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#1551 - Thursday, September 11, 2003 - Editor: Jerry
by Josh Baran
http://www.nirvanaherenow.com/
This edition of the Highlights features excerpts from 365 Nirvana. This appears to be the first book, to my knowledge, designed for the mass market in which nonduality is described and defined. It is published by Thorson Element, a division of Harper Collins.
Several features make this book ideal for mass marketing and gift giving. (1) It builds on the popularity of The Power of Now. (2) It consists of basically 365 short quotes, so there is no commitment to read a lengthy book cover to cover. (3)Very much like the Nonduality.com website, it draws on a variety of sources for the quotes, from Pearl Bailey and Cezanne to Truman Capote and Lester from "American Beauty," to the well known gang of nondualists, including our very own Omkara Datta aka Tim Gerchmez. Congratulations, Tim! (4) The book is not only beautifully designed, but the hardback is only $19.95U.S., almost the same as a paperback. All these factors make this a potential best seller in the spiritual category. It would make a great gift for the budding nondualist, 'The Power of Now-er', which is what this book is clearly designed to be.
from
the Introduction to 365 Nirvana:
My collection began with teachings from the Zen and
Tibetan Buddhist traditions, and soon expanded to include wisdom
from Indian masters, Christian mystics, Sufi poets, Jewish
rabbis, and Western sages. Each selection embodied an
outlook often referred to as “nonduality,” which is not
exclusive to any single religious tradition and transcends any
doctrine or system.
Nonduality reflects the understanding of the unity of all things. Self / other, nirvana / samsara, form / emptiness, body / mind, past / future—all are actually the same essence, having one taste. When the Buddha says, “This is the All,” when Meister Eckhart writes, “Everything tastes like God,” and when Ramana Maharshi teaches, “There is only the Self” —these words all express the same realization.
A few excerpts:
You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quite still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
--Franz Kafka
~ ~ ~
The
teaching is not remote or mysterious.
It is not across the sea so (that you could say), "Who will
cross the sea and get if for us, so that we might be able to hear
it and keep it?"
It is very close to you.
It is in your mouth and in your heart.
So that you can fulfill it.
--Deuteronomy 30: 11-14
The author of 365 Nirvana often makes brief comments following each quote. For this one he says, "The Old Testament vision of the world diffes from that of Eastern mysticism, but universal insights like this are found in every tradition."
~ ~ ~
Do not
discriminate,
do not reflect,
do not alter,
but let the mind be relaxed,
For the umodulated mind is the natural treasure of the unborn,
The nondual path of wisdom-gone-beyond.
--Nagarjuna
~ ~ ~
One day when I was sitting quiet and feeling like a motherless child, which I was, it came to me: that feeling of being part of everything, not separate at all. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed. And I laughed and I cried and I ran all around the house. I just knew what it was. In fact, when it happened, you can't miss it.
--Alice Walker
~ ~ ~
Ring
the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
--Leonard Cohen
~ ~ ~
Lift the stone and you will find me; Cleave the wood and I am there.
--Jesus
~ ~ ~
Take off your shoes. The ground where you stand is holy ground.
--Exodus 1:5-6
http://www.nirvanaherenow.com/