Highlights Home Page

NDH - Issue #  1484  - Sunday, July 6, 2003   - Editors: Christiana & Joyce

warmspirit offers  

An old fashioned coffee pot percolates,
not from the hands that fill it with water,
and not from the coffee grounds within a filter, 
but rather from the heat of fire
under the container of water
which makes the process possible.
The flavor of the product, 
is dependent not upon the coffee,
nor upon the pot or the heat,
but rather upon the mouth that tastes it.            

Photos of the natural world observed by list members:  

Lotus with dragonfly - Al Larus
Bee and flowers - eric paroissien
Robin fledglings - LadyJoy  

Keep a diary, something interesting happens every day. Nigel Sackville-West.. quoting Virginia Woolfe   

paper lanterns 
LiveJournal - "zen within" community  

Intelligent people know others. Enlightened people know themselves.   

You can conquer others with power. But it takes true strength to conquer yourself.   

--Lao Tzu   

Jerry to Livejournal - I thought this was interesting.  

Chris Damitio, author of ROUGH LIVING: TIPS AND TALES OF
A VAGABOND to set out on the Twenty Book Tour of the Pacific
Northwest   

Chris Damitio, author of ROUGH LIVING: TIPS AND TALES OF A VAGABOND today announced that he will be doing a book tour despite having an overdrawn bank account, no money, and a quarter tank of gas. Damitio calls it "The Twenty Book Tour".   

When asked how he would fund the trip, Damitio, the
world-traveling vagabond extraordinaire shrugged his shoulders
and said " I'm going to sell my twenty books. It's gonna to be
rough living, but you know, I wrote the book on that. I figure people
should be able to see that the methods I talk about in ROUGH
LIVING: TIPS AND TALES OF A VAGABOND actually work."   

His book has done well so far with zero dollars spent on
promotion. "The book almost paid my rent in the first month, but
now I'm back to not having any bills, except paying my bank
back," Damitio said. "Hopefully, people will understand that they
can order the book at
http://www.booklocker.com/books/1097.html and get it in two to
three days. That way they can bring their copies for me to sign
when I visit their cities." Damitio thinks the twenty copies he has
will sell pretty fast.   

As unemployment rates continue to rise and dissatisfaction with
the consumer society continues to grow, Damitio will explain and
demonstrate the techniques, rewards, and pitfalls of living a rough
life. Those interested can follow his progress at his on-line Blog.
http://roughliving.blogspot.com and those interested in
communicating on-line with Damitio should join his on-line bulletin
board forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gonzobeats/ In
October of 2000, Damitio set out on a unique travel experience
as he began to explore the possibilities of living without what
many people consider essential. As a result of this rough lifestyle,
Damitio was surprised to find himself climbing the Great Wall of
China, abducted by pirates in Laos, and playing guitars with
strangers who became friends throughout Asia. All of this was
done on the budget of a bum.   

In ROUGH LIVING: TIPS AND TALES OF A VAGABOND,
Damitio reveals some of the secrets that made his adventures
possible and some of the adventures he had along the way.
Damitio hitches, flies, drives, floats, and climbs his way to
adventure. \ Now, Damitio is doing it again on The Twenty Book
Tour. Damitio plans to drive north and south but is not real sure
about east and west. He's not sure how long it will take, when he
will be in each city, or what will happen, but you can be sure it will
be exciting. The public is encouraged to follow his adventures in
rough living at http://roughliving.blogspot.com ###   

Chris Damitio (503) 502-3384 E-mail: cdamitio@yahoo.com   

ROUGH LIVING: TIPS AND TALES OF A VAGABOND is
currently available at www.booklocker.com and now by special
order at bookstores nationwide.   

The July issue of one of my favorite online journals "Amigo" is ready to read at: http://www.ods.nl/am1gos  

Below are clips found there:  

A talk with Leo Hartong  

~ Why is the title of your book Awakening to the Dream and not
Awakening from the dream?   

Leo Hartong: Awakening to the dream is like lucid dreaming. You
wake up in a dream and realize that you're dreaming and then
carry on with your dream. Even when you see that life is like a
dream it nevertheless carries on. At that point you have awoken to
the dream; that's what I mean. You could say: 'It is clear that it is
but a dream, so if I know that, I am awake', but the film continues
anyway. It does not all come to a stop. There isn't a flash of white
light wherein everything disappears.   

~ So you have 'awakened'. Did any specific thing happen? Would
you talk about it?   

