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Group: NDhighlights Message: 4800 From: Mark Date: 2012-12-31
Subject: #4800 - Sunday, December 30, 2012
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4800, Sunday, December 30, 2012



Ed note: I tried to present an excerpt from this article (the first six paragraphs), along with a link to the full article, but I was unable to provide the link (an html problem? I don't know...) Anyway, I decided to provide the full article, and here is an attempt to provide the link as it also links to the journal which may be of interest...

http://undividedjournal.com/2012/11/29/relationship-vs-relating/




Bringing Our Togetherness Back to Life

By Jeannie Zandi

By showing us who we are and how to live surrendered to what is, nondual wisdom can greatly minimize the suffering that is our common human affliction in a separation-based society. This awareness as a psychotherapist throws a new light on the issues that a client brings to the session room. Even the least "spiritual" client, who may not be interested in esoteric talk of one's true nature as consciousness, is interested in suffering less, especially in the relationships that matter most. Here, I will explore the difference between the concept of relationship, which is born of conditioning and can only perpetuate the isolation and distress we feel inside of identification with a "me," and the actual experience of moment-to-moment relating, which is our birthright and an expression of our natural state.

Typically when we speak of relationship in our culture, we are referring to the concept of relationship, to an object. We say "I have a relationship," or "I'm in a relationship," "I want a relationship," or "My relationship sucks." And we grow up with the promise that if we find the right person and do the right things, that relationship will bring us happiness, joy, fulfillment, belonging and the end of loneliness. We even bring this conditioning into our spiritual mythology as a belief that "manifesting our soul mate" will cause Nirvana to descend upon us.

The only thing that can deliver what we are seeking through relationship is contact with, and an ever-deepening living from, the Real.* Thus relationship, as an object to pursue, acquire, get right and keep, becomes a false god, heaped with the hopes and dreams of our lost connection to our deepest Self. To the extent that the relating between any two people is pressured to deliver on the societal promise, we turn what is natural and easeful (learning about and enjoying each other, negotiating and appreciating differences) into a stressful attempt to force the actual relating to adhere to an inner ideal so that we are not left feeling the things from which the relationship was supposed to save us. As well, a conditioned relationship gone bad simply becomes a competition to squeeze our sense of our own goodness out of the "other" by getting her to behave in the ways we need her to in order to feel good.

The concept of relationship isn't simple, like the concept of a ball – something round that we can throw, kick or hit in a game. It is a highly complex set of assumptions, expectations, beliefs, rules, and conditions that are widely shared in our culture, though some variation exists between groups, families and individuals. In addition to the underlying assumptions that are relatively static, there are dynamic learned strategies we use to attempt to evaluate, correct, solidify and nail down something that is meant to be beyond measurement, alive, changing and unpredictable– everything from pleasing to pouting to spying to working on our "stuff" to be good enough.

This complex conceptual system is largely held unconsciously – we don't even know that this mutually bought-into system does not reflect reality. In fact, we don't even realize it's a conceptual system. And sometimes, neither does the therapist. So the first step a therapist needs to take before offering couples therapy is to examine the conditioned assumptions, expectations, beliefs, rules and conditions, and the accompanying strategies, that make up her own complex conceptual box called "relationship." This is no small feat. The more open, clear and self-knowledgeable the therapist is about these, the freer the space she can offer to clients. (A "couple" is another complex conceptual system, as is a "human being." Discovering the reality and actuality of what any of these words points to is a fascinating excavation of our true nature.) In nondual circles we talk a lot about our "conditioning," but what is it? In psychology, it is "a process of changing behavior by rewarding or punishing a subject each time an act is performed until the subject associates the action with pleasure or distress." (dictionary.reference.com) What we are left with after the completion of our extensive social conditioning process is large areas where our behavior is unconsciously seeking pleasure or avoiding distress instead of expressing the truth of our being. And despite its occasional and generally short-term benefits (getting pats or avoiding whacks), it turns out the result of this behavior is suffering, as we get further and further away from leading simple, present-centered, truth-filled lives from our natural state, and become more and more unconsciously invested in our pleasure-seeking/distress-avoiding strategies, while we watch them fail.

We don't suffer because of our relationships – we suffer because of our disconnection from the Real. And there is nothing better to distract us from the search for the Real than the promise that some object out there is finally going to make us happy. As long as we are living predominantly through unconscious concepts and the acquisition of objects, we are putting our attention on conditioned pseudo-reality versus actual reality, and perpetuating our suffering. Attempting to relate to another human being through one's relationship concept is a dead-end street in terms of joy, fulfillment and intimacy.

Relationship built on conditioning is not sustainable, transformative, growthful or in the long run, fun or good for anyone. As we increasingly seek to solidify the other in order to feel good about ourselves, and find ourselves being solidified in order to evoke positivity from our partner, the life goes out of our togetherness. And how could it not? Instead of tending to alive relating, we are seeking to change living, breathing, dynamic expressions of God, and the mysterious space in which we meet, into solid, predictable objects.

It can be a relief for who come to therapy to realize that they are not failures at applying a wonderful system that works for everyone else, but are sane wonderful people who unknowingly have proven through their experience the obsolescence of our conditioned model. They are actually healthy for the fact that they cannot make an insane strategy work on each other, and that they are seeking help is more a sign of success than failure.

The complete and utter failure of the conditioned relationship model produces the humility that is a prerequisite to relating from aliveness, just as the utter failure of the "me" model is a prerequisite to relating as a human being from our natural state. So let's raise a glass to the entry point to true living – total and unmitigated failure! If love is involved, if the two people have discovered something real about their togetherness and kept in touch with it despite their difficulties, that channel for love can be the beckoning glint that leads them further into the cauldron of their own undoing. So you now can see my bias as a spiritual teacher sitting with any two people on these issues – whosoever loves and enters into sustained relating opens the possibility of the death of "me."

At some point an ethical consideration presents itself – is it fair to foist one's penchant for dying to God upon one's clients, when they are simply coming in to save their relationship? I tell people I sit with that my emphasis is on the truth and alive relating, not on any particular structure of relationship, as the rigidified concept of their "relationship" might actually be what is getting in the way of satisfying relating! If they run screaming from the room, I know they are someone else's clients. I think each true servant of humanity benefits from discovering and communicating our own approach, and why we do what we do. Ideally this becomes explicit in the counseling room at some point as well. The good news is that the benefit of nondual wisdom is not all about death and dismemberment – to relate simply from the present actually does serve our happiness, it's just a deeper form than the pleasure-seeking, pain-avoiding happiness on which we were betting the farm.

What does relating look like outside of the concept of relationship? If we allow our beloved dreams to collapse, along with all our scheming and strategizing to obtain them to collapse, and rest here in the moment as clueless not-knowing, what happens to our relationships? What are they? If we check in with every breath to see if what we are saying and doing is in alignment with our highest and deepest truth, what aspects of what we call our relationships will survive and what aspects will need an overhaul in the light of what we know? What aspects of what we consider "me" will survive and how much will need to be discarded?

What is it like to function inside a relationship that is an object and what is it like to relate from aliveness and actuality without that concept? What are the rules, the feel, and the quality of each? If you saw a couple of humans relating from the first or the second, what would that look like? We can use the two descriptions not only to understand what I'm trying to convey,but also to see ourselves reflected in these descriptions during a particularly free or a particularly challenged relational moment, and learn something about from where we are relating.

The concept of relationship is a noun, an "it." It's something to get, to have, to keep, to protect, to tell people about: "I have one." We are either "in" or "out;" it is either "on" or "off." It can become an ornament on our "me" tree, another trinket that we use to prove that we are somebody. Somebody good! Each aspect of a highly conditioned complex concept such as relationship has a good side and a bad side, depending on whether we have been conditioned to glean pleasure or distress from it. So within the conceptual system of relationship, generally if I have one, I'm good. If I don't have one, I'm bad. If I have a bad one, I'm bad (or my partner is). If I have a good one, I'm good (I'll take the credit here). It's going well today, I'm good. It's not going well today, I'm bad (or my partner is). The 360-degree sphere of actual experience (what's it actually like in this moment for everyone, below thought?) is shrunken down to a finite set of possibilities: good and bad. We are nowhere near the actual experience of the moment – we are too busy evaluating it and scheming about how to get good and safe in the next moment. With each aspect of the relationship concept, there's a way to be good and way to be bad, and unconsciously we're working overtime to be good, which actually obscures our connection to our inherent goodness as being. Once we discover our true being, the whole system of identification that keeps us enslaved to proving our goodness and minimizing our badness, is seen as a ridiculous waste of time. (A short anecdote here – when my daughter was 7, she came home from school and asked, "Mama, what does `being fake' mean?" To which I replied, "That's when you pretend you are different than you are, or you feel differently than you do, so that people will like you." She exclaimed with horror, "Why would anyone want to do that!?")

Alive relating, on the other hand, is a verb, and it requires no maintenance or evaluation. There is nothing to be "in" or "out" of–it just IS and it is like this right now. The quality of the relating in the moment is met, without distancing from it to evaluate it, manipulate it or manage it. The emphasis is not so much on what it means, but on noticing that it is, and deeply receiving/feeling how it is, whatever the flavor. Relating is happening all the time, for your enjoyment or excruciation, courtesy of the Beloved. Within the conditioning, we skip over the actual experience of relating in pursuit of the "it" of relationship (getting a good one, making sure it's going well) because we think that achieving the "it" will get us somewhere good. But any of us who have some years under our belts know that this approach to living doesn't result in anything but suffering. There's something wrong with the program, not with you.

In addition to this goodness/badness game of conditioned relationship, there are also tracking systems – it's important to keep track of who's good, how good we are, how good we are in relation to this one, how good we are in relation to that one, and who owes whom. We move toward the ones who make us feel good, away from the ones who make us feel bad. Again, our relating in this case is steered by the unconscious habit to seek pleasure and avoid distress, not by the truth. When we are conscious of this dynamic, we can willingly move toward pain and move through it, so as to start to develop a wider view of the possibilities in any moment. When our vision has shrunk to see only good and bad, only short-term pleasure and pain, unconsciously we will move toward trying to get good every time, ignoring reality and possibility, like nice rats in a maze.

Relating through a concept has fear as its motivational energy, whereas relating from actuality is based on love. Where conditioning lives, unconscious fear lives too. In the absence of conditioning, love and freedom reign. In fear-based me-centric relationship, our questions are, "How does this serve me?" and "What's safe?" In alive relating our questions are, "How does this serve God?" and "What's true?"

