.” Some things are better caught than
taught. No need to give a good teaching— just live it, and people will
catch it. And thatÂ’s what happening.
В 
WhatÂ’s next for you? Recently, My Place received $1 million in stock from
the vice president of an environmentally engaged company, Reshoot
Productions. We canÂ’t trade it yet. There are conditions. One is that to
continue working in this Appalachian region, the donor would like to see
the buy-in of the community. So IÂ’m trying to raise $100,000 over the
next 60 days that will be matched 10 to 1 by the corporation over the
next few years. We need this to stay afloat. The other condition is that
heÂ’d like us to include a formal meditation program. If weÂ’re dependent
on local funds, that may not be possible. So IÂ’m asking the national
Buddhist community to help me raise the funds. Hopefully I will be able
to turn this work over to others within two years. Then, along with some
other 21st-century yoginis and yogis, IÂ’ll become more active in the
mission of the Sisters of Compassionate Wisdom, an alternative to
traditional lineage sisterhood that will support individual nunsÂ’ journeys.
Actually, IÂ’ll be doing more by doing less! It will provide a place for
solitary retreat, supported by the fourfold sangha, where nuns and
laywomen can come in for a period of time for cloistered living and go
out with skills and encouragement for compassionate service to the
world. I am grateful to have found this simple buddhadharma. I
understand that not clinging to anything—bad or good—is the real
liberation.
В 
—Rachel Hiles
В 
For more information about My Place, visit myplacewnc.org
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4638 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2012-06-27
Subject: #4638 - Tuesday/Wednesday, June 26/27, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4638 -В В Tuesday/Wednesday, June 26/27, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
This is an interesting article in the genre of "nondual perspectives," featuring nonduality and ethnography. It's an academic paper written somewhat densely but with a subtle humor. I've highlighted salient points in bold.
В 
В 

В 
В 
В 
2012 | HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 2 (1): 413–419
В 
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons | © Theodoros Kyriakides and
Soumhya Venkatesan.
В 
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported. ISSN 2049-1115 (Online)
|Forum|
В 
Nondualism is philosophy, not ethnography
В 
A review of the 2011 GDAT debate
В 
Theodoros KYRIAKIDES, University of Manchester
В 
The motion for the 2011 Group Debate in Anthropological Theory (GDAT) which took place at the University of Manchester (on November 12, 2011) was ?Nondualism is philosophy, not ethnography. Nondualism as a philosophical term entails continuity between body and mind, rather than a separation thereof. Such an ontological claim is increasingly gaining momentum in ethnographic thought and practice. This blooming relation between ethnography and nondualist philosophical paradigms was problematized by the two sides of the debate. Although largely contextualizing their arguments in contiguous planes of reference, the four debaters proved illuminating and often complementary of each other. I present a summary of the main arguments made in the debate, and add a few points of my own.
В 
Keywords: Ethnography, philosophy, nondualism, GDAT, debate
В 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
В 
В 
The Group for Debates in Anthropological Theory (GDAT):
В 
A brief introduction
В 
Soumhya VENKATESAN, University of Manchester
В 
The Group for Debates in Anthropological Theory aims to generate stimulating discussions on anthropological theory through a debate format. Tim Ingold initiated the first debate in 1988 in Manchester, and the debates became an annual fixture. Many readers will be familiar with Ingold’s edited volume Key debates in anthropology (1996) in which the first six debates—both presentations and discussions—are available. The volume includes such classics as ?Social anthropology is a generalizing science or it is nothing? (1988) and ?The concept of society is theoretically obsolete (1989).

