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#3509 - Tuesday, April 21,
2009 - Editor: Jerry Katz
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
Scott Kiloby, Jeff Belyea, and Pete are featured, along with notice of PARADOXICA: Journal of Nondual Psychology.
I AM REALITY
Choiceless love is the touchstone of awareness. If it is not there, you are merely interested - for some personal reasons. -- NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ
I am non-dual reality.
I am not the relative self nor am I other than the relative self.
There is nothing that I am not.
I am the vast universe as well as the dust mite on your pillow.
I am self and selflessness.
I am form and formlessness.
I am time and timelessness.
I am being and becoming.
I am path and no path, choice and no choice.
I am the absolute and the relative.
I am no thought and every thought, no view and every view,
nothing and everything.
I am every dualistic opposite.
I am One appearing as two.
Many have tried to pin me down to one or the other but there is
nothing that I am not.
When the mind tries to pin me down to one or the other, it does
so for personal reasons.
I am you and I am also the enemy you reject in order to further
your agenda.
I am exactly what you say I am. But I am also what you believe I
am not.
You try to grasp onto me by placing me in boxes. But I am every
box and I am that which contains all boxes. I am also the
grasping.
Some point to me very clearly but then try to own me. I cannot be
owned. I am none other than the one who is pointing, the pointers
themselves, and that which is being pointed to. I am also the one
who has never heard the word “non-duality.” I am also
the lion in the jungle for whom the concept ‘non-duality’
has no meaning whatsoever. For the lion, reality is not
conceptual. It is about finding meat and shade. For the human,
reality becomes conceptual. I am both the actual and the
conceptual.
I am no one. I am someone. I am the very life that is being lived
right now and the concepts that arise to describe that life.
I am one life appearing in a billion minds as a billion stories.
The moment you think you know what I am, you don’t. You
cannot pin me down or keep me on “your side.” I am what
you reject also. I am the other side too. In that way, I am
already free of conflict. I am choiceless love. If you cannot see
this, you are engaged for personal reasons.
--Scott Kiloby http://www.kiloby.com/
More Scott: http://nonduality.com/hl3273.htm
Two births
By way of physical birth,
we enter a world as a distinct
'separate' being. It takes a
while to recognize our "I am"
as opposed to 'others".
Prior to that recognition,
we seem to live in what we
perceive as a benevolent world.
We're rocked, fed, keep warm
and dry...all out needs are met.
Life is good.
Then one day it hits us (sometimes
in the form of a slap or harsh
words) that this world is not
entirely benevolent. We are taught
to watch out, think, plan ahead,
not to trust strangers...and
a host of other social shapings.
Many of these taught behaviors
are considered necessary and
civil. But when we give up
the lightness of spirit and
feeling of benevolence of a
child, we are in danger of
never recovering that joy
again in our lifetime.
As Thoreau wrote, "Most men
(people) live lives of quiet
desperation."
Very often that takes the
shape of a consciousness
that puts on a persona that
smiles and says quietly, and
not without a tinge of sadness,
to itself,"It's not that bad."
Well, it's not that bad is
a long way from a vibrant
fullness of joy and peace
of mind that we once knew
as a child.
The good news (the gospel) is
that vibrant fullness of joy
and peace of mind IS possible
as an adult. We CAN recover
the lightness of spirit, and
we can enjoy it from the
knowledgeable perspective of
an adult - a fabulous combination;
a fantastic, delightful, blissful
way to live.
Inner peace, equanimity and
joy can run like living water
as an undercurrent of our lives.
Of course, life brings some
ups and downs, but once tasted,
the living water is always
there to quench our thirst
(for inner peace) and run as
an undercurrent - and the
emotional loop of the ups and
downs is drastically reduced
in scope and duration.
We experience...and then we
let go and move on with the flow,
not wrestling with reality,
fully and unconditionally
accepting what IS.
