Click here to go to the next issue.

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MARK & MARCIA, SPIRITUAL PROGRESS:

MARCIA:
I am afraid to look at what picture is on the site. I have
lots of pictures because I got a camera for Christmas but
I am not sure how to load them onto the site.

MARK:
You have a lovely picture of yourself and your teenage kids (or so I
presume) on the web. yum!

MARCIA:
I wish to talk a little more about the post on spiritual progress.
I have a question actually. Gurdjieff said everything was material
but of different densities (I apologize to G. and any real teacher
if I screw this up). In other words everything could be weighed
and measured if one had the know how.

I have noticed that if or as I hold very still (in meditation) and
this means most specifically my spinal column, and let my attention
ride on the breath without interfering with it (I know this is
happening if I can feel the sensation in my nose of the breath
going in and out), and something happens like a loud noise
or a fight between the kids, I can sense the emotion rise
and sort of just 'turn over'. The rising and falling of an
emotion. This is a real physical occurrence but of a much
finer subtle energy than my ordinary consciousness or
experience of emotional reactions. Why am I saying this?
Because this seems very measurable. So when I read that
post, I was both laughing internally, and I was
intrigued at the same time.

MARK:
I am intrigued as well. What else have you noticed?

MARCIA:
If or as I am holding very still as mentioned above, I have,
on occasion experienced the reception of what can only
be termed Grace. Now this emotion is very different
and also does not originate on the ordinary plane of
consciousness. I have had the wherewithal to ask this
energy/emotion for help.

Can you relate to any of this?

MARK:
Yes. I seem to revisit it again and again, and am slowly learning to
trust in it and allow it. (to accept the help offered by it) That's
what I mean when I say there is no bottom. It seems to get more
intimate, more powerful if I abandon myself to it. What helped a good
deal for me was my friend Mary's quoting of Anthony DeMello (I'd go
hunt for his original words, but I am on my way out the door for day two
of a breathworkshop, so forgive the liberal dose of paraphrasing...).
DeMello says something like, why cling to things to keep from falling?
Everything is falling. That is what I experience in meditation and more
and more often in my active life as well. I am perfectly safe
free-falling. That started for me in meditation, and is energetic in
nature. I don't really know how to put it into words well. I can take
a breath and let it out and feel where it ends, and then take another
and let it go deeper, and another and deeper. It's not forcing the
breath out, it's really allowing the breath to depart however it will.
This brings me to a deep, quiet place that feels like home. My latest
joy has been demonstrating this directly to those who will allow my to
hug them long enough to go through several breath cycles. That for me
goes so much deeper, so I am always looking for the opportunity. When I
do this a few times, I feel open everywhere. It's quite astounding. I
feel capable of being quiet and listening to people, I feel capable of
feeling their emotions, and it is not frightening, it's just intimate.
(even strong emotions of worthlessness or rage - they come in, but don't
stick. When I haven't done it in awhile (when I have forgotten it),
those same emotions are so dangerous, and I can go into terrible mind
states. so far, I seem to have survived even those though.)) It started
out for me as an intellectual curiosity about what people meant when
they talked about kundalini and chakras, and has turned into a
recognition that it is all love (it's an energy, but it's flavored -
hard to say), flowing around in majestic circles. We can just let it
flow through us, no need to do anything. It's wonderful. People are
afraid to hear about it though, and it takes some practice to allow it
anyway, to not need to depend on approval. Do you see what I am saying,
or have I sidestepped your question to talk about me? (the answer could
be yes and yes)

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINDS

GLORIA:
"To know that you are a prisoner of your own mind, that you live in an
imaginary world of your own creation is the dawn of wisdom."
Nisargadatta Maharaj


DAN:
In Western myth,
this is the story of Lucifer,
who suffered from a delusion
that it was possible
for someone other than God to
be God.

Delusion leads to construction of
private reality with "me" as
master of what is surveyed.

Because it never exists, it
is called "delusion."
Because it turns heaven
into hell (just look
around), it is called
"worth seeing through".

