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Dear Saloner,

You are always free and safe to express
yourself, though you
may not be spared thoughtful challenge.


While leadership here is hard to
pinpoint, know that
leadership is not in the hands of one
would make you feel
constricted or inhibited. Such a one
would be undergoing
their own 'process', but nobody has to kowtow to that one,
or even pay much attention to them.

be free here, sing, dance, wax poetic, release your heart
like a flock of doves, one or two which might get hurt in
the wing and downed, but multitudes of which will fly
free...

Jerry
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__________

Hello friends...

As many of you know, this week is an unusually good time to abide, to
meditate, to clear out the dross, to surrender with reverence... to rest
in I AM.

This Wednesday is the Solstice. The Stillpoint. The time when the rhythm
of the season is in breath pause before its slow arc back to renewed
life in the Spring. The pulses of Life are quelled and we, if we attend
with inner organs of perception, are poised to receive.

This particular year bears a phenomena worth noting. The Solstice
distance is counterbalanced by the Lunar proximity. Some say the deeper
radiance of Mother Light... of the feminine. I have attached information
about the lunar dynamic below.

I submit, with humility, that we consider what it might be like to enter
the Nonduality Salon or Chat with pure awareness of the Background,
poised to receive what might want to emerge within our collective body.

submitted with Love,
Christiana

FULL MOON DECEMBER 22, 1999 --
This year, a full moon will occur on the winter solstice, Dec. 22,
commonly called the first day of winter. The last time a full moon on
the winter solstice occurred in conjunction with a lunar perigee (point
in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth) was 1866.

Our ancestors 133 years ago saw this. Our descendants 100 or so
years from now will see this again. The moon will appear about 14%
larger than it does at apogee (the point in its elliptical orbit that is
farthest from the Earth) since the Earth is also several million miles
closer to the sun at this time of the year than in the summer, sunlight
striking the moon is about 7% stronger making it brighter yet. Also,
this will be the closest perigee of the Moon of the year since the
moon's orbit is constantly deforming. If the weather is clear and there
is a snow cover where you live, it is believed that even car headlights
will be superfluous.



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__________

Hello friends..

Tonight as I light my fourth Advent candle, I do so holding in awareness
our collective human and true ether-net body. I light the last candle of
Anticipation.

I have used this last week to reflect upon what it means to be human.

This week I enter the sanctuary of That which I Am, having to pass
through the outer layer of disonnance created by that which still
resides so tenaciously in the shadows of ignorance. The layer is thinner
this year, purer, less atonal.

That we, humans can evolve (perhaps, to a new form of creaturehood, one
which knows itself moved by and through Awareness) is a fact of Light
which has always guided humanity. It seems to me that this recognition
is a given after an essential choice of soul is made. Companionship and
stewardship are the vehicles for this graceful flow.

Yet along the way, the challenges of the human condition, like magnets,
seek to thwart the directive. It is during this season, that I make anew
the Vow of Choice; awaken the slumbering parts which are mesmerized by
the magnets; strengthen the bonds of companionship and prepare the
manger on the altar of my heart... in anticipation of the Light born
anew this cycle. I experience this on a cellular level.. the level of
human creaturehood. Christos.. annointing the cells with Light and the
warm viscocity of an energy I know as Love.

I thank you for creating a sanctuary of freedom, withinwhich I
can share this journey. May this week be a joy filled preparatory for
all of you. May the Living Light rest upon your awakened hearts.

with love,
Christiana
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__________

> >Tim:

> Do you know how many in history have tried to "save the
> world?" It seems to me the ultimate in egotism to dream of saving the
> world. To help one person is to save the world.

Save yourself first then see if there is a world left to
save.

jerrygadatta
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__________

> > > > I have read of some saints who lived for many years
> > > without eating.
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > > xan
>
>
> Dan: But the waiters will have to worry about them never tipping.

But have you ever seen them order? It's like this: "For an
appetizer I'll have a dish of fresh air from the Himalayas.
Now I don't want it too cool or too warm. I'll send it back
if it's not just right. After that I'll have a tank of
Pacific Seabreeze. Now last time it had a slight fishy smell
and I got pissed off at the chef. I'll have your job if
there's the slightest fishy smell, understand? With dinner
I'll have a liter of Rocky Mountain Clear."

Moral of the story: the restaurant business is the
restaurant business, people are still people, and waitering
is probably the hardest job there is.

Jerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dan: I'm wanting a red-eye special. A glass of
of Manhattan Skyline with a twist of Chernobyl Afterglow...
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__________


Passing along this link to a friend's really cool mandala like images. And
if you have the time to read, he tells about his own awakening process thru
a short story, accompanied by great graphics. Dave's relaxed humor and
peacefulness is very enjoyable. Please let him know you dropped by.

