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#1213 - Monday, September 30, 2002 - Edited by Jerry
GLORIA LEE
from NDS
SOUL AND THE OLD WOMAN
What is the soul? Consciousness. The more awareness, the
deeper the soul, and when
such essence overflows, you feel a sacredness around. It's
so simple to tell one who
puts on a robe and pretends to be a dervish from the real
thing. We know the taste
of pure water. Words can sound like a poem but not have
any juice, no flavor to
relish. How long do you look at pictures on a bathhouse
wall? Soul is what draws
you away from those pictures to talk with the old woman
who sits outside by the door
in the sun. She's half blind, but she has what soul loves
to flow into. She's kind; she weeps.
She makes quick personal decisions, and laughs so easily.
("The Soul of Rumi" - versions of Rumi by Coleman
Barks)
_________________________________________________________________________
JAN BARENDRECHT
oh goat you know calm
never is a man in peace
whipped by thoughts with will
turmoil daily lubricant
yet the pristine mind is still
_______________________________________________________________________
GILL EARDLEY
from Spiritual Seeker
simply see
From: 'A Gradual Awakening' by Stephen Levine
When we simply see--moment to moment--what's occurring, observing
without judgment or preference, we don't get lost thinking,
"I
prefer this moment to that moment, I prefer this pleasant thought
to that pain in my knee." As we begin developing this
choiceless
awareness, what starts coming within the field of awareness is
quite remarkable: we start seeing the root from which thought
arises. We see intention, out of which action comes. We observe
the natural process of mind and discover how much of what we so
treasured to be ourselves is essentially impersonal phenomena
passing by.
______________________________________________________________________
BOB ROSE
Meditation Society of America
A Present For You
When you are in a bathtub with very hot water, you are aware that
your body is warm and wet. When you leave the bathtub, the warmth
and the wet feeling go away. But that which was aware of those
things remains. It never goes away. This awareness, attention,
the
Witness to the events of the present moment of life, is your Real
Self. It is ever-present and to be present with It is the
greatest present. Every "thing" else goes away.
Meditation is a
tool that removes the obstacles and distractions that prevent
your presence in the eternally present essence/consciousness.
___________________________________________________________________________________
STEFAN
from The Other Syntax
"When a man behaves in such a manner one may rightfully say
that
he is a warrior and has acquired patience! When a warrior has
acquired patience he is on his way to will. He knows how to wait.
His death sits with him on his mat, they are friends. His death
advises him, in mysterious ways, how to choose, how to live
strategically. And the warrior waits!"
"I would say that the warrior learns without any hurry
because he
knows he is waiting for his will; and one day he succeeds in
performing something ordinarily quite impossible to
accomplish."
A Separate Reality
______________________________________________________________________________
JAN SULTAN
from Ultimate Advaita
Silent Awareness - Jean Klein
It is only through silent awareness that our physical and mental
nature can change. This change is completely spontaneous. If we
make an effort to change we do no more than shift our attention
from one level, from one thing to another. We remain in a vicious
circle. This only transfers energy from one point to another. It
still leaves us oscillating between suffering and pleasure, each
leading inevitably back to the other. Only living stillness,
stillness without someone trying to be still, is capable of
undoing the conditioning our biological, emotional and
psychological nature has undergone.
___________________________________________________________________________________
JOHN METZGER
My Past Life as a Dog
<http://salon.com/mwt/feature/2002/09/30/palmo/index.html
____________________________________________________________________________________
MARK OTTER
from NDS
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by
markwotter704@yahoo.com.
Nondual activism? (In support of the Democracy?) YAY!!!!
LOve, Mark
markwotter704@yahoo.com
Reporters Try the Silent Treatment
September 30, 2002 By MARK HALPERIN
The other day, something remarkable happened in the White House
press room during spokesman Ari Fleischer's briefing: restraint.
The issue on every reporter's mind was the same. Did the
president
really mean it when he said that the Democrat-controlled Senate
was "not interested in the security of the American
people?"
