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Nondual Highlights Issue #2520, Saturday, July 8, 2006, Editor: Mark
It is in unfoldment
that the purpose of life is fulfilled.
In all different purposes which we see working through each
individual, there seems to be one purpose which is behind them
all, and that is the unfoldment of the soul.
The ultimate purpose, for which the soul is seeking every moment
of our life, is our spiritual purpose.
...what you are seeking for is within yourself. Instead of
looking outside, you must look within.
...by concentration and by developing that meditative quality you
will sooner or later get in touch with the inner Self which is
more communicative, which speaks more loudly than all the noises
of this world. And this gives joy, creates peace, and produces in
you a self- sufficient spirit, a spirit of independence, of true
liberty.
The moment you get in touch with your Self you are in communion
with God.
Everything a person does, spiritual or material, is only a
stepping-stone for him to arrive at the inner purpose.
When one is able to get in touch with the Almighty Power, then
the desire for power is achieved.
When one has been able to find one's happiness in one's own
heart, independent of all things outside, the purpose of the
desire for happiness is fulfilled.
When one is able to rise above all conditions and influences
which disturb the peace of the soul and has found one's peace in
the midst of the crowd and away from the world, in him the desire
for peace is satisfied....
It is in the fulfillment of these five desires that one purpose
is accomplished, the purpose for which every soul was born on
earth.
- excerpts from Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan in "Bowl of
Saki", posted to MillionPaths
At least we should try not to waste this life, but instead use it
in the best possible way. With this in mind, we can surely avoid
stepping back in our development and be able to hold our level or
develop even further. That shows how powerful our situation is.
We should really appreciate that.
Shantideva explained this using the following example of a master
and a servant. If the master pays fair wages and treats the
servant well, the servant will be happy and do a good job. This
in turn helps the master as well. On the contrary, if the master
treats his servant poorly, the servant will naturally work less,
and the master will not make a profit.
Similarly, we should treat ourselves well so later we will find
ourselves in good physical condition and be able to develop our
minds positively.
We should not waste any time. Instead, we should practice the
Dharma now and do not postpone it, since we can at any time die
and lose this opportunity. From the moment of birth we steadily
approach death. There is no certainty about when we will die.
Death can be caused by all kinds of conditions and we do not know
when it will happen.
Inevitably, death comes closer every single moment. Due to this
fact, this very moment is so important and we should make the
best use of our time here and now.
- Khenpo Chodrak Rinpoche, posted to DailyDharma
There is a goodness, a Wisdom that arises,
sometimes gracefully, sometimes gently,
sometimes awkwardly, sometimes fiercely,
But it will arise to save us if we let it,
and it arises from within us, like the force
that drives green shoots to break the winter ground,
It will arise and drive us
into a great blossoming like a pear tree,
into flowering, into fragrance, fruit, and song ...
Into that part of ourselves
that can never be defiled, defeated or destroyed,
but that comes back to life,
Time and time again,
that lives - always -
that does not die.
- China Gallard, posted to Poetic_Mysticism
If you live on the breath,
you won't be tortured
by hunger and thirst,
or the longing to touch.
The purpose of being born is fulfilled
in the state between "I am"
and "That."
- Lalla, from Naked Song,
version by Coleman Barks, posted to AlongTheWay
Say I Am You
I am dust particles in sunlight.
I am the round sun.
To the bits of dust I say, "Stay".
To the sun, "Keep moving."
I am morning mist,
and the breathing of evening.
I am wind in the top of a grove,
and surf on the cliff.
Mast, rudder, helmsman, and keel,
I am also the coral reef they founder on.
I am a tree with a trained parrot in its branches.
Silence, thought, and voice.
The musical air coming through a flute,
a spark of stone, a flickering
in metal. Both candle
and the moth crazy around it.
Rose, and the nightingale
lost in the fragrance.
I am all orders of being, the circling galaxy,
the evolutionary intelligence, the lift,
and the falling away. What is,
and what isn't. You who know,
Jelaluddin, You the one
in all, say who
I am. Say I
am you.
- Rumi, from The Essential Rumi,
Coleman Barks, posted to AlphaWorld