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Issue #2385 - Monday, February 6, 2006 - Editor: Gloria Lee
As
regards the quietude of the sage, he is not
quiet because
quietness is said to be good. He
is quiet because the
multitude of things cannot
disturb his
quietude. When water is still, one's
beard and eyebrows are
reflected in it. A skilled
carpenter uses it in a
level to obtain measurement.
If still water is so
clear, how much more are the
mental
faculties! The mind of a sage is the mirror
of heaven and earth in
which all things are reflected.
- Chuang-Tzu
posted to Along the Way
photo by Alan Larus http://www.ferryfee.com/bluesky/holmenkollen.htm
Tricycle's Daily Dharma: February 5, 2006
Beginningness
Most people think of enlightenment as a kind of magical
attainment, a state of being close to perfection. At this level,
one can perform amazing feats, see past and future lives of
others, and tune in to the inner workings of the universe. This
may be possible for a number of special beings, but for most of
us enlightenment is much more in line with what Suzuki Roshi
describes. It means having a quality of
"beginningness," a fresh, simple, unsophisticated view
of things. To have "beginner's mind" in how we approach
things is a major teaching. In many ways, the process of
enlightenment is clearing away the thoughts, beliefs, and ideas
that cloud our ability to see things as they really are in their
pristine form. --David A. Cooper, Silence, Simplicity and
Solitude
Human Experience
It's starting to feel less urgent that I sit down and do this
writing, somehow.
After all..what do I really have to say that's new? What do
I have to express
about the human experience that hasn't been said? Still, I
suppose in a
certain manner of speaking, this is my experience...and it's good
for me to
examine it. Maybe it's not going anywhere...maybe there are
no profound
conclusions. Maybe I find I am in the flow of
life...somehow ancient...
and timeless...that has been going on forever...and never...and
only now.
How does one prove a history? Any history? And yet so
often our lives
seem to be shaped by that. Stories.
Eloquent...sad...brutal...beautiful...
triumphant...joyous...miserable...sweetly
woven...simple...grand...bitter...
hopeful...stories. Sometimes I think it's worth the living
just to see what
happens next. I am certainly connected to it all in that
way. There's not a
pain or an exquisite gratitude I could know that has not been
known before.
The only difference is the story behind it. The stories
bring us all to the
same place...the core of the human experience. We meet
there. All kinds
of different conclusions are drawn about it...nevertheless, we
are ultimately,
inextricably connected by it. My brother, my sister, knows
my burden; in a
different way, perhaps, but he...or she...does know it. Why
else are we
sometimes saddened by the ugliness we find we can perpetrate in
the world?
Why else do we find ourselves trying to be "better
persons"? I know how it
feels when I am not. I know what that creates. I also
know very well that it
is not possible for me to avoid ever creating it. Pain is
probably created on a
daily basis somehow...somewhere...from here...from me; try as I
might to
prevent it. Powerless as I seem to be over that, I must be
humbled. I must
give myself up to what I do now know. I find myself
continuously face to face
with having to forgive Life for being what it is...and having to
forgive myself
for being what I am; my lack of empathy...my blindness...my lack
of self
control. Again and again I find I must hold it in my heart,
and bow my head,
and bless it. Life must be what it is. I must be what
I am. Small steps.
Small, conscious steps. Change does happen. Every
step I take toward
peace within myself...and peace with myself...the world must
necessarily
follow me; because where is the world, if not right here?
posted by Aly to nondualnow
"[...] where I come from when I promote or
mention teachers.
Who cares if they're fully realized sages, whatever that means.
If they make us aware of something worth knowing about, that's
an enormous contribution. Also, I have no problem with anyone
criticizing someone I promote, but it should be done
intelligently
rather than with throwaway lines, as such criticism could also
be an enormous contribution."
Jerry
http://nonduality.com
"Our difficulty with this simple
progression," he said, "is that most
of us are unwilling to accept that we need so little to get on
with.
We are geared to expect instruction, teaching, guides,
masters. And
when we are told that we need no one, we don't believe it.
We become
nervous, then distrustful, and finally angry and
disappointed. If we
need help, it is not in methods, but in emphasis.
If someone makes us aware that we need to curtail our self-
importance, that help is real."
The Requirements of Intent
THE POWER OF SILENCE
Carlos Castaneda
posted to many lists
| Change Your Attitude, but Remain Natural |
In order to have compassionate relationships,
compassionate communication, and compassionate social action,
there has to be a fundamental change in attitude. The notion
"I am the helper and you are the one who needs help"
might work in a temporary way, but fundamentally nothing changes
because there's still one who has it and one who doesn't. That
dualistic notion is not really speaking to the heart.
We could begin to get the hang of changing our attitude on an everyday level; when things are delightful and wonderful we give our pleasure away on the outbreath, sharing it for others.
When we work with pain by leaning into it and with pleasure by giving it away, it doesn't mean that we "Grin and bear it." This approach is a lot more playful than that - like dancing with it. We realize that this separateness we feel is a funny kind of mistake. We see that things were not dualistic from the start...
From Start
Where You Are : A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema
Chodron, Copyright 1994, Shambhala Publications.
photo by Alan Larus http://www.ferryfee.com/bluesky/lake.htm
Rivertalk
is whatever comes along,
practice always here while we
keep on shore, all the time
saying we want to get wet.
But the river has ways
of sound and light, ripples
and waves that tell us:
don't be so serious, rumble in
where nothing is finished or broken
and nothing asks to be fixed.
~ Jeanne Lohmann ~
(The Light of Invisible Bodies)
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