Nonduality (/\)
Archive 11
Archive Home
August 2, 2000:
Buddhism in J.D. Salinger's 'Teddy', by Tony Magagna
August 3, 2000: Selections from
'The Way to Love', by Anthony deMello
August 4, 2000: Benevolent vs.
Wrathful Deities: Understanding the Double Bind
by Gene Poole, with commentary by Dan Berkow, Ph.D.
August 7, 2000: Reality and
Manifestation, by Wei Wu Wei
August 8, 2000: Long Day's
Journey Into Night, by Eugene O'Neill
August 9, 2000: The Subtle
Gateway, by David Hodges
August 10, 2000: 226th Chorus, by
Jack Kerouac
August 11, 2000: Interview with
Timothy Roi Diers, Part One
August 14, 2000: Name Points to
Nameless, by Sharon Hart
August 15, 2000: Email List vs
'Real People', by Christiana Duranczyk
August 16, 2000: Do Not Test Your
Mantra, by Harsha
August 17, 2000: On Bhakti, by
Greg Goode and Gloria Lee
August 2
Orange
Peels And Apple-Eaters:
Buddhism In J.D. Salinger's 'Teddy'
by Tony
Magagna
from www.salinger.org/
In J.D. Salinger's
short story, "Teddy," the title-character,
staring out of a porthole in the ship cabin he is sharing
with his parents, muses aloud:
"Someone just dumped a whole garbage can of orange
peels out the window....They float very nicely....That's
interesting....I don't mean its interesting that they
float....It's interesting that I know about them being
there. If I hadn't seen them, then I wouldn't know they
were there, and if I didn't know they were there, I
wouldn't be able to say that they even exist....Some of
them are starting to sink now. In a few minutes, the only
place they'll still be floating will be inside my mind.
That's quite interesting, because if you look at it a
certain way, that’s where they started floating in
the first place." (171-72)
These observations, seemingly out of proportion to a
simple can of kitchen refuse being tossed into the sea,
reflect a strong Buddhist influence on Teddy's thought
(and on Salinger's). The way in which Teddy describes the
orange peels as appearing in front of him, and then,
moments later, beginning to sink out of view - out of
existence - points to the Buddhist idea of impermanence;
nothing lasts forever - those things that we perceive,
and even our own lives, are only temporary occurrences
which will, with time, vanish. This passage also reflects
the directly related Buddhist belief of non-existence,
which teaches that physical existence - whether of self,
or time, or even orange peels - is an illusion. Buddhists
hold that the materiality of the world only exists within
earthly, and therefore false, perceptions; in other
words, we fool ourselves into thinking that we, and
everything around us, exist in any physical sense. Thus,
when Teddy remarks here that the orange peels only exist
in his mind, as well as later when, upon leaving the
cabin, he states, "After I go out this door, I may
only exist in the minds of all my acquaintances....I may
be an orange peel" (174), he is, in a Buddhist
sense, quite right.
This scene is fairly brief in the context of the story,
but in its reflection of Buddhist influences, it is
indicative of the story as a whole. Throughout Teddy,
Salinger relates several Buddhist principles and
philosophies through the characters', and especially
Teddy's, statements and actions. The strong influence of
Buddhism is apparent even in some of Salinger's basic
decisions in constructing and framing the story.
One such decision is Salinger's choice (a tendency in
many of his stories) to create and relate the story of
his characters without any sense of history. In Teddy,
the story opens with all of the key characters aboard an
oceanliner, but there is little, if any, information as
to how they got there. There are references throughout
the story to bits and pieces of biographical information
(i.e. Teddy's father is a radio-actor, Teddy makes
tapes), but in fact very little. The reader has no sense,
really, of where these characters came from, or where
they are going. It is as if, like Teddy's orange peels,
the characters only came into existence at the point in
time when the story begins, and that they will cease to
exist the moment it ends. Again, like the scene with the
orange peels, this strict focus on the story's present,
with no sense of past or future, clearly reflects the
Buddhist beliefs of impermanence and non-existence.
Another, and perhaps less abstract, Buddhist influence on
Teddy (and Salinger) lies in the structure of the
title-character himself. Throughout the story, Salinger
portrays Teddy as a genius, a seer, a religious figure,
and even a teacher of teachers; the catch is that he's
only ten years old! This portrayal, coupled with the
references in the story to reincarnation (188), is
reflective of the Buddhist (Mahayana particularly) belief
in reincarnated rinpochets, or religious figures, and is
a product, perhaps, of world-events occurring around the
time that Salinger wrote Teddy. During the early 1950's,
much of the world's attention was focused on the newly
Communist China and their struggle for control of
Buddhist Tibet. The spiritual and temporal leader of
Tibet at the time was the Fourteenth Dalai Lama - a
teenage boy who had been recognized as the reincarnation
of the great religious leader since before the age of
six. Salinger would certainly have been aware of the
Dalai Lama, and the Buddhist belief in child rinpochets,
and likely, along with the rest of the Buddhist aspects
with which he imbued this story, applied this principle
to the figure of the ten-year-old Teddy. Thus, from this
Buddhist perspective, it is not entirely strange that
such high, especially religious, esteem is given to a
young boy.
Within the events of the story itself, and through the
actions of the characters, Salinger also relates a great
deal of Buddhist philosophy. One such philosophy is the
Buddhist tendency to refrain from any form of
materialism, whether of the self or of objects. This
practice relates, of course, to the beliefs, as mentioned
before, of impermanence and non-existence; if objects,
including the self, are not real and will only be around
for a limited time, then they can have no true value that
can be accumulated and flaunted. In Teddy, however, many
of the characters, through their actions and
affectations, are portrayed in quite the opposite
fashion; they are materialistic, narcissistic, and
egocentric. Brand names, evidence of material culture,
pervade the story; a suitcase is not simply a suitcase,
but rather a Gladstone, and Mr. McArdle's (Teddy's
father) camera is not simply his camera, but his goddam
Leica (172). Clothing also seems to be described in
lavish detail as evidence, along with such affectations
as the way characters walk and speak, of narcissism. Even
the way in which Nicholson smiles is shown by Salinger as
indicative of his egocentrism: His smile was not
unpersonable, but it was social, or conversational, and
related back, however indirectly, to his own ego (184).
Teddy, the epitome in the story of Buddhist ideals, on
the other hand, is characterized in an entirely opposite
fashion; he has no such materialistic or narcissistic
accoutrements. He apparently, much to the chagrin of his
father, has no sense of the value of material objects; he
uses his father's Gladstone suitcase as a stool, and
allows his younger sister to tote the camera around the
ship as a plaything. His clothing also sets him in stark
contrast to the other characters in their Ivy-league
apparel (Nicholson) and their gaudy uniforms (the ship's
crew): He was wearing extremely dirty, white
ankle-sneakers, no socks, [oversized] seersucker
shorts...[and] an overly laundered T shirt that had a
hole the size of a dime in the
right shoulder (167). Even Teddy's affectations - the way
in which he acts - are of a Buddhist nature. Unlike the
other characters, whose methods of walking, talking, and
smiling highlight their narcissism, Teddy behaves with
such concentration on whatever he is doing, that the
materialism of the world around him seems to fall away.
An instance of this is when the boy is reading over his
journal, as if only he and the notebook existed - no
sunshine, no fellow passengers, no ship (179). In such a
way, with a seeming take-off of the Buddhist Heart Sutra,
Salinger successfully sets Teddy apart from the rest of
his fellow passengers as one who, having been greatly
influenced by Buddhist philosophies, can see through the
materialism and egocentrism of his environment.
Another Buddhist principle that is brought to bear in the
story through Teddy, in contrast to the other characters,
deals with attachment. In the Four Noble Truths of
Buddhism, it is taught that life is suffering, and that
suffering is caused by the desire to reach out for, and
grasp onto, people, objects, experiences, emotions, etc.,
which, as has been illustrated, are impermanent; thus,
when whatever illusion someone has become attached to
ceases, that person experiences a great deal of
suffering. In Teddy, the title-character observes how his
parents, and seemingly everyone else around him, are so
caught up in emotional attachment, but he cannot
understand why: "I wish I knew why people think it's
so important to be emotional....My mother and father
don't think a person's human unless he thinks a lot of
things are very sad or very annoying or very - very
unjust' (186). Such emotional attachment, which for Teddy
is incomprehensible, even leads him, in his journal, to
proclaim how quite sick he is of poetry (180), because,
as we learn later, "[Poets]'re always sticking their
emotions in things that have no emotions" (185). In
contrast to this apparently Western-world poetry, and
further demonstrating Salinger's Buddhist influence,
Teddy quotes two Japanese haikus as examples of
non-emotional poetry; both haikus are by Basho, a famous
Zen poet.
Teddy also applies this idea of emotional attachment to
people's fear of death in the story. As with the entire
concept of emotion, Teddy cannot understand why the
people around him, including his parents and even
professors of Religion and Philosophy (193), are so
afraid of death and dying. After relating his own
hypothetical death-scenario (which, depending on one's
interpretation of the story, may be a prophecy), Teddy
asks, "What would be so tragic about it, though?
