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Wednesday, November 8


IVAN FRIMMEL

I, Ivan, want to know from you:

Do YOU know the answer to the question: Who are you? Do you
know WHO YOU ARE? Do you know how to put this KNOWLEDGE into
words, knowing very well that it cannot be spoken about and
that it is not really any "knowledge" in the conventional
way?

If you do - please let us know, and WHAT you KNOW. Stop being
"humble", hiding your light & beating around the bush
(considering the elections, please pardon me the expression).

Share this "deepest" KNOWLEDGE with us (or "shallowest",
depending on the "point of view", or on the metaphor/s you
like) for the sake of - and out of compassion for - those who
are still battling to KNOW.

If you don't KNOW - why not? What is preventing you from
knowing? and from asking those who you "think" or "suspect"
may KNOW... Bother them, test them, nag them to share with
you what they KNOW...

Until you KNOW, too.

It is that easy. Keep it simple.

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

RETURN TO SIMPLICITY

In my opinion, the knowledge that "there is nothing to know"
is the KNOWLEDGE that needs to be emphasized over and over
again to all those who are STRUGLING to KNOW this, until they
KNOW it deep in their bones - and can laugh at all the
struggle and practice and hard work they put into seeking it.

Any moron can complicate that which is simple, but it takes a
special kind of genius to simplify something (e.g. life, or
any seemingly difficult question, like Who am I?) that seems
to be complicated. Why do most of the "sekers" on the
so-called spiritual path persist in complicating things, and
insist on making things difficult?

In the Diamond Sutra, Subhuti asks Buddha about his
enlightenment. The Buddha's response is very simple and yet
very profound: "Through the consummation of incomparable
enlightenment, I acquired not even the least thing; wherefore
it is called `the consummation of incomparable
enlightenment.'" Those who know the truth of enlightenment
firsthand will agree that although it usually comes after a
long period of seeking, striving, practice, inquiry and
discipline, it will not happen as the end result of the
seeking and striving, but as a result of unshakeable, sudden,
realisation that all seeking and striving for enlightenment
is futile.

"Self-realisation is nothing to be gained afresh" - says
Hindu sage Sri Ramana Maharshi, "it is already here. There is
no `reaching' the Self. You must only get rid of the idea
that you are an ajnani (ignorant one)." Zen monk Hakuin said
in Zazen Wasan: "All beings are from the very beginning
Buddhas. Not knowing how near Truth is, people seek it far
away – what a pity!" Zen Master Huang Po said: "You have
always been one with the Buddha, so do not pretend that you
can attain to this Oneness by various practices… Refrain from
seeking Budhahood, since any search is doomed to failure."

St. Thomas Aquinas stated, "Knowledge comes only in so far as
the object known is within the knower." William James
remarked: "The paper seen and the seeing of it are only two
names for one indivisible act." Wei Wu Wei wrote: "As long as
we are identified with an object: that is bondage. Self is
not an object to be known." Krishnamurti kept saying that
"the knower is the known." Modern science confirms that "the
observer is the observed..."

Since Self, Oneness (Non-duality), One Mind, Buddha's (or
Krishna's, or Christ's, or Universal) Mind, Cosmic
Consciousness, Tao, God, Brahman, One, All, Absolute,
Infinite, Omnipresence... cannot possibly exist anywhere but
in THIS timeless present moment, right now and here, any
effort to `get' to It in time, or through any `doing', is
quite useless. To the extent that you are looking for your
"Self", to that extent you are lost indeed; you `find' your
Self the moment you stop looking for it as an object that can
be `lost' or `found'. To the extent you think that God is
elsewhere, to that extent God is remote. To the extent that
you are `looking for' Oneness, you will abide in `duality'.
You become `enlightened' or `saved' the `moment' you realise
that you are already enlightened and saved, and that all
striving after enlightenment or salvation is only taking you
away from it. To seek the timeless, eternity, infinity,
Nirvana, One, All... in the past or future time (or place) is
an impossible task.

Life is simple. It simply is as it is, here and now. May all
human beings be free from clinging to any misconceptions and
fancy beliefs that complicate — rather than simplify — life.

