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#3427 - Thursday, January 29, 2009 - Editor: Jerry Katz
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
The following quotations, from Annamalai Swami and Patrul Rinpoche, were posted to the Adi Da Is Dead comments forum at the Nonduality Blog: http://nonduality.org/20081128adi-da-is-deadcomments/:
Question: "Going back to the question of how to determine who is and who is not a jnani, can we come to some valid conclusion by studying his life and teachings? Will not his state be somehow reflected in the life that he leads?"
Annamalai Swami:”You cannot determine the answer to this question by studying the teachings or the behaviour of a person you think might be a jnani. These are not reliable indicators.Some jnanis might stay silent;others may talk a lot. Some are active in the world, some withdraw from it. Some end up as teachers while others content to stay hidden. Some behave like saints, wheras others act like madmen. The same peace can be found in the presence of all these beings, since this peace is not affected by modes of behavior, but there may be no other common factors."
Question: "Jnanis are supposed to have an equality of vision . Cannot we decide whether someone may be a jnani on the basis of whether he treats people around him equally?”
Annamalai Swami: “Jnanis remain absorbed in the Self at all times and their apparent behavior is just a reflection of the circumstances they find themselves in. Some may appear to be egalitarian. Others may not. They play their allotted roles, and though they may seem to be involved in them as ordinary people would be , they are not really touched by any of the events that occur in their lives. Equal vision may be there , internal equanimity may be there, but don’t expect all jnanis to behave in a prescribed , egalitarian way.”
Listen up, old bad-karma Patrul,
You dweller-in-distraction.
For ages now you’ve been
Beguiled, entranced, and fooled by appearances.
Are you aware of that? Are you?
Right this very instant, when you’re
Under the spell of mistaken perception
You’ve got to watch out.
Don’t let yourself get carried away by this fake
and empty life.
Your mind is spinning around
About carrying out a lot of useless projects:
It’s a waste! Give it up!
Thinking about the hundred plans you want to accomplish,
With never enough time to finish them,
Just weighs down your mind.
You’re completely distracted
By all these projects, which never come to an end,
But keep spreading out more, like ripples in water.
Don’t be a fool: for once, just sit tight.
Listening to the teachings — you’ve
already
heard hundreds of teachings,
But when you haven’t grasped the meaning of even
one teaching,
What’s the point of more listening?
Reflecting on the teachings — even
though you’ve listened,
If the teachings aren’t coming to mind when needed,
What’s the point of more reflection? None.
Meditating according to the teachings
—
If your meditation practice still isn’t curing
The obscuring states of mind—forget about it!
You’ve added up just how many mantras
you’ve done —
But you aren’t accomplishing the kyerim visualization.
You may get the forms of deities nice and clear —
But you’re not putting an end to subject and object.
You may tame what appear to be evil spirits and ghosts,
But you’re not training the stream of your own mind.
Your four fine sessions of sadhana
practice,
So meticulously arranged —
Forget about them.
When you’re in a good mood,
Your practice seems to have lots of clarity —
But you just can’t relax into it.
When you’re depressed,
Your practice is stable enough
But there’s no brilliance to it.
As for awareness,
You try to force yourself into a rigpa-like state,
As if stabbing a stake into a target!
When those yogic positions and gazes keep
your mind stable
Only by keeping mind tethered —
Forget about them!
Giving high-sounding lectures
Doesn’t do your mind-stream any good.
The path of analytical reasoning is precise and acute —
But it’s just more delusion, good for nothing goat-shit.
The oral instructions are very profound
But not if you don’t put them into practice.
Reading over and over those dharma texts
That just occupy your mind and make your eyes sore —
Forget about it!
You beat your little damaru drum —
ting, ting —
And your audience thinks it’s charming to hear.
You’re reciting words about offering up your body,
But you still haven’t stopped holding it dear.
You’re making your little cymbals go cling, cling —
Without keeping the ultimate purpose in mind.
All this dharma-practice equipment
That seems so attractive —
Forget about it!
Right now, those students are all studying
so very hard,
But in the end, they can’t keep it up.
Today, they seem to get the idea,
But later on, there’s not a trace left.
Even if one of them manages to learn a little,
He rarely applies his “learning” to his own conduct.
Those elegant dharma disciplines —
Forget about them!
This year, he really cares about you,
Next year, it’s not like that.
At first, he seems modest,
Then he grows exalted and pompous.
The more you nurture and cherish him,
The more distant he grows.
These dear friends
Who show such smiling faces to begin with —
Forget about them!
Her smile seems so full of joy —
But who knows if that’s really the case?
One time, it’s pure pleasure,
Then it’s nine months of mental pain.
It might be fine for a month,
But sooner or later, there’s trouble.
People teasing; your mind embroiled —
Your lady-friend —
Forget about her!
These endless rounds of conversation
Are just attachment and aversion —
It’s just more goat-shit, good for nothing at all.
At the time it seems marvelously entertaining,
But really, you’re just spreading around stories
about other people’s mistakes.
Your audience seems to be listening politely,
But then they grow embarrassed for you.
Useless talk that just make you thirsty
—
Forget about it!
Giving teachings on meditation texts
Without yourself having
Gained actual experience through practice,
Is like reciting a dance-manual out loud
And thinking that’s the same as actually dancing.
People may be listening to you with
devotion,
But it just isn’t the real thing.
Sooner or later, when your own actions
Contradict the teachings, you’ll feel ashamed.
Just mouthing the words,
Giving dharma explanations that sound so eloquent—
Forget about it!
When you don’t have a text, you long
for it;
Then when you’ve finally gotten it,
you hardly look at it.
The number of pages seems few enough,
But it’s a bit hard to find time to copy them all.
Even if you copied down all the dharma texts on earth,
You wouldn’t be satisfied.
Copying down texts is a waste of time
(Unless you get paid) —
So forget about it!
Today, they’re happy as clams —
Tomorrow, they’re furious.
With all their black moods and white moods,
People are never satisfied.
Or even if they’re nice enough,
They may not come through when you really need them,
Disappointing you even more.
All this politeness, keeping up a
Courteous demeanor —
Forget about it!
Worldly and religious work
Is the province of gentlemen.
Patrul, old boy — that’s not for you.
Haven’t you noticed what always
happens?
An old bull, once you’ve gone to the trouble of
borrowing him for his services,
Seems to have absolutely no desire left in him at all—
(Except to go back to sleep).
Be like that — desireless.
Just sleep, eat, piss, shit.
There’s nothing else in life that has to be done.
Don’t get involved with other things:
They’re not the point.
Keep a low profile,
Sleep.
In the triple universe
When you’re lower than your company
You should take the low seat.
Should you happen to be the superior one,
Don’t get arrogant.
There’s no absolute need to have close
friends;
You’re better off just keeping to yourself.
When you’re without any worldly
or religious obligations,
Don’t keep on longing to acquire some!
If you let go of everything —
Everything, everything —
That’s the real point!
Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887)