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MELODY

Hi Gen,

I have a brother who was imprisoned
for a
full year as a repeat DWI offender.

(I lost count just how many DWI's he's
had.
More than a dozen, I'm sure.)

I cannot think about my brother
without crying,
and so I generally save my thoughts of
Dan until
I'm alone, as I am now.

My brother was released almost a year ago, and
he has simply dropped out of sight. Not even
his daughter and precious grandbaby knows
where he is.

He would likely be so filled with such shame....not
so much for being in prison, but ashamed for having
lost his business, and everything he ever owned.

(My brother drank to free himself from shame....
he seemed to carry it for the whole family.)

It wouldn't surprise me if he decided to lay low
until he was once again a 'success'.

And it wouldn't surprise me if, free of alcohol
for more than a year, he simply woke up.

Nor would it surprise me if was now drunk and
homeless in the streets.

And I realize he may very well be dead.

I wish to God I knew where he was.

I love him so.

---------------------------------

GEN

dear Melody every one,

thank you for sharing this. this was the story of my
brother too. ..my version of it. i unfold a miracle for
you and your brother.

there is no shame. there is only love. once i understood
that, my brother did too.
i knew not where he was. and then i found myself and there
he appeared.

and he told me:
"the world is nothing but you."

and how did years of pain and shame and blame disappear in
an instant.
and now did years of pain and shame and blame disappear

when i thought he was dead, or dying, or lost, he was. when
i found christ within him , around him, was him, i saw that
he was alive, was love , was [ X ].

for you for your brother for us all

my heart is your heart, my sister, my brother.

and i take this not lightly nor is it heavy remember: "he
ain't heavy, he's my brother?"
the secret is we carry each other. cause we be one thing.
1.

you are, as always in my thoughts melody! as is your
brother, who is my brother.

you are never alone. ..
alone, i found out, has the word "noel" in it. :-)
love always gen

____________________________________________________________________

CHRISTIANA DURANCZYK

The alleged margins are where I've lived and loved most of
my life. I've met and continue to meet my own resistance on
both sides of that line. A resistance which always
evaporates with an opened heart. A resistance which has
been my greatest teacher.

Like Kristie, I grew up American in a 'foreign' land
(Cuba). The intimate exposure to races, languages, music,
cultural boundaries, poverty, revolution, death, Catholicism
and Santeria, awakened me up to the intense matrix of
created reality within which any facet can know itself as
'outside'. When I 'returned' to 'normal' American culture,I
knew myself even more an outsider.

It's been 40 years since that awakening, and this life has
continuously aligned with the wisdom and heart and wound of
the edges.

Fifteen years spent as foster mother to three very wounded
violent children, catapulted me not only into their
'labeled' world, but into the hospitals and institutions
which either contain, heal or destroy them.

Four years spent working, learning, loving and being loved
in a California county jail.
The 'job': Psych rehab, ombudsman, women's group leader.
The teacher, every pair of eyes which knew; every heart
which transcended the 'deed'.

Seventeen years as a 'public servant'. The other day I
wrote:

"Another facet of this inner-outer imagery link is that the
more I recognize Self in all of our splendour, the larger my
'body' becomes. Right now, I sit writing at a reference
desk, hundreds have passed before me (and within me) in the
blip of this hour, a phenomenon appearing in vibrant
stillness. What i consistently see is a body sorely in need
of real food and tender care. The food and care I receive
from all of you, is being known as a throbbing radiance
which seems to pour through my eyes and heart."

That I can write and experience 'other' as myself now is
remarkable to me. In October, I was so desperately burned
out by the continuous battering from those marginalized, I
interviewed for a job in Nevada.
Anything to get away. 8,000 people pass through our doors
every day..
30-40% from the social margins. I found myself simply not
wanting to live one more day in the squalor, the anger, the
roughness, the ignorance, the pain, the demand. This has
not always been so, I spent many years knowing that the gift
of my work was in meeting Christ moment to moment. But the
volume and the pain has increased and my capacity to absorb
and to remain open had become choked.

