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Sunday 16th July 2000


A VERY QUIET DAY, ALL AWAY AT THE DIAMOND HILL GATHERING


DAN amd KKT:

KKT: Sincere words are not sweet,
Sweet words are not sincere.
Tao Teh Ching
and
As for holding to fullness,
Far better were it to stop in time!
Tao Teh Ching
~~~~

Dan:
These words you shared
from Lao Tzu yet
resonate - with a power
succinctly conveyed
from the 'original condition'.

An echo of something
before infinity.

As an arrow that
hits the target
directly, with
no wavering.

Pretty flowers fade,
the Tao remains.

Sweet talk covers,
concealing what is unhidden.
Sincere speech uncovers
the obvious secret.

In going too far,
our mistiming leads
to obscuring the truth.

In knowing when not
to go, the truth
is our stability.

Yes - stop in time
so restraint
speaks with the
clarity that is
lost by overextension.

(KKT, the last stanza you
quoted is quite far-reaching --
in addition to appropriately
commenting upon discourse
in this forum, it can
be applied to politics,
relationships, Taoist
sexual yoga, martial arts,
and knowing original
awareness. Now,
*that's* a powerful statement.
;-)

~~~~

KKT:
Dear Dan-ji,

Many thanks for always expressing very beautifully ;-)
I want to offer you a poem of a Vietnamese Zen Master,
Man Giac (1052-1096):

When spring goes, the hundred flowers wither,
When spring comes, the hundred flowers bloom.
One thing after another, life passes before our eyes,
Old age comes from above.
Don't think that all flowers fall as spring ends,
In the courtyard last night a plum branch bloomed.

Peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENE:

Gene:
Awareness, like space,
Contains all things,
Yet is itself invisible.

Pointing to invisible awareness
Materializes imaginings
Populating emptiness,

D: Yes, very complicated, so how to illuminate?

Gene:
One possible way is to eliminate 'beginner level' teachings,
which tend to use diverse and misleading analogies and metaphors.
Confronting the explorer with illusion-breaking riddles, such as the
traditional 'koan', will not let them off the hook.

One of the problems with many teachings is the use of simile; this
projects the assumption that if one can grasp what something is
'like', that one can thus know that something. This is the problem
with beginner level teachings of all kinds, as well as the many
attempts to present material in such a way as to imply that there is
salvation available through technique or 'ways'. If there were a
successful formula or recipe (algorithm) for 'attaining realization',
such would be in common use.

From my POV, there is a reliable biological timer running in each
person, which will key the release of multidimensional awareness, as
is appropriate. It is unfortunate that self-esteem has been linked to
'enlightenment'; that so many formulas for enlightenment are
promulgated, keeping the community of seekers in frantic,
hurdle-jumping motion, blaming themselves the whole time, for
something that is not defective, and does not need to be fixed.

~~~~

Gene:
To depopulate emptiness
Is to materialize awareness
As space itself.

When one points to what is not seen,
One who sees what is not there,
Sees what is there,

D: Requiring someone who sees what is not there!

Gene:
It seems that the world is populated by those who see what is not there.

This is the problem with the popular idea that one must 'banish the
illusion'. If one banishes the illusion, what will be seen?
Inevitably, just another version of the illusion.

If on the other hand, one can see that what is seen are imaginings,
one may be able to understand the operations of the imaginer or
'dreamer'. The question then becomes, "what is imagination, and what
is real?". Perhaps the answer to this question, is to know that
seeing what is seen is the unknown itself, thus to strip assumed
meaning from what is seen (and the seer), will allow one to know the
unknown as the unknown. Assumption of knowledge is the displacement
of unknown by 'veil'. Veil is preferable to the raw, unknowable
unknown, as far as human feelings are concerned.

~~~~

Gene:
Seeing emptiness,
Is seeing awareness
Seeing naked space,

Naked space is emptiness,
Emptiness of imaginings,
Fullness of awareness.


Naked and aware...

==Gene Poole==

D:
Emptiness, the unknown is what's left
after throwing away all that you know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is David Hodges bringing
A Sitecam
By which to share the sharing?
(HS/NDS Gathering Diamond Hill)

Does the facility which hosts the Gathering
Have a broadband connection?
These questions have just occurred to me.

DAVID HODGES:

Hello Gene and all,
Alas, no Sitecam, no broadband to show you the love, smiles, laughter,
dancing, whirling, poetry, and fellowship of that gathering. I am back home
with many wonderful memories and a joyful heart. This is indeed a vibrant
community. It feels like the dawn of time and we have all awakened in some
post-historical Eden free to create the world as we see fit. From the
virtuality of cyberspace to the actuality of Diamond Hill Monastery was not
a big leap at all, indeed, it was a homecoming. It was wonderful to
discover Harsha's loving ability to bring the best out of people in
conversation, Christiana's dancing grace, OH's surprising embodiment of
clarity (she is anything but an Old Hag!), Nora's abiding presence,
Andrew's warmth and light, Victor's laughter and his propensity to break
out into song, Jerry's ability to sit with his elbows on a wooden kitchen
table for 14 hours at a stretch, Michael's compassion, Mark and Mary's
joyfulness and love for eachother and for us, Gloria's gift for keeping
such a individualistic bunch on some kind of path, Biff's oneness with the
group, Greg's teaching clarity and the way he beat time to Afro-Cuban salsa
using an upended meditation stool, and Petros's articulate interiority.
Plus we had some good cigars, lots of rain, and some terrific bullfrogs
calling from the pond down below.
Love,
David

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MICHAEL READ:

Just back to the cottage from the retreat. Having no qualities
to call my own, this is offered from the Avadhut Gita:

Verse 56.

Why do you weep, O mind? Why do you cry?
Take the attitude: "I am the Self!"
O dear one, go beyond the many;
Drink the supreme nectar of Unity!

----------------------------

Dear friends,

You are the Self.
Rejoice or be quiet.
You are the Self.

Peace - Michael

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