Click here to go to the next issue.

Saturday, July 22



MELODY:

You know.....I remember one of the first things Sandeep ever
said to me: "Do whatsoever you want to, Melody. Only do it
with your full attention." I think that's about the best advice I've
ever been given.

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

MARK forwards this from another list:

"The basic ground of compassionate action is the importance of working
WITH rather than struggling AGAINST, and what I mean by that is working
with your own unwanted, unacceptable stuff, so that when the
unacceptable and unwanted appears out THERE, you relate to it based on
having worked with loving-kindness for yourself. Then there is no
condescension. This nondualistic approach to true to the heart because
it's based on our kinship with each other. We know what to say,
because we have experienced closing down, shutting off, being angry,
hurt, rebellious, and so forth, and have made a relationship with those
things in ourselves."

- Pema Chodron, "Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living"

May this be of benefit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Just as a solid rock
is not shaken by the storm,
even so the wise
are not affected by praise or blame.

Dhammapada 81

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

MICHAEL READ and DAVE:

Since returning to Portland after the retreat I have been having
such a wonderful time. Every moment is fraught with the delightful
sense of being. Just being.

These 'events' have occurred.
-------
At dinner with a friend: I asked her if she wanted to know the
'secret' of 'enlightenment'. Of course she said yes! I told her
that her ordinary conciousness is the true Self. Well, she just
started to glow! Then I told her that this understanding removes
worry about 'going' to heaven or to hell. She then began to worry
about her ill and aged father. She said that something survives,
surely something goes on. Then I told her that her father's
conciousness is the Self too! She started glowing again! :-)

The next day on the phone with another friend: I asked her the same
question. She of course said yes. When I told her that her
counciousness was the Self, she just said, "Oh, I already knew that!"
HAHAHAH :-)))))

The other day at work taking a break outside with two co-workers,
both young men (18 and 20) we were talking about 'religion'. One
said he has been studying all kinds of religions from Christianity
to Moslem to Buddhism and it just seems that the thing to do is
be a good person. The other said his viewpoint is Christian based.
As far as he can tell God is just the energy that is everywhere.
He then said a very non-dual thing. "God created all of this
because he wanted a soap opera." I gave him a big 'thumb's up' and
said. "Works for me!" What a delight those two youngsters are!

Last night, at the invitaion of a friend, I went to watch belly
dancers. What a treat! All of the dancers exhibited such beauty,
grace and joy! The best dancer danced last. Wow! She was so
immersed in the dance that we were all caught up in her expression
of grace and beauty!

While we were waiting for the dancing to begin (and hopefully for
Carol's husband to arrive) I told her about the retreat. She and I had
been co-followers of guru maharaji (back in the days). I asked her
if she remembered how blissful we used to get back then. Yeah.
Well being at the retreat was like that - only a thousand times
better! Nobody brought any baggage - just themselves! My friend
loved it!

After the dancing, my friend, her husband and I went for a walk down
by the riverfront. The night was warm and comfy and lovely. I turned
to my friend and asked her if whe wanted to know the secret. Of
course, she said yes. (who can resist knowing a secret?). When
I told her that her ordinary conciousness was the Self, she appeared
a bit startled! "But, you mean?" Yup! Her husband said, "Everybody
is." He just stated it so matter of factly! Lovely!

So, dear friends on this list and everywhere, Live - Laugh - Love
and be happy. Your very conciousness is the true Self! But, of course
You already know that!

HAHAHAH and HOHOHO!

Peace - Your very own Mind is the Mind of Buddha -
Peace - Your very own Heart is the Heart of Christ -
Peace - Your very own Body is the Body of God - Michael


DAVE:
It's almost scarey isn't it?

Everybody knows!

All ya gotta do is show them the good side!

Michael, I'm so happy for you, and I know
your going to bring em all home.

THIS CAN be a permanent condition!

As Captain Picard would say. Make it so.

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

GENE and JERRY:


Gene Poole wrote:
'God' issues us a 'blank check'. We can fill in the amount and cash it.


Jerry:
Hi Gene! Yes, I bank there and I'm still in debt!


Gene:
Experience fills in the amount, and it is called 'identity', or what
some refer to as 'ego'. I prefer the term 'identity'.


Jerry:
How about the term 'i-debt-ity'? The moment one fills in the
check he is in debt.


Gene:
We try to 'cash' our check to 'get' the rewards for having 'learned
by experience'; in other words, we assume that our experiences are
like 'money in the bank', which we can spend for forwarding of our
mission of becoming whole and complete. This takes various versions,
such as 'healing', 'enlightenment', 'realization', etc.


We assume that there is something to learn, which has 'redeeming' or
'transformative' value; we fill in our check to that amount, and then
try to capitalize upon it or 'cash' it.


Jerry:
But where are we borrowing from to get this cash? It's gotta
be paid back!


Gene:
Now, there is an unseen trick in this, however. 'God' gives us the
blank check, but also slyly provides everything for free, AKA
'Grace'. What we have, then, is a situation in which a person has
access to all the 'money' (experience => identity-structure) they
want, but in reality, money is never needed, because nothing really
costs anything. It is all freely available at 'Grace-Mart' (which is
wherever you are).


