I
was sitting with a visitor recently, looking
at a new book on Nisargadatta Maharaj that
consisted of photos and brief quotes. I knew
some of the people in the pictures and
narrated a few stories about them. This
prompted a wider and lengthy discussion on
some of the events that went on in Maharaj's
presence. After she left I felt prompted to
write down some of the things I had
remembered since I had never bothered to
record any of my memories of Maharaj before.
As I went about recording the conversation, a
few other memories surfaced, things I hadn't
thought about for years. This, therefore, is
a record of a pleasant afternoon's talk,
supplemented by recollections of related
incidents that somehow never came up.
Harriet:
Every book I have seen about Maharaj, and I
think I have looked at most of them, is a
record of his teachings. Did no one ever
bother to record the things that were going
on around him? Ramakrishna had The Gospel of
Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi had Day by Day,
and a whole library of books by devotees that
all talk about life with their Guru. Why
hasn't Maharaj spawned a similar genre?
David:
Maharaj very rarely spoke about his life, and
he didn't encourage questions about it. I
think he saw himself as a kind of doctor who
diagnosed and treated the perceived spiritual
ailments of the people who came to him for
advice. His medicine was his presence and his
powerful words. Anecdotes from his past were
not part of the prescription. Nor did he seem
interested in telling stories about anything
or anyone else.
Drom Tonpa asked Atisha what was
the ultimate of all teachings.
"Of all teachings, the
ultimate is emptiness of which compassion is
the
very essence," replied the Master.
"It is like a very powerful medicine, a
panacea which can cure every desease in the
world. And just like that very
powerful medicine, realisation of the truth
of emptiness, the nature of
reality, is the remedy for all the different
negative emotions."
"Why is it, then,"
Drom Tonpa went on, "that so many people
who claim to
have realized emptiness have no less
attachment and hatred?"
"Because their realization
is only words," Atisha replied.
"Had they really
grasped the true meaning of emptiness, their
thoughts, words and deeds
would be as soft as stepping on cotton wool
or as tsampa soup laced with
butter. The Master Aryadeva said that even to
wonder whether all beings were
empty by nature would make samsara fall
apart. True realization of emptiness,
therefore, is the ultimate panacea which
includes all the elements of the path."
"How can every element of
the path be included within the realization
of
emptiness?" Drom Tonpa asked.
"All the elements of the
path are contained in the six transcendent
perfections. Now, if you truly realize
emptiness, you become free from
attachment. As you feel no craving, grasping
or desire for anything within
or without, you always have transcendent
generosity. Being free from
grasping and attachment, you are never
defiled by negative actions, so you
always have transcendent discipline. Without
any concepts of "I" and 'mine'
you have no anger, so you always have
transcendent patience. Your mind made
truely joyful by the realization of
emptiness, you always have transcendent
diligence. Being free from distraction, which
comes from grasping at things
as solid, you always have transcendent
concentration. As you do not
conceptualize anything whatsoever, in terms
of subject, object and action,
you always have transcendent wisdom."
"Do those who have realized
the truth become Buddhas simply through the
view of emptiness and meditation?" Drom
Tonpa asked.
"Of all that we perceive as
forms and sounds there is nothing that does
not
arise from the mind. To realize that the mind
is awareness indiviceble from
emptiness is the view. Keeping this
realization in mind at all times, and
never being distacted from it, is meditation.
To practice the two
accumulations as magical illusion from within
that state is action. If you
make a living experience of this practice, it
will continue in your dreams.
If it comes in the dream state, it will come
at the moment of death. And if
it comes at the moment of death, it will come
in the intermediate state. If
it is present in the intermediate state you
may be certain of attaining
suppreme accomplishment."
The eighty-four thousand doors
to the Dharma that the Conqueror taught are
thus all skillful means to cause the
bodhichitta--emptiness of which
compassion is the very essence--to arise in
us. Without bodhichitta, teachings
on the view and meditation, however profound
they may seem, will be no use at
all for attaining Buddhahood (...)
~ Patrul Rinpoche ~
Words of My Perfect Teacher
Scott Reeves ~
AwarenessTheWayToLove
PRESENCE
"Where shall I look for
Enlightenment?"
" Here."
" When will it happen?"
"It is happening right now."
"Then why don't I experience it?"
"Because you do not look."
"What should I look for?"
"Nothing, just look."
"At what?"
"Anything your eyes alight upon."
"Must I look in a special kind of
way?"
"No. The ordinary way will do."
"But don't I always look the ordinary
way?"
" No."
"Why ever not?"
"Because to look you must be here.
