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Issue #1313 - Wednesday, January 8, 2002 - Editor: Jerry
beauty dressed in snow
water doesn't need a coat
it dresses the show
--Jan Barendrecht
nobody will close
this show
up a hill, counting down
seeing the coat come and go
--Al Larus
from Talking Stick Wisdom
It comes from Me
Never at any time close your heart and mind. Never be afraid of
the
new, of the strange, of the unconventional. Be ready and prepared
to
listen to the intuition, to inspiration which may reveal
something so
completely new to you that it may not even have form or
substance,
and you may have to clothe it in words. Intellectual pride can be
a
handicap along this spiritual path and can be a
real stumbling block to the truth.
It is not the intellect you need; it is inspiration and
intuition. The intellect comes from without, whereas inspiration
and
intuition come from within and cannot be influenced by anything
without. Let your learning come from within; draw from all that
you
have within you. You will be amazed at what you contain. It is
limitless because it comes from Me and I AM limitless, and all
that
is of Me is limitless and eternal.
"Opening Doors Within" by Eileen Caddy.
Joseph Rily
Panhala
Under the Walnut Tree
When I face what has left my life,
I bow. I walk outside into the cold,
rain nesting in my hair.
All the houses near me
have their lights on. Somewhere,
there is a deep listening.
I stand in the dark for a long time
under the walnut tree, unable
to tell anyone, not even the night,
what I know. I feel the darkness
rush towards me, and I open my arms.
-- Lynn Martin, from Blue Bowl
from The Other Syntax
Reason in the human species should be bountiful, but in actuality
it
is very rare. The majority of human beings turn to
self-absorption.
THE FIRE FROM WITHIN
Carlos Castaneda
from NDS
Nowadays, suddenly I have to know who is enlightened, who's
not, who's
looking after their lower self, who's not, who's coming from the
source,
who's going to the source, who's imagining the source, who's had
samadhi,
who's had salami, who's a parrot, who's a turkey, who's an idiot,
who has
boomeritis, who has appendicitis. These things are often
diversions and
cards people carry. So I really don't care who is fake and who is
real.
It's just not an issue for me. There are more important things.
People who focus
on the question of who is enlightened and who isn't might ask why
they do
that, and why they categorize in other ways, and whether there
are more
important considerations.
--Jerry
It helps to know a bit about fractals or recursion.
The investigating mind doesn't stop investigating, it
only changes the subject. When knowing that most
feelings won't give rise to an analytical way of
looking at things, it can't be a surprise that the
products of the disorderly mind grow faster than
the means to put things in order again. Hence the
simultaneous searching frenzy for isues like
security/certainty/authority, irrespective the
yes/no enlightened. Having a book published and
getting quoted helps a lot to remain established in
the expressed beliefs :-) Not to mention a rating!
Viva conditioning.
Laughing,
Jan
from Daily Dharma
"In order to prevent all unfavorable circumstances and
adversity from
afflicting your mind, but to cause them to elicit a sense of good
cheer, you
should put a stop to experiences of aversion toward both inner
and outer
obstacles-illness as well as enemies, spirits, vicious gossip,
etc.
Practice seeing everything solely in an agreeable way. For
that to happen,
you should stop seeing those harmful situations as something
wrong, but give
all your effort to seeing them as valuable. For it is the
way our minds
apprehend situations that makes them agreeable or
disagreeable. For
example, those who reflect at length on the faults of worldly
amusements
become increasingly perturbed the more they are surrounded by
admiring
people and enjoyments; whereas those who regard worldly
amusements as
beneficial aspire to increase them."
~Jigme Tenpe Nyima, The Third Dodrupchen Rinpoche
From the book, "Ancient Wisdom; Nyingma Teachings on Dream
Yoga, Meditation, and Transformation," translated by B. Alan
Wallace and Sangye Khandro, published by Snow Lion.
Gene Poole
NDS
Years ago, one day while ensconced upon
my high tuffet, I was asked to vouchsafe to
one of my supplicating 'students', my own
personal definition of 'enlightenment'.
Thus, I said:
"Enlightenment... is knowing
how to talk".
And the following conversation ensued:
"But Gene, I already know how to talk... "
"Nonsense, graphhopper. You manage
to interpose word-symbols into a stream
of interpreted meaning which you call a
'conversation', but this is done solely for
the purpose of causing the extinction of
feelings which you experience as
disruptive to your desired state of mental
quiescence. If it were not for such feelings,
I doubt that you would ever utter a word."
"Uh...is that a Bad Thing, Gene?"
"Not at all. Or at least, let us hope that
is the case, for you share this peculiar
trait with the majority of humans.
"Just think... your most basic needs are
fulfilled by means of talking. You ask
for food when you are hungry. And now
you have discovered, deep within your
throbbing breast, what you have identified
as 'hunger for enlightenment', but please
understand, that this hunger is not really
for enlightenment, but verily instead, for
the extinction of a feeling."
"And what feeling do you refer to, Gene?"
"You have already confessed to feelings
of being 'unsettled' when you consider that
you are not enlightened, yes?"
"Uh-huh... yeah, I guess that is why I
am here."