To know this requires another
birth. Jesus called it the
Birth of the Spirit. In Buddhism
it's Awakening, Satori in Zen,
Samadhi in Hindu traditions,
Peak Experience and Self-Actualization
or Self-Realization in non-theistic
language.
This is The Mystic Path. It
culminates in a direct experiential
'knowledge' (gnosis) of our pure
being, our place within divinity
(Source, Higher Self).
To experience this "birth" is
profound grace, and it comes
as a most exquisite gift.
From many reports, and personal
experience, preparation for
receipt of this grace/gift takes
many forms.
Some come in utter despair
and give up any hope of relief,
only to be gifted with this
enlightening rush of new wisdom
and an entirely new perspective
on life.
Some come through devotion and
profound faith, having their
hope and expectation stirred
by authentic teachers who are
empowered to witness of this
'event' from their own event.
Some hear the still small voice
in the midst of quiet meditation.
Some come to it in a combination
of these ways, and most probably
in other ways that I am not
familiar with. Some have reported
this awakening (by any other
name - like: nondual realization)
spontaneously - waiting for a
bus, watching a sunset, picking
up a newspaper. (Most of these
later tell, sometimes reluctantly,
of an interest in the Mystic Path
and of having spent some time
with a guru or their teachings.)
If the thirst is there, the path
will open up. If the experience
is familiar - all of us who have
received this incredible grace
always find reference to it
affirming and refreshing.
Enjoying an early morning
Vanilla Biscotti coffee,
sending you Love, wishing
you Happy Birthday(s).
--Jeffj Belyea
Recently, physicists, finally, saw an
electron
and filmed it. Wow! But when you watch it,
do you see an electron? Not really! You
only see an electron represented with points
of light.
The representation is remarkable enough, but is
not "the thing in itself." Each point of light
in the picture lasted only an attosecond. To
give you an idea how short of a time duration an
attosecond represents: there are more attoseconds
in a second, than seconds had gone by since the
Big Bang. Such things are beyond our understanding.
Representing an electron with light it's like
representing a dog with a cat. We only understand
representations, which means, we don't understand
reality at all. All we can do with reality is
sense it, feel it, be it. When we try to explain,
we fall into an imagination swamp.
So, if seeing the film below, you imagine that you see
an electron that's OK, and if you imagine that you're
gazing into the tiny, tiny pupil of God's eye,
that, too, is fine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hck3t8hqdsU
-Pete
PARADOXICA: Journal of Nondual Psychology
Mission
The mission of this journal is to focus on the emerging area of nondual psychology. Paradoxically, nondual psychology has been thriving for thousands of years in the form of nondual approaches to awakening found in the heart of many wisdom traditions and spiritual pathways including: Advaita, Zen, Hinduism, Vedanta, Sufism, and various forms of Buddhism and Tantra. Transpersonal psychology has been around since the late 1960’s, but now nondual psychology is now being recognized as a new force in the field of psychology and psychotherapy. The journal emphasizes the transformational awakening process found in many settings including: the individual lived experience, in a clinical setting with a therapist or while participating in a group process, and a person working with a teacher, guru, or spiritual guide. This journal is also open to a deep engagement of the issues involved in facilitating nondual awakenings clinically or as a guide with others.
Theoretical and phenomenological accounts will be accepted but the main focus is on promoting transformational awakening as opposed to mere intellectual speculation and mystification.
Potential topic areas can range from: awakening in the many nondual approaches such as Zen, Vedanta, Tantra, Advaita, and Neo-Advaita, as well as in emerging Western approaches such as Almaas’s Diamond approach or Wilber’s Integral approach, as well as “What is enlightenment?”, and evolutionary enlightenment. In addition, addressing the many barriers to awakening is important including: unresolved shadow issues, trauma, developmental issues, addictions and mental health issues, gender issues, embodiment, and distinguishing between stage and state experiences of nonduality.
This journal acknowledges that the awakening process is personal and subjectively experienced and will therefore be open to first person accounts written in a scholarly fashion. Clinical accounts and research articles are of course welcome.