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Dear Friends,

Some of you might be aware that the HarshaSatsangha Millenium Summer
Retreat at the Zen Providence Center in Rhode Island, scheduled for the July
14 Weekend, is now in its final planning stages.

Among some of the internationally renowned luminaries attending are Sri
Gregji Maharaj (Co-Moderator of Advaitin and HarshaSatsangha), Sri Jerryji
Maharaj (the founder of Nonduality Salon who coined the phrase that "we are
the nonduality generation", Sri Michael Read known and loved for his humor,
and many others known to us.

There is no fee for the retreat and it is completely free for those who
come. This is a gathering in joyous fellowship. The Zen Center of
Providence, for a nominal charge, can provide housing and delicious
vegetarian dishes for the weekend for those who will be staying there.

Sri Gloria Devi is in charge of communications with the Zen Center of
Providence and is facilitating finding suitable housing for those who are
coming. Please contact her for more information (Sri Gloria's address is
given in the address line).

The Zen Center of Providence consists of 50 acres of land and is located in
a beautiful and peaceful scenic area. The Zen Monks chant every evening. I
look forward to meeting many of you there.

Love to all
Harsha
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Harsha, David, Andrew Macnab, Michael, Christiana, Gloria, Greg,
Mark, OH, Nora, myself, all from NDS, along with HS members,
are intending to make the pilgrimage to HarshaSatsangh.

Try to get there, folks. You will enjoy entertainment,
conversation, quiet moments, workshops, and meet the best
people. Those who want to party, will party. Those who want
to be quiet, will be quiet.

It's the weekend of July 14. Do whatever it takes to get
there. Take part in the making of herstory!

All people who love nondual teachings and the teachers of
nondual teachings; all people who are into the nondual from
whatever angle they personally know, are invited to this
bash. Speaking only for myself, may I offer that it is a
celebration of knowing nonduality. This is OUR time and our
thing and our statement and celebration. So come to these
Nonduality Days, sponsored by Harsha and HarshaSatsangh, and
coordinated by the vibrant Gloria Lee.

Jerry

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Reality is simply the loss of ego. Destroy the
ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is
no entity it will automatically vanish and reality
will shine forth by itself.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi

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In truth we are not separate from god. But we do enter this life
assuming separation (duality).Now this assuming separation is not
somehting that we do through mind. It is not a thinking process,"oh,
ive incarnated therefore i am separate".It is not a belief system. If
only it were that simple.If it were, then we could just change the
way we think and that would end this suffering of all mankind that is
created by the illusion of separation.
So it is not just the religions that perpetuate this myth. Every
aspect of our human society perpetuates the myth because no one
(pardon my gross generalization) realizes the truth. If we do not
realize IT, the truth, the myth of separation then we individually do
our part to perpetuate the myth.
.......matthew
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One of the surest signs of separation (from unconditional
happiness) is anger... If you are bliss - who is to experience
bliss - can water experience it's wetness ?:)

Laughing louder,

Jan
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Can any of you tell me: What IS death? What dies?

Nisargatta: "Integration of the body ends and disintegration sets in."

Makes sense here. There is nothing more to death than that.
Everything else said about it is really just a concept about it.

Some think they fear death, but they fear only their
conceptualization of it, their idea of what it is, their imaginary
projection of the future.

Or they fear the loss of loved ones (again in some projected
future). Loved ones? Do love and fear exist together? Fear of the
loss of loved ones is due to a clinging, not to anything that can be
reasonably called love. There is little difference here than the
fear of a valued item being stolen. The love may be real, the
clinging is not. Let come what comes, let go what goes.

Those who think they will die identify totally with the body, and
think they are a physical body. Likewise with birth. What is born
and what dies?

A body, that's all. Are there not 7 billion (human) bodies? What is
the big deal? Thousands of bodies die daily, thousands more are born
daily.

There is nothing special about the body of a "realized sage." It's
just another body, and it dies the same as any other body.

"Osho" is just a label, a series of concepts, a word. The word is
associated with a body that failed to function and began to
disintegrate at some point. Big deal?