Then I went to an intensive with Gangaji and Eli and in the
course of their work with another.. in a totally unrealated
'storyline'.. my world shifted.

They said..
* whatever coliseum of life you are in, is the coliseum you
have placed yourself in to wake up....

* and if you are in a coliseum, KNOW that the lions will
come. (at which point I was stuck on 'the resistant' side
of the line.. thinking 'yeah..
here 'they' come, make them go away!).

* and, they continued, when they come.. stand very still..
it is a good day to die. Upon hearing this, the trajectory
of my interpretation ground to a halt.. a screeching halt,
did a
180degree shift and suddenly I was staring down the barrel.
'They' are me.. of course, how did I forget?. A new
orientation within margins collapsed that day and has been
dissolving ever since. In it's place is a pulsing
Intelligence which I only know as Love.

I have become friends with several who are very aware and
happen to not currently have homes.. I will introduce them
to your site.. thank you.

love, Christiana

_______________________________________________________________________

KRISTI SHELLONER
(to Tim Gerchmez, who has successfully been meeting
challenges):

I think you are wonderful.......you seem to be soaking up
big chunks of insight, applying them, finding their
"limitations" and moving through that too...

TIM GERCHMEZ

Such is the 'path' of gyana yoga (discrimination). And as
you may have noticed, it's one which is rocky enough to
cause the feet to bleed, and steep enough to cause severe
back strain, and demanding enough to require a level of
dedication not commonly seen.
At times, it's also disappointing enough that one looks
around and considers dropping the whole thing entirely. It
does require "vacations" from time to time, because only a
superhuman could trod this path without stopping to rest.

______________________________________________________________________

LYNNE HELWIG

MY FRIEND

My friend, I am not what I seem. Seeming is but a garment I
wear---a care-woven garment that protects me from thy
questionings and thee from my negligence.
The "I" in me, my friend, dwells in the house of silence,
and therein it shall remain for ever more, unperceived,
unapproachable.
I would not have thee believe in what I say nor trust in
what I do---for my words are naught but thy own thoughts in
sound and my deeds thy hopes in action.
When thou sayest, "The wind bloweth eastward," I say, "Aye,
it doth blow eastward" ; for I would not have thee know that
my mind doth not dwell upon the wind but upon the sea.
Thou canst not understand my seafaring thoughts, nor would I
have thee understand. I would be at sea alone.
When it is day with thee, my friend, it is night with me ;
yet even then I speak of the noontide that dances upon the
hills and of the purple shadow that steals its way across
the valley ; for thou canst not hear the songs of my
darkness nor see my wings beating against the stars---and I
fain would not have thee see or hear. I would be with night
alone.
When thou ascendest to thy Heaven, I descend to my
Hell---even then thou callest to me across the unbridgeable
gulf, "My companion, my comrade,"
---for I would not have thee see my Hell. The flame would
burn thy eyesight and the smoke would crowd thy nostrils.
And I love my Hell too well to have thee visit it. I would
be in Hell alone.
Thou lovest Truth and Beauty and Righteousness ; and I for
thy sake say it is well and seemly to love these things.
But in my heart I laugh at thy love.
Yet I would not have thee see my laughter. I would laugh
alone.
My friend, thou art good and cautious and wise ; nay, thou
art perfect
---and I, too, speak with thee wisely and cautiously. And
yet I am mad.
But I mask my madness. I would be mad alone.
My friend, thou art not my friend, but how shall I make thee
understand?
My path is not thy path, yet together we walk, hand in hand.