No White House press secretary walks into that briefing room
without first doing his own reporting about what the journalists
who cover the White House are going to ask.
Mr. Fleischer arrived knowing he would be grilled on the
president's comments. And he faced a difficult choice: repudiate
his boss's words or stand by a statement that seemed at odds with
the message of bipartisan cooperation the president has tried to
convey.
Of course, Mr. Fleischer also knew he had a way out if his
carefully calibrated answer was not well received. When press
secretaries get into trouble with the questions of one reporter,
they turn to other reporters who, eager to get in their own
questions or to secure an on-camera moment, raise their hands,
shout and do whatever else is required to steal the floor.
Another
question is asked, the moment is forgotten and the press
secretary
gallops free.
For many years, White House reporters have often undermined
themselves and their cause by interrupting a colleague who may be
closing in on the truth or, at least, on a nonanswer for the
public record.
Mr. Fleischer is adept at taking advantage of this situation, but
the model was perfected during the Clinton administration by Mike
McCurry and Joe Lockhart, who were expert at maneuvering the
briefings into safer territory. But now, just maybe, this era is
coming to an end.
The reporter who took part in this landmark moment was Ron
Fournier, of The Associated Press, who was invited by Mr.
Fleischer to ask the first question. Mr. Fournier inquired about
the president's intentions. "Did he misspeak," Mr.
Fournier asked,
"or does he really believe that Democrats are not interested
in
the security of the American people?"
Anticipating the issue, Mr. Fleischer gave an answer that some in
Washington would call a nonresponsive response. I'm certain there
were reporters in the room who thought they could ask the
question
in a clever way that would have compelled Mr. Fleischer to go
beyond his talking points. But instead of interrupting Mr.
Fournier and giving Mr. Fleischer a way out, they sat in silence.
Mr. Fournier continued, going back and forth with Mr. Fleischer,
with four more versions of the same question. In the end, Mr.
Fleischer never really answered directly whether Mr. Bush stood
by
those controversial words or not. But a point had been made.
So I say to the White House press corps: how about a
nonaggression
pact? If one of you is on to something, let that person finish
the
line of questioning. Ari Fleischer and his successors might not
like it, but the country would be better served.
Mark Halperin, political director of ABC News, covered the White
House from 1993 to 1994.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/30/opinion/30HALP.html?ex=1034448051&ei=1&en=53b5ca831564bf66
__________________________________________________________________________________
JERRY
from NDS
Brief Quotations from Native Americans
The following is from one of the many message boards of the
Native
American Nations group:
http://groups.msn.com/NativeAmericanNations/nativetalk.msnw
When there is true hospitality; not many words
are needed.
(Arapaho)
One has to face fear, or forever run from it.
(Crow)
The Grandfathers and Grandmothers are in the children; teach them
well.
(Ojibway)
Flowers are for our spirit to enjoy.
(Sioux)
Be brave where bravery is honorable.
(Assiniboine)
Friendship cannot be bought;you have to make it.
(Sauk)
When you have learned about love, you have learned about"The
Great
Spirit"
(Fox)
Words are the voice of the heart.
(Tuscarora)
When the wisdomkeepers speak, all should listen.
(Seneca)
"The Great Spirit" teaches the birds to make nests,yet
the nests
of all birds are not alike.
(Duwamish)
Is it not better for one hundred to pray for one, than for one to
pray alone for himself?
(Tenton Sioux)
All things have inner meaning and form and power.
(Hopi)
Teaching should come from within, instead of without.
(Hopi)
We are friends; we must assist each other to bear our burdens.
(Osage)
It is good to tell one's heart.
(Chippewa)
When you lose the rhythm of the drumbeat of "The Great
Spirit",
you are lost from the peace and rhythm of life.
(Cheyenne)
Inner peace and love are the greatest of "The Great
Spirits"
gifts.
(Tenton Sioux)
Life is not separate from death, it only looks that way.