Love,
Gloria

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've expanded the website
at the bottom of here:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/davemason/map.htm
there's a link to a companion place called
CentralSight2.
including, a gallery of some of my images.
let me know what you think.

dave
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Greg to Tim:
>>You say that you have never experienced a silent teaching over the Internet
>>or from a book, and say a bit about how these media make the experience not
>>a great one for you. Then you say that therefore "there is no way to gain
>>that knowing" over the Internet or from a book. Isn't that a non-sequitur,
>>starting from your own experience, and ending up with "there is no way"?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gloria:
>Wait Greg!! Just when I was going to tell Tim that I have experienced this,
>so it must be true?? :) Over the internet, from words, without words, seeing
>a smile in a video.. is my experience worth nothing now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Gloria,

I think I'm saying the same thing as you! For me, many if not most of the
teachings, silent and otherwise, that have come my way have been through
books. Maybe I wasn't clear in my message to Tim, but I was saying he
can't reasonably conclude from his own experience that
books/internet/videos are ineffective for everyone else.

With love,

--Greg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christiana: In the beginning was the Word...
Living Words are energy sculptures. Inner senses can perceive the
intelligence which does not need physicality for transport.

There is an interesting book entitled _Four Spiritualities: Expressions
of self, expressions of spirit: a psychology of contemporary spiritual
choices_ by Peter Tufts Richardson. He uses Jung's personality typology
indicators as lens to assess how one experiences Spirit.

Where I think this applies to this discussion is that we receive and
interpret in large measure according to our hardwiring. For an
Introvert, Intuitive, Feeler such as myself, books and the Internet have
the capacity to move me into direct inner experience. This may not be so
for an Extrovert, Sensate, Thinker.

The Word.. shows up according to our capacitance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Whether or not someone is 'a realized being', is a lovely concept. To me it
was anyway. I used to have all kinds of ideas about what a realized being
was, what characteristics he was supposed to have, what kinds of things he
would or absolutely wouldn't ever do.
Most certainly Internet was excluded from my list of possibly 'realized
beings'.
Of course, looking at this in retrospect, saying 'not possible' was asking
for trouble.
The concept was sitting there, simply asking for it.
Begging to be proven wrong.
To be proven wrong about this concept, turned out to be my greatest victory.
Even internet, even words, even a video, darn, even the whole world is
realized being.
What a fool I was,
(still am, willingly)
suffocating in my pride of believing my 'good judgement', to be any kind of
usable scale. As if realized beingness can be weighed and measured. As if it
can be determined, what it is, what it looks like, what it does, how it
works....
I'm still coughing.
Mirror



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__________


I have been at heavens door and so this comes from my experience.
There are not two selves. The I that you feel is the self. When the I
confines itself to identification with a body then you have the small
self filled with fear, isolation, and the dream of death.

When the identification with the body dissolves then that same I is
seen everywhere. It fills the body, all that you see around you is I.
There is unity of all that you see in this I. There is a
foreground/background shift where before the objects of the world were
in the foreground and your sense of I was small and in the background.
With awakening the I expands and intensifies to such an extent that it
becomes the foreground and all else is seen in this I as part of it.
Hope this helps.

Peace, neo
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__________

Hello Gene,

A gazillion posts ago, but only a moment away from my heart, you wrote
the below power-filled response to my questions regarding criteria. I've
been sitting with these thoughts, even as I've been dozing off again and
again into the world dream. Tonight upon rereading your words.. after
having posted several posts, I found myself feeling deeply embarrassed.
Not an embarrassment evoking shame, but one of a profound shift in
seeing.

I've extracted a few statements (full letter below):

> >>Gene: Questions as to 'what is real' are all based on the
> assumption that something is real; and that what is real,
> is the standard by which the reality of everything else is
> to be known.

> >>I offer, that what is real, are the criteria by which we
> judge. I say that only these criteria are real; they form
> the mirror which reflects all of what is judged.

Christiana: So, are you saying that criteria, based upon world dream
agreements, create a somewhat seamless lens which seeks 'reality' only
in accordance with it's model? How does this make it 'real'. Or are you
saying that the only reality is the one assigned by the value base of
criteria? Remove criteria and alleged reality vanishes?

Gene:> We fool ourselves if we assume that we are choosing our own
direction.

Christiana: I understand you are referencing the momentum of criteria
specifically, but is there no 'choice' happening? I grasp the movement
of 'choiceless awareness', yet grapple with the sense that vigilence is
a choice I seem to be making.

> Gene: The battle is for the retention
> of identity, and thus acceptance. Identity, no matter how lowly,
> unworthy-seeming, or embarassing, is what is being fought for. Please
> consider that this battle for identity can only take place within the
> context of the 'world-dream'.

