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MICHAEL

Knowledge coupled with experience,
and tempered by humility.
Taking actions from the strength of faith not fear.
Shining the light of consciousness and the
power of now on each experience yet to come.
Knowing that I don't know what will come and
being open and willing to let go
of the idea that I do so I can learn
from each present moment experience coming
into my life. This experience that I am having
now and now and now...in each precious present moment.
Opening up my heart as well as my head.
Seeing all as perfect in the process of life.
Touching life lightly...like a feather tickles my nose.
Witnessing the granduer of the universe and my grand part
therein and being grateful for the opportunity to just be.

___________________________________________________________________

MIGUEL-ANGEL

Who is it who drops thoughts? The mind, of course, who else
could it be? When the mind, tired of uselessly seeking
truth, stops for a moment, then it has the opportunity of
seeing that it is all just thoughts, images it is
fabricating to perpetuate itself pointlessly. It is then
that there is the possibililty for the mind to see that the
way out of this vicious circle is precisely silence,
contemplation, witnessing, emptiness. And it is then that
the feeling "I am" arises as something different, as the
primordial fact, not just a thought but the beginning of
reality.

________________________________________________________


GENE POOLE AND ANDREW MACNAB

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and
practice, except in practice".

Yes, solipsism is a concept, and also a lifestyle.

Like the weather, thoughts pour, and sometimes the sky is
clear. Solipsistic assumption is like the tourist in Egypt,
who expecting uniform sun, must abide in paradoxical rain.
Learning to abide without prejudice is a good step to take.

As long as there is doubt, attention will focus on
variables. Mind will chart probabilities. Movement will be
decided upon calculation. The strategy of looking for
ever-better strategies will prevail.

The accidental tourist, discovering hirself in mid-journey,
notices the nile of thought, and does not barge on, instead
electing to walk the headwaters, fed by manna.

Knowing well the interchangeability of both place and
identity, doing everything by doing nothing, everything is
possible. Napping surmounts Everest, a breath is
immortality, a tear is death.

Powered by rays of mystery, fun is had in a display
ever-changing; I change the colors by calling them.
Massaged by my host, I relax on the table, open to the
light of my sun.

Ambling,

==Gene Poole==>

Dear Gene,

Walking the headwaters. Living in life time. Quest for
meaning fruitless but complete and answered in its
fruitlessness. Understanding develops. Who needs concepts
and strategies? For what? Something unchanging. But life is
change. Fed and sustained by love. Learning to abide
without prejudice Yes. Mystery Yes.

andrew
_________________________________________________________

BRUCE MORGEN RECOMMENDS

http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/043000sum-gladiator.html

__________________________________________________________

POOLE AND PAUL (GENE AND MARCIA)

MARCIA: I appreciate this post. Buffers is a subject which
has always been of interest to me.

GENE: Mr G pointed out that 'buffering' is either
completely automatic (unconscious), or that the person in
question has made themself conscious, to a degree, of
buffering. Upon becoming conscious of the behaviour of
buffering, a person has the opportunity to adjust the
'set-point' at which buffering is activated. In my view,
all extant 'buffers' acting in the human system, are there
by design, not caprice; it is a matter of becoming
conscious of buffering (denial, deferral, procrastination,
repression, suppression, conversion, displacement,
projection, etc) and then deliberately interrupting or
modifying these various processes.

MARCIA: The buffers were put in place for very good
reasons. It is justthat they automatically work when there
is no longer necessarily the need. The buffers were needed
when we were vulnerable children and also some of them we
just learned by imitation. Some, however, were the only
defense we had against intolerable situations.

GENE: Since all of these processes are 'in service to'
"Me", I have the sovereign power to intervene and to
readjust the 'set-points' at which the buffering is
activated or deactivated. I wish to point out that what I
refer to as 'abiding' can involve the voluntary suspension
of the various mechanisms which are involved in reaction to
apparently changing circumstances.

MARCIA: It is important to recognize that the first step in
intervention isbecoming aware of the buffer in the first
place. Frequently the buffer, while apparent to those
around one, is quite invisible to the person with the
buffer. This is where impartiality is very, very important.
So often with buffers when one is activated the person then
begins to really beat themselves up as you suggest later
on. I like the analogy of standing still in the surf as the
waves come up behind one and break and then head on to
shore. If I can stand still while the force of the wave
hits.... There is a very distinct difference in coming up
to one side of a buffer and then being on the other side.
It is like being in transition when having a baby. The
point at which you are absolutely sure that you cannot
stand one more minute then the point of transition is
entered and the baby is born not long after (well in my
case anyway). This holding still process while the buffer
breaks is the fueling process we talked about earlier. Once
I have totally held still and not allowed myself to break
(only the buffer) that buffer never again has the same
power. It is the edges that are sometimes talked about. It
is all really nothing but just like Alice we think the pack
of cards packs a wallop.

GENE: We can understand that there is no need to be
embarrassed for our imbibed and unconscious conditioning.
Further, by understanding that we are very vulnerable to
both disturbances of flow AND the embarrassment which
follows each such occurrence, we can stop beating ourselves
up; this is having compassion for oneself.

