Why Have Wings - Photo by Alan Larus ~ HarshaSatsangh         Music: Within You.mid from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Panhala/
#1572 - Wednesday, October 1, 2003 - Editor: Joyce (Know_Mystery)     Silence   Can you be comfortable with silence? With the comfort it brings? With the rest it gives the mouth and mind? So much speech seems mindless. Constant chatter to drown out the self. With its suffering and non-suffering. Can you be comfortable with no words? Without the pain or joy they bring? Without the habit to talk? Be with me silently, So we can talk another way. ~ Bill Menza ~   plum village, france   http://www.levity.com/interbeing/menzasilence.html      Ben Hassine ~ NDS & Alan Larus ~ TrueVision     Tranquility   Photograph by Alan Larus
Metta Sutra This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness, And who knows the path of peace: Let them be able and upright, Straightforward and gentle in speech. Humble and not conceited, Contented and easily satisfied. Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.  Peaceful and calm, and wise and skilful, not proud and demanding in nature. Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove. Wishing: in gladness and in safety, may all beings be at ease. Whatever living beings there may be; whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, The great or the mighty, medium, short or small, the seen and the unseen, Those living near and far away, those born and to-be-born -- May all beings be at ease! Let none deceive another, or despise any being in any way Let none through anger or ill-will wish harm upon another. Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child, So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings; Radiating kindness over the entire world: Spreading upwards to the skies, And downwards to the depths; Outwards and unbounded, Freed from hatred and ill-will. Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down, Free from drowsiness, One should sustain this recollection. This is said to be the sublime abiding. By not holding to fixed views, The true-hearted one, having clarity of vision, being freed from all sense desires, Is not born again into this world. Manuel Hernandez ~ ANetOfJewels The Wisdom of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj While the mind is centered in the body, and consciousness is centered in the mind, awareness is free. The body has its urges and mind its pains and pleasures. Awareness is unattached and unshaken. It is lucid, silent, peaceful, alert and unafraid, without desire and fear. Meditate on it as your true being and try to be it in your daily life, and you shall realize it in its fullness.  Conversation in the Mountains  You ask why I nestle in the green mountains.  I laugh but answer not - my heart is serene.  Peach blossoms and flowing waters go     without a trace.  There is another Heaven and Earth beyond     the world of man.   Li Bai http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum/Mountain%20Poems.html

Hur Guler & Skogen ~ Nisargardatta

Nondual Fundamentalism

Hur:   Why is it that sooner or later nondualism turns into another school
of fundamentalism? Is this something that every -ism is destined for?

Skogen: Thanks for pointing this out, Hur. It was also a point in my critics
related to Sandeep's vision of an holograhic universe. Seems to me
that -isms, no matter what kind of them, tend to use science, sometimes
a little more than philosophy,to justify and explain themselves. Even
religious or parareligious -isms, despite their inherent insufficiency
in explaining our reality (that's why they continue to exist), like to
pick up here and there scientifical insights to explain and justify
themselves as phenomenons at least, with a smell of an absolute truth.
Our history is full of examples and it is a little myopic, in my opinion.
Science changes, I would say, nearly like moral ethics used to change.
To base an holostic explanation of the universe with a pretension as
ultimate (or nearly ultimate) truth is to build on sand. Fundamentalisms
are always built on sand, no matter how deep the foundation walls were
laid out. We will reach the same borders going in the non-dual direction
as well as in the opposite direction. The relevance of a non-dualphilosophy
lies in antagonizing the, in my opinion, also absurd view of a merely dual
universe, a black and white universe, a digital vision of reality. Culture
as an expanding tree of algorythms has brought us, more than a biological
evolution, genetic mutations or changes, as species, to the point of
asking us about the substantial framework which holds the collective and
individual reality we conceive. Not founding a manifest and "tangible"
explication and realizing that there is an enormous "universe" of non-linear
phenomenas we began to question our capability to percieve reality as it
seems to be. Could it be that our consciousness shows us only a part of it?
Could it be that what we preceive is just a great staging with no inherent
and tangible reality? A dream? Incertitude regarding the results of
experiments always lead to rethink, reconsider the methods and if that
doesn't help the experiment-performer must be questioned. That's why it is
today in vogue to talk about consciousness. My point is, that if we can't
state what consciousness really comprehends, every fundametalism is a
complete absurdum. To construct a fundamentalism out of a non-dual philosophy
is as absurd as to make it out of an dual vision of the universe. Both are
products of our consciousness and underlie the exact same incertitude and,
in my opinion, it doesn't miss a certain point of ridicoulosness and futility,
to look for justifications in science, even in exact sciences. Concentrating
the whole statement of affairs a little more: fundamentalisms are ridiculous;
dual vs non-dual is not the question; dual and non-dual complement each other;
the big question remains: Can science find a linear or a non-linear explanation
for consciousness? Are we intelligent enough to find it? And probably the most
important question would be: Wherefore should we find it, if we already can
find an answer in enlightenment or just reading for example Nisargadatta's
scriptures. Perhaps nothing is never enough, we like to play.

