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Nonduality Highlights: Issue #3633, Sunday, August 23 2009, Editor: Mark
The only way out is to simply observe. This allows us to take
note of our physical reactions, or mental attitudes and patterns
in her motivations at the exact moment they appear on it involves
no evaluation, no analysis which is based on memory.
- Jean Klein, from I Am
I have fallen in love with truth...
I have fallen in love with truth
I only want to be with her
I can not stand to be apart
I would gladly go to the ends of the earth
or I would never again move from this spot
just to be sure to inhale her fragrant perfume
with my dying breath
I have fallen in love with truth
her every wish my command
I simply must obey
for she has captured my soul
and taken complete contro
l of even my innermost thoughts
freeing me to find repose
in her unadorned splendor
I have fallen in love with truth
with exquisite tenderness she shows me
the perfection in my every flaw
no need for pretense
for she knows everything about me
and yet takes me in her arms
with complete abandon
until only she remains
- Nirmala
speaking of love...
Once
I started
To speak
About love
Drawing out words
And images
Which, slow at first
Kept welling up
Flowing faster
Then I could draw...
And then they burst out
Gushing
Like a fountain.
So
I fell silent
Just watching
This endless spring
Unconcerned.
When thirsty,
I drink.
Tired, I doze off.
All is
As it should
Be.
- Yosy Flug
The Buddhist term bodhicitta means completely open heart and
mind. "Citta" is translated as heart or mind;
"bodhi" means awake.
The cultivation of the noble heart and mind of bodhicitta is a
personal journey. The very life we have is our working basis; the
very life we have is our journey to enlightenment. Enlightenment
is not something we're going to achieve after we follow the
instructions, and then get it right. In fact when it comes to
awakening the heart and mind, you can't "get it right."
On this journey we're moving toward that which is not so certain,
that which cannot be tied down, that which is not habitual and
fixed. We're moving toward a whole new way of thinking and
feeling, a flexible and open way of perceiving reality that is
not based on certainty and security. This new way of perceiving
is based on connecting with the living energetic quality of
ourselves and everything else. Bodhicitta is our means of tapping
into this awakened energy and we can start by tapping into our
emotions. We can start by connecting very directly with what we
already have.
Bodhicitta is particularly available to us when we feel good
heart; when we feel gratitude, appreciation or love in any form
whatsoever. In any moment of tenderness or happiness, bodhicitta
is always here. If we begin to acknowledge these moments and
cherish them, if we begin to realize how precious they are, then
no matter how fleeting and tiny this good heart may seem, it will
gradually, at its own speed, expand. Our capacity to love is an
unstoppable essence that when nurtured can expand without limit.
Bodhicitta is also available in other emotions - even the hardest
of feelings like rage, jealousy, envy and deep-rooted resentment.
In even the most painful and crippling feelings, bodhicitta is
available to us when we acknowledge them with an open mind and
heart and realize how they are shared by all of us - when we
acknowledge that we are all in the same boat feeling the same
pain. In the midst of the most profound misery, we can think of
others just like ourselves and wish that we could all be free of
suffering and the root of suffering. When we tune into any of our
feelings, become aware any of our feelings, they have the
capacity to soften us and to dissolve the barriers we put up
between ourselves and others.
- Pema Chodron
If thou wilt be observant and vigilant, thou wilt see at every
moment the response to thy action. Be observant if thou wouldst
have a pure heart, for something is born to thee in consequence
of every action.
- Rumi