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

VIA NEGATIVA

In all philosophical, spiritual, religious and mystical
traditions and literature, apart from many other approaches,
there are two distinct ways or methods to the realisation of
the Ultimate Reality, Truth, God, True Self, Reality,
Brahman, Tao, Oneness, Enlightenment, Nirvana, Consciousness:
the Via Affirmativa and the Via Negativa – the Way of
Affirmation and the Way of Negation.

Let me put your mind at ease right from the beginning:
contrary to some people's belief, the Way of Negation is only
"negative" (in the sense of being "destructive") to that
which is false and unreal. Since all genuine spiritual
enlightenment must involve a total transformation, not just
an improvement of one's personality — and that can happen
only through the destruction of all false notions and
delusions we have about the Self, God, Reality… — the Via
Negativa and its iconoclastic approach is, in my opinion, the
most positive, therapeutic and enlightening intellectual and
practical means available to anyone seriously interested in
such a transformation.

Some Vedantic teachers have used the way of negation (Neti
Neti Not This, Not This) as their exclusive means to point to
the Unknowable, Undescribable, Ultimate Reality, Self,
Brahman. Abhava is a form of Yoga in which the Yogi sees
himself as zero, nothing, void of all pride and vanity.
Buddha's basic teaching is the negation of personal "self",
ego or soul, as a thing or entity (anatta no permanent self).
The Heart Sutra is a classical example of Buddha's profound
teaching via negation, as well as Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka and
many Tibetan teachings on Void (Sunyata). Most enlightened
Taoist, Ch'an and Zen masters, past and present, have been
teaching the way of negation as the supreme means to
enlightenment, e.g. Wu (non- being), Wu-hsin (no-mind),
Wu-nien (no-thought) and Wu-wei (non- acting). In Dionysius
the Areopagite, Meister Eckhart and St. John of the Cross,
Christianity has had the most eloquent exponents of the Via
Negativa, expounding union with God through self-negation.
Advaitists, Nihilists and other philosophers and mystics
(e.g. Sartre, Nishitani, Alan Watts, Ram Dass, Wei Wu Wei,
Meher Baba, Osho, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Krishnamurti, Sri
Ramana Maharshi, Ramesh S. Balsekar, etc.) spoke about
negation very eloquently. For example, Krishnamurti often
asked his audiences: "Is it possible to live in this world
and be nothing, to negate one's knowledge, to be empty of
thought and of one's conditioning, of one's idea about one's
`self'?"

Even the modern science is now confirming the insights of the
Via Negativa mystics and philosophers, by finding out and
pointing out that the substratum of all that exists, the
cause of all that is manifest, of the phenomenal world, lies
hidden in the all-pervading, ever-present creative "empty"
space, field of infinite possibilities, the so-called
Zero-Point Energy, Void. Sub-atomic particles are observed to
pop-out of "nowhere" in a total vacuum of an acceleration
chamber — and interact with the observer's mind, thus
demonstrating beyond any doubt the essential Unity between
the observer and the observed, subject and object, thinker
and thought, inner and outer, energy and matter, phenomenon
and noumenon, This and That, One and Many, All and One, One &
None…

The Via Negativa, whether realised and practised through
one's meditation, contemplation, religion, philosophy, art,
mysticism or science is (due to some ignorance and
misconceptions) still very seldom used and often avoided
spiritual highway towards enlightenment, i.e. towards the
realisation of the essential Oneness of ALL THAT IS.

____________________________________________________________________


GARY: Having seen that the entire field of the known exists only in
a dualistic form and any action within that arena only
strengthens that from which it pretends to end (eg fighting
for peace) then all our so called moral actions are bankrupt
and all attempts at self improvement ultimately futile.

SANDEEP: Yes. What would be interesting is that how does one arrive at
this realization of futility. Buddha tried breaking his ass
for a number of years, before he realized under a tree, that
it was a mug's game. And let's be clear it is that same "one"
who was erstwhile trying to improve, which is coming to the
realization of futility of this improvement "game".

