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#1739 - Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - Editor: Jerry
Gill Eardley
Allspirit Inspiration
You imagined that you would accomplish this task through
your own strength, activity, and effort. This is the wont
that I have established: expend everything you have in
Our way. Then Our bounty will come to you. On this end-
less road, We command you to travel with your own feeble
hands and feet. We know that you cannot traverse this
way with feet so feeble. Indeed, in a hundred thousand
years you will not arrive at the first way station. However,
when you travel this road until your legs are exhausted and
you fall down flat, until you have no more strength to move
forward, then God's grace will take you in its arms.
~Rumi
'Travelling the Path of Love'
Edited by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Daily Dharma
"Will not the ocean of joy
That shall exist when all beings are free
Be sufficient for me?
What am I doing wishing for my liberation alone?
Therefore, although working for the benefit of others,
I should not be conceited or consider myself wonderful.
And because of the joy there is in solely doing this,
I should have no hope for any ripening-effect.
Therefore just as I protect myself
From unpleasant things however small,
In the same way I should act towards others
With a compassionate and caring mind."
~~Shanitdeva
Vicki Woodyard
NDS
Who is the true guru?
We have all read that question, "Who is the true
guru?" Some days I think I know. I have been
corresponding via the internet with my friend, Peter, for over a
year now. We sit by the fire of our mutual sufferings
and warm ourselves as they burn brightly.
Peter tosses in a log occasionally and so do I. The gist of
it is that when you are being broken and there is no fixing you,
what is left to do but be where you are? It is Peter who
has been my guide to what is. He always says "ho
ho" after making a comment on his broken body. He
never speaks about the details of his illness; only saying that
he grows weaker and less able to write.
He knows me in a way that a person meeting me face-to-face never
can. I tell him about losing my child, about going
through chemo with my husband and he understands. Last year
when we had to put our dog down, I asked Peter how old his
cat was. "She is younger than springtime", was
his reply. Actually she is seventeen or eighteen, I forget.
We hit the send button on our little fireside chats, knowing that
one day a silence will arise and Peter will have nothing left to
say. In one sense, sorrow is the true guru, and when it
burns away the dross of the self, only holy ash remains. I
would like to think that someone would wander by our campfire and
smear a bit on their foreheads. Whether they do or don't
will be of no concern to Peter. Or he would just say,
"ho ho."
Vicki Woodyard
http://www.bobwoodyard.com/vicki.html
Bertram
NDS
Dear Members,
I am Bertram W. Salzman and this letter will serve as an
introduction.
I had the privelage of directing and editing" Abide As The
Self" life
and teaching of Ramana Maharshi and "Awaken To The
Eternal" life and
teaching Nisartgadatta Maharaj ;produced by Inner Directions
Foundation. Recently Inner Directions published my book:
"Being A
Buddha On Broadway" dedicated to Ramana Maharshi among
others. Ramana
has said that the only freedom one has is to turn one's vision
inwards
and my book is grounded in this teaching. Excerpts of the book
may be
acessed at my website www.subtlemind.com
I wish to thank you all for accepting me as a new member.
Most humbly
Namaste
Bertram
------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
The only "who"exists in one's brain cells! So all
questions concerning
the activity or non-activity of a "who" is a
conditioned mental
activity of the brain cells. This would include the non existence
of
Bertram that appears to be writing this letter. Any activity of
the
reader would be included as well.To see the truth of this just
unname
the world! Undefine yourself right now and sit in silence.That
which is
aware of the silence is Consciousness and Consciousness is all..
and
are you different than that? (Please don't attempt to answer this
question if you are patient and wait in silence a wordless answer
may
arise. Consciousness is all and as such are you different than
Ramana?
Respectfully,
Namaste
Bertram
Daily Dharma
"When you are doing zazen, you are within the complete calmness of your mind; you do not feel anything. You just sit. But the calmness of your sitting will encourage you in your everyday life. So actually you will find the value of Zen in your everyday life, rather than while you sit. But this does not mean you should neglect zazen. Even though you do not feel anything when you sit, if you do not have this zazen experience, you cannot find anything; you just find weeds, or trees, or clouds in your daily life; you do not see the moon. That is why you are always complaining about something. But for Zen students a weed, which for most people is worthless, is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art."