Within the paradigm of relationship as concept, or as an "it," I need one to give me love and connection. If I have one, I'll have love. If I behave properly inside of one, I'll have love. If you behave properly inside of it, I'll have love. So I need it and I need to control it, so that I have the good stuff. When we are in this sort of acquire-and-protect mode it has a feel of going and getting something, of working to get it, to secure it, to nail it down. This sort of togetherness is based on an underlying sense of lack and the need for control in order to guarantee love's supply. It requires at least one project manager, as we try to control things so our comfort is maximized, shutting down pieces of ourselves as necessary. The project needs to be managed closely because if we did not stay on top of it, where would we be?

In alive relating, I am love, I am connectedness itself, and the fact of love's abundance is clear from the bubbling fountain of my being. From alive relating and resting in the Real, it's completely ludicrous to think that love comes from the outside. Pats and kind words are nice, but our bread and butter come from within. In alive relating, the sense is, the Holy has it handled. So there is a giving over of anticipation, management, and figuring it out, for this right here. Maybe it will end, maybe it won't end, maybe you'll like me today, and maybe you won't–no management, just a meeting what is. Alive relating invites a settling into the now, a settling into what we are, whatever the feel of it is in this moment.

In the concept of relationship, separation reigns and objects seem very solid. So there's "me" and there's "you" and there's "the relationship." There are other discrete objects too, those who might threaten it, those who might take us away from it. In alive relating, objects disappear as the background becomes the foreground. Mistrust is met as it rises and dissolves as we rest as vibrating Being. Objects become almost transparent, like waves. There's a sense of a you and a me, but what's really primary is this vibrating field, this alive moment, to which everyone belongs.

Inside the relationship concept, you are a solid predictable object, or at least you should be. This sort of relationship bolsters and supports the "me." In fact, a "me" is a prerequisite to living inside this sort of relationship. Don't surprise me, because a "me" doesn't like to feel out of control, and I'll blame those feelings on you for misbehaving. When I come home, be home. When I say "I love you," say "I love you" back. Don't leave me out here in the sea without a paddle. You are my reassurance object my reference point for my safety and you owe it to me to be that, according to the rules of the relationship concept. The primary relating here is between conceptual images, and the alive flow of life is mistrusted and seen as a potential threat to the relationship. The unknown is seen as dangerous and thus filled in with identification, definition and meaning. Authentic impulses are seen as suspicious, potentially leading to the dissolution of the status quo, and so are ignored or downright discouraged, as we take solace in our predictable defined togetherness. Our focus is on how we need to be for the other to feel good and loved, or how we need our partner to be so we feel that way.

Within alive relating, you are an ever-changing miracle, and so am I. You are a wonder! An unpredictable wild force of nature, and I love you to be that, because I love actuality. I am not demanding anything of you because I see you as a gift to cherish and enjoy, a free being whose truth and path is not mine with which to meddle. The primary relationship (if we can even call it that, as the sense of "two" dissolves) is between emptiness and the flow of experience. There is a trust and love of the flow, and a sense that the unknown is enlivening. Emphasis goes to what is happening now, whether it brings pleasure or causes distress, because we're here for it, we love the truth, the actual flowing moment! We are both expressions of this flow. When we are dropped in and dissolved in this, the feeling is that everything is alive and new, nothing is ever the same. Authentic impulses are celebrated, made room for, as possibilities for each other and our togetherness expand. This sort of relating can dismantle what's left of the clinging "me." Our focus is on blessing and freeing the other to be the unique, organic, and authentic expression that they are, leaving identification behind.

In the concept of relationship, time is important. Our relationship has a past and a future. Our past becomes very important either as a wellspring of inspiration ("Remember how in love we were?"), material for identification ("We've been married 56 years, longer than anyone we know!"), or as a database to draw upon when cross-blaming ("Well, why should you be mad at me for being attracted to him, you were attracted to her!"). Our future as well becomes very important – we need constant reassurance that we have one together, to plug up our great fearof the unknown and unpredictable nature of being alive, and to cheer us up with promises of trips and goals to cheer us up from our current suffering.

In relating, past and future fade and there is only the timeless immediacy of now. There's just this. Right here. All the eggs are in the basket of the present, not in saving anything for later but in fully experiencing this. Memories from the past, whether pleasant or unpleasant, are met as they arise, when they arise, without fishing for them or using them to bolster good-me-ness. Thoughts of the future are traded in for a complete immersion in the trust of the flow, no matter where it leads or how it feels.

Within the relationship concept, the structure and agreements of our partnership come from socially conditioned, unconsciously agreed upon implicit rules and agreements, and these are seen as a standard that "everyone knows." These rigid rules and agreements are imposed like a template upon actuality rather than rising from it and deviating (or wanting to) is seen as not loving the other or somehow betraying the relationship. The structure that arises through alive relating is creatively birthed out of what's alive and organically enduring for these two unique beings. It is an immature belief that there is no structure in God's country–the Holy builds mountains that last eons and cell walls that are perfect for their function. The structure here rises up out of what is rather than being imposed on it. It is mutual conscious, unique and revisable. When the structure of relating is built from the moment-to-moment abidance in the truth, it is a gift, but a gift that must be subject to new bulletins from the Holy in each moment. Conscious agreements are forged as long as they are alive, mutual, and born of these unique beings at this time (rather than from rigid definitions of "should"), and they form what we are together. Rather than relying on rigid rules to make sure things go well, we trust in our mutual integrity, respect and our ability to stay in touch with each other in an ongoing way. Sadly, most of our relational structures are built from unconscious encrusted ideas that we are trying to cram living breathing beings into, rather than from Divine Will, and turn out to be deadening prison cells.

Through the concept of relationship, our idea of commitment is to a person and to an unconscious and rigidified form of relationship with that person. We make efforts to preserve the structure and adhere to it, and follow its rules, as proof of our love. The commitment from within alive relating is to the authentic expression of our highest and most tender Self, and regard for all beings is included in that – a strict adherence to what is true for us is combined with an utter sense of the sensitive heart of the other.

One caveat – the concepts that rise out of talk of nonduality and freedom can be used to justify all kinds of shoddy behavior in relationship. In the name of "no structure" we can be running a pattern of fear of intimacy. In the name of our "freedom," we can demand our narcissistic right to do whatever we want regardless of the effect on another. It is important that we explore the bounds and possibilities of relating with people who share our own depth of integrity, self-responsibility and purity of intention. If we have to police and control each other to wring out of each other the relationship we want, is that the relationship we want?

To journey from living within conditioning to living free is a journey to here, now, dropping everything and noticing what is. It is the willingness to look, see and become aware of how conditioned complexes operate within our energetic systems, to take responsibility for them, and to find the infinite possibilities that lie outside their walls of right and wrong, good and bad. It is to have passion about self-knowledge, a thirst for drinking the pure, clean water of our own authentic expression. It is to find support for the things we have to face as we drop our conditioned patterns (they were born of pain and it's pain we'll get to feel as we stop using them to cope) and open to a radical vulnerability in the moment. When things get confusing it is to find sources of clarity in those who have carved out areas of sanity in themselves. It is to free every human being we come in contact with to be who they are and to feel whatever in us has difficulty with that. And by being a pioneer in her own discovery of Self-in-relating, the nondual therapist can become a torchbearer for others.

*This article assumes the reader is at least acquainted with the nondual concept of the Real.

About Jeannie Zandi:

Jeannie Zandi (M.A. Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University) is a revolutionary of the Heart and the director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring, teaching and supporting people to live from their essence as Love. She has traveled widely in the US and Canada, bringing an embodied teaching of living from the Unknown. Jeannie practiced as a psychotherapist in Colorado and New Mexico, and now works with people predominantly through her retreats. She resides in Taos, New Mexico.









Group: NDhighlights Message: 4801 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-01
Subject: #4801 - Monday, December 31, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4801 -В Monday, December 31, 2012 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
Best Wishes for the New Year
В 
May all beings be happy.
May they be free from suffering.
May they be at peace.
В 

В 
В 
He is nearer to you than yourself.
Why look outside?
Become like melting snow;
wash yourself of yourself.
В 
~ Rumi
В 
В 

В 
"Know the world from end to end is a mirror;
in each atom a hundred suns are concealed.
If you pierce the heart of a single drop of water,
from it will flow a hundred clear oceans;
if you look intently at each speck of dust,
in it you will see a thousand beings.
A gnat in its limbs is like an elephant;
in name a drop of water resembles the Nile.
In the heart of a barleycorn is stored a hundred harvests.
Within a millet-seed a world exists.
In an insects wing is an ocean of life.
A heaven is concealed in the pupil of an eye.
The core at the center of the heart is small,
yet the Lord of both worlds will enter there."
В 
~ Mahmud Shabistari
В 
В 
via Tom McFerran on Facebook
В 

В 
Throw it away! Whatever you understand is not the truth and it is to be thrown
overboard. You are trying to catch hold of something and cling to it. Accept, as
it is, what I am telling you. Don't be carried away by concepts. Don't employ
any words, and look at yourself as you are. Few people understand what I am
driving at. You are not paying proper attention, you are talking only after this
beingness appeared. Before the beingness was there, look at that, be in that
state. If you dare call me an atheist, remember that I do bhajans four times a
day.
В 
В ~ Nisargadatta
В 
via Gary Falk on Facebook
В 

В 
"Lose yourself,
Lose yourself in this love.
When you lose yourself in this love,
you will find everything.
В 
Lose yourself,
Lose yourself.
Do not fear this loss,
For you will rise from the earth
and embrace the endless heavens.
В 
Lose yourself,
Lose yourself.
Escape from this earthly form,
For this body is a chain
and you are its prisoner.
Smash through the prison wall
and walk outside with the kings and princes.
В 
Lose yourself,
Lose yourself at the foot of the glorious King.
When you lose yourself
before the King
you will become the King.
В 
Lose yourself,
Lose yourself.
Escape from the black cloud
that surrounds you.
Then you will see your own light
as radiant as the full moon.
В 
Now enter that silence.
This is the surest way
to lose yourself....
В 
What is your life about, anyway? -
Nothing but a struggle to be someone,
Nothing but a running from your own silence."
В 
~ Rumi
В 
'Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved'
Translations by Jonathan Star
via Amrita Nadi on Daily Dharma
В 
В 

В 
Those who are confused tell us to annihilate the 'I.' But this only devastates the
effulgence of delight. It is not I who dissolve but the sense of do-ership, the
illusory link between the I and action, Purusha and Prakriti.
В 
When the thought that 'I am the do-er' vanishes, I remain as the Wonderfull
Witness, while action dances on, 1000 times more dynamic, spontaneous, and
innocent.
В 
This is not an esoteric meditation: it is the experience of the warrior in the
midst of battle, the athlete at the peak of performance, the lover in the zone of
what she loves.
В 
O heart, rest in stillness at the center of whirling!
В 
~ Fred LaMotte on Facebook
В 
В 
В 
Alan Larus Photography
В 