MARCIA: My friends have a word for this. They call it the
gatekeeper.The gatekeeper is the internal critic which is
always beating the person up. The other night I was really
insecure about this movie I had brought over for the gang
to watch. This insecurity was permeating the entire evening
and I was beginning to get insecure about everything I was
saying and everything being said to me. Finally my friend
leaned over and whispered that my gatekeeper was
overactive. Once I am in this beating up mode it becomes
global. He just reached out and gave me a hand up. :-)

GENE: By allowing myself to see myself in both strength AND
my vulnerability, I am able to be gentle with myself.
Knowing gentleness, I am able to deal gently with others.

MARCIA: It seems to be a three-fold process. I fall back
into (or reflex)my own vulnerability and then that gets
projected out (or I run around in that psychic space we all
share) and I see the other guy also and then in the space
between the healing of both takes place. And I would say
this is real. Something real happens. A whole in reality is
healed. Just a hunch. :-)

___________________________________________________________

TIM GERCHMEZ

The I AM is both the bridge to the Absolute, and the
Absolute Itself. It is the "root of all mischief"
(Nisargadatta) only when seen from the perspective of ego.

When the I AM is entangled with anything but Itself (e.g.
"I Am a man, I Am 5'9" tall, I Am Tim Gerchmez, I Am
suffering, I Am free, I Am bound) it can be seen as the
root of trouble. When unencumbered by concepts, it is the
root of bliss and peace. Through habit and memory, the I AM
is often encumbered with identification, thus it is often
the root of troubles.

When troubles themselves are no longer seen as troublesome,
but simply witnessed, the I AM is spontaneously freed of
its perceived entanglements, and abides as Itself. In this
I AM there is no ego, no identification, no entanglement --
no bridge, even.

There are not two I AMs, only I AM (entangled) or I AM
(free). Both abide as the same I AM, timeless and free,
untouched by entanglement or unentanglement. The "trouble"
appears only to the body/mind. The I AM remains untouched.

One may confuse the I AM with all sorts of things,
forgetting its essential nature. One may bind the I AM so
tightly in a web of concepts that it appears obscured and
invisible (or even dead) to thought, yet it is utterly
unaffected and Itself perceives nothing but freedom. Nay,
it is freedom beyond the ideas of freedom and bondage.

As a huge cloud of smoke may cover the sky, appearing to
thought as blackness and stink, so the sky remains, free
and clear in its own nature, never even knowing the smoke.
*Being* that sky, even the concept of "trouble" ceases.

The one and only thing: Ignore the smoke, and remain the
sky.
_________________________________________________________

HANS DEUNHOUWER

However beautiful or horrible the spiritual experience,
it's just the mind. Once you realize this, it could be easy
to let go of both. Just today, when meditating, there were
beautiful bubbles floating around and afterwards i
understood what they were. Thoughts disguised as bubbles.
Or bubbles disguised as thoughts?

___________________________________________________________

JAN BARENDRECHT AND MIGUEL-ANGEL

I also feel there's no need to think, to quiet the mind, to
do anything at all. Just be the witness of whatever
happens, aware, untouched, firm in the focus on I AM.

Miguel-Angel

The so called "verbalization of thought" which is what is
bothering some as the ongoing process of automatic
thinking, is but the tip of the iceberg. No matter the
physical activity, be it breathing, smelling, seeing or
touching, it all originates in thought. The (temporary)
slicing off of the iceberg's tip by no means can have
another effect but becoming conscious of the entire gamma
that still is busy "doing its thing", by whatever name that
goes. It is a "big" potential that, for the sake of
argument/explanation, can be seen as a number of distinct
but connected potentials and each time such a distinct
potential is "silenced" (that means de-automated), a
feeling of bliss/relief is released and of course that can
be quite addictive. Those "suddenly" awakened failed to be
introspective in order to notice the upbeat to such a
"first release" whereas those "gradually" awakening are
conscious of the upbeat (intro) before the "first release"
will take place... Which leaves but to remark that the best
hidden, or deepest and by far strongest, potential, is and
will ever be, love :)

When thinking, do it right...
_________________________________________________________

BOB ROSE

I Am

As Popeye said so often and so wisely, "I Am what I Am and
that's all what I Am." Prepare yourself for meditation by
emptying your body of any tension, your mind of any
commentary, and establish an emotional calm. Witness the
sensations your physical senses present now.

As you witness what you see, consciously but silently state
"What I see constantly changes and only has a temporary
reality. This is not real and thus is not who I Am. I Am
unchangeable and eternal."

As you witness what you hear, consciously but silently
state "What I hear constantly changes and only has a
temporary reality. This is not real and thus is not who I
Am. I Am unchangeable and eternal."

As you witness what you smell and taste, consciously but
silently state "What I smell and taste constantly changes
and only has a temporary reality. This is not real and thus
is not who I Am. I Am unchangeable and eternal."

As you witness the sensations your skin, muscles, bones,
and organs present, consciously but silently state "What I
feel physically constantly changes and only has a temporary
reality. This is not real and thus is not who I Am. I Am
unchangeable and eternal."

As you witness your mind and emotions, consciously but
silently state "What I think and the emotions I feel
constantly change and only have a temporary reality. This
is not real and thus not who I Am. I Am unchangeable and
eternal."

Now, drop everything and witness yourself as I Am. Do this
unchangeably and eternally and live happily ever after.

Peace and blessings, Bob Rose Meditation Society of America
http://www.meditationsociety.com

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