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***Becky's NYC:

New York City provides me so many opportunities to be reminded of the
complexity and vastness of life. Once I was mugged, the guy had a knife,
and I felt no fear. none at all.

My favorite piece of music is the sound of traffic whizzing by, coming
and going from perception. When I need to tune-in, the traffic is always
there to remind me of the non stop energy of life and movement.

I love riding my bike past people and their conversations getting
snippets of an argument or a business deal. It all becomes the same
story after awhile and helps me to see again that my story is theirs
too. I love the bicycle. It's a great invention. Using our own bodies to
transport ourselves. The bike messengers here are so beautiful to watch
because they become one with the bike.

One morning as I turned the corner onto 5th ave. I saw a dead man laying
in the street. A bus driver had blacked out on his route and the bus
plowed down everything in its path. The dead man was a walking messenger
and his delivery of thousands of paper were blowing all about the
street. Everyone was watching, some crying, saying "oh my god". The bus
sat still, crashed into a building a block away. The dead man's shoes
lay in the street, thrown from his body. On this morning, there was no
familiar sound of traffic, but after the mess was cleaned up a few hours
later, I could hear the horns and sirens passing by, just where one had
died a short time earlier.

Sometimes I hear homeless people on the street screaming "fuck you
goddamn mother fucking bitch" and I have a great respect for them--
telling us all how it really is sometimes.

What I am really saying is New York is all about impermanance.
Everything coming and everything going and I am part of that energy of
constant change and motion. It happens everywhere but NY is an amplified
and sped up version I think. It's immediate and the brutality of life
can smack you in the face here -- I think its forced me to look and see
and see again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***An invitation from Harsha, (internationally renowned for his humor
and sweet fragrance), to come to satsang:

I am glad you enjoyed the post Becky. I almost missed yours because of
the huge volume at the NondualitySalon. Like Jerry said, it is
metropolis, with all the lights, clubs, movies and entertainment. On
occasion, I quickly scan through messages when there are too many. I
have even missed messages in the past meant specifically for me. I
would like to invite you Becky, Kristie, Aleks, and so many others here
to consider joining HarshaSatsangh (if you have not already joined). It
has a slightly different flavor then the Salon, most of the time. It is
certainly not suitable for everyone, but I just want you to be aware of
its existence. You have to be there for a few weeks to catch the spirit
so to speak. This Satsangh is moderated by some of the most brilliant
and wise people you are ever likely to meet. We are always looking for
new moderators to keep the moderator/list members ratio low. Research
shows that this is most effective. Here are just a few of the
moderators.


Gloria Lee (Internationally renowned Mahatama Sri Gloria Swami)
Jerry Katz, the founder of the Nonduality Salon who is internationally
renowned in international circles.
Antoine, internationally renowned as the cable boy to the prime Minster
of Canada. When they can't get CNN, they call Antoine.
Jill Eggers, Internationally renowned painter and a professor of
painting and total master Siddha.
Dirk Hatuter, total Siddha master and humble and quiet and
internationally renowned
Jelke - humble and quiet and an expert on Advaita
Linda and TG, Internationally renowned for insights into the human
condition. TG is well known for her humor and generally extremely high
spiritual caliber of her writing.
Holly, Greg and Dan and David Hodges and Gene Poole: Internationally
renowned in the area of philosophy and psychology and literature and
spirituality in a variety of human and alien contexts.
Bruce: An authority on critical thinking and sober suggestions.
Jan - An internationally renowned authority on fruitarian diet and an
experienced and a gifted exponent of the nature of Kundalini Shakti
David Bozzi - An internationally renowned authority on whey protein and
its effects on the immune system. Also an experienced and a gifted
exponent on the nature of proharmones and food supplementation to halt
the aging process and increase human reproduction capacity.

HarshaSatsangh - Currently around 150 members.
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/HarshaSatsangh

Love you all

Harsha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Jan:
...It has been my experience that nonduality
(Being without support) will come naturally, even if one
hasn't heard of it before. If it wouldn't be that way,
nonduality would be just another mental construct.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Petros:

<snipped from longer post>
One (esoteric principle from the 4th way teachings ed.)that is very
relevant at this point in our discussions of human evil is a concept
called voluntary suffering. In this, one accepts or surrenders to
whatever circumstances one finds oneself in or whatever events occur to
one, no matter how seemingly unpleasant on the surface, as a means of
stepping up one's energy for the work. In this way, suffering and
undesired circumstances -- anything from a traffic jam to a holocaust --
are used, consciously and "selfishly" (in the good sense) as "food" for
one's further development. (Even if the body is lost as a result of
extreme circumstances, no work is ever really lost, so one can say that
one has still gained.)