Sutta Nipata   Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.
 
http://www.beliefnet.com/prayeroftheday/more_prayers.asp?paid=59&faid=6

You must understand the whole of life, not just
one little part of it. That is why you must read,
that is why you must look at the skies, that is
why you must sing and dance, and write poems,
and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.                    ~ J.Krishnamurti ~   http://spoerlein.iwarp.com/think3.html

sshomi ~ AlongTheWay

Patience

Patience is one of the principle things in life, although
sometimes patience is as bitter, as hard, as unbearable
as death. Sometimes one would prefer death to patience.
But is it of the greatest importance for the human race to
develop patience in all conditions of life, in all walks of
life. Whether we are rich or poor, high or low, this is the
one quality that must be developed. Besides it is patience
that is all-powerful, and by lack of patience one loses much.
Very often the answer to one¹s prayer is within one¹s reach,
the hand of Providence not very far off, and then one loses
one¹s patience and thereby the opportunity. Therefore impatience, in whatever form, is to be avoided.
It makes one lose one¹s equilibrium, and when that is
lost, nothing can be accomplished. There is no gain to be
had from impatience; yet patience does not necessarily
mean sloth, negligence, or laziness.   ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan ~
Hazrat Inayat Khan; "Mastery Through Accomplishment"
Omega Press, 1978

A Cup of Cool, Clear Water     The solitary hermit does not yearn for tea. A pure heart and clear water are enough to entertain Emptiness and beauty. In these dusty, windy outskirts, there are no crowds. But though people are few, I share my dreams - with dusk's purple clouds.     ~ Thich Tue Sy ~ http://www.levity.com/interbeing/tuesy1.html

Twilight Sky Photo by Alan Larus

anipanchen ~ DailyDharma    

A human being is a part of the whole called by us
'the universe,' a part limited in time and space. He
experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as
something seperate from the rest-- a kind of optical
delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a
kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to
us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.   ~ Albert Einstein ~

Viorica Weissman ~ Ramana_Maharshi

  Q:
   What  are the fundamental tests for discovering men of great
   spirituality, since some are reported  to behave  like insane people ?
 
A:
   The jnani's mind is known only to the jnani . One must be
   a jnani oneself in order to understand another jnani.
  
   However the peace of mind which permeats the saint's atmosphere
   is the only means by which the seeker understands
   the greatness of the saint. His words or actions or appearance
   are no indication of his greatness , for they are ordinarily beyond
   the comprehension of common people.
 
 
    BE AS YOU ARE, The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
    edited by David Godman

Our true home is in the present moment.
To live in the present moment is a miracle.
The miracle is not to walk on water.
The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment,
to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.
Peace is all around us--
in the world and in nature--
and within us--
in our bodies and our spirits.
Once we learn to touch this peace,
we will be healed and transformed.
It is not a matter of faith;
it is a matter of practice.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~   www. day-without-rain.org/archives/000573.php - link no longer active.