~~Shunryu Suzuki
From the book, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", published
by Weatherhill
Ben Hassine Awakened
Awareness Essence of Skillfulness - H.W.L
Poonja
Typed from The Truth Is, Sri H.W.L. Poonja,
Compiled and edited by Prashanti de Jager, pages 455 - 460
Essence of Skillfulness
Whatever comes let it come,
what stays let stay, what goes let go,
always keep Quiet, and always adore Self:
this is the essence of living skillfully
in the world of appearance.
During all activities of life
always know that you are the Self.
The way to live a happy beautiful life
is to accept whatever comes
and not care about what does not come.
Things will come so enjoy them and be happy.
Let the play happen by the Supreme Power;
you will be taken care of.
Be free to be happy, love has no traps.
If you are happy all will be happy,
if you suffer, all will suffer,
if your mind smells bad others will be affected.
Keep yourself happy in Peace,
Light, Wisdom, Consciousness.
This is your responsibility.
Be happy and have compassion
and live hand in hand with nature.
This makes birth worthwhile.
Start from Heart and see that all arises from Heart.
Always do this, always be This.
You cannot be skillful and arrogant at the same time,
but without arrogance all will be skillful,
Face the One, seeing everything as one is no-mind
and this is the pure state of Being, of Self.
When you are one with all
do not hold onto the connections
because this makes them separations
and you will have divided yourself by creating 'other.'
As the lotus does not touch the water,
so do not let the world enter your heart.
Being busy in the world is no trouble
unless you are troubled by being busy.
Then the only trouble is the trouble.
Let attention go to manifestation,
just know that manifestation is Brahman.
Let there be creations and destructions,
All is Brahman and you are beyond even that always.
Your environment is very important
so stay where there is no tension.
make sure that the circumstances within and without
are not disturbing, so be with peaceful beings in peaceful
places.
You need a place of love and beauty and peace,
even your own apartment and body must be peaceful.
Love and Quietness is enough.
If you speak ill of anybody else, you speak ill of yourself,
if you speak good, you speak good about yourself.
Words have great power so use only appropriate words.
Speaking from the head is pain and from the heart is pleasure,
so shut your head and your heart is open.
Don't trouble any being and do not let any being trouble you.
Don't get angry with anyone:
the tongue doesn't get angry with the teeth when the teeth bite
it,
and this happens sometimes when the food is good.
Contentment is absolutely necessary
because whatever you will be in the next state,
or in the next life is whatever unfulfilled desire
that you have in the present state.
Therefore desire only the Infinite.
Let the other desires arise and see that they arise from me,
from Emptiness, and then let them fall, as waves must.
Don't run after projections on the screen, be very wise.
Do not lose your peace at any cost.
Things will rise and fall so do not be caught!
Peace is most important, you have to be happy in the lila,
no-mind-limitless-happiness with Freedom in your mind,
not problems. Here in this moment there is no problem
and daily life is within this moment, you cannot walk out of it.
Just try to invite past and future problems into this moment.
They cannot touch Here so do things of Now,
and do not touch yesterday or tomorrow.
Remove all becoming, you are Being.
Becoming is effort, Being is no effort.
You are always That so be like the breeze
that is attached to neither the garbage nor the garden
that it blows over.
Do not run away from worldly activities,
only always keep in the 'I am the Self,' stay as the screen
on which all the projected activities take place.
In all activities simply keep Quiet and know 'I am home.'
Your business is to keep Quiet!
You cannot say that it is a dream unless you are awake.
So in the true waking state, the state of Wisdom,
it does not matter if there are dream objects or not.
Emptiness is not affected by any dream object, not even duality.
Ocean does not complain about the dance of ten million waves!
So don't be concerned about the rise and fall of thoughts.
To be nowhere is home, not allowing thought to land is home.