You're mostly somewhere else."
Anthony de Mello, S.J.
MORSEL: The
eye sees only what the mind is prepared to
comprehend. --Henri L. Bergson
Connie ~
BuddhistWellnessGroup
"If you know
about the power of a generous heart, you will not let a
single meal pass without giving to others"
~ Jack Kornfeld ~
Buddha's Little Instruction Book
Infinity
201
Drawing
by a handicapped Tibetan Child, in Dharamsala
Himachal Pradesh - India
Tim Gerchmez ~ NondualitySalon
Are
You Enlightened?
The ocean
asks the fish, "Have you been to the well, and tasted
water? I have not."
And the fish
can only reply: "What is water?"
Replies the
ocean, "Water is enlightenment. I am parched dry."
Sez the fish,
"I know of no such thing. There is no such thing as
water -- you have imagined it."
And so the
ocean goes on wondering about the fish -- has it tasted
water, and if so where to get some of this precious stuff?
Finally, the
ocean could not rest. Great waves appeared upon its
surface, waves large enough to capsize a small boat, as it
contemplated the joy and bliss of finding water. The fish
just swam
deeper, wondering what the ocean meant by "water,"
and what all the
fuss was about.
By and by, a
bucket came bobbing along the surface of the ocean, over
half full by now.
Says the
ocean: "Sri Bucket-datta, you are a great sage. Clearly
there's something in you I'm looking for. Could there be a
direct
transmission?"
Says the
bucket: "Just BE, without being this or that."
Ocean:
"But I'm an ocean! As an ocean, I am coral reefs,
fishes,
islands, seaweed! I want to find water... how and why just
be?"
Says the
bucket: "Trust me -- just BE. Forget being anything in
particular and just BE."
So in
puzzlement, the ocean just BEEZ as the great Guru sezz... so
subsideth the waves, so sank the bucket, so did the ocean
cease
searching for water, having no further use for it... so did
the fish
go on pouting its lips prettily.
The End ;-)
Nancy
Franks ~ NondualitySalon
Re: dehatmabudhi
One of my teachers,
Ranjit Maharaj, said, "Understanding comes
first."
Perhaps
to some this may seem too intellectual. But I find
understanding useful. Not as an intellectual exercise.
Ranjit Maharaj and
Nisargadatta Maharaj had the same guru,
Siddharameshwar, who came from a lineage which pursued
the path of
meditation as a path to liberaton. Siddharamshwar felt
that the
world needed a "quicker" way, and discovered
the "birds way", through
thinking, rather than the ant's way, through meditation.
Ranjit Maharaj
said, "You have taken yourself to be what you are
not.
Take the thorn of understanding and pry the thorn of
ignorance from
the mind. Then throw them both away. Nothing is
true."
Now, I have a
teacher, who is teaching Vedanta. This teacher
says, "It is the mind that has the problem. The mind
circuitously
seeks outside itself for happiness. And every once in a
while gets
it. It that moment it can relax. But because it has
sought it's
happiness in changing circumstances, it can never fully
relax and
continues its insecure outside seeking.
Once the mind has
recognized the Self. It can relax, and cease to
search outside itself for happiness, because it has found
it's true
home. What it was seeking in the first place.
The Self, as the
ultimate subject, is closer than your breath, as
even your breath is an object in awareness. The subject
is hidden in
the self of the seeker, but not really hidden.
Jean Klein used to
say that, "In the end, you will find that you are
the ultimate subject".
I have two friends
who are aware of their true nature. One
said, "It's so obvious, it's almost
embarrassing."
The other said,
"It's like, brother..., why didn't I see that
before?"
Although, uarelove,
says that Ramana Maharshi did not advocate
aspirants speaking with each other of spiritual matters,
at a certain
point, what else is there to talk about?
So although, I
personally am not speaking as one who is aware of
being the ultimate subject, I do find understanding very
useful. I
enjoy sharing what I find useful with others, although,
due to my
lack of understanding, some of what I contribute may be
somewhat
skewed. I think there are those who contribute to this
forum who are
aware of their true nature, and I appreciate what they
say.
Here are two other
useful/useless words:
samsari: one who
never questions, "Who am I. What is really going
on?" This includes most people.
mumukshu: One
desirous of liberation, of pursuing the inquiry and
realizing the self. The mumukshu is highly praised in the
Upanishad
as rare, precious and few.
Useful to me not in
an egoistic sense, but encouraging.
Here is a beautiful
quote from the Vedanta class:
"In me,
In the space of awareness,
Rises the celestial city
Called the world.