Kahlil Gibran
____________________________________________________________________

GLORIA LEE

Tarot Reading for Today

If you have found your truth within yourself there is
nothing more in this whole existence to find. Truth is
functioning through you. When you open your eyes, it is
truth opening his eyes. When you close your eyes, it is
truth who is closing its eyes.
This is a tremendous meditation. If you can simply
understand the device, you don't have to do anything;
whatever you are doing is being done by truth. You are
walking, it is truth; you are sleeping, it is truth resting;
you are speaking, it is truth speaking; you are silent, it
is truth that is silent.
This is one of the most simple meditation techniques.
Slowly, slowly everything settles by this simple formula,
and then there is no need for the technique.
When you are cured, you throw away the meditation, you throw
away the medicine. Then you live as truth--alive, radiant,
contented, blissful, a song unto yourself. Your whole life
becomes a prayer without any words, or better to say a
prayerfulness, a grace, a beauty which does not belong to
our mundane world, a ray of light coming from the beyond
into the darkness of our world.

Osho The Great Zen Master Ta Hui, Chapter 23

Commentary:

The Inner Voice speaks not in words but in the wordless
language of the heart. It is like an oracle who only speaks
the truth. If it had a face, it would be like the face at
the center of this card--alert, watchful, and able to accept
both the dark and the light, symbolized by the two hands
holding the crystal. The crystal itself represents the
clarity that comes from transcending all dualities.
The Inner Voice can also be playful, as it dives deep into
the emotions and emerges again to soar towards the sky, like
two dolphins dancing in the waters of life. It is connected
with the cosmos, through the crescent-moon crown, and the
earth, as represented by the green leaves on the figure's
kimono. There are times in our lives when too many voices
seem to be pulling us this way and that. Our very confusion
in such situations is a reminder to seek silence and
centering within. Only then are we able to hear our truth.

______________________________________________________________________

SKYE CHAMBERS

The Zen Circle

One evening, at the Providence Zen Center, Seung Sahn
Soen-sa gave the following Dharma Speech:

“What is Zen? Zen is understanding myself. What am I? “I
explain Zen by means of a circle. There are five points
marked on the circle:
zero degrees, ninety degrees, one-hundred-eighty degrees,
two-hundred-seventy degrees, and three-hundred-sixty
degrees. 360° is exactly the same point as 0°.

“We begin from 0° to 90°. This is the area of thinking and
attachment. Thinking is desire, desire is suffering. All
things are separated into opposites: good and bad, beautiful
and ugly, mine and yours. I like this; I don’t like that.
I try to get happiness and avoid suffering. So life here is
suffering, and suffering is life.

“Past 90° is the area of the Consciousness or Karma I.
Below
90° there is attachment to name and form. Here there is
attachment to thinking. Before you were born, you were
zero; now you are one; in the future, you will die and again
become zero. So zero equals one, one equals zero. All
things here are the same, because they are of the same
substance.
All things have name and form, but their names and forms
come from emptiness and will return to emptiness. This is
still thinking.

“At 180° there is no thinking at all. This is the
experience of true emptiness. Before thinking, there are no
words and no speech. So there are no mountains, no rivers,
no God, no Buddha, nothing at all. There is only ...“ At
this point Soen-sa hit the table.

“Next is the area up to 270°, the area of magic and
miracles. Here, there is complete freedom, with no
hindrance in space or time. This is called live thinking.
I can change my body into a snake’s. I can ride a cloud to
the Western Heaven. I can walk on water. If I want life, I
have life; if I want death, I have death. In this area, a
statue can cry; the ground is not dark or light; the tree
has no roots; the valley has no echo.

“If you stay at 180°, you become attached to emptiness.

If you stay at 270°, you become attached to freedom.

“At 360°, all things are just as they are; the truth is just
like this. ‘Like this’ means that there is no attachment to
anything. This point is exactly the same as the zero point:
we arrive where we began, where we have always been. The
difference is that 0° is attachment thinking, while 360° is
no-attachment thinking.

