Click here to go to the next issue
Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nondual Highlights each day
Nondual Highlights Issue #2599, Friday, September 29, 2006
i swear my dear son
no one in the entire world
is as precious as you are
look at that mirror
take a good look at yourself
who else is there above and beyond you
now give yourself a kiss
and with sweet whispers
fill your ears to the brim
watch for all that beauty
reflecting from you
and sing a love song to your existence
you can never overdo
praising your own soul
you can never over-pamper your heart
you are both
the father and the son
the sugar and the sugar cane
who else but you
please tell me who else
can ever take your place
now give yourself a smile
what is the worth of a diamond
if it doesn't smile
how can i ever put a price
on the diamond that you are
you are the entire treasure of the house
you and your shadow
are forever present in this world
you're that glorious bird of paradise
- Rumi, Ghazal 2148, from the Diwan-e Shams, poetic translation
by Nader Khalili, Rumi, Fountain of Fire
Few people are capable of wholehearted commitment, and that is
why so few people experience a real transformation through their
spiritual practice. It is a matter of giving up our own
viewpoints, of letting go of opinions and preconceived ideas, and
instead following the Buddha's guidelines. Although this sounds
simple, in practice most people find it extremely difficult.
Their ingrained viewpoints, based on deductions derived from
cultural and social norms, are in the way.
We must also remember that heart and mind need to work together.
If we understand something rationally but don't love it, there is
no completeness for us, no fulfillment. If we love something but
don't understand it, the same applies. If we have a relationship
with another person, and we love the person but don't understand
him or her, the relationship is incomplete; if we understand that
person but don't love him or her, it is equally unfulfilling. How
much more so on our spiritual path. We have to understand the
meaning of the teaching and also love it. In the beginning our
understanding will only be partial, so our love has to be even
greater.
- Ayya Khema, from When the Iron Eagle Flies: Buddhism for the
West., posted to DailyDharma
Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent
The wind has settled, the blossoms have fallen;
Birds sing, the mountains grow dark -
This is the wondrous power of Buddhism.
- Ryokan, posted to NondualitySalon
Way of the Universe
Grass and trees inherently know
the inner nature of the universe
And they are no 'different' from 'me'
If I could just be like the grass and the trees
I'd 'find' and know
the inner Way of the universe
Men nowadays don't go into this
inner Way
Point it out, and they curse it
A wounded sigh for these folks
Paupers gone begging
on a mountain of gold.
- Kuan Hsiu 832, posted to Mystic_Spirit
As flowing waters disappear into the mist
We lose all track of their passage.
Every heart is its own Buddha.
Ease off ... become immortal.
Wake up! The world's a mote of dust.
Behold heaven's round mirror.
Turn loose! Slip past shape and shadow,
Sit side by side with nothing, save Tao.
- Shih-shu, 1703, Stones and Trees; The Poetry of Shih-Shu,
translation by James H. Sanford, The Clouds Should Know Me By
Now, posted to NondualitySalon