"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven."

"Nevertheless, not my will,
but Thine be done."


DANIEL HELLER:
I love Maharaj but I must say, after listening to Wayne and Ramesh
quite a bit, and Ramana, I don't share the opinion that we make our
own prisons. And Maharaj was said to have made it clear that there
was no bondage.

Again there is possible translation confusion in taking Maharaj's
teaching from I Am That, or from the Jean Dunn or Robert Powell
books. I have loved those books myself, but in the end I think
Pointers From Nisargadatta Maharaj by Ramesh is most likely to
preserve the spirit of Maharaj, since Ramesh was arguably M's closest
disciple and certainly understood completely.

Of course, with Maharaj any translator or editor was faced with the
problem of Maharaj's earthy sense of humor and frequent "toilet talk"
or locker room talk- I've heard he often elaborated on lofty
spiritual topics with references to peepee and caca and sex, etc.

(Though I admit this may be off the subject of mental illness.)


HARSHA:
The greatest Shankracharyas and Yogis of India sat at the feet of the Sage
of Arunachala, Ramana Maharshi, to catch a glimpse of his eyes. Fully
immersed in the ocean of consciousness, His life was that of utterly
spontaneous immaculate purity. His light shone like the fully risen Sun
bathing in Its Own Eternal Luster. Truly, nothing really can be said of
Ramana to describe Him adequately. He Is the Heart.



DANIEL HELLER:
My guru, so to speak, is Wayne (Liquorman.) Though I don't really
differentiate between Wayne, Ramesh, Maharaj, and Ramana.

Except that Wayne is the tall fat bald ex-druggie, Ramesh is the
ex-bank president, Maharaj was functionally illiterate, and Ramana

well, what about him?

Since you asked.

Thank you all for your welcomes


MICHAEL:
No, thank you!

Having once met Wayne L. I appreciate your 'so to speak'. He is
delightful! About a month ago he passed through Portland, OR (where
I keep this carcass). Since I had read his 'No Way' book I was very interested in
seeing him. What a treat!

The first thing he said was (I loosely quote) "Everything is
conciousness, is God. Once you've got that, you're done." He then
gently and with great good humor proceeded to speak and entertain
questions.

He is one of whom it can truely be said, "In him there is no guile."

First he devulges the greatest 'secret' and then just laughs! :-))

HAHAHAH and HOHOHO!

Peace - One and One is One and One - Michael



CHRISTIANA:

He (Johne Wellwood) writes as bridge between the Western focus on the
personal
and interpersonal and the Eastern suprapersonal ground of being.

"Another way to say this is that in addition to waking up to our
ultimate spiritual nature, we also need to grow up - to ripen into
a mature, fully developed person."

From Amazon review: "Have you ever noticed that self-described
spiritual people are not necessarily all that easy to be with? John
Welwood has a term for what often happens--spiritual bypassing.
This is when a person reaches for the stars while forgetting about the
goop on his shoes."


MICHAEL:
Thank you, Christiana. This rings true. More true, I think, for those
who seek spirituality as an escape from this world and the fear
that living here can bring.

I have seen some who can/could go into samhadi and just glow! Then
returning from thier meditation were/are the most obnoxious little
turds! Heeheehee!

But that's OK. It's just the Play of the Universe.

The other day, to escape the heat, I ambled down to the nieghborhood
tavern for a brew and a bite and a game or two of pool. While
there I was engaged in conversation by a fellow who was most
passionate about basketball. He became very upset and emotional
as he held forth on the 'sorry state of the NBA'!

Inside I was just laughing! No, not at him, but at the Self
who was in there talking about the NBA to the Self that is in here!

HAHAHAH and HOHOHO!

Peace - Walking in Wonder - Michael

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

MICHAEL DAN nad ANDREW AT PLAY:

MICHAEL:
Not laughing 'at you'
Not laughing 'with you'
Laughing over here 'beside you'
Hmmm...beside myself with laughter!

