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Group: NDhighlights Message: 4940 From: Jerry K Date: 2013-06-08
Subject: #4940 - Friday, June 7, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4940 - Friday, June 7, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality Highlights http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights

-------------------------------------------------

Posted in Nonduality Salon:

The Enlightenment Myth, Posted by Bill Rishel
Patrick Kearney (Professor at Queensland U., Australia):

"I have never been able to find any PГѓВўli or Sanskrit word which corresponds
to the English word "enlightenment." This word was selected some time late
last century by English translators as a label for the goal of Buddhist
practice because of its resonance with the 18th century ideal of the
Enlightenment. The European Enlightenment was a movement which idealised progress, science and reason -- the "light" in "Enlightenment" refers to the light of reason.

In Victorian Britain, sympathetic English scholars wanted to present
Buddhism in as favourable a light as possible, and they did so by
portraying the Buddha as the perfect Victorian gentleman. He was presented as rejecting the priestly mumbo-jumbo of the brahmins (who for the Victorian English corresponded to the Roman Catholic clergy) in favour of a religion of reason and morality (Almond 70-74).

The only thing that spoiled this picture was undeniable evidence in the Buddhist texts that the Buddha taught and practiced some kind of bizarre self-hypnosis or cultivation of trance states -- what we today call meditation. The word "enlightenment" referred to a state of enlightened reason attained by the Buddha which, however, existed only in the imagination of Victorian
scholars. Unfortunately the word has stuck, and with it the confusion."

http://www.khandro. net/bud_origins. htm

------------------------------------------------------

Tboni: Here's another, simpler version, courtesy Manfred Man.

"Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night".

:)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill: Just did a search and learned that song was actually
written by Bruce Springstein. Manfred Man made
it a hit. I remember that song well from back in the 70's.

Any idea what is meant by the term "deuce"?

Tboni: Well I did reckon it may have come from some play in poker where
someone owing on a deuce did a runner.

(I'm making it up here fwiw)

-----------------------------------------

Dan:

It can mean what you want it to mean: a car, like a deuce coupe, or a card, a low card that isn't much use and is cut loose ...

cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night --

someone who has been cut loose,

in free fall,

running on his own into the night ...

nice lyric, Bruce!

- D -
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4941 From: Dustin LindenSmith Date: 2013-06-08
Subject: #4941 - Saturday, June 8th, 2013 - Editor: Dustin LindenSmith
#4941 - Saturday, June 8th, 2013 - Editor: Dustin LindenSmith

I'm delivering today's issue from a hotel in Toronto, where I'm celebrating my 40th birthday with my wife and 4 of our closest friends, who surprised me by arriving at our hotel breakfast table out of the blue yesterday. It's one of those fortunate times when I feel surrounded by love, and I find myself full of gratitude.

I'm also very grateful for these opportunities on Saturday mornings to share these back issues of our digest with all of you. Today I'd like to go way back to Spring, 2000, and show you some parts of a precursor/corollary to the Nonduality Highlights called The Nondual Daily Nugget. Among other topics, Archive #5 of this digest features some interesting reflections and descriptions of satsang with Eckhart Tolle, who was just beginning to blow up in the mainstream.

This issues also features essays by an early NDH editor and great friend Christiana Duranczyk (who herself took me on a fantastic tour of San Francisco on the back of her scooter years ago that I still remember clear as day), plus writings from other members of our original clique like Gene Poole, David Hodges, and Tim Gerchmez.

The full page is at the following link, and the table of contents for it is listed below:

http://www.nonduality.com/archive5.htm

March 21, 2000: New Eyes on Ram Dass, by Christiana P. Duranczyk
March 22, 2000: Eckhart Tolle at Inner Directions, by Christiana P. Duranczyk
March 23, 2000: Meeting Eckhart Tolle, by Chuck Hillig
March 24, 2000: Spreading into my entire .... really entire, by Alone
March 25, 2000: The Self Alone is the Reality, by Sri Ramana Maharshi
March 26, 2000: Patience, by Osho
March 27, 2000: Integrity and Unbounded Awareness: Recent Observations of Nonduality List, introduced and edited by Christiana P. Duranczyk
March 28, 2000: EST and the Forum, by Simon Crosby
March 29, 2000: Meet John Gaeta, Visual Effects Supervisor for 'The Matrix'
March 30, 2000: Matrix Within Matrix Within Matrix, by Gene Poole
March 31, 2000: Cafe Writings, by David Hodges
April 1, 2000: Untitled, by Bernadette Roberts
April 2, 2000: On The Pile with Kevin Costner and a Couple of Other Guys, by O.H.
April 3, 2000: Ah, So, by O.H.
April 4, 2000: The Nisargadatta Song of I Am
April 5, 2000: Self Knowledge - A Short Essay, by Tim Gerchmez
April 6, 2000: Considering Papaji and Enlightenment on Nonduality
April 7, 2000: I and my Father are One, by Peter Schoonheim Samara
April 8, 2000: Might we just once listen to the children
April 9, 2000: Mipham's Beacon of Certainty, by John Whitney Petit
April 10, 2000: God, the Great Thief, by Gene Poole
April 11, 2000: Only INTENTIONAL Action ... Bears A Fruit, by KKT
April 12, 2000: Meditations on my True Nature, by Helga Schleiter Smith
April 13, 2000: The Witness -- A Short Essay, by Tim Gerchmez
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4942 From: markwotter704 Date: 2013-06-09
Subject: #4942 - Sunday, June 9, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4942, Sunday, June 9, 2013




Don't be so quick to believe in the mind's projections. You are not the mind. Don't come under its spell. The mind is a great magician. It has hypnotized 7 billion human beings. In the realm of personhood, it is full of tricks and has the power to make a lot of mischief, confusion, distortion and delusion. But yours is a greater power. It is the power of the pure Self. The power to observe with detachment, to recognize that all phenomena are transient appearances and that oneself is the formless witness, timeless and ever-perfect.

- Mooji, posted to AlongTheWay

The world is made of rings. The hooks are all yours. Make straight your hooks and nothing can hold you. Give up your addictions. There is nothing else to give up. Stop your routine of acquisitiveness, your habit of looking for results and the freedom of the universe is yours. Be effortless.

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

To see everything as imagination born of desire is necessary for self-realization. We miss the real by lack of attention and create the unreal by excess of imagination.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj posted to ANetofJewels

The mystery of "Poverty is my pride"* is sublime:
it cautions you to take refuge from the covetous
with the One who is Self-Sufficient.
Treasures are buried in ruined, forgotten places,
hidden from the greed of those who dwell in affluence.
If you can't tear out your own beautiful feathers,
go, adopt a life of solitude;
don't let yourself be dissipated by others.
For you are both the morsel of food and the eater of that morsel:
you are the consumer and the consumed. Understand this, dear one!

- Rumi Mathnawi V: 715-718, version by Camille and Kabir Helminski from Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance. posted to Sunlight

The naturalist Loren Eiseley wrote many interesting essays on form shifting. In one of them, he relates a personal experience he had while studying the habits of frogs. On this particular night he was headed toward a deep sink hole in the middle of a large grove. The sink hole was particularly dangerous because it had not rained for months, and the water had receded several feet from the steep rim. Any careless human who plunged in would have no way to climb out.

As he walked along a narrow trail, he was overtaken by a a large number of frogs heading toward the sink hole. He was enchanted to be part of this march, and tried to keep pace with the frogs. After a few minutes of feeling himself part of this amphian army, he sensed a strange feeling of kinship with the group. As they got nearer the water the frogs started singing. Loren tells that at one point, to his surprise, he noticed that he was no longer walking, but jumping along and croaking with the frogs. He felt a great urgency, a deep longing for those deep black waters. He wanted it with a force he had never experienced before. This yearning filled him with great exhilaration. He began shaking with excitement and then the excitement turned to terror as he realized that if he didn't break this spell we would surely perish at the sink hole. The terror did the trick, and he snapped out of his frog trance.

To completely understand something is, in a way, to become it. After total understanding, we can't no longer exactly regain our former shape. That is why there is an instinctual reluctance to understand too deeply who we are. We can't understand, and retain our former self.

Pete, posted to AdvaitaToZen

The Rhythm of Our Hearts

The Light of your Face
illumines the universe;
And from that Light, in all ages,
you have taken form.

You are the Saaqi
and the wine of victory -
That is what you will always be.
Can blown glass return to the fire?
Can aged wine turn back into grapes?

You shape the destiny of every soul,
renewing this weary world.
Every night you bring another joy,
every night a celebration.

Love and ecstasy is our calling now -
O Beloved, you will dance forever
as the rhythm of our hearts.

