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Issue #1331 - Sunday, January 26, 2003 - Editor: Jerry (Today's regular editor, Gloria, is on vacation in New Orleans.)
Fritters
‘Space’
It just is.
An open abyss,
the source of wisdom
indestructible,
ever alive.
Life itself.
Tevon Dubois www.opalcreekpress.com
KATHY
Sufi Mystic
Salutations to Thakur, Guru, and Ma!
M.--"Thakur used to say that the jiva goes only as far as
Bhava. But Godmen like Chaitanya Deva and Thakur could
attain Mahabhava and Prema.
The company of sadhus is essential, for without it
nothing can be attained.
And then, what an arrangement! Did Thakur only talk of
the company of sadhus? No, he created sadhus for the good
of others. Such was his consideration for the devotees,
for the world!
Sadhus are like the head of the body of society. They
direct it. Just as the head is the most superior part of
the body, similarly sadhus are the most superior part of
the body of society. These people sacrifice their life
for teaching society.
Those who keep company the company of sadhus have to
their credit the tapasya of their previous lives. That's
how they have been able to realize the value of the
company of sadhus.
Sadhus are persons who try to live with God day and
night, like an advocate living with his lawsuits or a
doctor with his patients. Similarly, the sadhus live with
God.
Hold on to the company of the sadhus, the rest will
folow.
By holding the sadhus one realizes God."
Satchitananda
Kathy
YOSY
i've been privileged in my life to meet quite a few real
sadhus (=dervishes). people who cultivated inner
closeness to god, and it was their sole motivation. but
surprisingly, most of them did not keep the outward look
and manners of what is commonly termed "sadhu". and
most
of those appearing and presenting themselves as sadhus
and dervishes were this only in appearance...
respectfully,
yosy
ARISTA
Dear Y... :),
you raise a good point that, in my experience of the
world, seems to be overlooked much too often. (And I must
stress this musing has nothing to do with Kathy's
original posting or with any particular group of people.)
I have noticed - much too often for my taste - that even
some of the most spiritually "e(n)volved" people (such
as
diligent meditators, yoga and spiritual teachers,
preachers etc.) often seem predisposed to look for, or
accept, wisdom only in very conspicuously "different"
fellow humans (often elderly - preferably bearded -
creatures of the male persuasion...). There are also some
other easy targets such as beggars and vagrants (and of
course exotic "natives" from everywhere but our natural
habitat). But how many people even consider looking for
wisdom and enlightenment - let alone *recognize* it - in
the 14 year old denim-clad boy next door, or in a homely
housewife in the supermarket - or (especially) in a
sexually attractive woman in a cafe..? (And by that, I
don't mean abstract and generalized surmising that there
might be a beazel of wisdom hidden somewhere in
"everyone": I mean paying attention to what a specific
teenager or housewife or "babe" are saying or doing. I
mean recognizing words of true wisdom they are spoken in
a supermarket - not during a lecture or from a book;
recognizing acts of enlightenment in the setting of a bus
stop or a shopping mall - not during a "spiritual
gathering". I mean wisdom without quotation marks.)
I do not need an answer to that. But it is not a
rhetorical question, either. I would just like to - most
respectfully - suggest this question for intimate
pondering of every individual on this list (and
elsewhere) who feels inclined to do so.
:)
HAFIZULLAH
I used to go window-shopping in the area of town
frequented by many vagrants and derelicts. I always give
them money when they ask (or instead, food, if I'm
carrying any), as that approach frees me from making any
decisions about who deserves and who doesn't; such
decisions are often contaminated with my ego's
judgmentalness, especially when one would prefer to stand
upwind... Some of these people are really burned-out, and
some surprisingly clear guidance has come through them at
times.
YOSY
:) some years ago, when my kids were quite small, a
begger approached our car stretching his hand, at the
trafic lights at the entry to jerusalem. obviously i
handed him some of the loose change which is always handy
in a car. a friend sitting next to me remarked scornfuly:
"why did you give this young junkee money? he should
work! it will only enourage him!". i turned to my kids
and said: "remember well: if life brings someone to
stretch his hand out to you for help - give whatever you
can, no matter how he looks. in india they say: 'the
giver should be thankful'." and then turned to my friend:
"who knows? maybe we prevented some old lady's bag being
snatched with those few shekels..." i was happy to find
out recently that they remember and apply this advice...
"god hides a treasure in a ruin" rumi
ARISHTAH
Sometimes, God's Beauty pours out of another human being
without a syllable being spoken, as a kind of heady
fragrance. I've experienced this being near a little
toddler at a gathering of friends, an elderly woman with
what appeared to be early senile dementia under the
watchful and protective eye of her husband at the
supermarket check-out line, a teenage boy who some might
describe as mentally "slow" who clears tables at the
local diner, a handsome young man opening his mail at the
post office -- all kinds of people in all kinds of
situations. God is awake or asleep in everyone just as we
are, God willing, awake enough to recognize Him in them
-- as well as within ourselves.
from Daily Dharma
"To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's
family, to
bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's
own
mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to
Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to
him."
~~Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai
From the book, "The Teaching of Buddha," published by
Kosaido
Printing Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan
Gloria Lee
NDS
Mississippi John Hurt
We are visiting my husband's "roots" on the edge of
the delta
country near Greenwood Mississippi, like meeting his 94 year old
Aunt Delia, who still shells all the pecans from the big tree in
the
yard and has survived some of her 8 children. We drove out to the
old "Lee land" in the hill country, past tiny towns
like Avalon and
Teoc, on ancient dirt roads. His brother Billy still has some of
the
land there where he plans to build a cabin. The site where their
grandfather's house was, tho it burned down, had a delapidated
little house where Billy said Lucille, the sister of John Hurt
had
lived till recently. Once in a while the big black limo of some
record executive would pull up and ask to see where John Hurt was
buried. I listened to his records back in the 60's when the blues
was revived and played along with folk songs. It was a nice
connection to discover his family and my husband's had all known
one
another. We drove out to the little cemetery in the woods. Poor
blacks of that era had no real perpetual care like cemeteries,
but
buried their people wherever they were given permission to dig
some
graves on someone's land, which was the Lee's grandfather's
family
back then. John's is at the back of the path thru the woods, with
some other Hurts, and is one of the few (out of maybe 30) to have
a
real headstone. I'm glad he had a chance to know some fame in the
last few years of his life and that his music was appreciated,
but I
love that he played it anyway his whole life in obscurity just
for
the love of making music. I'll send some photos of his grave in
the
woods when I get back, but they cannot convey the isolation and
obscurity of the surrounding area.
Gloria
For anyone who may not know who John Hurt is, see these links.
http://www.mindspring.com/~dennist/
http://www.cr.nps.gov/delta/blues/people/msjohn_hurt.htm
New Orleans Choux Fritters
Ingredients
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 c. water, boiling
1/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
4 eggs
4 cups vegetable oil
granulated sugar
Directions
Melt butter in boiling water, add salt and flour and beat vigorously. Remove from fire as soon as mixture leaves side of pan. Transfer to mixer bowl, cool slightly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Heat oil to 375 degrees, dip tablespoon first in oil, then in batter and drop batter on paper towels. Roll in granulated sugar and serve hot. Yield: 3 dozen.
Elle
Natural Perfumery
The real wonderful quality Patchouli that I just adore smells
of forest and
nature and good earth, like the smell of the forest floor after
it rains.
Rich, deep and full of Mother Nature.
