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Harsha:

You are the traveler, path, and the goal. We provide the
entertainment.
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Jan:

The 9-25 issue of New Scientist contains two articles about
memory; both are related to meditation. The first article
"Never forget / old brains can be helped to form new
memories" is about the discovery that memory deterioration
during aging is caused by stress hormones (corticosteroids);
they are blocking the growing of new neurons, needed to form
memories about recent events. In elderly people, the level
of these stress hormones can be the threefold of the level
in young adults.


So the forming of new neurons by K. awakening can have the
same reason; bliss and stress don't mix. It shows that
meditation, yoga, nonduality should have an important role
in society as a natural stress inhibitor. How medical
science will react is predictable: "medicines" to block the
effects from stress hormones. With the predictable outcome
of more stress, thanks to the better memory; isn't medical
science great :)

The second (small) article starts with the description of a
simple experiment: you are told, it will be unpleasant. You
are asked to plunge your hand in a tub of cold water (not
knowing it is 14 C), only to remove it when told to do so;
this happens after a minute. Seven minutes later, a similar
experiment: this time, the first experiment is repeated but
when the minute is over, the water is warmed 1 degree (C)
during 30 seconds. Which of the experiences do you want to
repeat? Most people choose the longer trial. The theory is
that the duration of an experience is neglected by memory;
there is undue influence by the most intense moments and by
the endings. So 90 seconds of pain (both 14 and 15 C is
rather cold), ending less severe is recollected as better
than suffering 60 seconds. This suggests inbuilt biases
like compressing time, giving undue weight to peak moments
and the way an experience ends.

It explains why a few peak experiences outweigh the boredom
of many holidays offered by mass-tourism and why for
mountaineers the few moments "on top" outweigh the many
hours of hardships. It also explains, why
"flash-enlightenment" reduces the "before" to something
insignificant and explains why "after"some have no problem
to live of life that could be called ascetic.

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Mira:

It is not only 'hard' to see Nonduality, it is simply
impossible to see Nonduality in daily life, for Nonduality
IS daily life.As long as an individual aspect of daily life,
like a person, is trying to 'spot' Nonduality somewhere
between all those daily activities, it is overlooking the
fact that this person is also a daily activity. Nonduality
is not a process, or a means to an end. It is the only
thing that is not in process, upon which all processes rest.

Alchemy sounds like a process though, for I understand from
you post that it addresses things as leading one's life and
insights into the nature of consciousness. I would really
appreciate it if you could expound some of the basics of
Alchemy.
_____________________________________________________________________

Colette:

My cat is definitely linked teleplathically with me. He
makes soul eye contact better than most men.

His awareness expands and is effected by mine. After I
received Darshan from Ammachi both my cats felt me through
the door waiting hungrily to get closer to Her I was carying
in my aura ~

So it seems to me cats can evolve deeper higher awareness
through absorbing energies of their owners.

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Rather, the other way around, Colette--the cat was
recognizing your "higher"state--Cats are born enlightened!

love, nora

______________________________________________________________________

"it's not what you say but how you say it" and yes,
bypassing verbal modes is a lesson i learned from my father
... flashing dimples into deep pools of silence

*g* ~ Lilies floating on calm waters ~

----Rainbo

The mystery of music....
vibration and sound waves...
Yes, the beauty of no language, or a transformed unknown,
mysterious language.

Music is not necessarily based on harmony. Perhaps 100
years ago, yes (western music that is).

Sound and silence...

Is there silence if there is no sound?
Is there stillness if there is no movement?

Where does sound stop and music begin?

--Becky

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There are some interesting theories being worked out in
music ... but for me it is one of the greatest gifts ...
Music is like God's waterfall of beauty to the world... :-)

A friend is an opera singer, her voice is clear like Light
... and when she calls it's like Heaven visiting as she
sings on the phone *g*

we did a concert last summer together, dedicated to peace,
just for fun, to play and send waves of love and light and
peace to the pentagon *g*
in wash dc next to the monument :-)