Marcia Nehemiah  ~ http://www.moondance.org/2001/fall01/poetry/breath.html

 

Breath   What keeps us alive is not as bright as the ruby throat of a hummingbird, nor as present as the scent of honeysuckle at dusk; it is not as heavy as a praying mantis, nor as pungent as warm strawberries eaten in the field, not as loud as snow falling, yet we inhale, and keep on inhaling and exhaling every living moment, chest rising and falling like the ocean, always the invisible, weightless breath in us and around us; walking, praying, climbing, driving, loving, painting, spending breathing, breathing, breathing, everything and nothing until we let go at last.   ~ Marcia Nehemiah ~   (© Marcia Nehemiah 2003)     About the Poet: Marcia Nehemiah's poems and essays have been published in a wide range of magazines, journals, and newspapers. She has also contributed two chapters to a textbook on a media literacy for Turner Learning. She teaches high school English and Media Literacy in northwest New Jersey.   E-mail Marcia Nehemiah at nehemiahcarullo@hotmail.com   [Editor's Note: I am delighted that Marcia has granted permission to include her poem in this issue of the NDHighlights. joyce]

 Stream of Life
 
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs
through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
 
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves
and flowers.
 
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of
death, in ebb and in flow.
 
I feel my limbs made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my
pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.
      
~ Rabindranath Tagore ~

  from the book, "The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore" By Herbert F. Vetter, Rabindranath Tagore
Hardcover  /  Charles E Tuttle Co  /  September, 1997 

Most Heavenly Light, Bringer of Peace   There is a Light that shines beyond all things on earth,
Beyond us all,
Beyond the heavens,
Beyond the highest, the very highest heavens.
This is the Light that shines in our heart.   ~ From the Chandogya Upanishad ~   http://tarotcanada.tripod.com/index-Prayers1.html

Creation   It moved;
That was the beginning.
Before that, It was silent, static, infinite Truth.
The shimmering was life, energy tumultuous, cradling the atoms.
In the rapturous churning of the centrifugal whirl
They joined and cojoined, clashed and exploded
In one volatile splendour.
It was the unfolding;
The massing of constellations, the suns and the stars,
The manifestation of all things animate and inanimate,
The awakening of consciousness
The dance of life between birth and death.
It was the communion,
The co-mingling of spirit and flesh
The emergence of man
Conscious of justice and righteousness
Fulfilling himself in awareness
And in service selfless and pure.   ~ Yogiraj Vethathiri ~   http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Discover/Poems/Content/Inspiration/Creation.htm

Viorica Weissman ~ Ramana_Maharshi

Bhagavan: then get angry with that anger

Yesterday a newly arrived Andhra youth told Baghavan
about the vagaries of his senses to which Bhagavan said,

"All that is due to the mind. Set it right."

"That is all right,Swami, but however much I try to reduce
 this anger , it comes on again and again. What shall I do?"

"Oh! is that so, than get angry with that anger ;
it will be all right.", said Bhagavan.

Letters from Sri Ramanasramam 

Lisbeth ~ Monks_Mystics   &  Richard Burnett

Serpent Strength   Photograph by Richard Burnett

Helixes 365 Tao   Three subtle energy currents: Twin helixes around a jade pillar. The glowing presence Is the force of life itself. Deep in meditation, it is possible to become aware of the life-force itself. You can see it if you learn how to look within. To describe it as electricity, or power, or light, or consciousness is all somewhat correct. But such description are inadequate. You have to see it for yourself. You have to feel it for yourself. You have to know it for yourself. To be in its presence is like being in front of something primeval, basic, mysterious, shamanistic, and profound. To be in its presence makes all references mute and all senses slack, leaving only deep awe. One is drawn to it in utter fascination. It is the mighty flame to our mothlike consciousness. This column of energy that coils around itself holds all the stages of our growth. It is our soul; it is the force that animates us and gives us awareness. If you want to engage your life completely, it is essential for you to come to terms with this inner power. Once you harmonize with it you can blend with the dynamics of being human. 365 Tao

Serpent Strength II

Photograph by Richard Burnett

 Heart Of The Buddha

No need to chase back and forth like the waves.
The same water which ebbs is the same water that flows.
No point turning back to get water
When it's flowing around you in all directions
The heart of the Buddha and the people of the world...
Where is there any difference?