***Kristi answered:
Yes, this is the ticket. It was this that kept me (keeps me) sane; I
accepted everything that happened to me in this vein, knowing always
that there was reason, purpose, beauty and strength, not in the
suffering, per se, but in what it would teach me. I surrendered to this
totally in the street and the result was....beyond words. The courts are
another matter, but the work goes on....and I am driven to mine the
higher mind, the enlightened self, forged in fire and in the seeming
indignities and miseries of this world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Kristi and Dan:

Kristi: Maybe you think I deserved what I got; many do. But if that's
what you see, then you are in danger of being the kind of person who
could justify the persecution of the jews or the native americans on the
grounds of the greater good, or on the grounds that the jews brought it
on themselves because of their.....whatever. And everytime you see
someone out there who doesn't fit or act the way you think they should,
and you close your heart to them, you have created the other.

Dan: Let's not see our heart as something that can be closed, or
suffering as "deserved" by any individual.
Empathy is extended. Suffering is the suffering of One.
Ending suffering is through seeing this One.

K: This doesn't mean you have to lift a
finger to help them, but if you close your heart you are a
perpetrator....to the degree that such a thing exists in Oneness at all.

D: Attempting to close the heart is the self-protection
we do when we misunderstand the nature of our heart,
of our being.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Becky and Mira:


Oh Becky!
Come on! Unenlightened? I have read the most wonderful posts from your
hand. I feel the thrill of living life between how you see yourself and
how you believe others see you when I read your posts! There is
absolutely nothing unenlightend about you. You are life itself reporting
the most mundane and stunningly profound experiences. I love you and I
love your adventures and preoccupations. Stop worrying about posting the
personal. Life is very personal, straight forward, practical and down to
earth. A personal-experience-post is not worth any less than a
'deep-nondual-perception-post'. Life doesn't make those distinctions. If
your experience is personal, then your report is personal. There is
nothing good nor bad about it. It is just how it is. Tell me about the
homeless! Tell me about NYC! Don't be afraid to live life
to the fullest and report on it.
With love,

Mira
*Mirror*
--------------

Dear Miramirror,
thank you for putting me in place. I really needed that!

I email a guy about all this stuff and he's been so thoughtful and leans
his ear all the way to me from wisconsin. That I can feel. He said that
I shouldn't necessarily expect the intensity that I experienced when I
first learned/unlearned (?) myself.And that you can't really learn the
same thing twice. Now I am wondering, "you know, it never really left
me, it's just a little different. maybe this time it is an easing into
to it more than a big burst".

too much judging of my own experience has been going on.

again, I thank you.
Becky
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Part ofa post from Greg:

Kristie is part of the happening.
Kristie and Greg and Jerry and Tim and Petros and Mira and
Andrew and Melody and ... and ... we are not centers of awareness that
things happen to. NO!! We arise as part of the happening! Anything we
can point at, to try to establish ourselves as a locus of awareness or a
center of suffering only serves to show that the pointed-to is an
object. And all objects are intermittent, not continuous. In the midst
of deep sleep, in deep fear, deep pain, intense orgasm or a great movie,
you can't say there's a Kristie present. She seems to make her
appearance only later, in the Monday-afternoon office-quarterback
session. So you can't say that Kristie is the one who went through all
this. It arose to the nothingness, the silence.

In the midst of great suffering, this talk is all very airy-fairy stuff.
If there's pain on one hand, and philosophy on the other, guess which
one will get our attention! But there are special paths within the
recent American non-dual tradition which specialize in helping people
through pain and unpleasantnesses. I know people teaching in the
following paths, and I've seen thesepaths work for people:

http://www.thework.org/awork.htm
Byron Katie - she speaks from the non-dual perspective, but her
workshops, called "The Work," have helped many people with abuse and
violence and family problems. There are lots of teachers of this Work,
and they travel all over the U.S.

http://www.livingessence.com/counsel.htm
Arjuna Nick Ardagh - His teacher was Papaji, and he was also a
hypnotherapist before. He has a method that takes you back to "seeing
clearly" - as he would say, seeing from the non-dual. Tackles lots of
relationship and esteem problems.

http://www.sedonamethod.com/
The Sedona Method - lots of my friends in NYC are graduates of this
training. It teaches you to let go of the thoughts and feelings tht
seem to be binding you. More recently this Method has incorporated more
and more non-dualism into its teaching, but it was always an excellent
step for people stuck on certain issues or feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Part of a post from Jerry:

Disease and crazy disharmony have a way messing things
up. They challenge a person to move again toward the center
and stay there. That center is the abode of simplicity and
simplicity is the atmosphere in which healing occurs, I
believe.

Being centered doesn't mean a person gives up a fight. It
means there is the possibility of understanding action,
others and one's own, and then the possibility of seeing
that all actions are right. But none of that makes one
wishy-washy or complacent. If anything, life at the center
is energizing. Things are done with being done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Part of a post from Melody:

>Kristie:
>
>It seems we prefer to have compassion for those events and atrocities >that
happen at a distance. The face of pain or suffering or >foolishness, it seems,
is too difficult to bear when it is near to our >own.

Melody:
I think you've touched on something important, here, Kristi.