Following a break of eight years between 1999 and 2007, the annual debate was revived by Soumhya Venkatesan and the
Anthropology journal. The new series of GDAT has sought to use the debate as a forum to interrogate theoretical trends in anthropology and to put the spotlight on such developments as the ?ontological turn. Thus, in 2008 the motion debated was: ?Ontology is just another word for culture. The annual debates since 2008 have been published in the Critique of Anthropology journal each year and continue to generate discussion long after the meetings.
В 
The format of the meetings is very lively, and every year around a hundred people from within the UK and beyond gather in Manchester to attend the debates. Two debaters propose the motion and two oppose it. The discussions following the presentations are brisk and incisive, yet fuelled with laughter. At the end of the discussions a vote is taken and most people carry on the discussions over dinner and drinks.
В 
We are always on the lookout for motions to debate. So, if you have one to propose, please get in touch with Soumhya.venkatesan@.... More information on GDAT, including all the previous debate motions, links to debates, etc. are available on the GDAT website:
В 
В 
------------------------------------------------------------------
В 
The annual meeting of the Group for Debates in Anthropological Theory (GDAT) took place in its location at the University of Manchester in November 2011. The motion was ?Nondualism is philosophy, not ethnography. Proposing the motion were Michael Scott (LSE) and Nikolai Ssorin-Chaikov (Cambridge). Opposing were Chris Pinney (UCL) and Joanna Cook (Goldsmiths). The motion set forth aimed at problematizing the burgeoning ethnographic use of philosophical paradigms of nondualism. The consistent relationship between ethnography and philosophy is historically evident. The motion deems itself presently relevant, however, since it specifically situates this relationship with regard to posthuman and poststructuralist philosophical systems, such as the ones of Bruno Latour and Gilles Deleuze, which are increasingly used by ethnographers nowadays. These systems are considered nondualist, since they oppose the Cartesian dualism of body and mind, and instead favour continuity between the two. Such systems have the potential of complementing or hindering ethnography: while overreliance on a philosophical system endangers reducing ethnography to this, adherence to dualism risks representing cultural arrangements as fixed and uniform. Moreover, as the debaters made clear, at stake are not only ethnographic claims of objectivity, but also disciplinary relevance regarding issues of indigenous and ecological preservation. In what follows I present a summary of the main arguments presented by the four debaters, and also add some points of my own.
Scott began by addressing the proliferating practice of fusing ethnography with philosophical paradigms of nondualism. According to Scott, in using philosophical systems of nondualism to ponder the world, ?there is now a need to remind ourselves that these are indeed relations, not equivalencies. As Scott goes on to say, philosophical systems are not ?isomorphic of the world: rather, they are productive of ethnography. Scott thus echoes Alfred Korzybski’s famous saying of the territory not being the map, since the former is always in excess of the latter. Mistake the map for the territory—mistake a philosophical system for the world—and the map will overdetermine the inquiry. The relationship between ethnography and philosophical systems then becomes ?eschatological, as Scott puts it: the philosophical system becomes a raison d’être, rather than acting instrumentally for ethnography.
В 
Granted, this equally applies to both, dualistic and nondualistic philosophical systems. In favour of the motion, Scott mounts an attack tailored to the latter: by dissolving essences and treating all bodies as processual becomings, nondualist ethnography disregards the significance and signification carried by historically formed categories of culture. Second, nondualistic paradigms are suspect of relationalism, the ontological error of asserting that the reality of bodies is exhausted by their relations. In this way, concrete entities are pulled apart, with no leftover essence remaining. Scott does not advocate that ethnography is inherently dualistic. Rather, for Scott ethnography should abide by cultural categories, instead of dissolving these through nondualist thinking. For him, of importance is that the history and essence of indigenous people persist, and that ethnography is just to these. To my mind, Scott proposes a practice akin to ?strategic essentialism (Spivak 1987).
В 
SpivakÂ’s ethos entails that populations perform so as to instil a superficiality of essentiality upon themselves and in the eyes of others, thus maintaining their collective identity. Whereas Spivak addresses the people-to-be-essentialized, MichaelÂ’s argument foresees that ethnography partakes in the given task.