- Rumi Ghazal 2209 version by Jonathan Star from A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi, posted to Sunlight
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4943 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-06-11
Subject: #4943 - Monday, June 10, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4943 - Monday,В June 10, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
A recent comment from our good friend Greg Goode.
В 
"Still doing Nondual Highlights? It must be the Dr. Who of nondual publications -
the longest running stream of nondual content ever produced."
В 
В 

“We must become expressions of, not consumers of, realization.”
В 
~ Adyashanti
В 
Big mind is something you have, not something you seek. Big mind is something to
express, not something to figure out.
В 
~ Shunryu Suzuki
В 
В 
Peter SheflerВ Photography
В 
В 
.. donÂ’t get caught up in spiritual superficialities.
Instead, live a quiet and simple life,
free of ideas and concepts ..
В 
~ Lao Tzu
В 
В 
В 
В 
Yasar Koç Photography
В 
В 
"Doctrines, scriptures, sutras, essays, are not to be regarded as systems to be
followed. They merely contribute to understanding. They should be for us a source
of stimulation, and nothing more... Adopted, rather than used as a stimulus, they are
a hindrance."
В 
~ Wei Wu Wei
В 
В 
Window: Manoir Des Brumes. Normandy, France
В 

ALL THE TRUE VOWS:
В 
All the True Vows
are secret vows,
the ones we speak out loud
are the ones we break.
В 
There is only one life
you can call your own
and a thousand others
you can call by any name you want.
В 
Hold to the truth you make
every day with your own body,
donÂ’t turn your face away.
В 
Hold to the truth
at the center of the image
you were born with,
donÂ’t turn your face away.
В 
Â…Remember,
in this place
no one can hear you
В 
and out of the silence
you can make a new promise
it will kill you to break,
В 
that way youÂ’ll find out
what it is real and what is not.
В 
I know what I am saying.
Time almost forsook me
and I looked again.
В 
Seeing my reflection
I broke a promise
and spoke
for the first time
after all these years
В 
in my own voice,
В 
before it was too late
to turn my face again.
В 
В 
Excerpt from Г‚вЂ˜All The True Vows
From 'River Flow: New and Selected Poems'
Many Rivers Press. ©David Whyte
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4944 From: Jerry K Date: 2013-06-11
Subject: #4944 - Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

#4944 - Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality HighlightsВ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ 

_______________________________________


The Lookout

by Ken Sanes

I am standing at the edge of the lookout,В 
gazing at the water in the last lightВ 
and observing the arrival of another fall night.В 
From this location I can hear behind meВ 
the scraping sound of the crisp dead leaves,В 
being carried by the wind along the street,В 
as it scatters, combines and interweaves.
I can also see almost all of the lakeВ В 
with its indented coast and still dark surfaceВ 
that is smooth, reflective, and deeply opaque.В 
But as I stand here in the cool night air,
there's an unexpected change in the way I see
as nature's loss gives birth to a momentВ 
when I can look and listen and simply be.В 
In this altered state, I am contained and still,В 
in awe of life's perfection, with a receptive will.
Except, there is also something elseВ 
because I sense that I am inside this moment.
No, what I want to say is that IВ amВ this moment:
I'm this ghostly moon obscured by passing clouds;В 
the craggy coast of the lake; the rich brown earth;В 
and the dark reflection of half-empty treesВ 
in a living world imbued with ultimate worth.
But only for a moment. Then I take another look
at the barren trees shrouded by the night
and I decide it's time to scan for dangers
that are folded inside the missing light,
as a familiar monologue starts up in my mind,
and I observe each thing from an inner lookout
that is well defended, insubstantial, and confined.
With the moment now over, I turn to walk away
from the fall of summer and the end of day.
And I think to myself that all of our experience,В 
along with all of our memories and words,В 
are the scattered pieces of our lost perfection,В 
made of fragments from the unrecovered soul,В 
with each piece yearning and taking positionВ 
in a continuous effort to rejoin the whole.В 
And poetry is part of this same divided order.
But poetry can form vital connections
through the draw of the story, symbol and rhyme
as it seeks a way to bind our broken selvesВ 
and change our experience of life, space and time.
Of course, poetry is also a set of fabrications
with a way of speaking that is finally true,В 
which is why I remembered this perfect momentВ 
and built a lookout with these words for you.

В 

Poems About Life: Homepage
Nature Poetry and the Human World

You are welcome to send me an email at
letters at http://kensanes.comВ 
Copyright © 2010-2013 Ken SanesВ В 

reprinted with permission

_______________________________________


NGWS Journal is beautifully put together and has a nondual flavor.В http://www.ngws.org/

The following poem from ngws was written by Anamika, who we've published often in the Highlights:

How on earth...?В 

How on earth do we figure out our existence?В 
What is Life?В 

If we are lucky enough this question will take hold of usВ 
and break through the comfort zoneВ 
of an ordered and predictable existence.В 

Crush the imaginary boundaries which haveВ 
hypnotised us to believe that there is a separation betweenВ 
the perceiver and the perceived.В 

If we are lucky enough the questionВ 
will break us open and leave us bare, empty.В 

Remove identificationsВ 
until Reality is seen andВ 
all questions have left us.В 

There are no answers.В 

You areВ 
Life isВ 
the answer.В 

Form is EmptinessВ 
Emptiness is FormВ 

Anamika--Potshots blogВ В http://noname-allthereis.blogspot.ca/В 


Here are two views on the influence of science upon perception of self:


В "ac" wrote:

В We watch the sun going around earth every day in front of our eyes...

В ...yet, we firmly discard it as illusion...

В ...and, we believe, know, remember what science has told us...

В the earth spins on its axis and that creates this illusion of sun orbiting
earth...

В Most of us have never really seen earth rotating on its axis...

В ...yet, we discrad what we see everyday, day after day in the favor of
something that we have never really seen...

В just because... science has told us so...

В I think...

В One day...

В ...not so far away...

В Science will convincingly prove that...

В ...the self,
В ...the selfhood,
В ...the person...

В ...the mind created I
В ...the mind created me...

В ...is just an illusion...

В ...no matter... how powerful this illusion is...

В no matter... how "real" this illusion seems...

В no matter... how frequently... almost constantly... this illusion takes
place...

В ...and, that day... many of us will really "know" and "learn"... that yes,
yes, the personhood is really just a mind created momentary illusion... even
though, it appears to occur... almost all the time...

В ...and, once that is really to known to us...

В ...I think... how we look at the world, ourselves, our neighbors will start
changing on its own...

В ...so will our views on...

В ...reincarnation...

В ...soul...

В ...heaven...

В ...hell...

В ...death...

В ...birth...

В ...free will...

В ...choice...

В I think it will dramatically transform our views on religions as well as on
spirituality...


Tboni: Au contraire.

Not at all.

Science tells us nothing at all whatsoever.

Science can neither listen nor can it speak for it has no larynx no voice no
body and no brain.

It is scientists that write and speak, homo-sapiens sapiens with a brain, like
everyone brought up in families like yours or mine each one ego conditioned like
everyone else with a brain in a body with mothers and fathers brought up in the
very same culture as you and me with aspirations of greatness, attaining Nobels
getting tenure having children.

If and when, as you say they will convincingly prove that their selves, their
minds their selfhood their ego and personhood is an illusion:-

They will relegate their own voice, dismiss their own speaking as from an
illusion illusory, and with a single stroke cancel their own vote about saying
anything of any relevance to anyone at all.

Don't talk to me about "Science" to bolster any argument or speculation of your
own.

Talk to me of scientists and about scientists.

And what they say they think what they speculate about.

Think for yourself!!!!

Some thoughts

Tboni
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4945 From: Jerry K Date: 2013-06-12
Subject: #4944 - Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4944 - Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality Highlights http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ 


____________________________В 


Practical nonduality and truth-realization itself are considered in these two articles. Anyone pursuing nondual understanding will eventually come to discern between the two, without being for or against any particular view, while expressing their understanding in whatever way they must.


____________________________В 




Practical Non-duality Pure and Simple.

byВ pie'n'eal

Being...is non-duality.
Being...distracted...is duality

~~~~~~~~~~

Losing oneself in thoughts
is duality.

Being aware of thoughts
is duality.

Purely being aware
is non-duality.

Resting in pure awareness,
thoughts can arise,
but now they are not in control.
They are merely an expression of pure awareness.