What's there to be afraid of, I mean? I'd just be doing
what I was supposed to do (193). Teddy goes on to
recognize that, of course, his parents would be quite
upset if he were to die, but that's only because they
have names and emotions for everything (194). This
statement clearly relates back to the Buddhist belief
that suffering is caused by desire and attachment -
Teddy's parents would suffer if he died because they are
attached to him and do not accept the Buddhist principle
of impermanence. In this previous example, Salinger, by
moving from the everyday issues of materialism and
emotion into the much more weighty realm of death and
people's relationship towards dying, takes his Buddhist
lessons in Teddy to a much higher, philosophical and
religious level. These more ponderous issues, including
the above speculations on death, come to bear in the
story in a lengthy conversation between Teddy and
Nicholson, a professor and fellow passenger on the
oceanliner. In this discussion, Teddy (and thus Salinger)
presents Buddhist principles in a very unique way - by
packaging Buddhist belief in Judeo-Christian imagery.
This perhaps reflects Salinger's own views on Buddhism;
though he is clearly, and strongly influenced by Buddhist
philosophy, Salinger himself is not Buddhist, but rather
brings the teachings of Buddhism to bear in his
Judeo-Christian heritage and environment. Another reason
for this meshing of Eastern and Western philosophy could
easily be that Saling! er felt, when writing Teddy, that
his audience would not be terribly receptive to a simple
recitation of Buddhist tenets.
America in the 1950's, though becoming far more familiar
with Buddhism and Eastern thought, still looked rather
warily at new modes of spirituality: as Teddy says to
Nicholson, "it's very hard to meditate and live a
spiritual life in America. People think you're a freak if
you try to (188).
No matter the reason for this syncretism of Buddhist and
Judeo-Christian principles, it is quite clear that
Salinger embraces such a mix in the language and imagery
of Nicholson and Teddy's conversation. Nicholson
continuously uses biblical language while talking to
Teddy, even when referring to seemingly
non-Judeo-Christian experiences. For example, Nicholson,
when referring to Teddy's belief that he was an Indian
seeking enlightenment in a past life, calls the fact that
Teddy (as the Indian meditator) didn't reach final
Illumination because he met a lady and became
disinterested in meditation, a fall from Grace (188).
Teddy himself speaks from within this syncretism, telling
of his moment of enlightenment in terms of God, instead
of Buddha-nature: "I was six when I saw that
everything was God....My sister was only a very tiny
child then, and she was drinking her milk, and all of a
sudden I saw that she was God and the milk was God"
(189). This experience in itself - realizing that all
things are connected and the same - is very Buddhist, but
by referring to the interconnectedness as God, Teddy is
drawing together Buddhism and the Judeo-Christian
tradition.
Outside of the simple Judeo-Christian language used to
relate Buddhist beliefs in this conversation, by far the
most significant example of a syncretism of Eastern and
Western philosophy in Teddy, occurs when the
title-character is explaining to Nicholson the need to
get out of the finite dimensions (189) of life. This idea
refers to the Buddhist principle of nonduality, which
relates to the aforementioned philosophy of
non-existence. Nonduality is a very complicated (at least
to Westerners) way of thinking, which denies any attempt
to place dimensions, both relative and specific, on
objects. This mode of thought is essential to the
Buddhist belief that nothing truly exists, for if we can
say that an object is big and white, as opposed to small
and black, then we give that object an identity which,
from a Buddhist perspective, it does not have. In order
to deal with how complicated it is for most Westerners to
think in this fashion, and to explain why logic, the main
barrier to thinking nondualistically, is the first thing
you have to get rid of (190) in order to see the real
world, Teddy (and Salinger) relates this very Buddhist
principle through the Judeo-Christian tradition of
Genesis and Original Sin. He asks Nicholson:
"You know that apple Adam ate in the Garden of Eden,
referred to in the Bible?....You know what was in that
apple? Logic. Logic and intellectual stuff. That was all
that was in it. So - this is my point - what you have to
do is vomit it up if you want to see things as they
really are....The trouble is...most people don't want to
see things the way they are. They don't even want to stop
getting born and dying all the time....I never saw such a
bunch of apple-eaters." (191)
In such a way - by drawing together the Buddhist ideals
of nonduality and escaping finite dimensions in order to
see true reality, with this fundamental Judeo-Christian
image - Salinger, through Teddy, is able to create in the
minds of his readers a distinct relationship between the
two seemingly disparate religions. He is able to show
that, in the same way that Buddhists believe that there
is a barrier - logic - in the path to ultimate
enlightenment to the true nature of reality, those of the
Judeo-Christian tradition believe that when mankind's
original ancestors sinned by eating the forbidden fruit,
we all lost the purity of Paradise. By having Teddy
relate that logic - the Buddhist barrier - came from that
forbidden fruit, Salinger draws the people of both sides
together in the common goal of ridding themselves of the
apple's curse.
Perhaps this, then, is Salinger's true goal with Teddy.
By relating Buddhist philosophies and principles in the
story, and thereby awakening his readers to the dangers
of materialism, egocentrism, and emotional attachment,
Salinger is trying to help us escape the finite
dimensions of life, and to think outside of the box. We
do not have to be Buddhist, or Jewish, or Christian in
order to open our minds to a new perspective. As Teddy
says to Nicholson, who asks him what he would do to
change the education system: I'd try to show [children]
how to find out who they are, not just what their names
are and things like that...I'd get them to empty out
everything their parents and everybody ever told
them....I'd want then to begin with all the real ways of
looking at things, not just the way all the other
apple-eaters look at things (195-96). Maybe, then, we are
Teddy's hypothetical pupils - Salinger's real ones -
meant to cough up our own piece of the apple, in order to
see the orange peels.
August 3
Selections
from "The Way to Love"
by
Anthony de Mello
contributed by Victor Torrico to the HarshaSatsangh list
"Is there any
way to know that what you are in touch with is Reality?
Here is one sign: What you perceive does not fit into any
formula whether given by another or created by yourself.
It simply cannot be put into words. So what can teachers
do? They can bring to your notice what is unreal, they
cannot show you Reality: they can destroy your formulas,
they cannot make you see what the formula is pointing to;
they can indicate your error, they cannot put you in
possesion of the Truth. They can, at the most, point in
the direction of Reality, they cannot tell you what to
see. You will have to walk out there all alone and
discover for yourself.
To walk alone---that means to walk away from every
formula---the ones given to you by others, the ones
learned from books, the ones that you yourself invented
in light of your past experience. That is possibly the
most terrifying thing a human being can do: move into the
unknown,
unprotected by any formula. To walk away from the world
of human beings as the prophets and the mystics did is
not to walk away from their company but from their
formulas. Then, even though you are surrounded by people,
you are truly and utterly alone. What an awesome
solitude! That solitude, that aloneness is Silence. It is
only this Silence that you will see. And the moment you
see you will abandon every book and guide and guru."
August 4
Benevolent
vs. Wrathful Deities: Understanding the Double Bind
by
Gene Poole, with commentary by Dan Berkow, Ph.D.
In my practices, I
have noted the clever use of helpful metaphor, especially
in the task of describing the undescribable, or at least
what is difficult to describe to those of limited
experience.
One such 'metaphor system' is found in Vajrayana (Tibetan
Buddhism). I refer to the statements which refer to
variou
'Deities', most of which are classified as either
'benevolent' or 'wrathful'.
(Our beloved "Jehovah" is course, both
benevolent AND wrathful; and he is the source of the
crazymaking 'double-bind' which is so pervasive in our
history and our world-dream culture; I hold that without
His 'help', there would be little problem with
schizophrenia, bipolar, etc. )
Eventually, the practitioner of Vajrayana will eventually
'tumble to' (realize) that what is being discussed, in
the topic of Deities, has a lot to do with how we
perceive 'ordinary people'; the realization is that it is
humans (among other entities) who are being discussed as
being either benevolent or wrathful.
This realization is usually held in denial, the
expectation being that there 'really are (invisible
spiritual) Deities' which become visible as a result of
long and dedicated practice. What happens instead, is
shocking, a real hair-raiser; the practitioner sees these
entities, these Deities, as dwelling in and Being human
individuals. This includes everyone; your mother, child,
wife, friend, etc.
This perception, if it comes unbidden or unexpectedly,
can result in major 'freaking out' of the perceiver; a
person suddenly SEES a 'demonic' or 'angelic'
aspect/presence in the person to whom they are relating.
This event does occur, and is one of the compassionate
reasons why the Tibetan Buddhists include this
information in their cosmological teachings.
I offer this information as compassionate caution to all
readers.
Beware of the impulse to react to perceived 'evil', and
equally, beware of the impulse to follow perceived
'good'. A deep study of the universe as seen by Vajrayana
will fully inform you of the inherent traps and hazards
to be found in our basic spiritual infrastructure;
specifically, the impulses of AVERSION and its polar
opposite, DESIRE.
You may note, if you look carefully and dispassionately,
that among the population of self-identified followers of
various spiritual paths, that there is shame attached to
desire, and yet VIRTUE is attached to aversion. People
speak with pride and passion, of what they 'abhor', and
yet they speak little of what they desire, having
accepted that desire is a flaw.
In the universe of living humans, life is movement, and
all movement has momentum. Given this state of given
movement (the gift of life itself), reactions and choices
result in changes of direction of movement, at a given
momentum.