HAHAHAH and HOHOHO!

Peace - do Be, do Be, do, indeed - Michael


DAN:
Michael-san,
That's not me beside
you, and it's not
you beside yourself.

As there's no way
to figure this out:
I'll laugh you,
and you laugh me.

-- Dan

ANDREW:
Mirror mirror off the wall
who's the enlightenedest of them all?

I'm enlightened.
Yeah right.
I'm not enlightened.
Yeah right.

Who cares?

Polishing?
Progress?
Good luck.
You aint going nowhere.

That's not me in there,
no way!

The mirror's broken!

I can't see myself.
Freedom!


MICHAEL:
Thank you, Andrew!

Now, could you please pass me another bottle of Dammitall?
These biscuits are dry and in need of gravy!

HooHa! Michael


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PSYCHOTHERAPY

MATTHEW:
You've been reading too many psychology books dan.
Guilt steering the boat? It's time for a mutiny boss.
Useful guilt? Not a chance, not in my neighborhood.
There is such a thing as remorse, often confused as guilt,
but not even close to each other.
.............matthew, who is not under the delusion that freedom from
guilt means we are free to do anything we want.



DAN:
Matthew,
You raise an issue worth examining, I feel.
I've examined this issue as
part of working with people, and I
share my position as it is now,
based on psychological
work and conversation with
others doing the same.

Here's what I'm talking about, it
comes from working with people who
have experienced guilt. Saying
"get rid of the guilt, it's useless"
isn't always the helpful thing to say
or do. It depends on what the guilt
is about. Neurotic guilt isn't helpful
and can be tossed. Guilt when there has
been and continues to be hurt to self or others
can be useful. I've found that having absolutistic
rules in life isn't particularly helpful, including
a rule like "guilt can never be useful, so always
get rid of it right away".

Now, there is unsplit awareness beyond guilt.
And there is awareness with no "doer"
in which impeccable action occurs
without awareness of separation.
Guilt doesn't arise as a factor if there
is impeccable action with no doer.
However, trying automatically to get rid of guilt,
without noticing first what it's about,
isn't impeccable at all.

Guilt may play a part in moving
away from split-minded actions
and allow opening.
It depends on the situation.
So, I'm talking about dealing constructively
with people, where they're at, with
what they're experiencing in a given
situation.

Suggesting everyone should toss all guilt
sounds like you've read too many pop-psych books of
the superficial kind. In fact, it strikes
me as ironic that you've noticed that everyone is
not as enlightened as they would like to believe.
That's exactly why guilt has a role to play at times.

Guilt is when you see you are or
have been hurting
someone or yourself, realizing
continuing on the same way
is not useful. It can be related to
compassion and empathy.

Guilt that's useful leads to atonement,
not to self-punishment. That kind of
guilt is recognition of a mistake,
it's not the internalization of
someone else's evaluations (which is
"neurotic guilt").

At - one - ment, yes, this can
be the opening that arises from
honest guilt.

And definitely, it involves remorse!
That's what I'm talking about.

It strikes me as somewhat odd that
you separate guilt and remorse
so definitively in this way.
That just doesn't fit with my
experience of working with people.
They're simply not as separate as you assume.

This is not about psychology books,
it's about real work with people
who have hurt others and themselves
and recognize it's time to change.
Guilt can play a part in that change process.
For example, someone has been physically or emotionally
abusing someone. If that one starts to allow
feelings of guilt (which have often been pushed
away or denied), that can be useful.
It's connected with feelings of remorse and
movement to change. Maybe you're confusing guilt
with self-blame? Those two aren't the same.
I can say, "I hurt someone, I don't feel good about it,
and I want to change the pattern." Guilt is the
"not feeling good" part. It can be healthy.
Just like not feeling good after eating certain
foods can be a signal not to keep up that
pattern of eating. So, there can be healthy
guilt, and it doesn't have to involve self-blame.
The energy of guilt is part of an ill-feeling that
leads to change. If one feels just fine about abusing
someone, feels no guilt about it, why would one change?