So then the question may arise if all attempts at self
improvement are futile, are all attempts to do anything
futile? And if all attempts are futile, is not questioning
also an attempt? So can any question ever be answered? And if
no question can be answered, can any question be ever
posited? And if no question can be posited, is there anything
like the "questioner"?

And yet questioning and conceptual answers continue to occur.
They occur in phenomenality, as movements of phenomenality,
to "thicken the plot" as the dude in diapers put it.

___________________________________________________________

JAN BARENDRECHT

When utterly unhappy with "what the world has to offer", the
real nature will reveal itself spontaneously - no meditation,
scriptures, exercises, yoga or practice is required.

Meditation, scriptures, exercises and yoga are but the
crutches to bring one slowly to the realization that the real
nature not only is "unconditional happiness" but that the
real nature is what gives the "flavor" to all experiences.

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

Life always turns out to be a disaster - whatever one clings
to will appear to be forcefully removed in the process of
dying and there is no difference between clinging to
aesthetics, sex, or the bliss of meditation. So liberation is
the liberation from desires and that includes the desire for
liberation. The mention of "the fire of desire" isn't without
a reason - any fire can be extinguished by a bigger,
explosive type of fire that will rapidly extinguish by
itself.


_______________________________________________________________

MOLLER
Dear friends,

The question of the so-called gradual vs the non-gradual path
to enlightenment has had a wide audience for a long time.
Much have been said about this subject, and as I have
personally raised my criticisms against the intellectual
Advaitists, I thought this may be a useful subject to
elaborate somewhat on my understanding of this apparent
dilemma.

It would probably be true to say that the word enlightenment
really means very little. It is supposed to point to some
kind of state or non-state which is in actual experience very
different from our ordinary waking state. So for the purpose
of this discussion, it may be useful to give my own
understanding of what it is I would like to see happening to
me, which I may refer to as freedom from illusion. I will
deliberately not use the word enlightenment, for it is too
heavily burdened by convention, misunderstanding and so on.

Once I have established what I sense my own interest and
direction in this matter is, I may then be in better position
to explain myself around this matter of gradual or
non-gradual approach to what I have described. I will try to
remain as close my own experience as possible, and relate
only such experience, coupled with an
understanding/description of how my experience relates to
what I will be trying to say.

FREEDOM (FROM THE KNOWN)

I have deliberately used this expression from the title of a
book by J. Krishnamurti because it somehow relates very well
to my sense around this matter.

Bondage is essentially a matter of identification with
thought. When there is no identification, there is no sense
of bondage. Thought projects all sorts of images, usually
beyond itself, and then experiences these projections as
things with a reality separate from itself. And while being
identified within the creative genius of thought, the being
is a slave to whatever thought projects. The reality of
thought is for most of us the living reality of our daily
experience, and because identified with thought, we have
little sense that there may be an experience which is not
created and sustained by thought.

Part of the genius of thought is that it can also objectify
its own imaginings. So thought can make an image of how
intelligent it thinks itself to be, or how stupid. It can put
together a whole picture of such comparative propositions to
itself, and arrive at a kind of general 'self-image'. All
self-image is comparatively based. It either compares itself
with other aspects of thought, or with how it relates in
comparison to other similar thought gestures, called human
beings (which is really little other that human doings) it
sees around itself.

This mixture of thought generated self-image(s), ill-adapted
patterns of conditioning and habitual thinking, disconnected
and contradictory projections into past and future;
contractory likes and dislikes, wants and demands, hopes and
fears; confused, fragmented and conditioned views of reality,
self and others, and so on, create a sense of world -vision
which can only be described as dysfunctional, unconnected,
alienated and separated.

This is the world of the 'I' in all its presumed glory. It is
also the world of the 'I' in all its real and fundamental
state of sickness and sadness. So from this perspective it
may become clear that the 'I' is not just a single liner. It
is most certainly created and sustained by thought, but it
does not appear in thought as something which has only a
single etyology. The world of thought is the entire world we
live in, and this entire world of thought, IS the 'I'. The
'i' is the entire movement within the creative activity of
thought. And it is with this 'I' which we have become
identified, and this to my insight is why the world is in the
rather sad state it is in.