“For example, if you drive a car with attachment thinking,
your mind will be somewhere else and you will go through the
red light. No-attachment thinking means that your mind is
clear all the time. When you drive, you aren’t thinking;
you are just driving. So the truth is just like this. Red
light means Stop; green light means Go. It is intuitive
action.
Intuitive action means acting without any desire or
attachment. My mind is like a clear mirror, reflecting
every-thing just as it is. Red comes, and the mirror
becomes red; yellow comes, and the mirror becomes yellow.
This is how a Bodhisattva lives. I have no desires for
myself. My actions are for all people.

0° is Small I.
90° is Karma I.
180° is Nothing I.
270° is Freedom I.
360° is Big I.
Big I is infinite time, infinite space.

So there is no life and no death. I only wish to save all
people.
If people are happy, I am happy; if people are sad, I am
sad.

“Zen is reaching 360°. When you reach 360°, all degrees on
the circle disappear. The circle is just a Zen
teaching-device. It doesn’t really exist. We use it to
simplify thinking and to test a student’s understanding.”
Soen-sa then held up a book and a pencil and said, “This
book and this pencil—are they the same or different?
At 0°, they are different.
At 90°, since all things are one, the book is the pencil,
the pencil is the book.
At 180°, all thinking is cut off, so there are no words and
no speech. The answer is only Here Soen-sa hit the table.
At 270°, there is perfect freedom, so a good answer is: the
book is angry, the pencil laughs.

Finally, at 360°, the truth is just like this. Spring
comes, the grass grows by itself. Inside it is light,
outside it is dark. Three times three equals nine.
Everything is as it is.
So the answer here is: the book is the book, the pencil is
the pencil.
__________________________________________________________

TIM GERCHMEZ

Advaita Vedanta as it exists today includes two main
schools: The orthodox (as taught by Adi Shankara), and
"Neo-Vedanta" as taught by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. The
two schools are similar but not identical. These schools are
both represented on the Net as mailing lists.
Advaitin@onelist.com is the orthodox,
Ramakrishna@onelist.com is the "Neo-vedanta."

The orthodox school can be summed up in Shankara's book,
"Crest-Jewel of Discrimination" (Viveka-Chudamani) and other
writings of Shankara, and is represented by several Shankara
Maths in India. The "Neo-Vedantist" school is summed up in
the writings of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna
Paramahansa (and his wife, Sarada Devi), and is much more
open minded, thanks to Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna
concluded that all paths lead to the same Source, even the
dualistic religions eventually lead to God-Realization.
This school has organizations all over the world.

The "Orthodox" school emphasizes pure jnana-yoga, while the
"Neo-Vedantist" school leans toward bhakta-yoga, although
there is much crossover.

Here are links to more information:

Orthodox: http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/index.html

Neo: http://www.vedanta.org/index.html

gauDapAda is the first historically known author in the
advaita vedAnta tradition, whose work is still available to
us. He may be said to be the pioneer of the ajAti vAda
school in advaita vedAnta. gauDapAda is traditionally said
to have been the guru of govinda bhagavatpAda, who was the
guru of SankarAcArya.

gauDapAda composed the gauDapAdIya kArikAs (GK), which
constitute an expository text on the mANDUkya upanishad.
The GK is divided into four books (prakaraNas), titled
Agama-prakaraNa, vaitathya-prakaraNa, advaita-prakaraNa and
alAtaSAnti-prakaraNa respectively. The kArikAs of the first
book are traditionally found interspersed with the prose
passages of the mANDUkya upanishad, while the other three
books are separated from the body of the upanishad. Other
works that are attributed to gauDapAda are:
sAm.khyakArikA bhAshya, uttaragItA bhAshya,
nRsimhottaratApanI upanishad bhAshya, and a couple of works
on SrIvidyA upAsanA - subhAgodaya and SrIvidyAratnasUtra.