True and factual spiritual teachings take these factors
into account. Given our pre-existing movement and
momentum, we are always 'going to somewhere' and 'going
away from somewhere'. Skillfully transmitted (shared)
teachings point to this movement as the chief factor of
WHY we should beware of both aversion and desire.
The aversive impulse is to move _away_, while the desire
impulse is to move _toward_. Persons who are unconscious
of this basic reality of human design principle, are very
easy to manipulate; simply present them with a symbol
which is aversive, and they will move away from it. If at
the same time, a symbol of desire is presented, they will
move toward it. It is quite easy to manipulate most
people in this way; this is how the entire world-dream
system of governance/control is enacted.
Wrathful Deities are generally considered to be symbols
of aversion, and Benevolent Deities are considered to be
attractive (desirous). According to Vajrayana, we have
little choice but to continue to inhabit realms shared by
deities of both natures, but also, we have the choice to
react to them, or not.
'Not-reacting' to Deities is difficult, but it can be
done, and is called 'abiding'.
The textbook teaching example of this human dilemma is
found in the so-called 'Tibetan Book of the Dead', which
(in proper translation!) leads us to understand that the
dilemma of the newly-dead person, is not at all different
than our dilemma as living persons; that being, the
never-seized choice to abide, rather than react, to
perceived 'good and evil'.
One who seizes this choice of abiding, will perceive the
whole universe swirling about them, each particle
DEMANDING recognition, respect, worship, fear, or desire.
The cacophony of contradictory voices will become
overwhelming, the impulse to move will become very
powerful. The choice to abide, must be long-cultivated
and firmly in place, to survive this powerful challenge.
That is why, in Vajrayana, the teachings are presented
early and in digestible metaphorical form; it is to give
children the chance to learn abiding (non-reaction) as a
major, life-enhancing choice.
In the inner teachings of Vajrayana, it is stated that
the reactive movement is what keys into existence, the
very reality which is the perfect outpicturing of the
inner assumptions of the person reacting. That is to say,
that as the universe of attractive and repulsive Deities
swirl about us, that we will inevitably 'see' a familiar
moment, and it is that tiny 'snapshot' which becomes the
seed from which our entire reality grows. In this way, it
is said, we are able to materialize our personal
universe, and then to begin seeking 'good' and avoiding
'evil' in that self-created reality. And make no mistake;
this elf-created reality is as 'real' as real can ever
be. It is not a shimmering, self-evident mirage. It is as
real as anything can seem, to a human Being.
Of note among 'wrathful Deities' is the bleeding
control-artist known as the 'Double-Binder'; it seems
that a majority of people are helpless against this form
of temptation. However, there is no compelling reason to
leave abiding and enter reaction. For this purpose, I
present the following...
LEARN TO UNDERSTAND THE DOUBLE-BIND PARALYSIS:
Here are common examples;
"You are an idiot."
"You are an idiot :)"
Note your reaction to each statement.
"Shut up and go away."
"Shut up and go away :)"
Note your reaction to each statement.
The 'Double-Bind' is applied for several reasons, and is
blatantly manipulative behaviour:
_1 Overt hostile acts or speech automatically expose the
motives and nature of the one acting-out; to disguise,
one pastes a smile. "Smile when you say that".
_2 Double-binding is ruthless control; it inflicts
paralysis by trapping between aversion and desire, but is
only effective against the inexperienced and
unsophisticated. A threat delivered with a smile, is
still a threat. When one is confronted with a threat, one
wishes to run away, but if at the same time, there is a
smile, even a mock-smile, one may be undecided as to what
course
of action to take.
_3 Double-binding is done by those who have no other
alternative; double-binders, as a broad class of people,
were raised via double-bind control tactics, and thus
know no other way of behaving. Such individuals are to be
pitied, but also carefully avoided until the skill of
abiding is firmly in place.
_4 Individuals who apply double-bind control to others,
are desperately lonely, yet in terror of actual human
contact; typically, intense drama follows such
individuals, and they bring it with them always. Violent
events occur; fire, flood, injury, and other 'acts of
God' are regular events in the lives of those who
practice this ruthless form of fear-based bondage.
_5 Double-binders, living exclusively in an self-created
universe of CONTROL, inevitably struggle with others for
control and dominance; there are precious few moments of
equanimity, to be found in continual power-struggle. The
double-binder has a ready menu of blame close at hand; no
act which they commit, can be classified as 'wrong', for
all of their acts are done 'for the good of others'.
_6 Sentimental mock-love replaces actual empathy and
compassion, as the expression of the double-binder; love
becomes a veritable fetish, rather than a literal
reality. Because it is inherently false, sentimentality
cannot be maintained without constant reinforcement, and
the best 'source' of reinforcement is found in
power-conflict with others. Living a lifestyle of control
is guaranteed to be a rich source of conflict, and each
conflict is exploited to reinforce the identity of the
double-binder as 'good'. This is of course done by the
method of making the other 'bad'.
_7 The double-bind control artist will always avert
attention away from what they are really doing, by
donning the mantle of virtue, as they aggress upon
others. In the private logic of the control artist, it is
plain that those who offer opposition, are 'against what
is good' and thus 'deserver what they get'.
It is up to everyone to simply avoid playing the game of
the double-binding control artist; if ignored, they will
protest that they are unappreciated for the good that
they do, and will also point with alarm to those who
oppose them, to rouse the 'rabble' to actions against
those who are the targets of control. If ignored, they
will begin to tearfully protest, to ask if their good is
not seen, and to be understood to be active agents of
'good', striking fear into the closed hearts of those who
would get away with being 'out of control'.
Overall, the double-binder NEEDS opposition, and they are
sure to arouse it by their words and acts. This need is
really for the purpose of maintaining an identity of
'virtuous', while indulging in blatant aggressive acts of
paralysis and control over others. Predictably, words are
spoken which point to the evil of others, and how the
existence of those 'evil others' stands as justification
for 'strong action'.
Double-binding is, in a sense, the ultimate test of our
ability to abide. On the face of it, it is silly, the
acts of a stupid person who cannot see; yet, by sheer
persistence, it is itself a thorn in the side of
everyone. To learn how to abide the persistent presence
of the double-binding control-artist is indeed a high
calling!
Now, back to the Vajrayana ideal of the wrathful Deity.
In the inner teachings, wrathful Deities are to be seen
as the same as benevolent ones, all Beings being the same
Being. But, until this is an ongoing practice, it is only
an idea. Firm abiding is the place between aversion and
desire, and is also the place of choice. Reaction is the
incessant movement between aversion and desire, and is
the realm of hell.
The double-binder is one who lives in hell; as such, they
perform a certain service, as do other criminals, in that
we are invited to live in hell with them, or to choose
otherwise. The criminal craft of the double-binder is the
art of camouflage, but for those with penetrating
insight, 'good' is not an effective disguise for 'evil'.
Neither good nor evil are sufficient reasons for moving
out of abidance; yet, the choice to do so is always
available.
If one who is subject to the chaotic fires of hell wishes
to boil the pot, it is simply their choice to do so; it
is also choice to allow that swirl of the universe to
keep right on swirling, as it always has and always will.
From this chaotic brew will emerge those who can abide
the boiling, no matter the constant admonitions of those
who would have us set ourselves against those identified
as 'evil'.
"Resist not evil".
Commentary
by Dan Berkow, Ph.D.
The prevalence of psychotic disorders is approximately
the same across cultures, a finding that intrigued me
many years ago when I ran across those statistics. And
depression is considered to be a world-wide epidemic,
according to the U.N.
Conceptualizable as an interaction of genes, biology,
family, culture, and thought-forms that is transcultural;
disorder within order, order with disorder, our human
condition.
Thanks, Gene, for your insightful comments about
aversion/desire and the use of double binds.
How about these double-binds: you're organized (to be
disorganized). you're alive (to be dead). you're here
(you ain't). you've a body (you're bodiless).
Yes, LIFE destroys me with a smiley face,
"gives" to "take away" with a smile.
Call it YHVH, call it Mandala, the wheel turns; I'm
strengthened to be destroyed; the attempt to destroy me,
awakens me.
If I *am* both apparent sides of all double-binds, no
double-bind holds me.
I awake - my double vision has led to dissolution of the
prison with no sides. The benevolent and wrathful dieties
are shining.
*****
Speaking (further) to the topic of double-binds ...
The double-bind was considered by Bateson as a
relationship pattern that assisted development of
schizophrenia.
The double-bind is considered to assist development of
hypnotic trance by hypnotherapists of the Ericksonian
persuasion.
So: If I'm good at double-binding, I maintain control,
you become uncertain, open to suggestion and, if it's
strong enough, paralyzed (entranced, bewildered, or
catatonic).
The double-bind can involve discounting a meaning via a
meta-meaning, as:
I harm you, because I love you.
Or,
Because I love you, you disgust me.
or Bateson's famous example of a hug that is given
stiffly with distance, the nonverbal double-bind.
or, related, and a bit more subtle:
Your feelings are unreal, my ideas are what you feel.
Now, there's a certain double-bind that is popular among
sorcerers, magicians, and some spiritual types:
Because I know nothing is real, whatever I say is real is
so.