В 
Nor is our life a logic of references...
В 
When [British poet] A.E. Housman writes that ”poetry is not the thing said but a
way of saying it,” and when he states again “that the intellect is not the fount of
poetry, that it may actually hinder its production, and that it cannot even be
trusted to recognize poetry when it is produced,” he is no more than reaffirming
and lucidly formulating the first axiom of all creative art – whether it be in
poetry, music, dance, architecture, painting, or sculpture – which is, namely, that
art is not, like science, a logic of references but a release from reference and
rendition of immediate experience; a presentation of forms, images, or ideas in
such a way that they will communicate, not primarily a thought or even a feeling,
but an impact.
В 
~ Joseph Campbell, Primitive Mythology, p.41-42
via One Heart Zen on Facebook
В 

Nahko Bear (Medicine for the People) ? Aloha Ke Akua

В 
В 
Click on "About" for lyrics to song.
В 

"Aloha Ke Akua" Music by Nahko (Medicine for the People) - 2012
Video by Nino Canino on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/SailinJerry
Visual production by The Mates Group for Estrellas Del Bicentario.
В 

В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4802 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-01
Subject: #4802 - Tuesday, January 1, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4802 - Tuesday, January 1, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
Happy new year, everybody.
В 
В 

В 
В 
I interviewed Anamika:
В 
В 
Anamika is a Dutch woman who has lived in Auroville, India for over twenty years where she works as a potter. We talk about very little. Unknowing. Untalking. Not getting stuck. What enlightenment is. My Kundalini experiences, which Anamika asked about. The cheese made in Auroville. The nature of interviews, teachers and teaching.
В 
I have to apologize for two things: One, the background noises due to the transmission over Skype. Two, the fact that I talked over Anamika several times. I was not aware of what I was doing and I could have been more careful and thoughtful.
В 
Anamika writes beautiful verses with photographs that match. Many of her photos have been included in this video version of the interview. Read Anamika's blog at http://noname-allthereis.blogspot.ca/
The following is from her blog:

Tuesday, January 1, 2013
В 
В 
В 

Yesterday,
after an absence of more than year
the peacock showed up.
В 
As if no time has passed.
В 
Sitting on the terrace wall,
soft tockling noises
peeking through the kitchen window:
В 
When will the food come.?
В 
A dry crust of bread.
And off he comes,
clumsy and quick.
В 
В 
In the late noon sun
An explosion of blue green hue
pecking at its food
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4803 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-02
Subject: #4803 - Wednesday, January 2, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4803 - Wednesday, January 2, 2012 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
A new Kindle book for $1.
A free book.
And an excerpt from a new blog.
В 
All fine writings.
В 
В 

В 
В 
Hi Jerry,

В 

Hope you, Gloria and Mark are enjoying this wondrous New Year we have just entered.

I want to thank you all, once again,В for your support and your kind reviews of my work over the years

and let you know that "Alethea At Aphelion" is now available on Amazon Kindle as an ebook

for $1.00

В 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=alethea+at+aphelion

В 

Mace

В 

In a world of inconstant misadventure

there is no greater comfort to be found

than that of having a friend.

В 


В 

Hello Jerry,

Happy new Year to you.

Thanks for sharing my web book - Wandering Wonderings - in your blog (Nov.19th).
I came across SAND. Couldn't help notice that it is a conference/newsletter version of original nonduality.com - including focus on "varieties of expression" that you have championed.

Here is a short booklet - Dear Life - of 10 short semi-poems. Please do share (in any form) if you find it worthy of sharing.


thanks,
Nikhil
В 
В 

В 

Paul Reed's Love Freedom Peace blog
В 
В 
Integration
12/21/2012
В 
So, hereÂ’s the storyÂ….
В 
After being hit by a thunderbolt of seeing and knowing Г‚вЂ˜life as it truly isÂ’ earlier this year, my ability to be a normal person simply disintegrated. Virtually every moment of every day was a moment of being aware, completely aware, of my oneness with all around me. I experienced long periods of bliss and a sense of being in communion with divinity. For the Г‚вЂ˜seekerÂ’, what happened to me is that which is sought – to experience life without a sense of separation. Following this, I had a deep urge to understand what had happened to me and sought both the great teachings and modern teachers able to capture Г‚вЂ˜thisÂ’ in words. Next came an apparent need to communicate with others – that I was free from the illusion of separation and that this provided hope for all.
В 
Then came a huge and abrupt change. Illness is often a punctuating moment in oneÂ’s life. I faced my own mortality and was completely at peace with whatever would come my way. My cardiologist was bemused by my apparent lack of attachment or sense of clinging to life.
В 
Next came peace and quiet and a real sense of integration of this realisation into everyday life. I am not currently reading any spiritual books or listening to any spiritual podcasts. I am experiencing life intimately – enjoying my family and the world I come into contact with. No longer is there the overwhelming and striking obviousness of how incredible Г‚вЂ˜thisÂ’ is. I am pleased about this. It was exhausting to be like a child seeing things for the first time for so many months. I am now like a child that has grown accustomed and acclimatised to the new world in which he or she lives. The human mind is programmed to notice difference. The shift that took place is now normalising and my mind is adjusting to it.
В 
The reason for telling you this is to show you that awakening to Г‚вЂ˜thisÂ’ takes many forms. It changes form and all the forms it takes are merely transitions. There is no end, no destination. Life just continues to unfold and it is wonderful.
В 
I will continue to write from time to time. Thank you for reading.
В 
Paul Reed
Worthing, West Sussex. BN13 3NX
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4804 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-04
Subject: #4804 - Thursday, January 3, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4804 - Thursday, January 3, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
Love is the ongoing realisation
That the many are also one
That the self is also another
That the finite is also infinite
And that the named is also the nameless.
This is not to say that everything is the same
nor that anything is different.
В 
~ Peter Baker via Nonduality Highlights on Facebook
В 

В 
Just as luminosity is the nature of the Sun, coolness of water and heat of fire,
so too the nature of the Atman is Eternity, Purity, Reality, Consciousness and
Bliss.
В 
Atma Bhoda by Adi Sankara
В 
В 
Alan Larus Photography
В 
В 

В 
Amrita Nadi sends this:
В 

Seven Delights: A Song About Taking Difficult Circumstances to the Path

by Tibetan siddha, GГѓВΆtsampa

Namo Ratna Guru !
В 
В 
When thoughts that there is something perceived and a perceiver
Lure my mind away and distract,
I don't close my sensesÂ’ gateways to meditate without them
But plunge straight into their essential point.
They're like clouds in the sky; there's this shimmer where they fly;
Thoughts that rise, for me sheer delight!

В 
When kleshas get me going and their heat has got me burning,
I try no antidote to set them right;
Like an alchemistic potion turning metal into gold,
What lies in kleshasÂ’ power to bestow
Is bliss without contagion, completely undefiled;
Kleshas coming up, sheer delight!

В 
When I'm plagued by god-like forces or demonic interference,
I do not drive them out with rites and spells;
The thing to chase away is the egoistic thinking
Built up on the idea of a self.
This will turn those ranks of maras into your own special forces;
When obstacles arise, sheer delight!

В 
When samsara with its anguish has me writhing in its torments,
Instead of wallowing in misery,
I take the greater burden down the greater path to travel
And let compassion set me up
To take upon myself the sufferings of others;
When karmic consequences bloom, delight!

В 
When my body has succumbed to attacks of painful illness,
I do not count on medical relief
But take that very illness as a path and by its power
Remove the obscurations blocking me,
And use it to encourage the qualities worthwhile;
When illness rears its head, sheer delight!

В 
When its time to leave this body, this illusionary tangle,
Don't cause yourself anxiety and grief;
The thing that you should train in and clear up for yourself is—
There's no such thing as dying to be done.
Its just clear light, the mother, and child clear light uniting;
When mind forsakes the body, sheer delight!

В 
When the whole thing's just not working, everything's lined up against you,
Don't try to find some way to change it all;
Here the point to make your practice is reverse the way you see it,
Don't try to make it stop or to improve.
Adverse conditions happen, when they do its so delightful—
They make a little song of sheer delight!"
В 
В 
В 
(trans. Jim Scott/Anne Buchardi, Aug. 2, 1996, Karme ChГѓВΆling, Barnet, Vermont.)
В 

В 
"Nothing but a light heart and flowering Winter Jasmine." photo by John Devitt
В 

В 
Wayne Ferguson sends this:
В 
Douglas Harding and "The Headless Way" have been gradually growing on me (as
a nonreligious, non-sectarian way of talking about this). Richard Lang has
recently uploaded a really extraordinary video about him-- and about seeing
--to YouTube. A must see for anyone who is at all curious about who/what they
really are--enjoy! :-)
В 
В 
Richard Lang is the author of The Headless Way.
В 


Group: NDhighlights Message: 4805 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-05
Subject: #4805 - Friday, January 4, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В #4805 - Friday, January 4, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
Interview with Pete Sierra.
Annoucement of One The Magazine
Notice of the passing of Douwe Tiemersma.
В 
В 

В 
PETE SIERRA
В 
The anti-teacher
В 
The anti-teacher is a new kind of guru
hard at work on these lists. You might
be the anti-teacher to someone here,
and neither you, nor your anti-pupil might
be aware that is happening.
В 
When someone chooses you as his anti-teacher,
they set you up as the person to
prove wrong, and this urge to prove you
wrong becomes like a mission. But underneath
the obvious hostility to your ideas the
anti-pupil is using you to teach himself,
and to clarify his own ideas. At the end
of the process some of the anti-teacher's
opinions will be adopted by the anti-pupil
in a modified form.
В 
Two people could use each others as anti-teachers,
and these relationships, although they could be
profitable and illuminating for both, usually degenerate
into protracted dog fights, which disturb other
interactions at that list.
В 
If the anti-teacher knows his role, he usually lets
the anti-pupil attack his ideas without responding.
Eventually, the other party will come to terms with
the ideas, either by agreeing, or learning
tolerance, or simply moving on.
В 
If you notice someone is using you as such, it's
best to keep it to yourself, at least until the person
no longer needs you. If you look closer, I bet you can
spot this kind of relationships going on right now.
People like Tomb, Dan, and AC are sometimes
used in this way by some people.
В 
There is a very simple, but profitable experiment
you can conduct in this regard: when you notice
your irritation at reading a post growing as you read,
and you can't wait to reply, just sit back, and focus
on the irritation, and try to spot what really provoked it.
Does it happen more with that person than with others?
Why have you given those ideas, and maybe that
person such negative value? Recognize those ideas
as hot buttons to be disconnected. (Just a thought,
don't get all work up about it. :)
В 
В 
The Anti-Teacher was posted to Pete's YahooGroup, Advaita to Zen:
В 
В 

