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#1715 - Monday, February 23, 2004 - Editor: Gloria Lee

"It seems to me what you lose in mystery you gain in awe"  

-Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA  posted by Lee Love on E-zendo  

The whole universe,
The whole world, is you;
Do you think
There is any other?
This is why the ancients say,
“People lose themselves,
Pursuing things;
If they could turn things around,
They would be the same as Buddha.”

- Hsueh-feng (822-908)

Know the essence of mind.
Its intrinsic essence is pure clarity.
It is essentially the same as a buddha.
Know the functions of the mind.
Its functions produce the
Treasure of teachings.
When its activity is silent,
Myriad illusions become suchness.

- Tao-hsin (580-651)

Ben Hassine ~ Awakened Awareness  

Typed from A Guide To Tranquillity And Awareness, Chapter XVI, pages 153 - 154  

I see a grain of sand on the ground. How much effort must it expend to be there? How much work must it do to be just what it is? And over there is a pebble. How much labored activity must the pebble engage in to be a pebble? There is a tree, effortlessly being just what it is, reflecting every law of life and grace that is being the tree.  

The mountain there -- must it do anything to be a mountain? The rivers? The lakes? Must the ocean muster its own energy to pound the shore, or is a greater law being the power of the tide? How much effort must this earth expend to turn on its axis and wheel in its great circle about the sun? Consider the sun in its galaxy of countless stars; how much power must it expend to maintain its place in the spiraling nebula? None at all. None at all.  

In the infinite universe where Reality so orders everything from the wheeling galaxies in the heavens to the little pebbles at the edge of the brook, why must man, of all the images within consciousness, struggle and strive so, stretch and strain so, to reach the Order, the Harmony, the Power, that is inescapably here and all already? Everything is Harmony, present as a perfect universe. Reader look at the sunshine. See the blue sky. Behold the bird soaring there while the earth turns so silently. Look at the effortlessness of yon flower just being a flower. All this serene effortlessness am I!

The Veil Nebula (NGC 6960) is part of a supernova remnant known as the Cygnus Loop. It is the shattered remains of one, and possibly two, supernovae that exploded more than 15,000 years ago at a distance of 2,500 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. At the time of the explosion, it would have been seen as a very bright star, rivaling the crescent Moon.

Giant Galaxy String Defies Models of How Universe Evolved   

Wide-field telescope observations from the CTIO Blanco 4-meter telescope of the remote and therefore early Universe, looking back to a time when it was a fifth of its present age (redshift = 2.38), have revealed an enormous string of galaxies about 300 million light-years long. This new structure defies current models of how the Universe evolved, which can’t explain how a string this big could have formed so early.

For more information, see the NASA/Goddard Press release

http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0107filament.html  

  The history of man for the nine months preceding his birth would probably be far more interesting, and contain events of greater moment, than all the three score and ten years that follow it. -- Samuel T. Coleridge  

  The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings
are free from anxiety about results; all his selfish desires have
been consumed in the fire of knowledge. The wise, ever satisfied,
have abandoned external supports.
-Bhagavad Gita

From "Teachings of the Hindu Mystics," © 2001 by Andrew Harvey. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com.

Irrespective of different philosophies, the most important thing is to
have a tamed and disciplined mind and a warm heart.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

From "The Pocket Dalai Lama," edited by Mary Craig, 2002. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston,www.shambhala.com.  

http://www.beliefnet.com.

A Net of Jewels

"It is the nature of being to see adventure in becoming, as it is in
the very nature of becoming to seek peace in being.  This alternation
of being and becoming is inevitable; but my home is beyond."

-Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Daily Dharma

"People who want to bring about lasting peace need to clearly
understand the goal, whether they think of themselves as spiritual
practitioners or not. It doesn't matter what we call it, the goal is to
end the suffering that abounds in the world. Though we think that
samsara is the problem, samsara is ultimately a state of mind. The
key to ending suffering and finding peace lies in transforming our
own mind -- removing our negativity, enhancing our positive
qualities, and revealing our true nature."

~Chagdud Tulku


From the book, "Change of Heart," published by Padma Publishing.

Vicki Woodyard ~ HarshaSatsangh

July 7, 2003--My friend Peter always lets me know that to feel the wind on your skin is a blessed thing.  Forget illness, sorrow, unsolvable human problems. He has known more than his share and carries his burden so gracefully.  I have never met Peter but I don't have to.  He is a pointer to the real just as much as Ramana Maharshi or Nisargadatta Maharaj.  The twinkle in his eye is a universal one.  How blessed we are by people like Peter.  How can you find him?  You got me.  I feel his love in every honest word that he writes.... 