Scott proceeds to argue that, in attempting to appropriate a philosophical system, ethnographers often do not pay analogous attention to parallel readings and critiques related to the given system, thus injecting their ethnographic inquiry with ontological speculation rather than certainty. As he advises, ?remember that philosophers are relations, so attend to the debates. If I take issue with Michael on this point it is because, while he admonishes nondualist paradigms for succumbing to relationalism, he himself similarly errs by stating that ?philosophers are relations. Instead of reducing philosophical systems to their relations with secondary readings, commentaries and critiques, as Scott suggests, I propose that we regard them ?in themselves through the several, related, yet at the same time distinct concepts by which they are comprised (Deleuze and Guattari 1994). In doing so, one does not treat a philosophical system as monolithic, but as a multiparted apparatus. I deem such a configuration to be exemplary of the relationship between ethnography and philosophy, since rarely do ethnographers summon an entire philosophical tradition (but even more rarely do philosophers wholly agree on something). Rather, it is a selective process of conceptual ?cherry picking that takes place whenever ethnography philosophizes: the ethnographer chooses philosophical concepts from a given system relevant to the task at hand, thinks and grapples with them, modifies them and makes them work for ethnography. Indeed, has the ethnographer ever been anything but a bricoleur? The danger, as Scott is correct to point out, is for a faulty concept to become an underlying field out of which an ethnographic endeavour arises from and returns to. In such a case, one capitulates to a conceptual tyrannism whereby only the concept is of substance to the ethnographer (take substance with a metaphysical twist).
В 
Countering the motion, Chris Pinney, a self-admitted romantic and neo-primitivist, began his presentation by diffusing two traps concealed in the format and motion of the debate. He first invoked Heidegger to point to the complementary rather than antithetical nature of the two sides involved in the debate. Secondly, Pinney argued that one does not have to pick between ethnography or philosophy, as the motion necessitates. Rather, the relationship between ethnography and philosophy unfolds through continuity. For Pinney this second point is important: the continuity between philosophy and ethnography is a cathartic process of cross-fertilization, by which the former cleanses the latter of its looming Cartesian spectre. Fail to recognize this continuity and, as ethnographers, we are in danger of falling back into representation. Following this, and much like Scott, PinneyÂ’s position has to do with instilling an ethic. If Scott advocated in favour of an ethnography aimed at safekeeping the essences of indigenous populations, Pinney advocates in favour of an ecologically sensitive, ?quasi-monistic ethnography which holds that ?all entities are knots in the biospherical net (in this regard, perhaps Pinney prefers the term knottism over monism). Since all entities are part of this net, we once again revert back to essentialism but, this time, a literal one: the biosphere is deemed essential to the survival of the human species. But the dualistic subject does not perceive this essentialism, and does not respect its ties to the world. Rather, as Pinney says, it views the world as exploitable, ?an object separate from the viewing subject and as something represented and substitutable.?
В 
To emphasize his point, Pinney invites us to enter a dystopian future, fifty years ahead, ?ravaged by centuries of dualism. The dualistic foundations upon which the human subject and civilization were built have collapsed amid ecological degradation and warfare. The totalizing entities of ethnoi are no longer to be found, now splintered into duelling factions competing for natural resources. With half its corpus gone, ethnography is forced to reconsider its ethnocentric agenda and, for the sake of human survival, revert to a mode of haptic reverence and documentation. It is hard to assert the validity of a speculative scenario, but Pinney’s point is clear: a point of no return is imminent. If we are to counter ecological and thus human obliteration we must collectively, ethnographers or not, intellectually and praxeologically reconfigure our relationship to the earth as one of unity. With this unity in mind, Latour’s unveiling of purification is not adequate. Latour’s moderns remain unable to conceive the urgency for an ?ecological resingularization (Guattari 2000). ANT instead chooses to communicate society as the mobilization of many distinct objects in the name of an illusionary, yet capable, purifying subject. Ultimately, the ?Parliament of Things (Latour 1993) has a human speaker—himself the most competent of all things.
В 
Also proposing the motion, Ssorin-ChaikovÂ’s initial concern is with what he terms, invoking Carl Schmitt, ?the ethnographic state of exception. According to him, nondualistic frameworks such as Actor-Network Theory encourage the ethnographer to flatten a social formation, to ?lay it out on the table and perceive it as such. The problem, however, arises out of the looming figure of the ethnographer, which once again reinstates the Cartesian subject. But, Sorrin-Chaikov objects, this looming figure of the ethnographer falsely remains ?exempt from suppositions of nondualistic ethnography.