В 
В 
Watch/listen toВ my recent interview with Pete Sierra:
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
For a more middle of the road, yet sweeping viewВ of nonduality consider subscribing to One The Magazine. I did. It's only ten bucks for a year and looks like it'll be totally worth it. What better way to spend the money? You know that I don't get into things unless I'm quite sure they're the real deal. Learn about One here:
В 
Here's what I wrote on Facebook about One The Magazine:

Congratulations, Shanti! As a new subscriber I see that you've created a beautiful container for the diversity of nondual teachings, a crystal vase holding many wildly different flowers, each sipping the same water (that's Jan Barendrecht's metaphor). You're clearly upholding the mission to, "Celebrate our true nature as one." A section on News is particularly uncommon and important toward disseminating these teachings. There's no single "center" in the world of nonduality, nor should there be, but it looks like your publication will come close to being it!
В 
В 

В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
"Douwe Tiemersma passed away on January 3, 2012. Ever since his radical encounter with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in 1980, he helped people recognize non-dual openness as the ground of their own existence. Due to his background in yoga he encouraged a relaxed, integrated bodily recognition. As such, he offered meditation, pranayama, hathayoga and chakra yoga to compliment the weekly satsangs which took place at the Advaita Center located in Gouda."
В 
В 
If you're wondering where you've heard Douwe's name before, he wrote the foreword to Nisargadatta's I Am That. He was also recently written up in the Highlights a few months ago:
В 
В 
В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4806 From: Mark Date: 2013-01-06
Subject: #4806, Saturday - January 5, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4806, Saturday, January 5, 2013





There is no chaos in the world, except the chaos which your mind creates. It is self- created in the sense that at its very centre is the false idea of oneself as a thing different and separate from other things. In reality you are not a thing, nor separate. You are the infinite potentiality, the inexhaustible possibility. Because you are, all can be. The universe is but a partial manifestation of your limitless capacity to become.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to AlongTheWay




Don't forget the nut, being so proud of the shell,
The body has its inward ways,

the five senses. They crack open,
and the Friend is revealed.

Crack open the Friend, you become
the All-One.

-Rumi, Quatrain 181, version by Coleman Barks from Unseen Rain, posted to Sunlight




Spiritual maturity lies in the readiness to let go of everything. The giving up is the first step. But the real giving up is in realizing that there is nothing to give up, for nothing is your own. It is like deep sleep - you do not give up your bed when you fall asleep, you just forget about it.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels




What happens to the body and the mind may not be within your power to change, but you can always put an end to your imagining yourself to be body and mind. Whatever happens, remind yourself that only your body and mind are affected, not yourself.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels




Not Here

There's courage involved if you want
to become truth. There is a broken -

open place in a lover. Where are
those qualities of bravery and sharp

compassion in this group? What's the
use of old and frozen thought? I want

a howling hurt. This is not a treasury
where gold is stored; this is for copper.

We alchemists look for talent that
can heat up and change. Lukewarm

won't do. Halfhearted holding back,
well-enough getting by? Not here.

- Rumi, Ghazal (Ode) 2206, version by Coleman Barks from The Soul of Rumi, posted to Sunlight




TWO GIANT FAT PEOPLE

God
And I have become
Like two giant fat people
Living in a
Tiny boat.
We
Keep
Bumping into each other and
Laughing.

- Hafiz from The Gift - Translations by Daniel Ladinsky, posted to AlongTheWay




any one in love
will have no religion
in the religion of love
there is no heresy or faith
love knows no
body heart or soul
there is only
oneness and no more

- Rumi, Quatrain 758, translation by Nader Khalili from Rumi, Dancing the Flame, posted to Sunlight



Group: NDhighlights Message: 4807 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-07
Subject: #4807 - Sunday, January 6, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4807 - Sunday, January 6, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
В 
Robert V. Burke writes in reference to issue #4805 (included below):
В 
Hi Rolando,

How was the fire ceremony last Thursday. В Sorry to have missed it, had to return to Oakland after my trip to school.

Things appear to be going well, keeping a cold at Bay. В Got up early this morning to brush my teeth, gargle with some mouth with some mouthwash. В A bacterial infection is working its way out of my system.

The section on the anti-teacher below reminds me of my relationship with Nisargadatta in I Am That when I first starting reading it early in 1988. В 

When I began reading it, the I am not the body, not the mind idea was incomprehensible and I read him with the intention of disproving his assertions that I was not the body and not the mind. В But you know how Nisargadatta is! В Trying to pigeon-hole his assertions was like trying to keep water from spilling out of a cupped hand. В 

I would grasp an idea, of course with the aim of capturing it and holding it captive to my own predilection, my own preconceived and preconditioned state of thinking, but there was no assailing the Truth that he is. В 

It took me a long six months of just getting thru the first half of his dialogues. В  I wasn't just reading, I was trying to find the flaws in the logic of his teaching. В I was trying to disprove his teaching. В I was the anti-pupil without even knowing it. В Then, in the last line of page 220 and ending at the end of the first paragraph on page 224, I received the understanding, that is, that I understood the esoteric meaning, the gnosis, the jГѓВ±ana of it. В 

Why in that section? В 

Well for me it is what I refer to just now as the atom-splitter teaching that explains why Awareness is Free -В the title of this section in I Am That. В 

It does so by explaining in unmistakable language, should you reflect on the words and concepts, the distinctions between these terms: В mind, consciousness, and awareness. В And why are these distinctions so important. В They are so ultimately important because just about every religion and every philosophy uses these three words, but they are all very poorly defined, and their use to build philosophies and theologies are so ambiguous that all we have of them is a vague feeling and misunderstanding of the Truth in their meaning. В The truth of what is the mind, what is consciousness, and what is awareness. В The uniqueness and relatedness of these three terms, like the truth in electron, proton and neutron, were smashed in my mind into a spiritual atomic explosion.

It was the key that unlocked my door as Wolinsky put it in his introduction to -->В Science and Nonduality

For me, this portion of Nisargadatta's teaching was the key that opened up true meaning as an epiphany, a kensho, a satori.

In the fallout, I did not disprove Nisargadatta, rather, by my actually understanding him, I proved Nisargadatta and that vaporized me. В But this same me, that is me, is the same me that is him! В His words in I am That are living pulsing words of truth, of veracity. В Their efficaciousness of his communciation microwaves our pseudo identity, that is the effect they have. В His words cook us to understanding. В Of course there was no him to disprove, no me to prove. В This is the dance we are doing now.

So, when you became, as I did, the anti-pupil to this teaching, we had many wonderful arguments about it. В Both of our understandings were sharpened, and brought into focus. В 

Now you have the understanding, and as soon as you talk about it, you will find, without a doubt, that you are attracting anti-pupils.

Remember the video, where the psychologist Wolinsky was recounting his experience visiting Nisargadatta in his tiny upstairs room. В After introductions Nisargadatta told him to go to the back of the room and to listen to him quietly and then on the eight day he could leave. В After some time a question arose, he asked Nisargadatta something like this, В "Nisargadatta, so I see a thought flash before my mind and observe it..." В And in a very brusk manner, like some Rinzai Zen Master he shouts at Wolinsky as he flicks his hand at him and bellows "You've been here for eight days, you've got the teaching, now you can leave!" В And Wolinsky explains that when Nisargadatta flicked his wrist at him, he was dazed by a profound unexplainable mind numbing energy. В He left and walked thru the busy crowdedness that is Mumbai to the train station, boarded without even remembering how he got there and it wasn't until several hours later, that he returned to the 'normal' waking state and recalled that it was the eighth day. В He was cooked!

So this is the nature of this dance. В Truth dances with avidya. Truth dances with ignorance until all that's left is the dance itself. В Have you ever noticed when you are watching gifted dancers there becomes a moment when the dancers themselves disappear into the dance. В Like a fine ballet, or you yourself dancing salsa with a lady friend, and then there's neither you nor your friend, but only the bliss of the dance. В This is the allegory, the hidden meaning in the Rasa Lila, the dance of Vishnu as manifest cosmic consciousness Krishna with the Gopis manifest as relative consciousness. В The swirling cowherds are churned in their dancing bhakti like milk into butter.

So the dance of the anti-teacher moves on in the dialogue brought to our attention by Pete Sierra below.
В 
В 
Then follows piece on Douwe Tiemersma from Gouda below. В You have seen his name before. В So had I, though I had not recalled it until Jerry reminded me.

I love these dialogues...

Robert




Begin forwarded message:

From: "Jerry Katz" umbada@...>
Subject: [NDhighlights] #4805 - Friday, January 4, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
Date: January 5, 2013 2:48:51 AM PST

В 

В #4805 - Friday, January 4, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
Interview with Pete Sierra.
Annoucement of One The Magazine
Notice of the passing of Douwe Tiemersma.
В 
В 

В 
PETE SIERRA
В 
The anti-teacher
В 
The anti-teacher is a new kind of guru
hard at work on these lists. You might
be the anti-teacher to someone here,
and neither you, nor your anti-pupil might
be aware that is happening.
В 
When someone chooses you as his anti-teacher,
they set you up as the person to
prove wrong, and this urge to prove you
wrong becomes like a mission. But underneath
the obvious hostility to your ideas the
anti-pupil is using you to teach himself,
and to clarify his own ideas. At the end
of the process some of the anti-teacher's
opinions will be adopted by the anti-pupil
in a modified form.
В 
Two people could use each others as anti-teachers,
and these relationships, although they could be
profitable and illuminating for both, usually degenerate
into protracted dog fights, which disturb other
interactions at that list.
В 
If the anti-teacher knows his role, he usually lets
the anti-pupil attack his ideas without responding.
Eventually, the other party will come to terms with
the ideas, either by agreeing, or learning
tolerance, or simply moving on.
В 
If you notice someone is using you as such, it's
best to keep it to yourself, at least until the person
no longer needs you. If you look closer, I bet you can
spot this kind of relationships going on right now.
People like Tomb, Dan, and AC are sometimes
used in this way by some people.
В 
There is a very simple, but profitable experiment
you can conduct in this regard: when you notice
your irritation at reading a post growing as you read,
and you can't wait to reply, just sit back, and focus
on the irritation, and try to spot what really provoked it.
Does it happen more with that person than with others?
Why have you given those ideas, and maybe that
person such negative value? Recognize those ideas
as hot buttons to be disconnected. (Just a thought,
don't get all work up about it. :)
В 
В 
The Anti-Teacher was posted to Pete's YahooGroup, Advaita to Zen:
В 
В 