Who is being hypnotized by that one? The sorcerer, the
universe, or the imagined audience?
How about in military campaigns: Create disorder for the
sake of order. Hate for the sake of love.
In spiritual circles, an excellent double-binding
technique:
People who attack are egoic. I attack your ego because
I'm nonegoic.
Now, *that's* a pretty mesmerizing technique. No wonder
it's so popular with so many "enlightened"
controllers.
No doubt I can benefit by understanding the double-bind.
I can learn to handle those who use such techniques in
interaction with me. Additionally, I can learn that the
double-bind I've used on myself allowed me the impression
that I took a form (and led to the impression that I then
could be involved with other forms that attempted to
double-bind me).
Intriguing that I would double-bind myself with the
formula:
I am aware of myself being
The essential double-bind that allows the construction of
myself as self-contructing is the situation in which I
notice myself objectifying myself by noticing myself.
Yes, it's all magic, all a double-bind, all a show
without an audience.
Even awareness is a double-bind: I am aware because my
awareness tells me I'm aware.
Even no-thingness is a double-bind: No-thingness is what
is, because no one knows that no-thing is.
I love learning this, because the show is awesome and
intriguing. Now, I don't have to be caught by it.
More by Dan Berkow, from September 27, 2002:
Double-bind
communication often matches a verbal message with a
contradictory nonverbal message. But it can also match
two
contradictory verbal messages, one which is the content
and one
which is the way that the content is delivered. For
example, if I
am saying "this is the way it is," but then, in
the way I am
telling you the way it is, contradict myself, there is a
double
bind. Thus, if I say, "everything is about
love," and in the
process of telling you about that, manage to put you down
in a
subtle way, perhaps by inferring that you are missing out
on
knowing or feeling this, there is a double-bind. The
double-bind
is used to hypnotically induce a situation in which one
person is
too confused about the rules to organize an effective
response,
and the other person seemingly achieves the upper-hand,
being in
control of how the rules have been defined and used.
August 7
Reality
and Manifestation
by
Wei Wu Wei
from
FINGERS POINTING TOWARDS THE MOON Reflections of a
Pilgrim on the Way WEI WU WEI (© Routledge and Kegan
Paul, 1958.)
Aspects of
Not-Being. I
It is less what one is that should matter, than what one
is not.
To acquire knowledge should not be our first aim, but
rather to rid ourselves of ignorance - which is
false-knowledge.
The qualities we possess should never be a matter for
satisfaction, but the qualities we have discarded.
If Charity (compassion), Simplicity, and Humility are
desirable as attributes that is because they depend upon
the elimination of qualities that have been discarded.
* * *
Behind the Conditioned is the Unconditioned. Behind Being
is Not-Being. Behind Action is Non-Action (not inaction).
Behind Me is Not-Me. 'I am Not-I, therefore I am I': the
Prajnaparamita Sutra said it a thousand years ago.
Transform 'I' into 'Not-I' and then 'Not-I' will become
'I'. Only God is 'I' (I am only 'I' in so far as I am God
or the Absolute, i.e. my Principle).
Does not one of our elementary errors lie in imagining
that we 'do' things, for it seems to be equally probable
that things 'do' us? We believe that we perform an
endless series of actions, but the truth may be that an
endless series of actions performs us. We think that we
manipulate events, but are we not rather manipulated by
events? We think we go to meet that which we experience,
but that which we experience may come to meet us. It is
perhaps an illusion that we 'live': we are 'lived'.
Take Life as it comes,' we say - that is be aware that it
is life that comes to us and not we who go to life.
What we call 'life' is only things that happen. The
patent (acquired) personality reacts to 'life' with
states of mind. The latent personality should be
unaffected by 'life': it need not 'do' and is content to
'be'.
The Buddha-nature is the unconditioned nature.
It is not for us to search but to remain still, to
achieve Immobility not Action.
We only exist in the instant: we do not exist as a
continuity, as we suppose. Our apparent existence from
day to day, year to year, is an illusion; but we exist in
each instant between the ticking of the clock of Time,
each instant not one of which are we quick enough to
perceive.
* * *
Action and Non-Action. I
Non-Action on the plane of Being becomes, by
articulation, Correct-Action on the plane of Existing.
Correct-Action may be anything from violence to what we
regard as inaction - for inaction is inevitably a form of
action.
The majority of our actions are Incorrect-Action. We are
mad monkeys eternally doing unnecessary things, obsessed
with the necessity of 'doing', terrified of inaction,
glorifying 'doers' almost uncritically, regardless of the
havoc they cause, scorning 'non-doers', equally
uncritically, blind to the prosperity that follows in
their wake, the former being the normal result of what is
Incorrect-Action, the latter being the normal result of
inaction that is Correct-Action.
But what we regard as action is really reaction, the
reaction of our artificial and impermanent ego to the
non-ego, to external events. We react from morning to
night: we do not act.
That, I think, is the explanation of the Taoist doctrine
of Non-Action. Explanation is necessary because
translation from the Chinese ideograms does not reveal
the difference between Non-Action that is noumenal and
inaction that is phenomenal.
The dynamism of inaction in a given circumstance can be
greater than that of action in the same circumstance.
Inaction that is dynamic requires vision and self-control
- for action is easier to us than inaction. It is the
dynamism of inaction that identifies it as
Correct-Action.
* * *
We are brought up to believe that in all cicumstances we
should 'do'. Rather than face inaction we spend hours
drinking spirits or consuming narcotics. Therein we are
reagents only: we 'do' but we know not how to BE.
Correct-Action should be normal to the man who has
realised his state of Satori, for his ego, dissolved or
integrated, is no longer in a position to react. In
consequence all his actions should be Correct-Action.
But Correct-Action must be possible to us also in both
its forms. Action based on affectivity, positive or
negative, action based on reasoning, dependent upon the
comparison of the opposites, and thereby relative,
involving memory, manifestations of the illusory ego, is
unlikely to be correct - for they are not action but
reaction.
It would seem, therefore, that Correct-Action can only be
spontaneous - the product of the split-second that
outwits the fraud of Time.
Note - The term 'Correct-Action' is an approximation
only, as would be the French 'l'Action Juste'. Two
additional terms could follow it in brackets in order to
develop its meaning more fully. These words are
'necessary' and 'real'. One may read, therefore, each
time, 'Correct, Necessary, Real Action', and 'Incorrect,
Unnecessary, Unreal Action'. But the more technical term
'Adequate (and Inadequate) Action', when understood, is
still better.
* * *
The dynamic inaction referred to above is a form of
Adequate-Action which on the plane of Being is
Non-Action. But negative inaction, which is a mode of our
habitual action, and which is reaction, partakes of the
unreality of that. Both action and inaction, in our
normal forms of manifestation, are on the plane of
phenomena and have no real existence.
There are, therefore, two forms of Action, real and
unreal, each of which has an aspect which we regard as
inaction.
* * *
Wei Wu Wei website: www.weiwuwei.8k.com/index.html
August 8
Long
Day's Journey into Night
by
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill's
Long Day's Journey into Night, was written in 1940 but it
was not released until 1956, after the playwright's
death. It's not an upbeat play. But the following passage
does strike a high note. --Skye Chambers
The younger son, Edmund, speaks about Seeing and meaning
and freedom;
"You've just told me some high spots in your
memories. Want to hear mine? Here's one. When I was on
the Squarehead square rigger, bound for Buenos Aires.
Full moon in the trades. The old hooker driving fourteen
knots. I lay on the bowsprit, facing astern, with the
water foaming into spume under me, the masts with every
sail in the white moonlight, towering high above me. I
became drunk with the beauty and singing rhythm of it,
and for a moment I lost myself -- actually lost my life.
I was set free! I dissolved in the sea, became white
sails and flying spray, became beauty and rhythm, became
moonlight and the ship and the high dim-starred sky! I
belonged, without past or future, within peace and unity
and a wild joy, within something greater than my own
life, or the life of Man, to Life itself! To God, if you
want to put it that way. Then another time, on the
American Line, when I was lookout on the crow's nest in
the dawn watch. A calm sea, that time. Only a lazy ground
swell and a slow drowsy roll of the ship. The passengers
asleep and none of the crew in sight. No sound of man.
Black smoke pouring from the funnels behind and beneath
me. Dreaming, not keeping lookout, feeling alone, and
above, and apart, watching the dawn creep like a painted
dream over the sky and sea which slept together. Then the
moment of ecstatic freedom came. The peace, the end of
the quest, the last harbor, the joy of belonging to a
fulfilment beyond men's lousy, pitiful, greedy fears and
hopes and dreams! And several other times in my life,
when I was swimming far out, or lying alone on a beach, I
have had the same experience. Became the sun, the hot
sand, green seaweed anchored to a rock, swaying in the
tide. Like a saint's vision of beatitude. Like the veil
of things as they seem drawn back by an unseen hand. For
a second you see -- and seeing the secret, are the
secret. For a second there is meaning! Then the hand lets
the veil fall and you are alone, lost in the fog again,
and you stumble on toward nowhere, for no good reason!
