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Nondual Highlights Issue #2579, Friday, September 8, 2006, Editor: Mark
To exist means to be something, a thing, a feeling,
a thought, an idea. All existence is particular.
Only being is universal, in the sense that every
being is compatible with every other being.
Existences clash, being - never. Existence means
becoming, change, birth and death and birth again,
while in being there is silent peace.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj, from I Am That: Talks with Sri
Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to AlongTheWay
To believe that shadows are just shadows is doing. That belief is
somehow stupid. Think about it this way: There is so much more to
everything in the world that obviously there must be more to
shadows
too. After all, what makes them shadows is merely our doing.
- Carlos Casteneda, from Journey to Ixtlan, posted to
The_Other_Syntax
Disciple: But is it not funny that the "I" should be
searching for the "I"? Does not the inquiry "Who
am I?" turn out in the end an empty formula? Or am I to put
the question to myself endlessly, repeating it like some mantra?
Maharshi: Self-inquiry is certainly not an empty formula; it is
more than the repetition of any mantra. If the inquiry "Who
am I?" were merely mental questioning, it would not be of
much value. The very purpose of Self-inquiry is to focus the
entire mind at its Source. It is not, therefore, a case of one
"I" searching for another "I".
Much less is Self-inquiry an empty formula, for it involves an
intense activity of the entire mind to keep it steadily poised in
pure Self-awareness.
Self-inquiry is the one infallible means, the only direct one, to
realize the unconditional, absolute Being that you really are.
Ramana Maharshi, from Maharshi's Gospel, published by Sri
Ramanasramam, posted to RamanaMaharshi
A World Inside This World
There is another world inside this one -
no words can describe it.
There is living, but no fear of death;
There is Spring, but never a turn to Autumn.
There are legends and stories
coming from the walls and ceilings.
Even the rocks and trees recite poetry.
Here an owl becomes a peacock,
A wolf becomes a beautiful shepherd.
To change the scenery, change your mood;
To move around, just will it.
Stand for a moment
And look at a desert of thorns -
it becomes a flowery garden.
See that boulder on the ground?
It moves, and a mine of rubies appears.
Wash you hands and face
in the waters of this place -
The cooks have prepared a great feast!
Here all beings give birth to angels.
When they see me ascending to the heavens
every corpse springs back to life.
I have seen many kinds of trees
growing from the Earth,
But who has ever seen the birth of paradise?
I have seen water, but who has ever seen
one drop of water
give birth to a hundred warriors?
Who could ever imagine such a place?
Such a heaven? Such a Garden of Eden?
Whoever reads this poem - translate it.
Tell the whole world about this place!
- Rumi, Ghazal (Ode) 3401, version by Jonathan Star from a
translation by Shahram Shiva, from A Garden Beyond Paradise:
The Mystical Poetry of Rumi, posted to Sunlight
There is a life-force within your Soul
Seek that life.
There is a gem in the mountain of your body,
Seek that mine.
O traveler, if you are in search of That
Don't look Outside,
Look Inside Yourself
And seek That ...
To be One with the truth
for just a moment
Is worth more
than the world and life itself ...
- Rumi, translated by Shahram Shiva, posted to Mystic_Spirit