The most notorious controversy about the GK is about the
influence of mahAyAna buddhism on its author. Curiously
enough, even those rival vedAnta schools which criticize
advaita as pracanna-bauddham (buddhism in disguise) do not
quote the GK to substantiate their criticism. However,
among modern scholars who are interested in studying Eastern
philosophies such as advaita vedAnta and mahAyAna buddhism,
this has been a hot topic for debate. [3]

It is clear that the GK has been written in the context of a
vedAntic dialogue with various schools of mahAyAna buddhism,
more prominently the yogAcAra and madhyamaka schools. GK IV
(alAtaSAnti prakaraNa) refers to the mahAyAna school of
buddhism as agrAyana. Moreover, the very metaphor of the
alAtacakra is a peculiarly buddhist one. The alAtacakra is
a burning firebrand that is waved in a circle, creating an
impression of a continuous circle of fire. It is
interesting to note here that gauDapAda characteristically
inverts the use of the buddhist metaphor. The buddhist uses
the metaphor to insist that the impression of a continuous
circle is an illusion, there being nothing more than the
momentary spatial positions of the burning brand. Hence,
from the buddhist prespective, it is plainly an error to see
the burning circle as having any svabhAva - "own-nature".
gauDapAda on the other hand points out that the burning
brand is itself the substratum of its momentary spatial
positions and the illusion of a burning circle caused by
waving the brand. Hence, according to him, even if the
burning circle is an illusion, its svabhAva is nothing other
than that of the burning brand.

Seen in context, the entire discussion in the GK seems to be
a continuation of the age-old svabhAva vs. nihsvabhAvatA
and Atman vs. nairAtmya debates between vedAntic and
buddhist schools. According to Sankara's commentary on
these kArikAs, gauDapAda uses buddhist metaphor and buddhist
terminology to come to vedAntic conclusions regarding the
ultimate existence of the Atman = brahman as the substratum
(adhishThAna) of all experience. That he speaks the
buddhist language does not mean that he is a buddhist in
disguise.
Moreover, it is not very surprising that gauDapAda, a
vedAntin, is very familiar with buddhist doctrine.
Tradition recounts that the famous pUrva-mImAm.saka,
kumArila bhaTTa, learnt from bauddha and jaina teachers,
with a view to understanding their schools before he wrote
his own works on mImAm.sA. Besides, by its very nature,
classical Indian philosophical writing proceeds by means of
demarcating one's own position from that of another's,
pointing out where they are similar and on what issues they
differ. An intimate knowledge of the other's philosophical
system is necessary for such refutation to take place.

The contention of some modern scholars that gauDapAda's
philosophy is nothing more than buddhism clothed in vedAntic
colors is based on two errors, that do not do justice to
either mahAyAna buddhism or to advaita vedAnta.

The first and the more serious error lies in interpreting
the madhyamaka concept of SUnyatA as an Absolute, equivalent
to the Atman or brahman of vedAnta. A careful reading of
nAgArjuna's mUlamadhyamaka-kArikAs and other works shows
what pains the madhyamaka school takes to avoid the extreme
of absolutism (SAsvata-vAda). While the buddhist ajAtivAda
maintains, "There is no birth," gauDapAda's argument about
ajAtivAda says, "There is an Unborn." Thus, gauDapAda
clearly upholds the Atman as the absolute. For nAgArjuna,
no view is correct, because every view ultimately entails
some absolutist positon, an extreme that is avoided by the
buddhist middle path.
gauDapAda, on the other hand, is inclusivistic in his
scope. He argues that every view entails an absolutist
position, and precisely for this reason, all views are said
to be non-conflicting (avirodha) with the absolutism of
advaita.
There are other points of contrast. For nAgArjuna, there is
no need to affirm a substratum (adhishThAna) of phenomena,
whereas for gauDapAda, the Atman is the substratum of all
experience. The madhyamaka non-duality is in terms of the
emptiness (SUnyatA) of all phenomena, while in the vedAnta
view of non-duality, phenomena are possible only due to the
essential reality of the Atman, which is pure
consciousness. The madhyamaka school does not describe
SUnyatA as an independent absolute entity, whereas the
advaita vedAnta emphasizes brahman/Atman as an Absolute. In
the light of these significant differences, seeing nothing
but mahAyAna buddhism in gauDapAda's advaita vedAnta is
impossible without seeing madhyamaka buddhism itself through
vedAnta-tinted glasses. As for the other schools of
buddhism such as vijnAnavAda, the madhyamaka school itself
criticizes them for holding views that entail consciousness
as an Absolute. gauDapAda possibly agrees with this
evaluation of the vijnAnavAda school.

