Bottles
www.jb.man.ac.uk/~caj/ gallery.html (link may no longer be working.)

At some point it is seen that all inquiries
are containers with nothing in them. If the damn
things were refundable, we'd all be rich.
--Jerry

BUTSZ
from Live Journal

"...Things move. It is an ultimate pragmatism in the
midst of Infinity, a demanding consciousness where you
come at last into the unbroken awareness that the
universe moves of itself, that it changes, that its
rules change, that nothing remains permanent or absolute
throughout all such movement, that mechanical
explanations for anything can work only within precise
confinements and, once the walls are broken down, the
old explanations shatter and dissolve, blown away by new
movements. The things you see in this trance are
sobering, often shattering. They demand your utmost
effort to remain whole and, even so, you emerge from
that state profoundly changed."

-The Stolen Journals (of God Emperor Leto), in "God
Emperor of Dune"

__________________________________________________________

VIORICA WEISSMAN

It is God who yawns and sneezes
and coughs , and now laughs.

Look , it's God doing ablutions!
God deciding to fast , God going naked
from one New Year's Eve to the next.

Will you ever understand
how near God is
to you ?

Lalla,
Naked Song,
tr: Coleman Barks

_________________________________________________________

CHAKRALILA
from Yearning list

Divine Pride

One day, someone asked Rumi...

"We see that certain ancient sages were extremely proud
--what does such pride mean ?"

He replied,

"In people of God, pride is a pride of divine greatness,
and not a pride of opinions or passion, nor a presumption
that arises from high spiritual rank.
When the Imam Dja'far Cadiq,
who purified his soul and paid no attention
to caliphs and kings, was asked
about this pride, he replied,
"I, myself am not proud. I have abandoned
my own existence, the greatness of God has annihilated me
and installed itself in place of my pride;
the pride I am speaking of springs
directly out of the heart of the greatness of God;
as for me, in the middle of all its glory,
I do not exist."

Aflaki

____________________________________________________________________

SELF ENQUIRY PRACTICE David Godman

Beginners in self-enquiry were advised by Sri Ramana to
put their attention on the inner feeling of 'I' and to
hold that feeling as long as possible. They would be
told that if their attention was distracted by other
thoughts they should revert to awareness of the
'I'-thought whenever they became aware that their
attention had wandered. He suggested various aids to
assist this process - one could ask oneself 'Who am I?'
[ of course Dr. H's 'beef' with Ramana Maharshi is that
Dr. H would say 'WHAT am I, not 'Who'] or 'Where does
this I come from?' - but the ultimate aim was to be
continuously aware of the 'I' which assumes that it is
responsible for all the activities of the body and the
mind. In the early stages of practice attention to the
feeling 'I' is a mental activity which takes the form of
a thought or a perception.

As the practice develops, the thought 'I' gives way to a
subjectively experienced feeling of 'I', and when this
feeling ceases to connect and identify with thoughts
and objects, it completely vanishes. What remains is an
experience of being in which the sense of individuality
has temporarily ceased to operate. The experience may be
intermittent at first but with repeated practice it
becomes easier and easier to reach and maintain. When
self-enquiry reaches this level there is an effortless
awareness of being in which individual effort is no
longer possible since the 'I' who makes the effort has
temporarily ceased to exist.

It is not Self-realisation since the 'I'-thought
periodically reasserts itself but it is the highest
level of practice. Repeated experience of this state of
being weakens and destroys the vasanas - mental
tendencies - which cause the ''I'-thought to rise, and,
when their hold has been sufficiently weakened, the
power of the Self destroys the residual tendencies so
completely that the 'I'-thought never rises again. This
is the final and irreversible state of Self-realisation.

This practice of Self-attention or awareness of the
'I'-thought is a gentle technique, which bypasses the
usual repressive methods of controlling the mind. It is
not an exercise in concentration, nor does it aim at
suppressing thoughts; it merely invokes awareness of the
source from which the mind springs. The method and goal
of self-enquiry is to abide in the source of the mind
and to be aware of what one really is by withdrawing
attention and interest from what one is not. In the
early stages effort in the form of transferring
attention from the thoughts to the thinker is essential,
but once awareness of the 'I'-feeling has been firmly
established, further effort is counter-productive. From
then on it is more a process of being than doing, of
effortless being rather than an effort to be.

Being what one already is is effortless since beingness
is always present and always experienced. On the other
hand, pretending to be what one is not - i.e. the body
and the mind - requires continuous mental effort even
though the effort is nearly always at a subconscious
level. It therefore follows that in the higher stages of
self-enquiry effort takes attention away from the
experience of being while the cessation of mental effort
reveals it. Ultimately, the Self is not discovered as a
result of doing anything, but only by being.

As Sri Ramana Maharshi himself once remarked:

Do not meditate - be! Do not think that you are - be!
Don't think about being - you are!

Self-enquiry should not be regarded as a meditation
practice that takes place at certain hours and in
certain positions; it should continue throughout one's
waking hours, irrespective of what one is doing. Sri
Ramana saw no conflict between working and self-enquiry
and he maintained that with a little practice it could
be done under any circumstances.

He did sometimes say that regular periods of formal
practice were good for beginners, but he never advocated
long periods of sitting meditation and he always showed
his disapproval when any of his devotees expressed a
desire to give up their mundane activities in favour of
a meditative life.

______________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCING KATIE DAVIS

The spontaneous awakening occurred in 1986. The next 16
years were spent in gaining an intellectual
understanding of what had occurred, deepening and
integrating. I am in the lineage of Ramana Maharshi,
Papaji and Gangaji, however the last 5 years of
integration moving from the exclusion of everything to
the full embodiment of inclusion was with Eckhart Tolle
author of Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual
Enlightenment who lives near Seattle and is my dear
friend. I am grateful for his continual access.

Eckhart's website does link to mine. His is
<http://www.eckharttolle.com>. If you go to "Local
Groups" "Kirkland" you will find the link. This is how
the exposure began. I am meeting with Eckhart on
Thursday for revisions to his site which will present a
different type of exposure. My site is
<http://www.katiedavis.org> if you would like to check
it out.

I never decided to start teaching. Two years ago,
someone asked me to help them. Now, Satsang and Living
the Joy is offered twice monthly as well as another
group, The Power of Now Group, which also meets twice
monthly. It started as simply a video satsang group
with a friend and now is a beautiful time of sitting in
Silence, teaching, questions and video. I offer private
sittings in person in the Seattle area, but also
throughout the country by phone as well as giving
online support. My first tour begins this fall with
invitations to Taos, New Mexico, Tucson, Arizona and
Hollywood, Florida. Everything that is being offered is
without charge and without donation. And of course,
blessed by Eckhart.

If you are able to reach Gangaji, she did give
confirmation in Hawaii in either 1998 or 1999.
Blessings for your work, Jerry. This information might
be a good resource for many, if you choose. After the
awakening, I found no one as a teacher (blessing) until
1992 which was Gangaji. I lived through the drowning,
without drowning, but there was always the feeling if I
ever realized that I was already on the "new" shore, I
would be there for whoever asked. Apparently, that
asking has begun. There are only a little over 200
people that I am supporting, but really it only
starting gaining momentum in May of this year. Amazing
really. I have testimonials from people who have been in
my groups or with whom I have worked privately. If you
need to contact me: katie@katiedavis.org or (425)
821-3423.

In Joy,
Katie Davis