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8/8/01

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JOHN METZGER

Buddhanature Nagarjuna

It's not physical, emotional,
Conceptual, impulsive, conscious--
Or anything else.
It does not dwell in us
Nor we in it.
It does not own us.

If it depended on us
Or on anything else,
It would not be in itself.
How could it be anything but itself?
Could what is not itself
Be buddhanature?

What is it apart from itself
Or something else?
Is it independent of body, feeling, thought,
Impulse or consciousness?
It depends on them now
And is set to continue.

Can you say that
Buddhanature is "contingent"
When what is depended on
And what depends are empty?

Can you say that
Buddhanature is "empty"
When "empty' and "not empty"
Are mere ciphers?

Fixed ideas of permanence
And transience,
Finitude and infinity,
Have no place when all is well.

Believers believe in buddhas
Who vanish in nirvana.
Don't imagine empty buddhas
Vanishing or not.

When transfixed
On what's unwavering
Beyond fixation's range,
You see no buddhanature.

Buddhanature
Is the nature of this world.
Buddhanature has no nature,
Nor does this world.



GREG GOODE

Hello John and all,

Thanks for these posts! For those interested in Nagarjuna's thought, I
have an article on Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti's form of self-inquiry. The
article is part personal, part scholarly. It's called "Another Kind of
Self-Inquiry: Chandrakirti's Sevenfold Reasoning on Selflessness. You can
find it on the HarshaSatsangh site, here:

http://www.harshasatsangh.com/Magazine/7fold-f.htm



DOC HOBBES


There is no purpose to life... only meaning.

The 'only reason' you will never see the legalization and/or
decriminalization of 'natural drugs and/or stimulants' (not chemically
produced) is that alcohol sales would go through the floor. Now, who is
using their resources to block such legislation? Hm.

(ps.. that is the only thing they have on me here in Cranbrook <I smoke pot
and, contrary to the rumors, I do not sell> and thus, being a 'criminal' by
their laws, I have no rights. However, 'subversion' may be my charge but
'treason' is theirs. Governments and spin-off payed-off organizations and
people that intentionally interfere with the economic development to
leverage their greed and monopolizing organizations in the upper levels and
the countless Canadians that have lost their jobs and then marginalized and
made worthless.)

I am fully aware of the fact that my 'natural face' is stern. In other
words, only a fool would 'judge' my intention and position on 'face value'
alone.

There is a threshold of enlightenment that, at first seems restrictive and
contrary to 'what is' however, once transcended, it becomes clear that
nothing is lost (not even your desire for fulfillment) but the need for
control. Absolute control is a product not restrictions.

Remember: Enlightenment 'before' libreration of 'down you will go'...
example?

Consider: The Big Brother contest last week where the all contestants choose
their favorite meal 'before hand'. The trick then was that that meal (as
outlined by the contestant and to the 'specific specifications) was put in a
blender and the contestants were forced to drink it... remember Kent with
that big steak dinner? And the rest with thier burgers and fries? Mm. If
they had known would they have changed their menu? And yet, they did know
what they wanted and placed that order according to that want.

What do you want? Power? Money? Fame?... bait. You are what 'we' make you
and, if we made you once this way to 'see' your soul, what then can we do if
we make you again... or unmake you as the case may be.

It works like that. The first 'half' only for the first half. The second
half however, last for eternity. Now, at the 'halfway point', the path turns
down, there is a gap, then the second half of your life begins... assuming
you are 'light' enough to take the jump, walk on water or whatever...

So, rage through the first half of your life and consume and destroy and
disrupt and breakup relationships, feed your greed and become the absolute
icon of self-righteosness and ego... why? You'll see what you never thought
possible...

Reincarnation: There is no deathlessness. You are born. You grow old. You
die. That is the cycle. Thus, fools believe that, if I am dead in this life,
then I can do whatever I want. Wrong. Beginning to end. You die into your
'next' life (a continuation of this one). There is a timing to all things...
this life, in this realm, is a store. The next life, you live with your
'spiritual purchases'... natural selection takes what is the best and
reinvets it to fulfill its potential... what man values as best is not the
same as man-made anything is naturally flawed.


o
-- hobbes; Nao

To take the head of the God of King David in the name of Uriah, from the
bloodline of Christ, eldest brother of Jesus.