We are trying to approach the multidimentional reality of
life with a fragment of our human ability, and because this
fragment is continually used to address all the challenges of
life, it finds itself out of its depth and ability to afford
the being with true and complete responses to the living
moment.

This of necessity undermines our ability to live fully in the
present moment, and to meet the present moment, which is life
itself, with the correct human intercative 'tool' as may be
demanded by the situation. We become like a 'juke box'. Throw
in a dime, and the record starts playing. Comes the challenge
of life and we look for the answer within the realm of
conditioning, thought, and habitual patterns of association.
Our response is therefore not only inadequate, but also
fragmented. Needless to say, our fragmented response lays the
path for further fragmented responses and so the plot becomes
thick , confusing and un-free.

The demand for freedom from this disposition of confusion and
suffering must therefore be seen as a natural response of the
organism as a whole when it detects that something is not
working so well. The dis-ease felt by ourselves due to any
inadequate response to any situation, is perfectly natural to
the organism which cannot help but to show the being, through
pain and discomfort ,that he/she is doing something wrong.
And it is this pain, as a clear sign that something is not
right, which becomes the basis for the search out of the
dilemma created by trying to live in a fragment of our being,
instead of allowing other instruments and human
potentialities to also bring their response to the challenge
of the living moment.

The freedom I have sought, and the freedom of which I speak,
and the freedom which I have so often tasted, but which has
as yet not maintained itself as a 'permanent' disposition,
the freedom which is beginning to dawn in my own case during
so many times and in so many unguarded moments, this freedom
is always clearly a manifestation of the freedom from the
known. Not the disappearance of the known, but simply freedom
FROM it.

Thought, and the world of thought is therefore not seen to be
the problem, but the single act of identification.
Identification is the non-separation of my being with the
projections of thought. And freedom is the crack in this
phenomenon which allows for full consciousness without
'I'-consciousness. What is, in which the center is not. There
is an aliveness which is just simply the case- and clearly
not a projection created and sustained by thought.

To come to the gradual and the non-gradual 'path' in view of
what I said above.

All movement towards, away from, inside and so on, is part of
the projection. So it is clear that any sense of movement or
activity towards freedom, must of necessity be seen to be
part of the domination of thought over the entire field of
consciousness and present arising. This is so because thought
cannot experience freedom from itself. It can and will
attempt to, project a freedom from itself, experience this
freedom to be a reality outside of itself towards which it
can therefore move. This is why so many teachers have
emphasised the necessity to get an insight into this matter,
and not to mistake any sense of movement towards
freedom/enlightenment as real movement. The reason is simply
because the instrument which projects freedom beyond itself,
is the very instrument which then sets out trying to grasp or
attain this freedom. But this feedom created by thought is
clearly only a projection of what it already knows, and
therefore cannot be that which stands as a sense of being
categorically different to its own projections. In short, the
known, howevr much it may try to project freedom beyond
itself, cannot know the unknown. The entire movement is false
and based on the illusion that thought is going somewhere
when in fact it is only chasing its own projections.

But does this mean that because thought cannot go beyond
itself, that there is no possibility of freedom from the
burden of thought?

Not al all. It is a simple matter of understanding the nature
of the problem as I tried to describe above.

The problem being the identification with the illusiory
projected reality of the thought world.

At this point it may be useful to bring in a statement from
Nisargadatta I once read: " Mind cannot find or get to truth,
but it can obscure it'.

This to my understanding this sums up the whole apparent
controversy between the gradual and the non-gradual approach
to freedom from thought. For if mind (read the reality, and
identification with, the thought-projected world) can obscure
the freedom to which it may aspire through its own
projections, but cannot ever know, it is this very mind which
needs to be investigated, understood and transcended before
the condition, free from it, can become manifest.

So self-enquiry or 'I' enquiry becomes the path. What is the
stuff of which this disturbing reality of my present
existence is made of? Profound self-enquiry, looking, feeling
ones way into this, is now clearly no longer moving towards
the projected goal of freedom.