Jerry:
Attention Grace-Mart shoppers...

So we never really needed to go into debt, or i-debt-ity. It
just seems easier than going to Grace-Mart. Or there are
many distractions on the way to Grace-Mart, one never gets
there!


Gene:
Seeing this seeming paradox, a person is free to erase the asking
amount on the check, to return it to the blank condition, and live by
Grace alone.


Jerry:
At least one can start consolidating one's loans.

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

Jerry:

Until bankruptcy, one is living in debt, some heavier than
others. Either one is in debt or one has zero in their
checking account. Debt reduction is possible. Consolidation
of loans is possible. Payment of some loans is possible too.
An example of debt reduction is something like attendance at
Landmark Forum or a good retreat, or relationship with a
good Guru, or an instant of insight. One might come out of
these experiences having paid off a good portion of the
debt, or at least having consolidated loans.

To put this in other words, nothing external is required for
restoration of equanimity. There is no need to resort to a
teaching or anything else. What is needed is already
present.

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

from MARK and MARY:

Hi Beloveds,

Mary reminds me of a fun exchange we had at the retreat. Michael put a
variety of beautiful polished stones in a bowl on the table and invited
us all to select one as a gift. I had fun noticing that I chose a white
translucent stone with black specks while Mary on my right and Indra on
my left both chose deep black stones with white specks. Later, I
noticed that most of the stones that were left after people chose their
particular stone were transparent, and I nudged Mary and pointed out
that nobody took a clear stone. She replied that it was because we
couldn't see them. yum.

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

JERRY and MICHAEL READ:

There's no need to resort to anything beyond the taste of
ordinary consciousness. At least a person can reduce the
number and kinds of things to which they resort. One must be
aware of what they are dependent upon, and there's nothing
wrong with that dependence. The retreat showed that there is
very little, nothing, a person needs to resort to.


MICHAEL:

Yes. We lived with nothing to defend and nothing to demand
and nothing to protect and no expectations and we were filled
with fullness. Oh, how sweet it is!

Gazing With Wonder into Your Eyes

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

MATTHEW:

Who isn't interested only in themselves? Who isn't
interested only in their own goings on, their own process,
wether it be external or internal?. That is simply the self-
referencing, self-absorptive, narcissistic nature of ego.

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

PHIL:
Howdy, folks. I confess I am envious I don't live within
affordable travel distance from where the retreat was. I
have been looking at the pictures and everything looks neat.

I thought I might adopt something Tim G. used to do
here. Here goes. Anyone here listen to MP3 music? There
is some very meditative ambient stuff at MP3.com. If you
have a player (winamp for windows I think it is) you should
point it to the following for some very deep listening:

http://downloads.mp3.com/AAICQiKvCgBB3sceDQEYwARub3JtUAMAAABSIwQAAFECAAAAU5YAA
ABUAQAAAEOtq3c5lwNKK.QqsnMDbzffBP.eag--/in_then_out.mp3

Enjoy.

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

GREG and MIGUEL-ANGEL:

Greg had written:
Nisargadatta says it doesn't matter what happens
because it's
not You or Your life anyway;


Miguel-Angel:
Quite true, usually he just dismisses the question of
reincarnation as having no relevance:
"The question of resistance [to reincarnation] does not
arise. What is born and reborn is not you. Let it
happen, watch it happen." (I Am That, p.469)

But sometimes he does deal with the matter more
directly (in the sense of rejecting reincarnation):

"Reincarnation implies a reincarnating self. There is
no such thing." (I Am That, p.262)

When I was young, I used to believe in reincarnation. I
thought that the injusticies one has to bear in this
life somehow have to be cancelled or compensated in a
next one. Think of the millions of poor little children
who starve to death. Later I saw that if nature is
inherently cruel and ruthless towards individuals, that
is the way it is and no future lives will mend that.
Now I think that individual life has no substance, as
it is
just a dream, a story being told, a brief interruption
of silence and peace. Only That which neither is born
nor dies can be said to really exist. Why bother at all
about anything else?

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

CHRISTIANA:

Hey, I hear there's a new em-bank-ment being filled up over yonder...
comprised entirely of the indebtedness of 'i-debt-ity'. Funny thing
is that it's currency looks like nothing

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

ED:

Typically the self vacillates between objective
duality and subjective nonduality according to the
degree of separation experienced. Within the swings
is noticed different points of identity according to
conditioned experience. At the very 'center' is a point
of non-identification, a 'transcendence point', which
is the key to Selfhood.

In this view the self, moving consciously between its
everyday reality and inner subjectivity, reveals its
conditioned tendencies and 'self-formulated' intentions
through a variety of thoughts, feelings, and actions.
These expressions of self represent the different points
of identification derived through experience.

At the midway point between objective and subjective
cognition is a place where no known experience or
identification occurs; it is an unknown 'place' since no
consciousness or sense of self can manifest there. It is
possible, however, that this 'site' could be a well-hidden
feed-through point for energy of a higher order. Apparently,
liberation from binding identification and self could occur
at this point, yet little or no known attention seems to be
given to this possibility.