> The factors which form identity, are originally of the world-dream;
> subsequent re-enforcement of identity requires participation in the
> world-dream, for that is where the data of identity is found. Thus, any
> person who makes decisions, who concludes, who states 'truth' as though it
> is 'real', is actually re-enforcing their attachment to the world-dream.
> Using the referents of the world-dream (such as reading and writing in
> language) tends to immerse one deeply into the world-dream. As is oft
> pointed out, it is difficult if not impossible to dig oneself out of the
> dream, using tools which occur ONLY within the dream itself.

Christiana: Yes... I keep picking these tools up again and again.. they
have served me well, till now.. faithful friends. Bittersweet tears in
recognition of their ebbing usefulness.

Gene>> 'Nonduality' advocates the voluntary releasing of all identity,
and the 'return' to original nature.

Christiana: I voluntarily enlist in this release. There's a *apparent*
lot here to be released!

Gene:> One of the best things to come of continual
self-observation/self-inquiry,
> is the realization that we need not offer anything to anyone. I am saying
> that if we perceive such a need, that it is a clue that we are still in
> reaction, rather than conscious choice-mode. Humanity does not need
> anything it does not have; it needs, instead, to take advantage of the
> ever-present opportunity to realize that 'there is only self'.

Christiana: Thank you again Gene.. 'there is only self' is not yet a
fully awakened nor integrated knowing for me. I trust that it is so and
as such remain vigilant of the tendency towards separation.

There is within me a deep knowing of Love and it has always moved
outward.. Now I wonder if that direction perhaps is aspect of the
'criteria' of idealism. I asked Jerry what the difference between this
'Love' and 'I Am' were, and he suggested that I turn from the outward
flow right into the Source. Quite a gestalt! Thank you again, Jerry.

from the Source of Love,
Christiana
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__________


from a letter of Thomas Merton to Catherine de Hueck Doherty, September 18,
1958
thanks to Father Patrick Collins, thomasmerton@onelist

"After so boldly advertising to the world that I was out to become a
saint, I find I am doing a pretty bum job of it...
"But it certainly is a wonderful thing to wake up suddenly in the
solitude of the woods and look up at the sky and see the utter nonsense
of everything, including all the solemn stuff given out by professional
asses about the spiritual life: and simply to burst out laughing, and
laugh and laugh, with the sky and the trees because God is not in words,
and not in systems, and not in liturgical movements, and not in
"Contemplation" with a big C, or in asceticism or in anything like that,
not even in the apostolate. Certainly not in books. I can go on
writing them, for all that, but one might as well make paper airplanes
out of the whole lot."
________________________________________________________________________________\
__________

Joshua:

I'm trying to point at the distinction between objective and subjective
competition. If you engage in subjective competition then you are
actually *being* competitive and, from a non-dual understanding, that's
pointless. You might as well put your urges to use and sign up to be an
investment banker.

I'm interested in objective competition. I'd like to talk *about*
competition without actually *being* competitive. The more completely
competition is an *object* of your attention, the less you will actually
fall prey to *being* competitive. It's actually not easy as it sounds
and may take some practice.

Hope this helps.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joshua:
Competition is more important than anything else. Once competition is
settled then I'd be happy to discussion whatever you'd like.

Bruce:
Did it ever occur to you,
Joshua, that you may be
mistaking a particularly
pervasive symptom for the
underlying dis-ease that
actually "is more
important than anything
else?" You might find it
worth a ponder....


Joshua:
I don't understand how your comment squares with the situation. Would
you mind spelling it out explicitly?

Bruce:
The world is the OK Corral,
bullets and buckshot are
flying as both participants
and bystanders fall,
bleeding, to the ground.
After investigating the
requisite physiology,
hydraulics, and related
quantifiable phenomena,
Joshua builds a webpage
about bleeding and declares
that "bleeding is more
important than anything
else." I am proposing to
you that competition is a
symptom and not the actual
disease requiring our
attention.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Joshua:
>I am at peace as non-duality. Yet, I am interested in solving relative
>problems that seem to arise in the illusion of life. It is relatively
>real, after all. In return I might ask what one is suppose to discuss
>on a non-duality mailing list. I mean, what can you possibly say about
>non-duality?

Dan: Hmmmm... that It is not in competition with duality. Before you
fix a relative problem, you might enquire into what makes relativity
relative. If everything in relativity is related to everything
else in relativity, then who is it who is attempting to stand
outside of a relative problem and "solve" it? If there is no position
outside of relativity (and positioning, by definition,
is a relative activity), then the one who is trying to fix the problem
may not be other than the problem itself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dan: Logic is useful for discovering its own limits.
Logic is useful for discovering its uses
and its nonuses.
Then, logic opens itself to the Namelessness
that never could be made logical.


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__________


Since
the
Universe
IS
on
FIRE!!!!

Why
NOT

swallow
the
sun?

~~~~~~~~~~~~
love, andrew

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