~~~~~~~~~

When Essence (pure awareness) is caught up in thoughts, it is distracted, misdirected and can be manipulated.В 
It has learnt to believe in what it sees as real, when it is merely a distraction from the only reality
- our pure awareness. Of course, we oscillate between these two states - duality and non duality – 
but what is most important is to be able to recognise these different states. This is why we practise.
~~~~~~~~~

Why is this so important?

In non-duality we are free. In duality we are a prisoner - we are caught and held. That is what letting go is all about.В 
We are either caught up or free: at every moment we have that same choice.
There are things going on in the world.В 
There will always be things going on in the world.В 
When we die, these things will still be going on.В 
They will never stop until everyone recognisesВ 
that this world was created by our collective confusion.

We are not here to distract ourselves! We are here to realise our true nature – constant, pure awareness.В 
What we do with that pure awareness is up to us, either to rest in pure awareness, radiating love,В 
or express love for the benefit of others.

~ ~ ~

more writings by pie'n'eal here:В http://jandeane81.com/search.php?searchid=37522В 


____________________________В 



Whatever is seen, whether external or internal, whether by the ordinary persons or yogis, is unreal.

By: Santthoshkumaar Kumaar on Jun 12, 2013

В 
People who claim seeing god in their in meditation are В truthful! they В may tell others a lie or they may be hallucinated with their idea of their individualized God. В  man and his experience of the world are within the dualistic illusion. whatever В is part of the dualistic illusion is not reality. В We are discussion about the god within the dualistic illusion. В Thus whatever we have seen,known,believed and experienced is bound to be falsehood. В  Supposing a person В has a vision, which experience is true, but В on nondulistic perspective the duality is mere an illusion. В 

Without knowing what is ultimate truth, one В  can only guess, imagine, hence doubts and questions and discussions arise.

If one says God is in heaven, others say he is within. Again the God may take different form and name. Then which form and name of god is correct? Some contend that God is sound and say one hears the divine sound inside in meditation, still others say God is divine light appears in-between the eyebrows in meditation as the presence of God. All these differences of opinion, they can be endless, show mutual contradiction and general error, that is lack of certain truth. Moreover if one sees form one is seeing a second thing, a seen or an object.В 

People who are conditioned by religion will not accept anything other than their accepted truth. В  The scriptures are meant for those who are stuck the practical life within the practical world as reality.

Dualist sages could not distinguish between `I' and `formless witness.' The 'I' was the witness. Their highest was the Jiva. One is so much attached to the 'I' that he do not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again one is unable to detach the `I' from the Real witness.

Kabir views humanity as being caught up in illusion, searching for Ultimate Reality in all the wrong places, always seeking It outside of ourselves in various rituals, temples, forests and mountaintops, not realizing That for which we seek is already hidden within us.

Without the self-knowledge it is impossible to cross the illusory ocean of the pain and pleasure. В There no vessel to ferry man across the ocean of illusory form, time and space except Gnana.

What is Gnana? Gnana means the full and firm realization of truth – a realization beyond all doubts, change and contradiction.В 

Neither the control of breath, or regulating the breath, nor the performance of selfless service, nor by devotion to gods and gurus, not the performance of penance, nor pilgrimaging, nor by yoga nor by scriptural mastery, the ignorance will not vanish. But only В  through non-dual wisdom the ignorance can be eradicated. В The three states are state of ignorance. All the three states are falsehood. The formless substance and witness of the three states is real and eternal. В 

Sage Sri Sankara, in Bhaja Govindam says: - [Jnana Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena] - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.

Realize Brahman or ultimate truth here and now, В in this very life , not in next life and in ii next world by realizing the fact that this life itself is illusion. В В 

Even non-dualistic orthodoxy has to be considered as dualistic cult because В they are based on the В karma theory. Believing in karma theory means В believing in the experience of birth,life,death and world as reality whereas Sri, Sankara says the universe is myth. It means the the birth,life and death which takes place within the universe also in myth.

Non duality is the state of oneness of existence and there is no scope in its philosophy for anything like non-existence.В 

Gaudapada's rational exposition of Advaita: - that Whatever is seen, whether external or internal, whether by the ordinary persons or yogis, is unreal.

The essence of Mandukya's is: Do not be satisfied with rituals, yoga etc. which are good in their own way, but inquire. Inquire in to the nature of the mind. ? Brahman and Atman are things one can never see. So seeker should not inquire into them. В He has to inquire into the world around him, which he can see. Analysis В  tells him it is passing away every second. Everything is dying repeatedly. Where is it going? Thus he follows up his investigation into what he can lay hands on. How can he inquire into Atman which he cannot see? So first he must deal with the known and seen, this inquiry leads up to the unknown in the end.

Mediocre minds waste their time on arguing about unimportant matters. Accumulation of scriptural knowledge is dangerous in pursuit of truth. Seeker has to establish in the truth of Non-duality by sheer reasoning alone. Seeker has to begin by defining "What is real?" "What is unreal?" etc, because that is the right way to discuss, understand and assimilate self-knowledge.Thus seeker has to remove all the hindrance in order to acquire Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana.В 

In dualistic philosophies the imaginary god is made as creator basing on cause and effect theory. Then the doubt natural arises, who is the cause of the creator. The creator is dependent on creation for his existence. В Without the creation the creator ceases to exist. Thus the dualistic theory holds no water, because it is based on mere imagination and speculation, which they try to prove it on citing the mythological stories and doctrine of code of conducts. When the self is not the body then all these dualistic ideologies hold no water. В  Therefore the devotional paths, which are based on the human conducts, are not the means forTRUTH –REALIZATION.

Even the religious based non-dualism is not the means for truth realization, because В  their preaching is based on the non-duality but their practice is based on dualistic view point. В Therefore, it is difficult to get В  TRUTH –REALIZATION from conduct based orthodox non-dualism. Thus it looks like the real essence of non-dualism is lost or destroyed in the past by the orthodox oriented priest craft and propagated and injected only priest-crafted non-dualism, to the mass, the reason best known to the masters of the past. В Therefore, it is impossible to come out of all these priest crafted confusions in one life time. Through orthodox non-dualism it is impossible to get truth realization. В  В В 

There is no need to collect all these baggage of confusions, if one is seeking truth, nothing but truth. The guru is necessary only in religious and yogic paths, but guru is not necessary in pursuit of truth. В Path of truth is a personal path and it is the path of verification. But in religion and yoga the verification is not allowed. Blind faith is main ingredient in belief system and yoga. В  Gurudom is playing with words because maybe the meaning is floating somewhere in between the spaces of words...

~ ~ ~

more writings byВ Santthoshkumaar KumaarВ here:В http://www.speakingtree.in/public/santthoshkumaar.kumaar/blog
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4946 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-06-14
Subject: #4946 - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 

#4946 - Thursday,В June 13, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
To become human
is to become visible
while carrying
what is hidden
as a gift to others.
В 
Excerpt from What to Remember When Waking
River Flow: New and Selected Poems
©David Whyte
В 
В 
Soul and the Old Woman
В 
В "What is the soul?В  Consciousness.В  The more awareness, the deeper the soul, and when
В 
such essence overflows, you feel a sacredness around.В  It's so simple to tell one who
В 
puts on a robe and pretends to be a dervish from the real thing.В  We know the taste
В 
of pure water.В  Words can sound like a poem but not have any juice, no flavor to
В 
relish.В  How long do you look at pictures on a bathhouse wall?В  Soul is what draws
В 
you away from those pictures to talk with the old woman who sits outside by the door
В 
in the sun.В  She's half blind, but she has what soul loves to flow into.В  She's kind, she weeps.
В 
She makes quick personal decisions, and laughs so easily."
В 
~Rumi
В 
via Daily Dharma by Dainen Kelley
В 
Photo of Amrita Nadi who started Daily Dharma list on Yahoo.
В 
В 
Wherever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars
you see. You are one with everything. That is more true than I can say, and more
true than you can hear.
В 
~ Shunryu Suzuki
В 
В 
INatureВ on Facebook
В 
В 

SECOND SIGHT
В 
Sometimes, you need the ocean light,
and colours youÂ’ve never seen before
painted through an evening sky.
В 
Sometimes you need your God
to be a simple invitation,
not a telling word of wisdom.
В 
Sometimes you need only the first shyness
that comes from being shown things
far beyond your understanding,
В 
so that you can fly and become free
by being still and by being still here.
В 
And then there are times you need to be
brought to ground by touch
and touch alone.
В 
To know those arms around you
and to make your home in the world
just by being wanted.
В 
To see those eyes looking back at you,
as eyes should see you at last,
В 
seeing you, as you always wanted to be seen,
seeing you, as you yourself
had always wanted to see the world.
В 
В 
Second Sight
From Pilgrim
Poems by David Whyte
© 2012 David Whyte
В 
В 
В 
We are all truly blessed with the light of Grace.
~ Cathy Ginter
В 
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4947 From: Jerry K Date: 2013-06-15
Subject: #4947 - Friday, June 14, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4947 - Friday, June 14, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality HighlightsВ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ 



______________________________________


Here are a couple contributions posted to Nonduality Salon recently.


______________________________________


Tboni (long time Saloner who is both a psychotherapist and psychiatrist)

There is a condition called Folie a deux where the paranoia is shared by another.В Yet another case recorded is Induced delusional disorder: a case report of Folie A' Famille where a whole family shares the same paranoid delusions.

I reckon a good case could be made for extending the diagnosis to whole nations.

The USA could be the first documented case of Tboni's syndromeВ 

which I have called:-

"Folie a Nationale."

When a whole nation goes barmy.

A brand new psychiatric disorder that needs to be included in the New DSM5.

That over 20% of its population is already taking psychotropic medication simply confirms the diagnosis.В 

Now they are extending it to medicate toddlers.

If the USA suffers from a 'Folie a Nationale' one does not have to look far for the cause of this Massive National Psychiatric Disorder that has afflicted the USA.В 

It is (and must be) occurring on a huge scale for the thinking of its citizens to be so subjugated and for all reasoning to be extinguished and replaced by paranoia without even a comment!

The cause is of course a chemical imbalance.

