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#2699 - Sunday, January 14, 2007 - Editor: Gloria Lee
Nondual Highlights
The end and the sum total
of all mysticism,
philosophy, and meditation, of everything one
learns and develops, is to be a better servant
to humanity. Everything from the beginning to
the end in the spiritual path is a training to be
able to serve mankind better, and if one does
not do it with that intention, one will find in the
end that one has accomplished nothing.
--Hazrat Inayat Khan
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Hazrat Inayat Khan
Mastery Through Accomplishment
posted to Along the Way
Why do we keep
going to places that
produce disturbing emotions?
Why do we keep relating to people
who produce disturbing emotions?
When we dwell in clear, quiet places with friends
who increase our feelings of joy and peace,
who encourage us and give good example
living a life permeated with kindness for others,
we are practicing the way of the Bodhisattva.
--Paraphrased and translated by dharma grandmother
from Thogme Zangpo's "37 Practices of A Bodhisattva."
posted to Daily Dharma
It is not the
worship of a person that is
crucial, but the steadiness and depth of
your devotion to the task. Life itself is
the Supreme Guru; be attentive to its
lessons and obedient to its commands.
When you personalize their source, you
have an outer Guru; when you take them
from life directly, the Guru is within.
--Nisargadatta Maharaj
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"I Am That"
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj posted to Along the Way
Guru is not the
physical form. So the
contact will remain even after the
physical form of the Guru vanishes.
One can go to another Guru after one's
Guru passes away, but all Gurus are
one and none of them is the form you
see. Always mental contact is the best.
--Sri Ramana Maharshi
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"Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
edited by David Godman
posted to Along the Way
Q. Is there
not a state of absolute perfection which does not decay?
M. Whatever has a beginning must have an end. In the
timeless all is
perfect, here and now.
Q. But shall we reach the timeless in due course?
M. In due course we shall come back to the starting
point. Time
cannot take us out of time, as space cannot take us out of
space. All
you get by waiting is more waiting. Absolute perfection is
here and
now, not in some future, near or far. The secret is in
action-- here
and now. It is your behavior that blinds you to
yourself. Disregard
whatever you think yourself to be and act as if you were
absolutely
perfect -- whatever your idea of perfection may be. All you
need is
courage.
Q. Where do I find such courage?
M. My grace is telling you now: look within.
All you need you have.
Use it. Behave as best you know, do what you think
you should.
Don't be afraid of mistakes; you can always correct them, only
intentions matter. The shape things take is not within your
power;
the motives of your actions are.
--Nisargadatta Maharaj
From "I Am That"
"What you are
in essence is self-shining, pure intelligence. The very
idea of shining implies a movement. Movement is energy. So, I
call it
'pure intelligence-energy'. It is shining through your eyes. You
cannot say what it is, and you cannot negate it either. It is 'no
thing'.
It cannot be objectified. It ever expresses as that living,
vibrant
sense of presence, which translates through the mind as the
thought
'I am'. The primary thought 'I am' is not the reality. It is the
closest
the mind or thought can ever get to reality, for reality to the
mind is
inconceivable. It is no thing. Without the thought 'I am', is it
stillness? Is it silence? Or is there a vibrancy about it, a
livingness, a
self-shining-ness? All these expressions are mental concepts or
pointers towards it, but the bottom line is that you know that
you
are. You cannot negate that knowing that you are. It is not a
dead,
empty, silent stillness. It is not about keeping the mind silent,
but
seeing that what is prior to the mind is the very livingness
itself. It is
very subtle."
"When you see that
that is what you are, then the very subtleness
expresses itself. That is the uncaused joy. Nisargadatta puts it
beautifully. He puts it in the negative. 'There is nothing wrong
any
more.' We think that we have to attain something and then stay
there. Realize that you have never left it at any time. It is
effortless. You don't have to try or strive or grasp or hold. You
are
That."
--Bob Adamson, from the
Preface to "What's Wrong With Right Now
Unless You Think About It?"
Deep green needles glow
Against a cobalt sky;
They radiate something
Only a few can sense.
Snow white peaks,
Summits shrouded in clouds,
Shine and echo,
Shine and echo
Through both sides
Of the skin line.
Oh, in all this lies
Some deep implication,
Yet when I try to say more,
I become silent, mute.
--Ji Aoi Isshi