В 
В 
Watch/listen toВ my recent interview with Pete Sierra:
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
For a more middle of the road, yet sweeping viewВ of nonduality consider subscribing to One The Magazine. I did. It's only ten bucks for a year and looks like it'll be totally worth it. What better way to spend the money? You know that I don't get into things unless I'm quite sure they're the real deal. Learn about One here:
В 
Here's what I wrote on Facebook about One The Magazine:

Congratulations, Shanti! As a new subscriber I see that you've created a beautiful container for the diversity of nondual teachings, a crystal vase holding many wildly different flowers, each sipping the same water (that's Jan Barendrecht's metaphor). You're clearly upholding the mission to, "Celebrate our true nature as one." A section on News is particularly uncommon and important toward disseminating these teachings. There's no single "center" in the world of nonduality, nor should there be, but it looks like your publication will come close to being it!
В 
В 

В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
"Douwe Tiemersma passed away on January 3, 2012. Ever since his radical encounter with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in 1980, he helped people recognize non-dual openness as the ground of their own existence. Due to his background in yoga he encouraged a relaxed, integrated bodily recognition. As such, he offered meditation, pranayama, hathayoga and chakra yoga to compliment the weekly satsangs which took place at the Advaita Center located in Gouda."
В 
В 
If you're wondering where you've heard Douwe's name before, he wrote the foreword to Nisargadatta's I Am That. He was also recently written up in the Highlights a few months ago:
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4808 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-07
Subject: #4808 - Monday, January 7, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4808 - Monday, January 7, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
You are Emptiness, the Ultimate substance:
remove Emptiness out of Emptiness, it leaves
only Emptiness because there is nothing
beyond It.В  All rises from, dances about it,
and returns to This.В  As Ocean rises as a
wave to dance so you are this dancing Emptiness!
Nothing is out of this Emptiness and so it is the
Fullness.В  Emptiness is between is and is not.
To be Free, you need the firm conviction that you
are this Substratum, this Peace, this Emptiness.
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 
~ Papaji
В 
"The Truth Is"
Sri H.W.L. Poonja
В 

В 
CONTROL OVER APPEARANCES
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamsto Rinpoche
Student: Why does it seem like everybody's somewhat under the control of
appearances, instead of controlling the appearances?
В 
KTGR: Actually, having control over appearances does not mean jumping off
buildings and flying. Rather, it means that you do not cling to appearances as
they seem to be in the usual worldly way of relating to them. Such appearances
will not cause you suffering or tie you up once you have gained mastery over
them through not clinging.
В 
It is prajna realizing selflessness that frees you from samsara. Through knowing
appearances to be inseparable from emptiness, you have mastery over them. It is
not necessary to engage in behavior that is contrary to a mundane way of seeing
things.
В 
~ From the Gradual Path of the Heart of Wisdom, Karme Choling 1995.
Translated by Michele Martin.
via Amrita Nadi
В 
В 

В 
To sink in the loving abyss of divine Presence requires no practice, no belief, no
information, no thought, no journey. Just observe what it is to be awake.
В 
~ Fred LaMotte
В 
В 
В 

В 
"Your true home is in the here and the now. It is not limited by time, space,
nationality, or race. Your true home is not an abstract idea. It is something
you can touch and live in every moment. With mindfulness and concentration,
the energies of the Buddha, you can find your true home in the full relaxation
of your mind and body in the present moment."
В 
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
В 

В 
Vocation
by William Stafford
В 
This dream the world is having about itself
includes a trace on the plains of the Oregon trail,
a groove in the grass my father showed us all
one day while meadowlarks were trying to tell
something better about to happen.
В 
I dreamed the trace to the mountains, over the hills,
and there a girl who belonged wherever she was.
But then my mother called us back to the car:
she was afraid; she always blamed the place,
the time, anything my father planned.
В 
Now both of my parents, the long line through the plain,
the meadowlarks, the sky, the world's whole dream
remain, and I hear him say while I stand between the two,
helpless, both of them part of me:
"Your job is to find what the world is trying to be."
В 
"Vocation" by William Stafford, from The Way It Is.
© Graywolf Press, 1998.
via The Writer's Almanac
В 
Alan Larus Photography (Norway, not the Oregon Trail)
В 

В 

One or Two Things (excerpt)
В 
3
The god of dirt
came up to me many times and said
so many wise and delectable things, I lay
on the grass listening
to his dog voice,
crow voice,
frog voice; now,
he said, and now,
В 
and never once mentioned forever,
В 
~ Mary OliverВ 
В 
В 
(Dream Work)
В 

Group: NDhighlights Message: 4809 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-09
Subject: #4809 - Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4809 - Tuesday, January 8, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
Conversation with Fred Davis conducted by Jerry:
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
Fred Davis's blog is Awakening Clarity.
В 
В 
FredВ studied and practiced Eastern wisdom for twenty-five years prior to 2006, when his seeking ended, and his true awakening commenced. He is the author of Beyond Recovery: Nonduality and the Twelve Steps, published by Non-Duality Press.
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
Fred writes:
В 
I have heard this phrase attributed to numerous sources; I don't know where it originally came from, but I know that it's true, so I'll share it. "The ignorant reject what they see and believe what they think.В  The wise believe what they see and reject what they think."В  There it is, folks.В  If you're having one of the problems referred to in this column, this is almost surely why.В  But here's what happens.В  We read a crystal clear truth like this, which is totally open and above board, and then we scratch our heads and go looking for the hidden meaning.
В 

Only there is no hidden meaning.В  Our eyes are telling us, "Here, you are, look around. This is it: this here, right here, right now."В  Simultaneously our minds are telling us, "This can't be it."В  And therein lies the rub.В  There is a disconnect between what our eyes are telling us, and what our minds are telling us, and there arises a choice about which we are going to accept as truth.В  We typically opt for what our mind is saying, and I'm suggesting this is not the way to go.В  I'm not talking about consciously developing a new belief system, I'm talking about developing the strategic foundation from which we will conduct all of our further inquiry.В  Nonduality is not about answers, it's about questions.
В 

This strategic choice declares where we are operating from: as confused Awareness, or sure ego.В  We tend to go with the sureness, and we tend to be WRONG.В  I am far, far better off to accept this ancient observation as sound advice, and elect to throw my lot in with the wise, however confused I may be.В  Now I am not searching for something new to happen, I am simply washing the window through which I peer at the world.В  Sometimes I tell my clients: "These sessions are simply to keep the glass clear; they're not about making anything happen."
В 
~ ~ ~
В 
Read the entire column at http://awakeningclarity.blogspot.ca/
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4810 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-10
Subject: #4810 - Wednesday, January 9, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
#4810 - Wednesday, January 9, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 

В 

В 

The Miraculous and The Auspicious

by Colin Drake

В 

A few days ago I was at a kirtan (chant) held to celebrate the ending of the Mayan Calendar cycle and the summer (winter for most of you) solstice. Before the chanting people were asked to comment and there were some interesting things said:

В 

One was about a previous gathering on an auspicious 11/11 (I canÂ’t remember the year) to celebrate this. 11/11 is meant to be very significant:

The 11:11 is the bridge to an entirely different spiral or energy patterning. It is the step beyond the known dimensional universe into a new patterning of Octaves.

It was said that miraculous things happened at this gathering.

В 

The second was about a well known guru who is purported to have said, back in the early 1970s, that the 21st of December 2012 was an especially auspicious day when people would have the possibility to readily go beyond their karma by letting go of the past and embarking on spiritual renewal.

В 

The third was that this was a day when one should avail oneself of this opportunity to enter the fifth dimension (?) or one would be stuck in the day to day four dimensional model. Presumably this means that Г‚вЂ˜awakeningÂ’ was readily available on that day but would be more difficult if one Г‚вЂ˜missed the boatÂ’

В 

All of which made me ponder humanityÂ’s obsession with Г‚вЂ˜auspicious daysÂ’ and the miraculous. Now I like a good party (especially combined with chanting) as much as anyone (probably more so) and the more opportunities there are to celebrate existence the better! For, as far as I can see, we are all expressions of Consciousness and are instruments through which That can experience and enjoy its own manifestation. Which means that enjoying life and enabling others to do so are the main purpose of living.

В 

This enjoyment is greatly enhanced by discovering that one is not a separate object but at the deepest level one is the Г‚вЂ˜constant conscious subjective presenceÂ’ – pure Awareness – Consciousness at rest. For then one ceases to see the world through the filter of self-interest, opinions, judgements, self-aggrandizement (or loathing) etc. Once this filter is removed existence appears much more vivid, radiant and joyful than before. One also then sees others as of being the same essence as oneself and wishes them to enjoy life to the full.

В 

This discovery, that one is essentially Pure Awareness, is easily made Â… see the appendix, but must then be cultivated by continual re-awakeningsВ  when one Г‚вЂ˜nods offÂ’ and re-identifies oneself as a separate object. As this discovery is so readily available it does not require any particular auspicious day, or circumstance. In fact every moment is equally favourable and once this discovery has taken place then one has the opportunity to go beyond oneÂ’s karma:

В 

Awareness itself is totally unaffected by anything occurring in it and thus when complete identification with awareness takes place karma is powerless! That is to say that although these old thought patterns continue to come up one will no longer be compelled, or constrained, by them. They will just appear as Г‚вЂ˜cloudsÂ’ scudding across the Г‚вЂ˜skyÂ’ of awareness leaving it totally untroubled, for in this case one does not identify with them or take them as indicators of who, or what, one is. In the same way experiences which could be attributed to oneÂ’s karma, good or bad, lose their power to affect oneÂ’s underlying equanimity.[1]

В 

Maybe this awakening is also what is meant by entering the fifth dimension!?!

В 

With regard to miracles, once the filter of the small self is removed then the world is seen to be miraculous moment by moment. Also, when examined, the myriad expressions (and evolutions) of Consciousness are seen to be miracles. So in this paradigm every moment is auspicious and every Г‚вЂ˜thingÂ’ is miraculous, meaning that one need not wait for an auspicious day to begin the journey of self-discovery and one need not hang on to anything as being of more significance than anything else. For everything is significant and full of meaning being varying expressions of the one Absolute Consciousness.

