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JERRY KATZ:

Tasting I AM

All I know is that I've sat in my room and been face to face
with nothing but myself and it has seemed like the only real
thing there is. I have valued and trusted it beyond
anything. Though there are endless attempts to describe that
communion with self, they all fail. At best they are
scriptural. But they all fail. One fails, stumbles and falls
to the ground. Whoever looks most graceful falling down,
looks most graceful getting back up, but it's still
beautiful failure. Even scripture is beautiful failure. The
only success happens when one is alone, tasting I AM.

Jerry

=======================================================================

JERRY KATZ concluded:


"Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it."

Thanks to M on the Bhairava list.

=======================================================================

ANDREW MACNAB wrote:

The question "Who am I" is the ultimate question. "What am I doing?
Where am I?" like
all other questions break down into it if followed to their end. It
is the self
referential existential question for the doer, the ego. When its
unanswer is seen and
it is thereby undermined, there is silence.
Silence is at the core of all the teachings. Ramana emphasized
silence more even
than self enquiry. Self enquiry is doing. It is a way of exhausting
doing. Silence is
non-doing. The true guru, the universal inner guru, is the silent
one.


"Silence is like the even flow of electrical current.
Speech is like obstructing the current for lighting
and other purposes. However much a jnani might talk,
he is still the Silent One. However much he might work,
he is still the Quiet One." R. M.

Another point emphasised by Ramana is that the jnani sees everyone as
a jnani. Here
again, silence, silent satsangh is the only true community of jnanis,
and the question
"Who am I" leads to the doers end.
Advocating the asking of a question is the illusion of the guru's
words, it takes an
illusion to satisfy an illusion. The illusion of the doer is like a
hunger which is
satisfied by the illusion of the words.
Ramana does not advocate asking the question over and over so that
it becomes like
a mantra or a prayer. The question is only asked once, and it
continues under its own
power. So really as soon as the question is truly asked, the words
are eaten, that is
the end of the doer. The asking of the question is the doer's final
act.

andrew

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=======================================================================

ED ARRONS with LARRY BIDDINGER:

--- In NondualitySalon@egroups.com, LBIDD@w... wrote:
> Here's a snippet from Sobottkaji:
> If I am not anything,then what am I? The answer is simple:
> I am the pure Awareness that is aware of all things, and
> the pure Presence that is the Presence in all things. I am
> the Awareness of Presence, and the Presence of Awareness.
> What could be more simple, and yet so profound and so
> liberating
> ------------------------------
> What does "the pure Presence that is the Presence in all
> things" mean, and how can it be "not anything"?
>
> Larry
========
'Presence' is usually understood as the essence of something
which is being sensed. Thus, "the pure Presence that is the
Presence in all things" might be the ultimate Essence, refering
back to Pure Awareness. A case of uncertainty covering all the
bases with a touch of doubletalk. :) Ed

=======================================================================

MICHAEL READ:

Self

All is Self
That is All!

Supreme Essence
Is the Presence
Looking out of eyes
Hearing into ears

So simple
So difficult
Self playing
With Self

Hey, Self!
Get hand out of pants!


I LOVE YOU

I Love You
Warts and wrinkles and all
In drama and despair
In laughter and love
In the good
In the evil
In the dance eternal
I Love You
One and All
In your greatest works
In your glorious failures
Your Presence is undying
Your Love has no qualities
I Love You
I love your searching and seeking
I love your finding and being
Your beauty is terrifying
Your terror is beauty
You lift me up
You dash me down
You create me
You destroy me
You keep me in darkness
You keep me in light
Your Presence is undying
Your Love has no qualities
I Love You.

HAHAHAH and HOHOHO!

Peace - Michael

=======================================================================

Some excerpts from the thread on Papaji and Bhagavan Ramana:

MARK OTTER and BOB ROSE commented on the following statement:

Self Inquiry wrote:

> Yet another difference between
>
> Ramana Maharshi and Papaji:
>
> Papaji recommended no effort.
>
> Bhagavan Ramana recommended intense effort.
>
> --uarelove
>

So do you mean that this is an either or situation? I understand
that
virtuosos (for example musicians) need to practice and practice and
practice
until they get to a point where the playing itself takes over and
then
getting out of the way is the way to a virtuosic performance. Could
this
resolve the apparent paradox? Ramana gave great advice to everyone.
(when
the practice becomes no longer necessary, the surrender to natural
playing
happens anyway.) Perhaps Papaji was so enthused about this that he
attempted
the direct teaching. This may well have been fine for those who had
been
practicing long enough anyway, and it may well be that the advice
that
others needed was not offered. (can a being for whom love comes
naturally
make mistakes?)

someone who hasn't even started practicing yet, for whom love is an
abstract
thought rarely even entertained,
Mark

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MATHEW FILES:

mathew files wrote:
> --- In NondualitySalon@egroups.com, Self Inquiry
> <uarelove@y...>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Bhagavan Ramana gave a method that has suceeded
> >
> > on many occaisions, one of those being Papaji.
> >
> > --uarelove
> >
> >
> ---------------------------------------------
> Is there objective proof of success?

No nothing has ever been prooven objectively, if by
proof ones means verification of Truth. Not only in
spiritual subjects, this also applies to all subjects.
Proof is when thought is satisfied with a conclusion,
a belief. That proof is not Truth, it is an opinion.
Only one in whom the ego notion has ended can
recognize one in whom the ego notion has ended.
(...)