Tim

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ How about waiting to find out when it happens?
Anything else would be speculation.

xan
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You said "WHEN it happens." Is this not also speculation? Is there
certain knowledge that death will occur? If so, please describe the
memory of your previous deaths, so that I may know what about this is
not speculative.

Gotcha ;-)

Love,

Tim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something happens. I can testify to that. Having sat with
someone as they passed through this "something", I can
verify the release of "something." It is palpable. It can be
felt and seen. No speculation there.

Marcia
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Death is what makes life bright, sweet, sharp.

Without death there is no perception of life.

Just as there is no perception of heat without cold
or light without dark.

andrew

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No speculation - some could be so fortunate as for instance,
to observe the death of the potential to get angry, to blame
etc. while being vibrantly alive :)

Jan
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There is neither life nor death. Now tell me what THAT is.

Jerry
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D: Anything that can be perceived as having a beginning
has an ending. Anything perceived as coming into
existence can go out of existence. Whatever
integrates can disintegrate.

Recognizing that there is nothing to cling to,
what is that like?
Even the one who seemed to be able to cling
turned out to be just another "something",
another perceived "beginning-and-ending thing".

Any statement of truth has a beginning and ending.

Rather than trying to state the eternal truth, I find it
useful to notice that anything said begins and ends.
Anything I notice as experience begins and ends.
When I notice that the "I" that notices
beginnings and endings is only there as an idea
that begins and ends, it gets interesting.

Rather than say there is Something that doesn't begin
and end, I find it particularly useful to notice
that that statement itself begins and ends.

What notices "death"? What notices beginnings and endings
while not ever noticing its "own" beginning and ending?
To say "self" or "no-thingness" is a statement that begins
and ends.

Love,
Dan
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OK, folks, I can't let this one go by. Somebody, Sarlo maybe :-)),
get a big stick out and get ready to whack me over the head!

Death is transformation. So is birth. The two are inextricably tied
together. What transforms? Life. Life into life into life into life
into life ............ Or, as it is stated in the Catholic credo
"...[W]orld without end...Amen."

How do I know this? Well, ahem, I'm well, actually, ahem, ahhh, hummm,
I am 4,000,000 years old. :-| Maybe I'm kidding, maybe I'm telling the
truth!

I neither fear death nor do I look forward to death. Jesus did say
that in his father's house there are many mansions! :-)))))

--------------------

In 1971 my father died. He or his presence came to visit me and we
had
a nice conversation. Last year my mother died. She came to visit me,
my sisters, and my brothers at different times and places. She scared
the shit out of my youngest sister! HooHaH!

While my mother was lying on her death bed, she was such a miserable
sight. She was eaten up with cancer and more than half delerious from
the pain medications. One afternoon as I sat there holding her hand
something most remarkable occurred.

As we gazed into each other eyes, smiling, the love between us grew
more and more intense. Within moments we were transformed into pure
white light. There are no words in human language to describe that
experience. :-)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

I'll close with this description of the gateless gate. It seems
appropriate somehow.

The Gateless Gate

The great path has no gates,
Thousands of roads enter it.
When one passes through this gateless gate
He walks freely between heaven and earth.


Death, HAH! The joke's on US! After all, WE the ONE wrote IT! :-))


HAHAHAH and HOHOHO!

Peace - and All is Illusion - Michael

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night in the movie, "Jesus", there were a handful of
very powerful scenes.....one of which was the scene after
they wereleaving Passover supper. Peter once again assured
Jesus that he was prepared to accompany Jesus to jail,
or even to die alongside him.....

when of course, Jesus told him no, Peter would not
be willing to die alongside Jesus.....that he would even
wind up denying 3 times that night even knowing Jesus!

Then as Jesus went off to pray in the Mount of Olives,
Satan visited him and enticed Jesus to ignore God's
will.

One tact satan used was to describe in excruciating
detail the pain and torment that awaited him. He described
the lashes of whip cutting into the bare skin accross Jesus'
back.....the hammering of nails into his wrists.....the
tearing of his flesh as his body weight began pulling away
from the nails upon the cross.