I think you may be confusing unnecessarily
holding on to guilt (which can be very
self-limiting) with using guilt in
a healthy way, which involves releasing
it. You acknowledge guilt, feel remorse,
atone, accept, and release.

Essentially, guilt involves honestly acknowledging
a mistake. Thinking that one can
make no mistakes can lead to
many problems.

And yes, there are people who avoid
guilt, wanting to act as if hurting
others doesn't matter.

Guilt has a place in the scheme of things.

In fact, there is nothing out of place.



MARCIA:
"The therapy model and the nonduality model don't fit together.
To accept therapy, you have already accepted a mind set with enormous
implications."

CHRISTIANA:
John Welwood has written a very good book on this topic. "Toward a
psychology of awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the path of
personal and spiritual transformation" c.2000 Shambhala

From the introduction: As awareness starts to move beyond the
boundaries of the conditioned personality structure, this expansion
inevitably challenges that structure, flushing out old, subconscious,
reactive patterns that often emerge with a vengeance. From a modern
perspective, they can also be understood and worked with
psychologically - as subconscious aspects of one's conditioned
personality structure that often break through into consciousness
only when that structure is thoroughly challenged by the process of
awakening to one's larger nature. If these psychological issues are
not addressed, they often cause distortions in people's spiritual
development. So it is not enough just to have spiritual realizations.
It is also esssential to deconstruct the subconscious emotional and
mental patterns that are held in the body and the mind, and that
prevent people from fully embodying a larger way of being in their
lives."


DAN:
Egads!
Just what we need.
Another authority
telling us
what we really need to do,
and how we really should
be doing it!



MARCIA:
I am not saying that a person doesn't need to work through
their issues. It is the perspective that one has about it and the
technique that is employed. Therapy starts from the position
that the issue is real and needs to be fixed. The idea is whether
I identify myself as the issue or whether the issue is another
constriction to be seen for what it is and let go of. Do you
believe the issue is who you are? Do you believe the story?
A person who has spiritual realizations is not (IMO) realized
but a person having glimpses. Position is everything. A fully
enlightened person doesn't need therapy. They are whole; unified.
We hold ourselves and others in place by how we see them.
Let go of the image and movement takes place.



MARK:
I don't know... I wonder if this is too sweeping a statement about
therapy... The therapy that I have had has shown me how my issues are
storylines that I run and voices that I speak, which may have a logical
source, but which no longer serve me. I was just at a two day workshop,
where everyone had this same story demonstrated to them. Feelings
first. dunk! now what was that you just felt, and how did it arise? Oh,
I see, I'm just like all of them!! I complain about how my Mother is
always criticizing me, what? I rush in to do it first to protect
myself? Why so I do!! It's not my Mother I'm always complaining
about... IT'S ME!!!! Hooooh boy! Ten people, ten stories, ALL
IDENTICAL!!! (okay, maybe a father or a brother thrown in for fun, but
hey, it's all ME, ME, ME. So who is this me? And why is he so eager to
cause me suffering? What a crazy job! Shit, I don't even get payed for
it. No benefits, NOTHING!!! sheesh indeed.

I am reading The Inward Arc - Healing in Psychotherapy and Spirituality
by Frances Vaughan. She says "Healing happens more easily through us
when we allow it to happen in us. In this way the wounded healer who,
at the existential level, identifies with the pain and suffering of
those he or she attempts to heal, becomes the healed healer who, being
grounded in emptiness and compassion, can facilitate healing more
effectively. By perceiving Spirit not as a realm apart from others, but
as the ground of being of all realms, healing awareness may be
established as the context of any interaction, and any situation may
become an opportunity to heal." (quick nod to oh for pointing this out
to me awhile back) Sounds both therapeutic and nondual to me. I don't
think one has to put the cart before the horse (oh, yikes, I meant to
say the horse before the cart...) Well, I'm saying they can walk side by
side at least part of the way (the part that's downhill? I always push
the metaphor too far. I should call them metafars)

