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#3320 - Wednesday,
October 15, 2008 - Editor: Gloria Lee
Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
Q: By what
indication are the learned able to recognize the jnani ?
Ramana Maharshi: From the mark of equality towards all
beings, one's (attainment of) jnana is inferred.
A living guru (spiritual
teacher) is, in most cases, necessary to facilitate both
enlightenment
and self realization. Although the karana guru (the guru whose
role is to help the disciple
through the last stages of realization) appears to the disciple
as a seemingly separate human
being, he or she is knowingly established as universal
consciousness. He sees the disciple
as his own Self. Consciousness in the disciple, being recognized
for what it truly is,
resonates with the silent presence of the guru. The mind of the
disciple becomes gradually
and mysteriously quiet, with or without the use of words, until
the student has a glimpse of
the causeless joy of his natural state. A relationship of love,
freedom and friendliness that
leads to the eventual spontaneous stabilization of the disciple
in happiness and peace gets
established.
A true karana guru never sees himself
as superior or inferior to anybody, nor does he or she
take himself or anybody for a sage or an ignorant, for a
spiritual teacher or a disciple. This
impersonal attitude creates an unmistakable perfume of friendship
and freedom that is a
prerequisite for the success of the final stages of the self
realization process.
copyright 2000, Francis Lucille posted to Wisdom-l by Peter
Holleran
Untainted Space
One of the most common analogies
used to describe the Buddha-nature is space itself. This analogy
has three aspects. First, just as space is omnipresent and yet is
unpolluted by everything it pervades, similarly, Buddha-nature
pervades every sentient being without being in any way tainted.
Second, just as galaxies and universes arise and pass within
space, so do the characteristics of our personalities arise and
pass within Buddha-nature. Our sensations arise and pass away;
Buddha-nature continues. Third, just as space is never consumed
by fire, so this Buddha-nature is never consumed by the
"fire" of aging, sickness, or death.
--B. Alan Wallace, in Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up
Instructions to Painters & Poets
I asked a hundred
painters and a hundred poets
how to paint sunlight
on the face of life
Their answers were ambiguous and ingenuous
as if they were all guarding trade secrets
Whereas it seems to me
all you have to do
is conceive of the whole world
and all humanity
as a kind of art work
a site-specific art work
an art project of the god of light
the whole earth and all that's in it
to be painted with light
And the first thing you have to do
is paint out postmodern painting
And the next thing is to paint yourself
in your true colors
in primary colors
as you seem them
(without whitewash)
paint yourself as you see yourself
without make-up
without masks
Then paint your favorite people and animals
with your brush loaded with light
And be sure you get the perspective right
and don't fake it
because one false line leads to another
***
And don't forget to
paint
all those who lived their lives
as bearers of light
Paint their eyes
and the eyes of every animal
and the eyes of beautiful women
known best for the perfection of their breasts
and the eyes of men and women
known only for the light of their minds
Paint the light of their eyes
the light of sunlit laughter
the song of eyes
the song of birds in flight
And remember that
the light is within
if it is anywhere
and you must paint from the inside
~ Lawrence
Ferlinghetti ~
(How to Paint
Sunlight)
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