It is enquiring into the mechanisms of bondage. And such
enquiry has no sense that it is going anywhere at all. It is
content with looking, sensing, feeling, unconditioned
insight, observation of the process of mind and
identification with it, which is going on all the time. The
process being the way in which we appear to be the reality of
our thinking. In time, things become a little more clear.
Observation brings clarity. Not analising, but passionate and
clear observation. J.Krishnamurti has gone deeply into this
matter in many of his discussions and discourses.

( It is not in the scope of this present discussion to go
into the process of observation, letting go of attention, the
unconscious movemnent of attention into thought and so on)

This process of self-observation, insight and
self-transcendence takes time. Surely enough, breakthroughs
into a sense of freedom come. Mostly uninvited. Sometimes
manifsting as strange sensations in the body, extraordinary
emotional states, great sense of bliss, profound quietness,
simple sense of wholeness, not only of the body, but of the
entire present circumstance, in fact the list of little
breakthroughs into the free, unconditioned state is probably
without end. In themselves these phenomena are just pointers.
Just releases of energy priorly tied up in the being due to
the narrow vision and activity of the conditioned being.

But as time goes on, and enquiry deepens into other forms of
practice, not associated with the initial urgency for
understanding, insight and getting to grips with the nature
and stature of confined unfreedom of the thought -world, a
different type of intelligent participation in life begins to
manifest itself.

In this again is no search for the light. Just a passionate
enquiry into the darkness. And as the darkness becomes more
transparent, without doing anything, the light of intelligent
participation in the living moment becomes more clearly
manifest. In this no sense of movement is detected. Not even
possible. Just simple enquiry in the form of observation.

So here I have described my understanding of the gradual
nature of the path. It is absolutely true that any
breakthrough is always instantaneous, and in a way has no
causal relation to the path of self-observation. The path
merely wipes the dust from the mirror. It is the process of
bringing the organism into a more subtle state of receptivity
and vulnerability. It is keeping the window open. There is no
guarantee that the breeze will come in. ( J.Krishnamurti
expression).

Yet without the prior work of looking, seeing and leaving
behind that which is seen to be unnecessary, which is the
path of renunciation in its true sense, it is unlikely that
the perfume of the freedom from the reality of the thought
world will reveal its refined quality to us.

So it may then be clear that the path is always gradual, but
the breakthrough sudden. The path has the sense of gradual
implosion to it, rather than the illusion of a movement
towards. The notion of a 'sudden' path is just that - a
notion, created by the ignorant mind. Ignorant of its own
workings. Ignorant because it believes that its projections
of freedom are free from the ignorance which it is itself.

______________________________________________________________________

HARSHA

The company of peaceful Sages (Satsangha) and living in
harmlessness is considered the primary influence that leads
to Self-Realization. The forced attempts to discard various
habits and conditioning and practicing different techniques
to calm the mind have built in limits, unless one is already
inclined towards such practices. If strong inner motivation
is present, one is automatically propelled towards
Self-Awareness and Meditation. The fog of confusion then
quickly evaporates and leads to Self-Seeing, Self-Being,
Self-Realization, and the Silence of the Heart.

Meditation and mind calming methods, etc., can be effective
at many different levels if practiced in the context of a
clear understanding. Such practices, however, cannot by
themselves end the fundamental agitation of the mind which
continues at more and more subtle levels and causes
suffering. The nature of the mind is to hanker after that
which is not real and is constantly subject to change. Not
knowing who we are, where we come from, and where we are
going, we still continue chasing after dreams built on the
sandcastles of desires. If we become aware of this, we can
see the fundamental nature of suffering, and direct our
attention to the mystery of life and the nature of our
perceptions.

A True Guru knows no Time and Space. The Self Reveals It Self
from Within. Listen. Remain aware. Be utterly indifferent to
the clever words, miracles, and magical techniques that
promise salvation. If you have the courage, open your wisdom
eye and see clearly what attracts you to such things and
people. What is it that they have to give you that you do not
have? Question seriously and honestly and go to the root of
your hopes and fears. There are many active marketers of
"wisdom." Understand that, like you, they have their own
challenges and suffering. With compassion for them and for
others and one's own self, one should keep one's vision
utterly, totally, and completely pure. It means that you
should not give in to the attraction of confusion and
compromise in seeking the Truth.