The second error lies in ignoring the fact that advaita
vedAnta no doubt developed to a substantial degree before
the time of composition of GK IV.
Already in the paingala upanishad of the Sukla yajurveda,
which Sankara quotes in his bhAshya, there is a detailed
exposition of non-duality through the method of
adhyAropa-apavAda, (sublation of superimposition).
With Sruti being interpreted in this way, advaita vedAnta,
with all its "illusionist" conclusions, follows very
naturally: the ultimate reality of only the substratum is
upheld, and the superimposition is denied an independent
reality. Obviously, gauDapAda hails from this vedAntic
tradition, and in his kArikas, he addresses his contemporary
mahAyAnists.

It is also important to remember that the development of
both mahAyAna buddhism and vedAnta took place more or less
simultaneously, and within the same larger geographical
area. It would be foolhardy to expect that there would not
have been some interaction between the two most powerful
streams (brAhmaNa and bauddha) of Indian philosophical
thought. It is clear from the history of Indian
philosophical thought that both brAhmaNa and bauddha sides
held steadfastly to their basic axioms, although the
individual systems within each stream held diverse opinions
on various philosophical issues. On the whole, it seems as
if reading too much mahAyAna buddhism into the GK is jumping
to conclusions. This is not a chauvinistic defense of
advaita vedAnta with respect to buddhism. I only want to
point out that there are many subtle points which make the
two systems very different, although both systems describe
Reality as being beyond name and form. It would be well to
remember that the converse criticism, i.e. that mahAyAna
buddhism is but vedAnta clothed in buddhist colors, has been
addressed by as early a buddhist writer as bhAvaviveka (6th
century CE).

My conclusion?

Comparing Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta is like comparing a
can of Coca-Cola to a can of Pepsi-Cola. Both are composed
of sugar-water with some flavorings added. But man, do
people love to take sides!

-------------------------------------------------------------

BOB BAYS

The discussion of Buddhism / Advaita prompts me to resubmit
my earlier posting of the following short chapter from Da
Free John's excellent but little-known book "Nirvanasara"
(1982):

ADVAITA VEDANTA, CLASSICAL BUDDHISM, AND THE WAY OF RADICAL
UNDERSTANDING

Advaitism: Meditate on (or invert attention upon) the
essence of self (or witnessing consciousness) until all
objects are excluded and the Transcendental is Revealed.

Buddhism: Meditate on (or clearly observe) all presently
arising objects until the self (or the conventional sense of
consciousness as individual and independent of objects) is
overcome and the Transcendental is Revealed.

Advaitayana Buddhism: Understand and directly transcend the
contraction that generates the sense of self and of objects
as conventions of limitation (independent of one another and
of the Transcendental), and so in every moment recognize
self and objects (and the binding power of self and objects)
in the Transcendental (or That which is always already
Revealed).
__________________________________________________________________