"The only thing I have ever found that really works (for me at  least) is just being. By which I mean sitting or walking through the grasses, not doing anything much, feeling the air and the sun, seeing the wide wide sky, and just poking along. For me, what helps when pain comes is to scream as appropriate, then go on with the walk (or crawl depending on strength) through the grass.

Talk of enlightenment it seems to me, is for the healthy only, since they think that by hard work and strict discipline they can attain something. For those of us who are seriously ill however, all that seems like impossibly hard work. 'Enlightenment', 'awakening', and the like seems to me to be all just a lot of talk and hard work - really just a way of avoiding the wind in one's hair, so easily available anywhere at any time, regardless of circumstance, without any effort at all. Trying to attain something more seems, well, uninteresting."

For more of Peter's letters....http://www.bobwoodyard.com under Vicki Woodyard.

  Gill Eardley ~ Allspirit   from: 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind'
by Shunryu Suzuki

According to traditional buddhist understanding, our human nature is 
without ego. When we have no idea of ego, we have Buddha's view of  life.
Our egoistic ideas are delusion, covering our buddha nature. We  are always
creating and following them, and in repeating this process  over and over
again, our life becomes completely occupied by ego- centered ideas. This is
called karmic life, or karma. The Buddhist life  should not be karmic life. The
purpose of our practice is to cut off the  karmic spinning mind. If you are
trying to attain enlightenment, that is a  part of karma, you are creating and
being driven by karma, and you are  wasting your time on your black
cushion. According to Bodhi- dharma's  understanding, practice based on any
gaining idea is just a repetition of  your karma. Forgetting this point, many
later Zen masters have  emphasized some stage to be attained by practice. 
 

  Joyce (know_mystery)

Earth, Teach Me To Remember 

Earth teach me stillness
as the grasses are stilled with light.
Earth teach me suffering
as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility
as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth Teach me caring
as the mother who secures her young.
Earth teach me courage
as the tree which stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation
as the ant which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom
as the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation
as the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration
as the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness
as dry fields weep in the rain.

~  Ute Native American Prayer  ~  

  Vioroca Weissman ~ Million Paths     Ramana Maharshi:
      "The sense of 'I' pertains to the person, the body and brain. When a man knows his true Self for the first time something else arises from the depths of his being and takes possession of him. That something is behind the mind; it is infinite, divine, eternal. Some people call it the Kingdom of Heaven, others call it the Soul and others again Nirvana and Hindus call it Liberation; you may give it what name you wish. When this happens a man has not really lost himself; rather he has found himself.

      Unless and until a man embarks on this quest of the true Self, doubt and uncertainty will follow his footsteps through life. The greatest kings and statesmen try to rule others when in their heart of hearts they know that they cannot rule themselves. Yet the greatest power is at the command of the man who has penetrated to his inmost depth.... What is the use of knowing about everything else when you do not yet know who you are? Men avoid this inquiry into the true Self, but what else is there so worthy to be undertaken?"

      --Ramana Maharshi and The Path of Self-knowledge   http://www.voicefortruth.com/easternmasters.htm

~ ~ ~

Q: How can I attain Self-realisation?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Realisation is nothing to be gained afresh; it is already there. All that is necessary is to get rid of the thought ‘I have not realised’.

Stillness or peace is realisation. There is no moment when the Self is not. So long as there is doubt or the feeling of non-realisation, the attempt should be made to rid oneself of these thoughts. They are due to the identification of the Self with the not-self. When the not-self disappears, the Self alone remains. To make room, it is enough that objects be removed. Room is not brought in from elsewhere.

Q: Since realisation is not possible without Vasana-kshaya (destruction of mental tendencies), how am I to realise that state in which the tendencies are effectively destroyed?

A: You are in that state now.

Q: Does it mean that by holding on to the Self, the vasanas (mental tendencies) should be destroyed as and when they emerge?

A: They will themselves be destroyed if you remain as you are.

Q: How shall I reach the Self?

A: There is no reaching the Self. If the Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not here and now and that it is yet to be obtained. What is got afresh will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say the Self is not reached. You are the Self, you are already that.

The fact is, you are ignorant of your blissful state. Ignorance supervenes and draws a veil over the pure Self, which is bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this veil of ignorance, which is merely wrong knowledge. The wrong knowledge is the false identification of the Self with the body and the mind. This false identification must go, and then the Self alone remains.