It was a great mistake, my being born a man. I would have
been much more successful as a sea gull or a fish. As it
is, I will always be a stranger who never feels at home,
who does not really want and is not really wanted, who
can never belong, who must always be a little in love
with death!
"...stumble on toward nowhere, for no good
reason!" No good reason indeed! It's always
available to Seers. It may not always be ecstatic, but
it's always Here. We are strangers to each other as human
beings. We are never at home as human beings. We don't
belong. But as This, it all belongs to (each of) us. We
are the Host, and at Home! Anytime! Anywhere!
August 9
The
Subtle Gateway
by
David Hodges
from
his Personal Journal
The bodies reveal themselves more and more. I am not the physical body. This year, through yoga and dynamic breathing, knowledge of the energy body has become available, and I perceive it outwardly as a glowing egg that roughly approximates the physical body, and inwardly as a sense of being able to travel the energy pathways of the body. The soul body separates easily from the energy body. That is, in meditation, once the energy body is in consciousness, the soul easily travels up and out via the back of the head or the 3rd eye and can then travel about the astral realms, or stay close to the physical/energy body, as desired.
Now I have discovered that, with the help of a guide, (my personal guide appears and is always willing to help) a gateway is revealed that leads upward to an even vaster, freer vehicle that I suppose is the subtle body (but the terms aren't important). Tonight I found my own awareness joined there with the awareness of all the "gifted" people I know, that is, all those who are open to inner knowledge. And as I enjoyed this super-collective-consciousness, I realized with a start that the Sages were here too - Ramana Maharshi immediately came to mind, also Nisargadatta...This revelation of their living presence in this sublte web of awareness set off waves of kundalini energy in my body which only stopped when I needed to breathe. But breathing brought me back to the energy body and to everyday awareness.
I rehearsed again the steps to get up there to that web, but couldn't sustain it, and came out of the journey. My first physical reaction was to notic how HOT it was in my room. Was it my own body's heat from all the k energy, or was it the heat of this summer night?
When I got on my computer I noticed Harsha had posted a piece entitled Wisdom Eye and the synchronicity was obvious. Harsha said, in part:
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!
And the sun is the delusion Of a way multiplied by two
August 10
226th
Chorus
Jack
Kerouac (from Mexico City Blues)
contributed
by John Metzger
There is no Way to
lose.
If there was a way,
then,
when the sun is shining on pond
and I go West, thou East,
which one does the true sun
follow?
which one does the true one
borrow?
since neither one is the true one,
there is no true one way.
And the sun is the delusion
Of a way multiplied by two
And multiplied millionfold.
Since there is no Way, no Buddhas,
No Dharmas, no Conceptions,
Only One Ecstasy--
And Right Mindfulness
Is mindfulness that the way is No-Way--
Anyhow Sameway--
Then what am I to do
Beyond writing this instructing
Poesy, ride a magic carpet
Of self ecstasy, or wait
For death like the children
In the Funeral Street after
The black bus has departed--
Or-- what?
--- Mexico City Blues J. Kerouac
Or- what?......Well, you could see if Big Brother has any
records on you.
www.policeguide.com/cgi-bin/criminal-search (link no
longer functions)
August 11
Interview with Timothee Roi Diers
The following is from an interview with Timothee Roi Diers which appears in a forthcoming book published by Sagewood Press titled, "Dialogues with Emerging Spiritual Teachers" by John W. Parker. The projected release date for the book is September, 2000. For more information on obtaining a copy of the book, e-mail: johnp@verinet.com, or write to: John W. Parker c/o Sagewood Press, 1631 Trailwood Drive, Ft. Collins, CO 80525 USA. Reprinted with permission.
Q.
What is your impression or insight about the
popularization of meditation or meditation techniques as
a means of gaining a deeper sense of reality or
enlightenment? How do you see it now that you have gone
into that experience and have had other experiences since
then?
A. If one is looking for a conditioned peaceful life,
then those practices have benefits. If we are stressed
out and we use a meditation practice, whether it is on
the breath or whether it’s on a mantra, we may have
a feeling of relaxation since the scattered attention has
now been placed on an object of focus. But it’s
conditioned, because one needs an object to hold the
attention on, and to create an object you need the mind.
After the three-month retreat had ended I was surprised
to find that there were people who had repeated this
retreat many, many times. And I thought, "How could
that be? How many times does it take to be on a retreat
with that intensity before one reaches the so-called goal
of enlightenment?" Self-realization is beyond any
practice, otherwise it’s conditioned.
Q.
It kind of goes along with what a famous Buddhist Master
once said in the statement: ‘There is nothing which
can be attained is not idle talk: it is the truth. You
have always been one with the Buddha, so do not pretend
you can attain to this oneness by various practices. If
at this very moment, you could convince yourselves of its
unattainability, being certain indeed that nothing at all
can ever be attained, you would already be Bodhi-minded.
Hard is the feeling of this saying! It is to teach you to
refrain from seeking Buddhahood, since any search is
doomed to failure." On the other hand however,
there’s the biblical statement, ‘Seek and ye
shall find’. Can you help us understand the meaning
of the word ‘seeking’ in each of these cases,
and how it fits into the context of no intention, or no
effort in realizing liberation?
A. I cannot find anyone that can do any seeking. Who is
it that is even separate to search? I can speak to people
about looking for a teacher, looking for a practice,
investigating, observing the mind, but at some point one
will find there are absurdities in even these. Is there
anyone who chooses self-realization? How can intention
even come to play? To have intention one starts with the
idea that ‘I am bound’. It’s the same with
choice. It starts with the idea that ‘I am not
free’, therefore I’m choosing something that
would be better for me, which is in the field of time
because I project that somewhere along the road in the
future, that by doing something, by investigating, that I
will be liberated. And since self-realization is beyond
time, those ideas are completely irrelevant. All it can
do is fatigue us, so at some point we give up all those
ideas that we are separate from the Divine. Call it
surrender or grace.
In our dreams at night we can practice meditation, focus
on the breath, and we can practice self-inquiry. What is
the difference from that and doing it here? When we wake
up in the morning and realize it was all a dream then we
realize the futility of doing all that practice.
Isn’t it possible that in this waking state we may
also be doing the same?
Q.
It might be a little bit difficult for people to
understand what you just said in saying that there really
is nothing to do and there is nowhere to go because
we’re already in that enlightened condition. But yet
a lot of people don’t have that realization, they
can’t cognize that or they can’t realize that
in their own daily lives. How would you help us to
understand that particular situation?
A. Life will show this to you. The resistance that one
has will finally become fatigued. If an
"enlightened" individual and a
"non-enlightened" individual both moved their
hands, would the energy that moved one be more
‘divine’ than the other? Truth does not
discriminate. Nothing is excluded.
Q.
Even untruth?
A. Both are creations of the mind. There isn’t
anything we can say or do or feel that’s outside of
divinity.
Q.
It’s like saying that something (to use an analogy)
that’s part of the ocean is separate from H20?
A. Yes.
Q.
And yet the mind is part of that also. It’s just
that it’s in a limited form we could say?
A. Thoughts, suffering, non-suffering, non-thought,
they’re all contained within it. There is nowhere
you can go to escape truth, to go outside of Beingness.
The only way one can seem to do it is to create a story
that says, "I am not complete." Sometimes I use
the analogy of the sun. If the sun is burning, one can
look on the outside perimeter and see little flames
moving out and coming back in. Now is that flame separate
from the sun? Of course not. It is the sun. The only way
that flame can say it’s separate is to make a story
out of it, and identify with the form, with the height,
and with the movement of the flame moving back and forth.
It is the same principle with the waves on the ocean. The
only way the flame cannot be the sun is through a dream;
to say, "I am not that." Now what can that
flame do to be the sun again? Well, really nothing. It
just drops away. Nothing’s even changed. It’s
always been the sun.
Q
So it’s that identification with the flame or with
the wave that is causing the forgetfulness of the H20, or
the essence of the fire itself?
A. Do not even reject the identification, since in doing
so one enters truth and untruth, right and wrong. You are
not in control of your life, not even in creating and
dropping the story. There is an intelligence beyond the
mind.
Q.
Maybe you can help us understand what the concept of
‘enlightenment’ is. There seems to be a lot of
confusion
and many definitions in these times about the
term‘enlightenment’. What does
‘enlightenment’ mean to you?
A. Every teacher and every student will have a different
definition of enlightenment or self-realization. There
cannot be a concise definition because it’s beyond
words. Words are only metaphors of something. There are
certain words that can symbolize. In India they say,
"I am That", or "Isness". What does
that mean? It is absurd in the West. But those are some
words that can come close. If I say ‘God’, then
that has so many definitions and mental images. So
sometimes one can say ‘Is-ness’ or
‘That’ and be instrumental. What do I feel it
is? Well it’s certainly not anything that happens.
It’s not in time so there’s really no
enlightenment. Enlightenment is not a verb and it is not
a movement. Without using the memory how can you know
that you have gone anywhere?
Q.
Some say that through silence alone one can realize
enlightenment. Others say it’s through action alone.
How can we cut through this dichotomy?
A. Allow everyone to follow their own path. What
difference can action or non-action have on your Essence?
In a sense none of them are relevant. Certain
personalities are more inclined to do physical work and
service, which in India this path is called Karma yoga or
in Buddhism it is sometimes expressed through the
Bodhisattva teachings. I believe the Bodhisattva vow
states that one should not become enlightened until the
whole world does so. This may be a beautiful idea but it
is mixed with intention and postponement. That is why I
ask people to tell me something about themselves that
they have not memorized from a book, a teacher, or any
other source. Because all these teachings are indirect
information memorized. Your Essence will not be touched
whether you sit or move.
Q.
Ramana Maharshi, who was a famous Indian saint once said,
‘That which is not present in deep dreamless sleep
is not real.’ Can you shed some light on the meaning
of this statement?
A. In the waking state and in the dream state there is a
constant illusion of movement, and with our
identification with this there is an dissatisfaction
which results in restlessness. And yet, even though each
state seems very different from one another, there
remains something untouched, which some may say is
awareness or consciousness. This is the only thing in
one’s life that is constant and unchanging. But
beware not to memorize this, or it becomes another
philosophy.
Q.
In sleeping, it appears that there is a separation
between witnessing the world and directly participating
in it. If there is anything beyond this realization, what
would it look like? How would it best come about?
A. Please explain that to me again.
Q.
Basically what I’m asking is that we have relative
states of consciousness or awareness which are waking,
dreaming and sleeping. And we also have the witnessing
state of consciousness or awareness itself which appears
to be separate from the world and yet directly
participating in it. There’s a separation between
relative states of consciousness, and the absolute state
of awareness itself. Is there anything beyond this
realization of that separation, and what would it look
like; how would it come about? If there is non-separation
in unity, how does that come about between the relative
states of awareness, (waking, dreaming, sleeping) and
that ‘awareness’ itself if there is no
separation?
A. So the apparent feeling of the relative truth and the
witness being separate from that?
Q.
Yes as being a constant ‘awareness’ you might
say. And the relative states of consciousness are
constantly changing. That which is ‘awareness’
itself is never-changing. There appears to be a
separation between the two because they cannot possibly
be ‘unified’ if one is non-changing and the
other is constantly changing. Is there something beyond
that realization, that dichotomy between the two?
A. The witness itself is unchanging. There is only the
appearance that phenomena shifts and changes, because we
use the memory to compare and contrast. The mind is no
more than images or sounds that appear to be happening in
the present. And in that moment of memory we may say
something happened twenty years ago or five seconds ago.
Yet neither is true. There is no time in the
‘now’, because the past and future are only
projections. And if this is so, then does anything change
or happen?
What I speak of is very, very simple. I find that when we
spend a lot of time and energy investigating the
different "states" it becomes philosophical.
I’m not interested in any "state." There
is only this moment and if what one wants is absolute
peace then it cannot be dependent on anything, not even
investigation, not even thinking there are different
"states." "States" have to do with
hierarchy. I have no interest whether people see auras or
have "spiritual experiences". Investigating
chakras has nothing to do with unconditional peace.
People can spend their whole lifetimes under practices
and investigation. And peace itself is immediate and
simple. It’s the idea that spirituality is complex
that gives people the illusion that it’s difficult.
If we are complete already, then why do we have to know
anything about the dream state, or any waking state?
I’m not really even interested in speaking about any
of those things. Other people have done an excellent job
in doing that.
Copyright ©
2000 Sagewood Press
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction
of this quote in whole, in part or in any form
Timothee resides at Madhuban, an extraordinarily beautiful locale in Eastern Australia about 30 minutes from Byron Bay, to which the reader may find she or he has a calling.
August 14
Name
Points to Nameless
by
Sharon Hart
Sharon Hart has been guiding people to Instantaneous Awakening and Deepening since 1993. Sharon has a clear and gentle Presence which points potently and compassionately to the Truth. She easily recognizes in people the Magnificent Radiance which is one's True Nature. She has a gift for being able to unravel ego knots of misidentification which often limit people from living life in the Truth of Being on a daily basis. Contact Sharon at harts@ecentral.com
This article describe the basis for Sharon Hart’s Quantum Dialogue - that is the eradication of misidentification through the Light of Consciousness. Name points to Nameless.
As we begin to
intellectually grasp concepts associated with
non-duality, oftentimes the “spiritual
aspirant” will shun one’s own name as a
perceived identification as object. To the extent that
name is taken to point to some grouping of personalities
or conditioned sub-personalities comprising the
individual entity, this action can be taken to reflect a
degree of understanding. However this viewpoint is from
the lowest level. There is a higher level of
understanding from which to view the significance of
Name.
Generally speaking, we are given a name at birth that
remains with us throughout life (and ultimately beyond
the death of the individual body-mind). These Names are
given from a collective and deep intuition that who you
are does not change. There is the recognition there that
from infant to child to adolescent to adult, that aspect
does not change. The Love in which these names are given,
points to the recognition that this aspect is One and the
same for all of us. So, even though body, mind,
personality, etc are continuously changing, Name points
to that aspect which does not change - pure
Consciousness, the One, the Nameless (ultimately neither
named or nameless).
Viewed in this way, your own name is as powerful a mantra
as any. This is beautifully put by Tennyson in a letter
to R. P. Blood:
"... a kind of waking trance, I have frequently had,
quite up from my boyhood, when I have been all alone.
This has generally come upon me through repeating my own
name two or three times to myself, silently, till all at
once, as it were out of the intensity of consciousness of
individuality, the individuality itself seemed to
dissolve and fade away into boundless being; and this is
not a confused state, but the clearest of the clearest,
the surest of the surest, the weirdest of the weirdest,
utterly beyond words, where death was an almost laughable
impossibility, the loss of personality (if so it were)
seeming no extinction, but the only true life … I am
ashamed of my feeble description. Have I not said the
state is utterly beyond words"-?
By associating Name with the body-mind entity or
personality (and a host of other “normal” human
activities), one attempts to impress the eternal on that
which changes and is temporary. In the same
“breath” one superimposes death on the
deathless (this is a mistake and error of extraordinary
proportion). This activity, which takes many forms, can
be said to be the source point of all bondage and
suffering. But this is merely an illusion since the
Changeless cannot be changed nor can It be made to die.
This is misidentification (with a capital M if you like).
There is another way of looking at this that may be
easier to relate to, however it should be kept in mind
that the more detailed these concepts become, the less
directly that they point to the ultimate Reality. There
is also the danger that because these concepts are more
easily related to and understood, there may be a tendency
to cling to them, and thus objectify That which cannot be
objectified. In which case one has merely returned to the
starting point. The intent of these concepts is to free
one of concepts, not solidify new ones. With that
qualification, let us begin.
From the standpoint of the absolute Reality, there is no
space, no time, no objects (gross or subtle). That
Awareness is unaware of itself in the sense that there is
no other background from which to make any distinction.
There is only Consciousness. From the standpoint of the
space/time-bound mind, space-time was created so that
perception of thoughts (subtle objects) is made possible
through extension in time and perception of objects
(gross objects) is made possible through extension in
time and space. But from the standpoint of the Absolute,
nothing ever happened since the Nameless is devoid of
these extensions (or limitations). In this
“creation” there is the apparent split between
subject and object in which all perceiving is made
possible.
And so,
“things” are experienced by distinguishing what
they are not. So we have duality - the awareness of
“things”. If one of these “things”
were to become permanent, the awareness of it would be
extinguished with time. And so, duality is change,
guaranteed and fully warranted for the lifetime of the
individual. “Things” are more keenly
discriminated by their opposites, so the experience of a
“thing” comes with its opposite in some time
and form (if you examine your experience you will find
instances where they come together - inexplicable
dimension and dynamic range of form and feeling). And so,
duality is the experience of opposites, also guaranteed
and fully warranted for the lifetime of the individual.
As a child matures, he/she develops or is taught identity
as an individual. The very fact that this must be
developed points to the Truth of the matter. In this
development, the pure function of perceiving is replaced
by the concept of a perceiver and that which is
perceived. As identity progresses, the sense of
separation is reinforced until the concept of an
independent doer of actions becomes rather firmly
implanted. At some point along this path, the
child/adolescent “buys off on” this concept or
“state of affairs” and makes the decision to
play this game with the world in spite of a still
operational intuitive function that registers illusion on
the computer screen. Regardless of whether this decision
is made in an instant or over years, the vast majority of
us forget it. And so involvement in life story develops
into life struggle as the game is replaced by a
superimposition of and on Reality (misidentification with
a capital M). This is all so very natural (or unnatural
depending on the level of your view).
Now what happens? At the core of our Heart is a
longing/desire for the eternal and for happiness.
Ultimately these two are the same. As a result of the
misidentification (with capital M), the search for
happiness manifests outwardly in the world of objects.
The house, the car, the wife, the kids, the job, the
vacations … and so on become the objects of the
desire for happiness. Even the search for Understanding
and Enlightenment is no different. When an object of
desire is acquired and enjoyed, happiness is experienced.