The idea that it is possible for someone to wake up is nonsense.
An awakened person is a paradox. The awakened Self is not a
person. There is the clarity that there is no one to awaken. So it is
not about freedom for the ego, but about freedom from the ego.
But the show continues, the apparent characters continue to play
their part.   

Leo Hartong's book Awakening to the Dream is now available:  

The paperback is available at:
http://www.awakeningtothedream.com/purchasebook.html The
eBook can be found at:
http://www.awakeningtothedream.com/purchase.html   

Excerpt from the book:  

All the seeking, all the spiritual practices, and all the effort to
understand veils the plain and simple truth of this, as it is.
Whatever thought arises, whatever feeling comes up, be it
labeled good or bad, there is something still and quietly aware of
all that's going on. It simply is, without the slightest effort. Snap
your fingers. Did you hear the sound? How much effort did that
take? None! Now, at this very moment, Pure Awareness is the
silent background to you reading these words. You don't have to
do a thing for it to be there. It is always present, even though it is
too close to get at, like the eye is too close to see itself.   

for more and to subscribe to his newsletter, go to: http://www.awakeningtothedream.com/   

from Steven Harrison - 'The question to life's answers'  

~ Do you think then that there is an enlightened state?   

What would that be?   

~ Why do all these enlightened beings, supposedly beyond any
sense of personal doer-ship, still find it necessary to talk about
themselves as separate entities? Would a truly non-dual
consciousness speak or write, and what would it have to say, and
to whom?   

Enlightenment is a myth. Non-duality is a story. Aren't these
so-called enlightened beings defined as such by those of us who
choose to define ourselves as unenlightened? Isn't this a social
construction and a mutual delusion?   

~ You seem to me to be a teacher in the lineage of Ramana
Maharshi. Do you see yourself that way?   

Ramana Maharshi had no lineage. He had ample time to create
one and did not. He did not even want an ashram. He barely
agreed to speak or teach. How then can anyone claim to be in his
lineage, and further, what is the motivation to claim this? I have
the highest regard for Ramana, and I honor him each day by
having nothing to do with him.   

Steven Harrison www.doingnothing.com   

Michael L to NDS   

I created a new web page today that has the story of how I disovered the Awareness watching Awareness method.  It includes many quotes by Sri Muruganar on the Awareness watching Awareness method.   

To read it click this link:  http://uarelove1.tripod.com/AWA_DISCOVERY.htm   

eric paroissien photos:  

the flower self and his busy bee the mind   

pictures fresh from the garden (click on the "flowers and bees" folder)
  http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/ibreathenow 

Viorica Weissman   RamanaMaharshi@yahoogroups.com  

Agni: The Fire of Self-Inquiry   

by David Frawley  

Other seekers with a more intellectual background tend to approach the Self in a conceptual way , as if it were some category of cosmic existence to be appreciated by the rational mind. This too misses the living reality of the Self which has the power to consume the mind and cannot be approached by any mere logic or dialectic.   

To question deeply about who we really are is
to create a friction at the core of the mind that
naturally gives rise to an inner fire. The inquiry
'Who Am I?" is the ultimate stirring of the mind
that brings forth an inner flame that can
consume all other questions and doubts , like a
fire burning dry grass. It takes us back to the
core fire at the core of the mind , which is the
inextinguishable light of the supreme I AM. That
universal Self of pure light and consciousness
shining deep within us is the real goal of our
search.   

from THE MOUNTAIN PATH , Jan-March 2003"   

Gill on Sufimystic@yahoogroups.com  

From: 'Meeting The Shadow'  Edited by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams   

snip from The Shadow Of The Enlightened Guru   

by Georg Feuerstein   

That the personality of enlightened beings and advanced mystics
remains largely intact is obvious when one examines biographies
and autobiographies of adepts, past and present. Each one
manifests specific psychological qualities, as determined by his
or her genetics and life history. Some are inclined toward
passivity, others are spectacularly dynamic. Some are gentle,
others fierce. Some have no interest in learning, others are great
scholars. What these fully awakened beings have in common is
that they no longer identify with the personality complex, however
it may be configured, but live out of the identity of the Self.
Enlightenment, then, consists in the transcendence of the
ego-habit, but enlightenment does not obliterate the personality. If
it did, we would be justified in equating it with psychosis.   

