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Nondual Highlights Issue #2441, Saturday, April 8, 2006, Editor: Mark
At the intellectual level there can be no end to
questions. Instead, hang on to the one who is
asking. That is all you need do. Indeed, there
is nothing else really that you could do. If you
can do this, never allowing the self to escape
your attention, you will ultimately find that the
seeker is none other than consciousness
seeking its own source and that the seeker
himself is both the seeking and the sought -
and THAT IS YOU.
- Ramesh S. Balsekar, A Net of Jewels,
posted to AlongTheWay
Just as many diverse winds,
Storms here and there across the sky,
So in this very body:
The manifold kinds of feelings arise,
Both pleasant ones and painful ones,
And those neither painful nor pleasant.
Yet when a determined bhikkhu does not
neglect aware and clear comprehension;
Then such intelligent one fully understands
Feelings and all their complex aspects...
Having fully understood feelings, he is freed
of all mental fermentation even in this very life...
Remaining in this state, at the body's breakup,
Such Expert-Master cannot ever be imagined...
- from The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha.
Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [219] section 36:
On Feeling: Vedana. The Sky: Akasam. 12, posted to
meditationsocietyofamerica
The Way has no true shape,
And therefore none can control it.
If a ruler could control the Way
All things would follow
In harmony with his desire,
And sweet rain would fall,
Effortlessly slaking every thirst.
The Way is shaped by use,
But then the shape is lost.
Do not hold fast to shapes
But let sensation flow into the world ...
As a river courses down to the sea.
- The Tao Te Ching,
Chapter 32, translation by Peter Merel, posted to
Poetic_Mysticism
To Rama who questioned Vasishta: 'Which is that big mirror in
which all
these are mere reflections? What is the heart of all souls or
creatures in
this universe?' Vasishta replied: 'All creatures in this universe
have two
kinds of hearts - one to be taken note of and the other ignored.
Hear their
respective traits: The one to be ignored is the physical organ
called the
heart which is situated in the chest as part of the perishable
body. The
one to be taken note of is the Heart which is of the nature of
consciousness. It is both inside and outside (us) and has neither
an inside
nor an outside.'
- from Gems from Bhagavan,
selected by A. Devaraja Mudaliar, posted to RamanaMaharshi
STILL SOME SECRETS
O friend, can't you see? -
Your face is flowing with light.
The whole world could get drunk
on the love found in your heart.
Don't run here and there
looking all around -
He is right inside you.
Is there any place where the Sun doesn't shine?
Is there anyone who can't see the full Moon?
Veil upon veil, thought upon thought -
Let go of them all,
For they only hide the truth.
Once you see the glory
Of his moon-like face,
what excuse could you have
for pain and sorrow?
Any heart without his love -
even the king's heart -
is a coffin for the dead.
Everyone can see God
within his own heart - everyone who is not a corpse.
Everyone can drink
from the waters of life
and conquer death forever.
The veil of ignorance
covers the Sun and Moon;
It even causes Love to think, "I am not divine."
O Shams, Blazing Light of Tabriz,
There are still some secrets of yours
that even I cannot tell.
- Rumi, Ghazal 505, version by Jonathan Star, with Shahram Shiva,
from A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical
Poetry of Rumi, posted to Sunlight