CARLOS DWA

Two short excerpts from the novel Xellex (c) 1999 Carlos Dwa

. . .His internal perception floated above an
electromagnetic hyperdimensional torus. It was like a smoke
ring. Its lines of magnetic tendancies flowed around itself
much like the smoke in a smoke ring seems to roll around
itself as it moves, when actually it is the unseen air
current at its center roiling the smoke as it flows through
it. But this smoke was his thoughts and feelings, his
conscious sense of identity, and the unseen wind was the
primal flow of Life pushing upward through his genetic
matrix toward its assumed sublime destiny. He knew the
magnetic smoke ring, the torus, was him--his mind--what he
had thought of as himself, until now. It was so trite, so
self-involved with devouring it’s own excretia--thoughts.
Feeding upon them in a wormlike process of thinking a
thought and “hearing” the thought being thought. Like a
snake devouring its own tail. It was a closed, polarized,
dynamic system. It endlessly repeated the pulsing process
of “I”.
Nothing truly new could come out of it, or, it seemed, into
it, unless associated with a familiar pattern. Such a
process could only be fascinating from inside its hall of
mirrors, its self-referential infinite regression. He
looked elsewhere. And the infinite potential of elsewhere
swept him into a Living Vastness.
And he looked in wonder. And it looked back in benevolent
indifference awaiting his realization.
Surges of theories and conclusions swept into him from all
quarters. This mind thing that he had though of as himself,
it was just a process, the unending flow of delineating and
confining the unruly Vastness into temporarily soothing
associations and explanations. The process held little
fascination from his new perspective.
He was created and destroyed in each pulsing moment--anew,
anew, anew. Each ephemeral instant, whispered intimations
of eternity. And the course of all things was apprehended
without arrest.. . .

. . .Ja Mu awoke in the Dragon’s Mouth. His lantern had
burned out, but it didn’t matter. He could see.
He could see every niche of the cavern by the biolumenesent
glow of the caps of invisibility and the lichen encrusted
walls. Everything had a opalesent blue/white tinge and
looked otherworldly, like a fairyland. He looked around in
astonishment. Things were not the same. It wasn't just
being able to see in darkness, he could see things that
wouldn't have been visible with any amount of illumination.
Living things were different, very different in appearance
from everything else. He cocked his head. Yes... yes the
mushrooms had another pattern now, they were not just dark
purple caps with scarlet veins and stems. They had other
colors, other hues that he had never seen before: intrinsic
patterns of ghostly blues and reds, deep reds that seemed to
throb. And he saw something else, some other light, that
was not really a light, some splendid eminence flowing forth
from them, and telling him something, speaking to his sight,
telling him about their own life. Could it be? What wonder
was this? What new world had he entered? He felt he would
split open, that the wanton allure of this world would slay
him with beauty, that he could be overcome, absorbed,
entranced by the staggering glamour of things mundane. And
all about him, that which he had considered inanimate; the
rock, his pack and equipment, the air, the space, the flow
of time--all undulating with life, shimmering with
intelligence, speaking to him, it cracked his heart open and
breathed into him--whispers of bliss, promises of worlds
without end--of inner skies and shores, and vistas of
consciousness to become him. He wept. He laughed. He
muttered incoherently and watched himself do it from a lucid
place far away. And then, smiling with brimming tears he
gathered his things and walked to the entrance of the
cave.. . .
_______________________________________________________________________

JAN BARENDRECHT

A Bhakta sees God in everything and gives love. This is an
investment; because there is only Self, in the course of
events the love will "return to sender". By giving
everything, a Bhakta is free from shame, guilt and remorse,
as true love can never blame.

Without recognition of how love "works", one remains trapped
in duality; love will simply "find its own way" in the form
of relations or longing for it. I will consider the details
known; many with just an intellectual understanding have
paid the price of ignorance (defined as not recognizing a
veil and the appropriate remedy to dissolve it), and have
"enriched" the world with rather funny examples and
definitions of detachment. >

XAN

Ramana Maharshi:

"Eternal, unbroken natural state is jnana.
Does that not imply love of Self?"
Is that not bhakti?"

"Bhakti and Self-Enquiry are one and the same.
The Self of the Advaitins is the God of the bhaktas."

"What is bhakti? To think of God. That means:
only one thought prevails to the exclusion of all other
thoughts."

"The jnana method is said to be enquiry.
That is nothing but 'supreme devotion'.
The difference is in words only."

"Love is not different from the Self."

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