What is more, he continues, many mistake the Cartesian perspective as that of a fixed linear point. Not only is this not the case, but it is exactly what the Cartesian perspective opposes. Rather, the Cartesian perspective involves the subject viewing the world as situated in it. The Cartesian subject thus perceives the world anamorphically (anamorphosis being the shift of a single, real frame of reference in order to be subjectively viewed from many different angles). In return, and according to several Cartesian scholars, this anamorphic perception of the world instils doubt in the Cartesian subject, since it understands that the world might not really be as it sees it. As Ssorin-Chaikov says, not only does the doubtful character of the Cartesian subject acquit it of all charges of representation, but it also directs it towards an ethic of discovery and possibility, aimed at countering such doubt. Ssorin-Chaikov thus provides us with a somewhat phenomenological reading of Descartes, in which the subject perceives the world through constant shifts in its frame of reference, these akin to Husserlian adumbrations. In the concept of anamorphosis, Ssorin-Chaikov also finds common ground between LatourÂ’s Actor-Network Theory and DescartesÂ’ subject. What is entailed in both cases is a constant shift in perspective, the equivalent of Cartesian anamorphosis being Latourian translation (Latour 1993). As such, Ssorin-Chaikov concludes, even though ethnography might ontologically be nondualist, in practice, courtesy of this constant shift in perspective, it remains Cartesian.
В 
Since Pinney decided to tackle dualism by way of an imperative monism, his co-proposer Cook would do so by way of a factual nondualism. Cook sought to show why ethnography is qualitatively nondualist. Cook first makes the point that, by opposing dualism through means of nondualism, she does not succumb to dualism. This is because the antithesis of dualism is not nondualism, but monism. As she makes clear, ethnography is exactly nondualist because it does not adhere to this antithesis between monism and dualism. Rather, ethnography entails that ?the tension between dualism and monism remains unresolved.

Moving on to her main argument, Cook points out that ethnography is essentially nondualistic because, enacted, it overcomes all claims of division between mind/body and subject/object. The ethnographer is thus ?actively implicated in the field: she engages in an affirmative process of encounter and interaction which in return gives way to a multiplicity of meanings, understandings and ?partial connections (Strathern 1991) which cannot be framed in dualistic or monistic terms. Cook also points to the dangers involved in following a dualist mode of ethnography. At stake is the reduction of culture as ?bounded, whole, unitary and graspable. Cook is somewhat complementary of Ssorin-Chaikov in that both pose the figure of the ethnographer as only partially perceiving the world. Cook takes us a step further though, by not thinking of the ethnographer as a subject which negatively abstracts the world through vision, but as an agent dynamically situated in it. If the field is always in excess of the ethnographer’s perception of it, then the ethnographer is equally in excess of the field. The ethnographer intrudes into the field, she disturbs and is productive of it—she becomes the difference that makes a difference (Bateson 1972). For an ethnographer, there is nothing left to say, no doubt to purge, because culture is not a static configuration that has to be fully explored, described or represented. Rather, as Cook says, there is ?always something more to say because every ethnographer will actualize the field differently. In her causal and reciprocal relation to the field, the ethnographer testifies to the nonduality of her craft.
В 
Debaters made their closing comments and Marylin Strathern, the jester of the debate, proceeded to orchestrate her thoughts, and also ours. A jester indeed, in whimsical and witty style, Strathern masterfully juggled the arguments posed by the two sides. If she seemed to lean first toward one side of the debate and then the other, she did so to provocatively even the field. But, costumes and wit notwithstanding, her advice was clear: ?itÂ’s not persons who get your votes, itÂ’s the arguments. Following this, the motion was put to the vote, and the result found Pinney and Cook winning with 41 votes against Scott and Ssorin-ChaikovÂ’s 32, and with 18 abstentions.
В 
My feeling is that both sides directed us to burning issues. As I am writing this we are still experiencing whiplash from the video showing tourist exploitation of the Jarawa tribe in the Andaman Islands while, only a few days before, the doomsday clock was set to five to midnight. Whether it involves perpetuating the identity of indigenous people or arousing ecological sensitivity, ethnography can contribute by accordingly adopting a dualist or nondualist stance: such are the pragmatics of thought. WhatÂ’s more, the two aforementioned demands might be, by and large, conjoint (Descola 2008).

The proceedings of the debate (including an Introduction, the four presentations, the discussion and the jesterÂ’s encouragements and admonishments) will be published in Critique of Anthropology. The presentations and discussion can also be found on the GDAT website:
www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/disciplines/socialanthropology/research/gdat/
В 
References