I cannot begin to give this scene the justice it deserves,
but what a powerful, powerful portrayal of the meeting
face to face with suffering......with death.

We know how easy it is to simply say, "what is death,
anyway?"

or "it's only a body".....but to actually be made to face
what Jesus was said to have faced....and then to willingly
and heartfully walk to one's execution.....

well.....the scene left me gaping.

To me, *choosing* death,

or rather... *not resisting* death

when it 'appears' one has the opportunity
to avoid or evade it,

to me is a very very big deal.

Melody
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Hi Melody,

That scene was very powerful for me also. And it was
the nature of Satan that did it for me. It was how he
looked and what he said. It all sounded so reasonable.
He showed Jesus scenes from the future and the things
that would be done in his (Jesus) name. He kept telling
Jesus that he would die in vain (or is it vane?). It was a
scene about Will. Jesus kept saying he was here to do his
father's will. And Satan kept saying it would all be for
nothing.

Marcia
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[I posted this to Harsha's list last night. I was inspired by my Yoga
teacher, who is a fanatic about having us fold the blankets correctly at
the end of each workshop, so I started thinking about the metaphors
involved - David] (Hodges)


The foundations of Yoga:

Balance - Balance is fundamental to Yoga on many levels.
Physical balance is achieved when we have a quiet mind and
can trust the body's intelligence. The centers of balance
are intuitively felt to be in the pelvis, solar plexus,
shoulders, and feet. When we can let go of conscious
control and let the body learn to balance in a tree pose, a
headstand, or other balancing poses, we have learned to key
to inner balance as well, to balancing our emotions and our
vital energies for daily life.

Breath - Breath is the great intermediary between the
physical and spiritual worlds. The rhythm of breath is what
allows us to extend and deepen into our poses and to let go
more and more of the holdings that bind us. By becoming
aware of breath and how it circulates energy in our bodies,
we become aware on a deeper level of our energetic patterns
and movements.

Awareness - Awareness is the key to everything. Yoga
teaches us to maintain awareness without attachment to ego.
Without worrying about how well we are doing or if we are
impressing someone, we let awareness deepen with until we
come aware of our body from the inside. Awareness descends
into the abdomen, the pelvis, the legs, the feet. Awareness
extends into our roots in the earth and into our crown of
energy above us. Awareness shifts from the conceptual into
the deeply experiential flow of the moment during a yoga
workshop, until, in Shiva Asana, there is no separate "me",
but simply the awareness of the greater Self that unites
everyone in the room.

Alignment - The key to asanas is alignment. Alignment of
the bones to each other, of the skull to the shoulders, to
the hips, to the legs and feet. Alignment of muscles to
bone, Alignment of mind to breath. Alignment of intention
to practise. Alignment of self to Self. Alignment of
student to teacher and students to each other. Alignment of
learning communities to civic communities and global
community. Through the simple acts of gently moving our
necks back to align with our spines, and tipping our pelvis
to align the sacral muscles, we begin to align our bodies,
souls, and spirits with the great alignment patterns that
govern the spiritual worlds.

Folding the Blankets: Blankets are key parts of our yoga
practice. In other parts of life blankets are used for
warmth and comfort, but in yoga they are also used for
support and extension and alignment. Therefore, folding the
blankets at the end of the session is a sign of the respect
we have for our yoga practice as a whole. And folding the
blankets is a metaphor as well for everything goes into
supporting our yoga practice: Every conscious effort to
place our lives on a foundation of healthy diet, wholesome
self-care, and daily discipline of practise is folding the
blankets. Every effort to purify our bodies and calm our
minds is folding the blankets. Every attempt to live with
integrity, to conduct relationships with honesty and love,
and to work with dedication and cheerfulness, is folding
the blankets. And when we come to class and find the
blankets neatly folded on the racks, and find our lives
consciously prepared for practise, we can go deeper into
alignment, awareness, breath, and balance, which, in turn,
deepen and enrich our daily lives.

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