So often what passes for 'compassion' is quite something
else. We can fool ourselves so easily. At least I can. :-)

For me, if I don't feel it in my body, it is not 'compassion'.
If I don't feel it in my body, then likely I'm only 'thinking' about
what's happening and responding from reason. Rather with compassion I'm
'experiencing' it along with them.

But when I consider Jan's words these past few days (which
I've been sitting with) about 'feelings' being the link
to suffering, I find myself at an intersection of sorts. :-)

When I'm 'thinking' or being 'rational' I am more apt to
mis interpret the sharing of experiences from another.

When I can actually feel the experience some one is describing
...in my body.... another knows immediately that I am
'hearing' them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Dan tells us about the birds and bees:


Recent postings about sex
by Kristy, Jan, touched
on an important issue. The sexuality
inherent in being is a core teaching
in Tantra and Qabala. The erotic
union of opposites inherent in reality
traditionally has been considered
a truth that is potentially
a "dangerous" teaching, probably due to
applications in the "Left Hand Path."

The entire
manifestation of reality occurs through
desire. The living, breathing universe
is sexual expression if sexuality is considered
in its all-encompassing aspect. Sexuality runs
through our lives (as Freud got in trouble
for observing) as thread from infancy
to death. What is nonsexual then? The only
nonsexual act is the attempt to mentally
exclude sexuality from one's being and awareness.
And this act itself inevitably becomes sexually
charged, revealing the futility
of establishing a separate mind.
Ego may want to be a controller,
but it turns out, itself, to be an
expression of the "controlled."
To see this is to laugh, and to
end the "problem" of ego.

Celibacy is one of many ways of expressing
sexual energy - simply because life
energy, sexual energy, universal energy are one.
The entire universe is electric,
singing, rhythmic moving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Petros posted this:

From: "Petros" <xristos@earthlink.net>

Here's a great summary of the Fourth Way teaching on self-observation
that I found in a book by William Patrick Patterson:


"To divide the attention, as Gurdjieff instructs, is not to increase its
force but to work with the level of attention already present. One
divides it between sensation of self and the perception of an object,
exterior or interior. In so doing, what colors and personalizes
impressions -- imagination, identification, inner considering, and
judgments -- is observed. If one cannot absorb the shock of a given
impression, there is immediate reaction followed by a train of secondary
reactions. If the impression is registered and not reacted to -- not
fought, not expressed, not fed -- then observation . . . has duration
and depth. The octave of impressions can proceed and its energy is
further refined so as to be 'food' for a higher body without which no
true self-remembering (work with sensation and feeling) can begin to
take place. In time a difference in quality is intuited between what is
seen -- the contents of one's awareness -- and awareness itself. The
ensuing friction created from the absorption of the energy of
impressions and the denial of reaction produces
an inner separation, an inner space."

"After the inner taste of the distinction between impressions and
reactions has evolved through long struggle with oneself, there appears
an inner separation in which (1) impressions, (2) the reactions to
impressions, and (3) that which sees both, is recognized. Emphasizing
the seeing 'eats' rather than 'feeds' the reactions. One's seeing is
thus direct, without the automatic filtering and coloring of judgments.
Attention is free and clear, the mind still and supple."

"But this state of vibration is not where one can begin. To believe one
begins from this high state is simply to remain mired in the thought
world where mental knowing substitutes for the ability to experience
it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Petros posted quotes from Gurdieff and Hubbard:
"The great aim of a man's life is to be able, without the slightest
complaint or wish that it were otherwise, to accept and even rejoice in
the
negative manifestations of others." G.

"Two rules for happy living. One: Be able to experience anything. Two:
Cause only those things which others are able to experience easily."
LRH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Melody quoted Edward Edinger:
"As it gradually dawns on people, one by one, that the transformation of
God is not just an interesting idea but is a living reality, it may
begin to function as a new myth. Whoever recognizes this myth as his own
personal reality will put his life in the service of this process. Such
an individual offers himself as a vessel for the incarnation of deity
and thereby promotes the on-going transformation of God by giving him
human manifestation."
(_The Creation of Consciousness_, page 113.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Andrew quoted Martin Heidegger:
"The thinker says being. The poet names the holy."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Tim quoted Swami Vivekananda:
"We divide ourselves into two to love God-- myself loving my Self. God
has created me and I have created God. We create God in our image. It
is we who create Him to be our Master; it is not God who makes us His
servants. When we know that we are one with God, that we and He are
friends, then come equality and freedom. So long as you hold yourself
separated by a hair's breadth from this Eternal One, fear cannot go.

Never ask that foolish question: What good will our love of God do the
world? Let the world go. Love and ask nothing; love and look for
nothing further. Love and forget all the 'isms.' Drink the cup of love
and become mad. Say, 'Thine, O Thine for ever, O Lord!' and plunge in,
forgetting all else. The very essence of God is love. Seeing a cat
loving her kittens, stand and pray. God has become manifest
there--literally believe this. Repeat, 'I am thine, I am Thine'; for we
can see God everywhere. Do not seek Him; just see Him.

May the Lord--the Light of the world, the Soul of the universe--ever
protect you!"

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