В 

To tie this in with my other writings which state that nothing has essential meaning, by this I meant that everything is impermanent and arises in, abides in and finally subsides back into Awareness – Consciousness at rest. Thus essentially nothing exists as a separate entity and therefore cannot have essential meaning. Also all things are of the same essence, and thus have equal (ephemeral) meaning Â…

В 

About this Sri Ramakrishna said:

В В В В В В В В В В В 

I used to worship the deity in the Kali (Consciousness in motion – the manifestation) temple.В  It was suddenly revealed to me that everything is Pure Spirit (Consciousness). The utensils of worship, the altar, the door frame – all Pure Spirit. Men, animal and other living things – all Pure Spirit. Then like a madman I began to shower flowers in all directions. Whatever I saw I worshipped. One day while worshipping Siva (Pure Awareness – Consciousness at rest) I was about to offer a bel-leaf on the head of the image when it was revealed to me that this Virat, this Universe, itself is Siva. Another day when I had been plucking flowers it was revealed to me that the flowering plants were so many bouquets adoring the Universal Form of God.[2]

В 

So no special day, bridge, or miracle is needed to awaken to the fact that at the deepest level one is Pure Awareness – Consciousness at rest – housed in a body/mind which is an expression of cosmic energy – Consciousness in motion. After this awakening has occurred then there is the possibility to experience that every moment is auspicious and every thing is a miracle, and also that every moment is available to celebrate existence!

В 

To conclude here is a poem celebrating existence in which Consciousness is denoted by the term Г‚вЂ˜BelovedÂ’ and has been given human qualities so that the (my) human mind may relate to and love This.

В 

Dawnsong

В 

The glorious sunrise,

And new day,

The Beloved arising.

В 

The dawn chorus,

Enriching the silence,

A hymn to The Beloved.

В 

The inspiring words,

That I am reading,

The Beloved whispering.

В 

The gentle breeze,

Cooling my face,

The caresses of The Beloved .

В 

The exotic fragrance

Of frangipani,

The BelovedÂ’s perfume.

В 

The taste of honey,

In morning coffee,

The sweetness ofВ  The Beloved.

В 

The ruddy sphere,

Rising from the ocean

The Beloved radiating.

В 

The azure blue,

Of the heavens,

The colour of Her eyes.

В 

The lacy clouds,

Scudding across the sky,

The Beloved exhaling.

В 

The verdant green,

Of hills and forest,

The garden of The Beloved .

В 

The sun-shower,

That astonishes,

The Beloved splashing.

В 

The diaphanous rainbow,

A luminous necklace,

Bejeweling The Beloved.

В 

The golden glow,

All around,

The Beloved beaming.

В 

The enveloping warmth,

Of early sunshine,

The embrace of the Beloved.

В 

This doggerel,

An attempt at,

A tribute to The Beloved.

В 

All that is,

Including the writer,

The Beloved.

В 



[1]В  Awakening and Beyond, p. 91

[2] The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna p.396

В 

Colin Drake's ebooks and hard copy books are described at http://nonduality.com/colindrake.htm

Group: NDhighlights Message: 4811 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-11
Subject: #4811 - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4811 - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights/
В 
В 
"I may be a perfect scoundrel Â… As a matter of fact, I am Â… But there are
moments when I am the instrument for certain kinds of information."
January 8, 2013
В 
Leonard Cohen, quoted in Ladies and Gents, Leonard Cohen by Jack Hafferkamp
(Rolling Stone: Feb. 4, 1971). Context of quote follows:
В 
"Look, I think the times are tough Â… these are hard times. I donÂ’t want in any way
to set myself up as Timothy Leary or Abbie Hoffman. I mean, IÂ’m not one of
those guys. I have my feelings about how to move myself into areas which are not
completely bordered with pain. And IÂ’ve tried to lay out my chart as carefully
as I can. I have come through something. I donÂ’t want to boast about it. I donÂ’t
even want to talk about it. Look Â… you know, the songs are inspired. I donÂ’t
pretend to be a guide. I do pretend to be an instrument for certain kinds of
information at certain moments. Not all moments, and it has nothing to do with me
as a guy. I may be a perfect scoundrel Â… As a matter of fact, I am Â… just like
the guy on the scene. But there are moments when I am the instrument for
certain kinds of information."
В 
via Vicki Woodyard on Facebook
В 
В 

В 
"Brokenness is not an end in itself, but an opportunity to allow
something else to happen."
В 
В 
Cohen tends to be evasive when asked to explain his work, but he suggests that
the lyrics explain that Г‚вЂ˜Many kinds of hallelujahs do exist, and all the perfect
and broken hallelujahs have equal value.Â’ This notion of brokenness, an awareness
of oneÂ’s own frailties and imperfections, crops up time and again in CohenÂ’s
lyrics. In Г‚вЂ˜AnthemÂ’ (1992), the notion of the Г‚вЂ˜perfect offeringÂ’ (the Biblically
sanctioned sacrifice to God) is spurned in favour of the Г‚вЂ˜crack in everything —
thatÂ’s how the light gets in.Â’ Nothing good (or enlightening) is possible without
flaws or fractures. In Г‚вЂ˜Come HealingÂ’, from his most recent album Old Ideas
(2012), brokenness is specifically equated with the splinters of ChristÂ’s cross.
What is paramount is CohenÂ’s awareness of the grimness of existence, and for
many years critics sarcastically dubbed him Г‚вЂ˜Laughing LennyÂ’ for the apparently
gloomy nature of his outlook. But, it is from such fractures and splinters that
the Г‚вЂ˜healing of the spiritÂ’ comes. His recent temporal crisis might have, in a very
literal sense, been about being broke but, in spiritual terms, Cohen has always
been broken. Brokenness is not an end in itself, but an opportunity to allow
something else to happen.
В 
В 
Ring the bells that still can ring,
forget your perfect offering,
there is a crack in everything,
that's how the light gets in.
В 
~ Leonard Cohen
В 
В 

В 
To Those Who Need Us The Most
В 
And sometimes I can breathe again
and set everything aright,
this unbreakable knowing that
all is not light that can be classified,
sorted or arranged into reasonable or sane.
В 
And sometimes you can breathe again
and help me know the knowing that
sorrow sometimes disguises as cold
and lonely nights.
В 
And always something is breathing us.
And always something is giving us away
to those who need us the most.
В 
Vicki Woodyard
В 
В 

В 
В 
What Is Beyond Me Sustains Me
В 
What is beyond me sustains me. That is spirituality in a nutshell. This personal
life we all try to improve upon is sustained by what is out of our reach. Why?
Because wholeness is what and who we are. No one has succeeded in outdoing God!
В 
It is only a misguided belief in myself that wrecks the smoothly sailing ship of
What Is.
В 
My ship hit the iceberg of cancer twice. I have tried to improve on my
circumstances for many years. SOS. SOS. Save oneself. Save oneself! We do
that by surrendering to what is. We become buoyant and float on the stream of
surrender.
В 
I have lived most of my life now. The lies have been knocked out from under me
one by one. The pillars of my perfection are weakening. One day I will become
the beyond itself. Perhaps I already am.
В 
Vicki Woodyard
В 
Author, Life With A Hole In It
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4812 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-11
Subject: #4812 - Friday, January 11, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4812 - Friday, January 11, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
I talked to Roy Whenary a couple days ago:
В 
В 
Download/Play link:
В 
В 

We talk about Roy's teacher Jean Klein, the nonduality teacher scene, putting teachers on a pedestal, depression and its global effect, Amerta Movement and body movement in general, music, the nature of the "nonduality missionary" scene, his spiritual story and the nature of such stories, the tactile sense of being, finding a depth within your body, silence, authenticity as sharing from a depth, feeling and listening, approaching nonduality beyond the ideas of it, the nature of seeking in current times compared to days prior to the internet, having the goal of enlightenment as an acquisition.
В 
Roy's books are available as free downloads at
В 
Roy runs the Open Awareness Forum:
В 
В 

В 
В 

A note on Amerta Movement and Suprapto Suryadarmo
В 
Suprapto developed Amerta Movement over 25 years ago from his background in Buddhism, Javanese Sumara meditation, martial arts, Being in Nature and watching children playing. Amerta means Г‚вЂ˜the Nectar of LifeÂ’ so Amerta Movement is the Г‚вЂ˜Movement of the Nectar of LifeÂ’. Amerta Movement is about something more than ourselves. It is a tool for self awareness and expression, but also a way to become more part of Life itself and ultimately of service to Life Itself.

As we become more familiar with our own life story, habits and tendencies, we begin to see their blessings and how to use them wisely and skilfully, be less identified with them and more compassionate towards the human condition.

As we develop our Г‚вЂ˜fine-tuningÂ’ we become more sensitive to ourselves, others and our environment. We develop a capacity to move with awareness and honouring of all of these.

We also free ourselves up from conditioned responsesÂ…therefore over time moving more freely and creatively.
Awareness and expression begin to occur hand in hand.

Beyond that it is also a form of channelling life, of doing service to something other than our on personal story. In this way it becomes Art, Meditation, Healing, Gardening Â… or whatever each practitioner has a particular skill to create in the world.
В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4813 From: markwotter704 Date: 2013-01-14
Subject: #4813 - Saturday/Sunday, January 12/13, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4813, Saturday/Sunday, January 12/13, 2013





A monk asked Hogen, "Where do all these forms we call things come from?

Hogen replied, "Form is born from the not-yet-defined; names originates from the not-yet-mentioned."

- posted to AdvaitaToZen




"So I say to you -
This is how to contemplate our conditioned existence in this fleeting world:

Like a tiny drop of dew, or a bubble floating in a stream;
Like a flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
Or a flickering lamp, an illusion, a phantom, or a dream.

So is all conditioned existence to be seen."

Thus spoke Buddha.

~From the Diamond Sutra, posted to DailyDharma




You are Emptiness, the Ultimate substance: remove Emptiness out of Emptiness, it leaves only Emptiness because there is nothing beyond It. All rises from, dances about it, and returns to This. As Ocean rises as a wave to dance so you are this dancing Emptiness! Nothing is out of this Emptiness and so it is the Fullness. Emptiness is between is and is not. To be Free, you need the firm conviction that you are this Substratum, this Peace, this Emptiness.

- Papaji from The Truth Is, posted to AlongTheWay




Sending along a video of a young 'un having a fine time in a mud puddle: and this sorta is the Dharma message: if you see opportunity for joy, just go for it!

