Prayers at dawn
Men pray to the Hindu sun god on Nov. 10, during the religious festival
Chhat Puja in Guwahati, the main city of the eastern Indian state of
Assam. The ritual is performed after women break a three-day fast and
pray for the well-being of their husbands and sons.



All obstructions of defilements
and karmas of worry and trouble,
are in origin, empty.
All causes and effects
are dreams and illusions.
The great Way is empty and vast.
It is beyond thought and deliberation.
You, at this instant, have this
Dharma and are without lack.
-Fa-yung (593-657)


Non-Effort

The wind in the pines plays a subtle
song, of which I have become
effortlessly aware.
I did not compose it, I do not perform it;
yet it simply is as it is.
Nor do I strain to be aware of it.
It just is as it has always been.
The music, strangely, is as bright as
My Self-lit interior.
If I tried to compose it or
perform it, I could not do so.
If I strained to become aware of it,
it would surely die and fade away.
- Ji Aoi Isshi

The solitary moon shines on the cold spring.
Here in the spring there is no moon.
It is high in the sky.
Though I'm humming this song,
in the song there is no Ch'an.

-Han Shan



GILL EARDLEY
Allspirit

From: 'The Compass of Zen'
Seung Sahn

Correct meditation means understanding my true self. The path of
this begins and ends by asking, "What am I" It is very simple teaching,
and not special. When you ask this question very deeply, what appears
is only "don't know." All thinking is completely cut off, and you return
to your before thinking mind. If you attain this don't-know, you have
already attained your true self. You have returned to your original nature,
which is mind before thinking arises. In this way you can attain your
correct way, and you attain truth, and your life functions correctly to
save all beings from suffering. The name for that is "wake up." That is
the experience of true meditation.


JOHN METZGER
Allspirit

24th chorus

What I have in Buddhism
is nothing.
What I wish to attain
is nothing.

Let me explain.
In perceiving the Dharma
I achieved nothing --
What worries me is not
nothing
But everything, the trouble is
number,
But since everything is nothing
then I am worried nil.
In seeking to attain the Dharma
I failed, attaining nothing,
And so I succeeded the goal,
Which was, pure happy
nothing.
No matter how you cut it
it's empty delightful boloney

Mexico City Blues, Jack Kerouac


MATTHEW FILES
GuruRatings


I'm curious, Matthew. What does
the term "no-mind" mean to you? ~Melody

Melodious one,
..............Honestly, it doesn't mean a thing to me. I have
experiential reference points for what I would call no-mind, though
it may not be the same as what someone else calls no-mind. So I have
had experiences where literally there seems to be no mind, all
thoughts cease, internal dialogue stops, all the filters of the mind
drop. It is a nice experience, but I don't think it is something to
be seen as desirous of, to want to have all the time. There are some
great stories about Meher Baba and his work with Masts. Masts are
known as beings in various states of god-intoxication, in states of
absorption in the divine. Well Meher Baba went through this period
where he would seek these sadhus out and work with them, to bring
them out of those states back into a grosser consciousness, because
he said they were stuck there and were unable to progress
spiritually. Now that is interesting, because the descriptions of
those states are the kinds of states that most people would give
everything to be able to live there, but to Meher Baba's vision
these sadhus were very stuck. Also to me, the state of no-mind, is
very different than being established in, abiding in, non-dual
consciousness, which is not a state at all. Abiding in nondual
consciousness, mind works quite well, even all of it's critical
faculties. Abiding in nondual consciousness is inclusive of
everything, including all aspects of the mind, and the mechanism (ego)
which works to protect the existence of the physical organism.
...............matthew

MAZIE LANE
HarshaSatsangh

fog-light

Motioning...closer,
press in closer,
this fog embraces a thousand faces
as its own.
Trees blend into sun and sun
blends into earth, earth
blends into grasses,
moving not a stalk,
singing in a thousand Hearts
billowing
without stop -
everything bends inward
in this mystical fog-light
blending life with life,
motioning...closer,
press in closer.


photo by Alan Larus

ROGER ISAACS
NDS

A quote from Paul Brunton on the yahoogroups wisdom list:

There is here no form to be perceived, no image born of the senses to be
worshipped, no oracular utterance to be listened for, and no emotional ecstasy
to be revelled in. Hence the Chinese sage, Lao Tzu, said: "In eternal
non-existence I look for the spirituality of things!" The philosopher perceives
that there is no such thing as creation out of nothing for the simple reason that
Mind is eternally and universally present. "Nothing" is merely an appearance.
Here indeed there is neither time nor space. It is like a great silent boundless
circle wherein no life seems to stir, no consciousness seems to be at work, and
no activity is in sway. Yet the seer will know by a pure insight which will grip
his consciousness as it has never been gripped before, that here indeed is the
root of all life, all consciousness, and all activity. But how it is so is as
inexplicable intellectually as what its nature is. With the Mind the last word of
human comprehension is uttered. With the Mind the last world of possible
being is explored. But whereas the utterance is comprehensible by his
consciousness, the speaker is not. It is a Silence which speaks but what it says
is only that it IS; more than that none can hear. (P)(28-1.115)



photo by Alan Larus



MACE MEALER
Illuminata

Guru Yoga


That one should come here
by one way, denies the many
That one should come here
by the many denies the one.
Where is not here that one
should give directions.
When is not now that one
should ask the time?
What is without countless
causes except the spontaneous?
To take the path of
of ultimate devotion
without attachment,
is rarely effortless.
To take it as the only way
puts the infinite expanse
in the stomach
of a hungry ghost.

ALAN LARUS
HarshaSatsangh




since winters long
but will not last,
spin your cobwebs fast
around my flame of breath
and beating heart

sheltered from the northern winds
a million rising stars
pass us in this single night

sunrise, rush of sparrow wings
wake me by surprise

taking me further along
in your silent dream