Thank you for the musical harmonious thoughts ~

~ * ~ RainboRebellina ~ * ~
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Rainbow:

in the meantime, *g* if i do not understand an event or
something beyond my ken, i will loudly exclaim that it
doesn't exist, such as "the world is round" "E=mc2" or any
other sort of phenomenon beyond my wee comprehension.

~~~ dancing in love with light ~~~
L*L*L

Dan:

Sounds like a plan. Now, if the world is flat, and "I"
don't exist... then I won't have to worry whether E=mc2 or
3.
Hey, this really works... -- lightly loving dancing

Rainbow:

Does music begin where sound is stopped? Hopefully the
musical harmony will continue on, my first love ...

Dan:

The sound of the bell... do you hear it?
It started long ago ... it started now

The ripples of its sound expanding from now into this

The space doesn't carry the sound to me, That is why I hear
it...


_____________________________________________________________________

aleks:

hi everyone!

i was able to attend satsang last night with gangaji. quite
an evening!
satsang began at 6:30, but folks were already there and
starting to line up by 5. there were about 300 persons in
all--600 shoes tucked in cubicles outside--looked like about
20 folks were part of her "foundation."

was fortunate to bypass the line--(if you don't like crowds,
get connections!) and the evening began with 15 minutes of
silence before gangaji arrived. i had brought with me the
silence of a pre-satsang hike up the mountain, and the
heightening stillness of the crowd was quite noticeable.

the posturing and posing of the ultra spiritual of my
community melts away, along with the worries of the day --
"the dog! the kids! the doorbell! "
self! take me away:)

let me set the scene-- this is being filmed, so there is a
camera and crew. comfy chairs for the "set", nice blue
backdrop and flowers, lit candles, and nice carpet and
poster sized photos of ramana and papaji. ..

it is all incredibly slick, but gangaji's message of not
being a guru, but that "i am your own true self" amazingly
does not get lost in all of this ambiance. ( i must admit,
that she totally "floats" into the room dressed in all
white-- holy ghost like and beautiful. ) her message is
direct and firm. always directing the questioners back to
the self. her silences are loud.

having viewed many of her videos, it seems that folks always
ask the same questions.

the first guy said he was happy. she just looks at him. he
admits that "there is a sadness there." she tells him to
put aside all the stories about sadness and really be with
the sadness. and he does have one of *those* moments-- he
says "it's longing." more silence. she explains the shift
in the guy's perception that has just occured. and no, i
don't think longing was the word. in fact i don't think
there is a word for what he perceived in that moment. :)

then there is the inevitable question about service, after
which gangaji explains that she was an activist, and learned
that her motivations were "all about me." the questioner
then asks her why she's doing what she's doing. she explains
that it's her trip- she does what she does.
she's not a missionary. she's just expressing the truth of
who she is. the message is that what you want to fix about
the world is really about yourself. bearing this in mind,
service is offered with that mindset.

finally the precarious person-- who feels psychically
split. pieces of her soul are flying all over the cosmos.
gangaji does not take this lightly (thankfully) and has the
woman, "name the pieces" (in gentle humour) and then
together they locate the piece that always was, doesn't
change, and cannot split. the woman is truly astonished.
"it cannot be that simple." she says.

perhaps it is and it isn't. . . that simple. (here's
where the olympic hurling team satsang comes in!)

i don't attend many of these events, but i am always so
pleased to be in the midst of others who are living and
breathing in this truth--and others who are drawn to that.
gangaji has such a great sense of humour. she is all of you
here on this list, in truth, with more props, a staff and a
great publicist!

much fun was had by one

love and blessings, aleks
_____________________________________________________________________

aleks--thanks for sharing--i really like these satsang
posts, tho i notice neither greg, becky nor i gave a full
report of last Friday nite with Francis Lucille(tho Becky
reported on a part that affected her)-Greg, you went to the
whole weekend didn't you?? maybe you could say something
about it...
Francis seemed quite different from Gangaji(as i've
experienced her on videos and cassettes) very quiet..
his main message seemed to be "know that you are not
separate"
and "celebrate life!" Every teacher has a slightly different
spin, tho they are all saying the SAME thing, which we also
get every day here at the good ol' Nonduality Saloon!
a round of drinks for all!
love, nora
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The Pathway of Nonduality

by Raphael

Chapter 3 (concluded)


Ajativada and Asparsavada

Q. Thus from the point of view of the Absolute nothing is
born?


A. From the point of view of the Absolute there can be no
birth or death, transformation or modification. From the
point of view of the sun the earthly dawn and sunset are not
absolute realities, and indeed they do not exist at all.
There is no movement in the sun that can cause dawn and
sunset (duality). There is no movement in pure Being that
can cause birth and death.


Q. By what means did Gaudapada arrive at this truth?


A. By means of Knowledge, intuitive discernment and
naturally by relying upon the authority of the Sruti.


Q. But what kind of Knowledge?


A. The Vedanta, and therefore Gaudapada, proposes various
kinds of Knowledge: a strictly illusory one, an empirical
mediated one given by the manas (projective mind) which
knows only the object-form, and the immediate kind or
'Knowledge of identity'. In other words, one must
distinguish between what is simple sensorial opinion and
what is true and authentic Knowledge-Science which reveal
Reality, Truth as it is.


Q. In synthesis, therefore, what are the postulates upoon
which the Vision of the Ajativada rests?


A. There is an unchanging, eternal, ever-present and actual
Reality without generation and extinction, devoid of
cause-effect and of spece-time, having no contradiction, One
without a second. As Reality is constant and perfect unity,
all that is differentiation, multiplicity, fleetingness and
change cannot be Ultimate and Supreme Reality but only
appearance, representation which may seem to be real if
observed from the point of view of opinion. The snake we
see in place of the rope may be real as long as we believe
it to be so, but at the touchof Superior Knowledge the snake
proves to be a simple super-imposition veiling the true
identity of the rope.


The world of names and forms is nothing but mere appearance,
phenomenon which appears and disappears; it is a
continuum-discontinuum which may be interrupted at any given
moment when, that is, the Supreme Knowledge of Identity
(Para Vidya) becomes evident within ouselves. On the other
hand, becoming offers a knowledge which 'is not', an
unstable, uncertain knowledge, in other words, a
non-knowledge. According to Gaudapada all pairs of
opposites, no being Absolute, dissolve into the
One-without-a-Second.
______________________________________________________________________

Dan:


The attempt to "see" nonduality is the impossible dream. To
see the impossibility of seeing nonduality is, at best,
highly unlikely. If one could see how impossible this
seeing is, one would then be seeing it...
____________________________________________________________________

Jerry:

The type of energy between Sarlo and Petros bring to mind
the next vision. A television show. The Siskel and Ebert
of nonduality. Reviews of books, satsangs, websites.
Interviews with leaders and attendees. A fast paced show
that's fun, reverent, irreverent, serious, highly
entertaining, a mish mash of everything.

Greg:

We've already joked around about this in NYC. In fact, it's
the same 7 or 8 people in NY who bring all the teachers in
and organize all the events; like a Satsang mafia (I'm
trying to get two of these guys to get on the Satsang trail
and teach, but they're still fighting ego issues and don't
feel ready. I tell them that it hasn't stopped lots of
others...).

But I must say, this kind of TV might be too soon for some.
There are some folks out there who take this stuff deadly
seriously. The light-hearted irreverent approach we
envision will actually alienate some of the seekers/teachers
who would actually provide the best entertainment.

Case in point. Several weeks at our Tuesday evening Satsang
we had a hilarious game that alienated a satsang teacher who
happened to attend that night. Called the "Revolving Q&A
Satsang Game," it went like this. Going through our
memoriies of satsangs, and some books, we came up with some
very entertaining questions actually asked by seekers.
Wrote the questions on 5x8.5" pieces of paper with room for
answers. Then we passed them around the circle of people,
each getting a different question. Each person had to write
up to 5 words of an answer, then pass the sheet to the next
person, till the answer had (i) at least 10 words and (ii)
was finished off by one of the writers. Then we read the
answers out loud. It was hilarious to everyone but the
satsang teacher. He didn't find any of it funny, and thought
the rules of the game were curtailing our freedom and
sponaneity.
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Mira:

Does recognition of Self, affect its appetite? It doesnt
affect mine...

Jan:

30 years ago it certainly affected my appetite; it became
almost non-existing as the stormy K. rising brought more
bliss then anything I had ever known. So the body became
like skin over bones and sitting on hard chairs sometimes
felt painful but any feeling would almost immediately be
swamped by this ineffable bliss. Motherly feelings were
aroused in many women because of the "small face, big dark
eyes" look and they would offer a meal, insisting me to eat
something. In order to please them, some was eaten but soon
I would forget to be eating at all as the "pull of Self" was
so strong that everything faded away and attention couldn't
be kept on any worldly activity for about 8 months;

______________________________________________________________________

Bring in the clowns! Call in the clowns! Don't bother,
they are here. :-)

--Harsha

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