"And you have assumed that it is
enlightenment itself, which will quell
these feelings of unsettlement, correct?"
"Yep. Isn't it obvious, that if I were
enlightened, I wouldn't have these
feelings... of fear and inadequacy?"
"My friend, you cannot 'cure apples
with oranges'. You are confusing,
overlapping, two real yet separate
things. You 'suffer' by means of your
own comparison between your
suffering state and the imagined
non-suffering state of 'enlightenment',
yet, you fail to see that it is the comparison
which you make, which is 'causing' your
painful feelings. And this leads me back
to your original question, and my
answer; the 'difference' between you,
the student, and me, the Enlightened
One, is only that I know how to talk.
And you don't."
"Gene... I am getting confused, but then
again, you say that I am already confused.
"Please tell me, the difference, qualitatively,
between how you talk, and how I talk".
"I will be most pleased to do so.
"You talk in order to cause the extinction
of feelings, but I talk, in order to give
rise to feelings."
[long pause]
"Uh... I don't get it".
"It's simple, really. Knowing
how to talk, enables the use
of speech as a creative power.
"The issue is 'creation vs reaction".
"You shoot the ducks as they
trundle by, and you are happy
only when they are all dead.
"I, on the other hand, send
special kinds of ducks, which
are actually quite bulletproof.
"Your frustration arises, when
your bullets bounce off of my
ducks. I arouse in you, by talking,
feelings which you are not
comfortable with. And the issue
really is, that you are not comfortable
with any feelings, whatsoever.
It is as simple as that."
[long pause]
"So it seems, Gene, that what is
going on, is that I am not allowing
myself to have feelings. And that
I prefer a blank field, duckless as
it were, for some reason."
"Correct. It is your job to learn to
talk. It is your job to give rise to
ducks which delight you, and by
extension, others also. When you
find yourself entertaining large
flocks of delightful ducks, without
the impulse to blast them into a
cloud of bloody feathers, you will
have succeeded."
"So what you are saying, Gene, is
that there is a huge difference
between 'coping' and 'creating'?"
"Yes! Acting in reaction is simply
imposing a norm, and as you know
from your own experience, it is
an entirely unpleasant experience,
especially if it is you, who is being
imposed upon by an 'other' who
is attempting to 'edit' you, for the
purpose of quenching their own
undesired feelings.
"Acting in creation, encompasses
the entire range of possibilities
inherent in any relationship, and
we see this internally, and when
we are with others. The so-called
'enlightened' person is simply one
who is unremittingly creative, and
expresses this by their way of
talking.
"Any challenge we experience,
will be successfully overcome,
only if we are deliberately willing
to experience the full range of
feelings, which arise in reaction.
"It is the automatic reaction to
'pain' of feeling, which triggers
the blasting of ducks. And this
is the usual way for humans.
"It is normal to experience pain,
to suffer; but it is not at all
mandatory to act in destructive
ways, in order to quench such
feelings. In a sense, such feelings
are our only compass and guide
to what is really happening. It is
a great tragedy that humans do
not even notice their own feelings,
as being literally a majority
of what is intelligence.
"The collective human psyche
needs an overhaul, in regards
to how feelings are evaluated,
judged, and dealt with. Anyone
who cannot accomplish the
move from 'coping' to 'abiding
with', is on the road to extinction.
And that road is quite congested,
and it is called 'the highway of
intolerance".
"And I hope that you understand,
that what I am talking about, is
something that each human has
to do for themselves. I can set up
the ducks, but each person has
to understand, eventually, that
the entire flock is their responsibility.
As long as the gun-in-hand is
an option, the shooting will continue,
and if there is one dead duck, the
entire flock is in jeopardy...
"Somebody once said, that until
'all sentient Beings' are safe,
no sentient Being is safe.
"No sentient Being, who persists
in censoring hir own feelings,
is safe; such a one, by censoring
hir own feelings, deprives
hirself of half of hir own potential
intelligence."
"Knowing how to talk, is the ability
to set up bulletproof ducks."
Nirji
http://www.cosmictreefellowship.org/cosmic_tree_fellowship002.htm
My time is eternity ... eternity my friend. I ... I don't think the world knows what to make of me now, let alone later [laughter] No ... for a time, as of now, the world will love me ... just a little. Toward the latter period of my life, the world will disregard me, even hate me, wrongly ofcourse, and because of me, hate all of you, because we were right! And because Truth is Truth. After I am gone, the world will wonder about me, trying to make sense of me, to no avail [laughter] The new world will proclaim me, the old will stubbornly reject me and eventually pass away because they missed me and sought to destroy me, not knowing me when I came before them. After that time, 'new mankind' will forget me, having found the fruit of my designs. At that time, my work will be done. On that day, I will be everywhere around them and laughing my head off in delight.[laughter]
Viorica Weissman
NDS
To another question Master said : The best is heart-to-heart speech and heart-to-heart hearing . That is the best upadesa.
D. Is not guidance from Guru necessary ?
Maharshi. Are you apart from Guru ?
D. Is proximity helpful ?
M. Do you mean physical proximity ? What is the good of it ? The mind alone matters . The mind must be contacted .
from Talks , InnerDirections Publishing , page 113