 ~ Hsu Yun ~

An Exquisite Truth

This is an exquisite truth:
Saints and ordinary folks are the same from the start.
Inquiring about a difference
Is like asking to borrow string when you've got a good strong rope.
Every Dharma is known in the heart.
After a rain, the mountain colors intensify.
Once you become familiar with the design of fate's illusions
Your ink-well will contain all of life and death.

~ Hsu Yun ~

http://earthrenewal.org/Xu_Yun_Poetry.htm

Tanzen Two-feather ~ SufiFamily   Bowl of Saki for 9/30

WHEN THE STREAM OF LOVE FLOWS IN ITS FULL STRENGTH, IT PURIFIES ALL THAT
STANDS IN ITS WAY, AS THE GANGES -- ACCORDING TO THE TEACHING OF THE
ANCIENTS -- PURIFIES ALL THOSE WHO PLUNGE INTO ITS SACRED WATERS.--Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti):

The real Ganges, the real Jordan, the real Red Sea is the heart of
man and its tributaries. Heart heals body, heart heals mind, heart heals
heart, heart heals all that pertains to the self, heart heals all that
pertains to others (that is to say to the phenomenal non-self). Heart takes
one above the realm of self and non-self, heart is the throne of Unity.
All the teaching of Sufism is to bring one to this great realization
of Heart. This secret is described in Nirtan but not revealed. It cannot
be revealed if by revelation one means making clear some mystery for the
head. It will always be a mystery to the mind; it need never be a mystery
to the heart.

This realization is the most important thing in life, in the highest
sense. It is the eternal life which is possible whenever one lays down the
ego and surrenders gladly. Without that surrender there is no plunge into
the Ganges, there is no division of the Red Sea or drying of Jordan. This
supreme Unity is above mind, beyond the mind-mesh. In that realm Bhakti and
Jnana become one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3081746.stm

Written word helps wounds heal
 
 
Writing was found to be cathartic
Pouring your emotions out on paper could help wounds heal quicker, researchers say.

It is thought that writing about troubling experiences helps people deal with them.

This could then help the immune system work more effectively, researchers told the British Psychological Society conference in Stoke-on-Trent. They say their findings offer a cheap and easy to administer way of helping patients heal faster.

Punctures

In the study, which involved 36 people, half were asked to write about the most upsetting experience they had had, spelling out how they had felt. The rest of the study participants wrote about trivial things, such as how they spent their free time. Both groups spent 20 minutes a day for three days writing.

Following the writing exercise, researchers created a small skin puncture on the participants' upper arms. The wounds were examined two weeks later.

It was found that the group who had written about their emotional experiences had smaller wounds, meaning they had healed more quickly. Those whose wounds were healing more slowly were found to have higher levels of stress and psychological distress..."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3087674.stm

Organ music 'instils religious feelings'
 
By Jonathan Amos
BBC News Online science staff, in Salford 

People who experience a sense of spirituality in church may be reacting to the extreme bass sound produced by some organ pipes.
 
The cannon was put at the back of the concert hall
Many churches and cathedrals have organ pipes that are so long they emit infrasound which at a frequency lower than 20 Hertz is largely inaudible to the human ear.

But in a controlled experiment in which infrasound was pumped into a concert hall, UK scientists found they could instil strange feelings in the audience at will.

These included an extreme sense of sorrow, coldness, anxiety and even shivers down the spine.

Sound 'gun'

Infrasound has become the subject of intense study in recent years. Researchers have found that some animals, such as elephants, can communicate with low-frequency calls.

