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Nondual Highlights Issue #2363, Wednesday, January 11, 2006, Editor: Mark Otter
Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment
and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand
times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear
of punishment.
- Mohandas Ghandi
Joy comes not out of infliction of pain on others but out of pain
voluntarily borne by oneself.
- Mohandas Ghandi
Q: As long as there is pain and pleasure, one is bound to be
interested.
M: And as long as one is conscious, there will be pain and
pleasure. You cannot fight pain and pleasure on the level of
consciousness. To go beyond them you must go beyond
consciousness, which is possible only when you look at
consciousness as something that happens to you and not in you, as
something external, alien, superimposed. Then, suddenly you are
free of consciousness, really alone, with nothing to intrude. And
that is your true state. Consciousness is an itching rash that
makes you scratch. Of course, you cannot step out of
consciousness for the very idea of stepping out is in
consciousness. But if you learn to look at your consciousness as
a sort of fever, personal and private, in which you are enclosed
like a chick in its shell, out of this very attitude will come
the crisis which will break the shell.
- Sti Nisargadatta Maharaj, from I Am That,
posted to NondualitySalon
In the moment of love, when the vibrant power of intense
compassion is uncontained, the empty essence shines forth
nakedly. May I never step off this supreme path of unity that
never goes awry, and practice it at all times, day and night.
- Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, posted to DailyDharma
On
Love
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams,
As the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest
branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them
In their clinging to the Earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant:
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,
That you may become sacred bread for God`s sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you
That you may know the secrets of your heart,
And in that knowledge become a fragment of Life`s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only
Love`s peace and love`s pleasure,
Then it is better for you
That you cover your nakedness and
Pass out of love`s threshing floor,
Into the seasonless world where you
Shall laugh, but not all of your laughter,
And weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself,
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed:
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say,
"God is in my heart," but rather,
"I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course
Of love, for love, if it finds you worthy,
Directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your
desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the
night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
And give thanks for another day of loving:
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love`s ecstasy:
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in you heart
And a song of praise upon your lips.
- excerpt from The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran