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Editor's note: The last issue of the Highlights was
number 1003. This one is 1007. The missing three issues
were actually duplicates that were sent in the last few
days and which should have received unique numbers. Each
edition of the highlights receives a new number by
Yahoogroups whether or not it is a duplicate and our
numbers have to be the same as assigned by Yahoogroups.
These Highlights are uploaded to the NDS website and are
indexed by the search engine. A researcher would expect
the numbers we assign to the Highlights to coordinate
with those assigned by Yahoogroups. --Jerry

CHINMAYI

ON JNANA AND BHAKTI

"Among all means of liberation, bhakti is supreme. To
seek earnestly to know one's real nature -- this is said
to be bhakti. In other words, devotion can be defined as
the search for the reality of one's own Atman ["Self']."

-- Vivekachudamani verses 31-32 (Sri Adi Shankaracharya;
Tapasyananda Sw trans)

Shankara lived around the 7th or 8th centuries BCE and
is considered to be the "father" of Advaita Vedanta
philosophy. Advaita Vedanta itself is Jnana Yoga (yoga
through gnosis), sometimes seen at the other end of the
spectrum from bhakti yoga (yoga through devotionalism).
Commentators on Shankara note that devotional themes
emerge in his later works (such as the famous hymn Bhaja
Govindam.) Should the two be considered distinct or do
they support each other? What is "mature bhakti and
mature jnana? The argument has been that jnana without
bhakti can deteriorate into dry sophistry and bhakti
without jnana can deteriorate into sentimentalism and
fanaticism.

What is devotion for the jnani (or advaitist)?
Certainly, the definition and practice differs from the
nondualist (dvaitist), which usually puts great emphasis
on a sometimes troubadouresque kind of bhakti view and
approach. Indeed, some dvaitist groups vilify the jnani
or absolutist view.

But life goes on nevertheless....

VIORICA

"To know God is to love God. Therefore the path of
bhakti and of jnana are same. "

Sri Ramana Maharshi

MIKE CARRIS

For Chinmayi more Lankavatara Sutra

Beginning of Chapter 3.

Right Knowledge or Knowledge of Relations

Then Mahamati said: Pray tell us, Blessed One, about the
being and the non-being of all things?

The Blessed One replied: People of this world are
dependent in their thinking on one of two things: On the
notion of being, whereby they take pleasure in realism,
or in the notion of non-being whereby they take pleasure
in nihilism; in either case they imagine emancipation
where there is no emancipation. Those who are dependent
upon the notion of being, regard the world as rising
from a causation that is really existent, and that this
acatually existing and becoming world does not take its
rise from a causation that is non-existent. This is the
realistic view as held by some people. Then there are
other people who are dependent on the notion of the
non-being of all things. These people admit the
existence of greed, anger and folly, and at the same
time they deny the existence of things that produce
greed, anger and folly. This is not rational, for greed,
anger and folly are no more to be taken hold of as real
than are things; they neither have substance nor
individual marks. Where is a state of bondage, there is
binding and means for binding; but where there is
emancipation, as in the case fo Buddhas, Bodhisattvas,
masters and disciples, who have ceased to believe in
both being and non-being, there is neither bondage,
binding nor means for binding.

It is better to believe in an ego-substance than to
entertain the notion of emptiness derived from the view
of being and non-being, for those who so believe fail to
understand the fundamental fact that the external world
is nothing but a manifestation of mind. Because they see
things as transient as rising from cause and passing
away from cause, now dividing, now combining into the
elements which make up the aggregates of personality and
its external world and now passing away, they are doomed
to suffer every moment from the changes that follow one
after another, and finally are doomed to ruin.

All Lankavatara Sutra quotes from 'A Buddhist Bible',
p293,294 Edited by Dwight Goddard.

__________________________________________________________________

DAVE OSHANA responding to Jerry

Dave Oshana & Jerry Katz: like Two Peas in a NonDual Pod
- We go way back.

Hi Jerry,

dave oshana is a very cool guy

Why thank you! It's nice to be known as 'cool' not that
it makes any difference to 'The Work' - just makes
communication easier

and he's doing amazing good things.

Well, you know they are just happening (Did I say it
right, Jerry? - Coach me! ;) )

I've always supported his work. In the early days we
were in touch all >the time.

Gee! Jerry's such a big loveable bear of a guy. His arms
are wide enough to hold the hold the Five Great Lakes of
North America and the entire British Isles: England
Scotland and Wales, and Eire!

they're starting to call me Noshana. Because nothing
happens to people >when they're around me. They go away
and they say, "Nothing happened."

You sure you want such an exotic name? Did McDonald's
get famous by being exotic? You started well by sensibly
calling yourself "The NondualitySalon" not "The Advaita
Ashram" and now you have more members than any other
Nondual Yahoo!Group list. You even have 11 more members
than me. May you could spare me a few devotees after
they have grown tired of "parsing each other's
statements for signs of non-dual thinking", as one of my
recently awakened students enlighteningly commented.

How about "Jerry Noshow" - you don't turn up and when
you do no-one can find 'You' because the Real You is
invisible. The Show could be considered truly bland and
tasteless, as well as: colourless, odourless, &
intangible - and afterwards we can all go and eat Mystic
Pizza - which'll have absolutely Everything on top - and
a stuffed crust ...um yummy..I gotta go fill my tummy

Hey Jerry, do I qualify for inclusion in this weeks NDS
highlights? I'm taking serious time-off here to write
this reply. I'm gotta be writing about Ken Wilber's
reckless promotion of the "Rude Boy" as bona fide
spiritual teacher in Andrew Cohen's forthcoming book,
but first I am going to wake some people up...back in a
minute..

We love you in the UK - "Go Jerry Go Jerry Go!"

dave oshana Enlightenment Now www.oshana.org/

p.s. If you don't use "Noshana/NoShow" can I have the
first option on it?

JERRY KATZ

OSHANA: Well, you know they are just happening (Did I
say it right, Jerry? - Coach me! ;) )

JERRY: They're always just happening. If that view is
lost, freshness as a teacher can be lost. I saw Douglas
Harding give a talk with his wife that they've probably
given thousands of times. Yet freshness was maintained.
It could only be so because they feel their work is just
happening. They spoke for two hours. I got exhausted
watching them give their animated presentation. He's 93.

Teachers who get popular and go out a lot have to keep
fresh. It's no different than being any other kind of
performer. The energy that's bringing about
transformation may never lose its power, the connection
with source is never lost, but the human teacher can get
tired, sick, distracted, whatever. You've got people, an
organization, guys with pocked faces breaking legs. They
all depend on it all being fresh.

____________________________________________________________________

GREG GOODE

I have a friend in New York who for the last 15 years
has been in several guru cults and followed a few
satsang teachers around. Until he didn't. Since breaking
away from all of that, he thought very deeply about it
for a few years. He came to somewhat the same conclusion
you did - Take a look at the students. In his estimate,
most of the ugly dynamics are due to low self esteem and
unresolved parental issues on the part of the students.
He actually wrote about this and posted it on NDS. There
were several angry responses to his message....

_________________________________________________________________

BRIAN EARLE AND CAROL S. from Guru Ratings List

"Perhaps no one has ever had a teacher; and perhaps we
need to find someone to call teacher in order to realize
that."

Carol S.: Who's the teacher?The one you project that
role onto.

BRIAN: The cleaner the mirror, the more faithful the
feedback.

We also use our friends and lovers the same way. These
are people we choose, and who choose us based on the
ability to reflect back what cannot otherwise be seen by
us. Shadow stuff comes up in relationship. When we take
back ownership of all that we are, we "realize"
ourselves completely. The nice thing about guru yoga (as
opposed to other kinds of relational yoga, including
intimacy and therapy) is that it is conscious of itself
AS yoga.

CAROL S.: My perception of her changes each time I'm
with her; I feel enlightened or disappointed or angry or
scared or busted or supported or deeply in love; but she
never moves...it's me.

BRIAN: Only one who recognizes that he/she is not
separate can remain so unmoved. Unmoved in this case
means having one's roots fully penetrated into the
absolute, while the wind blows and bends the boughs.

CAROL: Who is the teacher? Nothing more or less than the
mirror of myself and my experience and my thinking.

BRIAN: Yes, the mind in other words (Tibetan Buddhism
likens the mind to a mirror).

Those who rest in this breath are like flat water that
reflects clouds.

CAROL: Perhaps no one has ever had a teacher; and
perhaps we need to find someone to call teacher in order
to realize that.

BRIAN: Good point. Before awakening we think we need the
validation, but it turns out we really don't.

This really turns the whole "guru rating" thing on its
ear. Anyone want to start at seeker rating list?
Probably not. Hits to close to home.

______________________________________________________________

HEIDI

"Teachers of Enlightenment, whether they have a pleasing
personality, or a rough one, are DIRT."

what makes a guru cult? well it certainly isn't the
guru. it's those idiots that surround gurus.
................matthew

Friggin hellarious analysis, matthew. Many tanks.

But you know, seen from another view, it's not the
leader nor the follower that should be singled out, any
more than it's the dirt, or in-grown hair, clogging some
random skin pore, that causes that unsightly zit or, if
untreated, boil to explode on the skin and make your
life miserable for a day or a week (if you let it).

Teachers of Enlightenment, whether they have a pleasing
personality, or a rough one, are DIRT - common HAIRY
DIRT! - and they clog the skin-pores of Life, requiring
immediate remedial action - white blood cells swarm to
the spot, like moths to the enlightened, to deal with
the situation in the only way they can - hence, it gets
noticed.

If Mr. or Ms. Dirty Hairy had not clogged the skin, it
would have been absorbed or expelled - a non-event -
requiring no further action. But, Dirty Hairy is
invasive to the body of Life, and not INTENDED to
produce good effects (though for itself, it "believes"
otherwise), but only bad effects, and bad effects are
usually what you get.

But, no worries, mate, Life is big enough to deal with
the situation with a smile, and nary a notice.

So should you - keep your skin clean and healthy and
you'll never need to concern yourself with the effects
of those Dirty Hairy bums again.

___________________________________________________________________

JAMES TRAVERSE

The most obvious and least seen cult on the planet is
society.

HEIDI

James - I'm just going to be 'RUDE' here, and say:

On the contrary, The most obvious and least recognized
cult on the planet is individual humans - not just him,
or her, or them - but each one. Of course, society is
comprised of humans, and groups for enlightenment exist
in society, and are simply part of man's hormonal drive
to community, to physical grouping.

Societies behave the way men behave and for the same
reasons.

Each person, in the mind, operationally, is a cult - and
one which is much more Rude and Not-rude (even silly),
than any Guru, Teacher, etc., whose hand you could shake
(and then run home and criticize him/her for 'their way
they are'.)

I couldn't PROVE this to you, but I could illustrate it
to you - and if you're reasonably sane you could See it.

Consider the internal application to one human nervous
system at the brain level: a man becomes his own cult
leader; he is *very* defensive to himself and others,
constantly restating the singularity and certainty of
his goals and aspirations; always and everywhere
attempting to present the appearance of a unified,
stable intellectual body - his community of ideas (his
'certainty' about 'certain things'). In other, not so
silly, almost RUDE words: telling everybody just what
kind of guru, er, guy he is (and what HE thinks about
'that burning question of yours').

The only way to break the bonds of genetic evolution, is
to make a PRIVATE effort for the release from the
pretense toward community that all men are forced to
make. Hey, to go it alone with real earned certainty.

JAN BARENDRECHT

James, is that a joke?

Sometimes a dictionary comes in handy:

society -------

1. a. The totality of social relationships among human
beings. b. A group of human beings broadly distinguished
from other groups by mutual interests, participation in
characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a
common culture. c. The institutions and culture of a
distinct self-perpetuating group.

2. An organization or association of persons engaged in
a common profession, activity, or interest: a folklore
society; a society of bird watchers.

3. a. The rich, privileged, and fashionable social
class. b. The socially dominant members of a community.
-------

Regarding 1a, there is no way out: the mind-body is
dependent on others regarding the continuation of its
existence. Wouldn't it makes sense to make the 'best' of
it? Regarding 1b, don't you think it applies to you too?
The same goes for 2 and it is a subset of 1a. Regarding
3, a little investigation will show that what now
appears as 'justice', once was used to protect the
privileged from those who already were without rights
but were in the majority... Considering the "success" of
justice systems, not a surprise is it?