A chemical imbalance in the brains of its citizens on a vast scale.

A chemical imbalance Induced by the propaganda of Big Pharma and the APA who have bribed its entire population into wolfing down toxic medications that do not work for illnesses that do not exist, in order to make money.

The treatment??

I leave with you..

:)

Enough for now!

:)

Tboni


______________________________________


Dan Berkow

To say "everything already is enlightened" is to say "there is nothing that is not who I am" which is to say "nothing is being said that isn't already what is so."

You raise the notion of "representation." Has anything ever really been represented? Or is it that we suspend disbelief, so to speak. We allow ourselves to be conned, or participate in conning ourselves, in other words. That way, we can attach emotions to representations, formulate a sense of time and personal continuity (of representations we take as self).

When I look at representation, whether that be through word, image, or memory (even memory of what took place one millisecond ago), that representation is claiming to be able to formulate something (whether that be an emotional reaction, an image, a sensory memory) that can "stand in" for what was, but is not now.

And yet, one has to acknowledge, if being clear, that the only actual sensing occurring is "now."

The "representation" actually is a present sensing, and so is fluctuating, and so isn't really able to "capture" what is not present.

So, to me, it's not a matter of being able to give your attention to something for a long time. In fact, the sense of time passing and how long something is taking, is shown to be imagined (although a powerful aspect of our imagining process, a very convincing aspect of it).

If I look at the common-sense notion of duration, of passage of time, I see that I'm constructing it through how I represent events - and we just said that representation (as commonly understood) is not really possible, is not happening (as it is taken to be, through common-sense ways of speaking, remembering, relating - all based on consensus agreements about representation - including culture, including talking through this list, including "buddha", spirituality; "seeing" etc.).

You mention "being in love" - by which I think you may mean something like "the love which is engaging fully as present" -- in which case, yes, I agree. A lot of times people who say they are in love are obsessing about someone, thinking about them often, feeling that they are very important to be close to - in other words, "being in love" as commonly understood is a process through which thought, memory, and emotion get obsessively intertwined around an object (a beloved person) who represents a series of experiences that are desired (feeling close, feeling attracted, enjoying touching and being touched by, enjoying the feeling of sharing) ... which psychologically are opposed to other experiences that are not wanted (feeling distant, feeling repulsed, disliking the sensation of touching or being touched by, feeling pain predominantly involved rather than pleasure, etc.).

Now, it seems odd to me, and yet true, that simply being present (which in fact is all that is) seems to be what people (in terms of the common-sense understanding existing as a person) want to avoid. People seem to want, first of all, to exist as a located self, which has experiences of its own, which continues over time, which can get what it wants for itself (whether that be the feeling of being in love, or sex, or enlightenment, or status, or power, or recognition, etc.) and to avoid what it doesn't want for itself (feeling lonely, rejected, being ill, hurting, experiencing pain, being ignorant, not being recognized, being powerless, etc.).

So, getting back to "people who are practicing seriously" - what are they doing? They are assuming they continue as centers that hold a sense of being aware of themselves, that this center is continuing a located existence over time (and so can engage in "practice";) that they are aware of a personal mind that belongs to them and which is separate from someone else's mind (e.g., "I am now attending to my present experience and staying with it" - whereas someone else who is sitting to my left is fidgeting, not paying good attention, etc.)

In this sense, "practicing" is a way to continue the common-sense identification with a location for a personal existence, a belief in a personal mind that is one's possession, so to speak, that one has volition as a center (e.g., I can pay attention well or poorly, I can commit to what my teacher wants me to commit to, or reject it) and so on.

If the assumption of personal existence is undermined, if assumptions about existing as a separated mind or awareness is undermined, what happens to practice, to religion, to a spiritual path?В 

Nothing really.

One is free to continue on with whatever drama seems to be unfolding as one's life - whether that be involvement in a spiritual path, or working as a banker, or living homeless on the street and having to go through dumpsters to find food to survive to the next day ...

Indeed, it's not just that "one is free to continue" it's that one sees that the sense of continuity, the sense of representation (e.g., I exist as a human being who is sitting in a zendo, or going through a dumpster), is arising and sort of weaving itself together as a construction, non-volitionally, choicelessly, already fully present as is without division (from anything else that is choicelessly present).

The sense of "here" where I am existing and experiencing and "there" where I am not existing and experience, is seen to be as much a cognitive construction as any other aspect of representation.

- Dan
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4948 From: Dustin LindenSmith Date: 2013-06-15
Subject: #4648 - Saturday, June 15th, 2013 - Editor: Dustin LindenSmith
#4648 - Saturday, June 15th, 2013 - Editor: Dustin LindenSmith

Today's Highlight of the Highlights comes from an issue that Gloria edited in February, 2010. It contains a number of tasty nuggets, a film about Tibetans' views on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and a poem that doesn't seem to be "about" nonduality at first glance, but which in fact, really is.

My favourite bit from this issue is this terribly simple, short phrase from Greg Goode:

"You" and "awareness" — two words for the same thing.

Once again, a reminder that our suffering arises from our lack of acknowledgment of that simple fact.

Dustin


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gloria Lee editglo@...>
Date: Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 12:36 AM
Subject: [NDhighlights] #3819 - Friday, February 26, 2010 - Editor: Gloria Lee
To: NDH NDhighlights@yahoogroups.com>

#3819 - Friday, February 26, 2010 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
 
Ed note: Sometimes the best is put in last, especially when it takes you off to Youtube land.
 
This outstanding short film is an insight into how life is for Tibetans these days. The film's maker
 
has paid the heavy price of a prison sentence to let their voices be heard.


We take long trips.  We puzzle over the meaning
of a painting or a book, when what we're wanting
to see and understand in this world, we are that.

                    - Rumi
posted to Along The Way
 
 
One moon shows in every pool, in every pool the one moon.
-Zen Proverb
_____
 
"You will come to see that every moment is exactly like your "That's it!" (peak experience in satsang when you feel enlightened) moment.

You will find that you are thoughtless just like in the satsang moments.  This is because your nature is that space within which thought arises.  Thought is free to arise, or not.  And you are always in direct contact with awareness, because there is nowhere else to go, and nothing else available that can serve as a veil between you and awareness.  There is never anywhere else for you to be. You are in unbroken contact with awareness because you are awareness.   "You" and "awareness" - two words for the same thing."

Greg Goode
Standing As Awareness
Non-Duality Press
p.86
 
posted to Wisdom-l by Mark Scorelle
 
 
Know Thy World
 
For me the starting point is overcoming ignorance. That’s where the Buddha said we should start. We have to make it part of our daily discipline to become better informed about the world we live in. We need to be able to distinguish between truth and falsity such as misinformation from our governments and from mainstream news media.
- Richard Reoch
 
 
Suffering the consequences of unconsciousness is the fire that ultimately burns up the false ego, but that's the long, slow, painful way. The short cut is any spiritual teaching that cuts through the long way, the painful way of waking up.
- Eckhart Tolle
 
 
 
 
 
The Bright Field
 
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
 
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
 
~ R. S. Thomas ~
 
 
(Another from the wonderful anthology,
Soul Food: Nourishing Poems for Starved Minds,
ed. by Neil Astley and Pamela Robertson-Pearce)
 
 
 
 
Leaving Fear Behind
 
Zurich, 6. January 2010. Dhondup Wangchen, the Tibetan filmmaker who is currently in
Chinese detention, has been sentenced to six years' imprisonment by the provincial court
in Xining (capital of Qinghai province). His arrest in March 2008 came shortly after
completion of filming for his documentary film «Leaving Fear Behind» in which Tibetans
spoke out about their lives in Tibet.
 
 
_._,_.___
____________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________
Dustin LindenSmith • Dartmouth, NS • 902-446-4212 (home) • 902-877-9871 (mobile)


Group: NDhighlights Message: 4949 From: markwotter704 Date: 2013-06-17
Subject: #4949 - Sunday, June 16, 2013
Archived issues of the NDHighlights are available online: http://nonduality.com/hlhome.htm

Nonduality Highlights Issue #4949, Sunday, June 16, 2013




God is not merely transcendent to the world; He is in the world. So everything in the world has to be considered spiritual in its ultimate essence. God is not only in the world, but is the world. He is both immanent and transcendent.

- Swami Krishnananda, posted to AlongTheWay

The outside world is not really concerned at all in man's dilemma of suffering. It is all within the fictitious 'me' of personal identity. Realization of this fact is the ultimate Understanding.

- Ramesh Balsekar, posted to ANetofJewels

For whoever seeks God in some special way, will gain the way and lose God who is hidden in the way. But whoever seeks God without any special way, finds Him as He really isÂ… and He is life itself.

- Meister Eckhart, posted to AlongTheWay

...you are the perceiving point, the non-dimensional source of all dimensions.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels

In a mother's womb were two babies.
One asked the other: "Do you believe in life after delivery?"

The other replies, "why, of course.
There has to be something after delivery.
Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.

"Nonsense," says the other.
"There is no life after delivery.
What would that life be?"

"I don't know, but there will be more light than here.
Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths."

The other says "This is absurd! Walking is impossible.
And eat with our mouths? Ridiculous.
The umbilical cord supplies nutrition.
Life after delivery is to be excluded.
The umbilical cord is too short."

"I think there is something and maybe
it's different than it is here."

The other replies, "No one has ever come back from there.
Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery
it is nothing but darkness and anxiety
and it takes us nowhere."

"Well, I don't know," says the other,
"but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us."

"Mother??" You believe in mother? Where is she now?

"She is all around us. It is in her that we live.
Without her there would not be this world."

"I don't see her, so it's only logical that she doesn't exist."

To which the other replied, "sometimes when you're in silence
you can hear her, you can perceive her."

I believe there is a reality after delivery
and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality.

Sherry V Wakeman, posted to The_Now2

Ready for Silence

The devotional moon looks into
the heart and is in the heart.

When the heart has a Friend like