Therefore, how am I not
Brahman, who is all knower
And the cause of all."
Verse 3, Advaita
Makaranda, (The nectar or honey of Advaita)
Ranjit Maharaj used
to say said, "What I say is not true, but that of
which I speak is true."
In the end he said,
"Words don't go there".
How could they?
Though perhaps they may be useful.
Love to all, Nancy
Jan
Sultan & Greg Goode ~ AdvaitaToZen
It
Cannot Be Done!
[Jan]
It cannot
be done!
Give up.
Surrender.
Accept it.
Only then will you realize
that you have always been IT.
Not before.
The struggle stirs up the sediments
and the water becomes murky.
Be still and let the dirt settle.
And you will see clearly.
There is
no other way!
[Greg]
You're
right. It can't be done.
Giving up cannot be done.
If you give up, then you're still a giver.
Accepting cannot be done.
If you accept, you're still an accepter.
Realizing cannot be done.
If you realize that XYZ, you're still a realizer.
If you see, then you're a seer.
It's not personal, it needn't and can't be owned.
There is clarity now, here.
There is clarity in, through and beyond the dirt.
There is clarity in the absence of dirt.
This is
the way that is.
Bill Rishel ~
AdvaitaToZen
O Dear Sweet Grace!
You fill me so with your love.
How can I know you more?
How can I know you more deeply?
"Be Quiet"
Lotus
Photo
by Alan Larus
Wim Borsboom ~ AdyashantiSatsang
How Close Can I Get On A Rainy Day
Photo by Alan
Larus
Dutch
Chocolate Butter for on the Crusty Buns
As a kid I used to make chocolate butter, secretly.
Here's the recipe:
Make sure that
you are six years old,
Wake up early one morning, six o'clock is good,
Quietly, not waking anybody else up,
- you don't want to share this with anyone -
you get the butter dish.
Make sure it is European style butter,
Unsalted, cultured, not cold and hard,
(I did not have to worry about that,
in Holland we hate salted cold butter.
Heck, we did not even have a fridge.)
Get some neon-white icing sugar,
Make sure you are not politically correct, diet-wise,
(You are six years old, so that is not your problem.)
Take a wooden bread board,
(That is stupid because it is hard
to wipe off the evidence, and you want to hide this from
your mom. But... hey, you are only six.)
Get the 'Droste' cacao tin.
You find it hidden away on the top shelf.
It is the one with the nurse or nun picture on the tin.
(Meaning this is healthy, as well as good for your soul.)
Try not to be easy on the quantities, that won't work.
Mix all the ingredients messily with a knife:
the white sugar, the cocoa and the butter...
But why a knife?
Because!
Keep tasting it until you have it right,
The longer it takes the better,
Wipe your face with your flannel pajama sleeve,
While you are at it, wipe your nose as well.
Get a crusty bun, break it open messily,
Leave plenty of crumbs behind,
(Your mom will need them as evidence.)
Fill the bun with your concoction,
Take it tippy-toeingly to your bed,
Hide under the covers and eat,
Eat with smacking lips.
(Dutch: Eet smakelijk!)
Make sure you leave some crumbs on your bed sheet,
(Your mom will need them as evidence as well.)
Also next night, those crumbs will make you feel
uncomfortable in bed,
as they'll give you those stingy scratches of guilt.
The wrath of your mom will
be upon you.
At least that is what you think.
You don't know that she winkingly
smiles at your dad who understands.
They are secretly fond of you.
Too bad you only found out later...
You learned one
lesson though...
Next time
you'll let your brother have a bite hoping that he will not tell on you.
Do this often.
Do not grow up!
Wim
(it worked)
Manuel Hernandez
~ ANetOfJewels
All that we can
dialectically conclude is that it is conceptually impossible
to comprehend what we are because mind cannot transcend itself.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Movement in Consciousness,
and nothing else, constitutes the mind and all
its experience of the phenomenal universe. To realize this is the
cessation
of thought and liberation from the bondage of ego as mind and
experience.
"Grounded
is our natural state of being. As we grow up and our parents
try to civilize us, we internalize the idea that we are not
perfect, not deserving of unconditional love, and we choke
off the source of life energy that is meant to support
us..."
If you
are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud
floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud there
will be no water; without water, the trees cannot grow;
and without trees, you cannot make paper. So the cloud is
in here. The existence of this page is dependent upon the
existence of a cloud. Paper and cloud are so close.
~ Thich Nhat Hahn ~ Engaged Buddhism
Entering the Stream; Edited by Samuel Bercholz and Sherab
Chodzin Kohn; 1993.
