“If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the
universe.”
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Issue #1385 - Friday, March 28, 2003 - Editor: Gloria
Carl Sagan said:
“If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must
first create the
universe.”
========================================================
Terry Murphy on SufiMystic
Interestingly, I was just reading Oliver Wendell Holmes
biography of
Emerson, wherein Emerson was speaking of his friends, the
so-called
"Transcendentalists" (of which group he was generally
accounted one):
"...if there is anything grand and daring
in human thought and virtue;
any reliance on the vast, the unknown; any presentiment; any
extravagance
of faith, the spiritualist adopts it as most in nature. The
Oriental mind
has always tended to this largeness. Buddhism is an
expression of it. The
Buddhist who thanks no man, who says, "Do not flatter your
benefactors,'
but who, in his conviction that every good deed can by no
possibility
escape its reward, will not deceive the benefactor by pretending
that he has
done more than he should, is a Transcendentalist.
"These exacting children advertise us of
our wants. There is no
compliment, no smooth speech with them; they pay you only this
one
compliment, of insatiable expectation; they aspire, they severely
exact,
and if they only stand fast in this watch-tower, and persist in
demanding
unto the end, and without end, then are they terrible friends,
whereof poet
and priest cannot choose but stand in awe; and what if they eat
clouds, and
drink wind, they have not been without service to the race of
man."
Gill Eardley on SufiMystic
There is no one without faults, not even men of God.
They are men of God not because they are faultless,
but because they know their own faults, they strive
against them, they do not hide them, and are ever
ready to correct themselves.
~Mahatma Gandhi
"Friendship that insists
upon agreement on all matters is
not worth the name. Friendship to be real must ever
sustain the weight of honest differences, however sharp
they be." ~Mahatma
Gandhi
Harsha on HarshaSatsangh
I went to the website you mentioned and
found this poem by Namkha'i
Norbu Rinpoche. It is very simple and beautiful.
*********
In the natural condition, the supreme space
which does not fall into the limits
of measurement or even the concept of direction,
Whatever presents itself there,
I enjoy as an ornament.
I don't make any effort
to create or reject anything.
You who take up preferences,
Do as you please.
Directly in the space of the dimension
Of original purity,
I meet all meditative experiences,
manifestations of energy, and visions
in a state of equanimity.
With no need to desire
artificial religious practice, I am happy.
You who dwell on mental constructions,
Do as you please.
Namkha'i Norbu Rinpoche: 20th of January 1984
Gill Eardley on
Allspirit Inspiration
From: 'Touching Peace'
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Realizing Ultimate Reality
We come to the practice of meditation seeking relief from our
suffering,
and meditation can teach us how to transform our suffering and
obtain
basic relief. But the deepest kind of relief is the realization
of nirvana.
There are two dimensions to life, and we should be able to touch
both.
One is like a wave, and we call it the historical dimension. The
other is
like the water, and we call it the ultimate dimension, or
nirvana. We
usually touch just the wave, but when we discover how to touch
the
water, we receive the highest fruit that meditation can offer.
In the historical dimension, we have birth certificates and death
certificates.
The day your mother passes away, you suffer. If someone sits
close to
you and shows her concern, you feel some relief. You have her
friendship,
her support, her warm hand to hold. This is the world of waves.
It is
characterized by birth and death, ups and downs, being and
non-being.
A wave has a beginning and an end, but we cannot ascribe these
characteristics to water. In the world of water, there is no
birth or death,
no being or non-being, no beginning or end. When we touch the
water,
we touch reality in its ultimate dimension and are liberated from
all of
these concepts.
------------
Allspirit Website: http://www.allspirit.co.uk
Introduction
The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu is among the most widely translated and cherished books in the world. Singular in its lucidity, revered across cultural boundaries for its timeless wisdom, it is believed among Westerners to be Lao Tzu's only book. Few are aware that a collection of his oral teachings on the subject of attaining enlightenment and mastery were also recorded in a book called the Hua Hu Ching (pronounced "wha hoo jing"). The teachings of the Hua Hu Ching are of enormous power and consequence, a literal road map to the divine realm for ordinary human beings.
Translation by Brian Walker
One
I teach the Integral Way of uniting with the great and mysterious Tao. My teachings are simple; if you try to make a religion or science of them, they will elude you. Profound yet plain, they contain the entire truth of the universe. Those who wish to know the whole truth take joy in doing the work and service that comes to them. Having completed it, they take joy in cleansing and feeding themselves. Having cared for others and for themselves, they then turn to the master for instruction. This simple path leads to peace, virtue, and abundance.
Two
Men and women who wish to be aware of the whole truth should adopt the practices of the Integral Way. These time-honored disciplines calm the mind and bring one into harmony with all things. The first practice is the practice of undiscriminating virtue: take care of those who are deserving; also, and equally, take care of those who are not. When you extend your virtue in all directions without discriminating, your feet are firmly planted on the path that returns to the Tao.
Three
Those who wish to embody the Tao should embrace all things. To embrace all things means first that one holds no anger or resistance toward any idea or thing, living or dead, formed or formless. Acceptance is the very essence of the Tao. To embrace all things means also that one rids oneself of any concept of separation; male and female, self and other, life and death. Division is contrary to the nature of the Tao. Foregoing antagonism and separation, one enters in the harmonious oneness of all things.
Four
Every departure from the Tao contaminates one's spirit. Anger is a departure, resistance a departure, self- absorption a departure. Over many lifetimes the burden of contaminations can become great. There is only one way to cleanse oneself of these contaminations, and that is to practice virtue. What is meant by this? To practice virtue is to selflessly offer assistance to others, giving without limitation one's time, abilities, and possessions in service, whenever and wherever needed, without prejudice concerning the identity of those in need. If your willingness to give blessings is limited, so also is your ability to receive them. This is the subtle operation of the Tao.
Five
Do you imagine the universe is agitated? Go into the desert at night and took out at the stars. This practice should answer the question. The superior person settles her mind as the universe settles the stars in the sky. By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she calms it. Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky.
Six
The Tao gives rise to all forms, yet it has no form of its own. If you attempt to fix a picture of it in your mind, you will lose it. This is like pinning a butterfly: the husk is captured, but the flying is lost. Why not be content with simply experiencing it?
Seven
The teaching of the Integral Way will go on as long as there is a Tao and someone who wishes to embody it; What is painted in these scrolls today will appear in different forms in many generations to come. These things, however, will never change: Those who wish to attain oneness must practice undiscriminating virtue. They must dissolve all ideas of duality: good and bad, beautiful and ugly, high and low. They will be obliged to abandon any mental bias born of cultural or religious belief. Indeed, they should hold their minds free of any thought which interferes with their understanding of the universe as a harmonious oneness. The beginning of these practices is the beginning of liberation.
Eight
I confess that there is nothing to teach: no religion, no science, no body of information which will lead your mind back to the Tao. Today I speak in this fashion, tomorrow in another, but always the Integral Way is beyond words and beyond mind. Simply be aware of the oneness of things.
continues at website.... http://www.geocities.com/ziconix_the_mystic/hhc.htm