(Blackfoot)
Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.
(Cherokee)
__________________________________________________________________________________
HARSHA
Terms such as depression, etc., are modern terms. Prozac and
other
meds are relatively recent, I believe.
You may be interested in knowing that Sri Ramana did once equate
Self-Realization with madness. The Sage of Arunachala stated that
the difference between a Jnani and a madman is that the Jnani
does
not resist his madness! :-).
So yes, the great sages are crazy, and on top of it, they really
like it! :-). :-). :-).
Dan wrote a brilliant piece on HS on certain gurus like Osho,
Krishnamurti, Adi Da who have emphasized their specialness. It
was
quite clear, funny, and insightful, I thought.
Ultimately, it seems to me that whether the eastern tradition or
the western tradition or the gurus are dishonest or on prozac or
valium or whatever is not relevant. What is relevant is our own
honesty with knowing where we are and not being distracted.
FROM AN NDS PARTICIPANT
I'm late coming in here, but I wanted to add that when depression
becomes life debilitating, whatever it's root causes, medication
can be an option that shouldn't be discounted. It's a very
personal choice. But I suffered horribly for a very long time
struggling to move beneath my depression, transcend it, come to
know it, ride above it, surrender to it.....all the
"tricks" I
knew, all the non-dual insight I could apply........I finally
decided this was another sort of martyrdom....and I didn't need
to
suffer this way....I could try an option...and if I didn't like
it
I could abandon it.
____________________________________________________________________________
JAMES TRAVERSE
from NDS
You are the Medium. You are the Marriage. You are the Centre
where
all energies meet.
You are the Singularity, the Child, born of the Union
(togetherness) of all couples/opposites.
All energies, all dimensions meet in the Centre - some call this
NOW.
The Centre is the 'Middle Way', the 'Golden Mean', the
'WaterCourse Way', the 'Golden Rule'...it is emphasized in all
wisdom traditions and sciences.
You are what is called the Golden Mean, or Phi - you are
simultaneously physical and spiritual (or whatever labels used
for
'this' and 'other') - physical existence exists at the only point
that it can *be* - the CENTRE or 'mean' (what is the 'meaning' of
the word 'mean' - note that it can mean either what is called
'good' or 'bad' - it is the mean).
OneDuality - two in One.
OneDuality - Definite and Infinite are its qualities/poles
(things
are all-together in the Centre and/or in Openness).
The Definite qulaity of Love - is the 'meaning' of Life/Love
(mortal life continues within certain boundaries of this
'field'/mean and beyond those boundaries you no longer 'exist' as
a localized entity - there is 'beingness' outside this that can
only be touched/described intuitively - "Mediums" are
able to get
in touch with both 'this' and 'other'.
When we look telescopically we see this Golden Mean or Phi in
double spiral galaxies like our Milky Way - when we look
microscopically we see it in the double spiral of our DNA and
when
we look with our natural vision we see it in the double spiral of
the Breath, in sea shells, rams horns, sunflowers, our inner and
outer ears, in the dimensions of our face, our bodies and ALL
that
we describe as 'Beautiful' (art, architecture, the relationship
of
the length to the width of our credit cards ...)...
You are how the Infinite, which is the other quality of Love
manifests - its structure is called Phi, the Golden
Mean.
All-One Love.
Love and Gratitude,
James
http://www.beingyoga.com
ps...
Phi is the Golden Mean. (there are many sites on the Internet
about this)
The Golden Mean (or Golden Section), represented by the Greek
letter phi, is one of those mysterious natural numbers, like e or
pi, that seem to arise out of the basic structure of our cosmos.
Unlike those abstract numbers, however, phi appears clearly and
regularly in the realm of things that grow and unfold in
steps,and
that includes living things. The decimal representation of phi is
1.6180339887499... .
http://www.vashti.net/mceinc/golden.htm
http://thegoldenmean.homestead.com/
http://goldennumber.net/