Do not settle for anything! Do not settle for anything -
until there is nothing left to settle for.

Let your effort be absorbed in peaceful Self-awareness. There
is absolutely nothing else to be done.




Nothing given,

nothing taken.

See the sights,

be not mistaken.

You have everything you need.

Think not that you must awaken,

now or later for heaven's sake.

Know only this for certain,

That You Are Already Wide Awake!

___________________________________________________________

MARK CHRISTOPHER VALENTINE



Meditations on Pentecost in the Age of Misery


I sit and await stillness and silence
in the false darkness of the clouded sky at twilight.
Slowly the blue and white canvas melts, fades
into emptiness.
The symphonic chorus of the universe resolves itself
into tranquility.
I sit in the infinity of limitless space,
the eternity after one breath ends and before another begins.
Suddenly, as the last darkness that will ultimately envelope the first
light,
He who is the Sacred Heart,
as if suspended on a Crucifix of teeming blue light,
She who is Avalokiteshvara,
sitting as if upon the moon floating in the empty firmament,
are before me.

I ask him,
Why must I suffer
He says to me,
So you will understand Love.
I do not reply.
He says,
You must love all my Creatures as you love true Self.
I say, I do not understand
He says,
You must die to self.
You must take up your cross and follow me.
You must live in the world but not on the world.
You are not the Lord of Creation but its Steward.
I am the Son of the Father who is the Light of the Universe. You must
become as I am.
Then and only then will you have Peace.
I am the Way of Love.

I say to her,
What must I do to stop suffering
She says to me,
You must cleave to the light but hold to the dark.
You must become an empty vessel.
You must allow the suffering I send you to carve you into a vessel of
Love
Then and only then will you be able have compassion on all Creatures.
I am the Daughter of the Mother who is the Darkness of Creation. You
must
become as I am.
Then and only then will you have Joy.
I am the Womb of Compassion.


I say to them,
I am weak.
As One they speak to me,
We are strong enough to suffer for you so that you may join us in Love.
We are here to Love you until you join us in Compassion for all
Creatures.
Touch our Sacred Heart and you will become Love.
Call our Secret Name and you will become Compassion.
As One they speak to me.
You are not yet one of the gods.
You are something more than just a creature, but you are still a
Creature.
You are one among the many, but the many are the one.
Just as We are not one, but two, not two, but One.
Until the one is ready to surrender to the many this remains the Age of
Misery.
Humility is the beginning of the endless journey from Suffering into
Joy.
Let go of self interest. Awake! There is no self. Take up your Cross
and
follow me.
The fields are ripe to harvest. There is much work to be done before
the
end of time.

They are gone.
I remain pierced, wounded by light.
I am still, enveloped by darkness.

She who is the Bodhisattva.
He who is the Christ.
Their names and faces are many through the ages.
In stillness and silence I remain,
remain dark and empty.
The emptiness of the false dawn washes into the fullness of endless
days.
The symphonic chorus of the universe lifts its voice in jubilation of a
new
beginning.
I am in the in between time of eternity.
The time after one breath ends and before another begins.
And now I am not the same as I was.
I have been called to a new life and given a new name.
I have been called on a journey and there is no going back.

Lamb of God have Mercy upon us.
Kwannon Bosatu show us the way of Compassion.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus grant us Peace.
Make us worthy of fulfilling the Promise of Creation.

My name and the name of the journey are the same.
And that name is Love. I fall into your arms my Immortal Beloved.
As it was, is now, and ever will be world without end.


Mark Christopher Valentine

___________________________________________________________________

GREG GOODE

The mind, memory, body and world appear as thoughts,
feelings, and sensations. These appearances are all arisings
appearing in Consciousness, Awareness, Knowledge. Arisings
cannot reach outside themselves. They cannot point to each
other, touch each other or contain each other. It is only
memory that claims that there has ever been another arising.
But memory itself is nothing more than an arising. It cannot
truly point backwards or forwards to anything. So there is
truly no proof that there have ever been even two arisings.
If there cannot be two arisings, how can there be one? What
is left? Knowledge, our true nature.