you, the universe cannot contain

their pleasure. Anyone warmed
by sun feels courage coming in.

If grief arrives, you enjoy it.
Generosity: that's your hand in

my pocket giving your wealth away.
Yet you run from me like one

raised in the wild. Here comes
this strange creature: me, in a
hands-and-feet shape! The formless
tries to satisfy us with forms!

A transparent nakedness wearing
pure light says, Blessed are those

who put on gold brocade! You may
not see him, but Moses is alive,

in this town, and he still has his
staff! And there's water and thirst,
wherever and however water goes, and
the one who brings water. The morning

wind broke off a few branches in the
garden. No matter. When you feel

love inside you, you hear the
invitation to be cooked by God.

It's that creation the heart loves.
For three winter months the ground

keeps quiet. But each piece of earth
knows what's inside waiting: beans,

sugarcane, cypress, wildflowers. Then
the spring sun comes talking plants

into the open. Anyone who feels the
point of prayer bends down like

the first letter of pray. Anyone who
walks with his back to the sun is

following his shadow. Move into your
own quietness. This word-search poem

has found you, ready for silence.

- Rumi, Ghazal 931, version by Coleman Barks, with Nevit Ergin from The Glance, posted to Sunlight

come on sweetheart
let's adore one another
before there is no more
of you and me

a mirror tells the truth
look at your grim face
brighten up and cast away
your bitter smile

a generous friend
gives life for a friend
let's rise above this
animalistic behavior
and be kind to one another

spite darkens friendships
why not cast away
malice from our heart

once you think of me
dead and gone
you will make up with me
you will miss me
you may even adore me

why be a worshiper of the dead
think of me as a goner
come and make up now

since you will come
and throw kisses
at my tombstone later
why not give them to me now
this is me
that same person

i may talk too much
but my heart is silence
what else can i do
i am condemned to live this life

- Rumi Ghazal 1535 translation by Nader Khalili from Rumi, Fountain of Fire, posted to Sunlight
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4950 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-06-18
Subject: #4950 - Monday, June 17, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 

#4950 - Monday,В June 17, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
Gabriel Rosenstock, the Irish poet often featured here, has shared the most
exquisite photo montage of AfricaВ from a photographer friend of his, Nick Brandt.
В 
There are no words for this beauty and none needed. I only write to say that if
your yahoo settings prevent attachments, as in plain text version, you will get nothing.
The pps attachment is perfectly safe. If this does not work out for you I am sorry,
but it should go through to the majority of the list. I believe you need to click onВ an image
to bring up the next, so you can self-pace the viewing.
В 
If it's just a few who ask, I can probably forward to your personal email. Just reply
to this massage and send your email if you could not see it via Yahoo.
В 
Thank you, again to Gabriel for sending this our way.
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4951 From: Jerry K Date: 2013-06-18
Subject: #4951 - Tuesday, June 18, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4951 - Tuesday, June 18, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz



__________________________________________________


If your computer isn't set to display the images from issue #4950 posted by Gloria, you may see them here:


This issue continues the nature theme.

__________________________________________________


Pete Sierra posted this in AdvaitaToZen@yahoogroups.com


__________________________________________________


Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee sends the following:

June 2013

Dear Friends,В 

Warm greetings. We have just released a new book, Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth.This compilation of essays brings a vitally needed spiritual voice into our present ecological crisis. We are grateful both to the contributors and to the wonderful group of individuals who have endorsed this book, also bringing their voice in response to the Earth's call.

Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth is edited by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, with contributions from Chief Oren Lyons, Thomas Berry, Thich Nhat Hanh, Chief Tamale Bwoya, John Stanley, David R. Loy, Mary Evelyn Tucker, Brian Swimme, Sister Miriam MacGillis, Wendell Berry, Winona LaDuke, Vandana Shiva, Dr. Susan Murphy Roshi, Satish Kumar, Joanna Macy, Geneen Marie Haugen, Jules Cashford, Bill Plotkin, Sandra Ingerman, Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, Fr. Richard Rohr, and Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee.


__________________________________________________


Pete Sierra wrote in AdvaitaToZen@yahoogroups.com
В 
The naturalist Loren Eiseley wrote many interesting essaysВ 
on form shifting. In one of them, he relates a personalВ 
experience he had while studying the habits of frogs.В 
On this particular night he was headed toward a deep sinkВ 
hole in the middle of a large grove. The sink hole wasВ 
particularly dangerous because it had not rained for months,В 
and the water had receded several feet from the steep rim.В 
Any careless human who plunged in would have no way toВ 
climb out.В 
В 
As he walked along a narrow trail, he was overtaken by aВ 
a large number of frogs heading toward the sink hole.В 
He was enchanted to be part of this march, and triedВ 
to keep pace with the frogs. After a few minutes ofВ 
feeling himself part of this amphian army, heВ 
sensed a strange feeling of kinship with theВ 
group. As they got nearer the water the frogs startedВ 
singing. Loren tells that at one point, to his surprise, heВ 
noticed that he was no longer walking, but jumping alongВ 
and croaking with the frogs. He felt a great urgency,В 
a deep longing for those deep black waters. He wantedВ 
it with a force he had never experienced before. ThisВ 
yearning filled him with great exhilaration. He beganВ 
shaking with excitement and then the excitementВ 
turned to terror as he realized that if he didn't breakВ 
this spell we would surely perish at the sink hole.В 
The terror did the trick, and he snapped out of his frogВ 
trance.В 
В 
To completely understand something is, in a way, toВ 
become it. After total understanding, we can noВ 
longer exactly regain our former shape. That is whyВ 
there is an instinctual reluctance to understand tooВ 
deeply who we are. We can't understand, and retainВ 
our former self.В 

~ ~ ~

My interview with Pete Sierra is at
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4952 From: Jerry K Date: 2013-06-19
Subject: #4952 - Wednesday, June 19, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4952 - Wednesday, June 19, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality Highlights http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlightsВ  В 

Loving What Is

by Colin Drake

A friend is always talking about `Loving What Is' and it is something I can relate to. In an earlier essay I defined Love as `No Separation', which implies that "Loving What Is' means "No Separation From What Is'. In absolute terms we are never separate from `What Is' as there is only consciousness manifesting in many varied forms, thus everything (that Is) is of the same essence and so there is no separation. В `What Is' is defined as the manifestation (of Consciousness) as it actually is and not as overlaid with any ideology or personal `story'.

However, to exhibit, and feel, this love one needs to feel no separation, that is to say that one needs to be identified as (a manifestation of) Consciousness itself. Now Consciousness has two `modes' - at rest as Pure Awareness and in motion as cosmic energy, the manifest universe. So if one can discover that at the deepest level one is the constant conscious subjective presence, Pure Awareness, negotiating the physical world in a particular manifestation of cosmic energy (this human body) then this correct identification has occurred. This is extremely simple to do, see appendix, by investigating the nature of our moment to moment experience.В 

Moreover, any objective label we apply to ourselves which implies separation, or identification of ourselves as a distinct object, will impede the above process and result in us feeling separate from `What Is' and thus losing this `loving feeling'. Now my friend is really into astrology, which many people use to define themselves and those around them, in which case it labels us in the way just considered. His response was that astrology is part of `What Is' and thus one can love that too. I have no problem with this or any other system of classification if they are held in context as just entertainment, or ways of defining personality types, whilst being aware that what they are labeling is just the ephemeral manifestation (body/mind) and not the essence of what one is. However, astrology falls foul of the definition of `What Is' being an ideology, that is to say that it is a framework through which the world ( and especially humanity) is perceived.

The danger is that people tend to identify with these labels and each adds another level of misidentification which needs to be stripped away to discover our essential being and realize `No Separation from What Is'. В Another danger is that if one accepts that all human ideologies are part of `What Is' and can thus be loved then this means that Nazism, Sadism, Masochism, Racism, В etc. also fall into this category Â… Whereas, these are actually all ways of viewing the world which prevents one from experiencing `What Is'.
Actually one only truly experiences `What Is' when the mind is still and is not judging, comparing, analyzing or seeing through any previous framework of reference.В 

How freeing to see with a clear mind,
No concepts or labels to obscure the view,
Once our true identity we find,
Pure Awareness, when we see the world anew!

So if you identify with any ideology, or objective label, and see the world from this point of view you stop seeing it as it truly Is. In which case one is unable to Love `What Is'.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article produced some interesting responses. One from my friend who phoned to say that he isn't 'really into astrology' and another from a lady who is and was somewhat incensed that I should denigrate it. What she appeared to overlook was that I was not saying anything about (the validity of) astrology per se, but was just using it as an example of an ideology (or way of looking at the world) which could prevent one from 'Loving What Is'. However, to be fair to her she did say that everything that one clings to with any identification is a misrepresentation of Self which showed clear understanding.

Appendix: Investigation of Experience

For the full process, and its implications, see any of my books on awakening (available at http://nonduality.com/colindrake.htm)В  but briefly:

Life, for each of us, is just a series of moment-to-moment experiences. В Any moment of experience has only three elements: thoughts (including all mental images), sensations (everything sensed by the body and its sense organs) and awareness of these thoughts and sensations. В Thoughts and sensations are ephemeral, that is they come and go, and are objects, i.e. В `things' that are perceived. В Awareness is the constant subject, the `perceiver' of thoughts and sensations and that which is always present. В So the body/mind is experienced as a flow of ephemeral objects appearing in this awareness, the ever present subject. В Thus this awareness exists at a deeper level than body/mind and we are this awareness.
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4953 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-06-21
Subject: #4953 - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee

#4953 - Thursday,В June 20, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
В 
В 
"As the figments of a dream
Dissolve upon waking,
So the confusion of Samsara
Fades away in enlightenment."
В 
~Nagarjuna
via Daily Dharma
В 
Yasar Koç Photography
В 
В 
В 
В 
Yasar Koç Photography
В 
В 
В 
Witness
В 