Bateson, Gregory. 1972. Steps to an ecology of the mind: Collected essays in anthropology, psychiatry, evolution and epistemology. London: Intertext.
Deleuze, Gilles and Guattari, Felix. 1994. What is philosophy? Translated by Graham Burchell and Hugh Tomlinson. London: Verso Press.
Descola, Philippe. 2008. ?Who owns nature?? Books and ideas, (Online) Available at http://www.booksandideas.net/Who-owns-nature.html?lang=fr.
Guattari, Felix. 2000. The three ecologies. Translated by Ian Pindar and Paul Sutton. London: Athlone Press.
Latour, Bruno. 1993. We have never been modern. Translated by Catherine Porter. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Spivak, Gayatri C. 1987. In other worlds: Essays in cultural politics. London and New York: Methuen.
Strathern, Marilyn. 1991. Partial connections. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
La Non-dualité relève de la philosophie pas de l’ethnographie. Un résumé du débat GDAT 2011.
« La Non-dualité relève de la philosophie, pas de l’ethnographie », tel a été le thème du Group Debate in Anthropological Theory (GDAT) qui a eu lieu a l’Université de Manchester (12 novembre, 2011). La non-dualité, en tant que concept philosophique, implique, plutôt qu’une rupture, une continuité entre le corps et l’esprit. Ce postulat ontologique a acquis une importance croissante au sein de la pensée et de la pratique ethnographique. La relation entre l’ethnographie et les paradigmes philosophiques non-dualistes a été problématisée des deux cotés du débat. Faisant l’effort de s’inscrire dans des champs de référence contigus, les arguments présentés par les quatre intervenants se sont pourtant éclairés réciproquement, et se sont souvent révélés complémentaires. Je présente ici un résumé des arguments principaux du débat, auxquels j’ajoute quelques remarques personnelles.
В 
Theodoros KYRIAKIDES is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Manchester. His research focuses on genetic testing technology implemented in Cypriot healthcare against the spread of thalassaemia, a recessive blood disorder.
В 
Soumhya VENKATESAN is a lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester. She is the author of Craft matters: Artisans, development and the Indian Nation (2009) and co-editor, with Thomas Yarrow, of Differentiating development: Beyond an anthropology of critique (2012). Since 2008, she has been the organiser of annual meetings of the Group for Debates in Anthropological Theory (GDAT).
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4639 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2012-06-29
Subject: #4639 - Monday, June 28, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 

В 


#4639 -В Monday, June 28, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and
get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything.
~ Alan Watts
В 
В 
В 
В 
When, at some point, there is a spontaneous surrender of the personal needs,
preferences, desires, opinions, and beliefs that function as 'reality filters,' the
realization of your true identify may spontaneously arise. When this happens
there will be no more questions. You see that everything is the answer - that the
guru is and has always been completely present. He manifests as the person,
inner voice, or happening that triggers this surrender. Any way the invitation is
extended, it functions as the guru. It may be silence from a sage or words from
a shopkeeper. The surrender may come through agony or ecstasy. It can happen
through an apple falling on your head; it can come from the smile of a child; or it
can arise from deep inside as you walk along a beach at sunset or when your burn
your finger on the stove. At any time, your sense of separation may dissolve to
reveal the One beyond all duality.
В 
~ Leo Hartong
В 
Awakening to the Dream, Trafford, 2001
via Along The Way
В 
В 

В 
What Is There Beyond Knowing?
В 
What is there beyond knowing that keeps
calling to me?В  I can't
В 
turn in any direction
but it's there.В  I don't mean
В 
the leaves' grip and shine or even the thrush's
silk song, but the far-off
В 
fires, for example,
of the stars, heaven's slowly turning
В 
theater of light, or the wind
playful with its breath;
В 
or time that's always rushing forward,
or standing still
В 
in the same -- what shall I say --
moment.
В 
What I know
I could put into a pack
В 
as if it were bread and cheese, and carry it
on one shoulder,
В 
important and honorable, but so small!
While everything else continues, unexplained
В 
and unexplainable.В  How wonderful it is
to follow a thought quietly
В 
to its logical end.
I have done this a few times.
В 
But mostly I just stand in the dark field,
in the middle of the world, breathing
В 
in and out.В  Life so far doesn't have any other name
but breath and light, wind and rain.
В 
If there's a temple, I haven't found it yet.
I simply go on drifting, in the heaven of the grass
and the weeds.
В 
~ Mary Oliver ~
В 
(New and Selected Poems Volume Two)
В 

В 
В 
Web archive of Panhala postings: www.panhala.net/Archive/Index.html
В 
To subscribe to Panhala, send a blank email to Panhala-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
В 
В 

top of page