You don't see this deer one pondering if this is the right thing to do or not, if he has time, if he will get dirty, if the other deer ones will approve... And so we... every moment, jumpin' in.. and makin' a spash! Yes, darlin's go for it!

love,
Dharma grandmother posted to DailyDharma

http://youtu.be/xUa3d0sDzuIВ 
В 




if you distance yourself
only for an hour
from your endless thoughts
what do you think will happen

if you let yourself sink
just like a fish
into the ocean of our love
what do you think will happen

you are merely
a piece of straw
and we are
that eternal amber

if you leap forth
from your lowly house
to fuse with the amber
what do you think will happen

a hundred times
you've promised yourself
to depart from self-claim
to be humble as earth

only for once
if you keep your word
what do you think will happen

you're a precious
hidden diamond
sunken in the mud

if you wash away
all that impurity
from your gorgeous face
what do you think will happen

if you abandon
for a little while
your ego and greed
tear down your shield
rise with a quest
to unite with the divine
what do you think will happen

- Rumi, Ghazal 844, translated by Nader Khalili, from
Rumi, Fountain of Fire,В  posted to Sunlight



Group: NDhighlights Message: 4814 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-15
Subject: #4814 - Monday, January 14, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
#4814 - Monday, January 14, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
These spiritual window-shoppers,
who idly ask, 'How much is that?' Oh, I'm just looking.
They handle a hundred items and put them down,
shadows with no capital.
В 
What is spent is love and two eyes wet with weeping.
But these walk into a shop,
and their whole lives pass suddenly in that moment,
in that shop.
В 
Where did you go? "Nowhere."
What did you have to eat? "Nothing much."
В 
Even if you don't know what you want,
buy something, to be part of the exchanging flow.
В 
Start a huge, foolish project,
like Noah.
В 
It makes absolutely no difference
what people think of you.
В 
Rumi
В 
В 
via Alan Larus
В 

В 
В 
Seeing the True Nature of Conditions
В 
The Buddhas teaching points to the fact that all conditions are impermanent. By
the word "condition" we mean a formation of the mind, such as a thought or
opinion.
В 
Men and women are conditions. Similarly, Jews and Gentiles, Buddhists and
Christians, Asians and Europeans, Africans, the working class, the middle class,
the upper class; all these are only formations that go through the mind. They
aren't absolutes. They are merely conventions that are useful for communication.
В 
We must use these conventions, but we must also realize that they are only
conventions - not absolutes. In this way, our minds are no longer fixed in our
views or opinions. Views and opinions are seen simply as conditions that arise and
cease in the mind, because that's what they really are. All conditions are
impermanent; they arise and cease.
В 
~ Ajahn Sumedho From: 'The Mind and the Way'
В 
via Tao & Zen on Facebook
В 

В 
В 
via Mazie Lane
В 

В 
The key question isnÂ’t 'What fosters creativity?' But it is why in GodÂ’s name
isnÂ’t everyone creative? Where was the human potential lost? How was it
crippled? I think therefore a good question might be not why do people create?
But why do people not create or innovate? We have got to abandon that sense of
amazement in the face of creativity, as if it were a miracle if anybody created
anything.
В 
~ Abraham Maslow
В 
via The Art of Learning on Facebook
В 


В 
В 
Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the Universe, a moment that
will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two
and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also
teach them what they are?
В 
We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel.
You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another
child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.
В 
You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the
capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you
then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work,
to make the world worthy of its children.
В 
~ Pablo Picasso
В 

В 
В 
via Mazie Lane
В 

Group: NDhighlights Message: 4815 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-15
Subject: #4815 - Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4815 - Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 
Seeing the illusion of reality
is returning to the ineffable, markless,
undifferentiated, non-objective,
all-pervading Truth that you are.
В 
Nothing is acquired,
only ignorance is relinquished.
В 
Awakened awareness without trace of thought
is the triumph of the sole One.
В 
Clara Llum
В 
Clara Llum has passed away.
В 
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
Friends of Clara Llum:
В 
В 

В 
a page of photos of Clara:
В 
В 
В 

В 
В 
Be aware that you are. Be aware that you are aware, right now. At any given moment, rest in that simplicity of being yourself, free from labels or concepts of “myself.” The very beingness, the very awareness is the constant “you”, the true you, faceless, formless, empty, cognizant, all containing, all inclusive.
В 
Be aware of beingÂ… Aware of being aware.
В 
Meditate, stay with this awareness that you are and that is you.
В 
Worship it, dive in it, make of it your home, and all will unfold.
В 
Self-present awareness – awareness that is present in itself. Watch your watchfulness, be conscious of being conscious right nowÂ…
В 
Aware-ing is happening, see it, know it, be with it, thatÂ’s all.
В 
The mirror looks in the mirror, infinite space and light.
В 
All enlightenment comes naturally from this. All wisdom, all peace, all realization.
В 
-Clara Llum
В 
В 

В 
В 
Clara was very active on Twitter:
В 
В 
from the absolute resolution there's no view nor world, now or ever
В 
when you "die", nobody is left to see it; the dream fades with your character
В 
this very moment of just being is the taste of.the enlightened state, free from projections or elaboration
В 
once mind is dropped you know world is false, yet attachment to illusion needs to go as well
everything that happens is the guru
В 
money is the smell of Maya
В 
living or dying is not the question; sleeping or being awake is
В 
Shiva is dancing. That is the supreme yoga.
В 
В 
В 
(thanks to Phil Burton)
В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4816 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-16
Subject: #4816 - Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4816 - Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
Interview with Darryl Bailey, conducted by Jerry Katz on January 7, 2013.
В 
В 
Darryl Bailey lives and works in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is not affiliated with any tradition. He acknowledges everyone as legitimate and often refers to life as a "totally mysterious event." He invites people to consider their story lines and to see if they match their experience.
В 
В 
Darryl has a great website at http://darrylbailey.net
В 
Main contents with time cues:
В 
2:36 Limitations of most interviews. Is it necessary to talk about one's enlightenment story? (3 minutes)
В 
5:37 What's the point of these teachings? (1 minute)
В 
7:38 These teachings look nutty to some people. Only some people relate to it. The nonduality scene and different factions within it. Life as a totally mysterious event, no two expressions the same. (5 minutes)
В 
13:15 The "I'm enlightened, you're not," perspective. Consideration of the assumptions most of us carry. Assumptions not fitting experience. (3 minutes)
В 
16:00 You didn't create your urge to love. Try to sit around and do nothing all day. Meditation as acknowledgement of the event of the moment. "I have no idea what this is." This "dancing dynamic." The nature of thoughts. (3+ minutes)
В 
19:30 What happens at Darryl's monthly gatherings in Winnipeg. As "a consideration of what we already know from our general experience." Acknowledging the moment without a focus on thought. (2 minutes)
В 
21:43 How Darryl arrived at this point of teaching and began teaching at a yoga center. How his "students" have received the teachings. (3 minutes)
В 
24:40 Winnipeg, Manitoba compared to California and the U.K. with regard to people's nature of inquiry. (1 minute)
В 
25:40 Essentials of his teaching. Considerations of form, thought, a head full of labels, the dream, our story lines, the thought that we direct our lives. (4+ minutes)
В 
30:08 Why live in Winnipeg and not some spiritual hotbed? (2 minutes)
В 
31:42 Nondual expression as art and science. (4 minutes)
В 
35:34 People perceived to be enlightened fit a certain ideal image. Each expresser of the nature of existence is different and some are not generally attractive, pleasant, or ideal in their image. But no one is wrong. You wouldn't go into the forest and tell a squirrel he's doing it wrong. (6 minutes)
В 
41:50 The notion of right and wrong doesn't apply to this. Pointing to the obvious. Can't teach someone to have this sensibility. (2 minutes)
В 
43:53 Yoga with a nondual view. The corpse pose. (4 minutes)
В 
47:42 Darryl's students are becoming expressers or teachers. Nature of the attendees to his gatherings and their experience. (4 minutes)
В 
51:30 Work life, family life, friends, and stuff. (3 minutes)
В 
54:38 Maybe it's a Canadian thing that characterizes the people that come see him in Winnipeg. The perspective he teaches fits people of all inclinations and interests, not just spiritual people. Supporting people in whatever their expression is. (5 minutes)
В 
59:14 Simplicity. Simplification of his teachings. "There's only the way life is expressing itself. There's nothing we can say about it." Deep sense of rest. (4 minutes)
В 
1:03:03 Silence. Some more of the teaching (1 minute)
В 
1:03:50 What people have difficulty with, listening to Darryl. (1 minute)
В 
1:05:40 Many live from this sensibility but not everyone can speak from it and those who can do not necessarily have a large following. How Darryl has become more well known. (4 minutes)
В 
1:09:45 Silence. A non-interview moment and what arises out of it. Personal insights and revelations. Our unique urges. Various teachers and their apparent flaws and strengths and how all this is a totally mysterious event. The idea that we can move humanity to a state of perfection. (8 minutes)
В 
1:18:45 The nature of consideration of our story lines and whether they match our experience. How to consider. (6 minutes)
В 
1:25:07 Surrender compared to acknowledging a fact. Dismantling the story line from within it. Day to day existence and the totally mysterious event that is occurring. (5 minutes)
В 
1:33:17 You may not like everyone and everything you encounter but it's natural to love it all. Some of Darryl's spiritual biography. Acknowledging the moment and getting caught up with fascination with a teacher's journey or experience. (4 minutes)
В 
1:37:57 Darryl's history as a speaker and interest in words. We have some fun. Taking this stuff lightly. (6 minutes)
В 
1:43:39 People who go to meetings and "get" the teaching and then don't bother talking about it or going to anymore meetings. The urge to be supportive. Acknowledging everyone as legitimate. (5 minutes)
В 
1:49:59 His community of friends and some of the dynamics. Comparing his ordinary life in Winnipeg to his life as a recognized teacher when he visits California. (7 minutes)
В 
1:56:40 Darryl talks about his books. (6 minutes)
В 
Watch/listen at
В 
More information about Darryl, his writings, books, dvds, other interviews are available at his excellent website:
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4817 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-01-18
Subject: #4817 - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4817 - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights/
В 
В 

"The enlightened man is capable of perceiving both unity and multiplicity
without the least contradiction between them."
В 
~ Huang Po
В 

В 
В 
Green mountains rise to the north;
white water rolls past the eastern city.

Once it has been uprooted,
the tumbleweed travels forever.

Drifting clouds like a wanderer's mind;
sunset, like the heart of your old friend.

We turn, pause, look back and wave,
Even our ponies look back and whine.