What I learned this weekend is the meaning of the phrase heartfelt
honesty. It's much more than just vanilla honesty. Who knows? It may
even be truly honest. I've known for years that I am an alchoholic and
that I'm ashamed of it. Today I know it in my heart. No foolin anymore
(unless I go back into the shame and take up residence again, which I
may do... It's so comfy in there. I know it so well. It's kinda scary
out here - all that light, it hurts my eyes.) "The future's so bright,
I gotta wear shades." (Timbuk2) You used to all that light yet,
Michael?



CHRISTIANA:
Hi Dan..

I was a bit surprised by your response here. I thought that you and
John were colleagues of sort. I don't sense the tenor of the book
being flavored with imperatives.. more pointers, along a continuum.

I see a kind of evolution from the therapeutic into the nondual. What
has been significant, for me, is that I've observed the flow of mind
for years through meditation and as observed through Depth Psychology
or Transpersonal work, but now it is being seen through as false or
dissonant movement from Witness position. A subtle but very
significant shift. Seen not from within the container, but from the
locus of awareness beyond the container. These seem to me to be steps
in the evolution of Psychotherapy into the nondual. And I sense that
there is an omnidirection to this flow. I can not say that the
newfound fledgling capacitance to drop or stop or be pushed through
the identity container through Grace, would have occured without a
longstanding ruthless commitment to applying awareness to the core
roots of identity. This has operated in tandem with listening through
the heart. At present, Psychology is not what calls me, yet the
understanding, engendered therein, has innumerable applications in my
daily life. I agree, no new hat of ideation to wear is important. I
rest in an open head which notices bifurcation. I entered this
discussion merely as a voice noting that eschewing therapy tends to
bifurcate.

And John Welwood (and I) would most definitely, and paradoxically,
agree with you regarding this:


DAN:
So much conceptualization about
what a realized person is or isn't,
what they supposedly need or don't need.
Speculation, opinion, fruitless mental
energy.

Generates another concept, another
imaginary picture to try to hang a hat on.

What is It that is right now moving
through everything in the entire
universe?

It's moving through "you" right now!!

Does It care if you're "realized"
or "not realized", "going to therapy"
or "not going to therapy"???

Wake up to It!
BE It!
There is nothing
It isn't!!

Hallelujia!!!!

(or something like that)



DAN:

When there is no model being imposed,
then nonduality simply *is*.
BEING, all else follows.
Whatever flows from BEING, flows
from being.
If one is doing therapy, do therapy.
If one is eating, eat.
And you're right, if I have a model
of what therapy is, and I impose
it on an "other", awareness behaves
as if split.
And it is equally split if I think I
have a "nonduality model" to impose
on reality.
Fitting things into a "nonduality model"??
Help!

MARCIA:
Yes, that part wasn't right. :-)

I am working at expressing something and not making
it clear; perhaps because it is not clear to me.
Let me try again. We have these stories that we are
writing. A giant weaving cause stories blend together
and come apart and so forth. Therapy fixes the story
so that it works better. In some cases this has to
happen otherwise the story will end or be very dysfunctional
and disrupt the larger dreambody. But in no way can
working from within the story ever get a person outside
the story. That is like trying to pick up the board you are
standing on. Therapy is like tuning up the car or changing
the spark plugs but it will never tell you what direction to
go or how to drive the car. You can't be whole by fixing
the parts. You get out of the story and you are whole.



GENE with MARCIA:

NDS

Hi Marcia,

You wrote:

" Therapy starts from the position
that the issue is real and needs to be fixed."

Wherein I replied: Your statement does not represent my understanding of
therapy. In fact, the Great Secret known by aware therapists, is that
the "issue" is never real. What is real is the painful world the
patient has generated.

To help someone let go is good, but to help someone to understand the
nature of their congestion is better; a case of giving a fish VS
teaching to fish.