__________________________________________________________________

GARY MERRILL

Having seen that the entire field of the known exists only in
a dualistic form and any action within that arena only
strengthens that from which it pretends to end (eg fighting
for peace) then all our so called moral actions are bankrupt
and all attempts at self improvement ultimately futile.

Following on from this I would say that negation was the only
way to get out of the trap of mutual opposites and that the
negation would have to be of a form of a perception or
insight rather than conceptual.

Communication about this is inevitably prone to
misunderstanding because everyone automatically thinks that
what is being pointed at is the field of experience/knowledge
when in fact its beyond that. Only negative statements such
as 'not this, not that; no securtity no insecurity are the
correct non dual formulations.

So does this leave me 'enlightened' are is it just clearing
the ground for the next step? Regretfully I think its the
latter, as the circle turns again. It seems to me right now,
and bear with my expression, I'm using dualistic concepts I
know, that something has to operate from the other side as it
were, if the mind is not to continue with its identifications
and conflicts and unhappiness. The only thing that comes to
me that might work, and I know in words this sounds very,
very, dualistic is whats been called the Witnesser or Silent
Observer. The Witnesser or Self not being of the field of
knowledge and not being of thought provides a still, silent
reference point, in the now.

I know this isn't new, but I wonder if it is relevant bearing
in mind that we've cleared the way for this still Witneser
not to be confused ever with any 'known' witneser, but as
something pointed at beyond the field, but accessible when we
see the field has no meaning. I'm not sure if I'm making
myself clear.

Otherwise, it might seem that the outcome of non-dualism
would be 'I've seen the joke, laugh, drink and be happy for
tomorrow we die' which is OK, but maybe still leaves one at
odds (failed idealist syndrome).

_______________________________________________________________

TIM GERCHMEZ

Give up!
Realize the futility of holding on to anything.
The holding on itself *is* the entity that is holding on.

If you are sad, "you" are the sadness.
If you are happy, "you" are the happiness.

There is no permanent "you."
A temporary arising of phenomena,
"you" is ceaselessly dying and being reborn
as another "you."

Any speck of dust
has more substantiality
than this imaginary "me."

If you are seeking realization you can never find it,
because the "you" doing the seeking is directly in the way.
The seeking itself is not the problem, the presence of the seeker is.

Forget about yourself.
There is no such animal.
Nor are there any others.
Only surface appearances,
Froth on a mile-deep sea.

If you think you are a body,
it may help to say "I am not a body"
but it does not answer "What is this 'I'?"

Only understanding, effortless understanding helps.
Dive deep beneath the surface of life,
Things are not as they seem.

Even a scientist will tell you that.
The chair you are sitting on is not solid.
It is 99.9 percent empty space.
But the scientist does not know
The other .1% is your imagination.

When the surface of the pond is calm
The bottom is visible.

Dive in.
Let the river carry you to the pond.
Let the pond go clear,
not a ripple on the surface.
LET is the word here.
Do not blank your mind.
Rather:
See that you do not exist, and do not have a mind.
How to see? Examine: "What the fuck is 'me'?"

__________________________________________________________

MARCIA

Excuse me while I vent a little. :-) I feel like I am having
a 4th Way nervous breakdown. One of the things I have always
hated is touchy/feely people who have to always talk about
how they are feeling. But it seems that I am morphing into
one of them. I just talked to a dear friend on ICQ who worked
with a legitimate <s> student of G. for seventeen years. He
told me, again, that I need a teacher to make me do what I
need to do. I said I wanted to work for being. He said I
needed to be able to do. I always feel like a failure when we
have these conversations but....there have been moments in
the presence of a teacher when I received something. I was in
the presence of a higher state. I could see it in the eyes. I
felt it. So what is my problem? I could no more put myself in
the position of being a student than I could...well I don't
know. But maybe all that means is that I have not been in the
presence of a real teacher. So round and round I go. This is
exactly what my friend said. And he is a friend. He has my
best interest at heart. I don't question his motives. He
means what he says. But is he right? Having one of you guys
tell me is not going to do it. That is no different than
listening to him and thinking he is right. So...round and
round I go. Where I stop nobody knows.

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