....matthew

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And MARK OTTER commented here:


Dear matthew,

Do you flinch? Does the whisper of ege ever cause you to pull back?
Does fear ever affect your equanimity? Telling stories about others
is
a distraction unless it directly affects this process of responding
to
fear. Is disagreeing with a story the act of love or the act of
fear? I
don't know the answers to these questions. I sense often when I make
a
response, such as this one I am typing now, that there is some fear
there, pushing the keys.

trying not to flinch, and reaching out to touch others with the
flinch
reflex,
Mark

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More from MARK:

They stand so close together there is no room to flinch. We have all
been
in non-flinching mode, so it is not so hard to practice. Do whatever
lets
you stand there with the flinch unneeded. (not firmly held against
the
flinch - that's the wrong way, but with the flinch so exposed, so raw
and
vulnerable, that the warmth of God rushes in and makes it silent and
full.) you know. do this yourself and let others find it too. don't
question their findings if questioning their findings will make them
pull
back and flinch again. that's the objection to this talk. it does
this to
me. no wait, that didn't feel right... okay, I will acknowledge that
I once
talked about relaxation and how difficult it is to relax further when
one
seems relaxed and how it often is not complete, and tensing up can
reveal
the direction again, allowing further relaxation. perhaps that is
what is
being pointed to here. perhaps tales of failure are meant to
perpetuate
failure. it doesn't matter what folks are pointing towards. What
does
matter is how i hear them and what happens next... so point in any
direction
you want, and I will feel my way forward trusting in my Self.

Love, Mark


Self Inquiry wrote:

> Only one in whom the ego notion has ended can
> recognize one in whom the ego notion has ended.

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UARELOVE and MATHEW:

M: And.....if the guru did refute someones
> claims (as papaji
> did) that might not mean that the person isn't
> realized. (Then again
> it might). Who's to say? You? Me? (hoo haa).

Here we get to the crux of making simple things very
complicated unnecessarily. The Sages have chosen to
use words. Consider the example of Nisargadatta as to
just taking a Sage words literally and simply. (...)

Nisargadatta said:

I obeyed him because I trusted him.

(...)

I trusted my guru.

What he told me to do, I did.

Whatever happened, I would turn away

my attention from it and remain with the

sense I am,

it may look too simple,

even crude.

Read part two at:

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/umbada/iam.htm

and see the example of Nisargadatta just taking

his Guru's words literally, and simply without

interpreting them.

If one interprets them or makes it complicated

that opens the door for the ego notion to change and

distort everything.

(...)

--uarelove

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And YOUARELOVE continued:

Although doubting can be a great aid in the beginning

and it may be wise to doubt all spiritual Teachers

and supposed Sages and to check out many options

etc. That same doubt can be an ego notion preservation

strategy if it continues forever.

After one has done the above described due

dilligence, and found a Sage that one

has the most confidence in,

including confidence that the ego notion

has ended in them, then it is time to stop doubting.

And it is time to stop the spiritual mixture,

the spiritual soup of many paths.

Then the Trust that Nisargadatta mentions,

and his taking his Guru's words quite literally

and simply become the valuable aids,

even more valuable than the doubt was.

--uarelove

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JERRY KATZ commented:

Wiser than the sages.

Self Inquiry wrote:
>
> The ego notion has a tendency in most humans to think
>
> it is wiser than the Sages.
>
> --uarelove

It has a tendency to think all kinds of things. The ego
imagines a competition and imagines outcomes of that
competition.

Has any Sage ever claimed wisdom? Seeing that no Sage has
ever claimed wisdom, there's really no competition. Joshua
Pritikin has clearly pointed that out in his work on
competition and nonduality. I always knew to trust my own
direction. No wisdom by any Sage is superior to that. No
scripture is superior to that. If anything, Wisdom and
Scriptures are inferior to that, but since they are not
competing with me, nor I with them, there is neither
inferiority nor superiority.

Jerry

The Mechanism of Competition
http://www.why-compete.org

=======================================================================

JERRY KATZ:

Old friend Alan Kuntz submitted this link to KundaliniHeat
list:

http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnps05fm.cfm?SegID=32491

A National Public Radio interview with William Segal, a man
in his 90's who has studied Zen and Gurdjieff.

Thanks, Alan.

Jerry

=======================================================================

UARELOVE:

15 new links have been added to the

Spiritual Net Directory in the last few days.

There are now 27

links to where on the web you can read

the Teachings of:

Ramana Maharshi

Adi Sankara

Yoga Vasistha

Nisargadatta Maharaj

The Ashtavkra Gita

The Ribhu Gita

The Avadhuta Gita

other ancient texts of Advaita Vedanta

the living Enlightened Sages Russ and Nome

Bodhidharma

Hui Neng

Hsin-hsing-ming

and Vimalkirti Nirdesa Sutra: click:

http://home.talkcity.com/GaiaWay/infinite_freedom

with love,

uarelove

=======================================================================

The day before there was also a very merry unbirthday of BRUCE!:

(...) Please do notice that every day
is a new birth -- so much better
than a mere sun-cycle count (...)
So then, as per Sri
Madhatterji Maharaj:

"A very merry unbirthday
To me
To who?
To me
Oh, you

A very merry unbirthday
To you
Who, me?
To you
Oh, me

Let's all congratulate us with another cup of tea
A very merry unbirthday to you

Now statistics prove
Prove that you've one birthday
Imagine just one birthday every year
Ah, but there are 364 unbirthdays
Precisely why we're gathered here to cheer

A very merry unbirthday
To me?
To you
A very merry unbirthday
For me?
For you
Now blow the candle out, my dear
And make your wish come true
A very merry unbirthday to you"

BRUCE also recommended:

I highly recommend the free
funds transfer service
available at www.paypal.com

=======================================================================

XAN:

To see god is to be God.
There is no all apart from God
for him to pervade.
He alone is.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi

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