But in this happiness there is no one that is happy;
there is just happiness. A most care-free and enjoyable
condition. But as that happiness fades you come back and
say it was me that was happy (and the cause was the
object). Happiness is Being, not being or becoming or
getting any thing. It is everyone’s experience that
this object-derived happiness is temporary. And so, like
an addict, the search goes on for that next object of
happiness or pleasure. The me/mind then decides what that
next object will be. We ignore the fact that the
happiness derived from the object points directly to the
Source of Happiness that is the Self (there is no such
thing as happiness quanta that emanate from the object to
the individual). One is already that Happiness and no
amount of searching/becoming/getting can replace it. The
eye cannot see the eye and the Seeker is the Sought. This
is Realized when the concept of a me and the illusion of
independent doership are eradicated in Truth.
The longing and desire for the eternal manifest in a
similar way under the condition of misidentification
(with capital M). Nobody wants to die. Everybody wants
eternal happiness. And nobody wants eternal suffering and
pain. Under the condition of misidentification, however,
the eternal is projected or imposed on all of that which
changes (ie: the mind, body, personality, world, …).
Intellectually, of course, everyone will admit that they
are going to die. But even in this simple admission there
is the underlying intuition that this dying business just
simply is not the case. Yet our actions speak otherwise.
We always want something or other not to change. We will
work unceasingly to try to ensure “things”
don’t change in a world that is guaranteed and
warranted to change continuously. We attempt to build
security and eternity out of a world that is insecure and
temporary in nature. And all of that in the face of the
fact that we already are That which is changeless and
eternal.
There has never been a doer of deeds. Many deeds have
been done but not by doers. There are many actions, but
no actors. Or as Wu Wei put it, “NOBODY HAS EVER
DONE ANYTHING, but innumerable actions have been
performed”. Many individuals have intuited this to
varying degrees. Einstein refused publicly to take credit
for the illuminations that led to his published theories.
He recognized that the illusory individual (a concept)
was not capable of such realizations, the source being
unknown. The me that was the individual called Einstein
did not cause or receive the realizations that led to the
translated theories. The most that can be said is the
body-mind called Einstein was the functioning agent
through which these realizations were translated (or
through which the actions took place). There was never a
doer there and Einstein knew it. This points to Grace.
The Understanding referred to here is the realization
that there is no doer, that all there is is
Consciousness, and that nothing ever happened.
This is the complete and final absence of the me concept
(or illusion). In the absence of a me that could have
ever done anything, the only explanation for the event is
that of Grace (the illusion cannot rid itself of the
illusion). But the concept of Grace is nothing more than
a pointer itself to That which cannot be described,
conceptualized, named, thought, or experienced. The I
cannot see the I, and the Seeker is the Sought.
There are many ways to conceptualize non-doership that
can effect a transcendence of the sense of separation and
a kind of surrender to What Is. This acceptance, in the
ultimate, is completely open and unqualified. Picture the
Universe and all “things” as connected in a
nodal mesh of many dimensions. “Things” include
all gross and subtle
objects (thoughts, feelings, ideas, concepts, etc.). Any
event involving a “thing” effects every other
“thing” through that nodal mesh that connects
every “thing” to every other “thing”.
So the mesh network or Totality itself operates as one in
which the operative phrase is “you pull a blade of
grass and you shake the universe”. In other words,
nothing can happen independent of the whole of Totality.
So the whole mesh moves and vibrates as a single unit
without regard for any of the individual constituent
nodes. And all events are contained in this movement. All
events are this movement.
Now, if this nodal mesh of Totality is likened to a
machine made of nuts, bolts, washers, levers, belts…
etc, it can be seen that the individual parts cannot have
independent volition. If they did, the machine would fly
apart and be no more. The machine is so vast that the
mind cannot comprehend the operation of Totality so it
appears that “things” are chaotic,
disconnected, and independent of one another. And from
this appearance, springs the notion of individual
doership and illusory control and volition. If it happens
that you are reading these words, it is not because you
chose to do so. It is an event in Totality that is
“dictated” by every other “thing” in
Totality. Likewise, the conviction that one is not the
doer just happens, and no amount of personal effort on
the part of the illusory separate entity can bring this
conviction about. There never has, is, or will be a doer
of anything. There is only What Is.
When one identifies Name with individual personality, one
identifies Self with the body-mind. As such,
Consciousness has identified itself as an object among
objects in the illusion of separation. The
characteristics of the one are imposed on the other in a
neat switcheroo. This occurs in the split mind which can
only perceive objects. And so the individual is
identified as the one that everything good or bad happens
to. Add to this the fact that the individual is not the
doer, and you have a most potent brew for pain,
suffering, bondage and limitation. And all based in
illusion and misidentification (with the capital M). By
the definition of illusion it is unreal just as pain,
suffering, bondage, and limitation have no basis in
Reality. The only bases they have are as pointers to the
Absolute. Rightly understood, then, pain, suffering,
bondage and limitation are doorways and vehicles to the
Absolute.
The basic bottom line in Quantum Physics is that nothing
exists in the apparent universe separate from
Consciousness. In other words, Consciousness is the
unknown but determining factor in all that appears to
exist. And this, from the subatomic level through to the
greatest heavenly bodies in the universe. This puts
primacy and origin with Consciousness and none other.
Nothing can exist outside Consciousness. If this is
understood and felt deeply then you are taken to the
Absolute where there is no differentiation and there is
no distinction. At this level it is seen that Self is
none other than the Source of all apparent existence in
the same way as described by Sages - that is, objects are
mere reflections of the Light of Consciousness (or if you
like: Nirvana and Samsara are One). Reflections of and in
Consciousness. Analysis of these words will produce
nothing. Understanding what they point to is All.
Let’s drop down a level or two from that last heady
paragraph. Even a deep intellectual understanding of the
above is likely to produce fertile ground for this
Understanding to take sprout. If Consciousness is really
all there is then where is fear? If you get a glimpse of
“No Fear”, then the train is on the right
track. If all there is is Consciousness, then nothing is
unknown because nothing exists outside Consciousness.
“Wait a minute”, you say, “you just got
through saying that Consciousness is the unknown factor
in all that appears to exist”. “Yes”, I
say, “and you are That”. When this is deeply
understood, there are no more questions. The eye cannot
see the eye and the I cannot see the I.
Many have asked “how can you measure this
Understanding?” The Understanding is not measurable
because it is always a whole and All. And yet there are
many references (by Sages as well) to level, clarity,
pureness, etc. This can only be addressed in an analogy.
Consider a large holograph in which the image is sharp
and clear. If you break off a small piece of the
hologram, the image still appears in full but it is less
sharp and clear. If you draw the analogy to
Understanding, then all Understanding is always of the
Whole. This is a very important analogy because it
implies that the Whole is always in the apparent part.
This means that your experience is always of the Whole -
not of some “thing” separate from other
“things”. This further implies that if you
fully, and without reservation or qualification,
experience any “thing”, you are taken to the
Absolute. The experience is a consummation where there is
no judgment, no expectation, no analysis, no thought, no
reserve, no memory, and no-mind. It is the utter and
complete surrender to the What Isness of the Present
Moment. Any experience will do. It might be pleasure,
pain, deep thought, taste, smell, sound, touch, a
beautiful scene, an ugly scene, or even the deep
contemplation of your own Name. If you are fully
surrendered to or consumed by that experience, then you
are consumed by the Whole and taken to the Absolute. In
that surrender and consummation you have given up your
concepts of the present moment for Existence as the
Present Moment. And That is All.
August 15
Email
List vs.'Real People'
by
Christiana Duranczyk, with Marcia Paul and Jerry Katz
Jerry:
The list is the list is the list. I try not to do too
much to it. It's a place where a person can come and be
tested and pushed, but nobody should be abused. It's not
an easy place, always. But I know that people who spend
time here find that any other 'spiritual setting' is a
piece of cake. If you can make it here you can make it
anywhere. This place forces one to find equanimity or to
split the scene. In any case, a break from here is always
good. I try to make weekends list-free.
Marcia: Perhaps you mean to say any
other spiritual list is a piece of cake. After all, this
is a mail list. I don't consider a mail list where we
don't even meet in person is much of a threat to one's
ego structure if that is what you mean by 'making it.' It
is squiggles on a computer screen. Real people in real
proximity is much more real.
Christiana: Several times you have
inferred that this list is somehow not real for you, as
community, as teaching mechanism .. merely squiggly
lines.
Each time, I have internally noted how this appears so
differently for me. Gene has often asked us to
investigate if we are real or hypothetical. It has taken
me time to begin to understand what this question points
to. After 20 months of being *here* and the rather
awesome internalized echoes of where I meet the spectrum
of energetic words spilled into this *place*, I have
observed the following:
* There is a significant difference in the movement of,
what I think Gene means by "hypothetical"
(which I have referred to as surface heart), from that of
the "real" (or Deeper Heart). I have always
known this, yet it was known within the singularity of my
own individual container. Entering here is a form of
entering a collective container. Each variant voice, met
within... either as sympathetic or antipathetic
movement... has been like a single instrument playing
alone suddenly finding itself in a full orchestra with
harmonics and dissonant notes all of one piece. The
hypothetical.. assuming this is what we refer also to as,
egoic structure.. has learned more to yield it's assumed
movement of leaning only into it's own image. This
yielding has occured as a direct consequence of the
internalized met tonal and atonal notes of where each
squiggly line has been known and dissolved within.