The fact that the basic personality structure is essentially the
same after enlightenment as it was before raises the crucial
question of whether enlightenment also leaves untouched traits
that in the unenlightened individual might be called neurotic. I
believe that this is so. If they are true teachers, their overriding
purpose can be expected to be the communication of the
transcendental Reality. Yet, their behavior is, in the outside world,
always a matter of personal style.   

on Harshasatsangh@yahoogroups.com

Ladyjoy shares (in delightful prose and photos) the joy of discovering a Robin's nest built on her porch; and her family patient excitement in watching the process from eggs laid to fledglings chirping. Note the touch of green Easter egg grass in the nest.

Mommy! Mommy!" Jason, 6, runs up the gentle slope of our backyard to where I am pulling weeds left over from last fall, his face flushed
with excitement. He beckons me to follow him down to the back porch, and points to the outdoor rack which is still filled with the refuse
and other things which I did not put away for the winter. Amidst the mess of potting soil, pots, plant food, unplanted seeds and bubble blowing liquid, I see nothing. Nothing but a mess.   

"Look, Mom, there is a robin's nest there." He points to the top shelf of the rack. I hesitate and
think to myself that he has to be mistaken. Surely we aren't going to have another robin's nest this year, and surely it is not going to
appear on my back porch. Still, to humor him, I follow. As I approach the porch, my mouth drops as I see what is clearly a nest. It is
perched almost precariously atop a leftover salt carton....
weeks later...  

One day, I come home and go out to the porch.
As I approach the nest, I see a little head
hanging out over the side of the nest. As I get
closer, I see the our little friend is fast asleep. In
fact, they are all asleep, lazy yawning mouths,
not a care in the world except where the next
worm is coming from...is this enlightenment or what?   

Leo to AdvaitaToZen@yahoogroups.com    

There isn't any acceptance or non-acceptance. There are only
explanations about appearances. Change, doing doers,
acceptance all are appearances in the unreal. These things
happen because 'you' are observing. The real is inmutable, only
the unreal changes. As long as there is someone looking the
show will go on. So acceptance is only a pacifier for minds busy
controlling their illusory activities.   

Buckminster Fuller's dream  

In Spaceship Earth’s Cockpit —By Leif Utne, Utne.com  July 7, 2003 Issue   

More than 30 years ago, the late architect and futurist R.
Buckminster Fuller, who, among other things, invented the
geodesic dome, said, “There is no energy crisis, food crisis, or
environmental crisis. There is only a crisis of ignorance.” Fuller
imagined a “Geoscope” that would allow people to overcome that
ignorance by seeing, in real time, humanity’s impact on the
planet, and compute possible future scenarios so as to make
better choices and correct our past mistakes. The Buckminster
Fuller Institute (BFI) is close to making that vision a reality, in the
form of a computer program under development called the
EARTHscope (download a Flash demo at the link below). A sort
of interactive atlas, this visually stunning tool will let you tap into a
vast library of both historical and live data, and view multi-layered
displays showing the current state of each of Earth’s life-support
systems—energy, population, education, food, human rights, and
many others. The most interesting feature will allow you to
compare future scenarios for “business as usual” and
“sustainability.” The EARTHscope, says BFI president Josh
Arnow, “makes the invisible visible.” —Leif Utne   

Go there>> EARTHscope
http://www.spaceshipearth.org/EARTHSCOPE/earthscope.html   

Douglas E. Fireman  TrueVision@yahoogroups.com  

Mandala of Light  

Slowly rotating in your head a kaleidescope of light!- generating images dreamed of every day and every night  

Close your eyes and visualize... that mandala called Soul, the source of God and all the images of Life's inner/outer show.  

Intensely focus on its center; on the images that appear, and sacred words will emerge from within that golden sphere  

Glistening like scarab wings against the rising sun soon these words will lovingly merge  

as the poet and poem  

becomes  

One  

Douglas E. Fireman July 4, 2003  

Helga  OmniConscious@yahoogroups.com  

http://www.enlightenment.com/media/breland/breland2.html  

'This is essay TWO of a series of essays by W. Michael Breland,
M.D., Ph.D., laying out what he calls "The Trans-Quantum
Mechanical Hypothesis Of Consciousness."  

Crasch's LiveJournal online personal ad
http://www.livejournal.com/users/crasch/  

WHY YOU SHOULD GET TO KNOW ME  

Are you tired of dating handsome, financially solvent men? Do you hate to receive flowers? Do you need less excitement in your life? Then I'm the guy for you! I promise to sit like a lobotomized troll in front the computer for hours on end. No feeding required, as I'm more than willing to help myself to whatever's in your fridge. If you're looking for a nice "fixer-upper" look no farther! 

top of page