Freyja & Tykal ~ AdyashantiSatsang
What is Happiness?
Picture Charlie Brown's dog
Snoopy from Peanuts...
head thrown back, eyes directed
upwards towards the sun, moon and stars
head moving from side to side
in time to the rhythm of
the eternal inner song....
arms up, elbows bent,
hands reaching for the sky
fingers moving wavelike
singing and skipping,
hopping and dancing around
with nary a care or worry
in the world
for he never knows what is coming next,
but he does know
that whatever it is...
he's going to part of it.
And that is my image of
happiness for now ~ Freyja ~
April Pacifica
Photo by Benny
happiness, as with
any
thing or non-,
just is what it is,
and what it is to you
is what it is to you
and me to me
and us to us
and so on and whatnot. as this mind finds bits of verbage
to fashion a dress at the moment: what but complete
comfort,
ease and enjoyment
in simply being oneself, who you naturally
and instantaneously
at every moment are, without any question
of how or why or should, and even if so, just another
eye-gleam wink
and laughing with the wind
as heart tickles mind and whispers: "what, another
round of hide and seek? okey dokey, you're it.
i'm here but nowhere.
and a little hint this time: where i am, you are. simply feel me
as you feel yourself
and immediately
you touch me
and
the funniest lil thing, it didn't even take
a step to find me
being you."
~
Tykal
~
Lisbeth ~
Monks_Mystics
Misty
Midnight II
Photo
by Alan Larus
Hua
Hu Ching
eleven, twelve, thirteen
(Translated by Brian Walker)
eleven
Does one scent appeal more than
another?
Do you prefer this flavor, or that feeling?
Is your practice sacred and your work profane?
Then your mind is separated:
from itself, from oneness, from the Tao.
Keep you mind free of divisions and
distinctions.
When your mind is detached, simple, quiet, then all
things can exist in harmony, and you can begin to
perceive the subtle truth.
twelve
Do you wish to inhabit sacred
space?
To have the respect and companionship of the highest
spiritual beings?
To be protected by the guardians of the eight powerful
energy rays?
Then cherish the Integral Way:
Regard these things with reverence,
practice their truths,
illuminate them to others.
You will receive as many blessings
from the universe as
there are grains of sand in the River of Timelessness.
thirteen
The tiny particles which form the
vast universe are not
tiny at all.
Neither is the vast universe vast.
These are notions of the mind, which is like a knife,
always chipping away at the Tao,
trying to render it graspable and manageable.
But that which is beyond form is
ungraspable, and
that which is beyond knowing is unmanageable.
There is, however, this consolation:
She who lets go of the knife will find the Tao at her
fingertips.
Panhala
~ Joe RileyLittle
Stones at My Window
Once in a while
joy throws little stones at my window
it wants to let me know that it's waiting for me
but today I'm calm
I'd almost say even-tempered
I'm going to keep anxiety locked up
and then lie flat on my back
which is an elegant and comfortable position
for receiving and believing news
who knows where I'll be next
or when my story will be taken into account
who knows what advice I still might come up with
and what easy way out I'll take not to follow it
don't worry, I won't gamble with an eviction
I won't tattoo remembering with forgetting
there are many things left to say and suppress
and many grapes left to fill our mouths
don't worry, I'm convinced
joy doesn't need to throw any more little stones
I'm coming
I'm coming.
music link
(left button to play, right button to save)
Ed Jason ~
'The practice of metta, uncovering
the force of love that can uproot fear, anger, and guilt,
begins with befriending ourselves. The foundation of
metta practice is to know how to be our own friend.
According to the Buddha, "You can search throughout
the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of
your love and affection than you are yourself, and that
person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much
as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and
affection." How few of us embrace ourselves in this
way! With metta practice we uncover the possibility of
truly respecting ourselves. We discover, as Walt Whitman
put it, "I am larger and better than I thought. I
did not think I held so much goodness." '
"There is a goodness, a Wisdom
that arises, sometimes gracefully, sometimes gently, sometimes
awkwardly, sometimes fiercely, but it will arise to save us if we
let it, and it arises from within us, like the force that drives
green shoots to break the winter ground, it will arise and drive
us into a great blossoming like a pear tree, into flowering, into
fragrance, fruit, and song . . . into that part of ourselves that
can never be defiled, defeated or destroyed, but that comes back
to life, time and time again, that lives - always - that does not
die."
~ China
Gallard ~
The Bond
Between WomenFrom the
magazine, "Parabola," Spring 2003 edition, published by
Joseph Kulin
