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#1927 - Monday, September 20, 2004 - Editor: Jerry
This issue features the final excerpt from the newly published book, The Nature of Man According to the Vedanta, by John Levy. This series constitutes the first lengthy quotation of Levy on the internet; there is virtually nothing else at present. Also there are quotations from the thoughtful Alpha World list. And there is an installment of In Nonduality Salon.
The Nature of Man According to the Vedanta
by John Levy
http://www.sentientpublications.com/catalog/nature_of_man.php
from Chapter XXIV: The Verbal Expression of Non-Duality
I remarked in a previous chapter ... that although non-duality abides as the substratum and the reality of dualistic experience, we cannot be aware of it when our attention is turned outwards. It may then be asked how one can speak of non-duality so as to convey its meaning to others; for in order to speak or even to conceive of it, we must, as in fact we unwittingly do, become merged in it, just as in order to "remember" a dream, we must re-enter the dream and leave the present waking-state. Between being merged in non-duality and speaking of it as clearly as words allow, there is no causal relation but what may best be described as sheer reciprocity uniting distinct levels: it could in a way be compared to the reflection of a person's mood in his countenance. But the power of conveying the truth, without effort and in perfect harmony with a seeker's aspiration, is not possessed by all those who have cancelled ego and met the true self. That one alone who by nature is so eloquent and loving, has realized non-duality and dismissed the body, who therefore has nothing to gain or lose by teaching, yes, only that rare being is able to talk of reality and so guide others.
from Chapter XXVI: Non-Duality
The Disparity of Consciousness and Objects
The seeming relationship between consciousness and its object must always remain unintelligible, for if we view them as distinct entities, they are found to be wholly disparate; and if we regard the object from the standpoint of consciousness, its objectivity disappears... . This difficulty has often tempted shallow or lazy thinkers to reverse the true position. They say, since we cognize the object directly and seem merely to infer the existence of an intangible consciounsess, that the former alone is real and the latter a convenient figment. I hope to have made it clear, in the course of this work, that such a stand contradicts the considered evidence; and that consciousness is no more an invention than the luminary whose light makes visible the page before us. All that has been said, or will be, regarding this matter, may be summarized as follows: that unique principle whose existence cannot be doubted, whose being depends on no other, and which is immutable, that alone is to be called real.
~ ~ ~
The Nature of Man According to the Vedanta
by John Levy
Order this book at http://www.sentientpublications.com/catalog/nature_of_man.php
Alpha World
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AlphaWorld/
Pure...
"All emotions are pure which gather you and lift you up;
that emotion is impure which
seizes only one side of your being and so distorts you."
Rainer Maria Rilke
~ ~ ~
“The creation and sale of most art today is pure
prostitution. The comparison is true in
every detail. Real art can only rarely be created even by a real
artist; like a child in
a mother's womb, it is the ripened fruit of his prior life. False
art, though, can be
ceaselessly produced by craftsmen, according to the dictates of a
market. Like a faithful
wife who loves her husband, real art does not need any excess
decoration; like a
prostitute, false art demands to be decorated. True art comes out
of an artist's urgent
need to express the feelings that have formed inside him, just as
a mother needs to give
birth to her baby. False art answers only to profit. Real art
brings new feelings into
our life, as a woman brings a new person into the world. False
art corrupts; it makes a
person dissipated, distracts him, weakens his spiritual power.
Everyone must understand
this, in order that they shun the terrible proliferation of this
dirty, dissipated type
of art which is, on its face, prostitution.”
Leo Tolstoy, "A Calendar of Wisdom"
~ ~ ~
“It is a descending stream of pure activity which is the dynamic force of the universe.”
Kabbalah (B.C. 1200?-700? A.D.)
~ ~ ~
"The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them;
it is by excusing nothing that
pure love shows itself."
Molière
~ ~ ~
"It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it
requires for a human being to keep
clear of falsehoods."
Margaret Fuller
~ ~ ~
"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso.
http://firelight63.blogspot.com
ICQ # 238728919
In Nonduality Salon
The Highlights of the Nonduality Salon list from between August,
1998 and May, 1999, the period of time prior to the creation of
The Highlights.
~ ~ ~
Gene Poole
Some time ago, I said to Marcia; "But what about that
living nondual
observer?", and it was days after that, that she said to
someone, "I think
it is all alive".
Now Madhya writes that "knowledge is bondage", and
Jerry posts a quote from
VALIS by Phillip K Dick, concering the Living and Sentient
Universe. In the
(Gnostic) schema proposed by Dick, "we" suffer the
"noise" of a living-dead
universe of bondage, and struggle to attain healing from the
damage which
that mechanical universe has produced.
