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Nonduality Highlights: Issue #3654, Sunday, September 13, 2009, Editor: Mark
What is it that you really want? Are you clear about it? Are you
looking for God? What exactly are you looking for?
- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels
Understand then, that it is this conscious presence that you are,
so long as the body is there. Once your body is gone, along with
the vital breath, consciousness will also leave. Only that which
was prior to the appearance of this body-cum-consciousness, the
Absolute, the ever-present is your true identity. That is what we
all really are. That is reality. It is here and now. Where is the
question of anyone reaching for it?
- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels
Ther's a great space
in which this moment takes place,
There's a great silence
That is listening to the thoughts.
- Adyashanti
Is my soul asleep?
Is my soul asleep?
Have those beehives that work
in the night stopped? And the water -
wheel of thought, is it
going around now, cups
empty, carrying only shadows?
No, my soul is not asleep.
It is awake, wide awake.
It neither sleeps nor dreams, but watches,
its eyes wide open
far-off things, and listens
at the shores of the great silence.
- Antonio Machado, from The Soul Is Here For Its Own Joy,
edited by Robert Bly
With all the activities our lives are dedicated to, it is easy
and usual to overlook the fulfillment present in this actual
moment. In service to our goal-oriented minds, we usually neglect
to stop our internal chatter for even just a few seconds. When I
use the word "stop" here, I am referring to internal,
mental stopping. It is lovely and essential for our physical,
mental, and social health to periodically stop activity. Time off
is nourishing to all our "parts" and to all our
relationships. And obviously without adequate physical rest we
become ill.
Being willing to give some of our precious time to physical
retreat, whether for a weekend or longer is truly a gift to our
selves and our relations, and I recommend it highly.
But I'm speaking here of something much simpler and more readily
available. Something so simple that nothing has to change (or not
change) for it to be seen.
In the midst of some activity, even the activity of reading this
now, it is completely possible to allow your mind to open fully,
and in that opening to discover the peace and fulfillment of your
own spacious awareness.
No place to go, no thing to get, no goal to be realized; no body
to change no perfection to be attained. Simply, in this very
moment, you can recognize what is always here. Here underneath
all the lists and underneath all the victories and defeats.
In meeting yourself, free of all should's and must's and will's,
for even a moment, you realize that even if nothing gets fixed or
done, simple natural fulfillment is already here.
Of course there is much in our world, our bodies, and our minds
that could use fixing. And part of the human evolutionary thrust
is to use our mental capacities to discover what is wrong-outside
and inside-and then to begin the work of correction by removal or
augmentation. What a truly awesome power of mind. It is a
hallmark of the capacity of the human brain.
The problem arises when this evolving, mistake searching aspect
of mind rules the life form called by your name. And this problem
is huge in our culture.
How much of your attention is focused on what is wrong with
yourself or other?
When we see how much is wrong or harmful in our thinking and our
and others' actions, we can be overwhelmed by the tasks revealed.
This overwhelm can result in giving up and reverting to cynicism
or in strengthening our resolve to work even harder. To think and
do more.
I am actually suggesting that before the overwhelm, or even in
the midst of overwhelm, it is possible to stop, if only for a
moment, and return to silence. In that moment, there is the
recognition that to be internally free and at peace, nothing
needs to be done.
Even a moment of true silence allows for true choice, for
authentic, appropriate action or non-action to follow.
Some spiritual traditions refer to this silence as no mind. But
for me that term is too close to mindless as in ignorant or
stupid. I prefer the term open mind. The open mind is spacious
and aware. It finds nourishment in itself, intelligent and aware
without the need to follow thought.
In truth, all creative and fresh thinking comes out of this
nourishment of aware silence. And it is available for you right
now.
- Gangaji
- More Gangaji...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-N7TGevNFo