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#4001 - Thursday, September 2, 2010 - Editor: Gloria Lee
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
I wish life had
some sort of a tongue
to unveil the mystery
of our lives
whatever you say
...about life you must know
you are casting another
layer on top of the veil
- Rumi
Most human beings are lost
in abstraction. They believe that what they think
should happen is more important than what is actually happening.
- Adyashanti
Instead of creating expectations of what should or should not be
happening,
cooperate with the form that this moment takes. Bring a 'yes' to
the isness,
because it's pointless to argue if it already is. A greater
intelligence is
available to you when you no longer reject, deny, or 'don't want'
what is.
- Eckhart Tolle
Don't imagine you will
discover the truth by accumulating more knowledge.
Knowledge creates doubt and doubt makes you ravenous for more
knowledge.
You can't get full eating this way.
If you can let go of the Tao with the mind and surround it with
your heart,
...it will live inside you forever.
- Hua Hu Ching
posted by Belle Heywood
to Facebook
181) That Smile And Those Tears
Hi Rupert,
I'm studying Fine Art and exploring to express non-duality in art form. It has been quite challenging. I'm almost giving it up and just enjoy to do art. What is your motivation to create your art work? Thank you so much.
Naomi
Dear Naomi,
Cezanne said, "A time is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will trigger a revolution."
The purpose of his art was to trigger this revolution, this complete 'about turn' in the way we see ourselves and the world. On another occasion he said the purpose of art was to "give us a taste of Nature's Eternity," that is, to give us a taste of that which is ever-present in the experience of nature or indeed in any experience.
Insofar as my work as an artist has a motive or a function, I share Cezanne's vision although not, alas, his talent!
Just as the essence of all thought is understanding and the essence of all relationship or friendship is love, so the essence of all perception is beauty.
Therefore the highest function or motive of an object is to point towards or reveal this Beauty, that is, in Cezanne's words, to give a taste of Nature's Eternity.
A work of art is a work that comes from this intuition and that, as a result, bears the signature of its origin. The potency of art is that it bypasses the rational mind, that is, it is not abstract. It delivers intravenously, so to speak.
Many years ago I saw a man standing in front of one of my bowls at an exhibition. When I returned twenty minutes later he was still there just looking.
As I approached him he turned round and I saw that tears were streaming down his face. He smiled and left.
It is for that smile and for those tears that I work.
With love,
Rupert
182) Waiting For
Grace To Alight
Dear Rupert,
I have listened and attempted to follow what you say. I kind of see that things just happen and Awareness is, without anything I do and that if I identify with this Consciousness Presence and then see what it Is (nothing like a mirror but also everything) then I am also nothing yet then everything is without any centre. Yet this separate self 'I' lingers like a large tumour in the forehead that is the centre. Is there a particular question or practice that ultimately worked to end this illusion for you or is it like the other non-dualists say and one just waits for grace to alight while walking or shopping!
Thanks,
Jeff
Dear Jeff,
It is both!
If the sense of being a separate entity lingers then question that apparently separate self which seems to be at the centre of all experience. It is in most cases necessary to question the separate self deeply in order to discover that it is entirely non-existent.
The noticing of the sense of a separate self, the desire to explore one's experience and questioning that very self are all expressions of grace. In other words don't dictate that grace should only come in the form of one blinding, timeless moment of understanding but see rather that in 99% of cases it comes in the form of the desire to explore one's real nature.
In other words, you do not have to wait for grace to take place - it has already taken place and is taking place in you. You have been given an interest in your true nature - that is the most valuable thing you could have ever been given.
That is grace.
Say 'Yes' to the gift you have been given and follow it. The desire to follow it is also grace.
With kind regards,
Rupert
from Rupurt Spira's website http://non-duality.rupertspira.com/