I say, that there is no liberation without bondage; that the
Gnostic schema
of evil VS good, that of the realization of the good against the
background
of the evil, and the Christian mythos of the retrogressive
'power' of satan
VS the redeeming Power of Jesus Christ, is nothing less than the
map or
description of "our" rise to sentience; that embedded
within our sentience
is the record of our arising, and that bondage is what we have
arisen from.
That we have access to our chains (knowledge) is a natural
consequence of
our evolution.
"Our" evolution 'took' NO time, as we understand time;
yet, in that
'no-time', all of the events of our birth and growth have
occured, and we
worshipfully live in deep respect of our nature; we are in the
thrall of
our own wonderful nature. We think that we obsess about it, but
it is
really love; we complain, but it is really respect. We worship
the legs
which have carried us to this place, even as we eat them; that is
the
Eucharist.
The suddeness of our arrival has an impactful momentum upon the
Urth, yet,
our fulfillment is done now; we are observing the wake of our
arrival.
Still, nothing happens; it is all done. It is the realization of
this
completion which is the seeing of the alive and aware ALL in
which this is
all happening; and it is happening against the backdrop of
'evil', the
'noise' of so-called 'history', and the scenery of decay which is
the
natural world.
"Our" intuiting of the so-called "big bang"
is generally incomplete; by
this I mean that as there was a 'beginning', so there WAS an end;
it has
already ended, and this is all a record, which we are reading;
this is a
story, which we are telling to ourselves. It has already
happened, yet in
reverence, we choose to live in this history, for it is the body
of the
pyramid upon which rests "The I"; I cannot blame
anyone, for weeping in
gratitude for this, sentience. There is a sense of it being
unlikely, to
itself, and thus has invented 'grace' as the name of the
elevating/edifying
power which has birthed us as us. Yet, we say "I Am",
as though we are the
very Gods which arranged this whole thing.
I am the root, the body, and the flower; I am the seed, and the
soil in
which I grow. I consume (transform) myself as I continue, yet as
I
continue, I recognize that this is what is happening; I recognize
that this
is my nature, not one thing or a progression of forms, but all
form that
has ever been; and that I am all that will ever be; therefore, I
must love
myself.
I abide as all of this, and as I am alive, all of this is alive;
one big
throbbing standing-wave pattern, seething with life, and
constantly
shedding what was. That, is what is.
Amnesia is the veil of fear; and fear is the remnant of failure.
Yet,
sentience has succeeded, and has cast aside the veil of amnesia.
This
remembering is who I am.
~ ~ ~
Pushing nondualism along
This list, this gathering, continues to push the envelope of
Nondualism.
We are not confined by specific scholarly conversations, or by
one
leader or another, or by any one kind of religious perspective.
We
embrace sex, dolphins, UFO's, Nisargadatta, and who and whatever
radiates real and free nonduality.
Please bring a friend here! There is no place else in world,
as far as I
know, where anything like this is being done is such harmony.
Nondualism
is so little known, as it is so hard to understand, and yet we
build
sandcastles on the beach of our knowing. That is something.
The following is from David Deida's writing on nondual sexuality:
The contemplation of death strips you of all false pursuits.
All hopes
and dreams are over. No children, no family. No work tomorrow.
Nothing
to look forward to. No future to wear. You are naked in this
moment,
feeling fully, with no veil of time to hide your vulnerability.
In the
true contemplation of death, your heart stands bare in the
present
moment. With no excuse but to be present, your heart
gathers strength. No longer
dispersed in dreams of future fear or hope, your heart's force
becomes
coherent. Without a shell of waiting, without the buffer of
tomorrow,
unclothed of expectation or fear, no longer waiting for things to
be
different, you can fully be the love you are, right now.
To deepen sex, feel this moment in the immensity of what comes
before
and after your individual birth, and make love.
While having sex, feel your precious partner. Feel your
pleasurized
body. Feel the love you can magnify through your sexing. Feel all
of
this while remembering your death. Actually imagine your heart
stopping
right now, in the midst of sex. Give the gift that would be your
last
gift of love, the giving that would leave you complete in death,
nothing
left ungiven.
~ ~ ~
SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI ON THE ESSENCE OF NON-DUALITY
Discern at every step that I am whatever is beginningless,
conscious,
unborn, primal, resident in the Heart-cavity, unsullied, and
transcending
the world, whatever is pure, peerless, desireless, beyond sight
or other
perceptions or even mental apprehension. Because we think we are
in the body
we also believe that we are born. However, we do not think of the
body, of
God, or of methods of realization in our deep slumber. Yet in our
waking
state we hold onto the body and think we are in it. The Supreme
Being is
that from which the body is born, in which it lives, and into
which it
resolves. We, however, think that we reside within the body.