(Reminder: some points of identification are binding;
others are liberating in that they move consciousness
serendipitously closer to the midway [transcendence/
Grace?] point.)

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

More from GENE and JERRY:

>J: So we never really needed to go into debt, or i-debt-ity. It
>just seems easier than going to Grace-Mart. Or there are
>many distractions on the way to Grace-Mart, one never gets
>there!

G:The Christians and others would say that what is going on is
'temptation'. One is born into a culture which values courageous
stupidity over cautious wisdom; one then acts those values daily.
Fortunately, we all live in Grace-Mart, know it or not. Our debts are
covered, but not many folks stop working to pay the syntax.

> > Seeing this seeming paradox, a person is free to erase the asking
> > amount on the check, to return it to the blank condition, and live by
> > Grace alone.
>
>J: At least one can start consolidating one's loans.


G: Or at least paying attention to the Tao Jones averages: Yang, up 12%,
Yin down 12%

00oo00

>J: Until bankruptcy, one is living in debt, some heavier than
>others. Either one is in debt or one has zero in their
>checking account. Debt reduction is possible. Consolidation
>of loans is possible. Payment of some loans is possible too.
>An example of debt reduction is something like attendance at
>Landmark Forum or a good retreat, or relationship with a
>good Guru, or an instant of insight. One might come out of
>these experiences having paid off a good portion of the
>debt, or at least having consolidated loans.
>
>To put this in other words, nothing external is required for
>restoration of equanimity. There is no need to resort to a
>teaching or anything else. What is needed is already
>present.
>
>Jerry
>--

Well said, Jerry. I guess that means that really, nothing is needed.

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

GREG:

. I'm suggesting the name Indra for the beautiful lady who has
called herself Old Hag. Why? She is neither old, nor a hag. She said
that she really has no name that seems to fit, as she finds herself
adapting to the energies and personalities of whoever is in front of her at
the moment. This is just like the jewels in Indra's Net. I'd noticed that
in her e-mails before meeting her.

Why Indra? Although in Hinduism and Buddhism Indra is male, and even
though in Hinduism Indra is a warrior deity, here are some reasons I like
Indra for o.h.

- To these Western ears, Indra *sounds* like a female name, and I
actually know a nice Hindu lady by that name.
- In the Rig Veda, Indra is "the bounteous" and has a hundred strengths
- In Buddhism in the Avatamsaka Sutra, Indra's Net is
the net of jewels (phrase made popular by Ramesh Balsekar).
The meaning of this image in Buddhism is a model of
phenomenality itself. No jewel or object is an inherently existing
entity - they are all just dependently arising reflections of
other reflections, which are only reflections of them, etc.
Because each jewel is empty of inherent nature, each jewel,
even the tiniest grain of sand, is ultimately the stillness
and serenity of Buddha nature.
- The recent scientific model of the holographic universe
is another way to refer to the this same empty inter-
dependence. Each bit of energetic stuff contains all
the rest of the universe in it.

I'll try to keep this name going as long as it doesn't become confusing, or
unless Indra demurs.

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

MICHAEL READ:

I just found out today that Andrew Cohen is going to
be at the New Renaissance Bookshop tomorrow afternoon.
The topic is Liberation in This Lifetime.

The blurb states: Andrew Cohen is not just a spiritual teacher, he is
an inspiring phenomenon. Since his awakening in 1986 he has spoken
one thing: the potential for total liberation .......

I have not seen much of his work. I did browse some of his book
_Enlightenment is a Secret_ and his autobiography of awakening.
Kind of interesting, they were. Somehow :-) when anyone says that
there is a possiblity of tainting pure awareness, I just have to
laugh!

The sense I have at this moment is that he no doubt had a fundamental
and powerful experience. Now he is grasping that experience as
'THE BIG ANSWER' Heehee hoohoo - been there done that!

Oh well - it's all the play of the Self!

Enlightenment: ha! enlightenment and a buck two fifty will buy
a nice latte' or a mocha, if one prefers. :-))

So, if anyone on this list would like to share thoughts on AC....?

I'm going to peruse the web to see what I can find. Yah, I have
looked at the WIE site, got it bookmarked too. Nice fantasy mag.

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

PRESENTNONEXIST:


in this frigid hour I have reached
the zenith of consumption

I have everything a human being
could possibly acquire and more

been to all the teachers studied all the wisdom
obscenely overindulging in the great search for truth

how could I possibly still be yearning
horny limp and tragically foolish for more

if rounds of weary lifetimes and oceans of
bloody tears have taught me something

I have forgotten

the terror of assuming the meat body
has finally caught up to me, gasping for air

torn in a million throbbing pieces
continuing is all I know, but the intense

suffering of thinking I am human is more
than I can, more than I, but tolerate I have

rounds and endless rounds of playing the birth and death dance

who do I think I am kidding?
no one is playing but

me in this frigid hour I face myself

top of page