~ Li Po
В 
В 

В 
Ivan at Poetry Chaikhana sent:
В 
Koans are riddle-like sayings or short tales used in Zen practice to startle the
listener out of the linear mind and into open awareness...
В 
Two of the most famous collections of Zen koans are The Gateless Gate and The
Blue Cliff Records. Here's a koan I like from The Gateless Gate:
В 
Tipping Over a Vase
В 
Master Hyakujo decided to found a new monastery, but he had the difficult task
of selecting from among his disciples the right person to be the new monastery's
abbot. Then he came upon a solution.
В 
Hyakujo called all his disciples together and told them that the person who best
answered his question would be named the new abbot. Hyakujo filled a vase with
water and set it on the ground before the assembled monks. "Who can tell me
what this is without naming it?" he challenged.
В 
The senior disciple stepped forward and answered accurately, "No one can call
it a wooden shoe."
В 
Then Isan, the lowly cook, stepped forward and knocked the vase over with his
foot, and walked out of the room.
В 
Master Hyakujo smiled and declared, "My senior disciple has been bested." Isan
the cook was named the new abbot.
В 
==
В 
What just happened in this story?
В 
One way to understand the meaning of this story is that the water represents
Truth or the Dharma. The vase is the vessel that holds that truth, it is the
teaching, it is the tradition.
В 
That truth cannot be told, however. Sure, you can use simple words like "Truth"
or "Reality," or you can fill books with complex philosophical explanations. But
ultimately those are all words and don't truly convey what the Truth is. The
"water" cannot be named. That is why Master Hyakujo gave this challenge to his
disciples.
В 
The lead disciple, clearly a cunning man, sees this as a test of his mental
dexterity. If he cannot name the water-filled vessel, he will say what it is not,
thus suggesting it by negation. But he has only negated one object in a world of
infinite objects. A person can spend a lifetime listing all the things something is
not, and never come to the point where only the unnamed thing remains. The lead
disciple is trapped on the endless road of the intellect.
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But the cook, Isan, understood the situation simply and clearly. He tipped the
vase over, emptying the vessel and revealing the water. The truth cannot be told,
it can only be shown.
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What's more, the truth cannot be held, it cannot be contained, it can only be
poured out. The vase itself, the spiritual tradition, is empty and only has meaning
as a vessel to transport the truth. By tipping over the vessel, he is suggesting
that we must not worship the tradition itself. Religion, philosophy, spiritual
tradition -- these are not an end to themselves; they should be respected for
their function as a delivery vehicle, but nothing more.
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These are the insights that mark one for spiritual authority.
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Have a beautiful day!
В 
Ivan
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Yoshino misty temple by Paul Hillier Photography
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4818 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-01-19
Subject: #4818 - Friday, January 18, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
В #4818 - Friday, January 18, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
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John Astin has a new website:
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John writes...
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Now one of the beautiful things about the ultimate medicine is that its discovery doesnÂ’t preclude the use of any relative medicine. For example, even if I discover that all is immeasurably well, that a fundamental well-being is present in and is inseparable from whatever is being experienced, if I have a headache, I might still take an aspirin, get a massage, drink more fluids, and so on, just as a normal or natural response to what is arising experientially. But what has changed is that there is now a much vaster context for all that I experience, in this case, the headache, for I now know that my well-being doesnÂ’t depend upon the presence or absence of anything that might be happening within or around me.
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And when it comes to relative/ultimate medicine in the context of a diagnosis of psychosis, few are more intimately involved,В articulate, and activist about it than who I call the Pema Chodron of mental health awareness,В Laura Caitlin Burke (both are Nova Scotia residents):
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I sit, hands wringing, heart pounding, cross legged in front of my computer in my 2nd floor apartment living room.В  I hear the refrigerator buzzing loudly, and I feel more than a little bit detached from my body.В  Such is the result of my decision to finally reduce the dosage of my antipsychotic medication.В  If it goes well, I may come off of it completely, but who knows?В  It all depends on how I fare over the course of this next year or two.В  Year, or TWO?В  Yes, I am sensitive and aware enough about my own body (and about neuroscience) to know that a typical 3 week weaning process would have me back on the psych ward faster than it would take for any doctor to say “I told you so.”  No, IÂ’m too smart for that.В  And too cautious.В  If even with this snailÂ’s paced titration, I stop functioning at the level IÂ’d like to professionally and personally maintain, I can always run crying back into the arms of Big Pharma, and hopefully resume my life as the only kind of mental health advocate I can professionally be on a public scale: one who swallows pills and gets others to do the same.
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This will be a complicated transition, to be sure.В  Even with a recent reduction of less than 10% of the D2 dopamine blocker I have swallowed willingly for more than 2 years (following the adherence to a different one for 5), I am experiencing transient hot flashes, depersonalization, a hypersensitivity to light and sound, poor concentration and some intermittent difficulty coming up with words.В  BUT, instead of the hasty conclusion I always came to when I tried to reduce my meds in the past (that IÂ’m sinking into psychosis again, that I canÂ’t live without pills) I contemplate the idea that maybe my brain is just reacting to a massive neurochemical adjustment, and so I have decided to endeavor to explore this further.
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I am by no means a neuroscientist, or a psycho-pharmacologist, but I am lucky enough to include a few of them among my peers.В  And, I have been studying this stuff myself since 2004 when I began to transition into my first and only psychosis and needed to know what to do.В  And as everybody knows, hypochondriacs have great memories and abilities to synthesize medical information.В  Just kidding.В  Actually, in one sense, the more frightened you are, the more easily you will jump to the most catastrophic conclusions possible, without giving much credence to the notion that your experience might not be so severe or chronic.В  I did this.В  I jumped to the most dire conclusions and the worst case scenarios I could find.В  Yes, the same terror that fed my psychotic processes were also luring me into the belief that my life was over and I would never recover.В  One can understand why I thought like this, right?В  I was young, and increasingly less in touch with consensus reality .В  But sadly, it is the very establishment that is meant to help people like me, that fed this obsession with my own imminent annihilation.В  It didnÂ’t take more than a one word google search to come across headlines like “youthÂ’s greatest disabler” and “chronic, degenerative brain disease.”  It was so-called reputable articles like these that sent me straight to a psychiatrist, pleading to obtain the magic pills that would somehow at least minimize this horrible disintegration process.
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7 years later, I have begun to think differently.В  There are a few things I know now that I was too fearful to absorb back in 2005.
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One: evidence does not show psychosis to be biologically degenerative.В  The same studies that tried to prove that anti-psychotics prevented brain shrinkage have actually contributed to the data that they in fact can cause it.В  Not to be a fear-mongerer or anything.В  Brains adapt.В  ItÂ’s probably minimal in any case. Nonetheless, it is of note.
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Two: Several American RCTs of patients being given antipsychotics or no meds at all showed that the antipsychotic group got better faster.В  No surprise there.В  But hereÂ’s the kicker: patients given no meds recovered more slowly, but they had less incidence of relapse and far better long-term outcomes than those given meds.
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Three: a Finnish psychosis clinic has now achieved the best recovery rates from psychosis in the western world.В  ItÂ’s clinicians use caring, supportive, nurturing psychotherapy and work with the content and experience of their patientsÂ’ psychotic “symptoms”, almost always without meds.В  Their success rate is 85%, and the incidence of chronic psychotic disorders has decreased by 90% in the region they serve.
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Four: According to a number of studies at McGill and elsewhere, dopamine hypersensitivity and an increased density in dopamine receptors is shown to develop in people who stay on anti-psychotic medication over time, hence increasing the susceptibility to relapse of psychotic symptoms once stopped.В  Hence the evidence accrued in point number two.
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Five: In countries where anti-psychotic medications are far less available, recovery rates from psychosis are notably higher.В  See points two and five.
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Do I really have to continue?
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Well, I suppose I am still somewhat torn.В  Psychosis is scary.В  And now that IÂ’m probably hypersensitive to dopamine, my chances of relapse may be high (hence the decision to drop my dose incredibly slowly, in the hopes that my brain will adapt and prune away some of those extra dopamine receptors).В  Also, I had experienced a lot of cognitive decline 7 years ago.В  And a lot of negative symptoms.В  I was so flat emotionally, that I could barely function.В  And, this drug has served me well.В  But just because these last few years have been good to me, doesnÂ’t mean that I owe it all to Big Pharma.В  I worked hard.В  I certainly donÂ’t want to experience such terror again, but then again, I think itÂ’s time to stop letting my fear of fear itself turn me into a complacent (but certainly compliant) doormat.В  I can risk a little.В  I can figure this out, one milligram at a time.
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I should add that by no means do I recommend everyone to avoid psych meds in all situations.В  If someoneÂ’s beliefs put them at risk of harming themselves or others, or if they are suffering immensely and want quick relief, they should be allowed it.В  And certainly, there is a massive shortage of safe, nurturing places people can go to ride out and ultimately resolve a psychosis.В  So, with regard to our current system, how could we not use them?В  We simply do not have the resources allocated to the right places to actually provide ideal care.В  So, of course, the conundrum of how to effectively treat psychosis in the long term remains.В  But I have begun to wonder about the road less travelled – the path toward learning and psychological growth and discernment and agency.В  I donÂ’t want my old self back; thatÂ’s just silly.В  But I do want to dive head first into what life has to teach me, to challenge and transform my tendency toward paranoia and dissociation and confusion.В  I want to ride the waves that once knocked me over because I was too afraid to move.В  I want to stop hiding. I want to give this a try.В  Thoughts?
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~ ~ ~
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Write a comment or read more from Laura Burke's blog:
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Group: NDhighlights Message: 4819 From: Mark Date: 2013-01-20
Subject: #4819 - Saturday, January 19, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4819, Saturday, January 19, 2013





Theory of Feelings

I think the feelings
are put on like layers

of paint. Her honeymoon, for instance:
cold water, warm kisses,

then later, the breakup of the marriage,
-so now she has

the memory of pleasure
with a thin

skin of pain
on top of it,

then a light varnish
of interpretation

to really seal it in.

That's how a human being is
made, I think: one coat

after another. Childhood was
one bright, ferocious color.

then two, then so many
splashed and mingled,

so thickened and built up
one day it finally

stood up on its own
like a suit of armor,

and began to walk, and talk,
and went looking for itself.

- Tony Hoagland from Little Oceans, posted to The_Now2




Once the blossoms are gone, the fruit becomes visible; when one fades away, the other starts growing. How could bread give strength without being broken? How could the grape give wine without being crushed?

- Rumi, version by Muriel Maufroy from Breathing Truth - Quotations from Jalaluddin Rumi, posted to AlongTheWay




Earnestness is not a yearning for the fruits of one's endeavors. It is an expression of an inner shift of interest away from the false, the unessential, the personal.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels




So the single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is this: learn to dis-identify with your mind. Every time you create a gap in the stream of mind the light of your consciousness grows stronger.

- Eckhart Tolle, posted to The_Now2




Take the first step first. All blessings come from within. Turn within. 'I am' you know. Be with it all the time you can spare, until you revert to it spontaneously. There is no simpler and easier way.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to Facebook

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