Sometimes the mountain
is hidden from me in veils
of cloud, sometimes
I am hidden from the mountain
in veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue,
when I forget or refuse to go
down to the shore or a few yards
up the road, on a clear day,
to reconfirm
that witnessing presence.
В 

By Denise Levertov
(1923 - 1997)
Selected Poems, by Denise Levertov
В 
В 
www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com
В 
В 
В 
Yasar Koç Photography
В 
В 
"The Liberation of Seeing the True Buddha"
В 
В 
Deluded a buddha is a being
В 
enlightened a being is a buddha
В 
a foolish buddha is a being
В 
a wise being is a buddha
В 
a biased buddha is a being
В 
an unbiased being is a buddha,
В 
As long as your mind is biased
В 
the buddha dwells in a being
В 
the moment you wake up unbiased
В 
a being becomes a buddha
В 
Your mind contains a buddha
В 
your buddha is the real one
В 
if you didn't have the buddha-mind
В 
where would you go to find a buddha?
В 
~Hui-neng
В 
excerpted from The Platform Sutra – The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng
translated by Red Pine
В 
В 
Forgetting that Being
you are lost
into the process
of becoming.
You get tied up
with becoming
something
all the time
you want to be this,
you want to be that.
В 
You don't want to end
the becoming
into Being
wherein lies the whole secret
of becoming.
В 
Becoming is itself not an independent
something
it's a radiation of Being,
it's a projection of Consciousness,
that basic eternal Essence
which Thou art.
В 
~Swami Amar Jyoti
В 

"In Light of Wisdom"
Swami Amar Jyoti
via Along The Way
В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4954 From: Dustin LindenSmith Date: 2013-06-22
Subject: #4954 - Fri/Sat, June 21/22, 2013 - Editor: Dustin LindenSmith
#4954 - Fri/Sat, June 21/22, 2013 - Editor: Dustin LindenSmith

In Wednesday's issue, Jerry excerpted an article from Colin Drake called "Loving What Is" which made me think about a recent family visitor. Among his several idiosyncratic and/or antisocial traits, this individual enjoyed letting a ripping fart go at the end of most meals, irrespective of the meal's location or the company with whom he was dining. His speech was routinely profane; he told ribald, offensive jokes in the presence of children; and he enjoyed making sharp, mocking insults to various family members relating to their dress, a dish they might have prepared, or an opinion they might have expressed during conversation.

Understandably, several from our group were shocked, dismayed, or insulted at numerous intervals throughout this individual's visit. 

It was interesting to watch how everybody reacted to such effrontery on a regular basis. I ended up being the behind-the-back confidant of several family members, who would each come to me in private with salacious details of our guest's most recent faux-pas. Some of the family were so upset or angered by his behaviour that they wanted to confront him in public, somehow outing him as an insolent jerk and shaming him in front of friends and family. Others just withdrew to a different space when he entered the room. Family reactions truly ran the gamut.

During a rare moment of quiet time, my 11-year-old daughter looked up from a book she was reading on the couch to say,"Daddy, I don't understand why everybody is so upset about Jack's behaviour while he's here. It's not like they're actually being injured by the things he says, you know? Like, nobody's really getting hurt just because he's being so weirdly rude and stuff, right?"

Exactly, I thought. "No body" is getting hurt, here. And besides, there is no thing here in the first place! If I could have given any advice to my family members, it would have been this: "Ask yourself who is really hurt by this individual's behaviour. If your answer is 'no one,' then how about we just drop the mahout on all this business and enjoy this individual's time with us?"

Heh heh -- wouldn't it be nice if we could do that in Syria today, too? So long as I'm dreaming, I'd really like a Porsche 911.

-----

Instead of presenting an older Highlights today, I've decided to highlight a piece of writing Jerry Katz posted recently on Nonduality.org and which he also presented in person at a recent Nonduality Satsang here in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It's a tidy little piece he wrote that lays out a nice metaphor for understanding nonduality. Please enjoy.

http://nonduality.org/2013/06/18/understanding-nonduality-via-the-superman-concept-of-reality/

The Superman Concept of Reality

by Jerry Katz

So I’m sitting in a restaurant and Superman walks in wearing his cape and tights and a shirt made in Bangladesh with a big s on it.

He walks toward the counter and moves so fast that by the time he takes a seat he has put on ordinary clothes and taken the form of a guy named Joe.

A moment later Superman — moving faster than a speeding bullet (which we know he can do, as we’ve learned from the comic books) — assumes the form of another guy, Bill, who is sitting a few seats away at the same counter.

So yeah, Superman is moving so fast that he is going back and forth, pretending to be Joe and Bill, two ordinary guys inhabiting planet Earth, two guys with lives.

I go and sit between Joe and Bill. I ask Joe, “Hey do you know who you really are?” Joe ignores me and gets aggravated about something he reads in the newspaper.

I ask the same question to Bill who responds, “Good question.”

“Have you ever considered that Superman is actually pretending to be you?” I ask.”

“Maybe Krishna. Or Allah. Or God. But if you want to call it Superman, be my guest,” Bill says.

So I say, “How come Joe over there doesn’t have a clue?”

“Well,” Bill says, “How do you know for sure he doesn’t? And why would it matter? His lack of awareness of what he is doesn’t change anything. Nor does his awareness of what he is change anything. He is what he is. He’s Superman, as you call it. He’s absolutely nothing other than Superman.”

Now a third form of Superman has appeared at the counter. I lean toward her and ask her if she knows who she really is. She says she’s searching for the way to be who she truly is. Bill looks at me and raises his eyebrows as if to say, “You’ve got a live one there.” Meanwhile Joe is aggressively slapping the newspaper with the back of his hand and calling something or someone a bastard.

The woman, who introduces herself as Doris, says that what she really is, is a bliss-being, not this everyday world with all it’s problems. She says she’s had glimpses of her bliss-being during fasts, acid trips, sex, sudden appearances of rainbows, and in various other experiences.

“Would you say you’re this bliss-being right now?” I ask.

“No I’m not. I’m a bliss-being on a higher plane. Right now I’m having breakfast, then going to my lousy job.”

I don’t say anything else to Doris. Bill and I exchange looks which say that there’s no difference between Joe and Doris. Seconds later the look changes. It’s a look of indifference. Judgement gives way to indifference as we remember that Doris and Joe are only Superman playing roles, pretending to be something else. There’s no need to get involved in their apparent struggles.

“And who are you?” Bill asks me.

“Whoever or whatever walked into this restaurant in a Superman costume and created you, Joe, and Doris.”

“It gave you a glimpse of its nature,” Bill offered.

“Yes. But why?” I ask.

“No reason. It could happen to anyone, anytime. If it’s named and owned, it becomes something called higher consciousness or mystical experience or spiritual insight. It might get packaged as evolutionary destiny or used as the theme for a self-improvement book. Some call it grace, too, which isn’t such a horrible term, but it too comes out of ownership and naming of an experience.”

“True,” I say. “In reality it’s only another event, like Doris’s lousy job.”

“Actually it’s only Superman.”

“Yeah, right. It’s so easy to forget.”

“Well, that’s Superman too.”

“Yeah. See? I forgot again.”

“That forgetting and reminding is called the nonduality game,” Bill says.

“It’s not a bad game.”

“No it’s not, but it doesn’t change anything,” Bill says.

“What’s there to change when it’s all Superman?”

“So why do anything?” Bill asks as a challenge.

“There is nothing to do. It’s all Superman. See? I remembered.”
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4955 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-06-24
Subject: #4955 - Sunday, June 23, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4955 - Sunday, June 23, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality Highlights http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights


_______________________________________________


Here are some exchanges and posts from Nonduality Salon.


_______________________________________________


The headless roach in us.

Posted by: "Pete" cerosoul

A headless roach can move its legs, it can walk
in circles for quite a while. Some people, who
have, or think they have achieved freedom
from entification, can behave, sometimes, like a
headless roach.

Even when a brain is free from the delusion of being
an entity, the mechanisms which protected that
delusion are still there, and will spring into action
automatically.

Unfortunately, these headless roach mechanisms
are never completely inactivated because
they are needed for the survival of the body.

The most we can hope for, is that alertness
not to let them run amock at the service of
beliefs, self images, pride, and the need for victory.

It's OK to be defeated, it's OK to be wrong,
It's even OK to be a headless roach once in
a while.

It's very amusing to spot a headless roach, even
more so, in front of a mirror.

Pete

------------------------------------------------

Re: The headless roach in us.

Posted by: "Peter" houzland

T: Hello Pete.

The best remedy in such cases is Permethrin 2.79g/kg
with a touch of Imiprothrin 0.15g/kg. in the form of a spray.

Amock behaviour is usually extinguished withint minutes regardless of
delusions or mechanisms or mirrors of any sort.

Tboni

_______________________________________


Emily Dickinson

Posted by: "Bill Rishel" billrishel

The Infinite a sudden guest
Has been assumed to be,
But how can that stupendous come
Which never went away?

- Emily Dickinson
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4956 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-06-25
Subject: #4956 - Monday, June 24, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
#4956 - Monday,В June 24, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
В 
To me you are your own God.В  But if you think
otherwise, think to the end.В  If there be God,
then all is God's and all is for the best.В  Welcome
all that comes with a glad and thankful heart.
And love all creatures.В  This too will take you to
your Self.
~Nisargadatta Maharaj
В 
via Along The Way
В 
В 

Everywhere transience is plunging into the depths of BeingÂ… It is our task to
imprint this temporary, perishable earth into ourselves so deeply, so painfully and
passionately, that its essence can rise again, “invisibly,” inside us. We are the bees
of the invisible. We wildly collect the honey of the visible, to store it in the great
golden hive of the invisible.
В 
—Rainer Maria Rilke
writing to his Polish translator about writing the "Duino Elegies"
В 

Painting: Isaac Levitan (Russian, 1860-1900) "Water Lilies," Oil on canvas, 1895.
http://tmblr.co/ZjYlFymgIr6k
В 
В 
В 
В 
O my Lord, the stars glitter
В 
В 
O my Lord,
the stars glitter
and the eyes of men are closed.
Kings have locked their doors
and each lover is alone with his love.
В 
Here, I am alone with you.
В 
В 
By Rabia al-Basri (Rabia al- Adawiyya)
(717 - 801)
В 
English version by Charles Upton
~~~~~~~~~~
В 
Rabia, sometimes called Rabia of Basra or Rabia al Basri, was born to a poor
family in Basra in what is now Iraq. Her parents died of famine and she was sold
into slavery.
В 
The story is told that her master one night woke up and saw a light shining above
her head while she was praying. Stunned, he freed her the next morning.
В 
Rabia chose a solitary life of prayer, living much of her life in desert seclusion.
В 
Her fame as a holy woman spread and people began to journey to her retreat, to
ask advice, to study, to learn.
В 
Today she is greatly revered by devout Muslims and mystics throughout the world.
В 
В 