The patient-identified 'issue' is seen as the cork in the bottle;
upon removal, flow is initiated. Circulation is reinstated. Sharing
becomes possible.

Obscurations of consciousness occur at the behest of the operator of
that consciousness; vision so edited is distorted but "safe". Rather
than chase the mean dog out of the yard, it is decided that running
from the mean dog is good, normal, virtuous, and 'highly spiritual'.

There are many styles of running from the mean dog. One style is to
edit the image of the dog out of the field of vision, thus to not see
what is biting one's ass.

Our world-dream mass culture deems denial a proper stance, and lends
its considerable persuasive power to those whose denial is being
threatened by the insurgent forces of awareness.

Thus we have millions of dogs biting millions of asses, and a vast
industry of drug-psychiatry to come to the aid of denial.

Real actual therapy takes all of this into account, and aims to arm
the patient against pervasive world-dream traps. It is the violence
of the enforcment of denial which is the queasy fear which plagues so
many; and every one has been punished for seeing what is real.

Then:

MARCIA:
Gloria,

You asked what identification was. Identification is simply
believing in the world you have created. You are identified
with your own creation. Your identity is locked up in the
imaginary world you have created.

Everyone has a "story." Sometimes the storyline changes
so we believe we have progressed but this is just a new
story. To see the whole storytelling mechanism
for what it is, is the dawn of wisdom which is spoken
about.

GENE:
Wise words on the whole; however, I point out that while seeing the
mechanism is good and helpful, it is necessary to admit to the events
which enable our isolation (denial) and alienation.

We have all been assaulted from our earliest days; those who suffer
the most now, are those who were 'overly socialized' to the point of
being afraid to see, let alone admit, to the nature of the people
around them. In this unfortunate but common scenario, the victimizer
will define hirself as GOOD, and the victim as BAD.

Proper therapy addresses this issue as real, but also seeks to cast
light on the issue of why we are prisoners of morality. By filling
our children with codices, we make them vulnerable to codices.

A person is vulnerable to whatever forces are subscribed to.


==Gene Poole==

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

GENE with DAVE:
NDS

DAVE:
Gene wrote a very powerful piece Thursday, that still has
left an echo (as usual).

This piece gets to the very bottom of "what's going on".
My wife follows much of this stuff, and I tried to
translate the piece that Gene wrote, but couldn't, at
least not verbatim as he had written it. I sort of resumed
the piece in a form most closely relating to where she is
at right now, but the depth still escapes her.

GENE:
If your wife actually has active questions, perhaps you could
translate and post here. I will be happy to give some kind of answer.

DAVE:
On another note, there is a focus of work here in Chile
that uses varios forms of Eastern dogma as means in
psycho-analisis for transpersonal analysis in personal
change scenarios. I was asked if there could be some
common elements in those practices that could be seen or
extracted as techniques of a lesser "religious" nature.

Evaluating these last two concepts; that we can get close,
in words, to a description of what is going on, and that
there seems to be a set of ways and means at getting to
the understanding of "the reality", it becomes evident
that we must take another look at what is going on.

First, let us use the model that Gene described as
basically true! I know that's a big leap, truth is what's
left after we stop coloring and manipulating the image
with our personal impressions, but I'd make another
supposition and say that among us, there are very few that
have the capacity to present a topic as serious as this,
with as little personal color as Gene. So for now, lets
take it as the truth.

OK, that said, it appears that the truth is very difficult
to see, for one, and for another, if it can be glimpsed,
through a portal such as that created by Gene, a majority
of us seem to say, "Oh, that's nice... but what's it got
to do with me".

We are all trying to get to the truth, yet when it is
presented plainly in front of our face, it seems there are
too many other things to do to take it seriously.

GENE:
Opening to the truth can be like an acid-trip. It seems that
many people, feeling it coming on, shut down the truth-valve.

