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#1471 - Monday, June 23, 2003 - Editor: Jerry
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from Daily Dharma
"Everyone of us is
basically uninformed but not stupid. We
just learn at different speeds and in different ways. So Just
slow down. Have a cup of tea. Relax. You don't understand
everything overnight. It's OK!!!! A tortoise is no more stupid
than a hare just because it is slower or takes a different
route. It's never foolish to ask for help or clarification
when studying or practicing. That's what teachers and fellow
students are for. Even teachers don't know it all, let alone
remember it all. If your teacher is a good one they will be
the first to admit this. And a good teacher will never
belittle you but guide you as best he can along the path at
your own speed. After all they were students once too and
indeed they still are all their lives. All of that fear is in
the mind. Just let it go. Laugh when the frustrations come and
get on with life, studies, practice, or whatever you need to
do. Sometimes a slowly sipped cup of tea can be a better
teacher than any sutra page are ceremony. So enjoy that cup of
tea because it too is filled with Dharma."
~ Tasogare Shinju
From the website http://www.fortibet.org/~kaikabuyo/senseinotebook1.html#thinking
from The Other Syntax
"It can be said that at
this moment in our history, we human beings are
readers, regardless of whether we read philosophical themes or
instructional
manuals.
A worthwhile challenge
conceived by don Juan for such readers is
to become readers of infinity."
Readers of Infinity -A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics
(Published in The Warriors' Way magazine, January 1996)
Carlos Castaneda
from AllspiritInspiration
In a small affair or in a big
affair, first consult
yourself and find out if there is any conflict in your
own being about anything you want to do. And
when you find no conflict there, then feel sure that a
path is already made for you. You have but to open
your eyes and take a step forward, and the other
step will be led by God.
'A Meditation Theme for Each Day'
Inayat Khan
Janaka NDS
THE LINE OF LONGING
Dear friend,
I understand the fascination,
the lure, if you will,
of dropping your line in the depths
to see what you might hook.
But what do you expect to land
when you cloak your deadly barbs
with tender treats?
All you can get are fish.
Shiny and multi-colored perhaps.
Some large, others usually small.
But fish nonetheless.
And for what?
To bake and to feast upon with dinner guests?
Careful of those bones.
Or maybe to mount above your
mantel piece,
that others may look upon with awe?
Fish are just fish,
whether upon the shore flopping,
or in your belly,
they just rot and become quite smelly.
There is something else,
much greater to be found in the depths.
The hook cannot be covered with
deceit,
for its eyes see past all falsehood.
And the line must be very long,
for down into the very bottom of Silence
must it sink.
No bait? you ask.
Oh, there is bait.
It is the bait of longing.
And when that longing
squirms and twists
and makes all sorts of wiggling motions
as it can’t sit still,
get ready; for the
bite comes.
And when it happens
pull and pull,
and don’t give up,
even though the catch seems bigger than the world.
Keep pulling and pulling.
Feeling that pull.
And don’t stop
until you flop upon the shore.
--Janaka
Janaka currently lives in the
Monterey Bay Area in California
where he is a Waldorf teacher, artist, writer and STORYTELLER.
He is the author of ‘Silent Ripples: Parables for the Soul’
and ‘Footprints Along the Shore of an Incoming Tide.’
He can
be reached at janaka_om@yahoo.com or visit his website at
www.janakastagnaro.com
Western Nondualism in the Fifties:
Neville Goddard http://website.lineone.net/~cornerstone/neville.htm
(From INTA Bulletin, “New Thought” summer 1953)
FUNDAMENTALS -- NEVILLE Author of "The Power of Awareness"
----------------------------------------------
WITH so vast a subject, it is
indeed a difficult task to
summarize in a few hundred words what I consider the – most
basic ideas on which those who seek a true understanding of
metaphysics should now concentrate. I shall do what I can in
the shape of three fundamentals. These fundamentals are:
Self-Observation, Definition of Aim, and Detachment.
The purpose of true metaphysics
is to bring about a rebirth or
radical psychological change in the individual. Such a change
cannot take place until the individual first discovers the
self that he would change. This discovery can be made only
through an uncritical observation of his reactions to life.
The sum total of these reactions defines the individual's
state of consciousness, and it is the individual's state of
consciousness that attracts the situations and circumstances
of his life.
So the starting point of true
metaphysics, on its practical
side, is self-observation in order to discover one's reactions
to life, reactions which form one's secret self – the cause
of
the phenomena of life.