В 
В 
A LOVE POEM FROM THAY
В 
"The moment I die,
I will try to come back to you
as quickly as possible.
I promise it will not take long.
В 

Isn't it true
I am already with you
in every moment?
I come back to you
in every moment.
В 

Just look,
feel my presence.
If you want to cry,
please cry.
And know
that I will cry with you.
The tears you shed
will heal us both.
Your tears are mine.
В 
The earth I tread this morning
transcends history.
Spring and Winter are both present in the moment.
The young leaf and the dead leaf are really one.
My feet touch deathlessness,
and my feet are yours.
В 
Walk with me now.
Let us enter the dimension of oneness
and see the cherry tree blossom in Winter.
В 
Why should we talk about death?
I don't need to die
to be back with you."
В 
~Thich Nhat Hanh
В 
via Daily Dharma by Amrita Nadi
В 


В 
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4957 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-06-25
Subject: #4957 - Tuesday, June 25, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4957 - Tuesday, June 25, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights/

_______________________________________


The new issue of One The Magazine is available:

http://www.onethemagazine.com/

Adyashanti, Fred Davis, Unmani, Amoda Maa Jeevan, Zubin R. Mathai, Christine Horner, Elizabeth Schmidt-Pabst, Rick Hanson, book, music, movie reviews, news stories in the nondual spirit, science, poetry and art.

One The Magazine continues to develop as an stunning vehicle celebrating the many ways the spirit and expression of nonduality show up.


_______________________________________


Anyone remember the book popular in the 70s, "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot"? by John Muir, Tosh Gregg and Peter Aschwanden (Aug 29, 2001)

Here's a review that places the book in the category of "Nonduality and Auto Mechanics." It is nonduality from the trenches.

http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Volkswagen-Alive-Step---Step/dp/1566913101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372157991&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+keep+your+volkswagen+alive

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Forty years later, and the "Idiot Book" is still unmatched June 16, 2008

By J. LaTorre

First, my credentials for this review. From 1971 to 1994 (with insignificant gaps), I've owned and driven three Vokswagen buses (not including a parts bus)and used this manual to keep all of them on the road. As of this writing, I'm driving my fourth bus. I've gone through four copies of the Idiot Book, using each one until it either fell to pieces, became illegible from grease and oil stains, or needed to be updated as I bought a later-model bus. It has guided me through six or seven engine rebuilds (I used my engines very, very hard) and God knows how many other procedures ... I think that I've done every single procedure in the book that applied to my particular makes and models. And using this book, I've done work on various WV bugs, buses, and squarebacks that belonged to friends of mine.

I agree with everybody who calls this the indispensable reference for VW owners. I also agree with those who point out its shortcomings. Muir quotes a friend of his, on a review of another VW book. as saying "I agree one hundred percent with ninety percent of what he says." That could also apply to my own feelings about this book.