Hence
instruction is given. The instruction means: "look
within." Consciousness is
not born at any time; it remains eternal. But ego is born; so
also the other
thoughts. Associated with the absolute consciousness they shine
forth; not
otherwise. . . .Liberation is to know that you were not born.
"Be still and
know that I am God."
Contributed by Harsha
~ ~ ~
Dolphin story
The following is from a dolphin 'confession' by Peter Russell:
"Over the following years I swam with dolphins whenever I
had the
opportunity. They have repeatedly reminded me of several
important principles, not the least of which is the value of
letting go
of wants and desires. "
For the whole story (it's only a page in length), please go to,
http://www.peterussell.com/Weaver/dolphin.html
Thank you,
Jerry
~ ~ ~
Harsha
Last week, on a very narrow two lane country road, I saw a car
heading directly towards our car at a very high speed for a head
on
collision. A young man apparently frustrated by three cars ahead
of him was
trying to pass them in a strict no pass zone. I pulled my car as
much to the
right as I could to make way for his car and stopped completely.
This
allowed just enough time and room for the oncoming car to pass
the three
cars and avoid hitting our car. After the critical moment had
passed, I
started the car up again and we resumed on our way. Later on I
thought that
by giving way to others we give them peace and we give ourselves
peace.
Similarly, when we give way to the Divine and give up everything
including
our very being to the Lord of the Love, He reveals Himself in the
Heart as
Our Own Self, the Great and Full Presence of Love, Existence, and
Eternal
Completion.
~ ~ ~
Jerry
just a thought...
It's important, I think, to realize that wherever we are, Grace
has a
plan to take us elsewhere.
~ ~ ~
Madhya f
ast-track techniques
Friends;
No matter what technique is used, I believe, spiritual
awakening is a
matter of intense devotion and grace. In my view, Americans are
all
too often looking for get something quick and for nothing
schemes.
We are often searching for the perfect technique, the guru
claiming
to transmit enlightenment by little more than a touch and so
forth.
I believe that any and all paths to enlightenment involve the
most
devoted and passionate intentions, hard work, and Grace--this
last,
most of all. Grace endows realization--nearly one hundred percent
of
the time, after years and lifetimes of hard work and commitment.
Love and devotion,
Madhya
~ ~ ~
Mic Clarke
On the altar
As an altar boy we wore long red cassocks with lace tops and a
little red
cape. Looking a little like the frillnecked lizzard I saw this
morning in
the light rain running almost upright past the banana trees. It
was always
so hot in those holy rags.
To my devoutly Catholic parents an altarboy was seen as an
apprenticeship
to the priesthood, one step closer to the Godhead. Particularly
in this
small country town.
Up there on the altar you became identified with the sanctity
of the
service, the smoky rituals, the elaborate processions, the
impenetrable
sadnes of funerals, the ineffable mystery and archetypal power of
the
eucharist, the joyful leaping upon the thick white cord of the
tower bell.
Here in God's house I tasted silence and the grace of the Mother
Mary. And
I watched.
One day, leading the procession with a very tall and heavy
golden cross,
hehe, I tripped over the genuflecting legs of the priest and very
nearly
scalped a fellow apprentice.
At the eucharist time, the focal point of power in the whole
mass, on cue I
would furiously ring handheld bells as the water and wine turned
into the
body, blood, heart and soul of the Divine. Being so close to the
action, I
remember always being curious to see if the wine REALLY did turn
into the
Blood of Christ. But no, we verified this on occasion by scoffing
the
remainder back in the vestible... invariably a rich, sweet red
wine, as the
parishoners filed out into the blinding light of the day.
To this day I struggle with the public face of
transubstantiation. How can
essence change? By Grace alone? Faith / belief systems may
change, I always
felt essence cannot. Essence is Divine.
Perhaps like others on this list, I felt the mystery of this
eucharist
being so veiled in ritual and dogma, direct access into the
Divine Heart
seemed sanctioned only through the edifice of the church and the
priesthood. So when I grew too big for the cassock, I sadly
walked away
becoming a pilgram in search of mySelf.
I simply add to this discussion what I felt as central to the
mystery and
energy of the eucharist. Yes, similar to Buddha's flower
teaching, the
eucharistic presence reveals a radient love, which I now relate
to as
consciousness itSelf. We can drown ourselves in theology,
symbolism and
cultural form, failing to see the eucharist in its naked beauty.
Representing the surrender to and embrace of the Divine,
played out through
an intermediary as a means of collectively and individually
focusing upon
the dissolution of self into love. ringing those bells for
freedom,
mic