Therefore realisation is for everyone; realisation makes no difference between the aspirants. This very doubt whether you can realise, and the notion ‘I have not realised’ are themselves the obstacles. Be free from these obstacles also.

Q: How long does it take to reach Mukti (liberation)?

A: Mukti is not to be gained in the future. It is there forever, here and now.

Q: I agree, but I do not experience it.

A: The experience is here and now. One cannot deny one’s own Self.

Q: That means existence and not happiness.

A: Existence is the same as happiness and happiness is the same as being. The word Mukti is so provoking. Why should one seek it? One believes that there is bondage and therefore seeks liberation. But the fact is that there is no bondage but only liberation. Why call it by a name and seek it?

Q: True, but we are ignorant.

A: Only remove ignorance. That is all there is to be done.

All questions relating to Mukti are inadmissible. Mukti means release from bondage, which implies the present existence of bondage. There is no bondage and therefore no Mukti either.

  Terry Murphy ~ Sufi Mystic   *the empty boat*
(Chuang-tzu)

He who rules men lives by confusion;
He who is ruled by men lives in sorrow.
Yao therefore desired
Neither to influence others
Nor to be influenced by them.
The way to get clear of confusion
And free of sorrow
Is to live with the Tao
In the land of the great Void.

If a man is crossing a river
And an empty boat collides with his own skiff,
Even though he be a bad-tempered man
He will not become very angry.
But if he see a man in the boat,
He will shout at him to steer clear.
If the shout is not heard he will shout again,
And yet again, and begin cursing.
And all because there is somebody in the boat.
Yet if the boat were empty,
He would not be shouting and not angry.

If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you.


The straight tree is the first to be cut down,
The spring of clear water is the first to be drained dry.
If you wish to improve your wisdom
And shame the ignorant,
To cultivate your character
And outshine others;
A light will surround you
As if you had swallowed the sun and the moon:
You will not avoid calamity.

A wise man has said:
"He who is content with himself
Has done a worthless work.
Achievement is the beginning of failure.
Fame is the beginning of disgrace."

Who can free himself from achievement
And from fame, descend and be lost
Amid the masses of men?
He will flow like the Tao, unseen,
He will go about like Life itself
With no name and no home.
Simple is he, without distinction.
To all appearances he is a fool.
His steps leave no trace. He has no power.
He achieves nothing, has no reputation.
Since he judges no one
No one judges him.
Such is the perfect man:
His boat is empty.

from "The Way of Chuang Tzu" trans Thomas Merton

  Viorica Weissman ~ Million Paths

The Nature of The Self - [8]

Q: However often Bhagavan teaches us, we are not able to understand.

Sri Ramana Maharshi:
   People say that they are not able to know the Self that is all
   pervading. What can I do? Even the smallest child says, "I exist;
   I do; this is mine." So, everyone understands that the thing "I"
   is always existent. It is only when that "I" is there that there
   is the feeling that you are the body, he is Venkanna, this is
   Ramanna and so on. To know that the one that is always visible is
   one's own Self, is it necessary to search with a candle? To say
   that we do not know the atma swarupa [the real nature of the Self]
   which is not different but which is in one's own Self is like
   saying, 'I do not know myself.'

Q: But how is one to reach this state?

A: There is no goal to be reached. There is nothing to be attained.
   You are the self. You exist always. Nothing more can be predicated
   of the Self than that it exists. Seeing God or the Self is only
   being the Self or yourself. Seeing is being. You, being the Self,
   want to know how to attain the Self. It is something like a man
   being at Ramanasramam asking how many ways there are to reach
   Ramanasramam and which is the best way for him. All that is
   required of you is to give up the thought that you are this body
   and to give up all thoughts of the external things or the not-
   self.

Q: What is the ego-self? How is it related to the real Self?

A: The ego-self appears and disappears and is transitory,
   whereas the real Self is permanent. Though you are actually the
   true Self you wrongly identify the real Self with the ego-self.

Q: How does the mistake come about?

A: See if it has come about.

Q: One has to sublimate the ego-self into the true Self.

A: The ego-self does not exist at all.

Q: Why does it give us trouble?

A: To whom is the trouble? The trouble also is imagined.
   Trouble and pleasure are only for the ego.

Q: Why is the world so wrapped up in ignorance?

A: Take care of yourself. Let the world take care of itself.
   See your Self. If you are the body there is the gross world also.
   If you are spirit all is spirit alone.

Q: It will hold good for the individual, but of the rest?

A: Do it first and then see if the question arises afterwards.

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