Meeting such a plethora of positions, has resulted in the
neutralizing of the charge of any position. So the
"hypothetical" daily becomes more a balloon
losing air. And as I observe the dead air being released,
it is always subsumed by fresh air.
You speak of lists vs "real people in real
proximity", and I find, in the most real way, for me
I see no difference. Sure, there are other facets of
knowing which are absent in this way of being with each
other, yet the core movements.. the dance of the
hypothetical and the yielding to the real occur
continuously no matter which forum we find ourselves
within.
The "threat to the ego structure" seems to
necessitate a willingness to allow this to occur. I honor
that for you this has occured in "real people"
exchanges and do not mean to contradict your experience.
I merely want to give voice to, that for me, it has
occured very vibrantly as I allow this list energy to
move through and dismantle the shell of me.
** The second piece seems to relate to whether the list
as "community" is also a hypothetical. While it
may be quite true that from the lens of the personal,
much can be projected into such a community, it has also
been my alive experience, that we are meeting on living
currents; and communion and direct knowing occurs in
language which needs no squiggles.
I have recently been in a variety of "settings"
and what is most alive is never the sounded language.
This is true for me here as well. I also have listened,
in such settings, to voice which echoed mine a few short
years ago. That this voice is silencing within me is no
small thing. The day that I left town, Xan posted a
response to a post of mine. She asked " What is the
simplest way you could say this". I thought about
that on my trip and what kept occuring is.. observing
movement... observing the movement which is a lie and
what arises in its place. Yesterday, with Rob Rabbin and
a small gathering, I found myself saying that life now
feels like a continuous entry into a parted Sea. It opens
before me, closes behind me and the lifeforms on the
surface and surrounds are noted, yet have lost their
imperative call... their compelling movement.
Such is the Grace of this place for me. And *you* are a
very real and most appreciated facet of this Grace.
August 16
Do
Not Test Your Mantra: A Story from Childhood
by
Dr. Harsh K. Luthar (Harsha)
with Gayatri Japa and Its Meaning, by Ram Chandran
Thank you Sri Ramji
for your post (given below after my story). This comes at
an opportune time as on HarshaSatsangh, there has been
some discussion of mantras. I am reminded of my own
childhood and will share the following story.
Hindus are taught the Gayatri at an early age as soon as
the child learns to speak. This is the first mantra that
I remember hearing and memorizing when I was around 3 or
so. It is held in much esteem of course and is said to
bring knowledge, wisdom, and purity. It is also meant to
increase intelligence and offer general protection as
well. I had deep faith in Gayatri and my first attempts
at meditation consisted of simply reciting it over and
over again with a focus on the forehead. I used the
Gayatri mantra for everything, even for escaping
punishment at school when I did not do my homework!
One day, when I was around 11-12 or so, I had not done my
homework when I went to school. I wanted to test whether
the Gayatri was effective or not and so I made the
following experiment. I thought that whenever I have not
done the homework and I recite the Gayatri, the teacher
never calls on me and I am protected. But how do I know
that teacher may not call on me today whether I recite
the Gayatri or not. So I decided not to recite and to
experiment to see what would happen.
Well the teacher asked all children who had not done
their homework to come out in front of the class. I sat
in my seat pretending that I had done my home work. The
children who had not done their home work were taken care
of first. They were beaten by the teacher using a cane
(this was typical in India of the 1960s). After the
teacher satisfied himself that everyone who had not done
the work had been thoroughly beaten and was sobbing
appropriately and repenting he started randomly calling
on the rest of us. I was sitting there pretending I had
done my homework and not reciting the Gayatri as this was
my experiment to test the Mantra. The teacher was calling
on other students for a while and I thought I was
escaping. About 15 minutes before the class ended, the
teacher called on me! I was quite stunned! Stammering, I
confessed that I could not answer as I had not done the
work. The teacher then asked me why I had not come out
earlier to accept my punishment for not doing my
homework. I had no answer to that.
The teacher decided to make an example of me and called
me in front of the class. For the next 15 minutes, I
received quite a beating from the teacher. He decided to
give me triple that of the other students and used his
hands as well to slap me repeatedly (as if the cane was
not enough by itself)! On top of the physical pain, the
humiliation was quite bad.
I learned many lessons that day. One of them was "Do
not test your Mantra!" :-)
~~~~~~~
Gayatri Japa and its
Meaning
by Ram Chandran
Hari Om:
Those who belong to the Yajur Vedic Traditions, observe
today, Gayatri Japam. Yesterday was the Upakarma day -
the first day to begin the study of Yajur Veda. This
tradition has been observed from the Vedic time period
and is widely observed by the followers of Yajur Veda
Traditions. This year, the Upakarma day was the same for
the observers of both Rig and Yajur Vedic traditions. The
Gayatri Japam is typically recited for 1008 (or 108)
times. The Upakarma and Gayatri Japam are considered most
important for unmarried youngsters who are entrusted with
the responsibility of learning the Vedas.
Gayatri Japam and Meaning
=========================
Aum bhoor bhuwah swaha,
tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasaya dheemahi
dhiyo yo naha prachodayat.
Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life, Remover of pain
and sorrow,
The Bestower of happiness, Oh! Creator of the
Universe,
May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light,
May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.
Word for Word Meaning of the Mantra Aum = Brahma ; bhoor
= embodiment of vital spiritual energy(pran) ; bhuwah =
destroyer of sufferings ; swaha = embodiment of happiness
; tat = that ; savitur = bright like sun ; varenyam =
best choicest ; bhargo = destroyer of sins ; devasya =
divine ; dheemahi = may imbibe ; dhiyo = intellect ; yo =
who ; naha = our ; prachodayat = may inspire ; Meaning of
Gayatri Mantra
Rishis selected the words of various Mantras and arranged
them so that they not only convey meaning but also create
specific power through their utterance. Gayatri Mantra
inspires wisdom. Its meaning is that "May the
Almighty God illuminate our intellect to lead us along
the righteous path". All the problems of a person
are solved if he/she is endowed with the gift of
righteous wisdom. Once endowed with far-sighted wisdom, a
man is neither entangled in calamity nor does he tread
the wrong path. A wise man finds solution to all
outstanding problems. Only those persons who do not think
correctly find difficulty and take wrong steps due to
foolishness. Chanting of Gayatri Mantra removes this
deficiency. The teachings and powers incorporated in the
Gayatri Mantra fulfill this purpose.
Hindus believe that righteous wisdom starts emerging soon
after the recitions (Japam) of this Mantra is performed.
Try chanting the Gayatri Japam silently and attain the
eternal peace!
Om Peace! Om Peace! Om Peace!
Whatever you love, you become.
August 17
On
Bhakti
by
Greg Goode, Ph.D. and Gloria Lee
Greg Goode:
For me, my devotion is towards Amitabha Buddha,
and I pay respects to Him every day with chanting,
incense, circumambulation and other offerings, etc.
Amitabha's main story is told in two Mahayana sutras from
the Pure Land School of Buddhism -- the Shorter and
Longer Sukhavati-vyuha Sutras (the sutras on the Display
of the World of Bliss).
Briefly, these sutras are narrated by Shakyamuni Buddha
and tell of the grace and saving power of Amitabha Buddha
(the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life). Eons
ago, before Amitabha was a buddha, he was Bodhisattva
Dharmakara. With the help of a buddha of the distant past
(Buddha Lokeshvararaja), Dharmakara was inspired to
practice for the salvation not only of himself, but of
all beings. He practiced for eons and created a
"Buddha-field" called the Western Pure Land,
where all beings can practice to perfection, and will not
retrogress into samsara unless they choose to do so from
a Bodhisattva vow to save all beings. Dharmakara made a
series of 47 vows on his path to Buddhahood. These vows
amount to Dharmakara's refusal of Buddhahood for himself
until all those who desire unsurpassable awakening and
remember his name are reborn in his Pure Land.
To me, this is a magnificent set of vows and wonderful
movement of Grace. The vows' fulfillment is also
magnificent. Because of Amitabha's effort and the grace
of previous buddhas, Dharmakara is now Buddha Amitabha.
Therefore, according to the sutras, all his if-then
statements have been fulfilled. So it is NOW the case
that all who have faith in these vows and sincerely
desire unsurpassed awakening are able to achieve it,
without fail! That is, through Amitabha's grace, our
awakening is guaranteed, actually already the case. The
Pure Land, according to one's interpretation of the
sutras and commentaries, can be interpreted either as
noumenon, or a land of phenomenal bliss of all kinds.
Gloria Lee:
Dear Greg,
Thank you for sharing this beautiful example of bhakti.
The stories of Budddhas and Bodhisattvas are very
inspirational whether one happens to consider oneself
part of that religion or any religion. On the retreat,
you gave us a beautiful experience of this walking and
singing chant, and it reminded me of how the sense of
worship and awe is missed when we lack a fellowship that
supports this activity, however it may be expressed. As a
child, my heart became devoted to Jesus mostly thru
singing, and no matter whatever has changed my thinking
and views of religion, that devotion remains unchanged.
To me, Jesus was calling for this Pure Land when he asked
that "Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven." There are so many ways and thru so many
forms that Grace does touch us, indeed this very company
of the sages here is one of them. Another way bhakti may
be described is simply, "Whatever you love, you
become."