For cult, the dictionary gives: -------

1. a. A religion or religious sect generally considered
to be extremist or false, with its followers often
living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of
an authoritarian, charismatic leader. b. The followers
of such a religion or sect.

2. A system or community of religious worship and
ritual.

3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence;
religious ceremony and ritual.

4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by
its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in
curing a particular disease.

5. a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or
veneration for a person, principle, or thing. b. The
object of such devotion.

6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric,
usually artistic or intellectual interest. -------

Wouldn't you agree that worship, devotion, interest,
ritual nearly have vanished from society? And that these
elements are obliged ingredients for the "glue" of a
stable, tolerant and righteous society? Have you ever
visited 3rd world countries outside the tourist circuit
and talked to ppl for whom Westerners are but arrogant,
wealthy and unhealthy?

JAMES TRAVERSE

No Joke.

Society is composed of mass hypnotized people who
worship and fear power.

The vast majority of people believe that they are their
body, mind and senses - try telling them that they are
not and see the response!

Most feel that they are separate - that there is dualism
- especially those in the privleged world and they
certainly influence those in the 3rd world.

This is insecurity which comes from the ignorance of not
knowing 'Who am I?' - and then grasping at that which
provides comfort/hope - something to believe in rather
than face the unknown.

The members of all those other cults had to come from
somewhere...

~~~

Ramana said it well 'I AM THAT I AM sums up the whole
truth, the method is summarized in BE STILL' - try
repeating this to the average person in society...will
it have a profound meaning so that it transforms that
persons life? - not likely, the programming is deep.

Society is concencus reality - a cult.

________________________________________________________________________

MICHAEL READ

Judi has premiered the ultimate in spiritual adornments.
You can see it at:

http://www.livingston.net/allison/sacred01.htm

_______________________________________________________________________

SARLO, SKYE AND BRUCE

SARLO: An Englishman decided that he wanted to become
Irish. After much research he discovered that the only
way to become truly Irish was to have half his brain
removed. He managed to find a surgeon who would operate,
but during the operation the doctor made a dreadful
mistake and removed his entire brain. When the man woke
up, the doctor said, "I'm very sorry, I've made a
mistake. Instead of taking half your brain, I removed it
all!" To which the patient replied, "No worries, mate!"

SKYE: Hehe but the problem is it doesn't work on us
Sarlo. Don't mean to sound biased ;-) - but the fact is,
a quick trip to PalTalk will confirm that the average
Aussie is well informed, refreshingly unpretentious, the
least conditioned, indoctrinated or religious, and
therefore make the fairest (albeit it at times
controversial) no BS administrators with the busiest yet
peaceful rooms. No wucking furries mate :-)))))))))

BRUCE: Oh, c'mon Skye -- everyone Stateside knows that
Aussies are beer-swilling, croc-wrestling louts
descended from convicts too incorrigable for English
prisons whose treatment of the indigenous peoples of
their oversized island makes the deeds of Custer and
Sheridan look like a U.N. peacekeeping foray! :-)

If Australia had enough population and even a modicum of
economic or military prowess, it'd surely be the
undisputed hegemon of the west Pacific. As it is, the
mighty Ozmen had to be rescued from the Japanese by none
other than the Americans. However, when left largely to
its own devices after the war, the overall competence
level of the Aussies and their Kiwi neighbors ensured
that the ultimate west Pacific hegemon turned out to be
Japan anyway, despite utter defeat and nuclear
devestation at the hands of the Yanks.

Japan exports its world- class technology and
exquisitely refined culture all over the world,
Australia provides Foster's, Paul Hogan, Steve Irwin,
Geoffery Rush, Cate (sigh...) Blanchette, and Mel Gibson
-- oops, Australia's biggest export industry turns out
be a Yank transplanted from New York! :-)

Well, at least the randy presence of so many GIs on
leave in Melbourne and Sidney while the war was on
improved the otherwise-pitiful Australian gene pool. :-)

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