With Emerson, I accept the fact
that “Man surrounds himself
with the true image of himself . . . what we are, that only
can we see."
There is a definite connection
between what is outer and what
is inner in man, and it is ever our inner states that attract
our outer life. Therefore, the individual must always start
with himself. It is
one's self that must be changed.
Man, in his blindness, is quite
satisfied with himself, but
heartily dislikes the circumstances and situations of his
life. He feels this way, not knowing that the cause of his
displeasure lies not in the condition nor the person with whom
he is displeased, but in the very self he likes so much. Not
realizing that "he surrounds himself with the true image of
himself" and that "what he is, that only can he
see," he is
shocked when he discovers that it has always been his own
deceitfulness that made him suspicious of others.
Self-observation would reveal
this deceitful one in all of us;
and this one must be accepted before there can be any
transformation of ourselves.
At this moment, try to notice
your inner state. To what
thoughts are you consenting? With what feelings are you
identified? You must be ever careful where you are within
yourself. Most of
its think that we are kind and loving, generous and
tolerant, forgiving and noble; but an uncritical observation
of our reactions to life will reveal a self that is not at all
kind and loving, generous and tolerant, forgiving and noble.
And it is this self that we must first accept and then set
about to change.
Rebirth depends on inner work
on one's self. No one can be
reborn without changing this self. Any time that an entirely
new set of reactions enters into a person's life, a change of
consciousness has taken place, a spiritual rebirth has
occurred.
Having discovered, through an
uncritical observation of your
reactions to life, a self that must be changed, you must now
formulate an aim. That is, you must define the one you would
like to be instead of the one you truly are in secret. With
this aim clearly defined, you must, throughout your conscious
waking day, notice your every reaction in regard to this aim.
The reason for this is that
everyone lives in a definite state
of consciousness, which state of consciousness we have already
described as the sum total of his reactions to life.
Therefore, in defining an aim, you are defining a state of
consciousness, which, like all states of consciousness, must
have its reactions to life. For example: if a rumor or an idle
remark could cause an anxious reaction in one person and no
reaction in another, this is positive proof that the two
people are living in two different states of consciousness.
If you define your aim as a
noble, generous, secure, kindly
individual – knowing that all things are states of
consciousness – you can easily tell whether you are faithful
to your aim in life by watching your reactions to the daily
events of life. If you are faithful to your ideal, your
reactions will conform to your aim, for you will be identified
with your aim and, therefore, will be thinking from your aim.
If your reactions are not in harmony with your ideal, it is a
sure sign that you are separated from your ideal and are only
thinking of it. Assume that you are the loving one you want to
be, and notice your reactions throughout the day in regard to
that assumption; for your reactions will tell you the state
from which you are operating.
This is where the third
fundamental - Detachment - enters in.
Having discovered that everything is a state consciousness
made visible and having defined that particular state which we
want to make visible, we now set about the task of entering
such a state, for we must move psychologically from where we
are to where we desire to be.
The purpose of practicing
detachment is to separate us from
our present reactions to life and attach us to our aim in
life. This inner separation must be developed by practice. At
first we seem to have no power to separate ourselves from
undesirable inner states, simply because we have always taken
every mood, every reaction, as natural and have become
identified with them. When we have no idea that our reactions
are only states of consciousness from which it is possible to
separate ourselves, we go round and round in the same circle
of problems – not seeing them as inner states but as outer
situations. We practice detachment, or inner separation, that
we may escape from the circle of our habitual reactions to
life. That is why we must formulate an aim and constantly
notice ourselves in regard to that aim.
This teaching begins with
self-observation. Secondly it asks,
"What do you want?" And then it teaches detachment from
all
negative states and attachment to your aim. This last state-
attachment to your aim – is accomplished by frequently
assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled.
We must practice separating
ourselves from our negative moods
and thoughts in the midst of all the troubles and disasters of
daily life. No one can be different from what he is now unless
he begins to separate himself from his present reactions and
to identify himself with his aim. Detachment from negative
states and assumption of the wish fulfilled must be practiced
in the midst of all the blessings and cursings of life.
The way of true metaphysics
lies in the midst of all that is
going on in life. We must constantly practice
self-observation, thinking from our aim, and detachment from
negative moods and thoughts if we would be doers of truth
instead of mere hearers.
Practice these three
fundamentals and you will rise to higher
and higher levels of consciousness. Remember, always, it is
your state of consciousness that attracts your life.
Start climbing!
Neville
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