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Nondual Highlights: Issue #2930, Sunday, September 16, 2007, Editor: Mark
To become cold from the coldness of the world is weakness, to
become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to
live in the world and yet to keep above it is like walking on the
water.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The spiritual path is easiest if there is not something pulling
one from behind; and that force is the life in the world, one's
friends, surroundings, acquaintances, and one's foes. Remain,
therefore, in the world as a traveler making a station on his
way. Do all the good you can to serve and succor humanity, but
escape attachment. By this in no way will you prove to be
loveless. On the contrary, it is attachment which divides love,
and love raised above attachment is like a rain from above
nourishing all the plants upon the earth.
There is only one thing that helps us to rise above conditions,
and that is a change of outlook on life. This change is made
practicable by a change of attitude. .. For a Sufi, therefore,
not only patience to bear all things is necessary, but to see all
things from a certain point of view that can relieve him for that
moment from difficulty and pain. Very often it is one's outlook
which changes a person's whole life. It can turn hell into
heaven, it can turn sorrow into joy. When a person looks from a
certain point of view, every little pin-prick feels like the
point of a sword piercing his heart. If he looks at the same
thing from a different point of view, the heart becomes
sting-proof. Nothing can touch it. All things which are sent
forth at that person as bullets drop down without every having
touched him.
What is the meaning of walking upon the water? Life is symbolized
as water. There is one person who drowns in the water, there is
another who swims in the water, but there is still another who
walks upon it. The one who is so sensitive that, after one little
pin prick he is unhappy throughout the day and night is the man
of the first category. The one who takes and gives back and makes
a game of life is the swimmer. He does not mind if he receives
one knock, for he derives satisfaction from being able to give
two knocks in return. But the one whom nothing can touch is in
the world and yet is above the world. He is the one who walks
upon the water; life is under his feet, both its joy an its
sorrow.
Verily, independence and indifference are the two wings which
enable the soul to fly.
To become cold with the coldness of the world is weakness, and to
become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to
live in the world and yet to keep above the world is like walking
on the water. There are two essential duties for the man of
wisdom and love; that is to keep the love in our nature ever
increasing and expanding, and to strengthen the will so that the
heart may not be easily broken. Balance is ideal in life; one
must be fine and yet strong, one must be loving and yet powerful.
- posted to SufiMystic
The only truth which is not a concept
is the sense of presence,
here and now.
'I am,' not 'I am Joe or Jane.'
This impersonal sense of presence
in the present moment
is the only truth.
Ramesh S. Balsekar, posted to The_Now2
Throughout the three times, abide effortlessly in the infinite
original state of mind, just as it is. This is what is meant by
the `practice of meditation.' Neither controlling the breath nor
restraining the mind, rest in uncontrived awareness with the
delighted innocence of a child. If thoughts and memories arise,
stay in the presence of one's true nature. Recognize that the
waves are not different from the ocean itself.
- Saraha, from the Mahamudra Dohakosa, posted to
DailyDharma
Wanting is the urge for the next moment
to contain what this moment does not...
wanting can't be satisfied
: when we get finished with one desire there's always another.
As long as we're trying to satisfy desire,
we're increasing wanting...
when we see that no object of mind can in itself satisfy,
then nothing that arises can draw us out
and we begin to let go
because there is nothing worth holding onto...
To realize that there is nothing to hold onto
that can offer lasting satisfaction
shows us there is nowhere to go
and nothing to have an nothing to be -
and that's freedom.
- Stephen Levine, posted to The_Now2
The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, it is a
reality to be experienced.
- J.J. Van Der Leeuw, posted to The_Now2
Mastery of Life
Become at ease with the state of "not knowing." This
takes you beyond mind because the mind is always trying to
conclude and interpret. It is afraid of not knowing.
So, when you can be at ease with not knowing, you have already
gone beyond the mind. A deeper knowing that is non-conceptual
then arises out of that state.
Artistic creation, sports, dance, teaching, counseling -- mastery
in any field of endeavor implies that the thinking mind is either
no longer involved at all or at least is taking second place. A
power and intelligence greater than you and yet one with you in
essence takes over.
There is no decision-making process anymore; spontaneous right
action happens, and "you" are not doing it. Mastery of
life is the opposite of control. You become aligned with the
greater consciousness. It acts, speaks, does the works.
From: Stillness Speaks, by Eckhart Tolle, posted to
The_Now2