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Nonduality Highlights: Issue #3702, Saturday, October 31, 2009, Editor: Mark
Stop imagining yourself being or doing this or that and the
realization that you are the source and heart of all will dawn on
you.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj, posted to ANetofJewels
Saunders: How do you define "ego,"and what happens to
it upon awakening?
Adyashanti: To me, ego isn't this thing that we need to get rid
of. It's like a verb: a phenomenon, a movement of thought that
alters and distorts perception. It causes us to see ourselves as
occupants of a world that is quite distinct and different from
us, and to see everybody and everything in that world as separate
from us. So that movement of mind and belief is what I would call
"ego."
After you awaken, you no longer identify with ego. You don't see
it as real. All the ways that it divides us no longer seem real
or even rational, but rather like forms of insanity. Statements
about the ego "disappearing" miss the mark. The ego is
still there; you just see it to be an illusion.
Saunders: How can we avoid deluding ourselves about our spiritual
progress and underestimating the power of our conditioned human
impulses?
Adyashanti: You're on your own there. You're better off if you
have your integrity intact, but if you're determined to fool
yourself, you will, and no one will be able to save you from
doing it. So take responsibility for yourself and don't put it on
others. If you do that simple thing, you will find it harder to
delude yourself and underestimate your impulses. It all comes
down to your intention. If you have the inner integrity, it will
protect you.
- excerpt from an interview with Adayshanti, from "The
Sun" magazine
Q: Did you get your own realisation through effort or by the
grace of your Guru?
M: His was the teaching and mine was the trust. My confidence in
him made me accept his words as true, go deep into them, live
them, and that is how I came to realise what I am. The Guru's
person and words made me trust him and my trust made them
fruitful.
Q: But can a Guru give realisation without words, without trust,
just like this, without any preparation?
M: Yes, one can, but where is the taker? You see, I was so
attuned to my Guru, so completely trusting him, there was so
little of resistance in me, that it all happened easily and
quickly. But not everybody is so fortunate. Laziness and
restlessness often stand in the way and until they are seen and
removed, the progress is slow. All those who have realised on the
spot, by mere touch, look or thought have been ripe for it. But
such are very few. The majority needs some time for ripening.
Sadhana is accelerated ripening.
Q: What makes one ripe? What is the ripening factor?
M: Earnestness of course, one must be really anxious. After all,
the realised man is the most earnest man. Whatever he does, he
does it completely, without limitations and reservations.
Integrity will take you to reality.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj, from I Am That
Your integrity or your body: Which is more important?
Your body or your possessions: Which is worth more?
Gain or loss: Which is more harmful?
Thus it is that the miser will pay much.
The hoarder will suffer great loss.
Be content with what you have and you will not be disgraced.
Know when to stop and you will be preserved from danger.
Only in this way will you long endure.
- Lao Tzu
Learn from Ali how to fight
without your ego participating.
God's lion did nothing
that didn't originate
from his deep center.
Once in battle he got the best of a certain knight and quickly
drew his sword.
The man, helpless on the ground, spat
in Ali's face,
Ali dropped his sword,
relaxed, and helped the man to his feet.
"Why have you spared me?
How has lightning contracted back
into its cloud? Speak, my prince,
so that my soul can begin to stir
in me like an embryo."
Ali was quiet and then finally answered, "I am God's Lion,
not the lion of passion...
I have no longing
except for the One.
When a wind of personal reaction comes,
I do not go along with it.
There are many winds full of anger,
and lust and greed. They move the rubbish around,
but the solid mountain of our true nature stays where it's always
been.
There's nothing now
except the divine qualities.
Come through the opening into me.
Your impudence was better than any reverence,
because in this moment I am you and you are me.
I give you this opened heart as God gives gifts:
the poison of your spit has become
the honey of friendship."
- Rumi