JERRY KATZ on music poll


I usually hear an angelic choir and symphonic music prior to the onset of a kundalini experience. I feel
energy descend and then rise up my spine. It hasn't happened that often, but it's a real pain in the ass, if
you ask me. What's it good for? another religion?
--jerry katz

paper mache cat

fell

leg broke

expression

same


RIVERJOHN

Certain forms of blugrass music tranport me, not so much beyond the
physical, but fill the physical with foot-stomping Fire to the extent
that one becomes an ecstatic motherhunching fool, at one with Truth,
Goodness, Beauty and Ripe Cantaloupes. Not safe when under the
influence. John



BRUCE MORGEN

This one brought a smile, thank
you. I played bluegrass fiddle
for several years in the late
'60s and early '70s, and I know
exactly what you're getting at.

The only reason I haven't
responded to this poll before is
that for me this a *vast* topic,
and my response would have to be
extremely long. There is just
so much music flowing all the
time, all of creation is alive
with it!




JOHN METZGER

Greetings Greg and all, Enjoyed reading your article in Harsha's ezine.
I have read with interest your offerings over the last 3 years on the
various lists and would like to ( at last ) thank you for being here.
Been riding the track bike lately?
I'm still a road bike fanatic but still haven't made the switch from
steel to aluminum, maybe someday. Have a full 531 Raleigh from '83,
Campy stuff but the frame is starting to rust a little. Your article on
biking/nonduality was a jewel. All the best , John


Self Nagarjuna

Were mind and matter me,
I would come and go like them.
If I were something else,
They would say nothing about me.

What is mine
When there is no me?
Were self-centeredness eased,
I would not think of me and mine--
There would be no one there
To think them.

What is inside is me,
What is outside is mine--
When these thoughts end,
Compulsion stops,
Repetition ceases,
Freedom dawns.

Fixations spawn thoughts
That provoke compulsive acts--
Emptiness stops fixations.

Buddhas speak of "self"
And also teach "no self"
And also say "there's nothing
Which is either self or not."

When things dissolve,
There's nothing left to say.
The unborn and unceasing
Are already free.

Buddha said: "it is real,"
And "it is unreal,"
And "it is both real and unreal,"
And "it is neither one nor the other."

It is all at ease,
Unfixatable by fixations,
Incommunicable,
Inconceivable,
Indivisible.

You are not the same as or different from
Conditions on which you depend;
You are neither severed from
Nor forever fused with them--

This is the deathless teaching
Of buddhas who care for the world.

When buddhas don't appear
And their followers are gone,
The wisdom of awakening
Bursts forth by itself



GREG GOODE

Hi John,

Thanks for the welcome! Glad to talk to another fan of the middle way!
And thanks for expressing your apreciation of the articles.

Yes, actually I rode the track bike tonight. After work, I went to the
small velodrome in Kissena, Queens, in NYC. Watched the race, then rode
home through Queens, over Simon and Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge" to
Manhattan and home. I love this riding - it's as sweet as the day is long.

You know, the first bike I bought as an adult was a road bike. This was in
1988 when I re-discovered the joys of cycling. I joined several road clubs
and learned a lot. Then I saw an article about the track bikes. And once
I learned to ride the fixed gear with no brakes, I sold the road bike. I
met some other trackies in Central Park, old-timers who started in the
70's. I've gone on 100-mile rides with it, and have a great time, as you
read in the article. I go everywhere on thr track but not as fast as
roadies do, except for sprints and down some hills that don't have stop
signs at the bottom!

I'm not a great fan of aluminum either, but I do have an aluminum
dual-suspension mountain bike, customized for urban bashing. I use it to
jam down stairs and up and down curbs. I'm not very good at this, but the
little I do is fun. And I like to watch trials and Xtreme bike videos.

Nice rollin' along with you!


--Greg

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