Infrasound can be detected at volcanoes and may provide a way to predict eruptions.

 INFRASOUND STUDY
Lies in the range 10-20 Hz
On the cusp of our hearing
Can vibrate internal organs
Volcanoes emit infrasound
Elephants and whales use it
 
And recent work by some of the scientists involved in this latest study found that hauntings - the feeling that something or someone else unseen is in a room or building - may also be explained by the presence of infrasound.

To test the impact on an audience of extreme bass notes from an organ pipe, researchers constructed a seven-metre-long "infrasonic cannon" which they placed at the back of the Purcell Room, a concert hall in South London.

They then invited 750 people to report their feelings after listening to pieces of contemporary music intermittently laced sound from the cannon, played a 17 Hz at levels of 6-8 decibels.

Feel the bass

The results showed that odd sensations in the audience increased by an average of 22% when the extreme bass was present.

"It has been suggested that because some organ pipes in churches and cathedrals produce infrasound this could lead to people having weird experiences which they attribute to God," said Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist from University of Hertfordshire.

The pipe put out sound at 17 Hz
"Some of the experiences in our audience included 'shivering on my wrist', 'an odd feeling in my stomach', 'increased heart rate', 'feeling very anxious', and 'a sudden memory of emotional loss'.

"This was an experiment done under controlled conditions and it shows infrasound does have an impact, and that has implications... in a religious context and some of the unusual experiences people may be having in certain churches."

Sarah Angliss, an engineer and composer in charge of the project, added: "Organ players have been adding infrasound to the mix for 500 years so maybe we're not the first generation to be 'addicted to bass'."

Details of the organ infrasound study are being presented to the British Association's annual science festival, which this year is in Salford, Greater Manchester.

  Joe Riley ~ Panhala   Proverbios y Cantares XXIX ~~ Antonio Machado
 
Wayfarer, the only way
is your footsteps, there is no other.
 
Wayfarer, there is no way,
you make the way by walking.
As you go, you make the way
and stopping to look behind,
you see the path that your feet
will never travel again.
 
Wayfarer, there is no way -
Only foam trails to the sea.
 
~ Antonio Machado ~
 
(Translated by A. Trueblood)
 
 

Eric Ashford ~ TrueVision

Photograph by Know_Mystery

October

October, and the wind-fields are flowing into the earth
unmasking the ivory-yellow bones of Autumn.
Gilded leaf and ochre twigs stiffen the hedgerows
and quiver summer foliage into golden tinsel.

The dawn stays awake rising up. Higher up
than any resurrected yesterday.
A light-poem, burning and rekindling -
Sculpturing within a cold flame brightly
that a new cast be forged upon the fire-wheel
of this instant of mortality in eternal praise.

And the wintry dawn
arching its sky brow over the shoulder of the mind
innocent of before or after,
and indifferent of time or infinity.  Faultless death
that contemplates the seed of life in its heart
and chills unto sleep, that it might change
the sheet and shape of past and future
for a resurgent design and renaissance
of this my defining flame that I am found as.

If I pass like a needle through this season
I shall sew a few words together
and commend the womb of living ghosts
that with faithful compassion
lay dormant and awake in the deep-set dark
to set alight such perfect dawns as this.

And I will know nothing of the passing of states
or conditions, but dwell in the fire-seed
where love burns up its taut fertility
to be the clear music of our changeless moment,

and from such an immediate joy
all becomes what has and ever will be.
All springs and shoots out
with a naive ardor and nativity.
Outward and as original as a new-born cosmos
before the first and only day,
and nonchalant for tomorrow as any sparrow.

Dawn rises up and knows no falling -
Formed in the green bud of an eternal fire it is -
The burning dark rouses an untainted light.
A chiseled radiance etched within a quick kiln
by such a keen brisk knife of this - my Presence.

I am full in the passing and full in the revealing.
An ever changeless living flame cuts my cloth
fine and clear as this dawn
as it arrives as the wind-fields of October.