DAVE:
I spoke with a girl for an hour and a half yesterday
morning, someone who was interested in consciousness and
enlightenment. I travelled 120 Km. to talk to her. I
explained what consciousness is. I explained that everyone
sees things in a different way, and that previous
experiences have a lot to do with how one sees and reacts
to things, all the while the "actual reality" is there in
front of our face and practically has nothing to do with
our impression of it.

She seemed to be following. I explained that consciousness
is perception and for the normal person it is highly
focused in "personal falsehoods". Mmm, I can see that she
said. I said one must open their vision, try to look
beyond their personal impressions. What IS the reality
that is NOT colored by our personal feelings. On various
ocasions I gave her little excercizes to help "defocus"
her consciousness, to see things, through eyes of other or
to imagine how reality is "actually".

Finally after everything, we were saying good-byes and I
said OK, now remember your excersizes. "What excersizes?",
she said. "Looking at the world through different eyes,
seeing reality", I said. "Oh yeah" she said, I'll try.

GENE:
I am (somewhat uncomfortably) familiar with what you describe here.

It is hard to say this clearly, but, to advocate seeing the
distortions as being vital information, is a high and good service.
It is the personal reality which is the readout of the deeply held
assumptions which form the template which moment to moment, distorts
reality.

Most important, is what Buddha pointed to as being the actual cause
of suffering, the "assumption of incompleteness" (Dukkha).

It is the 'assumption of incompleteness' which Ramana alluded to in
his admonitions to seekers. Specifically, he indicated that it is the
assumption that one is not enlightened (or aware enough), which
initiates the sadness and the search.

So very many people carry unspoken, but otherwise expressed, the
assumption that they are not 'good enough'. Striving and seeking are
prime symptoms of the 'assumption of incompleteness', and are also
socially virtuous in the reality of the world-dream.

Seeing our own assumptions, may be difficult if we never say them in
words; this is why the distortions in our personal-dream are of such
high value. Our actions speak louder than our words; our enacted
lives explain our conditioning better than our words possibly can.

Passing this on is a good thing to do.

And never underestimate the power of denial.

DAVE:
The problem is, that the stuff that we all talk about
here, "is not real". Our problems are real, our feelings
are real. We meditate, the idea is expand the boundaries,
open consciusness, not focus in "me". Gene gave us the
answer. go find that.

We must believe that "all of this does not exist in the
way we think it does".

GENE:
Again, the 'way we think it does' is not to be thrown out like
yesterday's bathwater; rather, it can be savored like the finest of
champagnes. It certainly is more expensive than champagne!

DAVE:
There are techniques, yes, but the techniques are always
pointing to how to get to reality. Use the techniques to
see the reality that is NOT colored by your personal view.


GENE:
Thanks, Dave.

I advocate walking right into the inverter, now that I see that it is
harmless, if not painless.

PS: It is the stand-up comic, who masters the art of turning piss into wine.

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

MANCHINE:
Those who have awakened, have come to the realization, at least
in part, that what they see in front of their eyes is a miracle,
within which any burning bush would be commonplace.


MICHAEL:
In That Flame - i am consumed
The Lover knows no bounds!

Gleeful laughter rings in Life

Peace - Michael



MICHAEL:
This is Mine

All that is seen
Even in imagination
Is Mine.

The mighty do I set up
The lowly as well
Oh mind, put judgement aside
These are Mine.

Trials I give as love
Rewards are but ashes
All that is is Mine,
There is no Other.

Children and drunkards see me
The vain do not.
I hide my ever present Face
And play the game of Seek.

One flick of my finger
The world is put Aright;
The world in steeped in Darkness.
Drink in the sun and laugh!

No one escapes Me!
Nothing moves without Me!


Rare are those who drink my Wine!
They are Me.

Even those who seek me not
Yeah, they are Me!

Every scrap of dung
I Transform
This is Mine!
Yeah, you are Me!


Rejoice in Me;
Though I place you in the Dung
I hold you in My Hand!

Om. Shallah. Tat.
The secret tongue
Is known by all
I AM THAT ALL.

I set the worlds afire!

From the Awakening Heart - Mu

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