Allow thoughts to arise, but do not let them land
because thought landing is an object
which brings desire for the object,
which brings possessing of an object, which brings insanity.
There are only two choices: Freedom or insanity.
Choose 'I am free and happy.'
Bad moods are either past or imaginary future,
in the present there are no moods at all.
Moods belong to circumstances, to the past;
Face the sun and there will be no shadow of moods.
Give up all concepts and remain what you are.
Identify yourself as Cosmic Consciousness;
don't accept name or a form.
Detachment is your own nature
so the wise are not attracted to the transient.
Only the foolish cling to that which brings unhappiness
and are thus butchered by time.
This world is a garden, a game, play this divine game very well.
See things only as they are but do not posses them
or you will be in trouble because even your body is transient.
The next breath is not guaranteed so do what you have to do Now:
play well, play wisely, by first finding out who you are.
Yoga only, no bhoga, first finish your work,
then go to the world with a heart that is dancing.
Don't use words for this dance because the game is tricky.
Just be silent.
The world is like a tail of a dog, its nature is to curl.
The best you can do is to stay Quiet
and not let anything bother you.
Visitors will come and go, don't interfere with these waves.
Be always empty and let desires dance.
Being asleep in the waking state is
being asleep to desires and aversions.
The avalanche of vasanas
which may happen as you approach the summit
is notions, intentions, and ideations.
With no intention, there is no summit and
That is Here.
Hidden tendencies arise to leave when you are Quiet,
so it is a good sign when vasanas rise.
Do not be dismayed because they are Self.
Let vasanas arise, they do not exist.
The world is a playground for the wise
and a graveyard for the foolish.
Let the vasanas play, they are transient imaginations
and even the 'I' to which they occur is imagination itself.
Abide as Substratum and allow circumstances to come and go.
Stay Quiet with no intention, or notion,
not even to inquire for Freedom, and don't utter the word 'I.'
Then the gods and demons of the vasanas will vanish.
Your true nature does not come and go.
Play with what comes and goes.
When they arise they will disappear.
Allow them to go away.
Let things happen through mind-ego
and just stay Quiet as they happen,
with the firm conviction: I Am I Am.
This meditation is absolutely necessary to clear tendencies.
Only in the dream do you see objects.
Know that all objects are dream objects
and that the dream snakes are not real.
You have been ignorant for years
so when you know the Truth
you must focus on staying as such for some time.
What else is important.
If you find that you are still in the mind,
never mind! Don't remember!
Then you will not forget.
Though name and form and place and fields are different,
Consciousness is never different, so let there be these
differences,
but do not accept and reject anything or you divide yourself
and there is no love in this division:
take a cent from a dollar and you no longer have a dollar.
A fool doesn't look at foolishness and so is foolish.
The wise one looks at foolishness and so is wise.
Have no individuality:
Surrender to space or dissolve the ego with knowledge.
Just keep Quiet and watch the ego.
Keep vigilantly alert; aware but not involved.
Doing is trouble.
Clinging to non-eternal things is arrogance,
No clinging is loving all,
so don't cling and don't don't cling
because both conceal the Truth.
What you have, you have to lose,
there is no water in the mirage, only dry sand.
Be attached only to That
which is impossible to be separate from.
If you have to think, think 'I am pure consciousness.'
If you have to speak, speak about the Self.
If you have to read, read what the Enlightened have written.
I advise you to keep good company, a pure sattvic diet,
attend satsang, and live in harmony with nature.
Be as you Are and allow no concepts to trespass in your peace.
Your foremost duty is to remove concepts and engagements.
Love all beings, love all beings, love all beings.
Treat the ego and mind like shoes:
wear them when you need to go out
and take them off at the door when you are home.
Otherwise the seat in which knowledge would sit is occupied.
The thought 'I am the body' is enough to occupy the throne,
so keep the mind and the ego out with the shoes
until there is no in and no out
and no one left to wear them.
Buddha nature flows from simple doing,
not doer-thinking-doing.
Allow things to happen, you just stay here.
What has to happen is happening
Just remain here as Peace, just remain as Peace,
just remain as Peace.