As a technical manual, it mostly consists of solid information -- solid enough, anyway, to get you back on the road so you can find somebody to show you how to do it the right way. I've always advised a prospective repairer to own both this book and another manual (my favorite was the green Volkswagen Official Service Manual, also called the "Bentley"), read the Muir write-up first to get a general idea of what to do, and then compare it to the other manual, note the differences, and ask somebody why the differences are there. Usually it's because Muir assumes you're making do with a minimum of tools, or are too cash-strapped to make a proper fix. Occasionally, you'll find that John was flat wrong about something (such as how to warm it up in the morning, or why chokes should be disabled, or why the 009 distributor was perfect in every way), or that your particular model had a different set-up than the ones he was familiar with.

But to simply compare this book with other technical manuals would be to ignore the most important feature of this book, which is its ability to empower you. It presumes that the reader has no technical aptitude and starts you gently down the road to proficiency and self-confidence. I'll bet that more mechanics have been inspired by this book than any other technical manual ever written. Not only that, but once you have discovered that you can indeed perform a repair competently, you get a sneaking suspicion that there are other things you can do if you apply the same confidence, common sense, and ingenuity that John taught you about. I doubt if I would have had the courage to time a sewing machine, install a hard drive, build a mandolin, or re-assemble a hang glider if John hadn't shown me that I had the potential to do these things.

This book has survived because of its idiosyncrasies, not in spite of them. John writes that "You must do this work with love or you will fail. You don't have to think, but you must love." He's telling you something important about Life here, and about the relationship we have to our possessions and to our work. Forty years later, these are still wise words, and to find them in an automotive manual is astonishing. Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" tried to apply philosophical principles to machine repair, but it failed because he was no mechanic and tried to gauge his mechanic's skill according to his own expectations of what a mechanic's mind-set should be. John knew better. He knew, and taught, that you achieve oneness with the machine by applying mind, heart, and hands together, and by listening to the machine as it tries to tell you what needs to be done. If there's ever been another book like that, I haven't heard of it. And if there is, I'll wager that the author has read the "Idiot Book."

~ ~ ~

There's a generous and revealing look inside the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Volkswagen-Alive-Step---Step/dp/1566913101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372157991&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+keep+your+volkswagen+alive


_______________________________________


Scott Kiloby has all kinds of meetings coming up around the U.S. and Canada in coming weeks. Info here: http://www.kiloby.com/meetings.php


Live Fearlessly

by Scott Kiloby

To live fearlessly is not to live without fear. It is to let fear arise freely and see that a threat cannot be found no matter where you look. Most fears are psychological in nature. They have to do with a threat that is merely psychological, not physical. These kinds of fears are different than the instinctual fear that arises when you are being chased by a bear or about to be hit by an oncoming car.

Human lives are run by this psychological fear, a threat that is not real, that is only perceived. And it is perceived entirely through words, pictures, feelings, and sensations. When we look at each word, each picture, each feeling and each sensation, we see that each thing, by itself, is not the actual threat. The actual threat cannot be found. This allows the energy of fear to be as it is and then dissolve naturally.

As fear is allowed to arise freely, with no threat being found anywhere, in any situation, it loses its grip on the mind. In losing its grip, it cannot arise as easily the next time. There is no story to which fear can attach itself. It begins to arise less and less, and then it is virtually, if not completely, absent from our experience.

To live fearlessly is not to avoid fear or to act like we are fearless, for that would only be a mask of pretense. It would not end fear at all. To live fearlessly is to face every fear as it arises seeing no inherent threat anywhere. I find this to be the most direct path to freedom, for everything else is avoidance or escape or pretense. Live fearlessly with me. Let love replace fear naturally.

The Anxiety Inquiry: http://livingrelationship.org/the-anxiety-inquiry/
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4958 From: Jerry Katz Date: 2013-06-26
Subject: #4958 - Wednesday, June 2, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz
#4958 - Wednesday, June 2, 2013 - Editor: Jerry Katz

The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights/

_____________________________________________________________


Here are two brief YouTube videos from Nova Scotia teacher James Traverse:

Nonduality is beyond the measure of the 'thinking' mind; it can only truly be understood experientially when the thinking mind is silent. ~ James Traverse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUa8fZhl7s8&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-iZ5bovU9pY9Lss_ckRTDQ

All the pointers of Nonduality and all sages in one way or another direct you to 'Know Thyself'. This video shows the distinction between the 'knowing' of the thinking mind and another way of 'knowing' whereby the direction of the sages may be realized. ~ James Traverse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLliWzhw_is&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-iZ5bovU9pY9Lss_ckRTDQ


_____________________________________________________________


Anamika writes in her blog http://noname-allthereis.blogspot.ca/


It scares the hell.....

What are we without our story?

Without a story what becomes most obvious?:

Life is empty, plain, simple.
Simply perceptions noticed by no one.

And it scares the hell out of most of us.



Emptiness swallowing up the story of a me.

What is left of this figure, this person with
a history, a future, a personality?:

Nothing at all,
Nothing at all is left.

Its as if a tight fist opening up
Allowing
No grasping
Not wanting things to be different.
And noticing that without a story
Life just is..

In this Isness of Life
without the story, meaning without the person,
there is no separation between perceptions and the perceiver.

Full Empty perceiving going on,
By no one..

_________________________________________


Peter Baker

No two things

Have you noticed how when you move towards something the distance between you and the something gets less and less until there is a point at which you can no longer get any closer because you are touching it?
How obvious!
At that moment, from your point of view it could be said, by you, that there are now two things in contact.
Or it could be said right now, by no one, that nothing has changed and there are no two things.
How easily overlooked is this everyday miracle of the apparently ‘not one’ being experienced as ‘not two’.
It is nothing special but nothing ordinary!
Group: NDhighlights Message: 4959 From: Gloria Lee Date: 2013-06-28
Subject: #4959 - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee


#4959 - Thursday,В June 27, 2013 - Editor: Gloria Lee
В 
В 
Slowly, slowly, I tended
the bellows of my throat,
and the light inside grew

and filtered out through
the dark, so that within
even it, I saw the truth.

- Lalla
В  14th Century North Indian mystic

From "Naked Song"
Versions by Coleman Barks
via Along The Way
В 
В 
В 
'To love is to recognize yourself in another.'
~Eckhart Tolle
В 
Alan Larus Photography
В 
В 
"Mindfulness is mirror-thought. It reflects only what is presently happening and
in exactly the way it is happening. There are no biases."
~ Bhante Gunaratana
В 
From the Facebook group 'Serious Doubt.'
В 

"Silent and serene,
Forgetting words,
Bright clarity appears before you.
When you reflect it,
You become vast,
Where you embody it,
You are spiritually uplifted.
Spiritually solitary and shining,
Inner illumination inspires wonder,
Dew in the moonlight,
A river of stars,
Snow-covered pines,
Clouds enveloping the peak...
What is this wonder?
Alertly seeing through confusion
Is the way of silent illumination and
The origin of subtle radiance."
В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В В 
~Hongzhi
В 

FromВ  "Cultivating The Empty Field," published by North Point Press.
via Daily Dharma by anipachen
В 
В 
В 

"Q: This is not a one-shot deal, is it? I mean you can open yourself in one context,
and yet when you find yourself in some other situation suddenly you take hold of a
mask and put it over your face, even though you really do not want to do it. It
would seem that achieving complete openness is a difficult thing.
В 
A: The whole point is that struggle is irrelevant to opening. Once you have stepped
on the path, if you give up the struggle itself, that takes care of the whole
problem. Then there is no longer any questions of wanting or not wanting to be
involved with life-situations. The ape instinct of ego dissolves because it is based
upon secondhand information rather than upon direct experience of what is.
Struggle is ego. Once you give up struggle, then there is no one left to conquer
struggle; it just disappears. So you see, it is not a matter of achieving a victory
over struggle."
~ Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
В 
From the book, "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism," published by Shambhala.
via Daily Dharma
В 
В 
В 
via Nonduality Highlights group on Facebook by Dua'a Xaman
В 
В 
"The shaman are waking up.
This book may remind you that you are a shaman.
All the world's a stage for your healing show.
Where will you show up?"
В 
В 
Sent by a reader:
В 
I found a beautiful little blog today that had a wonderful video by Tina Turner of
a song entitled, "Sarvesham svastir bhavatu" and I wanted to share it with you. Ms.
Turner apparently made this for a project, "Children Beyond 2011." I hope you
enjoy it!
В 
The direct Youtube link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XP-f7wPM0A
В 
В 
Blessings

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